Difference between revisions of "Cosmere"

| Ati was once a kind and generous man, and you saw what became of him.

| Hoid on [[Ruin]]{{epigraph ref|sa1|18}}

}}

Adonalsium split into sixteen pieces, referred to as Shards of Adonalsium, each taking a particular facet, or intent, of the greater power of Adonalsium. Sixteen people took up those Shards, becoming the first [[Vessel]]s and effectively ascending into godhood. Hoid and [[the Recipient]] knew these sixteen people prior to their Ascension, as they were familiar with their original names.{{epigraph ref|sa1|23}}{{epigraph ref|sa2|69}}{{epigraph ref|sa2|70}} Some of these individuals and the Shard they took up are: [[Aona]] ([[Devotion]]), [[Skai]] ([[Dominion]]), [[Ati]] ([[Ruin]]), [[Leras]] ([[Preservation]]), [[Tanavast]] ([[Honor]]), [[Rayse]] ([[Odium]]), [[Bavadin]] ([[Autonomy]]), [[Edgli]] ([[Endowment]]), and [[Uli Da]] ([[Ambition]]). There is one more known Shard, [[Cultivation]], whose Vessel is female but otherwise unknown.

| The only point in creating something is to watch it die.

| Ruin to Vin{{book ref|mb3|57}}

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They came up with a deal: they would work together to create life, with the condition that Ruin would eventually get to destroy them.{{epigraph ref|mb3|54}} But Preservation wanted to create life that they had seen before--humanity{{book ref|mb3|76}}--and creating sapient life required more energy. Ruin was not willing to put in that extra energy, so Preservation did. This led to Preservation being slightly weaker than Ruin. Because of this, Preservation knew that Ruin would inevitably triumph and destroy what they created.{{epigraph ref|mb3|54}}

| He bears the weight of God's own divine hatred, separated from the virtues that gave it context. He is what we made him to be, old friend. And that is what he, unfortunately, wished to become.

| The Second Letter on Odium{{epigraph ref|sa2|71}}

}}

Odium traveled to Sel for a short time to attack Devotion and Dominion, and Odium Splintered them.{{epigraph ref|sa1|22}} This left a lot of energy on Sel, and, with no release valve and entity to control the power, [[Shadesmar]] became incredibly hazardous on Sel.{{wob ref|4129}} Selish magic itself changed,{{17s ref|topic|2622}} and perhaps the [[Dor]] was created--a force that can be drawn upon but with no controlling entity. Odium left Sel after this event, and did not Invest any of his power on the planet.{{wob ref|4129}}

| Alendi must not reach the Well of Ascension, for he must not be allowed to release the thing that is imprisoned there.

| [[Kwaan]]{{epigraph ref|mb2|58}}{{epigraph ref|mb2|59}}

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Kwaan, however, had a fabled memory, and noticed that the Prophecies had changed.{{epigraph ref|mb2|45}}{{epigraph ref|mb2|46}} But Kwaan was not able to persuade Alendi that he was not, in fact, the Hero after they had argued for so long to prove that he was the hero of legend.{{epigraph ref|mb2|52}} So Kwaan, knowing something was awry with the Well, tasked a nephew, [[Rashek]], who hated Alendi, to be Alendi's guide through the mountains.{{epigraph ref|mb2|53}}{{epigraph ref|mb2|54}} Since Rashek was a [[Feruchemy|Feruchemist]], Rashek and his friends were easy picks for Alendi. If Rashek could not lead Alendi astray, he was to kill him.{{epigraph ref|mb2|56}}

| One can see Ruin's craftiness in the meticulousness of his planning. He managed to orchestrate the downfall of the Lord Ruler only a short time before Preservation's power returned to the Well of Ascension. And then, within a few years of that event, he had freed himself. On the time scale of gods and their power, this very tricky timing was as precise as an expert cut performed by the most talented of surgeons.

| [[Harmony]]{{epigraph ref|mb3|50}}

}}

Ruin saw the Lord Ruler's poor use of the power and saw that the Lord Ruler would be an agent of spectacular destruction.{{book ref|mb3|63}} So, subtly, Ruin manipulated him to destroy. The Lord Ruler did do things to stymie Ruin, such as hiding [[atium]],{{book ref|mb3|71}} but Ruin's subtle manipulations took a toll on the man, and led to him subjugating his own people, among other atrocities. But as destructive as the Lord Ruler was, a thousand years later, the Well of Ascension was about to refill. The Lord Ruler planned to retake the Well's power,{{annotation ref|mb3|part=2|chapter=63}} and Ruin would not have that happen.

| During my unpublished days I wrote thirteen books, only one of which was a sequel. So I had twelve new worlds, or at least twelve new books—some of them were reexaminations of worlds. But I wanted to be writing big epics. This is what I always wanted to do; something like the Wheel of Time. So I began plotting a large, massive series where all these books were connected, so I could kind of "stealth" have a large series without the editors knowing I was sending them books from the same series. It was mostly just a thing for me, to help me do the writing I wanted to be doing. And then when publication came I continued to do that, and told the story behind the story.

| Brandon{{wob ref|10182}}

}}

When Brandon was beginning writing and trying to get published, he loved gigantic epic fantasy series. He knew, however, that starting with a big series might not be the best idea. If he wrote four books in a series, and the first one didn't get published, he couldn't submit his sequels.{{wob ref|9813}} He decided instead to focus on standalones and trilogies. Not only would they be easier to market to publishers, but Brandon also wanted people to trust his writing before digging into something bigger.{{wob ref|9813}}

| I hope that people will stick with me for all these books, because I'll do a lot of them. But they will fit together in some really cool ways once they are all done. I think you'll be very very impressed, but that's a while off.

| Brandon on the cosmere{{wob ref|6496}}

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At the start of Brandon's career, he wrote cosmere novels in chronological order, but there are books that are skipped, like Dragonsteel and White Sand,{{wob ref|9869}} some of his earlier, unpublished novels. (Those unpublished novels would need to be rewritten from scratch, much like Brandon rewrote The Way of Kings.{{wob ref|10222}}) He wanted these cosmere novels to not require knowledge of previous books in the hidden epic of the cosmere. Generally, clues to the cosmere are currently easter eggs, and will not be in the forefront. However, more hints to the greater universe are inevitable, and eventually the worlds will cross over and interact,{{wob ref|9019}} perhaps in the last Mistborn trilogy.