User:Chaos2651/Cosmere

Eric's notes: This a draft of the revision of the cosmere article. Its main benefit is the history section. I focus on the history of the Shards, though there is a lot of Shardy things on Scadrial. It needs a lot of citations.

The cosmere is a fictional universe where Brandon Sanderson's adult epic fantasies (including Elantris, Mistborn, Warbreaker, The Stormlight Archive) are all set. It does not contain Earth.

Brandon has said that it is not important to know about the cosmere to enjoy his books, and that they can be enjoyed separately. Elements of the cosmere slowly be added into the books, such as in the Dragonsteel books, and the final Mistborn books.

The underlying mythology of the cosmere, so far, revolves around Adonalsium, the power of creation, which was broken into sixteen pieces called Shards. The Shards are effectively gods, and almost all magic is derived from them.

Physical Properties

The structure and physics of the cosmere are the same as our own, but the main story of the cosmere occurs on a compact dwarf galaxy, meaning it has many fewer stars and systems than our universe. Time flows the same on the cosmere (except under special magical effects, such as Allomantic cadmium and bendalloy).

There are ten primary worlds in the cosmere, called Shardworlds, as the Shards of Adonalsium play major roles there. There are also minor worlds, where Shards have little influence, but may have lesser powers, like Splinters on them.^{[citation needed]} Magic on these planets are called Investiture, or manifestations of Investiture,^{[citation needed]} and all magic we've seen has been derived from the Shard's (or Adonalsium's) power.

The physical universe of the cosmere only tells one part of the story. In fact, there are three Realms of existence: the Physical Realm, the Cognitive Realm, and the Spiritual Realm that all coexist simultaneously.^{[citation needed]} Investiture works through all three of these Realms.^{[citation needed]} There is also something beyond the Three Realms, where people "pass on," but Brandon does not wish to reveal anything about it.^{[citation needed]}

Planets

There are currently ten known Shardworlds. Two of these, Threnody and First of the Sun, are minor Shardworlds.

World	Shards	Books
Ashyn	None	The Silence Divine
Braize	Odium	The Stormlight Archive
Nalthis	Endowment	Warbreaker, Nightblood
Roshar	Honor, Cultivation	The Stormlight Archive
Scadrial	Preservation, Ruin, Harmony*	Mistborn (series) (including Mistborn Adventures)
Sel	Devotion, Dominion	Elantris & sequels, The Emperor's Soul
Taldain	Unnamed Shard held by Bavadin	White Sand
Yolen	Unknown	Dragonsteel
Threnody	None	Shadows for Silence in the Forests of Hell
First of the Sun	None	Sixth of the Dusk

History

For a more specific chronology of events and the books in which they occur, see Chronology.

Before the Shattering

“Even now, I can barely grasp the scope of all this. The events surrounding the end of the world seem even larger than the Final Empire and the people within it.
I have delved and searched, and have only been able to come up with a single name: Adonalsium. Who, or what, it was, I do not yet know.”

—Harmony in the Words of Founding

Little is known of the extremely distant past of the cosmere: the time before the Shattering of Adonalsium and the Shards. It is not even clear who or what Adonalsium exactly is. Is it a god, the God? Is it a force, or person? Regardless, its power is described as the power of creation,^{[citation needed]} a power which does not vanish.^{[citation needed]}

Humans existed on worlds before this time,^{[citation needed]} though how many is not clear. At the very least, there were humans on Yolen, as Hoid is from there,^{[citation needed]} and was there before the Shattering.^{[citation needed]} Magic (Investiture) also existed prior to the Shattering, though its form was different.^{[citation needed]}

There is a force that opposes Adonalsium.^{[citation needed]} Adonalsium's opposition also created a weapon,^{[citation needed]} but important specifics, such as if it is still around, or if it had played a role in Adonalsium's Shattering, are unknown.

There was once a plot to destroy Adonalsium, which had failed.^{[citation needed]}

The Shattering

Through unknown means, Adonalsium was broken, in an event called the Shattering. Hoid was present, and due to Hoid being from Yolen, it is thought that this event occurred on Yolen.

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

—Hoid on Ruin

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, effectively ascending into godhood. Hoid and the Recipient knew these sixteen people prior to their Ascension. Some of these individuals and the Shard they took up are: Aona (Devotion), Skai (Dominion), Ati (Ruin), Leras (Preservation), Tanavast (Honor), Rayse (Odium). Another individual who took up a Shard was Bavadin, though their Shard is not known, and there is another Shard, Endowment, whose holder is not known.

It was not random who took up the Shards^{[citation needed]}, and there was some sort of design in the way Adonalsium was split.^{[citation needed]}

It turned out that, though the power of a Shard required a mind to control it, the specific intent of the Shard would slowly warp the mind of those that hold it. It is not known whether the Shardholders knew this would be the case. Eventually, the people who took up the Shards would simply be referred to as their Shard's name, and referred to as Shards.

At some point, some Shards traveled to other worlds. The Shards were now the primary source of magic in the cosmere, and so they Invested some planets with their power,^{[citation needed]} and in some cases, created humans and other species.

Early Shardic History

The exact timeline of what the Shards did after the Shattering is not clear. Shards settled on specific planets, but could have gone to other places before residing upon the worlds they now stay.

Endowment was the one Shard who traveled to Nalthis.^{[citation needed]} At some point during the history of Nalthis, Endowment began intentionally splitting its power, creating what are called Splinters, that turned into divine Breath, which made the Returned.

Bavadin was the only Shard to travel to Taldain.^{[citation needed]}

Devotion and Dominion went to Sel.{{cite} During this early Selish era, magic was present on the planet, though not in the form seen later, which utilized the Dor.^{[citation needed]}

Scadrial

Ruin and Preservation, having intents that opposed each other so perfectly, found themselves in conflict with the other. If Ruin tried to destroy, Preservation would stop him, and vice versa. At some point they both ended up on Scadrial, but they could not act much without the other.

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

—Ruin to Vin

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

Preservation couldn't stand to let Ruin destroy their creations, so he felt the need to do anything to stop this from happening. Preservation, then, betrayed Ruin. Preservation could not destroy Ruin--doing that sort of assault would result in both Ruin and Preservation's death, and the Shard had influenced Preservation's mind too much for him to do something so destructive. In order to stop Ruin, he needed another plan.

Preservation attacked Ruin with his mental power--the distinct mind controlling the Shard's power, rather than the power itself. This would trap Ruin's mind, making him mostly impotent. However, it cost almost all of Preservation's mind. Preservation knew that the moment he did this attack, he would not be able to help life on Scadrial. Preservation saw the future, creating the Terris Prophecies, to give hope to humanity, and to let humanity know that he had a plan in mind.Template:Annotation ref He also altered Allomancy so that there would be atium (and malatium) Mistings,^{[citation needed]} and set up his power--the mists--to Snap those Allomancers.^{[citation needed]} And with that, Preservation gave up his mind, imprisoning Ruin in the Well of Ascension, the essence of Preservation's mind.

Roshar and Odium's Quest

“One need only look at the aftermath of his brief visit to Sel to see proof of what I say. In case you have turned a blind eye to that disaster, know that Aona and Skai are both dead, and that which they held has been Splintered. Presumably to prevent anyone from rising up to challenge Rayse.”

—Hoid in the first Letter

Honor and Cultivation went to Roshar.^{[citation needed]} Later, Odium went to the Greater Roshar system, particularly Braize.^{[citation needed]} Devastating wars called the Desolations were fought over Roshar, between Odium's Voidbringers and Honor's Heralds and Knights Radiant. Cultivation's role in the Desolations is not clear, but Honor and Cultivation were a romantic item.^{[citation needed]}

“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

Odium wanted to become the strongest being in the cosmere. He realized that if he ever took up another Shard, that Shard would change him, and Odium preferred his own.^{[citation needed]} So, in his quest to become god of the cosmere, instead of absorbing all the other fifteen Shards, he decided to destroy the other Shards^{[citation needed]}. He developed a way to Splinter a Shard's power, and in the process, killing its holder.

Odium briefly traveled to Sel to attack Devotion and Dominion, and Odium Splintered them. This left a lot of energy on Sel, with nowhere to travel outwards, and so this is why Shadesmar is incredibly hazardous on Sel.^{[citation needed]} The Dor was created, and Selish magic itself changed.^{[citation needed]} Odium left Sel after this event, and there is no other known evidence of his time on the planet.^{[citation needed]} This is perhaps because if he were to leave a lasting impact, he would have needed to Invest a part of himself there.

Odium also killed Honor using this same method.^{[citation needed]} However, Honor was crafty, and even though Honor perished, Odium was then trapped on the Greater Rosharan System.^{[citation needed]}

There is a Shard who just wants to survive, presumably against Odium's onslaught.^{[citation needed]}

Hoid and the Seventeenth Shard

“For I have never been dedicated to a more important purpose, and the very pillars of the sky will shake with the results of our war here. I ask again. Support me. Do not stand aside and let disaster consume more lives.”

—Hoid on Odium's war

Hoid was deeply concerned about Odium's involvement on Sel, and thought that his war would lead to devastate the whole cosmere. He sent a letter to a person (possibly a dragon) to call off his "friends of the Seventeenth Shard" and help join Hoid. The recipient of Hoid's original letter did not see things as Hoid, and said that the reason these events have occurred is because of their involvement. As such, he advocated nonintervention, where Hoid meddled a great deal, on all main worlds.

The Seventeenth Shard are a group of Worldhoppers moving between planets using various magics, and are perhaps led by the Recipient. Their members are from many worlds. They searched for Hoid on Roshar shortly before the Everstorm was summoned. They may also be nonintervenionists.

There is also Khriss, probably a member of the Seventeenth Shard^{[citation needed]}, who has been to many planets and writes the Ars Arcanums, as well as her associate, Nazh. Their motivations are not clear. However, there is an end goal of the Seventeenth Shard.^{[citation needed]}

The Ascension of Harmony

Ruin's Plan for Freedom

On Scadrial, the Well of Ascension, that power that came from Preservation's mind, could be utilized by humanity. For much of Classical Scadrian history, a person called the Hero of Ages by the Terris Prophecies would take up the power and become a protector of mankind. They would live the rest of their lives blessing people with the power of Preservation, renewing Ruin's prison, and watch over the world. The power did not vanish, instead returning every 1024 years.

Ruin was keenly interested in the Well of Ascension. If he could get a person to hold the power there, but instead of utilize the power, release it, then the prison on Ruin's mind would vanish, and he would then be free to finally destroy the world. To do this, Ruin manipulated the Terris Prophecies over a long period of time. He made it so the Hero of Ages would include the "sacred piercings," actually Hemalurgic piercings, so he could influence the Hero. More importantly, Ruin changed the Prophecies extensively so that the Well and the Hero's purpose was obscured. Now the Hero was supposed to take the Well's power and release it.

Then, Ruin drove the world into desperate straits so that people would believe in a hero of ancient prophecy. If he fought Preservation, the mists--the Shard of Preservation's direct essence--which still protected the land would oppose him. So, he used Preservation to his advantage: the mists Snapped Allomancers, and people misinterpreted the mists as a negative thing. Instead of fighting against the mists' action, Ruin enhanced them, bringing the death of plants, and causing the threat that became the Deepness.

Thus, when a Terris Worldbringer, Kwaan, claimed that Alendi was the Hero of Ages, Ruin saw an opportunity. He altered the Terris Prophecies to fit Alendi more perfectly. Alendi came to persuade kings and all the Worldbringers who denied him that he was the Hero, and under the threat of the Deepness, Alendi was their leader. So, to defeat the threat of the Deepness, Alendi traveled to the mountains of Terris, where the Well of Ascension lay, to take up the power, and release it to eliminate the Deepness.

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

—Kwaan

Kwaan, however, had a fabled memory, and noticed that the Prophecies had changed. 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. So Kwaan, knowing something was awry with the Well, tasked a nephew, Rashek, who hated Alendi, to be Alendi's guide through the mountains. Since Rashek was a Feruchemist, Rashek and his friends were easy picks for Alendi. If Rashek could not lead Alendi astray, he was to kill him.

And Rashek did murder Alendi. Rashek took the power of the Well himself, and in those few moments of Ascension, he tried to stop the Deepness by moving Scadrial itself closer to the sun, to burn the mists. To counteract the heat, he created the Ashmounts. He also altered humans on Scadrial, creating skaa and nobles. He learned of the Metallic Arts, developing Hemalurgic constructs, and with the discovery of Allomancy, he figured out a way to combine Allomancy and his Feruchemy to become immortal (through Compounding). Rashek would be the Lord Ruler, the Hero of Ages, and protect the world from Ruin.

“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

Ruin saw the Lord Ruler's poor use of the power and saw that the Lord Ruler would be an agent of spectacular destruction. So, subtly, Ruin manipulated him to destroy. The Lord Ruler did do things to stymie Ruin, such as hiding atium, 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,Template:Annotation ref and Ruin would not have that happen.

So, Ruin plotted the Lord Ruler's downfall. He subtly put in Kelsier's mind the idea of an "eleventh metal" to the ten known Allomantic metals of the time. This, combined with Kelsier's desire to see his dead wife avenged and her dreams of a world without ash be a reality, led Kelsier to seek to kill the Lord Ruler. He formed his crew, consisting of many, but including Vin, a skaa Mistborn who Ruin manipulated; Marsh, his brother; and Sazed, a Terris Keeper, who studied the past before the Lord Ruler. In the process of leading the skaa to revolt against the Final Empire, the Lord Ruler killed Kelsier. Vin confronted the Lord Ruler, and using the power of the "Eleventh metal", discovered that the Lord Ruler was a Feruchemist. She somehow drew upon the mists and pushed the Lord Ruler's metalminds away, leading to his death a mere two years before the Well was replenished.

Ruin now needed a person who could hold the Well's power. The servants he could touch most easily through Hemalurgy, the Steel Inquisitors, could not hold Preservation's power, so Ruin chose Vin to do it. Ruin, early in Vin's life, had caused her mother to go insane, killing her sister with an earring. The earring turned out to be a Hemalurgic spike, so Ruin could influence Vin. The spike, through increased bronze Allomancy, allowed Vin to hear the pulses of the Well of Ascension. Ruin strengthened the mists again to recreate the threat of the Deepness, and influenced events so that Vin seemed like the Hero of Ages.

With all this, Ruin led Vin and Sazed to the Well of Ascension for them to "save" the world once again. However, Preservation had a shadow of his mind left, and in the form of a mist spirit, tried to foil Ruin. Preservation even wounded Vin's husband, Elend, at the Well so Vin would use the power to heal Elend instead of releasing it. But Vin did what the prophecies supposedly asked, releasing the power.

Ruin was free once again.

Vin and Preservation

Ruin could now directly affect the world, but the power of Preservation--in the form of the mists--still protected the planet. Ruin had been weakened since the Lord Ruler hid his essence, atium, and so Ruin and Preservation were balanced again. Ruin could not find the atium personally, as he could not see metal, and the Steel Inquisitors, had spikes in their eyes, and so had this same flaw. So, Ruin continued to use his pawn, Vin, along with Elend, to find the atium for him.^{[citation needed]}

Ruin did not know that Preservation had actually selected Vin to take up his power, which enabled Vin to draw upon the mists--Preservation--directly. Unfortunately, Vin could not use this power with her earring being a Hemalurgic spike, as Hemalurgy, being of Ruin, pushed away Preservation.

In those final days, the shadow of Preservation's mind that remained communicated with Elend, and then passed. This had the potential to be a catastrophic event: when a Shard lacks a mind controlling it, and the power has no "release," it is incredibly dangerous, as happened on Sel when Odium destroyed Devotion and Dominion. Fortunately, Kelsier, who had not passed on beyond the Three Realms, held onto Preservation's power for just a little longer, until Vin could take it up.

Vin eventually caught onto Ruin's ploys, and would not find the atium for him. Because of this, Ruin sent his Inquisitors, along with Marsh, his main Inquisitor, to kill Vin. Marsh, though almost entirely under Ruin's direct control, held a small bit of himself back, and he used that shred of humanity to tear the Hemalurgic earring from her. Vin could now access the mists--Preservation's power--fully, and upon burning it, she ascended, becoming Preservation.

The Catacendre

“Preservation could never destroy you! He could only protect. That's why he needed to create humankind. All along, Ruin, this was part of his plan!”

—Vin to Ruin

Upon Vin's ascension, she tried to oppose Ruin, but learned that she could not do much, for Ruin would oppose her. On the ground, Elend and Sazed discovered the atium, and Ruin immediately sent his forces to destroy them. Ruin, through Marsh, killed Elend, and Vin realized Preservation's plan. Preservation needed someone who could preserve, but also destroy, and Preservation was too touched by his Shard to destroy Ruin. Vin knew she had little left to live for without Elend, and so, directly attacked Ruin with her power. She pressed in, not shying back, and in the assault, killed Ruin and herself in the process.

Sazed, on the ground at the battle, saw the corpses of Ati and Vin, with the power of their Shards leaking from their bodies, and Sazed took up both Shards together. The power did not vanish as the Well of Ascension's power did; these were the Shards themselves, which, under the control of one mind, could both preserve and destroy, or create. Using the knowledge from his metalminds, he began to remake the world, and undid the damage the Lord Ruler did to Scadrial. He then created a paradise for them to live in. The conflict on Scadrial had vanished, for now.

Now under the control of one mind, Ruin and Preservation's power began to intermingle, and Sazed became known as Harmony. It is considered a single Shard, much like a king of two countries is still just one king.

Odium became aware of Harmony, is scared of him, and is making plans regarding him.^{[citation needed]}

Development

(Here will have the writing process stuff on the cosmere)

Bibliography of the Cosmere

Publication	Title	Series
2005	Elantris	Stand-Alone
2006	The Hope of Elantris	Short Work
	Mistborn: The Final Empire	Mistborn (series)
2007	The Well of Ascension	Mistborn (series)
2008	The Hero of Ages	Mistborn (series)
2009	Warbreaker	Stand-Alone
2010	The Way of Kings	The Stormlight Archive
2011	The Alloy of Law	Mistborn Adventures
2012	The Emperor's Soul	Short Work
2013	Shadows for Silence in the Forests of Hell	Dangerous Women Anthology
2014	Words of Radiance	The Stormlight Archive
	Sixth of the Dusk	Shadows Beneath Anthology
2015 (forthcoming)	White Sand	Graphic Novel
	Shadows of Self	Mistborn Adventures
2016 (forthcoming)	Bands of Mourning	Mistborn Adventures
	Stones Unhallowed (working title)	The Stormlight Archive

Forthcoming

• The Lost Metal, the fourth and final Era 2 Mistborn novel.
• The Silence Divine, a novella that will take place on Ashyn, a planet on Greater Roshar.
• Nightblood, the sequel to Warbreaker
• Elantris sequel and Elantris finale, the sequels to Elantris. These will be written in between the break of Stormlight 5 and Stormlight 6, and needs to be written before the next Mistborn trilogy can be written.
• Era 3 Mistborn trilogy, the trilogy with Allomancy in a modern, 1980s technology level. This will be written in between the break of Stormlight 5 and Stormlight 6.
• Dragonsteel, the origin story of Hoid. This will not be written until after the Stormlight Archive is finished.
• Era 4 Mistborn trilogy, the science fiction trilogy. Hoid is a main character of this. This will be last known cosmere sequence, chronologically.