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Your search for the tag 'terris' yielded 25 results

  • 1

    Interview: May, 2010

    Chaos

    Since the dawn of Scadrial, why was Feruchemy isolated in a single distinct population in the world, namely the Terrismen? Allomancy, while rare within the population of Scadrial, at least was not isolated to one population, it was spread evenly, it seems. What is special about the Terrismen that only they get the power of Feruchemy? Does it have something to do with the previous Ascensions before Rashek, with the guardian keeping the power for a time?

    Brandon Sanderson

    It's all in the spiritual DNA, which is passed on like normal DNA. However, they are a separate people. They've kept themselves isolated, similar to the jews in our world. When I asked he said there have been some Feruchemical-mistings in the past, but they are very rare.

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  • 2

    Interview: Oct, 2008

    Chaos (15 October 2008)

    How were the Terris Prophecies created in the first place? Every other magic related thing is quite logically explained in terms of Ruin and Preservation, except that one.

    Brandon Sanderson (15 October 2008)

    The Terris prophecies were created by Preservation before he attempted his imprisonment. He knew that he wouldn't be able to do much for the world after he did what he did, and he foresaw a LOT of what was to come.

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  • 3

    Interview: Oct, 2008

    Chaos (15 October 2008)

    When did Preservation decide to imprison Ruin in the Well? No need to be specific, I should think. A simple "Near Alendi's time" or "Way before Alendi's time" would suffice, or whichever time of reference you want to use.

    Also, this one is not a question, but nice Hoid reference in there. I especially like it how the Ars Arcanum refers to Slowswift as "bears a striking resemblance to a well-known storyteller." I'm on to you...

    Brandon Sanderson (15 October 2008)

    Way before Alendi's time. Hence the need for the prophecies. But Ruin managed to corrupt them.

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  • 4

    Interview: Oct, 2008

    Tyran Amiros (16 October 2008)

    How/why did you decide to go with Sazed as the epigraph author? I'll admit I was absolutely positive it was going to be Rashek, if only because of the parallelism (ancient story in epigraphs/modern story in text).

    Brandon Sanderson (16 October 2008)

    I chose Sazed because I felt that Rashek would have just been too obvious. I wanted this book to look toward the future, particularly with the ending. The epigraphs have been a fun and unique part of these books, and I wanted to make sure the ones in the third book were as good as the ones in the first two books. Also, there's a theme—there's always a secret in the epigraphs. In the first one, it's that Rashek was really the Lord Ruler. In the second book, it was the textual changes hinting that Ruin was manipulating the prophecies. In the third book, I wanted to have an equally surprising reveal to the epigraphs, and knew that it had to be something different from the other two. Hence Sazed. (Plus, I really wanted to dig into answering some world questions that I felt couldn't be answered by anyone other than Sazed.)

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  • 5

    Interview: Oct, 2008

    VegasDev (16 October 2008)

    The other lake in Alendi's bumps?

    Brandon Sanderson (17 October 2008)

    A manifestation of Ruin's gathered consciousness, much like the dark mists in book two. The lake was still around in Vin's era, but had been moved under ground. (Note that the Well is a very similar manifestation. You've also seen one other manifestation like this....)

    PETER AHLSTROM

    Such as...this?

    The "lake" was barely ten feet deep—more like a pool. Its water was a crystalline blue, and Raoden could see no inlets or outlets.
    If that's what you're hinting at...I never thought of the connection before! I just kept thinking of Aether of Night, and never thought of this pool at all.

    BRANDON SANDERSON

    Both are accurate, but the first is what I meant, as most people here don't have access to Aether.

    CHAOS

    I'm also thinking that the Dor in Elantris is another Shard of Adonalsium. Certainly in the Elantris world, where the Dor came from is rather ambiguous, which I expected it would be. Of course, if other Shards of Adonalsium do exist, the Dor could have come from that source.

    BRANDON SANDERSON

    I will RAFO from here on the other Shards of Adonalsium, as it would be better for me not to give spoilers. Please feel free to speculate. Readers have met four shards other than Ruin and Preservation.

    PETER AHLSTROM

    Have we met these four by name, or just by influence? I can't think of a name that would go with the one that the Elantris lake is a manifestation of.

    Hoid could be one? I know nothing his purpose other than that he shows up in lots of different books, sometimes begging and sometimes telling stories. Since most of these series happen on different planets (though two of them may happen on the same planet as each other), I'm assuming he has mad planet-hopping skills.

    ...Nightblood...

    BRANDON SANDERSON (20 OCTOBER)

    Ookla, I'm going to be tight lipped on this, as I don't want to give things away for future books. But I'll tell you this:

    You've interacted with two directly.
    One is a tough call. You've never met the Shard itself, but you've seen its power.
    The other one you have not met directly, but have seen its influence.

    CHAOS (18 OCTOBER)

    I thought Nightblood was explained sufficiently for my tastes in Warbreaker, so I doubt that it is a Shard, but I've been plenty wrong before. Also, I don't know if Hoid could even be a Shard. Certainly he has mean planet-hopping skills, but I don't know what purpose a celestial storyteller would have in this universe. He doesn't really have the same kind of power as Ruin or Preservation did, so normally I would rule him out right off the bat. But it is possible that these Shards come in many shapes, not just in the near-deific quantity Ruin or Preservation had. I think it's a bit of a stretch to say Hoid is a Shard... but, then again, I don't have any ideas for what those four other Shards are.

    Maybe Hoid is just a traveler trying to find remnants of Adonalsium and stories about them. He doesn't need to be a shard, I suppose.

    BRANDON SANDERSON (20 OCTOBER)

    This is slightly a tangent, but here is a relevant chunk from the Warbreaker Annotations. As this won't be posted for months, I'll put it here as a sneak preview.

    Chapter Thirty-Two

    This whole scene came about because I wanted an interesting way to delve into the history. Siri needed to hear it, and I felt that many readers would want to know it. However, that threatened to put me into the realm of the dreaded info dump.

    And so I brought in the big guns. This cameo is so obvious (or, at least, someday it will be) that I almost didn’t use the name Hoid for the character, as I felt it would be too obvious. The first draft had him using one of his other favorite pseudonyms. However, in the end, I decided that too many people would be confused (or, at least, even more confused) if I didn’t use the same name. So here it is. And if you have no idea what I’m talking about. . .well, let’s just say that there’s a lot more to this random appearance than you might think.

    CHAOS (17 OCTOBER)

    Brandon, I believe in one of Sazed's epigraphs, he actually called it "Adonasium" rather than what you are referring to here, which is "Adonalsium". I'm thinking that's just a typo, right?

    I don't suppose you could tell us which book series of yours will tell us more about Adonalsium, would you? You know, just so us theorizers on the forum know when to properly theorize about these things...

    BRANDON SANDERSON

    Well, I guess this means that the proofreaders did not add the "L" when I marked the error on the manuscript.(sigh). Yes, the correct spelling is Adonalsium. I will try to get this fixed for the paperback, but I've been trying to get that blasted steel/iron error in the back of book one fixed for two years now. . .

    If it helps, Sazed would probably under-pronounce the "L" as that letter, like in Tindwyl's name, is said very softly in Terris.

    As for your other question, you will have to wait and see. Now, you could search my old books for clues, but I would caution against this. While there are hints in these, they are not yet canon. Just as I changed how things were presented in the Mistborn books during editing, I would have fixed a lot in these books during revision. Beyond that, reading them would give big spoilers for books yet to be released. White Sand, Dragonsteel, and Way of Kings in particular are going to be published some day for almost certain. (Though in very different forms). Aether of Night should be safe, as should Final Empire prime and Mistborn prime, though of those three, only Aether is worth reading, and then only barely. (It is still pretty bad).

    Footnote

    Peter's quote is from Elantris. It's the pool that Raoden finds in the mountains above Elantris.

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  • 6

    Interview: Oct, 2008

    Kaimipono (16 October 2008)

    What was Vin supposed to do at the end of Well of Ascension? How exactly did not-using the power, end up releasing Ruin? I still don't get how that all worked. Can you explain it?

    Brandon Sanderson (17 October 2008)

    What was she supposed to do? Well, this is difficult to answer, since the prophecies have been changed and shifted so much. Originally, the prophesies intended for a person to go take the power every thousand years and become a protector of mankind for a period of time. Someone to keep an eye on Ruin in Preservation's absence and watch over the world as he would have done. Imagine an avatar who arrives every thousand years and lives for their lifetime blessing the people with the power of Preservation, renewing Ruin's prison, and generally being a force for protection. (Note that Ruin wouldn't have gotten out if the prison wasn't renewed, he'd simply have been able to touch the world a little bit more.) Obviously, it changed a LOT during the years that Ruin was playing with things.

    What should she have done? Well, Ruin's release was inevitable. Even if she hadn't let him go, the world would have 'wound down' eventually. The ashfalls would have grown worse over the centuries, and the next buildup of the Well might not have come in time for them to do anything. Or, perhaps, mankind would have found a way to adapt. But Ruin was going to get himself out eventually, so the choice Vin made was all right. There weren't really any good choices at this point. She could have decided to take the power and become a 'good' Lord Ruler, trying to keep the world from falling apart. Of course, she would have had to make herself immortal with Hemalurgy to make that work right. And since she was already tainted, chances are good she wouldn't have ended up any better than the Lord Ruler himself.

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  • 7

    Interview: Oct, 2008

    Kaimipono (16 October 2008)

    If Sazed is the Hero of Ages, then who is the Announcer?

    Brandon Sanderson (17 October 2008)

    The Announcer was a fabrication of Ruin intended to reinforce the person HE wanted to be the Hero.

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  • 8

    Interview: Oct, 2008

    Czanos (17 October 2008)

    When Vin is feeling out The Lord Ruler's final message plate, she finds a circle with a dot at the center. What does that mean?

    Brandon Sanderson (17 October 2008)

    No big reveal here. That was to mean the center of the empire, which allowed one to place the map (which was very abstract) in reference to the empire.

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  • 9

    Interview: Oct, 2008

    sporkify (18 October 2008)

    Before, Inquisitors had supernatural healing. How did they get the Feruchemists for the spike? Were the keepers not so hidden after all?

    Brandon Sanderson (20 October 2008)

    The keepers have been hunted for years. Much like skaa Allomancers, they were often captured and taken by the Inquisitors. It didn't happen nearly as often, of course. Two things to remember, however: Not all Inquisitors had the same spikes, and spikes CAN be reused with much less effectiveness. The longer they are outside of a body, the more their power degrades.

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  • 10

    Interview: Oct, 2008

    Pygmalion (19 October 2008)

    ......wooooooooooooooah......

    I still can't stop thinking that in my head. It's all that's really coming to mind at the moment.

    I made the stupid mistake of finishing the book this afternoon in a public place. Therefore I looked like a complete moron as I burst into tears when Elend died. I think it was a good ending. I'm still not totally decided on that. I'm just in shock.

    It's just so amazing how the books progressed, developing into this huge cosmic epic that I never expected from just reading The Final Empire a year ago. I guess in some sense what I'm feeling is a slight sense of... awe, maybe? I want to know how he comes up with stuff. I mean seriously, talk about not just writing another fantasy series.

    But I'm also shocked that no one else seemed to have figured out that Sazed was the Hero of Ages. I thought it might be him when I started the book, but it could as easily have been Vin or Elend. But at about a third of the way through, page 215 to be exact, there was this line from Sazed thinking in his head:

    "I am, unforunately, in charge."

    Sound familiar?

    "I am, unfortunately, the Hero of Ages."

    No one else would have used the same wording as Sazed did when he was thinking to himself. I have to assume that was intentional on Brandon's part. It was very subtle... I'm actually surprised I noticed.

    Brandon Sanderson (20 October 2008)

    I'm gratified that you noticed. The Terris dialect IS very subtle. That speech pattern is one hint, the other is the use of "I think" to soften phrases at the ending. Beyond that, Sazed speaks with compound, complex sentences using frequent hedging to indicate that he's often uncertain. (That's another Terris speech pattern, not wanting to offend with language.)

    The epigraphs in this book particularly (though I did it for Kwaan too) are intended to "sound" Terris, and like Sazed in particular. I didn't think anyone would catch it. You made my day!

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  • 11

    Interview: Jul 29th, 2006

    Brandon Sanderson

    An item of note his in this chapter bump. I mention 'Terris' for the first time here, which I was glad that I was able to do. Remember that name, because you'll soon get a lot more about that country.

    I do worry that the bumps will make the book feel a little too much like a standard fantasy. Mention of prophesies and the like has become such a cliché in fantasy that I avoid them whenever I can. The story in MISTBORN doesn't really deal much with that aspect of the history, but the story that is happening in the bumps has quite a bit to do with it.

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  • 12

    Interview: Sep, 2012

    Thoughtful Spurts

    What do the Terrismen who aren't stewards or breeders do? Are there castrated Terris craftsmen around in the Terris dominance? what do the terriswomen who aren't breeders do?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Lots of things. There is a full society up there. Lots of small villages.

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  • 13

    Interview: Sep, 2012

    JamesW

    You said that Preservation created the Terris Prophecies. Why couldn't ruin see into the future and counter Preservation's plan? Is it because Ruin's intent has him focusing more on the present than the future, while Preservation (wanting to preserve forever) looks more into the future for that goal.

    Brandon Sanderson

    Looking into the future was not something Ruin was good at doing. That ability is confined to certain shards, and not others.

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  • 14

    Interview: Sep, 2012

    Nesh

    Was Realmatic theory known to Kwaan or his people?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Realmatic theory was part of the ancient Terris religion.

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  • 15

    Interview: Sep 24th, 2013

    Chris King (Miyabi)

    What are some characteristics of and how many other wordhoppers are there that we have seen excluding Hoid, Demoux, and Galladon.

    Brandon Sanderson

    You gave me really good wiggle room on that one. Obviously the other person with Galladon and Demoux.

    Chris King (Miyabi)

    Right, the one from a future book.

    Brandon Sanderson

    His characteristics are… What is he like? Some people have read his book so they know what he's like…

    Chris King (Miyabi)

    Which book is he from?

    Brandon Sanderson

    He's from White Sand.

    Chris King (Miyabi)

    Okay, that's one I have but have not gotten to.

    Brandon Sanderson

    It's only mediocre so don't worry about it. Let's see what other worldhoppers I want to give you clues about… There’s a Terriswoman running around, if you keep your eyes open.

    Chris King (Miyabi)

    I have to read it, everything.

    Brandon Sanderson

    Who else do I want to talk about… Words of Radiance has a couple good ones, that will be pretty obvious.

    Footnote

    The Terriswoman worldhopper was later revealed to be in Warbreaker though her identity is still unknown.

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  • 16

    Interview: Mar 21st, 2014

    EHyde

    I was wondering, on Roshar, what sort of plants and animals do they use for fabrics, since they don't have a lot of wooly animals and the plants are different?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Most of them are plant-based. I think I've mentioned one of the plants.

    EHyde

    They have silk though, right?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yes. It's called sea-silk, they grow it in the water. It comes from the coasts.

    EHyde

    So they don't have anything like our silk, then?

    Brandon Sanderson

    If you looked at it, you would call it silk, but it is being produced in a very different way.

    EHyde

    Our silk comes from insect cocoons, and they have a lot of that there, but they don't use it for fiber at all?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Insect cocoons on Roshar are either, they melt in water from the highstorm cycle, or they have stone in them, so they don't work really well for textiles. There are certain rockbuds you can shred the inside of the shell to get a textile, there's sea silk that grows out in the ocean, and there are other plants of a similar nature.

    EHyde

    I was also wondering about the Steel Alphabet in the Mistborn books, each letter aesthetically looks like it's built from a cuff, a spike, and a bead, and was that intentional to reflect the magic systems?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yes. Do remember that that writing system was developed by the Final Empire. They actually took the ancient Terris symbols and made them more to their aesthetic over time.

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  • 17

    Interview: Mar 21st, 2014

    Rhandric

    Is Vasher trying to find Nightblood?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Vasher misses Nightblood and feels responsible for him.

    Rhandric

    How many worldhoppers have we seen?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Oh, I haven't kept track, you've seen quite a few. There's one from Mistborn, did you catch him? I don't think people have really picked out the Terriswoman yet, who makes her way into them, but they're mostly not supposed to be noticeable yet, until you get to know them as characters and you look back and be like "oh that was that person."

    Rhandric

    Is it the Terriswoman I think it is?

    Brandon Sanderson

    I don't know which Terriswoman you think it is.

    Rhandric

    Tindwyl?

    Brandon Sanderson

    No.

    Kurkistan

    Speaking of the Terriswoman, is she the nurse in Warbreaker?

    Brandon Sanderson

    < Pauses; gleefully says > RAAAAAAFO!

    Footnote

    The last Q&A was transcribed by Kurkistan.

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  • 18

    Interview: Jan 24th, 2012

    Fireox

    Do we know the exact purpose for creating 3 different symbols for each book's metals (chapter symbols)? Is it for the 3 metallic arts? If so, which belong to which? More info…

    Isaac Stewart

    Hi FireOx! The three sets of symbols show the progression of the Allomantic text through the ages. The earliest script is from Hero of Ages. It was changed and modified into the Terris script symbols we see in Well of Ascension. After more time, the Terris script morphed into what is now known as the Allomantic Alphabet or the Steel Alphabet, which are the symbols used in Mistborn: The Final Empire. We've extrapolated the Steel Alphabet into a script that’s more-standardized and refined for the chapter headings in Alloy of Law, which takes place 300 years after Hero of Ages.

    Thanks for the question!

    Footnote

    Retrieved from the wayback machine

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  • 19

    Interview: Aug 13th, 2014

    Question

    As Feruchemistry is the magic system combined from Ruin and Preservation's powers, and they created humankind on Scadrial, how is it that it only occurs in persons with Terrispeople in their ancestry?

    Brandon Sanderson

    RAFO. :)

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  • 20

    Interview: Aug 13th, 2014

    Question

    In Well of Ascension, it mentions that the language of Terris had a gender neutral pronoun. If you actually constructed the language, what was that pronoun? Or did you just leave it as its English translation of "it"?

    Brandon Sanderson

    I didn't spend a long time on the languages in Scadrial, since most people were speaking the same tongue. I just used "it" in my own writings. Roshar has a lot more detail on the languages, because culture-clash is a bigger part of the theme of the series.

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  • 21

    Interview: Aug 1st, 2007

    Brandon Sanderson (Chapter 14)

    Yes, it was probably stupid of the crew to leave Elend alone with Tindwyl. I pushed this situation a little bit farther than, perhaps, is plausible. However, you have to remember how the Terris people are regarded by those in Luthadel. Terrismen are, in general, such kind and loyal servants that it's hard for Elend and the others to feel distrust for one.

    I was very pleased with this scene when I wrote it. I'd known from the beginning that I wanted to bring another strong female character into this book, as well as give Elend a mentor for kingship. Tindwyl fills both of those roles remarkably well. She also gives us another look at Terris culture—it's always difficult in a book like this to distinguish the cultures from the people. If you have only one Terrisman in a book, then he doesn't just represent himself—he represents all of his people. And so, unless you show another side of that culture, the person and where they come from become the same thing.

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  • 22

    Interview: Oct 9th, 2015

    Question

    Aradel doesn’t sound like he is from Scadrial, seems out of place with his dark - well, tanned, - skin.

    Brandon Sanderson

    Aradel is actually based off Goradel, he is a descendant of his. So he is local. The skin, there are streaks of dark skin in Scadrial, they don’t associate them 100% with ethnicities because of the small [gene] pool they were building from, and they are stronger in the Terris bloodlines. So if they see someone with darker skin they will likely think they are from Terris, but there’s so much intermixing so that you can’t really say. Wax would have a darker complexion, maybe like a tanned caucasian.

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  • 23

    Interview: Feb 22nd, 2016

    Question

    What race is Sazed?

    Brandon Sanderson

    The Terris have intermixed to the point that they… Skin tone run the gamut, from being indistinguishable to being darker skinned. When I say darker-skinned I mean say, like as perhaps as a dark Indian, East Indian… But they can range in that skin tone.

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  • 24

    Interview: Feb 20th, 2016

    Question

    Is Drehy Terris?

    Brandon Sanderson

    No, his descriptions are because Drehy is based on a friend, just an inside joke.

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