From the ash-covered wastelands of Scadrial, to the raging highstorms of Roshar, the vast,
trans-planetary world of the Cosmere is one of the most ambitious literary undertakings in fiction.
The brainchild of modern fantasy phenomenon Brandon Sanderson, this shared universe is
where iconic series like Mistborn, Elantris, and the Stormlight Archive take place. It is chock
full of imaginative magic systems, capricious gods, ongoing mysteries, and heroic clashes
which strike to the very core of what makes modern fantasy the juggernaut that it is today.
As we plan to talk about Brandon Sanderson’s fantastic worlds and stories in various upcoming
series, we should first explain the common rules and concepts of the shared universe where they all
take place. Welcome to the Wizards and Warriors channels’ introduction to the Cosmere: the most
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Although much has yet to be revealed of the inner workings of the Cosmere, we know that much of the
creation of this universe centers around a single entity, Adonalsium, a divine god-like being whose
exact nature Sanderson has yet to elaborate upon. Whatever Adonalsium was, however, it essentially
served as the Cosmere’s power of creation which permeated through all things within the universe.
Long before the Cosmere came to exist in its current form, a group of sixteen mortals came
together and conspired to destroy God. The events surrounding the murder of Adonalsium are shrouded
in mystery. However, within the Cosmere, the only true certainty is that nothing can ever truly be
destroyed, only changed. Thus, rather than be wiped entirely from existence, the power of
Adonalsium was sundered into sixteen shards, each one an aspect of his personality. These shards
were Devotion, Dominion, Preservation, Ruin, Odium, Cultivation, Honor, Endowment, Autonomy,
Ambition, Invention, Mercy, Valor, and Whimsy. Each of the God’s sixteen mortal murderers claimed
one of the Shards, becoming known as Shardholders, and coming to possess a fragment of divinity.
In short, the sixteen had killed their deity and in doing so had become Gods themselves.
"There was a God. Adonalsium. I don't know if it was a force or a being,
though I suspect the latter. Sixteen people, together, killed Adonalsium, ripping it apart
and dividing its essence between them, becoming the first who ascended." -Khriss to Kelsier
The Shardholders scattered, either creating their own worlds, or settling on worlds
Adolnasium had created before his murder. There, they expanded upon Adonalsium’s initial creations,
with the worlds they came to reside upon becoming known as Shardworlds. Where the Shards settled,
they brought with them massive amounts of Investiture, the spiritual energy
which empowers all of the Cosmere’s forms of magic. Indeed, each of the worlds which came
to be inhabited by a Shard developed magic systems powered by investiture,
with the form and nature of their magic determined by the influence of the Shardholder on that world.
This serves to explain why, within a single Universe, each world differs so greatly in
the magic they are capable of utilizing, from the stormlight powered surgebinding of Roshar,
to the metallic allomancy of Scadrial. The concept of Investiture is vital in understanding the
functioning of the Shards and their impact on the individual denizens of the Cosmere.
Investiture is essentially the common denominator in the otherwise vastly different, seemingly
unrelated forms of magic in this universe, and everyone who resides within the confines of the
Cosmere is Invested in some manner or another. Despite their omnipotent presence in all of
Sanderson’s stories, the Shards of Adonalsium are mysterious beings who we don’t know much about.
As previously mentioned, each is named after a specific action or ideal,
which is known as an intent. Moreover, the Shard itself is not the same entity as the mortal who
bares it. A shard must always be controlled by an individual mind, and when a person holds a Shard,
the power which resides within it imbues the individual. Currently, some Shards are still
held by their original claimant, while other Shards have changed bearers over the millennia.
When the original sixteen each claimed their Shards, they were unaware of the
impact of harnessing such power would have on them. The power of divinity overwhelmed them,
and they became overcome by an overwhelming desire to follow the intent of their individual shard.
This caused conflict across the planets of the Cosmere, for while Shards with more peaceful
intent like Honor, Cultivation, and Preservation had a mandate to ensure peace and growth on the
worlds they inhabited, Shards with more… passionate intent, like Odium and Ruin,
were often sources of conflict, destruction, and chaos on those selfsame worlds.
Let us now shift our narrative away from the Shards of Adonalsium, and tackle the other complex
way in which this universe is divided, by diving into the esoteric beast that is Realmatic Theory.
On top of being trans-planetary, the Cosmere is also a multi-dimensional universe,
which exists on three different planes of reality known as realms:
the Physical Realm, the Cognitive Realm and the Spiritual Realm.
“We don’t sleep; we don’t eat. I think we might feed off humans, actually. Your
emotions. Or you thinking about us, maybe. It all seems very complicated. In Shadesmar,
we can think on our own, but if we go to your realm, we need a human bond. Otherwise,
we’re practically as mindless as those gloryspren.” —Sylphrena on the nature of spren
The physical realm is the most easily understood realm, as it is the world in which mortals,
humans withstanding, inhabit. The Spiritual Realm is the Realm of the Soul. It is believed that this
Realm acts as the afterlife for the denizens of the Cosmere. The Spiritual is by far the most
mysterious of the three realms, and is not certain if even the Shardholders themselves can access
this Realm fully. In this realm, every person has what is known as a spiritweb, which is made up of
a latticework of lines, but the individual shape of each persons’ spiritweb differs.
The Cognitive Realm is much better documented, but tricky to fully understand. It is known to
the people of Roshar as Shadesmar, and is the realm of thoughts and ideas made manifest. It
is the home of various immortal-ish beings called Spren: sentient fragments of the
power of creation associated with some aspect of nature or human personality. The Cognitive realm
can be used in a process called Worldhopping. The individual worlds of the Cosmere are much closer
to one another within this Realm than that of the physical realm, and a Worldhopper can effectively
walk to other planets. The most important Worldhopper throughout the Shardworlds is Hoid.
However, in the interests of avoiding speculation and conjecture as to his true being and purpose,
we will not delve too deeply into his story. A further qualifying factor in Worldhopping is
that a perpendicularity, in essense a magical gate at the junction of the three realms, is needed to
move from world to world. Perpendicularities form only where investiture is extremely concentrated,
and as such are usually found where a Shardholder is concentrating their power.
“At these points, Physical matter, Cognitive thought, and Spiritual essence become one and
a being can slide between realms.” Excerpt from Khriss’ essay on the Drominad system.
Let us now jump back into the physical realm, and discuss the many planets of the Cosmere,
the societies that inhabit them, and the magics they use. Within the Cosmere itself
there are countless inhabited worlds, although only ten of which are known to be inhabited by
Shards of Adonalsium, thus having their own soul and unique magic system as a result.
Of the ten Shardworlds nine have been revealed by Brandon, which we will now do a survey of.
Ashyn is the world where the upcoming novel ‘The Silence Divine’ will take place,
and is where the Shard Odium once dwelled until a cataclysmic event took place,
forcing the residents, Odium among them, to make their way to another world. Ashyn is the first
planet from the sun on the Rosharan system, and prior to the great calamity which left
much of the world uninhabitable, it was largely earth-like. The small pockets which still allow
for human inhabitation contain sizable populations including the famous floating cities of Ashyn. Its
magic system focused on a symbiotic relationship between Investiture and bacteria and viruses,
with individuals deliberately seeking to get sick, and gaining magical powers as a result.
The planet Braize is located within Greater Roshar and is the current home of the Shard Odium. This
planet is the farthest out of the three within the Rosharan system. It is cold and inhospitable in
its nature and serves principally as a prison for Odium’s immortal minions, as well as the Heralds
of Roshar, whose ability to endure torture on this planet is all that holds back devastation
from coming upon the humans of Roshar. More on that in our future Stormlight Archive videos.
“First of the Sun” is a planet that lies within the Drominad system, and is where the book Sixth
of Dusk takes place. The Drominad system comprises three worlds that are inhabited by fully developed
human societies. This makes it unique within the Cosmere, as only the Rosharan system can
rival it in terms of inhabited worlds. Water is the dominant feature of these worlds and
the first world contains a perpendicularity, which is particularly mysterious, as there is
no Shard residing within this system. The magic system on this planet is called Aviar, a form of
powers derived from partnership with birds. Nalthis provides the setting for the book
Warbreaker, and is the residence of the shard Endowment. Little is known of the geography
of Nalthis. However, there is a large inland sea which is exceptionally valuable for trade.
At least one third of this sea’s coast is owned by the most powerful kingdom on Nalthis, Hallandren.
This Kingdom is unique, as it is the only known place on the planet where the Tears of Edgli will
grow. The magic system here is known as BioChroma. Roshar provides the setting for Sanderson’s
flagship series: the Stormlight Archive. It is where the Shards Honor and Cultivation reside,
while Odium also exercises a considerable influence over this planet as well.
Roshar is colossal by Cosmere standards, although it is still slightly smaller than Earth.
The landscape of Roshar varies massively and has been impacted by the continued effect of gigantic
Invested thunderstorms which regularly ravage the planet's surface from east to west. To survive
these highstorms, the flora and fauna of Roshar have adapted in a way that makes them extremely
bizarre and alien to our earth-like sensibilities. Magic systems on Roshar include fabrial science,
Surgebinding, Voidbinding, and the Old Magic. Next on our list of planets is ash-covered
Scadrial, which provides the setting for the Mistborn series, and is the residence of the
Shards Preservation and Ruin. The conflict between these two Shards has led to an
exceptionally powerful form of Investiture centered around the manipulation of metal,
which takes the forms of Hemalurgy, Allomancy, and Feruchemy. The position of the planet is
also subject to change, as certain exceptional individuals in Scadrial’s history have gained
access to vast amounts of power in the past, allowing them to literally move the planet.
Sel is the planet upon which the books Elantris and the Emperor’s Soul take place,
and is inhabited by the Shards Devotion and Dominion. These Shards were immensely
influential in shaping the development of the human populace of Sel, which consists of multiple
empires that live in wilful ignorance of one another within the three domains of the planet.
The world itself is also larger than most, with huge continents and endless oceans creating what
is truly a diverse landscape, which contains both snow-covered plains and sweeping deserts. The
forms of magic on Sel include The Dor, Forgery, Bloodsealing, Dakhor, and hints of a Jendo power.
Taldain is the planet upon which the book White Sand is set and provides a home to the Shard
Autonomy. It is a tidally locked world which is trapped between the gravitational force of two
stars. The smaller of the two is a far weaker white dwarf which is barely visible from the
Darkside of Taldain, and the denizens inhabiting this side of Sel consider uniform darkness to be
the natural state of things. Dayside, which provides a stark contrast to Nightside,
is made up of a vast desert, and faces the larger star which is a bluish white supergiant. As a
result of this excess sunlight, the majority of flora and fauna on Dayside grows underground.
Visitation of this planet has halted in recent times due to Autonomy’s policy of isolationism,
preventing travel to and from Taldain. The form of magic practiced here is known as Sand Mastery.
Threnody provides the setting for the book Shadows for Silence in the
Forests of Hell and was once the residence of the Shard Ambition.
The Threnodite system is a strange one, in that it was altered fundamentally by an ancient conflict.
Soon after Adonalsium’s murder, Odium mortally wounded the Shard Ambition here.
The direct clash between these two immensely powerful Shards had a tangible effect on the
system as the destruction and change filtered down through the various worlds. Threnody is the
third such world in this system. Investiture existed here prior to the clash, yet it was
fundamentally altered afterwards as shattered elements of Ambition’s power were brought to
the planet upon the waves of destruction, twisting the people and world of Threnody in equal measure.
The world is made up of two continents. One of these continents has been abandoned,
with expeditions to explore or reclaim it failing in each instance with the explorers vanishing.
The smaller continent is a frontier-like place that is mostly unexplored and unnamed, with
several bastions of human society and civilization eking out a difficult existence. The magic system
on Threnody revolves around Shades and shadow. Little is known of Yolen so far, it is the setting
of the upcoming book Dragonsteel, and contains no Shards. However, the magic system Lightweaving
is practiced here. More importantly, Yolen is one of the most ancient planets in the Cosmere,
and is thought to be the place where the fateful sixteen shattered Adonalsium.
The last planet of note is Vax, which we know almost nothing about. The same can be said for
the tenth unknown world, however, it is believed to be the residence of the Shard Survival.
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This brings us to the end of our whistle-stop tour of the Cosmere, we hope you enjoyed it,
and we cannot wait to explore more of these worlds and their stories in greater depth in future
series’ Please let us know which of Sanderson’s works you would like us to cover in the comments,
but in the meantime, we are planning to cover the battles of many other fantasy,
sci-fi, and space opera universes, so make sure you have subscribed and pressed the
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