Cosmere

The cosmere is a fictional shared universe where many of Brandon Sanderson's books take place. As a result, books set in the cosmere share a single cosmology and underlying rules of magic, and some characters from one world will make appearances on other worlds. Despite the connections, Brandon has remained clear that one does not need any knowledge of the broader cosmere to read, understand, or enjoy books that take place in the cosmere.
The core sequence of the cosmere will consist of the Dragonsteel series, the Elantris trilogy, at least four eras of the Mistborn series, and The Stormlight Archive. The story of the cosmere does not include any books that reference Earth, as Earth is not in the cosmere. For a complete list of books in the cosmere, see the bibliography section below.
The shared "creation myth" of the cosmere revolves around Adonalsium, the power of creation, which was broken into sixteen pieces called Shards in an event known as the Shattering of Adonalsium. The Shards are effectively gods, and magic is derived from their power.
== Properties and Forces ==
=== Realms ===
In the cosmere, everything exists in three Realms: the Physical Realm, the Cognitive Realm, and the Spiritual Realm. The three Realms have existed since the beginning of the cosmere.
When someone in the cosmere dies, their body remains in the Physical Realm and a Cognitive Shadow forms in the Cognitive Realm. For most people, this Cognitive Shadow quickly moves on to the Beyond and their Investiture returns to the Spiritual Realm. The more Investiture someone held in life, the longer they can linger before being drawn to the Beyond, but only Slivers—those who once held a significant portion of a Shard's power—can resist the Beyond forever, though they can still choose to go if they so desire. Before the person passes to the Beyond, however, they can still be restored via Investiture healing or be infused with enough Investiture to become a more permanent Cognitive Shadow, usually as a result of a Shard's action. Those killed by Nightblood or anti-Investiture or consumed by Yelig-nar, however, cannot be resurrected in any way, as nothing remains of their soul.
Time travel to the past, in any of the Realms, is impossible.
==== The Physical Realm ====
In the Physical Realm, the cosmere is a star cluster of about 50 to 100 stars. The Physical Realm is composed of fundamental particles known as axi and follows ordinary laws of physics, except when the other Realms are involved. Currently, there are sixteen known planetary systems in the cosmere, which contain a total of nineteen notable planets. The cosmere is also home to other celestial objects, including several dwarf planets, gas giants, and constellations. At least one person has tried to leave the physical bounds of the cosmere, with unknown results.
==== The Cognitive Realm ====
The Cognitive Realm is closely modeled on the Physical Realm, though there are significant differences. Because the Cognitive Realm is the Realm of thought, it is substantially impacted by how people imagine and perceive ideas. For example, outer space is significantly compressed in the Cognitive Realm, because people do not spend much time thinking about the space between planets. There are also some entities that naturally exist primarily in the Cognitive Realm, such as the spren who personify thoughts, emotions, and natural features, as well as certain Cognitive Shadows.
The appearance of the Cognitive Realm around a particular planet seems to reflect salient characteristics of that planet—around Scadrial, for instance, it is composed of mist, while around Roshar it is composed of spheres. Land and water are inverted in the Cognitive Realm—what is solid land in the Physical Realm is unstable ground in the Cognitive, while bodies of water in the Physical are solid in the Cognitive. As a result, physical beings attempting to traverse non-solid regions of the Cognitive Realm risk drowning in whatever composes the local Cognitive Realm, though cognitive entities can traverse these regions safely.
==== The Spiritual Realm ====
The Spiritual Realm exists beyond space and time. As such, it is not truly a place, but rather is the Realm of concepts like Intent, Identity, Connection, and Fortune. Everything exists in the Spiritual Realm in its ideal form.
Intent is the Spiritual property that expresses a person's considered will or purpose. Intent cannot be formed accidentally; if Intent is required to do something, then the person attempting to do it must not only do it, but mean to do it. Many Invested Arts require their user to act with Intent in order to properly use their magic. Invested entities, like spren, Cognitive Shadows, and even Shards have a fundamental Intent that describes the purpose of the Investiture that constitutes their essence. Indeed, the longer they exist, the more they will become bound by their Intent, unable to act against it. An extreme example of this is Ati, the original Vessel of the Shard Ruin, who was initially a "kind and generous" man, but became so consumed by his Shard's Intent that he sought the complete destruction of Scadrial and even viewed it as necessary.
Along with Intent, there is also the associated concept of Command. Commands are more limited than Intent, but they help to focus the Intent so that Investiture can respond appropriately. While most Commands are related to a certain Invested Art or some other specific method of manipulating Investiture, there are also the Dawnshards, four fundamental Commands that were involved in both the creation of the cosmere and the Shattering of Adonalsium.
Identity is the Spiritual property that demarcates one person or object from another and describes who or what they are. Losing their Identity during the False Desolation turned the singers into slaveform. Identity also serves as the lock and key for metalminds; Feruchemists can only withdraw attributes stored by someone with a matching Identity—ordinarily, this means only attributes they stored. Because Identity describes who a person is, it is closely tied to the concept of a spiritweb, which is sometimes called Spiritual DNA. spiritwebs are not entirely understood, but they are quantifiable in some way, and seem to record information about a person's Investiture, such as the genetics that make one an Allomancer.
Magical healing in the cosmere usually works by using Investiture to make a person's condition in the Physical Realm more closely match their idealized self in the Spiritual Realm, though this idealized self is filtered through the person's perception of themself in the Cognitive Realm. As a result, healing is usually limited by how a person views themself, and once a person accepts something as part of themself, it will not be able to heal.
In addition to containing this information about a person or object's Identity, the Spiritual Realm also stores Connection between people, objects, and even more abstract concepts. For example, a person can form Connection to a region, which will allow them to speak that region's language. In order to take up a Shard after a Vessel dies, a person must be Connected to that Shard.
Because the Spiritual Realm exists beyond space and time, it—along with the associated property of Fortune—can be used to see events in other locations or even the future, though this is generally very difficult.
=== Investiture ===
Just as there is an equivalency between mass and energy, in the cosmere these things can also be exchanged with a magical power known as Investiture. When Investiture is accounted for, the cosmere adheres to the ordinary laws of conservation and thermodynamics. Investiture mostly exists in the Spiritual Realm, though it is more precisely understood as transcending the Realms. However, it can also exist in a "condensed" form in the Physical Realm as solid, liquid, or gas.
If left alone, Investiture will, over time, become self-aware, resulting in a Splinter. Khriss suspects that the land itself on Sel is undergoing a process like this as a result of Devotion and Dominion's Investiture being trapped in the Cognitive Realm. More common examples of this process include seons and spren.
Investiture has a property that associates it with one of the sixteen Shards of Adonalsium; at the Shattering of Adonalsium, all Investiture was divided evenly between the Shards. Even though, as a result of the Shattering, all Investiture is associated with a Shard, Investiture also remains linked to Adonalsium in some way and the Shattering meant "everything and nothing at the same time" to Investiture.
When one form of Investiture attempts to co-opt or corrupt another form of Investiture, it will often produce a red effect. Examples of this include the red smoke given off by Shai's soulstamps when she uses them to temporarily tweak Gaotona's soul, the red haze of Trell invading Scadrial, and the red coloring of some of the spren Enlightened by Sja-anat. Similarly, when some entity possesses or has a strong influence over a person, the person's eyes will often glow red, as seen with the bodies on Scadrial controlled by Autonomy, the soldiers possessed via the Thrill at the Battle of Thaylen Field, and many of Odium's servants, whose souls are corrupted by his power.
Investiture can be divided into two categories: kinetic Investiture and static Investiture. Kinetic Investiture refers to Investiture actively doing something. When Investiture is kinetic, it can often be detected by various methods, such as Allomantic bronze or sand from the Dayside of Taldain. Static Investiture refers to all Investiture not actively doing something, such as a Feruchemical charge in a metalmind. At least some forms of static Investiture, including Lights not actively powering anything, can also be detected by Taldain's sand, though they affect the sand much more slowly than kinetic Investiture does. The term innate Investiture denotes a direct conduit between a person and the Spiritual Realm, such as the piece of Preservation in all Scadrians or Breath, and would likely be a subcategory of static Investiture.
Cosmere scholars term the various methods of utilizing Investiture (such as the Metallic Arts, Surgebinding, and Awakening) Invested Arts. Since the Shattering, these can be grouped into three main categories. The most common are those powered directly by the Shards, which arise from the interactions between a Shard and the planet they are Invested in. Such Invested Arts are capable of far more spectacular results than other Invested Arts. If a planet does not have a Shard in residence, its inhabitants can still access and use Investiture by the ordinary laws of Realmatics, but, without a Shard to provide additional power, the results are far more limited. The last category is the few Invested Arts left over from before the Shattering of Adonalsium, of which the only known example is Yolish Lightweaving.
==== Anti-Investiture ====
Much like there is both matter and antimatter, at least some forms of Investiture can be transformed into a substance known as anti-Investiture. Currently, the only known forms of anti-Investiture are anti-Stormlight and anti-Voidlight, which can be made by at least partially isolating Stormlight or Voidlight respectively from their Shard's pure tone and then exposing it to their Shard's opposite tone; Khriss seems to believe additional forms of anti-Investiture are possible. Anti-Voidlight, at least, looks mostly similar to regular Voidlight, but appears to warp the air around it. When anti-Investiture mixes with Investiture of the same type, the two annihilate in a violent explosion; if the Investiture in question is the soul of a person or that of an entity composed entirely of Investiture, like a spren, then this annihilation results in their permanent death.
=== Perpendicularities ===
When a sufficient amount of Investiture coalesces in one place in the Physical and Cognitive Realms, it creates a junction between all three Realms known as a perpendicularity. Most stable perpendicularities form from the presence of a Shard on a planet and the massive amount of Investiture they bring with them. Sentient beings can use perpendicularities to travel between the Physical and Cognitive Realms, which in turn facilitates easier travel on and off a planet for those with the knowledge to use them.
=== Adonalsium ===
When the cosmere began, there was an entity known as Adonalsium; this entity is widely believed to have created the cosmere. Perhaps for this reason, Adonalsium is sometimes referred to as "the power of creation." Investiture was Adonalsium's power, which has led cosmere scholars to conclude that either Investiture seeks intelligence because it used to be Adonalsium or that Adonalsium came into being because Investiture sought intelligence.
The exact nature of Adonalsium, however, remains unclear. It may have been a mere force that acted according to specific rules or an actual entity that could think on its own; Khriss suspects the latter. The way Adonalsium saw the cosmere was simply the way its magic worked. For example, the spren on Roshar could not form fabrials prior to the Shattering because Adonalsium did not want them to be able to do so. Given Adonalsium had this level of control over the cosmere, some have suggested that Adonalsium may have wanted the Shattering to occur.
Some say there are "subtle forces" being manifest in the cosmere, separate from Adonalsium, likely referring to belief in the God Beyond.
==== Shards of Adonalsium ====
Shards of Adonalsium	Shards of Adonalsium
Shard 	Original Vessel
Devotion 	Aona
Dominion 	Skai
Preservation 	Leras
Ruin 	Ati
Odium 	Rayse
Cultivation 	Koravellium Avast
Honor 	Tanavast
Endowment 	Edgli
Autonomy 	Bavadin
Ambition 	Uli Da
Invention 	Chan Ko Sar
Mercy 	Unknown
Valor 	Medelantorius
Whimsy 	Unknown
Virtuosity 	Unknown
Reason 	Euridrius
During the Shattering, Adonalsium split into sixteen pieces, referred to as Shards of Adonalsium. Each of these Shards has an Intent that represents a particular facet of Adonalsium. Sixteen people involved in the Shattering then took up those Shards, becoming the first Vessels and effectively ascending to godhood. There was some sort of force or property of the cosmere that caused Adonalsium to shatter into the sixteen Shards that it did, and the distribution of the Shards to the Vessels was not random. The number sixteen has some significance to the mechanics of the cosmere, though, as Adonalsium could have split into some other number of Shards, it may have only become significant after the Shattering, and indeed may arise more from the beliefs of sapient creatures than a greater underlying property.
Though the power of a Shard requires a mind to control it, known as a Vessel, the Intent of a Shard will slowly warp the minds of those that hold it, overriding their independence. For example, after Leras Ascended as Preservation, he became unable to cause harm, even to preserve other things. It is unclear whether the original Vessels knew this when they took up their Shards, but, eventually, the Vessels came to be known simply by their Shard's name.
The Shards have access to infinite power, but the Vessels' minds, even though they are expanded by holding the Shard, are not capable of wielding it all at once. The Shards are also limited by certain rules that restrict how they can act; for example, they must fulfill a formally made oath. Failing to do so can give others an opening to act against the Shard who broke an oath; this has, on at least one occasion, resulted in the death of a Vessel. Shards can also intervene to block another Shard's actions, though not perfectly.
Despite these restrictions, however, the Shards are generally capable of both subtle and incredible changes. Among other things, they can change the orbit of entire planets, make changes to individuals and entire species on a genetic level, and alter some of the mechanics of an Invested Art resulting from their presence on a planet. Since Shards exist primarily in the Spiritual Realm, they also have some ability to look into the future, though not all Shards are equally good at this and it fragments into more and more possibilities the further they look.
Shards can also create avatars, beings with access to a portion of the Shard's power who can act autonomously from their Shard, but remain part of the Shard and ultimately cannot act against the Shard's instructions. Avatars stand in contrast to Splinters, who are pieces of a Shard's power that have or could develop free will. Avatars often seem to be used when a Shard wants to influence events on a planet other than the one they are primarily Invested in; for example, Autonomy, who is Invested in Taldain, has avatars on First of the Sun and Obrodai.
Since the Shattering, the Shards have been the primary source of magic in the cosmere. The interactions between their Investiture and a planet give rise to Invested Arts that are far more powerful than those formed by people accessing background Investiture.
Each Shard also has its own pure tone and rhythm, that can often influence and be heard emanating from their Investiture and can become part of the worlds they Invest in. For example, the Lights of Roshar pulse softly to their Shard's tone and rhythm and will follow a source—vocal or instrumental—generating their Shard's tone and both the Well of Ascension on Scadrial and the pulses a Seeker can pick up from someone using Allomancy are related to Preservation's tone and rhythm. Harmonizing the tones and rhythms of two different Shards is part of the creation of hybrid Investiture, like Warlight and Towerlight. Shards also have an opposite tone, which sounds identical to most people but is unpleasant to those attuned to that Shard's Investiture, and can only be created by Intent. This opposite tone can physically repel its Shard's Investiture and can help create anti-Investiture associated with its Shard.
== Planets ==
While the cosmere has a wide array of planets, many of them are uninhabited, not significantly Invested, or otherwise not generally relevant to the broader cosmere. Planets in the cosmere have something akin to souls, likely referring to their presence in the Cognitive and/or Spiritual Realms.
Significant Worlds of the Cosmere	Significant Worlds of the Cosmere	Significant Worlds of the Cosmere 	Significant Worlds of the Cosmere 	Significant Worlds of the Cosmere
Planetary System 	Planet 	Shards 	Books 	Reference
Unknown 	Bjendal 	Unknown 	None (Referenced in The Lost Metal) 	
Unknown 	Canticle 	None 	The Sunlit Man 	
Unknown 	Dhatri 	Unknown 	None (Referenced in The Lost Metal) 	
Drominad System 	First of the Sun 	Patji (Avatar of Autonomy) 	Sixth of the Dusk 	
Unknown 	Lumar 	Unknown 	Tress of the Emerald Sea 	
Unknown 	Mythos 	Unknown 	None (Referenced in The Lost Metal) 	
Nalthian System 	Nalthis 	Endowment 	Warbreaker, Nightblood (unpublished) 	
Unknown 	Obrodai 	Avatar of Autonomy, possibly others 	None (Referenced in Oathbringer) 	
Rosharan System 	Ashyn 	Honor, Odium (combined as Retribution)Cultivation (until the Night of Sorrows)	The Stormlight Archive 	
Rosharan System 	Braize 	Honor, Odium (combined as Retribution)Cultivation (until the Night of Sorrows)	The Stormlight Archive 	
Rosharan System 	Roshar 	Honor, Odium (combined as Retribution)Cultivation (until the Night of Sorrows)	The Stormlight Archive 	
Scadrian System 	Scadrial 	Preservation, Ruin (combined as Harmony) 	Mistborn series 	
Selish System 	Sel 	Devotion, Dominion 	Elantris trilogy, The Emperor's Soul 	
Taldain System 	Taldain 	Autonomy 	White Sand 	
Threnodite System 	Threnody 	Ambition 	Shadows for Silence in the Forests of Hell 	
UTol system 	Komashi 	Virtuosity 	Yumi and the Nightmare Painter 	
UTol system 	UTol 	Virtuosity 	Yumi and the Nightmare Painter 	
Unknown 	Vax 	Unknown 	None (Referenced in Elantris and Mistborn: Secret History)	
Unknown 	Yolen 	None 	Dragonsteel series (unpublished) 	
=== Trishardic Systems ===
The Rosharan system consists of three planets of note. Ashyn was nearly destroyed in an apocalypse long ago, though a few cities remain floating in the atmosphere. Certain bacteria on the planet are able to grant magical powers, including the ability to keep the floating cities aloft. Roshar is a planet with a powerful storm that frequently blows across the continent and where spren can cross into the Physical Realm. Braize is the prison of the Fused where the Heralds are tortured between Desolations. The system is home to the Shards Cultivation and Honor, though the latter has been Splintered; additionally, Odium is currently trapped in the system.
=== Dishardic Systems ===
Scadrial is the most technologically advanced planet and the most similar to Yolen. Its three magic systems all use metal to store and access Investiture. The system is home to the Shards Preservation and Ruin, who have since combined into Harmony.
Sel, also known as Seol, is a large planet with three great domains. It has many magic systems, which are tied to the user's location and are accessed by creating shapes in the proper form, rather like programming. The system is home to the Shards Devotion and Dominion, who have both been Splintered by Odium.
=== Monoshardic Systems ===
The planet Taldain is tidally locked between two stars, a blue-white supergiant and a white dwarf. The side of the planet facing the former, Dayside, is a vast desert where Investiture arrives from the light of the star. Darkside faces the white dwarf, leaving it in perpetual twilight; many things there fluoresce in ultraviolet light. Its Shard, Autonomy, keeps the planet isolated from the rest of the cosmere.
The Drominad system is home to several planets, all of which have water as a dominant feature. Three of them are inhabited by humans, the most of any planetary system in the cosmere at the time Khriss wrote her essay on the system. The innermost planet, First of the Sun has a perpendicularity, though the region around it in the Physical Realm is incredibly dangerous, and is home to Patji, an avatar of Autonomy.
Nalthis is a world of color. Color is needed to fuel its magic system, Awakening, and those with large amounts of Breath will enhance the colors around them and can see perfect shades of colors. When someone dies, Endowment, the resident Shard, occasionally sends their Cognitive Shadow back as a Returned to prevent a tragedy they foresee after their death.
Threnody is a planet with two principal parts: the Fallen World, which is under the control of an unknown entity called the Evil that is so dangerous that everyone was forced to leave, and the Forests of Hell, which is home to dangerous Cognitive Shadows known as Shades. The system used to be home to the Shard Ambition, whose Splintering has severely warped planet.
The UTol system is located near where the Shard Virtuosity Splintered herself and home to two habitable planets. The eponymous planet of UTol is a water-dominated planet inhabited by Sho Del that seems to be well-known in the cosmere by the space age. Its sister planet Komashi is home to humans and Splinters of Virtuosity known as hijo; before the destruction of the father machine, it was notable for an eternal shroud of black Investiture covering the planet.
=== Non-shardic Systems ===
Canticle is an extremely small planet with a dense, Invested core. The light of the system's host star is also Invested; when that light reaches the surface of Canticle, it is quickly pulled down to the planet's core, superheating everything in its path. As a result, people living on the planet must keep moving constantly in order to stay ahead of the sunrise.
Yolen is the original planet of humans and the location of the Shattering. It has few inhabitants in the modern era and has been hidden from most of the people of the cosmere.
=== Other Notable Worlds ===
Dhatri is the homeworld of the aethers, though they have since spread around the cosmere; the world has been made inhospitable due to an entity known as the dark aether.
Lumar is a backwater planet that is home to the aether spores, a compressed form of aether that grows dangerously fast when touched by water, which are produced by a variant strain of the aethers on the twelve moons that hang close to the surface of the planet.
Little is known about Bjendal, Mythos, Obrodai, and Vax. Additionally, there is the homeworld of the Sleepless, which may be one of those four planets. There is also a planet with an ocean in the sky, and one where men fly upon kites.
== History ==
=== Before the Shattering ===
At some point, the Dawnshards were used to create the cosmere.
Investiture still existed at this time, although it had a different form. During this time, Adonalsium created several planets, including the entire Rosharan system; most of the planets in the cosmere existed and were named prior to the Shattering.
The first humans lived on Yolen and were created by Adonalsium. Yolen was also home to a divergent and invasive ecology, known as fainlife. The two other sapient species on Yolen, Sho Del and dragons, are both fain; the Sho Del fill the same niche in the fain ecosystem that humans occupy in the non-fain ecosystem.
Worldhopping was much less common prior to the Shattering, though some people did live on other planets, either traveling there from Yolen or having been created there. By the time of the Shattering, the people of Yolen had learned to use bronze, while people on other planets were still using stone tools.
During this time, Yolen had gods other than Adonalsium, at least some of whom died. There was also a plot to destroy Adonalsium before the Shattering that failed. Hoid, the dragon Frost, and the original Vessels all lived before the Shattering.
=== The Shattering of Adonalsium ===
Eventually, around eleven-thousand years before the True Desolation, a group of people that opposed Adonalsium came together and plotted its destruction. This group included people of all three sapient species on Yolen: humans, dragons, and Sho Del. To achieve their goal, they created a weapon that utilized the Dawnshards. In an event known as the Shattering of Adonalsium, the weapon was used to "undo" Adonalsium, splitting it into the sixteen Shards; the weapon was expended in the process, though remnants of it exist in the Physical Realm and are responsible for Hoid's immortality. As part of the Shattering, sixteen of the people who had opposed Adonalsium took up the new Shards and became the first Vessels. There was some sort of force that caused Adonalsium to shatter into the Shards that it did, and the distribution of the Shards to the Vessels was not random. The Shattering occurred on Yolen, though there is some "weirdness" with regard to Yolen and location, and occurred all at once. As a result of the Shattering, all Investiture in the cosmere became aligned with one of the sixteen Shards.
Hoid was loosely involved in the plot to Shatter Adonalsium and was present at the Shattering. He also had the opportunity to take a Shard, but turned it down. He and Frost both knew the original Vessels personally.
After the Shattering, the new Vessels made some sort of agreement to not interfere with each other, though the exact agreement was somewhat ambiguous and the Vessels who suggested it did not make sure to get a formal oath from the others. Regardless, the Shards then went their separate ways. Most settled on a planet, though Virtuosity instead chose to travel around the cosmere before eventually Splintering herself near the UTol system. Some chose to go off on their own, while others stayed together with other Shards. Around this time, Ruin and Preservation created the planet Scadrial and its inhabitants, using the non-fain parts of Yolen as a guide, and Endowment created humans on Nalthis.
=== Odium's Quest ===
Soon after the Shattering, or possibly even beforehand, the Vessel of Odium, Rayse, decided he wanted to become the strongest being in the cosmere. However, Odium is, by its nature, selfish and Rayse did not want the Intent of an additional Shard to make him into something else, so he instead decided to destroy the other Shards so that there would be no one left to challenge him. To do so, he developed a way to Splinter a Shard's power, which also results in the death of its Vessel.
Odium's first target was Ambition, as he feared that it would be a threat to him. However, while searching for Ambition, over 7700 years before the True Desolation, he encountered the Shards Devotion and Dominion on Sel and attacked them, likely because he could argue they had violated the Vessel's pact to not interfere with each other. In the ensuing battle, Odium successfully splintered Devotion and Dominion and killed their Vessels, Aona and Skai. In order to ensure that no one could take up their Shards, he then somehow moved most of their Investiture from the Spiritual Realm into the Cognitive Realm, which made the Selish Cognitive Realm incredibly dangerous and the Selish Invested Arts location-dependent.
Sometime after he Splintered Devotion and Dominion, Odium finally found Ambition, who had settled in the Threnodite system. Odium attacked and mortally wounded Ambition, though the Shard fled and was ultimately Splintered elsewhere, in a battle with Odium and Mercy. These clashes resulted in a wound in the Spiritual Realm and left ripped-off chunks of Ambition's power in the Threnodite system, which twisted the people and planet of Threnody.
A long time after the Shattering, Odium got permission from Honor and Cultivation to join them in the Rosharan system. Odium never intended to Invest himself in a planet, but, at some point, he became Invested in the Rosharan system to the point where he would now have to leave some of his power behind or forcibly tear it out in order to leave.
Early in his time in the Rosharan system, Odium took an interest in the humans living on Ashyn and encouraged them to experiment with Surgebinding. Those experiments, combined with at least one Dawnshard, set the entire planet on fire, leaving it largely uninhabitable outside of a few small pockets, causing most of the population to flee to Roshar.
At some point while he was in the Rosharan system, Honor and Cultivation used their power to trap him there. As a result, Odium has since been waging a war to free himself from whatever binds him to the system so that he can continue his quest. To that end, he Splintered off pieces of his power to create the Fused, the Unmade, and voidspren, and also Invested in the Rosharan system enough to create and grant access to Invested Art known as Voidbinding. When the Fused first appeared, Honor created the Heralds, who could seal the Fused on Braize, though the Fused tortured the Heralds into allowing them to return to Roshar. Every time a Herald broke, a Desolation would begin and the Heralds and Knights Radiant would fight the Fused until they could be sealed on Braize again. This situation continued for millennia and the Shards remained at a stalemate, especially after nine of the Heralds abandoned the Oathpact, leaving it to Talenel alone, who was better able to withstand the torture on Braize.
Odium's repeated clashes with other Shards have left him with "scars that do not heal," forcing him to become more careful about the battles he engages in.
Many of the other Shards are aware of Odium's actions, though most do not seem to consider him a problem, as long as he remains bound to the Rosharan system. Endowment is currently indifferent to him and thinks he was justified in Splintering the Shards he did; she also believes she could "deal" with him if he becomes an issue. One of Autonomy's avatars, Patji, also expressed indifference, though he did indicate that a different avatar might be more receptive. There is also a Shard who just wants to survive that is aware of Odium's goals and is "smart enough" to stay away, though they have realized over time that may not be the best course of action. Harmony, who only became aware of the threat around the time of the True Desolation, is deeply concerned about Odium, but is unable to do much because of the conflicting nature of his powers. In a letter to Hoid, however, he did suggest that Valor might share some of his concern.
=== The Ascension of Harmony ===
Early in the history of Scadrial, Preservation's Vessel, Leras, sacrificed most of his consciousness to imprison Ruin's mind in the Well of Ascension, preventing him from destroying the planet. In the process, Preservation also stole a piece of Ruin's power and crafted the Pits of Hathsin to hide it; the concentration of Investiture there formed a perpendicularity, which came to support an extensive system of interplanetary trade until Kelsier shattered all of the atium geodes in the Pits in .
After the death of the Lord Ruler, Ruin was successfully able to manipulate Vin into taking up the Well's power and then releasing it, which allowed him to be free. Once free, Ruin was unable to immediately Splinter Preservation, but brought his power to bear against what remained of Leras, slowly killing the Vessel. The Ire, aware of Leras's impending death, sought to use a device to Connect one of their members to Preservation and Ascend in . The device, however, was stolen by Kelsier, who used it after Leras finally died, taking up the portion of Preservation's power that Leras had still been holding and preventing Ruin from Splintering Preservation.
Kelsier continued to hold that power until Vin, Leras's chosen successor, had her link to Ruin—a Hemalurgically charged earring—removed, whereupon she began absorbing the mists and Kelsier released the portion of Preservation's power he held, allowing Vin to Ascend and become the Vessel of Preservation. During the Battle of Hathsin, Vin then sacrificed herself in order to kill Ruin's Vessel, Ati.
Leras, when he held Preservation's power, had foreseen all this and planned for both Ruin and Preservation to be left without a Vessel so that Sazed could take up both Shards and their Intents could moderate each other. As a result of one person holding both Shards, 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. This consolidation of two Shards with one Vessel caused some of the other Shards—notably Odium and Autonomy—to feel threatened or even scared and to begin making plans for dealing with Harmony.
=== Death of Tanavast and the Final Desolation ===
Shortly after the beginning of the False Desolation, Odium threatened to fight Honor directly so that he could be released from his imprisonment and continue his quest, despite the risks such a confrontation posed to him and the destruction it would cause on Roshar. Desperate to protect the planet and its people, Honor offered to deal with the rogue Unmade Ba-Ado-Mishram for Odium and in exchange Odium agreed never to attack Honor and to hold a contest of champions to decide who would rule Roshar if terms could be agreed to in the future. This agreement placed Honor in a precarious position, as he had also previously told Mishram that he would make peace with her if they could do so without Odium intervening.
When Tanavast betrayed Ba-Ado-Mishram by helping imprison her in a perfect gem, the Shard of Honor abandoned him. Odium took the opportunity to kill Tanavast, but the Vessel-less Shard took his memories and a piece of his soul and gave them to the Stormfather. As Honor was desperate for a Vessel, the Shard and the Stormfather eventually agreed that the Stormfather would work to find someone worthy of the Shard who could defeat Odium through the contest of champions that Odium had agreed to before Tanavast's death.
Frustrated by the continued resilience of the Herald Talenel and the damage done to the singers by the imprisonment of Ba-Ado-Mishram, Odium and his servants developed the Everstorm to restore the singers and allow the Fused to circumvent the Oathpact and return to Roshar without Talenel breaking. In late , the Herald Chanarach was killed and returned to Braize. As Odium's forces grew closer to starting another Desolation, Hoid began reaching out to the dragon Frost and several of the Shards, asking them to help in keeping the cosmere safe from Odium. Aside from Harmony, who had not previously been aware of the threat Odium posed, they all rejected Hoid's request as they considered Odium's binding to the Rosharan system sufficient. In late , Chana broke under torture and Odium's servants successfully guided the listeners to summoning the Everstorm, beginning the new Desolation.
After the advent of the Everstorm, Dalinar Kholin founded the coalition of monarchs to oppose Odium's forces and the Knights Radiant were re-established. Acting on the advice Honor had left in his series of visions, they pushed Odium to agree to terms for the contest of champions. Afraid of the unchained Bondsmiths learning more about their powers, Odium met with Dalinar on to set terms. Ultimately he and Dalinar agreed that, no matter the outcome of the contest, Odium would remain bound to the Rosharan system and would cease hostilities against the coalition of monarchs, with only the fate of Alethkar, Herdaz, and Dalinar's soul depending on the outcome of the contest. Later that same day, Taravangian orchestrated an attack on Odium with Nightblood, which killed Odium's Vessel, Rayse. Taravangian then Ascended as the new Vessel of Odium.
On , Dalinar Kholin Ascended as the Vessel of Honor, but quickly renounced his oaths and the oaths of Honor. This lost his position as the Vessel of Honor, and allowed the Shard to be taken up by Taravangian, thus Honor and Odium were combined to birth Retribution. The birth of Retribution caused immense time dilation to occur in the area around Roshar, which Thaidakar suggests would last for around seventy to eighty years for those outside of the zone of influence, but only a decade to those on Roshar. This had a major impact on interplanetary trade and communication, which was even further interrupted by the collapse of the perpendicularities on Roshar and the planet-wide loss of Stormlight.
These events also released Odium, now Retribution, from his prison within the Rosharan system. At the same time, his release led to every other Shard turning their eyes upon him and accepting that he was an active threat, forcing him into a period of hiding.
=== Trell and Scadrial ===
Sometime after the Catacendre, Kelsier founded the Ghostbloods for the purpose of protecting Scadrial. As a result of the moves he was making, others began reaching out to the rest of the cosmere for power, though they were not fully aware what they were doing. Their calls were answered by the Shard Autonomy, who began to make good on the ancient religion of Trelagism that she had founded in the classical era of Scadrial and to create a new avatar of herself on Scadrial, Trell. She backed the Set and the kandra Paalm in their efforts to break Scadrial from Harmony's influence and bring it under her control, while also preparing to destroy the planet if necessary to prevent it from becoming a threat.
As Autonomy's plans neared completion in , she trapped Harmony in a shroud that sharply limited his ability to see the future and prepared the leader of the Set, Telsin Ladrian to become the avatar Trell. Both of her plans for Scadrial were ultimately stopped, as Waxillium Ladrian and Wayne killed Telsin and prematurely detonated the bomb planned to destroy Elendel while Marasi Colms, with help from the Ghostbloods, drained and collapsed the perpendicularity Autonomy had created for her men of gold and red to travel through, preventing them from destroying the planet. Autonomy then withdrew from Scadrial, saying that they had proven themselves for the moment, but that she plans to return.
=== The Space Age ===
At some point, mankind on various planets developed space-faring technology, allowing for interplanetary travel in the physical realm. Many of which made use of zephyr aether for propulsion, whilst others used a hypergolic mixture of a fuel and an oxidizer. Though the Cognitive Realm would remain the preferred method to travel between planets, even as the distance expanded with humanity's growing understanding of the scale of space. Eventually, mankind discovered a method for superluminal travel in the physical realm. This led to growing communication between planets, and the formation of the Silverlight Codes of Interplanetary Conduct. Waystations were also constructed throughout the cosmere.
This greater communication led to growing conflicts between planets, and the birth of a growing arms race that consumed most developed planets. Although during this era, many civilizations remained planetbound. Some parties decided to bring technology to less developed planets, such as the Ones Above bringing their technology to the people of the First of the Sun.
== Worldhoppers ==
Some people who are aware of the broader cosmere have learned how to travel between planets and are known as worldhoppers. Since space in the Cognitive Realm is linked to how people think about that region, most of outer space is extremely compressed in the Cognitive Realm. Therefore, if one could shift from the Physical to the Cognitive Realm, they could quickly travel between planets. The most common method for transfer to the Cognitive Realm is by going through a perpendicularity, though it is also possible with the Surge of Transportation.
Planets are not equally easy to access through the Cognitive Realm and planets may rapidly become less accessible due to local events. While Nalthis is generally easy and safe to reach, and even has customs for travelers to go through, it seems to be more of an outlier in this regard—travel to Sel is incredibly dangerous due to the power of Devotion and Dominion being stuck in the Cognitive Realm, a well-established mercantile system running through Ruin's Perpendicularity on Scadrial is upended overnight when Kelsier destroys the atium in the Pits of Hathsin, Roshar fluctuates between being welcoming and being dangerous, depending on the stage of the conflict between Honor and Odium, Taldain is inaccessible as Autonomy has closed it off from the rest of the cosmere, and travel to Bjendal is disrupted by unknown events.
As a result of these difficulties, people look for other methods of travel. While it may be possible to worldhop using the Spiritual Realm, the primary other method available is faster-than-light travel through space in the Physical Realm. There are multiple ways to create ships that are capable of such travel; the Surge of Transportation and Allomancy both provide viable bases for developing ships that can do so, though the exact mechanics are unknown.
In total, the number of people traveling between planets probably numbers somewhere in the thousands, though this may increase after the development of faster-than-light travel through the Physical Realm. Some of these people are involved in the broader events of the cosmere, but many just want to immigrate to another planet. There is no universal language that all worldhoppers speak, though some can use Connection to speak local languages. These worldhoppers drive a thriving interplanetary trade system that includes the trade of mundane objects from different worlds, rare items like paintings from the Court of the Gods, and at least one courier service. The most important commodity, however, is Investiture, though it is difficult to transport off of its home world as it is strongly Connected to that world and its Shard.
=== Hoid ===
Hoid is a mysterious worldhopper who has been alive since before the Shattering of Adonalsium and was present for that event. He has collected a variety of Invested items from around the cosmere and gained access to multiple Invested Arts. His long-term goals are unclear, but he is an adamant opponent of Odium's attempts to become the sole god of the cosmere. He has written to Frost, Endowment, Autonomy, and Harmony, hoping to enlist their help in dealing with Odium, though only Harmony has responded positively. He has some ability to manipulate Fortune, which lets him learn where and when he needs to be to advance his goals, though he often doesn't know why being somewhere is important.
=== Worldhopping Groups ===
==== The Seventeenth Shard ====
The Seventeenth Shard is a group of worldhoppers that seeks to research and study the various worlds of the cosmere without interfering in existing cultures. They believe the Shards separated for a reason and want to minimize the risk of conflict between the Shards. Frost may have some influence over them, either formally or informally. They are worried about Hoid, as they fear his actions on planets will exacerbate Shardic conflict and, from at least to on the Rosharan calendar, unsuccessfully tried to hunt him down, though they have larger objectives as well.
==== Silverlight ====
Silverlight is a fully-functional city in the Cognitive Realm where many worldhoppers have settled down. Its population, however, also includes many people who are born in the city and spend their entire lives there, including a notable group of Southern Scadrians. The city is home to multiple universities, whose scholars possess a great deal of knowledge about the nature of the cosmere and will conduct expeditions to investigate unusual workings of Investiture to further that knowledge. At least one of those universities was founded by the researcher Khriss, the most knowledgeable person in the cosmere and author of the Ars Arcana. As a result of these efforts and playing host to interactions between societies from across the cosmere, Silverlight enjoys scientific learning and progress that is without parallel in the rest of the cosmere. The city is also home to at least one mercantile enterprise, whose services include an interplanetary postal service that makes use of unknown Invested entities that read Connection to find the location of message recipients.
==== The Ire ====
The Ire is a group of worldhopping Elantrians. They existed prior to the Reod and were able to weather it, though they were off-world when it occurred. Their objectives are unclear, though they did attempt to Ascend one of their members as the Vessel of Preservation after Leras died. At that time, they were at least associated with a group whose forces were keeping the Shades of Threnody contained in the Threnodite system. They have some method of storing and transporting Investiture, which they use to sustain themselves and trade with others, such as the honorspren of Lasting Integrity.
==== The Ghostbloods ====
The Ghostbloods is a cosmere-wide secret society created by Kelsier for the purpose of protecting Scadrial from other forces in the cosmere. To that end, they seek to push technological progress forward and build alliances with other planets. They have recruited several worldhoppers and actively recruit from the Seventeenth Shard's field agents, though the two organizations do not work together. They have also recruited at least one Sleepless, though they are also worried about the Sleepless trying to take over their organization. The Ghostbloods on Roshar are working on finding a way to transport Stormlight from Roshar, where it is easily accessible, to places where Investiture is harder to obtain, though members operating beyond Scadrial are somewhat removed from Kelsier's direct control.
=== Other Notable Worldhoppers ===
Most, if not all, of the Five Scholars of Nalthis were worldhoppers and are well-regarded by the cosmere-aware scholarly community as pioneers of the study of Investiture and Realmatic Theory. After learning from one of the Scholars, Vasher, Vivenna became a worldhopper as well. Felt was involved in trade through the Pits of Hathsin and has been involved in several different worldhopping groups over the years. The dragon Frost is extremely knowledgeable about the cosmere, but is not actually a worldhopper, as he has not left Yolen. The Sleepless are present on several planets across the cosmere, though most have chosen to settle on Roshar and only the Rosharan ones are capable of imitating humans. Additionally, there are several kandra from Scadrial who have become worldhoppers, though they were released from their contract with Harmony sometime after Autonomy's initial incursion on Scadrial.
== Development ==
When Brandon was beginning to write 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, so he decided instead to focus on standalone stories. However, he still loved the idea of a huge epic series, so he decided to create a "hidden" epic to link his novels together. Brandon had seen other authors who made a single universe for all their books, like Isaac Asimov, but didn't like how Asimov had to retcon and shoehorn things together to connect his books, and so wanted to build the cosmere from the beginning, so it would always be consistent.
Some ideas that came into the worldbuilding of the cosmere came from Plato's theory of forms, which contributed to the development of Realmatic Theory. In this, the distinction of what is perceived as "ideal" and what is the true ideal is important: true ideals have much to do with the Spiritual Realm, while people's perception of ideals deals with the Cognitive Realm. Another influence is Spinoza, with the idea that God is in everything. Brandon also incorporated the idea of a "unifying theory of everything" from physics into the magic in the cosmere. All magics have underlying rules, and are derived from a single unified theory of magic.
The cosmere sequence has a clear story that Brandon wants to tell and is fairly firmly outlined as 35 novels, plus a variety of novellas and other works, with the Dragonsteel series, Mistborn series, and The Stormlight Archive forming the core of that story. Dragonsteel will tell Hoid's backstory and the story of the Shattering of Adonalsium; Mistborn will have four series, following Scadrial from the Final Empire to the development of faster-than-light travel and the interaction between the various planets; The Stormlight Archive will be split into two arcs of five books each and is the story of the clash between the people of Roshar and Odium. Generally, knowledge of the cosmere as a whole will not be necessary until Dragonsteel and the final Mistborn trilogy, which are the beginning and the conclusion respectively of the cosmere sequence
Brandon does not feel that the cosmere is restrictive to his writing. Though cosmere novels are intensive, as they require more thorough planning and continuity maintenance, Brandon also has an internal wiki and people like Peter and Karen Ahlstrom who help him keep the cosmere on track. When Brandon feels like he needs a break from the more stringent requirements of the cosmere, he'll turn to work on a less intensive novel or novella, which are almost always non-cosmere. If there is a concept he really wants to write but doesn't fit in the limitations of the cosmere, he moves it into a non-cosmere book. For example, The Rithmatist started as a cosmere novel, and its magics take many elements from cosmere magics, but Brandon decided that he did not want a version of Earth in the cosmere, and so moved it to its own universe. 
Brandon does generally plan out which cosmere hints to give to fans, but sometimes he gives hints on the fly. Usually, fans are able to pry much more than he initially intended to tell.
== Bibliography of the Cosmere ==
Published Works of the Cosmere	Published Works of the Cosmere 	Published Works of the Cosmere	Published Works of the Cosmere	Published Works of the Cosmere
Publication Year 	Title 	Series 	Planet 	Length
2005 	Elantris 	Elantris trilogy #1 	Sel 	Novel
2006 	The Hope of Elantris 	Elantris trilogy #1.5 	Sel 	Short Story
2006 	Mistborn: The Final Empire 	Mistborn (Era 1) #1 	Scadrial 	Novel
2007 	The Well of Ascension 	Mistborn (Era 1) #2 	Scadrial 	Novel
2008 	The Hero of Ages 	Mistborn (Era 1) #3 	Scadrial 	Novel
2009 	Warbreaker 	Standalone Novel 	Nalthis 	Novel
2010 	The Way of Kings 	The Stormlight Archive #1 	Roshar 	Novel
2011 	The Alloy of Law 	Mistborn (Era 2) #1 	Scadrial 	Novel
2011 	The Eleventh Metal 	Mistborn (Era 1) #0.5 	Scadrial 	Short Story
2012 	The Emperor's Soul 	Standalone Novella 	Sel 	Novella
2013 	Shadows for Silence in the Forests of Hell	Standalone Novella 	Threnody 	Novella
2014 	Words of Radiance 	The Stormlight Archive #2 	Roshar 	Novel
2014 	Sixth of the Dusk 	Standalone Novella 	First of the Sun 	Novella
2014 	Allomancer Jak and the Pits of Eltania 	Mistborn (Era 2) #1.5 	Scadrial 	Short Story
2015 	Shadows of Self 	Mistborn (Era 2) #2 	Scadrial 	Novel
2016 	The Bands of Mourning 	Mistborn (Era 2) #3 	Scadrial 	Novel
2016 	Mistborn: Secret History 	Mistborn (Era 1) #3.5 	Scadrial 	Novella
2016 	White Sand Volume 1 	White Sand #1 	Taldain 	Graphic Novel
2016 	Edgedancer 	The Stormlight Archive #2.5 	Roshar 	Novella
2016 	Arcanum Unbounded 	Anthology 	 	
2017 	Oathbringer 	The Stormlight Archive #3 	Roshar 	Novel
2018 	White Sand Volume 2 	White Sand #2 	Taldain 	Graphic Novel
2019 	White Sand Volume 3 	White Sand #3 	Taldain 	Graphic Novel
2020 	Dawnshard 	The Stormlight Archive #3.5 	Roshar 	Novella
2020 	Rhythm of War 	The Stormlight Archive #4 	Roshar 	Novel
2022 	The Lost Metal 	Mistborn (Era 2) #4 	Scadrial 	Novel
2022 	White Sand omnibus 	Anthology 	Taldain 	Graphic Novel
2023 	Tress of the Emerald Sea 	Standalone Novel 	Lumar 	Novel
2023 	Yumi and the Nightmare Painter 	Standalone Novel 	Komashi 	Novel
2023 	The Sunlit Man 	Standalone Novel 	Canticle 	Novel
2024 	Wind and Truth 	The Stormlight Archive #5 	Roshar 	Novel
=== Forthcoming ===
The following are confirmed upcoming cosmere stories:
* Isles of the Emberdark, a novel set in the far future Cosmere announced as a Secret Project alongside the Backerkit campaign for the Words of Radiance leatherbound. It is expected to be shipped to backers in fall 2025, with a traditional publishing release in early 2026.
* Elsecaller and King Lopen the First of Alethkar, two short stories set on Roshar. They were available as a series of trading cards at Dragonsteel Nexus in 2024 and random packs of cards are available for purchase on Brandon's website, and are expected to be published in 2025.
* Era 3 Mistborn trilogy, the next Mistborn series, set to take place when Scadrial has achieved a technology level similar to that of the 1980s. Brandon started writing the first book in January 2025 and plans to write all three books before the first one is released, like he did with Era 1.
* Elantris 2 and Elantris 3, the sequels to Elantris. Brandon plans to start writing these after he finishes the last book of Mistborn Era 3 and to release them in-between the releases of Mistborn Era 3 books.
* The second arc of The Stormlight Archive, which will consist of books six through ten of the series overall. In-world, book six will pick up about a decade after book five ends. Planned to be written after Mistborn Era 3 and possibly also the Elantris sequels are done.
* Nightblood, the sequel to Warbreaker. Likely won't be written until the Elantris sequels and Mistborn Era 3 are written.
* The Dragonsteel series, the origin story of Hoid and the Shattering of Adonalsium. Brandon is loosely working on it, but the series will not be written until The Stormlight Archive is finished.
* Era 4 Mistborn trilogy, the science fiction trilogy, with Hoid as a main character. Chronologically, this will be the last series in the cosmere sequence, and has much to do with the worlds coming together.
=== Chronological Order ===
Brandon has been somewhat evasive about the order of cosmere stories, so that the timeline remains flexible for future books that he writes. He has estimated that there are roughly 6000 years between the Shattering and the breaking of the Oathpact, with the latter event still predating White Sand. Although this figure is non-canonical and subject to change, Brandon has also stated that the books have mostly been released chronologically, which allows a rough timeline to be constructed:
* Dragonsteel series
* White Sand
* Elantris trilogy and The Hope of Elantris
* The Emperor's Soul
* Mistborn Era 1
* Warbreaker and Nightblood
* Shadows for Silence in the Forests of Hell
* The Stormlight Archive (books 1 through 5)
* Mistborn Era 2
* The Stormlight Archive (books 6 through 10)
* Mistborn Era 3
* Sixth of the Dusk
* The Sunlit Man
* Yumi and the Nightmare Painter
* Mistborn Era 4
== Further Reading ==
== Notes ==
 
 
Category:Locations
Category:Magic
es:Cosmere