Timewaster's Guide Archive

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Edit,TLDR: to skip right to the translation & summary, click here.

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Whew!  I've finally decipered the Alethi scipt used in the Navani's Notebook illustrations.  It's a very beautiful writing system -- I particularly like the way it resembles visual representations of sound waves and incorporates the Vorin appreciation of symmetry.  The phonemes aren't quite the same as in English, which made it a frustratingly fun puzzle.

I've translated all of the first page so far, and parts of the second.  The results are quite shocking, though perhaps not unexpected.  It definitely explains why Syl has such a dislike for Shardplate.

The cut and type of the gem determines what kind of spren are attracted to it and can be imprisoned in it. There must be thousands of possible combinations.
Once a spren is captured and the gem infused with Stormlight the fabrial can be used in machines.

Pain Knife
The pain knife is used as a means of protection. Sharp blades pierce an attacker’s clothing and cause crippling pain.

cold gravity pain heat wind
(These are labels describing which spren are attracted to different gem cuts.)

Flamespren trapped in emerald

Removable outer covering to infuse fabrial with Stormlight

Fabrial

Retractable blades cause crippling pain.
Dial pushes blades to four set lengths.

I'm only partway done with Page 2, but it's getting late and the smaller font is giving me a headache -- so I'm going to take a break.
The gist of it seems to be that the bracelet is an Altering fabrial, based on the inclusion of the ten Polestones arranged in the Double Eye of the Almighty.  But -- the labels in the diagram in the lower left aren't gem names, numbers, or colors -- they're emotions!  An emotion augmenting/diminishing fabrial? 
Stay tuned...

Examples of stormlight patterns

Patterns of stormlight filtered through the fabrial determine the power of the gem

Fabrials allow creation of things like the emotion bracelet made of ten fabrials working together

The pattern cannot be seen by the naked eye

Man betrayed by a close friend
Woman who has just been proposed to
Man who discovered his betrothed lies to him
Mother at wedding of only son

Anticipation
anger
disgust
sadness

love
hate

joy
trust
fear
surprise

The trick of the emotion fabrials is first learning to read it and second learning to tell if the bracelet is reading your emotions, your subject's emotions, or the emotions of the people in the next room over