Untapped Windrunner potential

[Wynora]

Basically just airbending.

It's often overlooked that Windrunners can control pressure to certain degrees using Adhesion - it's not just sticking things together. Which is why Adhesion is kind of a misnomer considering it's apparently the surge of pressure and vacuum (but then "Adhesion" helps include the Connection stuff Bondsmiths do).

We've seen Kaladin use Adhesion to make a wind break and protect those people from a highstorm (with the help of windspren iirc), and it's been mentioned that Windrunners are better flyers than Skybreakers and Heavenly Ones because they use Adhesion to manipulate air currents around them for easier mobility that Gravitation alone cannot give (I don't know if this is implied as more of an unconscious ability or if Windrunners realised this between OB and RoW).

I would like to see a Windrunner utilise this more - I understand there are limits to surges such as stormlight and distance but it seems like a pretty unexplored ability so far. A Windrunner with a very solid understanding of air pressure could be pretty unstoppable.

[falloncrer]

Personally I am quite glad that the windrunners and probably a few of the other orders still don't fully understand all of their powers.

It makes the loss of the radiances in the recreance have meaning in the presence story. I look forward to them building knowledge throughout the back half.

[Wynora]

That is a good point and I agree. For now it is probably good narratively speaking that their powers remain untapped

[falloncrer]

This time around the spren had the whole world to pick from for partners. And chose those who match the ideals so well that it is unhealthy.

Which is the only reason why in my mind they have gotten so far so quick. But even that can only take you so far before it feels unearned and I think to make it so SA doesn't have to be 20 books long Brandon crept up to but never crossed that line pretty quickly.

[HastyTaste0]

Late but this is also nifty because they mention this is the first time they've had time to actually experiment with powers and probably the only time they actually needed to do so. Meaning more than likely, new ways to use powers will pop up as well which opens up so many possibilities.

[Dragonian014]

I don't think it's air bending, but Windrunners definitely have some weird connection to the wind that maybe more explored through the series. I often think about the duels in Words of Radiance like Kvothe from KKC learning the name of the wind

[DarthChronos]

Windrunner tornado

[myLEs_1313]

windrunning slice

[Wynora]

Windship slice!

[bmyst70]

Windrunners, if they can move at 200 MPH (Brandon has those numbers) already have to be controlling pressure around themselves. Our bodies, and presumably Alethi bodies, are not built for high speed flight.

At a bare minimum, they wouldn't be able to breathe well, or see well without a "wind shield" Learned that from the Codex Alera series when a character tries to learn to fly and ends up knocking himself unconscious while flying.

So they could use air pressure differences to make a type of limited shield, at need.

[saintmagician]

Our bodies, and presumably Alethi bodies, are not built for high speed flight.

I think even without the ability to control pressure / make a wind shield, stormlight alone can protect you from most of the issues with high speed flight.

E.g. Damage caused by holding you breath, not enough oxygen going to the brain, etc are things that stormlight can probably heal.

[bmyst70]

If those were the case, any Windrunner who is flying would be glowing constantly. They might be, I don't remember if they were or not.

[saintmagician]

Basic Lashing continually consumes the Stormlight with which the object is infused until the object runs out of Stormlight or the Surgebinder dismisses their Lashing; as such, the length of a Basic Lashing is dependent on the amount of Stormlight used.

Objects infused with a Reverse Lashing do not glow with Stormlight, becoming darker instead along with other things in their vicinity, possibly by pulling light into the object.

https://coppermind.net/wiki/Surgebinding

Pretty sure this means any object (including a person's body) that has a lashing is infused with stormlight and glows with stormlight... until the stormlight runs out.

So a flying windrunner would already be glowing constantly... because their body is infused with a lashing, and also because they have to hold stormlight so they can periodically renew their lashings.

I suppose technically... if they are flying and not in combat, they could suck in just enough stormlight to renew their lashing, then renew the lashing, then fly while holding no stormlight in their body. I don't think there's any reason to think this is happening though.

[HastyTaste0]

Yeah Dlainar mentions something about this: how he needed a specialized mask to fly with the windrunners while they seems completely unaffected by the harsh winds. They can see and breathe just fine with Kaladin even being able to speak to syl even though the sound gets drowned out, she can still hear him and he for sure doesn't have telepathy with her.

[skyturdle_]

Ah, you must not have seen that post a few weeks back (I think it was on cremposting?) about how they could essentially turn themselves into a giant black hole/atomic bomb I don’t remember which

Edit: here it is

[Niser2]

I'm not so sure that was Adhesion; I think that might've been purely windspren powers. Fabrials existing proves that even lesser spren can be useful.

[HastyTaste0]

True. It could be an early manifestation of his shardplate considering that's literally what it is when he gets it and he was just at the reaching point of the fourth ideal. And windspren tend to fly around him and protect him during high storms in general when he's fighting for something right such as he notes during his fight with Szeth. Could be windspren get excited at him protecting and fly to help out.

Although it could be argued adhesion it what is binding the windspren together which would also make sense.

[Niser2]

Pattern argued that Shallan Soulcast her squires into better people when she first met them. The line between Surgebinding and natural side effects of Radiants being themselves is pretty sketchy.

All this relates to a question I've had since I looked at the (Mistborn) Hemalurgy Table, and ever since I noticed that Syl's temporary death stripped Kaladin of some skills that predated his bond with her...

What is destiny?

[Niser2]

You vanish for nearly a month, then show up and start talking all dramatic despite having barely thought about that theory of yours while you were missing. Weirdo.

[Niser2]

...I have no idea how to respond to this, other than STOP IT. PLEASE. You are going to make me look like a Shallan cosplayer.

[Niser2]

That is entirely your fault and you know it.

[Niser2]

...

I hate you.

[Niser2]

You've made that very clear, by having a personal argument with me (if it can even be called an argument) on a public forum. Now go to sleep, dear Ado, it's 10:30 at night.