ByDanielD
The Cosmere is the shared universe that many of Brandon Sanderson’s books take place in. These books take place on a variety of different worlds, spread across a small star cluster. It can be a lot to keep track of, so in this article, we’ll take a look at each planet, summarize the important or interesting aspects, and list the story or stories that take place on that world.
Many of the planets in the Cosmere are in named star systems, but there are also some planets in unknown star systems — the list below is organized with that in mind, with known star systems listed, and then planets that are in unknown system.
Spoiler Warning: The content below contains major spoilers for various Cosmere stories
This is where the Stormlight Archive series takes place. As the central narrative in the Cosmere, it’s a particularly important system. The Shards of Cultivation an Honor reside on the eponymous planet of Roshar, while Odium is currently trapped on Braize. Brandon Sanderson has stated that the system was “manufactured for a specific purpose”.
There are 3 inhabited planets in the system, and 10 gas giants beyond the asteroid belt. One of the inhabited planets, Roshar, has 3 moons.
The Stormlight Archive series primarily takes place on Roshar, and therefore much is known about the world, its people, and the planet in general. The three small moons — Nomon, Salas, and Mishin — rise in the same order each night.
Roshar is a planet defined by its storms. Highstorms regularly cross the single continent, originating in the ocean to the east and continuing west across the entire continent. The ecology and culture of the planet is shaped by these storms, with the lands in the east being mostly barren and containing the toughest flora and fauna — plants can hide between rocks or in shells, as do most animals. By contrast, the country of Shinovar, in the westernmost part of the continent, is quite different. With mountains on its eastern flank, and because the highstorms become mild by the time they reach Shinovar, this land instead has plants and animals more similar to those of Earth’s. Humans deal with highstorms by constructing their settlements so that the eastern sides of structures are protected from the storm.
There are a wide variety of cultures on Roshar, from the warlike Alethi in the east, to the pacifist Shin in the west. The nation of Azir is renowned for their complex bureaucracy, while the Reshi isles are home to a laid back culture whose “battles” mostly consist of hurling insults at each other. During the events of the Stormlight Archive novels, there are over thirty distinct countries, regions, and nation-states on the planet.
Vorinism is one the dominant religion in eastern Roshar; its precepts include the belief that lighter eye-colors denote higher status, that women should cover their left hands, and that a person engaging in their chosen Calling (a talent like fighting or art) gives glory to the Almighty. The Heralds, the 10 servants of the Almighty, are worshiped more generally across Roshar.
The highstorms don’t just bring destruction — they also contain Stormlight, the form of Investiture present on Roshar. When left out in a highstorm, Stormlight will infuse gemstones. Infused gemstones can be used to transfer the power of the Stormlight they contain: either to devices, or to individuals capable of harnessing its strength for Surgebinding.
In order to utilize Stormlight, a person must have bonded a spren and sworn at least the first level of Knights Radiant Oaths. Doing so grants a Knight Radiant two Surges, control over fundamental forces of nature like gravity, friction, or the molecular makeup of an object. In practice, this means Surgebinders can do things like fly or slide around, travel to Shadesmar, or make objects stick together. Doing so uses up Stormlight, so Radiants tend to keep infused spheres with them whenever possible.
Also notable is that a bonded spren can transform into a Shardblade, a weapon capable of cutting through any material except living beings — when a Shardblade contacts fauna, it instead passes through with virtually no resistance, and severs the soul when it does so. Shardblade cuts on arms or legs will kill the limb, while a shardblade passing through the torso or head will cause immediate death, with the victims eyes burning and emitting smoke. Shardblades can be dismissed at will by their owners, and will exist in the cognitive realm until summoned.
While two Shards theoretically inhabit the planet — Cultivation and Honor — Honor is technically dead. However, Honor put a large part of himself into the Stormfather, the spren that controls the highstorms (spren are a fragment of Shardic power made conscious) . Combined with the existence of the honorspren, tiny fragments of Honor, it seems while the greater part of the Shard and its wielder are dead, Honor’s power — and therefore Honor’s influence — are both still present on Roshar.
Cultivation is the other Shard on Roshar, a god of change, growth, and nurturing. She seeks to directly influence events in the Rosharan system, primarily through influencing key figures on the planet of Roshar.
Not much is known about this planet yet, as we’ve only visited it a few times in the Stormlight Archive books, and only briefly. The presence of the Fused, and the Shard Odium, make it important to the narrative, however.
Braize is a barren world, with almost no atmosphere. It’s cold due to its distance from the sun, and there is virtually no life on Braize besides some spren and the souls of the Fused, and whoever holds the Shard of Odium.
It is unclear how the Fused live on Braize — if they have any meaningful way to interact with the environment or each other. In the Vorin religion, Braize is called Damnation, and is viewed as a kind of Hell. Brandon Sanderson has said that unlike the rest of the Rosharan system, Braize is based on the number 9 (rather than 10); the significance of this is not yet known.
The souls of the Fused are trapped on Braize after the Desolations — the Oathpact used the souls of the Heralds to keep them on the planet, but they would be tortured by the Fused until they eventually broke, causing a Desolation and releasing the Fused to return to Roshar. After the Recreance, only Taln remained to trap the Fused, and once he broke from torture, the Last Desolation began, as seen in the events of the Stormlight Archive novels.
Even after the Desolation begins, however, some of the more powerful Fused and other allies of Odium on Braize may not be able to immediately make the crossing to Roshar. It seems likely that the crossing is accomplished via Shadesmar, but that has yet to be confirmed. There is apparently a storm that surrounds the planet’s location in Shadesmar, which may be what makes it difficult for larger creatures to leave the planet via the Cognitive Realm.
Presumably, magic on Braize works the same as it does on Roshar, but again, not much is known about this. Odium residing on Braize may also have an affect on how Investiture behaves on the planet.
Odium is currently trapped on Braize, due to the actions of Honor (and perhaps Cultivation). He can project at least some of his power and influence onto Roshar, however, as seen by his affecting the emotions of people on Roshar, or him sending spren to Roshar to do his bidding.
Ashyn is only known about via second-hand information and myth from other books. However, the upcoming novel The Silence Divine will be set on Ashyn.
Formerly an Earth-like planet, Ashyn was at least partially destroyed by Surgebinding and the Dawnshards. This occured after Odium tricked Ishar into experimenting too much with his powers as a Bondsmith. The unique flora and fauna of Shinovar on Roshar seems likely to have been brought with the refugees from Ashyn after its destruction.
Despite being referred to as the “burning planet”, it is still inhabited by some groups of humans, who live in magical floating cities. It is unclear how much of the planet is still populated.
The remaining people of Ashyn live in floating cities, presumably to avoid the “burning” going on below. These cities are kept aloft by magic based on people with a specific disease that grants powers (see Magic System below), and so it’s safe to assume illness plays a major part in Ashyn’s culture.
Odium participated in the flight from Ashyn, and so there is currently no shard residing on Ashyn. The previous magic on Ashyn seems to have been Surgebinding, or something similar — it is referred to as Surges — and it is known that there were spren on Ashyn as well.
Currently, magic on Ashyn is derived from diseases, with various infections granting specific related powers for as long as the individual remains ill. The floating cities are held aloft by a group infected with a specific disease that causes hearing loss; other known powers include the ability to fly or move through objects.
As the system with the most currently published novels, the Scadrian system is a very well-known part of the Cosmere. The implications of certain magic systems on the planet of Scadrial may have wide-ranging implications for the Cosmere as a whole.
The Scadrian System has one inhabited planet, Scadrial, plus two gas giants, two dwarf planets, and a comet belt.
This planet was created by the shards Ruin and Preservation together, in what appears to be an imitation of the planet of Yolen. The shards had agreed to eventually let Ruin destroy Scadrial, but Preservation betrayed Ruin and sacrificed his own sentience to trap the other shard, preserving Scadrial from destruction.
Scadrial has gone through numerous and significant changes during its existence. It was originally an earth-like planet, but after the Lord Ruler took the power at the Well of Ascension, he used the Shardic power held there and greatly modified Scadrial. He moved the planet closer to the sun to burn off the mists of Preservation (which were blocking sunlight), then created the Ashmounts (volcanoes) to block the new, too-close sunlight — finally, he was forced to fundamentally change the humans on the planet to allow them to survive in this new, ash-filled environment. Plants were also modified to be able to exist in the low-light environment, mountains were created and destroyed, and the location of the Well of Ascension was moved to hide it.
Before the Lord Ruler took up the power, there were Terris people, northern Scadrians, and Southern Scadrians. In changing humans, the Lord Ruler created two new types of people, Nobles and Skaa. Nobles were larger and smarter, while Skaa were notably more fertile — interbreeding eventually removed most of these differences. He also moved a population of unmodified humans to the southern pole, but somehow they were also able to survive. He turned the feruchemists among the Terris people into the shapeshifting Kandra.
During the time of the Final Empire, culture on Scadrial revolved around the Lord Ruler. The only legal religion was that of the Steel Ministry, and all major business dealings and contracts had to be approved by a Steel Ministry obligator. Society was very stratified, with The Lord Ruler at the top, worshiped as a god. Beneath him were the noble houses, and below them the skaa workers.
After the Catecandre, the events preceding and during the time of the Final Empire became legend, and influenced religion on the planet. Northern Scadrial remained a culturally distinct region from those of the southern continents, although on both continents there is plenty of diversity between city-states and various populations. The shard Autonomy, via the avatar of Trell, created a popular religion and eventually attempted to invade the planet.
There are three distinct magic systems on Scadrial, all related to metals.
Allomancy allows a person to “burn” metals they consume. Burning specific allomantic metals grants magical abilities, such as the ability to push and pull on metal, greatly improved strength and healing, or the ability to influence the emotions of others. Allomancers were rare until the Lord Ruler gave the original noble lords the god metal lerasium to burn, making them “Mistborn” — allomancers with the ability to burn every time of allomantic metal. Allomancy can be passed down to offspring, but most allomancers only have the ability to burn one type of metal.
Feruchemistry allows a person to store attributes in metal worn on their body — such metal wearables are called metalminds. Weight, speed, and memories are examples of attributes that can be stored in metalminds (there is some overlap between the powers of Feruchemistry and Allomancy). “Tapping” a metalmind allows someone to then use that attribute, making themself heavier, faster, stronger, etc. Originally, all Feruchemists could store all of the attributes, but interbreeding caused Ferrings — Feruchemists who could only store one attribute to appear. There are currently no full Feruchemists remaining on Scadrial.
Hemalurgy involves the use of metal spikes to steal allomantic or feruchemic powers from someone. By using the corresponding type of metal, driven through an allomancer or feruchemstic at the correct spot, their power can be stolen and put in the spike. Such a spike can then be placed in another individual, granting them the stolen power.
Both Ruin and Preservation co-existed on Scadrial. Currently, both shards are held by one individual, and so exists as Harmony. Trell, an avatar of Autonomy, was on Scadrial attempting to gain control of the planet, but was mostly rebuffed.
The Selish system is unique in that there are two shards here, but both have been killed. Because of this, the way they influence Investiture and magic on the planet of Sel works quite differently from shardic influence on other worlds.
The Selish system has one inhabited planet, Sel, plus a barren planet, a gas giant with four moons, another gas giant with five moons and rings, and a dwarf planet.
While little of Sel has been revealed in the books — all three stories are restricted to a handful of locations — it appears to be a diverse planet, which makes sense given how large it is (1.5 times larger than Cosmere standard). That means plenty of room for different climates, cultures, and civilizations.
As hinted at above, we don’t know a ton about the actual planet of Sel just yet. There are two known continents, which seem quite close to each other. The northern continent features a peninsula that comes quite close to the southern continent, which features a vast desert south of the inhabited coastal areas. Both continents have mountain ranges throughout their interiors, and on some coasts.
Given the known size of the planet, it is likely there are more continents, or at least more regions, than have been revealed in the current published works.
All of the nations on Sel that we know of are some form of monarchy or empire, and all have absolute rulers of some kind. Religion is a large part of life in most places, and there are many different forms of worship. Despite both shards on the planet being dead, their presence on the planet has influenced not only the magic system there, but religion and culture as well.
The southern continent, which is called Opelon or Scyla, is mostly under the control of the Fjordell Empire, a militaristic and expansionist religious state. The Fjordell state religion of Shu-Dereth is mandated, but many conquered regions of the empire still see people practicing their old religions in secret. The kingdom of Arelon is the sole remaining independent nation on the continent. The northern continent has the relatively isolated Rose Empire, and the seagoing nation of Teod on the coast.
Investiture on Sel comes from the Dor, a volatile plasma formed when Devotion and Dominion died and their power transported to the Cognitive Realm. As with all shardic magic systems, Investiture powers the various forms of magic on Sel, of which there are quiet a few. All forms of magic on Sel are connected to the land they originate from.
AonDor, Bloodsealing, and Forgery all rely on specific symbols. AonDor involves drawing symbols in air, while Forgery and Bloodsealing function by stamping objects (with ink or blood respectively) to either modify or ward an object or area.
ChayShan and Dakhor are physical forms of magic that grant the user superior strength and speed, and in the case of Dakhor even the ability to teleport or change one’s appearance — although these more advanced techniques require human sacrifice.
Devotion and Dominion inhabited Sel together, and were both destroyed by Odium. Somehow, they were able to move their power to the Cognitive Realm (from the Spiritual Realm) while dying, so the shards were not able to be taken up by anyone else, and the magic of the shards remains on the planet. This process tied the shardic magic directly to the land, which is why the various magics are stronger in the land they originate from — this is why AonDor symbols must accurately represent the land of Arelon.
The Nalthian System, like most of the Cosmere’s star systems, has only one inhabited planet, Nalthis, from which the system derives its name. This planet has a single moon. The system also contains a gas giant with multiple moons, an uninhabited planet, and a comet belt. Of note is the mysterious “cognitive anomaly”, which shares Nalthis’ orbit.
As the events of Warbreaker take place exclusively in a single city and a neighboring kingdom, our knowledge of the planet is currently limited.
The two nations revealed in Warbreaker are Idris and Hallandren.
Idris is a nation in a mountainous region that contains the planet’s only known copper mines. The region is cold most of the year, making agriculture difficult, but there are native plants that grow fairly well.
Hallandren features a jungle teeming with life, in part due to the fact that Endownment’s perpendicularity is in the jungle. The eastern border of Hallandren abuts a large inland sea that also contains a large amount of animals.
Hallandren is considered the most influential and powerful nation on Nalthis. The country has access to a wide variety of trade goods, though it is unclear how much of this is due to their trade routes versus their fertile land — some of the jungle has been cleared for farmland. Hallandren is a kind of theocratic monarchy, with a Returned God King at its head and other Returned as members of the Court of Gods. The country, and especially the capital of T’Telir, is cosmopolitan and ethnically diverse. Breaths are bought and sold regularly, and Awakening is often utilized in Hallendren — and elsewhere on Nalthis. Breaths are used to create Lifeless, reanimated corpses that can follow simple commands.
Idris is a more traditional monarchy, and also follows a more demure, modest way of dress and culture than their neighbors in Hallendran. Clothing is intentionally drab and covers most of the body, and consider their Breaths a scared part of their souls — Idrians do not practice Awakening, and do not sell or buy Breaths.
Humans on Nalthis are unique in that they are all born with a set amount of Investiture, known as a BioChromatic Breath, or simply Breath. Breath can be given, via a Command with Intent, to another person. A person without Breath is known as a Drab — Drabs have dulled senses, and see colors less vibrantly. They also feel less emotions, and can get sick easier.
Conversely, the more Breaths someone holds, the more vivid colors become, and the stronger the person’s senses. With enough Breaths, colors around them will also be heightened, and abilities like perfect pitch and color recognition, the ability to sense nearby living things, and even immortality become available. Breaths can be used to Awaken objects. By using a Command and visualizing what they want the object to do, Breaths can be transferred to an object in order to have it complete simple or complex tasks, like “wrap around this” or “protect me”. The complexity of the tasks increases the amount of Breath required. Awakening also drains color from nearby objects. Breaths can be recovered from an Awakened object by the person who Awakened it.
The Shard Endowment regularly creates Splinters of herself and places them in corpses in order to bring people who have recently died back to life. Known as the Returned, these people remember almost nothing of their previous life, and have the Investiture equivalent of thousands of Breaths. They can use this Divine Breath on another person, generally to heal them — these eventual bestowals is presumed to be the reason Endowment is creating the Returned.
Endowment is on Nalthis, creating the Returned. She may also be the reason the people of Nalthis have BioChromatic Breath in the first place. Endowment communicates with the Returned before bringing them back to life.
While only one story is set in this system, and the magic on Taldain doesn’t seem particularly powerful, Taldain is important if only for the fact that the shard that resides here is spreading their influence across the Cosmere.
The Taldain System seems to be an artificial construct, likely created by Autonomy. The fact that the entire system consists of two stars and a single planet tidally locked planet — and that the sunlight contains Investiture — is a pretty big hint.
As a tidally locked planet, one side of Taldain, Dayside, perpetually faces the larger sun. The other side, Darkside, faces the smaller star, the light of which is obscured by a ring of particulate matter.
The light side, known as Dayside, has a single circular continent surrounded by an ocean, with a mountain in the center and a range of mountains in the east. Dayside is mostly sand and rock, with the sand filled with a special kind of lichen that absorbs Investiture. With the exception of humans, most flora and fauna live below the sands. The planet is constantly bombarded with Invested light from the sun.
The dark side, unsurprisingly called Darkside, has adapted to a low-light environment. Tnd flora and fauna tend to be luminescent under the UV light that filters through the particulate cloud that surrounds the dark side’s sun. As on dayside, lichen is prevalent, and there is reportedly a broad range of lower and higher life forms alongside humans.
The moon, Nizh Da, is notable for its perfectly controlled polar orbit that never varies — another element of the solar system influenced by its creator.
The culture of Dayside is naturally quite distinct from the culture of Darkside. The sun, which is always present and in the same position, plays a large role in some religions, and many Daysiders feel a spiritual bond with their sun. There are a handful of different countries on dayside — the nation of Lossand is notable in that it is ruled by a council formed by the leaders of the eight most important professions in the country (instead of having a single monarch). While Lossand accepts Sand Mastery, some nations fear it, causing strife between Lossand and the nation of Kertza in the west.
On Darkside, the Dynasty is an empire with great influence — Darksiders speak Dynastic. There are a few smaller nations that have yet to be subsumed by the Dynasty, however. Darkside is a more advanced region technologically than Dayside, with things like instant noodles and gunpowder.
Taldain is unique in how accessible Investiture is on the planet. On Dayside, the sun constantly sends Investiture to the planet, while on Darkside, the smaller sun sends out a pulse of Investiture every seven days. This Investiture is used to power Sand Mastery on Dayside, with practitioners able to command ribbons of sand to use as weapons or transport. Darkside uses Starmarks, which are a kind of tattoo that can be used to create shields or weapons — it’s unclear if this is something that happens to the users body, or if the “tattoos” are placed on objects, or both.
Autonomy is the shard that currently controls Taldain — it isn’t known if Autonomy is also the creator of the star system. Autonomy’s power is what causes the larger sun, AisDa, to emit Invested light.
UTol is a binary system, with the two inhabited planets of UTol and Komashi making a binary system around the sun. The shard Virtuosity Splintered herself in this system.
This is the world Yumi and the Nightmare Painter takes place on. UTol is visible in the sky as a dim blue star.
As is fairly commonplace on worlds with Shardic influence, Komashi has gone through numerous dramatic changes to its environment. Before Virtuosity splintered herself, the planet was mostly rock and ocean, and difficult to inhabit — likely due to cold and lack of water. After the Splintering, the Splinters, called hijo spirits, moved beneath the crust of the world, to a single basin around 50 miles. Upon settling there, they began generating geothermal energy that brought drinkable water to the surface via steamwells, and making the basin more habitable. Between steamwells, the ground is too hot to walk on during the day.
Because of the high ground temperature, many plants have developed (through magic) the means to float in the air, as well as absorb water and nutrients from the air. All of the known animal life on Komashi is relatively small and able to stay off the ground either on their own or by hanging out in the plants — birds and lizards are common.
In the human settlements that formed around the steamwells, almost everything useful was created by the hijo. Yoki-hijo are women who become Invested in such a way that they can summon hijos via the ritualistic stacking of stones — the yoko-hijo and their role in society is a highly ritualized aspect of Komashi culture.
The hijo were eventually used to make a machine, the “father machine”, intended to generate power via the hijo — unfortunately, it consumed many human souls as soon as it was turned on, and created a black shroud that covers the planet, blocking out the sun. Survivors who lived outside of the main settlement eventually resettled the area, utilizing the hion lines the machine created — these lines provide power for various modern devices. People were able to travel between settlements by extending hion lines between them.
Nightmares that lived in the darkness beyond the hion lines started entering towns at night to feed. Eventually, people learned to subdue the nightmares via Painters, who are presumably Invested in the same way yoki-hijo were.
Splinters of Virtuosity form the basis of the magic on Komashi, as the hijo spirits are all Splinters of the shard. These hijo are able to become simple or complex objects, generally in two parts. To bind an hijo and turn it into an object, a yoki-hijo must first summon them with their virtuosity (in this case stacking stones), then mentally bind them. They can then use a mental image to show the spirit what it should turn into.
When the father machine was activated, it bound every hijo spirit on the planet, and used their energy to create and power the hion lines. It also killed a lot of people whose souls were absorbed. Such people became the Nightmares that lived in the shroud and could feed on the minds of humans while they slept. Like hijo, these spirits could be bound and then changed by a Painter observing them and painting the Nightmare something non-threatening. During this period, the hijo were able to Connect the spirit of a trapped yoki-hijo and a Painter in order to enlist their help in destroying the machine.
Virtuosity was present in the system at some point, and eventually Splintered into the spirits that became the hijo.
Not much is known about UTol. It has been observed by Komashi scientists using telescopes and a hion-powered orbital device. The planet is mostly ocean, but there are some small land masses. Most human settlements are on boats, though there is some settlement on the land masses. It is known to have Sho Del living there — the Sho Del are a four-armed humanoid species with reptilian eyes. It is unknown if any of the Splinters of Virtuosity are on UTol or otherwise affect the planet.
The Threnodite System contains three planets, with only the third planet, Threnody, being inhabited. No Shards inhabit the system, though a battle involving Odium, Mercy, and Ambition occurred here, causing some strange changes to the local Investiture.
Threnody has two continents, both with a climate that makes it inhabitable by humans. The smaller continent is currently inhabited by humans, and there are a wide variety of herbivores as well — predators cannot survive in the forest (see Magic System). Most of the continent is covered in forest, but there are also treeless mountains.
Humans lived on Threnody before the shards arrived, populating the larger continent. They had become relatively advanced, discovering gunpowder and actively exploring the smaller continent. At some point, a mysterious Evil appeared on the large continent and (according to myth) began consuming the souls of the people who lived there.
The humans fled to the smaller continent, and with the help of the scouts who were currently exploring the forests, made a new civilization in the Forests of Hell — called such because of the shades that populated the forests. On this continent, people either live in Fortress Towns in the mountains, where there are no trees and no shades, or else in small settlements and homesteads in the forests. There is much tension between the people of the forts and the homesteaders — the former is ostensibly in charge of maintaining roads and for keeping the peace, but in practice homesteaders feel their taxes are often wasted enriching the fancily-dressed fort folk.
Many Threnodites have names that reflect sombre concepts, such as Silence or Lamentation. People of Threnody, and especially those who live in the forests, tend to be practical, careful, and somber, likely due to the constant danger everyone lives in. Many worship the God Beyond — a deity greater than or beyond Shards.
Much of the continent is still unexplored, due to the difficulty of traveling through the forests while following the Simple Rules (see Magic System). Expeditions have been sent to the original continent, but none have returned. Threnodites live in fear that the Evil will someday cross the ocean and continue eradicating humanity.
At some point, a group of Threnodites fled the planet and ended up on Canticle.
The forests of Threnody are dominated by dangerous shades, cognitive shadows that are particularly aggressive when certain actions are taken. Hence, the Simple Rules: Don’t kindle flame, don’t shed the blood of another, don’t run at night. Doing any of these things will cause the shades to attack. The only known way to defend oneself from shades is with silver. A ring of silver dust, or silver on doorways, will prevent them from approaching — silver weapons can be used to wound shades, though the silver is blackened and useless after being used this way.
A person touched by a shade will wither in the area the shades touch — too much of a shade’s touch over too much of a person’s body will lead to death. Silver can be used orally or topically to reverse withering.
There is no magical use of Investiture by humans on Threnodite, which makes it different from most planets that feature Investiture of any kind. Interestingly, they are also more Invested than most humans. On Canticle, Threnodites can share Investiture with each other, or with another human they have Connection with, but this ability doesn’t seem to be present on Threnody.
There is currently no Shard residing on Threnody, or in the Threnodite system. However, a battle between Odium, Mercy, and Ambition took place in the space of the system, at some point in the past — it’s unclear who Mercy supported, though it seems likely to have been Ambition, as Odium was the aggressor. Ambition was damaged in some way during this clash, and this is thought to be at least in part the cause of the dangerous cognitive shadows on Threnody.
There are four planets orbiting the habitable zone of the system’s sun, plus three gas giants beyond the asteroid belt. The Drominad System is unique in that there are three planets with humans living on them, while most systems have one, or sometimes two.
There is no full Shard in the system, but an Avatar of Autonomy resides on First of the Sun.
This is the planet where Sixth of the Dusk takes place, and is particularly important to the wider Cosmere because of how the Investiture on the planet has affected the local wildlife. Currently, most of what we know about First of the Sun is specific to The Pantheon
First of the Sun is home to numerous islands, including the large archipelago called The Pantheon. While the Pantheon is not completely homogeneous, most of the islands feature similar flora and fauna, tending towards dense jungle environments. There is a wide variety of insects, plants, and animals, from small herbivores to dangerous apex predators. The ocean that surrounds the islands is also full of creatures both small and large. Many of the animals in The Pantheon are able to detect the thoughts, or at least the presence, of other living creatures.
There is at least one large continent near The Pantheon, and another collection of islands a few weeks travel away.
There are two distinct cultures on First of the Sun that we know of: the Eelakin trappers, and the Mainlanders.
Eelakin live solitary lives, trapping on their chosen island and relying on their Aviar to protect them from the dangerous creatures they encounter each day. The trappers are stolid, straightforward, and traditionalists. Eelakin are a people with a pragmatic view of the world, well-demonstrated by how they name their children: They are given a number based on birth order and time they were born. The protagonist of Sixth of the Dusk is the family’s sixth child, and was born at dusk.
Mainlanders are more forward thinking and flexible, and are more scientifically advanced as a result. They have a kind of “noble savage” view of the Eelakin, who they admire but also look down upon. The Mainlanders are influenced by the Ones Above, a spacefaring people who have slowly been giving advanced technology to the Mainlanders — they seem very interested in the Aviar and their abilities.
As a planet without a Shard currently residing there, the magic on Sixth of the Dusk is not as powerful or accessible as it is on Shard worlds. It is unknown whether the psychic abilities of the animals on the planet is related to Investiture, but the Aviar certainly are.
Some birds travel to the island of Patji and eat a fruit that contains a parisitic worm, which gives Invested powers to the birds — such birds are known as Aviar. An Aviar can then bond with a person, granting them special abilities. Some Aviar can give people visions of their possible deaths in the future (allowing them to avoid nearby danger), others assist in navigation, while some can hide a person’s presence from creatures that would otherwise be able to detect them.
There is no Shard currently on First of the Sun, but Patji, the god of the large island in the Pantheon, is an avatar of Autonomy. The Investiture of Patji is what gives the Aviar their abilities, and a quote from Autonomy suggests that they had a hand in how dangerous the animals on the planet are: “If you wish more, seek these waters in person and overcome the tests we have created.”
There are a number of Cosmere stories that take place on planets where the system has not yet been revealed.
There is no Shard on Canticle, but the planet does orbit an extremely Invested sun. It’s a very small planet, rotating fully every 10 hours. Brandon Sanderson has stated that the planet was “built for a specific purpose” by a “very powerful being”.
Canticle is a tough planet to live on, mostly due to the fact that the side facing the sun gets completely burnt to a crisp. Stone melts in the sun, and the planet’s core is often sending magma to the surface, causing the landscape to change daily. There is a constant storm at the terminator, thanks to the extreme temperature and pressure gradient. The “mountains” on the planet are tall enough that with the atmosphere only ~300 meters high, the peaks reach into space, and are therefore impassable.
There are plants and animals that live on the dark side of the planet, with plants growing rapidly each night thanks to Invested light reflecting off of the planet’s ring system. It is unknown exactly how the animals survive the day.
The humans on Canticle are descendants of humans who fled Threnody at some point in the past. They are aware of Adonalsium’s Shattering, but believe everything that is happening is still all part of his plan. Their language stems from the Threnodite language, but has an emphasis on politeness. There are different corridors people live in, and dialects vary within them.
Due to the need to avoid the sunlight, everyone on Canticle lives on airships that can be connected to form larger structures, or separated when necessary. Ships stay in one corridor, as it’s not feasible to cross the mountains. The tyrannical Cinder King has brought many of the free cities under his control and attached them to Union, the city he rules.
A Scadrian research facility is present on the planet. They trade with the Cinder King and observe the planet via satellites.
When someone dies in Canticle’s sunlight, they leave behind a sunheart, a gemstone full of Investiture that is used to power devices, especially the airships. The sunlight is full of Investiture, and contributes to the rapid growth of plants on the planet’s dark side — the light reflects off of the planet’s rings, and so reaches the dark side. The core of the planet is also heavily Invested, and seems to absorb any Investiture it can.
The Scadrian researchers showed the Cinder King how to corrupt sunhearts, making cinderhearts. These can then be implanted in someone to created the Charred, humans with great strength and speed. Charred can be controlled by a Sunlit Charred — a Charred who has some of their cinderheart’s Investiture removed right after it is implanted (allowing them to retain their humanity).
Lumar is notable for the 12 aether, one on each of the planet’s 12 moons, that send spores down onto the planet. There is no Shard on the planet, however.
The planet’s 12 moons all orbit the planet in stationary, equidistant orbits — they stay in the same place over the planet. Each moon has an Invested entity known as an aether on it, and each aether constantly pour spores down onto Lumar’s surface. There are therefore 12 spore oceans, which behave like liquid due to the Seethe — the bottom of the spore oceans have thermal vents that push out air, churning the spores. The seethe will pause for days at a time, stilling the ocean and making the spores behave like the solids they are.
The aethers of Lumar seek water, and spores will grow explosively if they come in contact with any liquids — naturally, this makes them very dangerous to humans, who must avoid ingesting even a single spore. There is rain on Lumar, though interestingly rain clouds tend to be very narrow and small.
Humans live on islands, some of which have dirt, while others are barren rock. Mountain ranges block ships from crossing parts of the oceans. Small animals live on the islands, and there are fish in lakes, but nothing can survive in the spore seas. The Iriali used to live on the planet, but left suddenly, leaving all of their possessions behind.
Most of Lumar appears to be controlled by various rulers, with each sea having its own supreme leader. Due to the fact that the whole planet is islands, each island tends to have a monarch or leader. In the Emerald sea, these rulers are subordinate to the king of the sea.
The people of Lumar are at a level of technology comparable to the age of exploration on Earth, with large sailing ships and cannons. As ships are so prevalent, so are pirates. Humans have found uses for the spores, such as using the explosive quality of spores in firearms, or eating verdant spores as emergency rations. Sailing ships have a Sprouter position, a person in charge of the ship’s spores and their application. Humans worship the moons the spores come from.
As they originate from Invested entities, the spores are also Invested — this is clear from the incredible amount of energy they release when they come in contact with water. The spores are connected to the aether that creates them, with some people, Spore Eaters, actually becoming infected by the sentient aethers due to ingestion of spores. These people consume copius amounts of water, and in return the spores protect the spore eater.
There are 12 types of spores, one for each moon, though only a few are revealed in Tress and the Emerald Sea. Known seas are the Emerald (verdant aether), Crimson, Midnight, Sapphire (zephyr aether), and Rose (roseite aether) seas. The midnight aether is of particular note as these spores can be Commanded, much like Awakened objects on Nalthis.
There isn’t actually a story where Yolen takes place yet, but it’s a very important world — it’s where Adonalsium was shattered, the home of all the original Shard holders, and the birthplace of humanity. There is “weirdness” associated with the planet and its astronomy, and it is apparently inaccessible post Scadrian Catecandre.
The planet is unusual in that some of the planet resembles Scadrial, while some regions are being invaded by a type of flora known as fainlive — plants with ordinary shapes, but bone-white. There are dragons, Sho Del, and humans on Yolen.
Before the Shattering, Yolen was the most advanced planet in the Cosmere, though they had only reached the equivalent of the Bronze Age. The dragons on Yolen were at one point worshiped as gods.
Microkinesis is practicable on Yolen, and allows users to modify the atomic particles that make up everything. Lightweaving is also a magic on Yolen, similar to the Lightweaving possible on Roshar — the ability to create illusions — but after the Shattering, is no longer usable like before.
Adonalsium was Shattered on Yolen, but no Shards remained on the planet for long after the Shattering.
These planets are in unknown systems, and are only mentioned in passing in Cosmere texts.
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