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Welcome to the Coppermind, the comprehensive wiki about Brandon Sanderson, his novels, and the cosmere, by the official Brandon Sanderson fansite, 17th Shard. Want to know more about the Stormlight Archive, Mistborn, Elantris, Warbreaker, the Alcatraz series, and Brandon's numerous short stories? You've come to the right place! We have 3314 articles and we're expanding frequently!

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Featured Article: Cytoverse

Skyward Cover of the British edition of

The Cytoverse is the setting of Defending Elysium and the Skyward series. It is our own world, albeit in the far future; as such, it is not part of the cosmere. Alongside Earth and humanity, it contains numerous spacefaring species, all of which share a magic system known as cytonics, which is what the universe is named after.

Underlying mechanics

The Cytoverse is a setting possessing highly advanced technology, from laser weapons and anti-gravity to lifelike holograms and atmospheric envelopes capable of keeping entire space stations breathing. Vast empires, encompassing various species, spread across the stars, connected by faster-than-light ships. Ranging from grand merchantmen to small starfighters, those vessels are propelled by biological FTL system, based on two fundamental aspects of the universe: the nowhere and cytonics.

Nowhere

For more information, see Nowhere

The universe is comprised of two connected realities -- our own and nowhere, an interdimensional "world" with strange relation to time and space. Little is known of nowhere's appearance, though it is home to a type of beings called delvers, as well as a mineral called the acclivity stone. Regular rules of physics do not apply there completely, and everything to come from nowhere possesses extraordinary properties. The best-known among them is acclivity stone, which is used to counteract gravity and thus provide lift to all spaceships and space stations.

The easiest way for most people to enter nowhere is through a nowhere portal, a stable wormhole leading to it and back. Such portals can be found on many worlds, and though the markings on them indicate that they were made rather than arising naturally, it's unknown who created them. The portals let both people and equipment to be taken through, which allows for mining acclivity stone.

Delvers

For more information, see Delver

Cytonics are not without their dangers. Chief among those are delvers, the inhabitants of nowhere. Delvers despise both radio signals and, more importantly, cytonics. When sufficiently agitated, they can transport themselves into the physical world. A single delver can be as large as a moon, and possesses a number of deadly powers, including the ability to create and launch meteors, and the capacity to destroy any living being they pass through. This makes them extremely dangerous, and has led to extreme limits being put on the use of cytonics.

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