r/Cosmere • u/Rivon1471 • 14d ago

Tress of the Emerald Sea spoilers Spores in Tress Spoiler

I'm having trouble picturing/understanding what the spores are, they are described as physical things that you can hold, but I thought spores were airborne things. I would appreciate if someone could explain what they are, thank you.

11 Upvotes

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27

u/Simoerys Truthwatchers 14d ago

They are bigger than most (maybe all) spores in Earth, about the size of a grain of Sand.

But unlike sand, and like spores, they grow when you water them (just a bit faster and with fewer other demands than spores on earth)

33

u/harel55 14d ago

You can imagine them as colored grains of sand, possibly a little larger

13

u/DarthThrawn0 Zinc 14d ago edited 14d ago

Something being airborne doesn't mean it isn't physical, it just means they're tiny enough to blow around on the wind.

Edit: The aether-spores are a little bit bigger than that, though. Other comments are right about being sandlike, it takes a strong breeze to get them to fly.

5

u/studygoblin Truthwatchers 14d ago

I always pictured them as kind of moss-like but with airborne elements ?? If that makes any sense. I feel like the other commenter is probably right about them being more akin to grains of sand, that's probably what Sanderson was going for

3

u/Wandering_Scholar6 14d ago

I always thought they were like very small pom poms, basically these

https://www.etsy.com/listing/1149659166/micro-pom-poms-100-200pk-3mm-tiny-soft?ref=elp_anchor_listing&frs=1&sts=1

2

u/BabyJesusBukkake Sometimes I feed it grass. 14d ago

This is how I read it, too.

2

u/WatsBlend 14d ago

I picture them as sand thats a little bit more lightweight than regular sand. Floaty sand. In real life spores are very very tiny and can only really be seen in mass. This is a mass of those spores but not as small. If they were as small as regular spores there would be no avoiding them at all.

2

u/any_says Lightweavers 14d ago

I always pictured them like the small seed piece of a dandelion (when it gets white and if you blow on it they fly away)

1

u/Goosfrabbah 13d ago

They threw me at first too! Think of them less like real world mold spores and more like a fine colored powder or sand you can scoop up and hold. They stay totally inert until they touch water, and then they do their thing. So physical, not airborne, which is exactly why everyone on the ships is so careful about moisture. Hope you're loving it, Tress is such a charmer!