Nethseäar

Indeed! Thank you for your responses! Not dissociating, therefore not DID; closer to PTSD and avoidant anxiety, plus magic. That confirms what I was thinking, and I feel good defending it. Potential very slight spoilers for Mistborn: The Final Empire Still very curious whether anyone read Shallan and thought she had DID, and what that might entail for treatment of people with DID. (Even if Sanderson makes it clear this isn't DID, the perception that it is might still exist).

A friend of mine is a therapist, and was frustrated that Shallan's multiple-personalities-thing misrepresented the experience and problems that real-world people with Dissociative Identity Disorder have. I never thought of Shallan as actually having DID, but, rather, as having a weird fantasy disorder that was maybe vaguely reminiscent of DID. However, since he pointed it out, I can imagine people thinking that Shallan's experiences were representative of people's experience with DID (minus the illusions), and I suppose that does a disservice to people with DID in that it spreads misinformation about the disorder. Sanderson is generally on-point about accurately representing neuroatypical people (Renarin being on the autism spectrum, and Kaladin having depression disorder, for instance), and I was surprised to hear allegations of misrepresentation. So: Did you think that Shallan had Dissociative Identity Disorder when you were reading? and, are there any professionals who care to weigh in on similarities and differences to DID in Shallan's portrayal? EDIT: Added poll.

I met a devout atheist who loved Mistborn, but decided they would never read another Sanderson book after the end of Era 1, because of (Mistborn: Hero of Ages spoilers) I recommended that they give The Way of Kings a try, because I thought they'd appreciate Jasnah, but I haven't met them again since (We worked in different departments of a seasonal job which ended not too long afterward), so I don't know whether they did. Otherwise, the most commonly cited reason for disliking Sanderson's writing that people give me in person is that his writing isn't poetic. Those people point to sentence-level issues that they have. In most cases (I discover after hours of discussion), it's just that they prefer stained-glass prose, but I do occasionally agree that Sanderson's sentence-level writing is less refined. More so in his older works, though -- his prose has been improving every book. Lastly, I encounter some people in person who stop reading Sanderson's books because they are too violent or sexually explicit for them (the former usually with Mistborn, usually The Well of Ascension; the latter usually with Warbreaker). Online, it's all over the place, as has been mentioned. Most frustrating are people who make false assumptions and stop reading because of them. For example: (potential Way of Kings spoilers)

I only recently realized that the Splintercast is a thing that exists, and have immensely enjoyed burning through every episode as quickly as possible. It's like re-reading my favorite books with a friend, in much less time and without the difficulty of finding someone willing to read a book with me. Plus, your tangents about language (as an amateur conlang-er, I particularly enjoyed those), Renarin, RP-ing, Renarin, Steris, etc., and Renarin are fantastic. You point out aspects of Sanderson's worldbuilding and storytelling which I missed or didn't appreciate nearly as much as I ought to, and HuzzaH for that! Having found the no-more-Splintercast announcement alarming, it's a huge relief to read that there may yet be further Splintercasts, even if not an Oathbringer 'cast. Congratulations on becoming a beta reader! and many, many thanks for doing all this work so we can experience the Cosmere with you!

There's a funny sort of mismatch going on with the names for Taldain's hemispheres. First there is the weirdness of having a concept of day on a tidally locked planet. There is no time-based difference in the presence of the sun. There is no such thing as sunset or sunrise (except by travel), no change in sunlight except when the moon passes overhead. How can there be day when there is no night? Yet they call the brighter side 'Dayside'. Sanderson is typically very conscious of these things (with minor exceptions, such as the moon reference in Mistborn, when Scadrial has no moon), so I am surprised to see 'day' appear so prominently. But let's say we give that a miss -- maybe it wasn't always tidally locked, maybe there's something in the prose version that explains it, maybe 'day' is their word for light -- If they've got a concept of day, it follows that they should have a concept of night. So why isn't the other hemisphere called 'Nightside'? I can see why Dayside isn't 'Lightside' -- because Star Wars -- but then a Dayside/Nightside dichotomy seems in order, pending justification for the concepts existing. I suppose it comes down to what sounds better (Dayside/Darkside alliteration) and 'these are being translated into English, and Dayside works just fine for us.'

Glad to see this thread necro'd -- I considered posting on it way back, but for whatever reason didn't. Me, too! Expanding on this, for non-LDS persons: In the LDS church, we believe that our ultimate goal -- the reason for this mortal existence -- is to become like God. ("Therefore I would that ye should be perfect even as I, or your Father who is in heaven is perfect." - 3 Nephi 12:48, similar to Matthew 5:48) Leaving out far too much (seriously, this all makes much more sense in context), we believe that: We needed bodies, experience, and the opportunity to choose in order to become like God. But once we had bodies, even one wrong action would prevent us from becoming like God, due to Justice. God knew we would all make at least one wrong action. So, we needed Christ, who was specially prepared to never do anything wrong, to perform an infinite Atonement (suffer for all injustice) to let us become like God. But in order to access the power of the Atonement, we have to agree to Christ's terms, which are designed to give us the necessary experience to become like God, and eventually to justly control power equal to God's power. Here's what ties into Surgebinding: Summary of how it relates: Syl is like the Holy Ghost, Oaths are like covenants, Stormlight is like the power of the Atonement, and Surgebinding is like the Priesthood.

Does Ruin's Hemalurgic Communication have a range? (We don't have evidence either way, I believe). Or maybe they have to keep 'radio silence' to avoid attracting the attention of other Shards?

Very good point, and one that I tend to gloss over. The powers will be less unique/exclusive with advancing tech -- and with medallions the powers themselves should become pretty commonplace. But I am confident this will only push Sanderson to show us even more unorthodox and awesome uses for the established powers, and I can't wait to see what kinds of tech-assisted combos can be pulled off. Plus I'm very interested in seeing the kind of society widespread use of the Metallic Arts will form. The worldbuilding itself will hold plenty of interest for me. Good to have discussed the subject with you! Times are, indeed, a-changin'. In all kinds of exciting ways, even if some of those diminish aspects of the magics.

1. Indeed, Sanderson has mentioned the fact in his Alloy of Law annotations, chapter 8. (Last paragraph of the first section). I hadn't noticed the tie instead of a cravat, though. Good eye. While those details are off, and there's the weirdness of Wax having steampunk-ish goggles, I'm satisfied the AoL cover is otherwise excellent. As we know from the original Alcatraz covers, that isn't always the case. Sanderson has mostly had excellent cover art, which is immensely pleasing.

Another round of upvotes for Lovecraft! As has been said, I do think we'll see some abominations in the Cognitive Realm. Maybe even some eldritch abominations, if we're (un)lucky. Seems consistent with what we've seen of the Cognitive Realm -- though, for the sake of discussion, the observed geometry (some average of all perceptions/expectations, I suppose) becomes the actual geometry. It may change according to perception/expectation, but it does exist as a mutually 'tangible' and observable certainty in between shifts. Indeed, that's what I was thinking with the first of the possibilities. Flat surface, which would require some distortion, and all the worlds are basically islands in a sea of walkable space. And I guess you just can't world-wrap from Alethkar to Shinovar in the Cognitive Realm. You have to go the long way. (So it would be advantageous to shift to the physical realm for faster travel). Or, we know that Intent plays a big role in the Cosmere -- what if you naturally world-wrap (i.e. are on a sphere), unless you Intend to leave the planet, in which case the Cognitive Realm shifts you to the 'Space Plane,' which then deposits you on another sphere. To people already on the sphere, you fade in or appear there in the middle of an ocean (walkable land). That fits in with Alfa's theory that the geometry shifts to meet your expectations, and with the non-Euclidean geometry proposal -- geometry that depends on your Intent. So there's a subset of #4. I'll also note that #2 in the original post could just as easily be the outside of a sphere. And, for that matter, the inside or outside of any regular or odd 3-d shape, although no one (that is, Kelsier, Shallan, or Jasnah) has noted extreme departures from the geometry of the Physical Realm, other than the inversion of water and land.

Knowing that you can walk from planet to planet in the Cognitive Realm has me wondering: What is the Cognitive Realm shaped like? In order to walk from world to world, the way I understand it, it has to be one of the following: 1) Flat; one continuous plane 2) On the inside of a vast, vast sphere 3) Very complex, possibly like alveoli in a lung, with certain parts of the worlds of the Physical Realm not represented or distorted to fit. 4) Non-Euclidean, involving impossible geometries Interesting to think about. It'll be fun to have a map of the Cognitive Realm that connects all the worlds -- seems rife for interesting territorial conflict, since it's all connected. You've got Shades from Threnody, dangerous Spren, ambitious Ire, and who knows what else, all in strange environments of mist and glass beads and obsidian. I can't wait to see more.

Per necromancy in the Cosmere, I'd have thought Lifeless, from Warbreaker, were the obvious go-to. They're dead bodies reanimated with magic to do your bidding. Returned, also from Warbreaker, are the next most obvious, though that's closer to resurrection with amnesia -- there isn't overt control going on, though there is plenty of manipulation. So, Endowment is the Shard of necromancy, it would seem. Bloodsealing is the next closest, and Shades also fit with necromancy. You might also see IMNSHO, "In my not so humble opinion." And any number of other variations, which, I suppose, might be useful if you're using a mobile device, once you know what they mean. An interesting theory I've seen is that Hoid grabbed the Cognitive manifestation of some guy who had recently died and used some form of magic to keep him from moving on just yet -- similar to the so-called Investijuice the Ire used to sustain themselves in the Cognitive Realm. If I recall correctly, we see him give a golden liquid to Spanky, which he also puts on the oar. Presumably this keeps them in the Cognitive realm. I suppose that's a form of manipulation of the dead -- keeping their Cognitive aspect around to be used as a boat. And Kelsier gives us plenty of manipulation BY the dead.

My first time through, I felt like it was a bit slower. Second time, I loved every aspect of the book, and really appreciated the exploration of consequence and maintaining/developing relationships. Great book, and it remains my brother's favorite Sanderson book, probably for the ending. (He hasn't read Stormlight, though)

Hemalurgic spikes open fissures in the soul, which leaves it vulnerable to influence by emotional Allomancy. Allomantic Copper closes the user's mind to emotional Allomancy. Aluminum-lined hats also protect against emotional Allomancy. Can Allomantic Copper and/or aluminum-lined hats protect an Inquisitor from control through emotional Allomancy? Or maybe each spike needs to be lined with aluminum foil? We've never seen this tried or brought up in the books, so who knows. Seems reasonable, though. If either does protect from emotional Allomancy, can it also protect from control by Ruin? Possible questions for Brandon. Meanwhile, what do you think? As an aside, I wonder if the angle of attack has any effect on emotional Allomancy -- if someone has an aluminum-lined hat, can you still affect their emotions if they're directly above you (say, on a different floor. Or even suspended in the air, if having the floor between you changes anything)?

Thanks for the term! I like it, and will henceforth put it to use. Indeed, those aspects of Hemalurgy are vast and full of possible awesomeness and/or weirdness. Because of Hemalurgy, you can 'uplift' any animal to intelligence. You can have Mistborn Llamas! So, basically, Hemalurgy is the door to Cosmere furries. Infinite abominations can be made, crossing Chasmfiends and Kandra, having wolves that grant Sixth of the Dusk abilities, not to mention every standard Fantasy creature from flying monkeys to centaurs to sphynxes -- on top of everything else, Hemalurgy enables a lot of fun roleplaying/fanfic scenarios, and I imagine we'll get much more interesting, creative uses in coming Cosmere stories. EDIT: And I've not got any more upvotes today. Tomorrow. Need to get better at managing that limited resource. =-P

Allomantic Chromium disrupts/disbands the Investiture of objects or persons in physical contact. Nicki Savage temporarily disables Nazh's shade-cannon with her Chromium in the Bands broadsheet, demonstrating that this works on other forms of Investiture. What is the limit? Can a Leecher (Chromium Misting) get rid of the Investiture in a Hemalurgic spike? If so, we have a new method for killing Inquisitors -- just have a Leecher touch key spikes and suddenly they're plain old kill-you-dead spikes. Even a temporary disruption, as with Nazh's shade-cannon, should be enough. While burning Duralumin or tapping Feruchemical Nicrosil-stored Allomantic Chromium at 100x, can Chromium be used to remove Preservation's soul-investiture, and therefore to kill with a touch? Since Chromium removes Investiture, it stands to reason that with enough Allomantic strength, these things are possible. A strong enough Leecher is basically Nightblood, minus certain misunderstandings about evil, and assorted destructive powers.

You did ask for refutation in the OP, to be fair. I think that medallions highlight the fact that Hemalurgic stealing for your own use is not the only useful aspect of Hemalurgy, and maybe not even the most valuable use (indeed, that use is somewhat diminished by having a new option for obtaining abilities). Yes, I absolutely agree that medallions have huge potential to change everything on Scadrial, and even in the Cosmere. They're a big deal. They mean widespread use of the Metallic Arts, a whole economy of tradeable magic. They also bring us one step closer to FTL. They're great for our heroes, who generally prefer not to kill people for power. But they don't make Hemalurgy irrelevant, not by far. The offensive uses of Hemalurgy, especially in an era where spikes can be launched from a distance, are great and terrible. Unlike Mistborn, most Invested persons can't Push the spike away. It's great to have a solution for killing rapidly healing opponents. As natc said, Hemalurgic constructs are infinitely versatile and almost completely unexplored. As Yata said, medallions have notable weaknesses in close combat -- you can easily pull them off or instantly tap all their power with Feruchemical "compounding" (which begs the question: Can multiple people tap -- or store in -- a single unkeyed metalmind simultaneously? also, is there a better term to differentiate using Feruchemy at ≥ 2x from compounding Feruchemy with Allomancy?) It's worth noting that medallions possibly might not work for non-Scadrians without tricks with Connection or some such. Of course, they may well work just fine for everyone. But in that event, Hemalurgy is suddenly just as interesting for stealing powers for yourself, provided you're non-Scadrian. I'm thrilled about medallions, as well, and I acknowledge the many wonderful things they bring to the Cosmere. They do, indeed, have notable advantages over Hemalurgy, and I expect they will be far more common. At the same time, I really like the aesthetic and concept of Hemalurgy as a darker sort of magic. It's distinctive and terrifying. I love that Sanderson can use it to tie impossible monsters back to a magic system, rather than just having impossible monsters for the sake of impossible monsters. Hemalurgy makes Steel Inquisitors interesting, and compelling on deeper levels than just their fear-inducing appearance. I think it would be a shame if this new -- and awesome -- use of Feruchemy completely overshadowed such a unique and fascinating magic system. Based on the hint in the Ars Arcanum, and Sanderson having developed Hemalurgy with Era 3 in mind, I can't believe he would suddenly make it mostly irrelevant. It's like Steelpushing and Pewterdragging -- both can get you where you need to go, both have their drawbacks and advantages. One does not make the other irrelevant, in part because they both have other uses. They're two distinct, awesome powers that just happen to have some overlapping applications. Although, Vin's horseshoe trick does rather put the Steelpush-Ironpull combo far above the usefulness of Pewterdragging . . . Which is why I'm glad Hemalurgy isn't just for stealing powers. In many ways, despite their few drawbacks, medallions do seem to have Hemalurgy beat on that front, provided a Hemalurgic startup.

(repeating some of what's already been said, for the sake of summary) Pros of Hemalurgy: 1 - Involuntary; you can take the power if you can spike the person. No need to coöperate. Also, if you can't coöperate with the person, possibly you also to want them dead, so there's that too. 2 - Simple -- you don't need to go to all the trouble of accumulating Feruchemical and Allomantic abilities for medallion creation and compounding. Just run the target through, run yourself through. 3 - Can grant multiple abilities simultaneously (medallions can, too, but only if the maker has all powers granted, as far as we know -- a point to Hemalurgy for starting medallion creation, though) 4 - Works for any power. (again, so do medallions if the maker is has the abilities -- again, point for starting medallion creation) 5 - Granted ability is permanent. Medallions have limited nicrosil storage capacity, and will eventually run out. Granted, compounding and cheaply available medallions mitigate this. 6 - Harder to lose a spike than a medallion in a fight. 7 - Creature creation. It may not be fun to be a koloss, but it's sure great to have them fighting on your side! 8 - Intel from Harmony / Control by Harmony during critical moments (Marsh can receive physical guidance from Harmony during a fight - it's like atium without atium! May also be a con if you happen to hate Harmony / value your agency -- or a pro if you're on Harmony's side and use Hemalurgy offensively, as with Paalm/Bleeder) 9 - Passive stacking of Allomantic strength (as opposed to Feruchemical 'compounding' of nicrosil -- tapping at 2x -- to double Allomantic strength). 10 - Killing Bloodmakers and other difficult-to-kill beings -- steal their ability to heal while also running them through/shooting them. 11 - Potentially reincarnating Cognitive Shadows. (assumes that Kelsier used Hemalurgy to return to the Physical Realm) Cons of Hemalurgy: 1 - Need to kill/harm others (not a con if you aren't bound by such petty things as morality . . . and/or have some Invested being you want to kill =-P) 2 - Control by Harmony (not a con if you're on Harmony's side and willing) 3 - Possibility of decay (not a con if you keep the spikes in blood or put them directly in) 4 - Warping of the body (not a con if you don't mind the warping or the warping was intentional, as with creature creation) 5 - Reliance on the spike, as certain spikes will kill you if removed. 6 - Pain/horror The biggest limiting factor is that the kind of people who are likely to be okay with murder and the use of Hemalurgy are also the kind of people who don't want to be controlled by Harmony. Still, 3 abilities isn't bad, especially if you can also use medallions. After all, why not both? (I mean, aside from that stuff about murder and/or violence) I think it remains useful, though medallions are also extremely useful, and much more convenient in many ways. I certainly think we'll see more medallions than spikes in the near future. But maybe they'll find ways around Harmony's control, and we already know there are ways of performing Hemalurgy without killing the 'donor.' I wouldn't count Hemalurgic theft out just yet, especially since Sanderson and the Khriss have hinted at its potential usefulness in the future. And I expect we'll also see some more terrifying Hemalurgic constructs, offensive Hemalurgy, and such.

This assumes facts not in evidence, and is pure speculation. That aside: We see a memory from the Sovereign (presumably Kelsier) stored in the coin Wax got from Hoid. We're also told that there are many (hundreds?) of these coins distributed around New Seran. Coins are typically manufactured to be identical. Granted, these aren't so much coins as Feruchemical medallions, but I had the thought: What if the same memory is stored in every coin? (obviously we have no idea) If the same memory is stored in the same coin, there might be a machine for copying memories in Copperminds! So, yeah. Almost completely baseless. But the idea is really cool. Suddenly news can be spread in the form of viewable/experienceable eyewitness accounts, copied infinitely without degradation (unless the machine naturally causes degradation . . .). Copyable unkeyed Copperminds have all kinds of fun uses -- sharing experiences with people, helping people learn in school, etc. And maybe Era 4 will have something like digitally transferrable memories -- you touch a Coppermind console to store them, then transfer hundreds of miles instantly to another Coppermind, where someone else can access them. Even if you can't transfer them digitally/mechanically, copper cables could form a single, massive Coppermind Internet!

Indeed; we know from Sazed in Era 1 that Feruchemical Copper actually does store memories, not the capacity to remember. Metalminds are like libraries, and need to be indexed for ease of access. Memories of words/thoughts are easier and more useful to store than sights, smells, or touch, because those degrade so quickly. It's confirmed in the Hero of Ages Ars Arcanum that you can use Hemalurgy to steal Feruchemical Copper (using Brass to steal Cognitive Feruchemy), and thus expand your capacity to remember by storing memories. But I mean that in addition to stealing Feruchemical Copper, it wouldn't be unreasonable or surprising if Hemalurgy can also steal actual memories. After all, it's confirmed that Hemalurgy can steal both Feruchemical Copper and mental fortitude. Why not also memories? Hemalurgy can steal Feruchemical Petwer (Hemalurgic Pewter), Allomantic Pewter (Hemalurgic Steel), and plain old physical strength (Hemalurgic Iron, used to make Koloss). The three are aspects of the same thing, especially Feruchemical Pewter and plain strength. (Allomantic Pewter also enhances reaction time, balance, and coordination, but Feruchemical Pewter is just strength, through muscle mass). Since: 1) Strength can be stolen in three different ways, each a different kind of strength 2) One kind of metal can steal multiple abilities (some metals can steal any one of a set of 4 Allomantic or Feruchemical powers) It follows that it is possible (maybe even probable) that: Actual memories can be stolen, and are stolen by Hemalurgic Copper (which also steals mental fortitude). It still comes down to Word of Brandon, but I think it totally fits with what we know of the 3 realms and Hemalurgy. And I think it would be cool in a terrifying sort of way to see Hemalurgic interrogation by Era 3 criminal organizations or hostile foreign states.

Does the spike need to hit a bindpoint for the 'controlled by Ruin' effect to work? Speculation: SO: If you do need to hit a bindpoint, the whole thing is much less practical. But I'm not sure you actually need to. As for the bullets being hemalurgic, you can just use the Kandra supply of hemalurgic earrings as bullets, and re-use them as necessary. Admittedly, there aren't many, but maybe enough for four shots, to be re-used. True, and it would be of limited use for that reason. But on a mission to stop Telsin, it's exactly the kind of Ranette-tech for the job. Copper seems the appropriate metal for stealing memory, if such a thing is possible. The Coppermind says the Hero of Ages Ars Arcanum says Copper steals human mental fortitude, though apparently the Mistborn Adventure Game does have it stealing memories. Even though MAG isn't canon, that's intriguing. Since hemalurgy is the least well defined of the metallic arts, and there is so much subtlety to determining what to steal, I wouldn't be surprised if memory can also be stolen by copper. After all, Pewter, Brass, Bronze, Aluminum, Duralumin, and Gold all steal sets of power -- the specific power stolen is determined by the placement of the spike. Who knows. We've already seen more from hemalurgy in Era 2 (Chimeras, smaller spikes, kandra gaining allomancy from hemalurgy, using blood to prevent decay), and almost no one knows that it even exists. The future is wide open for terrifying hemalurgic discovery. And if nothing else, apparently MAG players can have deliciously dark Big Bads who will spike the memory out of captured spies, and drive their fanatical followers insane by giving them the memories so they can reveal secrets.

Idea: Use hemalurgic bullets to allow Harmony to control Set members. As an agent of Harmony, it makes a lot of sense to have a dedicated gun for shooting hemalurgic earrings. Of course, Harmony would need to be complicit, and I don't know how he'd feel about that, but he was willing to do it to stop Paalm, so why not for Telsin? Question: Can hemalurgy be used to steal memories? It stands to reason that it could, seeing as you can steal physical strength (Koloss) and such. If so, hemalurgy could be used against captured spies, and becomes all the more terrifying.

The issue is that there are two definitions for 'Allomantically Inert,' and neither silver nor aluminum fits both definitions. Definition 1: Cannot be safely Burned / does not give Allomantic power. Definition 2: Cannot be Pushed or Pulled by Allomantic Steel or Iron, does not cast an Atium shadow, and blocks emotional Allomancy. Silver fits definition 1 -- you CANNOT get Allomantic power from silver. Burning it will just make you sick, or possibly kill you. Silver does not fit definition 2 -- you CAN Push and Pull silver. Aluminum fits definition 2 -- you CANNOT Push or Pull aluminum, it does not cast an Atium shadow, and it blocks emotional Allomancy. Aluminum does not fit definition 1 -- you CAN safely Burn aluminum, and it will grant Allomantic power (power to remove Investiture -- usually Allomantic stores -- from your body). Thus, silver is, itself, useless to Allomancers. As an aside, silver was originally intended to fill the role of tin as the Internal Physical Pulling metal -- it would enhance physical senses when Burned. This was because Sanderson was misled to believe that pewter was an alloy of silver. Tineyes were therefore originally called Silvereyes. However, since silver was not a component of pewter, and Sanderson wanted Pulling-Pushing pairs where the Pushing metal was an alloy of the Pulling metal, silver was replaced by tin, which is a component of pewter. Notably, silver does have an Allomantic use as part of gold's alloy; electrum is an alloy of gold and silver. And, as Ari said, it comes in handy on Threnody, per Shadows for Silence. I look forward to learning more about aluminum, for sure. It is very interesting that it has all of those odd properties, and yet is still (otherwise) a standard metal in the Metallic Arts. Not even the God metals have such odd properties. And yet, it can be Soulcast. Do we know it? I thought steelsight is Cognitive. Steel lines manifest in the Spiritual Realm. (That doesn't necessarily exclude manifesting in the Cognitive, but given what we've seen of the Cognitive in WoR and MB: Secret History, I doubt it). Per Shardblades cutting aluminum -- I remember reading that they could, but was unable to find WoB to that effect. Instead, here's a whole thread of Shard-wonderings.

Caveat: I finished Bands in two blurry sittings, then lent my copy to a friend, and time has passed. I'll need to go over everything we have on Allomantic Grenades again. Meanwhile, I wanted to get these thoughts in circulation. Please correct me where we have solid information already! As I understand it, Allomantic Grenades take the ability of an Allomancer for X period of time, and then use that ability in a sphere around their position for X duration. It is uncertain whether there is an upper limit to how long Grenades can be charged/set off. Presumably Flaring metals while charging increases the output power of the Grenade (I don't recall having seen this, though). However they work, we have never as yet seen one stop working. (They can be re-used, and we don't know if there is an upper limit on re-use, or if maintenance/re-fueling is necessary). Allomantic Grenades charged by Coinshots are vital to the function of Allomantic Engines, and can be powered by Ettmetal. Speculating: Grenades may be able to sustain brief Allomantic charges indefinitely (outside of an engine) if supplied with enough Ettmetal. Questions: 1. Do charges from Internal Metals do anything? (Would a Pewter charge, for instance, grant the strength, dexterity, etc. to those near the Grenade? or would the Grenade itself suddenly become . . . strong and dexterous? or would nothing happen?) 2. Can multiple Grenades be charged simultaneously by a single Misting/Twinborn? If so, is each Grenade given a full-power charge? or is each given a reduced-power charge, decreasing the output power similarly to how Flaring presumably increases it? 3. Can multiple Allomancers charge a single Grenade simultaneously? Can a Mistborn charge a single Grenade with multiple kinds of Allomancy? 4. Is there a Feruchemical equivalent? With a switch for tapping/storing, maybe. But then, what would that even do? Same kind of issue as Internal Allomancy -- you need a person. Feruchemy already has Metalminds to fill this role, and unkeyed Metalminds to boot. Maybe a Feruchemical equivalent would Store from people in the area (against their will), and then give to people in the area when you switch modes? 5. Do they operate based on some entirely new branch of the Metallic Arts? Or, if not, how do they fit into the three existing systems? 6. Can the delay between charging and discharging be changed? Can an Allomantic charge be saved for long periods of time? 7. Does anything awesome/terrible happen if you destroy an Allomantic Grenade while it's discharging? Some implications: A single Slider (Bendalloy Misting) or Pulser (Cadmium Misting) can stack at least two time bubbles (compounding the effect) by themselves, using a Grenade. (They can stack more if Grenades can be variably time-delayed or can be charged simultaneously). THROWABLE TIME BUBBLES, as already demonstrated in Bands. Cadmium is so much more easily useful with Grenades. I briefly imagined that the bubble would remain centered on the Grenade, and thus could be freely moved, but, presumably, the bubble collapses if the Grenade is removed from the bubble. These are my thoughts. What other implications or questions can you think of? I look forward to learning more in later books.

I read that as passive anti-Cognitive self-defense. Hoid can't have things suggested to him by Cognitive Shadows because he has an effectual shield against them. And that shield hurts Cognitive Shadows. But it may have been active/intentional, sure.