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There is more to Wayne than he is letting on He is Fiercely intelligent, a fantastic actor as well as courageous; As such I'm never quite sure what to think of him. what is a facade and what isn't. How genuine is he really? I just cant seem to trust the guy. And then I had an idea Wayne is one of the 'Faceless Immortals' of the Set Yes, he has Allomancy but so did bleeder Yes, he's a blood maker but that is easily replicated by a Kandra. It was even said that MeLaan would have been a good choice for operation rotten tomato He has better mimicry than a Kandra You might say that he can't be a villain, he's a POV character, we would have known ages ago, BUT we've all seen how easily Wayne gets into character. When he does his thoughts AS POV changes And I think that BranSan has left enough foreshadowing to allow for it Tell me what you guys think? Is this a crazy theory? Too crazy? Just crazy enough to work?

This is pretty much just a weird thought that crossed my mind. But in South Scadrial they have magitek that can mimic the metallic arts. So what if you created a pair of nicroburst components set up to nicroburst each other? I imagine it would make a feedback loop, building up an insanely massive enhancement effect. If you then used this to enhance another allomantic power, say, an omnidirectional steelpush outwards... The result would probably be pretty dramatic.

I did a search on the forums and haven't found anyone asking, who is "the series" that Suit mentions near the end of BoM? Is this maybe the off world red eyes organization, and the set is the on world branch? Or is it simply another rank? I also can't help but notice the math/numerology language: series, set, sequence, array...(suit is the only small outlier, but I just might not know the reference). Does this smell like autonomy? ....maybe?

This contains spoilers for Bands of Mourning.

I believe the first place the Bands of Mourning are mentioned is towards the back part of Shadows of Self. Wax is about to meet up with Tensoon in the caverns. He is walking through a museum and mentions them. What I was interested in though is he also mentions Harmony's Bands. "Most were part of the museum, and contained plaques with quotes from the Originators, written in metal. Others contained depictions of the rebuilding of the world, or other relics such as a replica of both Harmony's Bands and the Bands of Mourning." Are Harmony's Bands something special along the same lines as the Bands of Mourning? It's in the same line as the first mention as the Bands of mourning, so I thought they might have some importance. They could also just be Sazed's braces from Era 1 though. I didn't think Sazed's braces were that special compared to any other feruchemy braces. Anyone heard of anything about these or is it just assumed they aren't significant?

Bands of Mourning spoilers (possibly, better safe than sorry) Rereading bands of mourning and I came across one of the classifieds in the newspaper recreations (page 224 ish according to Kindle) that was interesting. Do Your Metal Tools Speak to You? Your neighbors probably don't want to hear about it. But WE do! Visit 27 Ralen place. Ask for K or N. Bring the talking metal with you. This is just after Kelsier speaks with Kriss and Hoid. Obviously K and N refer to Kriss and Nahz. I just can't figure out why they'd be interested in a talking hammer. Thoughts? Also sorry if this should be in the general cosmere discusion. Long time lurking first time posting.

This is my first actual post here. I'm sure there's already a topic on this, but can someone please explain exactly how medallions work? In other words, what makes it possible for a medallion to allow a non-Mistborn/Misting to use Allomancy? I'm mostly trying to understand the Identity piece of this.

Use this topic to talk about the book--not just the sample chapters! This topic will open 12:01am Mountain time, January 26th. It will remain locked until then. When you are able to reply to this thread, that means the Bands spoiler board can now accept full book spoilers, so you can make other topics at that point, too. Please review the Bands spoiler policies too!

On page 207 of Bands of Mourning, a woman darker-skinned than most Terris and wearing braids intruded on Wax's dance with a Lady Demoux in New Seran. She was curious in the science behind a crasher's powers, and had statistics concerning the frequency of their birth. She also said, and I quote, "Infant mortality on Scadrial is not as bad as some regions, but still shockingly high." She seemed comfortable in a social setting, going so far as to lead in the dance steps. Now, does this or does this not seem like Khriss of Taldain? I apologize if there has already been a thread concerning this, I conducted a quick search but I didn't put all that much effort into it so I might have missed something. Thank you for your time.

So I was rereading Bands of Mourning in an effort to get a better grasp of medallion creation when I came across this line: Bolded for emphasis. From this quote, it is implied that a group of metalborn can work in teams to create medallions. It got me thinking about how this could be possible without the need of spikes. For this to work, we need to be able to create medallions which grant two abilities, which has been shown to be difficult but possible in Bands of Mourning. I have no idea what makes this difficult, but let's assume it has been worked out. From my understanding, a medallion is simply a nicrosil metalmind filled with a desired type of metalborn Investiture that has been divorced of any Identity. This allows anyone to tap it and temporarily gain the abilities of said metalborn. The added rings of other metals are simply a convenience. With this in mind, I think it is indeed possible to create a medallion without someone who has multiple feruchemical abilities. For this, you would need 3 metalborn: 1 Nicrosil Ferring, 1 Aluminum Ferring and 1 Metalborn of the desired ability, let's say Steel Misting. My theoretical process has 6 steps. Warning, this is about to get very wordy, but I have avoided pronouns to make it absolutely clear who's filling and tapping what when. Here goes. 1. The Nicrosil Ferring fills a nicrsosil metalmind with nicrosil ferring Investiture, which is keyed to their Identity. This metalmind should now grant anyone who can tap it the abilities of a Nicrosil Ferring. 2. The Aluminum Ferring begins filling an aluminum metalmind with nearly all of their Identity, which should allow them to tap the keyed nicrosil metalmind created in step one. 3. Now able to store their Investiture, the Aluminum Ferring fills an unkeyed nicrosil metalmind with aluminum ferring Investiture, which should grant anyone the ability to store Identity. We shall call this Medallion A. 4. The Nicrosil Ferring then taps Medallion A, which grants them the ability to store Identity. This should allow them to create unkeyed metalminds. 5. Here's the step that is difficult for unclear reasons. The Nicrosil Ferring now needs to create an unkeyed medallion filled with both aluminum and nicrosil ferring Investiture, which should grant anyone wearing it the ability to store Identity and Investiture. We shall call this Medallion B. 6. Assuming that worked, the Steel Misting then taps Medallion B and stores their Identity in an aluminum metalmind while filling a nicrosil metalmind with steel misting Investiture. This should theoretically create a third medallion that grants anyone the abilities of a Coinshot, which we shall call Medallion C. From this point, anyone should be able to tap Medallion C until the Investiture runs out. There's an extra step from here to create medallions with any two abilities, but I think that was already difficult enough to follow. Thoughts?

I listen to these books, so the spelling will contain errors. Huge fan of the Cosmere and Brandon's work outside of it. I don't have the ability to quote various texts within the books that my betters have. Please help with a simple question, that may not be so simple to answer completely. Who crafted the Bands of Mourning? Before you answer, I would like to clarify what answer I would like. The Lord Ruler had pierced himself with metal bands, 2 feruchemical/allomantic bracers that went between his Ulna and Radius bones of the arm. Pretty good place to put those, however, chopping his arms off would have killed him alot easier than Vin and Preservation's method, but there's no story without doing it Ruin's way. Nevermind that small tangent, besides, I like the story just how it is. It was said in Ascension that there was only a small trace of Atium in those 2 bracers, so it's worth was tiny to feed Elend's empire. 300 years later in the Alloy Era (no I don't call it AoL because that's an internet company that mailed me CD's and trash all the time) Everything has spiritual context due to being sermonized by the Survivor church. Now they are the fabled Bands of Mourning, but knowing "there's always another secret" I doubt that what Marasi thought to be The Lord Ruler's Bands of Mourning are actually his. So, who crafted all The Bands of Mourning? How were they all crafted? Yes, both sets, the Lord Ruler's and the Alloy Era's.

I was going through the forums and looking at all of the theories about investiture, and was thinking about several things. First off, a ton of people(I feel) are getting the power of storing investiture wrong. I'm pretty sure it works(very basically) like this: Let's say you have a Twinborn, with F: Nicrosil, and A: Steel. He/She also has a Hemalurgic spike granting F: Aluminum. He/She decides that they are going to make one of those cool bracelet things that let others have their power. He/She Stores Aluminum, Then Stores Nicrosil into the Nicrosil part of the bracelet. That means that anyone who taps that(anyone can, apparently) Nicrosil will be granted the powers of F: Nicrosil and Aluminum, and A: Steel. Some people thought that Nicrosil gave any ability. Are they right? On another topic, do you remember when Allik said that it was impossible to make a bracelet with 4 powers? Based on what I'm thinking, that is because they need to get Hemalurgic spikes that give them those powers, and that having four puts them under Harmony's influence. So, what would happen if you were to get 16 Allomancers and 16 Feruchemists together and gave them one bracelet each that gave them F: Nicrosil and Aluminum, then had each of them try to store into one Nicrosil bracelet? Since all of their power is unbranded, would it make something like the bands of mourning, or would it not allow them to put all of their powers into one Nicrosil bracelet?

More than ten years after the Wax and Wayne books, Waxillium finds he is not impressed by Modern art. (Canon compliant up to the end of Bands of Mourning and Secret History. AU*). For @Kingsdaughter613; whom requested that I post it here. It is little changed from the original, so all...issues are still there, etc. A/N: With apologies to Duchamp... 000 Wax had agreed to go to the exhibition because he had nothing better to do, and well, Steris had insisted. Rotting at home like a piece of old-furniture under a white sheet was not the way he wanted to spend retirement. Admit it, he thought, examining the gallery of truly...strange...’art’, Steris’ arm wrapped around his; they shuffled throughout the exhibition, abut slowly and stiffly, you’re bored, Wax...and curious. It was like a new mystery, waiting for him to solve it. Rumors abounded at parties and other functions he still found himself attending, the nobility and wealthy whispered about the frightening, sometimes ‘horrifying’ art. They said painters had gone wild. That they used bright colors, strange shapes, and lines of all kinds. Creating ‘abstract’ art (whatever the hell that meant, exactly) of every kind: from ‘landscapes’ to ‘portraits’ to ‘sculptures’. Worse still, were the found objects, things taken from everyday life and then chosen by artists as art. The whole upper-crust of Elendel was in a panic about an art gallery...At first, however, Wax didn’t give a dam-n. He didn’t even like art. Then MeLaan had flung a newspaper in his face (more or less) that morning.(1) He muttered something about being ‘too old for whatever crap she had found,’ She’d responded with a candid reply about her age, which didn’t count, after all, she was an immortal, but Wax hadn’t gotten a word in edge-wise before she pointedly strutted out of the room to talk with Wayne. Wayne had never moved out of Ladrian manor, and when Wayne had married MeLaan...they’d just acquired a new house ‘guest’. Leaning back into his plush chair, Wax had taken a sip of whiskey from the glass the kandra had brought him behind Steris’ back; (his wife insisted that one of the causes of his...health issues...was whiskey, he doubted it, though, chasing after criminals had done hell to the knees and back). Wax glanced down at the newspaper...and stared, blankly at it. There was a photograph of a...urinal on the front-page? He fished for the reading glasses Wayne had given him(2) on the end-table. After sliding them on, Wax squinted. Indeed, an urinal. Wax’s eye twitched. It hadn’t done that in nearly a decade...but... ”Dam-n.” That episode had brought them here, to this gallery, surrounded by the strangest rust he had ever seen. Each piece had a plaque, some plaques described the art, others said nothing at all related, and Steris insisted that they stop at each, dam-n piece. To gawk, to stare, to admire it, he guessed, Wax didn’t know what nobles even did at art exhibitions. Except maybe wish they had stayed home instead. His feet hurt, his knees ached, and he rubbed the small of his back to alleviate its pain. He wasn’t even that old yet, but dam-n he sometimes felt like a man in his nineties, not fifties. ”And this,” his beautiful wife said, dragging him over to a sculpture that looked like a giant railroad spike hammered into a wooden stole, “Is a piece by Kay, he is a wonderful artist, renowned for his ‘readymades’...” ”Kay?” He frowned. That named sounded...strangely familiar. He couldn’t place it. Maybe he had read it in the newspaper...or heard it on the radio. Wax wasn’t sure what to make of this Spiking thin air, either, except that he doubted some random... Wax bowed his head then whispered in her ear, “It looks like hemalurgy...or a mockery of it...” Spikes in dead wood couldn’t bestow powers or attributes to that object. Even if it was charged, it was losing whatever Investiture it had, its powers slowly slithering back to Harmony. Still...he lifted a hand to his chin in thought. ”He’s an artist,” she rebuked; then tugged on his arm, trying to urge him to move on. Wax hadn’t expected her to be so...excited about this. Yet, Steris’ subtle smile hadn’t left her face since they had arrived, almost an hour ago. “That doesn’t mean he couldn’t also be a...” “Waxillium,” from her tone of voice he knew he was in trouble, “you will not...” Despite her warning, Wax burned steel (which MeLaan had slipped into his whiskey), checking the spike. It was...heavily Invested metal, he couldn’t Push it. Iron, probably. Too heavily Invested to be a spike, considering that the show had been going on for a few weeks. Probably a metalmind. Huh. Kay had an interesting sense of humor, it seemed. If I didn’t know better... “Is there any more work by him?” Her brow furled slightly as she considered his words. “Yes...” “It’s probably innocent...” Steris sighed. “I couldn’t Push it,” he whispered. This made her eyes widen, he noted a little fire in their blue depths. Excitement. Wax nodded. “Does Kay have any more sculptures at this exhibition?” “There are some others pieces of work, yes,” Steris said, leading him away, “if it gets too dangerous...” “I’m sure it will not,” he answered, “I’m retired.” She flattened her lips for a moment. “It’s not like...” “You brought your ironminds?” He nodded. Of course he had. He didn’t feel comfortable walking around at his actual weight. He hadn’t done so in years; even months into his retirement, Wax hadn’t let go of vital, old habits. “And?” “Two.” She glanced at the two holstered guns, their tips sticking out under his coat, then at the third one on his leg, and up at the fourth one, too, which was in a holster on his left arm. It was a small, experiment weapon Ranette had given him a few months back. Ranette, like both MeLaan and Wayne, insisted his retirement was fake. “Four.” “I couldn’t...” “Learn the meaning of retirement in only three months, therefore, I must act like it’s a clever jest pulled on me by my wife...,” she said, he smiled, “try not to make a scene here, it’s an art gallery.” “That’s art?” Wax pointed at a strange painting, two light blue gears on a green background. It looked more like a diagram for a weird machine than it did a any art he had ever seen. A cruel mockery of it, considering that the artist had labeled one gear ‘woman’ and the other ‘man’. “It’s a Spool.” “Is that what it’s called?” “Spool’s the artist,” she answered, taking his hand then slowly leading him away. Soon, they entered another room. From the plaques, he saw that all these pieces were works by Kay. Like the Spiking thin air, most were everyday objects, or slightly modified things. One sculpture was a chair laid on its side. Another was a tall, slender box of glass filled with random pieces of metal: nails, screws, and other things situated to make plain of metallic pieces. A few abstract paintings hung on the wall. In the center of all this ‘art’ stood the urinal, on a thick, wooden pole, like it was some kind of strange... Is it supposed to be a spear? He chewed his inner cheek. “If you burn steel,” said someone behind them, “you’ll see what’s actually there.” Wax glanced over his shoulder, then, turned around slowly. That had to be the artist. Wax had read in that earlier article that Kay was a tall, blond haired man whom often wore well-tailored suits. Kay did not dress the part of the typical, poor artist. He wore his hair long, bangs falling past his right eye, which, Wax noted, was covered by a thick, black patch. Kay’s one good eye was lined, hazel; all things considered, he looked like one of Wayne’s fictional pirates in a nice suit. Wax didn’t like him. The paper said he was twenty-nine, he looked more like fifty. Either time had lied to Kay, or he had lied to them. “Come again?” Kay grinned. “Burn steel.” Wax did as asked, curiosity pecking at the back of his brain. The grin on Kay’s face grew larger, a little wild, a little feral. That caused Wax to frown...he looked back at the glass box, not sure... Wax blinked, then stared. He hadn’t noticed it before, but now that he burned steel, he saw...that some of the pieces of metal in the glass box were noticeably more faint than others. They formed a picture, one that only a person who could burn iron or steel could see, and only if they were looking for it. It was supposed to look like any other piece of...chaotic anti-art in the gallery. Ironically meaningless, mocking the upper class that expected art to appeal to their aesthetic tastes... But, this...was beautiful. The portrait of a woman, her hair blowing in the wind. A portrait only people like him could see. It must have meant that Kay could burn iron or steel, too. And...Wax realized he knew that woman...it... He swiveled around, then glared at Kay. You’re getting slow in your old age, Wax, he told himself. In the old days, he would’ve known when he saw the blond hair and the ill-fitting, thick eye-patch. “You’re him.” “He doesn’t like this idea,” replied Kay, crossing his arms, “but as I have assured him, no one would think to look for it.” Wax heard something that may have amounted to a sigh... It did not sound like Steris, who had tensed beside him. Only a few others were in this part of the exhibition, and none were close enough for Wax to have heard the their conversation. He’d left his earring in. The others in the room looked blurry, they were in a speed-bubble. Wax reached for one of his guns. “Please,” Kay said, still wearing that obnoxious smile, “we’re in an art gallery.” His hand remained on its handle. Yes, he knew it was useless, but cosmere be damned, he wouldn’t... “You won’t kill me with that.” Kay-no, Kelsier-Pushed, gently, on the weapon. “It’s not worth shooting the whole gallery up for this, is it?” Wax nodded, hand dropping to his side. A part of Wax doubted he could draw and fire fast enough to do any damage anyway. “You inspired the whole countryside to near rebellion.”(3) “I gave them hope.” At these words, Steris squeezed Wax’s hand. “And the Set-” “Kid, why in hell would I want Scandrial’s destruction?” The grin melted off his face. His gaze hardened. “We want to protect this world, not destroy it.” Wax did not answer. He...Harmony had not given him all the facts, and Wax hadn’t asked, presuming god wouldn’t give him those kinds of answers. Wax had jumped to conclusions, ran with (the little) evidence he and Marasi had... “Then why?” “It’s a gift,” he said, not answering the question Wax wanted, but Wax was not completely sure what question to ask, either. Are you still friends? Wax asked. Harmony did not respond. That sent a chill up his spine. “Harmony and I do not always agree on how things should be done,” he said. Steris grew pale, her hand, cold. Wax studied his wife, she hadn’t spoken once in the whole exchange, but her eyes had grown wide and she trembled in both shock and fear. It wasn’t everyday that one meant their god in an art gallery. “He doesn’t always like the actions I take, and I can’t say I like his choices either, but neither of us wanted the Set to succeed.” “And you left it to us,” Wax said, “you let...” “I did help...” But how, Wax knew, Kelsier would not tell. No, Kelsier wasn’t the kind of person who would reveal such relevant secrets. Why would he tell them this? “Where I could...it’s not about my ability to survive, to overcome...” “But ours...” Kelsier smiled at Steris’ words, unlike before, it touched his eye. Wax hadn’t heard that the Survivor was known for being sincere. “But you’re going to buy this piece.” “What.” “Or appear to,” he said, gesturing to the slender, glass case filled with metal, “it’s a gift...an apology, in a way.” “That doesn’t make sense.” “Fullborn need not make sense,” he said. Wax felt a headache starting at his temples. “Bend-alloy’s running out, dropping in three...two...” “We’ll make sure to send one of our servants to retrieve it soon,” Steris said, “it is a wonderful piece, I am a great admirer of yours.” He was amazed she could say that with such a plain look on her face. “Thank you,” Kelsier replied, taking her hand, he placed something in the pocket of her coat as he kissed the tips of her fingers. A part of Wax wanted to punch that obnoxious bastard for that gesture. “My lady?” “Steris Ladrian.” After a few more pleasantries, they left the gallery in a rush, Steris nearly dragging him away. Her eyes never met his until they reached their car and slipped into the back seat. Wax still hated motored vehicles, but no one in their class traveled in horse-drawn carriages anymore. If I hate cars so much, Wax thought, distracted momentarily, what do four-hundred year old men think of these things? Even when they settled into their seats and Steris glared at him until he buckled his seat belt, his wife did not speak. Instead, she stared out the window, watching the city pass them by as their driver, Hoid, took them home. “Steris?” he asked, breaking the awkward silence that had filled the cab. The driver had shut the small plastic window between him and the cab to give them some privacy, though he could probably here their conversation despite that. “He was not what I expected,” she said at long last. “Harmony is not what I expected,” he answered, placing an arm around her shoulder and bringing her to rest her head against his chest, “not even now, but the first time we spoke I was being shot at.” She giggled, though he could hear the faint echo of tears in her voice, “He’s hard...cold why did he insist on us having it?” Minutes passed. Quiet, uncertain minutes in which he gathered his thoughts. “Wax?” “What did he place in your pocket?” She blinked, then checked the pocket of her coat. Steris took out a small coin attached to a ribbon, bearing the engraving of Sovereign's face; it was a metalmind like the Southerners used. Bastard. “It’s a portrait that can only be seen when one burns iron or steel,” he answered. “Fascinating,” she replied, “it’s a con, isn’t it?” This suggestion left Wax bewildered. Just...like the rest of the art. But Kelsier was a con man, the Historica said, of course it was just another con. “We can see the portrait,” she said, “but most of our guests will see it as just a strange and frivolous piece of modern art without meaning or importance. The elderly, eccentric couple who...” Wax touched her tear-stained cheek. Gently, she placed her hand over his, meeting his steady gaze at last. “It might be better that way...” She cocked an eyebrow. “It’s of Lessie.” His sweet wife squeezed his hand, she did not speak, and neither did he. He was not certain what to say, sometimes...words could do little to speak truths. Some days, Harmony said, I think, he may be my friend, Waxillium. Others, I am certain we are enemies. More and more often, however, I am simply unsure. But he cares for this world, its people...he does love it... Though he does not understand what that means. 000 Three days later, Kay the artist was declared dead by authorities. If Kelsier were to ask Marsh, it was a little too dramatic, but he liked the idea that most of Kay’s art had gone up in smoke. It seemed a fitting fate for art that was supposed to be anarchic by nature, and Kay had burned up with it, a victim of a terrible accident although the authorities never found the body. Kelsier had simply left the burning building joining the crowd, slipping past all the chaos in the streets. No one else had been there, he’d made sure of it. Sazed would probably give him an earful anyways; after all, he had destroyed the work of others as well as his own, and destroyed a building, too. He stored Connection in a metalmind, using it to give him some peace, though Sazed would speak to him about this happenstance eventually. Or, he thought, sitting on one of the highest ledges on top of one of Elendel’s newest skyscrapers, he may send Marsh. What a joy that would be. Another lecture... He loved his brother, but Marsh could be a serious pain in the as-s at times. Sazed had yet to do so. Instead, he perched alone, looking out over Elendel as night fell over the city. The stars above, the Red Ripe too, filling him with worry, and the mist below, covering street and building alike. It was a thick mist tonight, nearly as thick as the nights in Luthadel. A few strands reached the ledge, licking his feet, attracted by his Allomancy. He smiled. Tin and Steel burned warmly in his stomach, but even that could not fully chase away the late winter chill, even in a city that rarely ever received snow. Here though, he could wrap his mistcloak around his body tightly, and watch the night pass by in peace, tapping Wakefulness to keep sleep at bay...Soon, however, he spotted a dark figure bounding up through the mists. Even after more than three-and-a-half centuries, Marsh lacked the gracefulness of a Mistborn. His spikes had granted him immense power, but his Pushes and Pulls were always a tad too strong, a bit too powerful. Whereas a Mistborn’s leaps and bounds were like a dancer flying through the mists, Marsh had as much grace as Windrunner falling with style. (4) Marsh eventually reached the ledge, although he had to Push on it to slow down his fall, denting it slightly. He landed on the skyscraper with a thud, announcing his presence, but Kelsier continued to peer down at the streets, watching the electric lights form pools of white or yellow in the mists. “Kelsier.” “Good evening, Marsh.” He raised a hand at his brother, but did not turn his head as he heard him approach. Like a fellow gargoyle, Marsh sat on the roof beside him. “Burning down art galleries?” his brother asked in that soft, gravelly voice he had managed to acquire throughout the centuries. It really had helped Marsh to make a frightening Death, all things considered. It was a nice finishing to the doom and groom vibe that his black cloak and multiple spikes helped to create. Appearance wise, he was an excellent choice for the role, personality wise, though, he still had a lot to work on. Marsh was still too kind to be Death. “Everyone was fine.” Kelsier waved a hand, trying to push back Marsh’s accusation like he might push the mist into the earth. Neither worked very well. “They found a boy’s body in the debris.” He meant his brother’s spiked eyes. “I didn’t...” “Know?” “There wasn’t anyone there,” he argued, standing, anger powering his steps as he began to pace the ledge, “I swear, I checked...” “He went in to save you,” said Marsh. He ran a hand through his now-short blond hair. It still covered most of his right eye, though he had removed the patch and stuck it in his pocket. “It...who?” “They weren’t sure.” He stopped pacing, standing at the opposite end of the ledge, glaring down the city like his...accident was its fault. “And Harmony?” He lifted his head. Marsh lips bent upwards a tad. “You know how he feels about telling us the last moments of others before they pass onto the Beyond.” Harmony believed that each person deserved privacy when they died. He’d only gotten to speak with...a few when Harmony requested it and if he was in the Cognitive Realm at the time. Most of those had been Survivorists; or their friends, like Breeze and Ham. “How old was he?” “Eighteen,” came his brother’s answer, “twenty at most. They were not sure.” Vin’s age when...His mouth grew dry. Thinking of that made him feel old, tired, but not the kind of tiredness a Feruchemist could simply store in a metalmind and be done with. No, it was the strange kind of weariness which sometimes came to those who had lived for so long... Kelsier gathered his cloak around him as though to shield him from both cold and time itself. “Dam-n.” He sighed, staring out into the mists. He hadn’t...meant it to go so far. He often did not like it when it did. He had gone too far with Spook, even with the Southerners, but he couldn’t always tell what too far looked like, when he went to the extent that he toyed with the hearts’ of people he tried to help. Preservation’s command not to do so still whispered in his Soul. It left him feeling something close to guilt, but what Marsh said next did not. “And you destroyed all that art.” “Anti-art,” he corrected, holding up a finger, “it was almost a perfect con.” Marsh frowned. His brother probably thought he should have been more somber, but, he was Kelsier, somber was boring. “Kelsier,” he said, “you destroyed a whole building...” A part of him laughed at that. Of all the things Marsh could reprimand him for, a building seemed like the least thing on that list, considering that he'd nearly brought down a whole civilization, once. Still, that had been centuries ago. They had to step much more carefully now... “They have insurance,” he answered, shrugging. “Listen, do you know how many wealthy bastards were frightened or bewildered by that crap? They tried to give meaning to shi-t.” “You made shi-t, art.” “I made them think it was art,” he said, grinning, “they bought into it, literally, it’s nearly as good as that time I tricked all those Elantrians to believe I was Ruin.” If his brother had eyes, he might have rolled them. Instead, lips flattened informing Kelsier that he had properly annoyed him. “That...” “Was brilliant.” Marsh grunted. “Bridge Four?” he asked, “Rosharans grunt so much that grunts are now their common tongue. Considering how many languages they have, it's the only one that they all can completely comprehend.” This elicited a chuckle at least. They again sat together in companionable silence, the night quickly passing into early dawn. The first rays of sunshine covered the city, bathing the city in red light, turning the skyscrapers into dark silhouettes against the rising sun. He dimmed his tin, letting it simmer, sunrises up here were brilliant, but he only had one eye to see them with, the other couldn’t tell the difference between night or day. It had its uses, other than creating a Connection to his Physical form. With the old Inquisitor spike, he could see any trace metals in buildings, ground, or even people, and use those to Push or Pull as needed. By creating a puncture in the Spiritual then through the Cognitive and into the Physical Realm, it let his Investiture into his his old body, anew, providing a new string. Spikes pierced into the soul. There was more to it than that, but each day was a new one taken, stolen for-- “Brother,” he frowned, but looked up at Marsh as he spoke, “why did you give Waxillium that portrait?” Why does this feel like one of Saze’s inquiries? He did not ask that, Marsh should have been proud. Perhaps age had quelled his tongue a tad at long last. “It was a gift.” Marsh stared at him with those spiked eyes. Even Kelsier sometimes found them unnerving despite having one of his own. “Is it possible that I feel some guilt for all that occurred? Or...something akin to it?” “Is it that...or...?” “I just wanted to help.” He wasn’t sure if that was true, or if he had just wanted to present his ironic anti-art. Anarchy with a solution. He wasn’t a good man, after all, Vin had taught him that. He had too much ego to be truly good, no matter how hard he tried... In some ways, his Connection to others was frayed...broken. “Alright,” he said, throwing Marsh his infamous insufferable grin, “it was about style too.“ All he got in reply was yet another grunt which quickly transformed into a gravelly sigh. His brother just had to accept it was one of those days. 000 Original A/N: It’s hard writing cosmere fanfiction especially for something that hasn’t been written yet and also based on the Modern art period. I need to add more details on mechanist art, but probably later. Tumblr gets the rough draft, I’m so sorry...not really. While somethings aren’t said outright, partially because of predicting canon is hard, Marasi isn’t mentioned. Also, this supposes that Wax doesn’t meet Kelsier in the Last Metal, which makes this highly likely that it will end up as an AU. I don’t, personally, think that the Set is Kell’s organization [who knows what WoB might brew, though], I think his commented to protecting the world outweighs that likelihood. That being said, I think it might be his fault, partially, that things are the way that they are in the series. Kell is, obviously, messing around, partially because he can’t leave people alone. He’s right, he inspires people, but he plays with them too because he can’t see that other people also have feelings as well as most can [being a sociopath], though I think he’s gotten a little better at it after forming some healthier links with Preservation in Secret History. Kelsier still does not get that harassing nobles just to harass nobles isn’t nice, though. And thus...MISTBORN-STYLE DADA WAS BORN BECAUSE KELL IS ANARCHIST. 1) MeLaan has a passion for throwing news papers in people’s faces, apparently, she did this to TenSoon and now has done it to Wax too. She also will probably do it to Wayne too. 2) Imagine how that went. lol. 3) Since Alloy, lone persons have mentioned seeing Kelsier in the countryside encouraging them; in Bands of Mourning, some of the captured Set members mentioned stories of the Survivor stuffed into their head (to incite Civil War). Assuming Wax heard of the later stories from Marasi, he is drawing assumptions about Kelsier’s role/relationship with the Set (which will probably not be destroyed, I think, but will prove to be a much larger threat than we know). 4) Yes, this assumes that Kelsier has been to Roshar, and doesn’t think that Windrunning is as graceful as Allomancy. What an elitist.

Just wanted to pose a few questions about the "Allomantic Grenades", or the Ettmetal cubes that could simulate Allomancy (and Feruchemy). First, when the cube is first used, it is "Invested" with Chromium Allomancy, draining Wax's stores. However, I noticed that the cube does not touch Wax, as would be necessary with a Leecher. So why does it work? Later, when Wax is experimenting with it, the cube uses steel Allomancy as a filter for the power of the Ettmetal, but the cube somehow has the pushing power to move Wayne's metal belt and Wax's shotgun. Does the cube then replicate Wax's push force instead of using its own mass? Also, if it were using steel Allomancy wouldn't it be pushed out of Wayne's hand? If it does replicate Wax's push, could he increase his weight, then charge the cube with steel Allomancy, giving it a greater push force? Though it does not specifically mention the cube, it is probably a similar device, but the Set gets the ship to store its own weight so that it is lighter and easier for the ship to take off. There are a lot of implications here. Is the weight of the ship stored in a certain place? If the device is started in the same way by performing the Feruchemy, and could you use the device to make the ship heavier as well, or only if you had previously stored the ship's weight? Could someone store the ship's Identity then, store weight, creating an Identity-less metalmind of the ship's weight that the person could then use? If the ship can store weight, how would other things, such as health work with the ship? This topic is mostly to spur conversation and the flow of ideas about these curious devices, so let me know what you think...

A friend and I were discussing Wayne and Steris' relationship, and we decided that there's probably a good setting for a series of short stories/vignettes about them as they increasingly become friends (of a sort). Steris almost certainly has a list of possible things Wayne might do to irritate her, as well as ways of dealing with them. Wayne knows there's a list because it's Steris. So the game would be: "Can Wayne do something to Steris that isn't on her list." Wayne wouldn't look at the list because "it would right take the fun out of it," and Steris would use the game as an opportunity to contain Wayne's chaos. I suspect Wayne has spent some time in the Assembly, pretending to be a member, and having fun tying people up in silly votes and time-consuming procedural motions. I was enjoying the image of him attempting this on Steris, who would utterly crush him procedurally. Anybody else have ideas for ways Wayne could mess with Steris? I assume she has well-fleshed out ideas for what to do if Wayne infiltrates any of her social gatherings or hobbies, but there's room for Wayne to work, even there.

"You could tell them from the way they walked... Of course the softly glowing red eyes were another sign." -The Bands of Mourning, pg 433 This is the reference to the first of the "other" Kandra. This was the most impressive part for me in the end of BoM. (Well one of three) This is tied directly to the red haze Wax observed encircling Scadrial. Harmony said it was the presence of something else, a power from beyond the planet. Now I know there is speculation that this is Odium, and I think I can confirm it. We know the void spren are of Odium. They are what make the Thunderclast and what is needed to create storm-form in the Parshendi. These forces have been described as red spren moving like lightning. The also turned the Parshendi's eyes red. Some may see this as a generalization, but there is too much consistency here. In the Song of Secrets they sing: Our gods were born splinters of a soul, Of one who seeks to take control, Destroys all lands that he beholds, with spite. They are his spren, his gift, his price. But the nightforms speak of future life... So these spren are Splinters of Odium. That makes sense. What is interesting is that he made his splinters spren. Until now, the Shards of the various worlds each have different forms of magic, splinters, and goals. However Odium seems to be mimicking Cultivation and Honor as he seeks to destroy them and all that they created. Upon reflection this seemed odd to me. Then I remembered the red eyes The Set have their own Kandra, which means they are not of Harmony. Yet here it is again, it seems that someone is mimicking the tools and followers of Harmony. There are these Void Kandra and the Set has somehow learned about Hemalurgy, and knows how to use it. Remember the dog-men who chased Wax in Shadows of Self? They were new unknown creations. The Lord Ruler experimented with Hemalurgy for 1000 years, and he couldn't make anything more than he had created during his ascension. These things are made from something who understands Hemalurgy like Ruin did and it (probably) isn't Harmony. Now the other thought is that this could be another Shard. Well that is possible, and if that's the case then we cannot know more until the next book comes out. However I hope you see that the parallels between Trell on Scadrial and Odium on Roshar are pretty apparent. So I think this is Odium's plan. He creates mimics who use twisted versions of a shard's power, using the powers and investiture of his foes. This somehow gives him an advantage and might be the key to a shards destruction, using their own power against them somehow. I doubt I was the first one to think about this, but i couldn't see anything posted on this in my search. Even so, the possibilities are endless. I wonder if Scadrial is about to face its first Desolation...

So, this is about the three weird symbols/circles, at least, I believe it was three. Good evening. This topic will delve into my favorite activity... PURE SPECULATION. Anyways, in Bands one other thing (of many, but let us not go into that again) has kept bothering me since reading the book: the door with the three weird symbols which Wax has to Push on in a certain order to open said door. What's weird, here, is this: ~BoM, 324 No one really seems to know what those are or what language they are from. While Suit knows what order they should be pushed in because he talked with the Southerner captain (331-2). So, for the fun of speculation, where do you people think these symbols are from? They're probably not from the South (Allik would've recognized them), the North, or, presumably anywhere the characters know... But, there's some hints in the text (maybe, if you pull on it certain ways) as to what they are: After Wax Pushes the first symbol, Edwarn tells him to Push on the second one: ~BoM, 332 This seems to hint that these weird symbols are circles with a symbol inside them (or something like that). A part of me says that they're Aons because that would be Aonic* or some weird symbols from another world, but the rest thinks it's just some meaningless bullcrap that Sovereign made to play with the expectations of his followers (and the readers). Finally, according to Edwarn: "Apparently these symbols spell out something the Lord Ruler would have understood." (333) So, thoughts? *that is not a pun on ironic; seriously. That would be bad. ** Also, I wish I had called this the Dor Mechanism now. Oh well. xD

Could someone from any planet use the Bands? If so, could a kandra or koloss use the bands? Could a returned use them? An Elantrian? A Lifeless? What decides whether someone can use them?

Brandon keeps being coy about how important the phrase "Rust and Ruin" is to the Mistborn Era 2 plot and I have seen discussion about who/what Rust is scattered throughout the site, but it doesn't look like there's a discussion dedicated to the topic. Who is Rust?! I have seen theories espoused from Trell to Odium to Autonomy to Kelsier (which may be a redundant list...) but why can't it just be Preservation? In many worlds in the cosmere, we see characters cursing by the names of a shard that resides on their world (damnation, merciful domi, etc.). This is the only double-worded curse I can remember, and happens to occur on the only world where we have a vessel possessing two shards. It would make sense then for Rust and Ruin to refer to our best-bud Harmony. Why say Rust and not some derivative of Preservation? What if Preservation is still weaker than Ruin, and Saze is having trouble "preserving" half of his duality? Rust is a neat metaphor for ruin-the-concept, showing something slipping from pristine condition to neglect. If a metal is improperly preserved, it will rust. So too might the power of a shard. Anyway, just a thought that I hadn't seen around. I think with the obvious import of Rust on the next plot it's worth hashing out some of our thoughts in a formal manner, rather than fragmenting conversation throughout the boards.

Was just re-reading Bands of Mourning, there's nothing spoilery in the text but just to be safe because it is a quote I'm going to put it below So it's official. Harmony has a True Name, and is going to show up in Book 3 of the King Killer Chronicles. My prediction is Kvothe is so awesome he ascends to godhood and becomes Adonalsium and sets off the entire Cosmere story at the end of Doors of Stone.

So, maybe I'm making a connection that doesn't exist...but follow me on this. When Hoid shows up at the well of ascension and accosts Kelsier...he's riding a corpse like a boat...and that corpse is not all the way dead (it mumbles something when Hoid prods it) BoM Maybe I'm reading too much into these things, but is it possible that some yet unseen shard world's magic system somehow involves the manipulation of the dead?

I am almost certain that ettmetal is lithium. Here's why. 1: ettmetal explodes in water. The only metals that actually behave in this way are alkali metals, which means that ettmetal could be lithium, sodium, potassium, rubidium, cesium, or francium. 2: lithium, sodium, and potassium are the only ones that occur naturally in the world without human creation, and Scadrial will not have that tech for a long time, even in the south. 3: Sodium and potassium don't usually occur in pure form, so it would have to be lithium. Any objections? Ideas?

Wax used the Bands of Mourning tapping amazing amount of Investiture from its reserves, at the point he began to see the true structure of the Cosmere. We know that someone become a Sliver after keep an huge amount of power, the power expands his soul and when the power was there no more, it leave some residual. We know also that a Lerasium Mistborn is near of the amount of power needed to become a Sliver (from a WoB). Therefore, may Wax and Marasi have becomed Slivers ? Any idea ?

So in BoM, near the end the "Rep Rip" is mentioned as being in the sky. I think this could have something to do with Trell, given that it is depicted as surrounding the planet and its Immortals have red eyes. It's even mentioned twice, one on page 84: "By the starlight- which was bright tonight, with no clouds and the Rep Rip low on the horizon-..." and in the Epilogue, in the Wax section, right before he looks at the memory: "...though the skyscraper was tall enough he thought he could see stars and the Rep Rip through that mist..." At the very least, this is a new feature of Scadrial's sky that I don't think has been mentioned before.