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I have a question (admittedly kind of stupid) about how a Koloss's unique life cycle would be effected by Nathlis's magic system. 1. Heightenings increase a person's life span and health. A Koloss grow larger the older it gets until its health gives out. Would a Koloss with a high enough Heightening continue to grow until it hit the "square-cube law" or would magic override that? 2. If a Koloss happened to be selected by Empowerment to be Returbed, would it Koloss size, Returned size, or bigger than both?

Mistborn spoiler tags are no longer necessary, I believe. But amidst all of the discussion about the Parshmen and their severed Spirit Webs and subsequent Slaveform situation, I have a few Random and possibly horribly off base thoughts. We already know that the Koloss are a Hemalugic Construct. Their: Size, Strength, Rage and Battle Prowess were a direct result of TLR's knowledge and insight. Effectively a Race bred for the sole purpose of being enslaved. Through Human, specifically, we can see the Sentience trying to push itself to the front of his consciousness. There is some evidence that the Parshmen (Slaveform) are a direct result of knowledge surmised, even if incorrectly, after the last Desolation. I am rather a proponent of the 'Great Magic unleashed Here' = 'The Recreance'= 'the Severing of the majority of the Parsh* population from their Rhythms' theory. Someone felt they had a valid justification. It happened. At this point, we are still waiting to find out what that Justification was. In the case of Sadeas, specifically, Bridgemen were an expendable resource. Pay them just enough to drink themselves to sleep and send them out tomorrow. Of the 3 forms of Slavery, I think that this is the worst. This was done in full knowledge of the Humanity of the people in question. They were either Destitute and hoping for a chance to improve themselves, Victims of the Elite Societies scheming, or just plain unlucky. It can be argued easily that the Parshmen were utilized as Slaves because they were completely incapable of acting independently with incomplete Spiritwebs or direct instruction. The Alethi preserved the vast majority of the Parsh** population. Perhaps their methods weren't ideal, but here we see groups of scattered Parshmen capable of thought, insight, reasoning and ALIVE . And as a result terribly bitter. The Skaa were another Enslaved race, but Harmony and the Industrial Revolution on Scadrial has helped progress that situation well past Rosharian Social Justice. I guess my biggest point is that we can't equate the Cosmere to Our Universe. The correlations fall flat as soon as they are made. Pre-Industrial Scadrial is the beat Correlate we have, and that is at best 200 years behind Earthly Human History.

Do we know if modern day Koloss follow any sort of religion? After reading Allomancer Jak and the Pits of Eltania, I thinking maybe a rough version of Surviorism? If I had to pick a religion, that would seem to be one that would resonate the most with Koloss. On a side note: Bands of Mourning and Allomancer Jak and Pits of Eltania spoilers

I've read this statement before but the FAQ once again states that Human the Koloss is alive. So, how long do Koloss normally live? I get why the Kandra are immortal; TLR specifically made them that way as a gift for following him. Did TLR just accidentally create another immortal race or are they just long lived (when they don't brutally murder each other)? Or was this Sazed's doing?

I've seen this come up in many threads but have yet to see a thread devoted specifically to the topic so it seemed appropriate to start one. The question here is, what exactly do we know about the process of Hemalurgic decay? Take particular note of any apparent contradictions as they likely mean a gap in knowledge where we can start to speculate. Below are the points that we know. This is only what is actually evidenced in the books or confirmed in a WoB, not dealing with theories on the subject (we'll get to those). For the sake of this discussion we should have some standardized terms. The terms to be used (so we all know what we are talking about) will be as follows: Hemalurgist: The one performing the act of spiking Donor: The one whose power or attribute is being taken Host (Changed from Beneficiary): The one who is being spiked and thus gaining the trait Hemalurgic Construct: A creature like a Koloss or Kandra who has gained or lost traits through Hemalurgy that are not directly connected with the powers or attributes granted by the spikes. Note that Inquisitors are not in this category as we have no direct evidence that they have any effects from Hemalurgy other than the direct powers of the spikes themselves. Laws of Hemalurgic Decay A spike left outside of a body loses charge at an indeterminate rate for an indeterminate amount of time to an indeterminate minimum. Inquisitors took great pains (as well as inflicting great pains) as they made spikes to ensure they spent as little time outside a body as possible. Spikes can be reused. When as spike is reused it is also important to get it back into a body as quickly as possible (as seen by Human rushing to make a new Koloss as quickly as he could with the spike1). A spike kept in a body intermittently will still maintain some degree of a charge (Vin's and Wax's earrings), though what degree of charge is indeterminate. Spikes may be divided, separate pieces maintaining some charge, but a lesser amount each. This process heightens Hemalurgic decay in some indeterminate way. Please note any other laws/evidence I have missed and this list will be updated. Similarly note anything you think I have misphrased or misrepresented and with appropriate evidence the list will be altered. Remember this list is for provable, verifiable facts, not extrapolations and theories. Now the list was not really the intended subject of this thread, but it is a good starting point. The issues of the earrings have plagued us for far too long and it is time we put our collective obsessive minds to work on trying to figure out hemalurgic decay. Maybe it will come to nothing as we simply don't have enough information yet to make a definite conclusion on, or maybe we'll find that nugget buried somewhere that cracks this all wide open. Below I'll keep updated a synopsis of each possible theory based on our list of laws that seems to explain all of our gathered evidence. As long as a theory remains sound it keeps its place on the list. I'll use a series of codes to indicate usefulness of said theory. Since I'm starting and organizing this discussion the categories are at my discretion and opinion though if anyone disagrees with a categorization make your case and I can probably be persuaded. Plain Text = Possible theory, takes all points into account and has not been fundamentally disproved but cannot really be proved either. Strikethrough = Debunked theory, disproven via direct undeniable evidence. Italics = Unlikely or tenuous theory. Technically possible but unlikely due to other known factors. Bold = Highly likely theory. Takes all points into account and elegantly explains the inconsistencies. Blue = Wild stab in the dark. Theory technically possible but not really based on presented evidence. Pink = Mocking. 17th Sharders taking the piss as we are often wont to do. The first theory presented is one of mine for this, but I'm ready to admit it doesn't really belong as anything but plain text by my codes. Possible Extrapolations from the Laws of Hemalurgic Decay Spikes continually lose charge at a relatively quick rate whenever they are outside a body. The decay rate is constant but exponentially decreasing (basically a half-life, though not necessarily based on a factor of 2) to some bounded minimum charge. This minimum is some factor of the original charge placed in the spike, not an absolute. Spikes lose charge quickly until they are first attuned to a Host, at which point they stop losing charge even while not actually in the Host anymore. (Attributed to Outis, full theory link here) Please join in this discussion. It's long since time we got organized on this one. If this format works out, it might also be something to try for other head-scratchers that plague us all. Footnotes 1. Supporting evidence debunked. Law #4 changed to Wild Stab in the Dark due to lack of supporting evidence.

Ok so my theory is that the Pits of Elantia and the Pits of Hathsin are the same. The koloss tat live in the pits of Elantia are there to protect the atium (possibly under Sazeds orders) Thoughts?

Koloss Inquisitors I think the name says it all, don't you? So, for Scadrian domination on a planetary level, why didn't the Lord Ruler, or Ruin, or somebody else combine the Hemalurgic constructs? Clearly, the ideal Koloss-Quisitor should have 16 spikes: The first four are obvious. It takes four spikes to make one a Koloss. The next two are also clearly needed. The creation of a Koloss gives it brutish intelligence, not an aspect commonly preferred in maniacal, overpowered giant Inquisitors. Therefore, I propose giving each a Kandra Blessing of Presence. This should, in theory, allow the Koloss to retain human-level sentience. The other ten are a matter of preference. Here are mine (going with only abilities used in the Mistborn trilogy): Allomantic Pewter Feruchemical Pewter (I mean, really, if your Inquisitor is Koloss-level, it might as well Compound strength.) Feruchemical Gold Allomantic Gold (Again, for the highly overpowered Compounding.) Allomantic Steel Feruchemical Steel (Both of these are good on their own, though Compounding is another benefit.) Allomantic Iron Allomantic Duralumin Alloy of Law: Cosmere Koloss-Quisitors: So, what do you think? What abilities would your pet Koloss-Inquisitor have? Enjoy!

I'm not sure if this is the right subset of the forum to bring this up, but I generally get really bored on long drives and start turning over theories, such as Scooby Doo being set in a dystopian society where antisocial behaviour is severely punished. (Jail time for dressing as a ghost?) Alas, I digress. My latest thought centers around the elusive concept of "Identity" and the reference to storing it in Feruchemy. My idea centers around the most powerful domination of identity on Scadrial - the control of hemalurgists/spiked creatures by an allomancer. I think that while emotional allomancy pushes and pulls on specific emotions, I think that it tampers with one's identity on different levels. The stronger one's identity, the less susceptible they would be to Soothers and Rioters. There are specific examples in Mistborn of individuals resisting/detecting emotional allomancy through training or sheer force of will. This thought originally came about surrounding the kandra and the fact that their identity was gifted to them through Hemalurgy. It is also the point where I could use some input. Kandra are noted to be immune to standard emotional allomancy, and only a duralumin burn will crack that shell to allow another mind in. This is different to when a duralumin + brass burn is used on a human, like with Straff Venture - Vin was not able to suddenly control him, just deadened him completely. So Hemalurgy is providing protection as well as a weakness? Or is the mistwraith nature of kandra protective, while Hemalurgy provides the weakness? The follow up to that is the koloss - they are hemalurgically spiked humans, which combines the two examples above. One could argue that their identity has been diluted by having multiple human spikes driven into them, hence making it easier to control them en masse. In my mind, a Feruchemist storing Identity would be far more susceptible than normal to soothing and rioting, while one that is tapping Identity would be nearly impossible to influence. I also feel it is important to mention that Identity is not something only gained through magical means, just as one does not have to burn/tap pewter to be strong. I believe that there will be individuals who will be extremely resistant to emotional allomancy just through their own confidence/knowledge of themselves - such as a shardholder or Hoid (possibly - how does having so many identities affect his identity?). The next installment shall appear upon my next 4 hour drive! (16 hours - oh! Allomancy! - of driving seems to have an inhibiting affect on theorising)

So this is just a quick question that I have because I'm a lazy reader. When a Koloss is created, is it formed out of several people who are spiked who then congeal together to form a Koloss, or is it just one person morphed into a Koloss through spiking?

So, here's my second foray into the forums with this theory: I think the Set may have the location of Atium. We know that it takes about 300 years for Atium to regrow, and it's been around that time. I think it may be in the Pits of Eltania. (A location mentioned in the 'Broadsheet' pages of AoL, which supposedly has Koloss. I don't know the reliability of these sheets, though- they honestly seem a lot like tabloids. ) Anyway, in the Final Empire Scadrial, the Kandra (A hemalurgic creation) guarded the Atium. Could it be the Koloss' assignment now? Just an idea. *** It's obvious that Edwarn needed Wax to come to the city, so another Atium related theory I have is that Bloody Tan was an Atium Misting. I have thought long and hard about how he killed Lessie, but were he able to burn Atium, jerking Lessie in the path of Wax's shot would have been simple. This was the catalyst that sent Wax to Elendel, so... Just an idea. Anyone want to chime in??

A question occurred to me while rereading AoL. If a Twinborn were turned into a koloss through hemalurgy would he retain his abilities as a Twinborn? Which led to the same question about Mistings, Ferrings, Mistborn, and full Feruchemists. I don't see logical reasons for them to lose their abilities, since hemalurgy steals part of someone else's spirit web and attaches it to yours. Which wouldn't seem like it would cause you to lose your own abilities as you're adding to yourself, but we have never seen a created koloss use Allomancy or Feruchemy. So I was curious what other peoples thoughts were, because an a-bendalloy f-steel koloss sounds awesome.