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—Sazed —ShaiI have two questions that I hope to address the possible answers of in depth. 1. What realm does Allomancy draw from? 2. What realm does Allomancy affect? The first question is easier to answer when you consider Hemolergy. (Hemalegic basics pasted in a link below.) When you steal a person's Allomancy, what realms are you really piercing with the Spike? Is it Cognative, Physical, or Spiritual? I find Cognative to be unlikely because it is a place of interpretations instead of power. That leaves the other two Realms. Physical fact: The spike physically enters a person's body. Physical speculation: The spike enters a person's body to sap away investiture. Spiritual speculation: The spike pierces the spirit as well as the body to sap investiture. Cognative speculation: The spike pierces the cognition* and body to sap investiture. Realmatic speculation: it pierces all three. (This answer is frustrating to me. It seems like a cheap and easy answer.) (It is to be noted that there is a WoB sort of confirming that all investiture comes from the Spritual realm. I'm sure Moogle can find it for those of you who want it.) For the second question I will tackle two metals at a time (source for metals listed bellow). -Steel: (Coinshot) Pushes on Nearby Metals -Iron: (Lurcher) Pulls on Nearby Metals Analysis: My knee jerk reaction to these is that they affect the Physical realm. Then, I started thinking. What if they are Cognative? Suppose the steel allows Allamancers to see where the Cognative shadows of metals are located. It would work that way because everything in Allamancy is metal based, that's why it can't see any other cognitive shadows. Now, what if instead of pulling or pushing on the metals, the Allamancer is convincing the metal to move? Now, what if the Allamancer is pulling on the spirit of the metals, making its physical representation follow suit? Tentative conclusions: Physical- Probably this one. It is actually pulling something in a physical manner without using hands. Plausible. Cognative- It could be this one, but is probably not. Could be a shortcut to talking to metals in Shadesmar. Improbable. Spiritual- Probably not this one. It is hard to say. Improbable. -Pewter: (Thug) Increases Physical Abilities -Tin: (Tineye) Increases Senses Analysis: I will not talk about the Spiritual realm on these. They are clearly either Physical or Cognative or a mix of the two. The reasons they are Physical are obvious. They change the physical state of a body. Now, what of the Cognative realm? Does the body need convincing to enhance itself, like a type of limited Soulcasting? Tentative conclusions: Physical- Is definitely in this realm. Cognative- Might be this one. Is a possibility. Spiritual- Nope. -Zinc: (Rioter) Enflames (riots) Emotions -Brass: (Soother) Dampens (soothes) Emotions Analysis: If these metals influence people in the Physical realm, I would think it is manipulation of the metal in the body to release chemicals to enhance or deaden emotions. If it is on a Cognative level, then it is convincing the cognition of a person to change itself to feel differently. It would intemperate that into the Physical realm. If the metals influence the Spiritual realm, then it is changing the emotions of the soul at all three Realmatic levels. Tentative conclusions: Physical- Probably this one as an extension. Cognative- Probably this one as an extension. Spiritual- Probably this one spreading to the other two. The hole in the conclusions: The person being affected by Allomantic pushes and pulls on their emotions can feel them. Maybe the spirit isn't affected, just the cognition and the body. That way, the cognition can intemperate the discrepancy. -Duralumin: (Duralumin Gnat) Enhances Current Metal Burned -Aluminum (Aluminum Gnat) Wipes Internal Allomantic Reserves Analysis: These two are boring. They just affect the Allomancy, making the invested metals disappear or become stronger. (See conclusions about where Allamancy comes from) -Nicrosil: (Nicroburst) Enhances Allomantic Burn of Target -Chromium: (Leecher) Wipes Allomantic Reserves of Target Analysis: These are much less boring than their cousins, but they still do basically the same in how they work. (See conclusions about where Allamancy comes from) -Copper: (Smoker) Can Hide Allomantic Pulses -Bronze: (Seeker) Can Hear Allomantic Pulses Analysis: These also have to do with the investiture directly. They detect investiture, but what realm does it happen in? It's not Physical because there is no actual sight clarity or obscurity. So is it in the Cognative or the Spiritual realm? If it is Cognative, then it would be like peeking into or obscuring Shadesmar. If it is Spiritual, then it is looking into or hiding someone's soul. If it is both, then it is a combination. Tentative conclusions: Physical- Nope. Cognative- I find this to be more likely than Spiritual. Spiritual- This is a bit of a stretch. It would be too OP in my opinion, even if it is limited to investiture sight. It has to do with looking into someone's soul, which seems to be the most private part of a person in the Cosmere open only to some Shards. -Gold: (Augur) Reveals Your Past Self -Electrum: (Oracle) Reveals Your Future Analysis: This seems to be in the Spiritual realm. It shows a past or future of possibilities instead of realities. Physical and Cognitive realms both deal with realities, but the Spiritual realm seems more fluid. Tentative conclusions: Physical- Not likely. Cognative- Less likely. The stick is a good example of the unlikeliness of it. The Cognative part of a thing only knows what it is, not what it could be or what it was. Spiritual- Most likely. This realm is a place of ideals. Past and present are most definitely ideas and warnings, respectively. -Cadmium: (Pulser) Slows Down Time -Bendalloy: (Slider) Speeds Up Time Analysis: These could be all three. It could be that it actually bends time around the person burning the metal. It could also be that it convinces all the cognitions around the burners that time is being manipulated. It cold also be that the spirits do not obey the laws of entropy and can make that power bleed through to the Physical realm with the use of investiture. Tentative conclusions: Physical- This is pretty dang likely. Reasons are obvious. Cognative- Not super likely, but plausible. Spiritual- Not only is it plausible, but I hope it's true. It would be awesome if spirits don't have to obey the laws of time the same way the Physical realm does. -Atium: (Seer) Allows sight of other people's future -Malatium: (?) Allows sight of other people's past Analysis: By the same reasons as Gold and Electrum, these seem like Spiritual powers. (See conclusions of the other metals) The answers I am to draw from the reasonings above are: 1. Allamancy comes from the Spiritual realm. Again, the WoB trumps my incomplete logic. 2. Allamancy affects all of the realms differently. Again, a cheap answer. I just want say that there is no definite answer leaning toward one realm or another. I believe I can apply much of the same reasoning to other types of investiture, such as the Aons, forgeries, and Breaths. The fact is, we don't know enough to draw concrete conclusions about how these affect which realm. I am going to try it with Awakening anyway. Breaths: (links to basics below) -The First Heightening: (Aura Recognition) grants a person the ability to see the Breath auras of others instinctively. This allows them to judge roughly how many Breaths the person contains and the general health of that Breath. Analysis: This acts like a bronze and raises many of same questions. What realm is it detecting? The WoB I mentioned earlier suggests that it detects changes in the Physical realm made by the Spiritual realm. But what if it's detecting the interpretation made by the Cognative realm as well? Tentative conclusions: Physical- Not this one directly Cognative- Probably not this one, but it could be Spiritual- It is probably this one based of the WoB and the conclusions for bronze -The Second Heightening: (Perfect Pitch) grants perfect pitch to those who receive it. Analysis: Does this make the ear better or does it grant the cognition a better ability to intemperate truths and ideals? I don't think it has to do with the Spiritual realm because it doesn't change anything directly, just broadens the understanding of the person with the Second Heightening. Remember that the Spiritual realm is a realm of ideals, and the Cognative realm is the realm that interprets the ideals. The Physical realm is the one that applies the realms. Tentative conclusions: Physical- Could be this one. Cognative- It's most likely this. Spiritual- I really don't see it being Spiritual in nature. -The Third Heightening: While each gained Breath leads a person to greater appreciation of colors, it isn't until one reaches the Third Heightening (Perfect Color Recognition) that one can instantly and instinctively determine exact shades of colors and their hue harmonics. Analysis: This seems similar to the Second Heightening. It probably is an expansion of the cognition by the Spiritual realm that is put into practice through the body. See conclusions above. -The Fourth Heightening: At the Fourth Heightening (Perfect Life Sense), an Awakener's life sense achieves its maximum strength. See First Heightening. -The Fifth Heightening: At the Fifth Heightening (Agelessness), an Awakener's resistance to aging and disease reaches its maximum strength. These persons are immune to most toxins, including the effects of alcohol, and most physical ailments. (Such as headaches, diseases, and organ failure.) The person no longer ages, and becomes functionally immortal. Note: Returned achieve the Fifth Heightening by virtue of their Breath. They do not actually receive two thousand Breaths when they Return, but instead receive a single, powerful Breath, which brings with it the powers of the first five Heightenings. Analysis: This Heightening is interesting. It doesn't grant more understanding, but it grants a Physical trait. I don't think it changes the spirit unless you are Returned and have this Heightening. More fascinating, it seems like the Returned are granted a stronger spirit by the virtue of being Returned. Maybe it takes a lot of investiture, and therefore a stronger spirit, to come back to life. Tentative conclusions: Physical- I believe it mostly affects this realm. Cognitive- This realm seems to be untouched by this Heightening. Spiritual-This realm probably isn't affected by this Heightening. -The Sixth Heightening: All persons of the Sixth Heightening (Instinctive Awakening) and above immediately understand and can use basic Awakening Commands without training or practice. More difficult commands are easier for them to master and to discover. Analysis: This is the first unclear Heightening. All the others have been pretty straightforward, but this one is different. It explains the understanding of the cognition and gives the person with the Heightening a greater command over Awakening. What happens when the Sixth Heightening is gone? Do you lose all the knowledge you've gained, or do you retain the knowledge, but your progress stops going as quickly? That is an important distinction. If you lose all the knowledge you've gained, then the change is in the Physical realm, the information being stored in your brain and locked away when the power is gone. If you lose the momentum of your instincts, then it the change is a Cognative one, storing the information in the cognition and continuing to work on it even though the power is gone. Knowledge is tricky when it's granted by investiture. Is your spirit understanding more of the truth, or is your cognition or body more able to intemperate the truth? Tentative conclusions: Physical- Could be affecting this realm. Cognitive- Could be affecting this realm. Spiritual- Could be affecting this realm. -The Seventh Heightening: Those few persons who have reached the Seventh Heightening (Invested Breath Recognition) gain the ability to recognize the auras of objects, and can tell when something has been Invested with Breath via Awakening. Note: Reaching above the Sixth Heightening is incredibly rare, and so few people understand the powers of the Seventh Heightening and above. Very little research has been done. Analysis: See First Heightening -The Eighth Heightening: Any persons of the Eighth Heightening (Command Breaking) or more gain the ability to override Commands in other Invested objects, including Lifeless. This requires concentration and leaves the Awakener exhausted. Note: The only known people ever to reach the Eighth Heightening and above are the Hallandren God Kings. Analysis: Does Awakening command the spirit of an object, or just the cognition or body of an object? That is an important distinction that has to be known before I will try to draw any conclusions about this Heightening. -The Ninth Heightening: Persons of the Ninth Heightening (Greater Awakening) are reportedly able to Awaken stone and steel, though doing so requires large Investitures of Breath and specialized Commands. This ability has not been studied or confirmed. Persons of the Ninth Heightening (Audible Command) also gain the ability to Awaken objects that they are not physically touching, but that are within the sound of their voice. I will not analyze this or the next Heightening because there are too many variables in play for each Heightening. It would just be too difficult to discern what each Heightening affects because it does too much. Likely, they affect all realms in completely different ways. -The Tenth Heightening: At the Tenth Heightening (Color Distortion), an Awakener gains the natural and intrinsic ability to bend light around white objects, creating colors from them as if from a prism. Awakeners of the Tenth Heightening (Perfect Invocation) can draw more color from the objects they use to fuel their art. This leaves objects drained to white, rather than grey. A third ability granted is the ability to give commands mentally (Mental Command), although this is said to be difficult to learn. This is the ability that allowed the God Kings of Hallandren to pass on their breaths after their tongues were removed.[1] There are rumors of other powers granted by the Tenth Heightening which are not understood or have not been made known by those who have achieved it. For Awakening, I am forced to draw the same conclusions I did above. Investiture comes from the Spiritual realm and affects all of the realms, just in different ways. The connections and conclusions made in this theory are all conjecture. I'm no expert on Realmatics, but I hope I have done a good job compiling and dissecting where investiture comes from and what it affects. If you would like me to do it with other systems of magic in the Cosmere, I will do it. I'll only do it upon request, though; it takes a lot of time. I hope you've enjoyed reading this as much as I've enjoyed researching it! Links: Hemalergy: http://coppermind.net/wiki/Hemalurgy Allamancy: http://coppermind.net/wiki/Allomancy Heightening: http://coppermind.net/wiki/Heightening *Cognition is a Cognative representation of things. *Body is a Physical representation of things. *Spirit is a Spiritual representation of things.

I was wondering, if you used a Hemalurgic spike to give a full-blooded skaa (no noble heritage) a Metalurgic power, would he be able to pass that down to his descendants? Hemalurgy affects the blood and the person as a whole, physically changing who and what they are, so would it be theoretically possible? Any thoughts?

This was a reply I made to the Zinc Compounding thread started by PrometheusLKR. The question I have is: what powers do you think famous people would have, those living and dead?

I now understand why Mr. Sanderson is repeating the information I originally asked in this thread. For those that might have the same question please read the complete thread as many good points were brought up. My Original post: Mr. Sanderson, You write a phenomenal yarn and I love your books! I have already read Steelheart, the Rithmatist and the first two books of Mistborn. I ask you please to stop repeating how the magic works for every book. It seems that you rehash the way everything works that already happened in two books again for the third. I am seriously hoping this isn't going to be the case for the Storm Light Archive. Your writing style is great but its annoying and takes me out of the story when its explained how the magic works yet once again. I am hoping your newer Mistborn series Alloy of Law and preceding books will not have this issues also.

Just an introduction to say I exist and that yes I love reading Mr. Sanderson's work. I chose the name Mistwannabeborn as I would love to live in the world of Mistborn and be able to have the powers of a Mistborn! I was introduced to Mr. Sandersons work with the book Steelheart. I was bringing a bunch of boys to a retreat in Ohio and it was a 7 hour drive and I looked on Audible for a young adult novel that would entertain the boys. Wow was I ever exposed to what a story could be! The 7 hours on the way out went in what seemed a flash. Now we had to wait for the retreat to end so we could pack our bags head home and listen to the rest. Suffice it to say we barely completed it in time and the boys loved it. It was the first experience I had with Brandon and not my last. My family listened to the Rithmatist when we went on vacation this past summer and again was not disappointed. I have just completed the first two books of Mistborn and I'm in the middle of the last of the first trilogy now. I am looking forward to delving into the Stormlight Archive series and Firefight next. Keep up the great writing as you have me as a faithful reader from this point on... Hoping to read how others felt about reading the mistborn series and look forward to their thoughts on the series

Pretty self explanatory. I usually get a few chapters in to gain a natural knowledge of the system, and then I'll check the Ars Arcanum, skipping over things I feel might be spoilerific. This topic may contain much spoilers. Read at your own risk.

Hey all, Wondering how many people here have played Fiasco, by BullyPulpit Games. I really enjoy it, and after running several games of the Mistborn Adventure Game, have decided that most of those ended up being like a Fiasco story. I have since made a playset for Fiasco that is Mistborn themed, though it hasn't been playtested yet. Is anyone here interested in the rough draft? I'm more than willing to send it out to people if they would be willing to play it and tell me how it goes. Any takers?

I have this theory about the Oathpact and the reason for the torture of Heralds, the death of Honor, the reason for the Desolations, and the origin of Honorblades that I don't think anyone else has already stated. First, I'll start with a couple references from Mistborn: In Chapter 57 of Mistborn:HoA, Ruin says this: And throughout the book it's made clear that Preservation's sacrifice was only a temporary solution that caused him to give up his mind, but would eventually allow Ruin to escape his prison. Also, in chapter 81 of HoA, Vin was able to use the power of Preservation to push back against Ruin causing her divine body to tremble in pain and agony and eventually die. I know Vin didn't trap Ruin this way, but I'm just pointing out that she hindered Ruin and that fighting a god causes pain - at least when the gods are so opposed. To me, this sounds a lot like the Oathpact. It's called a bargain, instead of a pact, but they mean almost the same thing. There is pain involved. A god must give of themself. A god eventually dies as a result. A god is trapped/imprisoned or hindered in some way. It's a temporary solution. Now, what if Honor and the the Heralds figured out a way to trap (or at least hinder) Odium and make it closer to permanent? Instead of Honor suffering agony for thousands of years (just like Preservation), dieing, and Odium eventually escaping (or regaining full power), the Heralds agreed to endure the pain in place of Honor (how this was accomplished will be discussed below). And what if by doing so, they prevented/delayed Honor's death? There was some kind of bargain (Oathpact) between Honor and Odium that trapped/hindered Odium temporarily, but caused Honor to die, after a few thousand years of agony, in the process. Afterall, would it not be honorable to give up your life to save the lives of the entire world? However, Odium was tricked because of the intervention of the Heralds (this might be considered dishonorable though, so Honor would not be involved in the trick). Odium still escaped his prison (or regained his full power) every few thousand years and it caused a Desolation. He is defeated and re-imprisoned; the Heralds return to the place of torment; and Honor still lives as a result. Now, I know Taln was still being tortured after the "last" Desolation, but what if that wasn't enough to save Honor's life this time, so he died or splintered. There is speculation that this is what caused the Recreance. Finally, I think this original Oathpact is what forged the Honorblades - their origin being hidden in plain sight. Honor had to give of himself to trap/hinder Odium, and the Honorblades are the physical manifestation of Honor's power - much like the Mist is the physical manifestation of Preservation's power or Atium is Ruin's. These Honorblades were given to the Heralds to grant them great power during the eventual escape of Odium. But in the process, because they held pieces of Honor's "body," they endured great torture when they were in the place of torment. I believe that place of torment is one and the same as Odium's prison. Holding an Honorblade and being in Odium's prison at the same time is excruciatingly painful, but it saved Honor's life - until the Heralds (except for Taln) failed to return the last time. Any thoughts, flaws, additions? Edit: modified for clarity and to address some of the comments below

I have noticed some parallels between Mistborn and the current Reckoners books (the prologue and first three chapters of Fireflight are included). Especially the first two Mistborn books. Spoilers for Mistborn and (up to) Fireflight

So, originally, Brandon had planned for Vin to be a guy. I've been wondering how that would affect the gender of some other characters, or even if it would affect the gender of other characters.

Since Sazed now holds the power of Preservation, couldn't he take the form of the mist spirit like Leras did if he wanted to? Also, would he be bound in not being able to directly speak to humans anymore (as Preservation was) or would the fact that he is partly Ruin amend that (as Ruin was able to speak directly to those with Hemalurgic spikes)?

I feel like there is room for many different feeling about everything that Reen did to Vin. Please cast your vote before reading on (I do not wish to influence your vote with my opinion).

So a question has come up and I wanted the 17th shards input. What would the effects of Aluminum be as a poison on an Allomancer trying to burn metals. As Aluminum poisoning is a real thing: http://www.med.nyu.edu/content?ChunkIID=164929 We know via hemalurgy that Blood in motion matters to at least on metallic art. http://coppermind.net/wiki/Hemalurgy And that Aluminum is "Allomantically inert": http://coppermind.net/wiki/Aluminum one of my Crew is postulating that an Aluminum based poison could be used stop someone from investing in any way. Thoughts?

Hi! I got Elantris as a christmas present last year and read the Mistborn series this spring/summer, including Alloy of Law. As the Mistborn trilogy has become my favourite book series, I decided to join your forum. I have a lot of unswered questions and are intrigued by discovering that they are only a part of a much bigger universe (the cosmere). Does anyone have any recommendations for which book/series I should read next? And how did people find out that (some of) his books were part of a bigger picture? Any pointers to topics in the forum or other sources would be greatly appreciated!

Hi everyone! I am a somewhat new Brandon Sanderson fan, I have only read "Mistborn" and "The Well of Ascension" and loved them both! I can't wait to move on to The Hero of Ages, but I think I've already decided Sanderson is my favorite author! I have already bought Elantris, and The Way of Kings and will most likely stick to the Cosmere books. And that's another thing that fascinates me about Sanderson, the Cosmere. I can't wait to read more of his books so I can understand it better!

In modern times, bauxite is much easier to refine into aluminum. Will this have any effect on the second Mistborn trilogy?

Ok so, a big question debated between my friends is whether a jedi could fight a mistborn and win assuming a lightsaber is an investure-charged metallic object and the force can be sensed using brass. I for one go for the jedi but what are your opinions?