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Harmony's Forearms


Duxredux

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"Harmony's Forearms" is a curse used in Mistborn Era 2, and it got me thinking. If you wear copper rings or bracelets you get green bands on your skin from the oxidation. Does Sazed have green forearms? I'm sure someone's asked a question like this, like if rusted Metalminds have degraded stores, but I'm having trouble finding the information. I would guess that what actually happens is that Feruchemists have to routinely clean/oil their Metalminds to prevent degradation, but I can't think of a time this happens on screen, even though we see Wax diving into water while wearing pure iron bracers. That can't be good for them. 

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Sazed said he had a care routine for his metalminds, and at one point in one of the era 1 books (might be HoA? I haven't done a reread in a while), I think Vin walks in on him polishing and sorting them. So clearly there's some kind of care routine happening at least for Sazed, but Wax may not do that for his bracers. They're iron, not a particularly valuable metal, and he's rich. He may just not care for them, or maybe he makes his butler do it.

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On 4/7/2022 at 1:17 PM, Anomander Rake said:

I'd not be surprised in the least if invested metal was more resistant to corrosion than normal metal.  Doesn't mean they wouldn't get dirty by normal means though XD

I've thought more about this and I think that there's a good case that invested metals are resistant to corrosion (possibly impervious at high levels of Investiture). Remember how the Bands of Mourning were literally left outside for several centuries in an area with snowstorms? They initially thought it was aluminum, and so I mistakenly discounted weathering.

The aspect that makes me not sure is how gemstones in Shardplate crack when stressed. Maybe this is an aspect of how the vast majority of gemstones in circulation are flawed containers of the Investiture, whereas perfect Allomantic metals and alloys are more perfect containers? 

@Invocation, your point on Sazed's care routine is also a good case and it would make sense if those aspects of Terris fastidiousness has persisted to Era 2, especially for anyone lives at the Terris village at any point in time. We never see Wayne worrying about it, but then he's working with gold, not iron.

Edited by Duxredux
Expanded thoughts rather than making a second post.
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56 minutes ago, Duxredux said:

The aspect that makes me not sure is how gemstones in Shardplate crack when stressed. Maybe this is an aspect of how the vast majority of gemstones in circulation are flawed containers of the Investiture, whereas perfect Allomantic metals and alloys are more perfect containers? 

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Hut on a Hill

One last question, why do gems crack when Stormlight is drawn out of them quickly?

Brandon Sanderson

When the Stormlight is coming out--you'll notice that there's the slightest physical presence of lots of spren, seons. A lot of this Investiture does have a physical side to it you can feel and that much Stormlight coming through... like when it's leaking out, it is generally going through micro cracks in the structure--where the crystal lattice didn't line up or flaws in the structure--and it coming out quickly like that, it's like hitting it with a hammer from inside along those fault lines. Much less likely to happen based on how good your gemstone is.

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Shardplate requires a lot of power, so they're more likely to pull the amounts necessary to break a gemstone. Soulcasting large things cracks those gems as well, but Soulcasters don't seem like they'd be stressed to that level as frequently as Plate is. 
I do think the structure of the metal has something to do with it being more resilient than gemstones are. The molecular structure of the metal is the key that allows for access to the storage for Feruchemy or channels the Investiture for Allomancy, which seems to imply for me that the Investiture works more with the metal than against. Like putting a net in water versus a solid sheet of something.

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