[Discuss]Ferchemical Power Grid

[Duxredux]

So I have a few questions about Feruchemical scenarios that we might not know the answers to, but I'm curious what people think. I have an idea about era 3 or 4 infrastructure, but I need to see if underlying principles work (I'm suspicious of the metal lines in Southern Scadrial ships and the Sovereign's Temple. Maybe this has already been postulated).

First scenario - a Feruchemist sticks their hand into a bag of iron dust and begins storing weight. What gets charged? Does only the iron dust directly in contact with the hand get quickly filled and maxed out, leaving only a "glove" of invested metal, or does the Feruchemical charge spread through the whole bag of dust? Does it matter based on how the Feruchemist sees the metal, for example if they only thought of the individual grains would it only fill what they were directly touching or if they thought of the bag as a whole unit, would the charge spread from the non-contiguous yet still touching metal?

Alternate first scenario - a feruchemist stores an attribute in a metalmind. They remove the metalmind and then take a rod made out of the same metal and touch it to the metalmind. Can they withdraw the attribute from the metalmind through the rod? If not, if they welded the rod to the metalmind would it then enable a withdrawal of the attribute through the rod, essentially making both units into a single metalmind?

Second scenario - one Feruchemist stands at one end of a long iron rod. They completely store Identity in an Aluminum mind and then start storing weight into the rod. A Skimmer Ferring then touches the other end of the rod and tries to withdraw the attribute. Do they create a "potential/pressure" differential similar to electrical voltage? Can the Skimmer Ferring attempt to "pull" more weight than the first Feruchemist is attempting to store?

Third scenario - two Ferrings hold an unkeyed metalmind and both try to withdraw. Does it run out at the rate that are withdrawing, or is there a "power suction" that the two Ferrings can feel?

 

In essence, I'm trying to figure out if you can make an unkeyed Feruchemical power grid. By laying out Allomantic metal wires throughout the city and creating "power stations", can you create a system that distributes Feruchemical attributes throughout a city? With a few medallions to enable someone to store away their Identity and then compound unkeyed Feruchemical attributes? The issues I'm seeing deal with what you would have to do to add on new branches to the grid, and if it follows electrical potential differentials.

That said, workers who have to sling on a medallion and the give up their identity to be a power a station plays pretty well into Scadrial's history of class and worker right's issues. "I'm just a soulless battery to them!"

Thoughts?

[+ShardlessVessel]

34 minutes ago, Duxredux said:

First scenario - a Feruchemist sticks their hand into a bag of iron dust and begins storing weight. What gets charged? Does only the iron dust directly in contact with the hand get quickly filled and maxed out, leaving only a "glove" of invested metal, or does the Feruchemical charge spread through the whole bag of dust? Does it matter based on how the Feruchemist sees the metal, for example if they only thought of the individual grains would it only fill what they were directly touching or if they thought of the bag as a whole unit, would the charge spread from the non-contiguous yet still touching metal?

I think this depends less on how the Feruchemist sees the metal and more on how the metal sees itself. Perhaps if all the metal dust comes from the same metal bar, they can be "convinced" to take the charge as a single unit, but I'm not sure if or how that can be done.

Personally, I envision Feruchemy being sold as individual standardized metalminds rather than power lines. Either that, or wanton abuse of ettmetal.

[Underwater_Worldhopper]

On 6/2/2022 at 4:15 PM, Duxredux said:

First scenario - a Feruchemist sticks their hand into a bag of iron dust and begins storing weight. What gets charged? Does only the iron dust directly in contact with the hand get quickly filled and maxed out, leaving only a "glove" of invested metal, or does the Feruchemical charge spread through the whole bag of dust? Does it matter based on how the Feruchemist sees the metal, for example if they only thought of the individual grains would it only fill what they were directly touching or if they thought of the bag as a whole unit, would the charge spread from the non-contiguous yet still touching metal?

This one we don't have enough information on to say definitively, but it's plausible that The Feruchemist viewing the metal as one unit will allow the charge to diffuse through the entire bag. Until someone asks Brandon, we can only assume that only metal in direct contact will become Invested.

On 6/2/2022 at 4:15 PM, Duxredux said:

Alternate first scenario - a feruchemist stores an attribute in a metalmind. They remove the metalmind and then take a rod made out of the same metal and touch it to the metalmind. Can they withdraw the attribute from the metalmind through the rod? If not, if they welded the rod to the metalmind would it then enable a withdrawal of the attribute through the rod, essentially making both units into a single metalmind?

The first one won't work; The rod is a different object. You couldn't 'pull' Investiture through the rod, and if you Invested the rod itself, it would store charge separately from the Metalmind, touching or not. If you weld them together, however, I think you should be able to.

On 6/2/2022 at 4:15 PM, Duxredux said:

Second scenario - one Feruchemist stands at one end of a long iron rod. They completely store Identity in an Aluminum mind and then start storing weight into the rod. A Skimmer Ferring then touches the other end of the rod and tries to withdraw the attribute. Do they create a "potential/pressure" differential similar to electrical voltage? Can the Skimmer Ferring attempt to "pull" more weight than the first Feruchemist is attempting to store?

Two versions here. If the Feruchemist is storing all their weight, the Ferring can't get more than is being put into the rod, since the maximum that can be drawn is already being drawn. It's like trying to get 50kg out of 40kg: it just isn't possible. If the Feruchemist is only storing a fraction of their weight, The Ferring still shouldn't be able to draw more than what's being stored, since that would entail pulling weight unwillingly out of another person, something external which isn't possible through Feruchemy, which in entirely internal, barring Metalminds.

On 6/2/2022 at 4:15 PM, Duxredux said:

Third scenario - two Ferrings hold an unkeyed metalmind and both try to withdraw. Does it run out at the rate that are withdrawing, or is there a "power suction" that the two Ferrings can feel?

Not sure what you mean by power suction, but it should empty at the rate of the withdrawal of the Ferrings added together.

On 6/2/2022 at 4:15 PM, Duxredux said:

In essence, I'm trying to figure out if you can make an unkeyed Feruchemical power grid. By laying out Allomantic metal wires throughout the city and creating "power stations", can you create a system that distributes Feruchemical attributes throughout a city? With a few medallions to enable someone to store away their Identity and then compound unkeyed Feruchemical attributes? The issues I'm seeing deal with what you would have to do to add on new branches to the grid, and if it follows electrical potential differentials.

So, It should be possible, but it just won't act like electricity. The charge will diffuse all across the grid instantly, and once a new branch is added to the grid, you can access it from there too. It could totally work. I don't think it would be quite as widespread as you're implying since you'd need a Medallion or be a Ferring to use it in the first place, but I could definitely see a small handful of businesses setting something like this up for wealthy clients. Honestly, the idea for Compounding through Unsealed Metalminds Idea is something so painfully obvious that I never thought of before that I'm now questioning what else I've missed.

On 6/2/2022 at 4:15 PM, Duxredux said:

That said, workers who have to sling on a medallion and the give up their identity to be a power a station plays pretty well into Scadrial's history of class and worker right's issues. "I'm just a soulless battery to them!"

That would indeed fit the theme.

[Walter The Moral]

This is why I'm so excited for Mistborn Era 3. Using the scientific method on Investiture!