Swimmingly Posted November 7, 2013 Report Share Posted November 7, 2013 From what we've seen so far, a compounding brass twinborn would look something like The Human Torch, probably sans spontaneous fireballs or jet-powered flight, but you get the idea. I know kurkistan has already put forward theories about them radiating spiritual "warmth" rather than heat, so lets stick with the idea that their warmth cannot actually set things on fire. Now, the problems: Feruchemical brass users should be immune to their own heat, but let's assume that they aren't invincible to added sources of heat, such a shower of burning gasoline, for instance (I'm slightly evil). Now, we immediately run into problems. They are immune to their own heat - but not negligible increases (as much as you can call a shower of burning gasoline "negligible"). How does this heat resistance work? What about heat stored up in a metal object (it's silver, for the sake of Feruchemic brevity - no tricksies here)? Why would a shower of gasoline on a freezing mountaintop, where the heat is being whipped away by wind and cold, hurt him more than that same amount of heat radiated back at him from the inside of an airtight silver casket with a Thermos-style layer of near-vacuum and then some stainless steel (I did say I was evil...)? In both cases, the net heat gain is more or less the same-ish, yet, why should one hurt him and the other not? If they DO both hurt him, we run into the problem whereby we wonder why his metalminds don't do the same. I recognize that this may be one of those areas where we realize that Brandon didn't think about everything, but the blatant dismissal of that possibility is what this forum runs on. Anyway.... DISCUSS! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
name_here Posted November 7, 2013 Report Share Posted November 7, 2013 (edited) I expect they're immune to their direct heat but not backflow, so if they heat and then touch metal it burns them. However, two things come to the rescue.First, thermodynamics. If we assume they're unharmed up to the temperature they're tapping up to instead of the actual units of heat, they're pretty much totally safe. The net flow of heat absent exotic high-tech methods using lasers or converting it to other forms of energy is always from hot to cold. If the starting temperature of their surrounds is colder than what they tap up to, it is not possible for them to heat up beyond that point. Things get messier if it's based on the actual "packets" of heat, because they move unpredictably. More move towards the colder end, but some do move back.Second, they can store as well as tap, so they can transfer excess heat to their metalminds if the surrounds are warmer, possibly because they just stopped tapping. As far as I know, the only limit on storage rate is that lowering an attribute too much kills the user. Storing to retain a 98.6 body temp should be entirely possible for any amount of heat as long as the metalminds have enough spare capacity. Also, overtapping wastes energy. Therefore, in theory you could store heat, tap it too fast, and pour it back into the metalminds to end up with less than you started with. Might be a bit tricky, though, especially if the surroundings are too hot. As for not burning themselves with the heat in their metalminds, that's because strictly speaking the metalminds do not contain the stored heat. To use CompSci terms, metalminds store pointers to the stored attribute, which is in some abstract non-localized storage. Edited November 7, 2013 by name_here Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Swimmingly Posted November 7, 2013 Author Report Share Posted November 7, 2013 When I say "stored heat" in the metalminds, I mean the physical quality of brass to absorb and then reemit heat. Not the feruchemical propereties. Sorry about that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oudeis Posted November 7, 2013 Report Share Posted November 7, 2013 If you're immune to heat, are you immune to fire? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Swimmingly Posted November 7, 2013 Author Report Share Posted November 7, 2013 As I understand, Feruchemical brass only makes you immune to your own heat, as Feruchemical iron only makes you immune to your own weight. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
king of nowhere Posted November 7, 2013 Report Share Posted November 7, 2013 do we have confirmation that brass makes you immune to your heat? i never saw sazed tap brass to get a red-hot hand and melt something with it. On the other hand, if it works like Feruchemical iron, then it should make your body more resistant to any kind of heat. including from other sources. at least, Feruchemical iron said that "it strenghtens your body so that it is not crushed by your own wheigth", and i take it to mean that your body is more resistant in general. I wonder if one could use it to become bullet proof. maybe, but it would require him to be so heavy he would sink in the ground. Anyway, even if a brass compounder can radiate heat at will, he's still vulnerable to bullets and other menial things. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kurkistan Posted November 7, 2013 Report Share Posted November 7, 2013 For background: A discussion between gnimhey and myself on this topic, including links to some evidence. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Swimmingly Posted November 7, 2013 Author Report Share Posted November 7, 2013 Thanks for linking that, Kurk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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