Southern Feruchemy

[Swimmingly]

Allomancy, feruchemy, hemalurgy

 

These are the three Metallic Arts, genetic, instinctive, magery toned to the individual.

 

As Brandon has said, the Southerners have harnessed a more "mechanical" version of the metallic arts - devices with conduits to the power of Preservation and Ruin (or Harmony) built into them

 

Thaumetallic Sciences, if you will 

 

Mechallomancy has been widely speculated upon - a mechanical, end-positive magic system.

 

Hemalurgic Technology has been speculated to involve somehow giving machines human attributes, bloodily.

 

Ferumechanics, however, would be end-neutral. Not passed by genes but, perhaps, allowing attributes to be distributed among different elements in a system - reminiscent of the sygaldric devices from Patrick Rothfuss's Kingkiller Chronicles, for those of you who have read them. You could have a pair of iron weights spinning back and forth, oscillating weight at a precise frequency to make a perpetual motion device, for example, or a brass heat "battery" you could plug into a device to make a portable stove. I recognize a few problems with this theory, such as, for instance, the cognitive and spiritual attributes, but I would like to hear what everybody thinks.

[Oudeis]

I think mechallomancy is all we really need to think about. If Rashek truly wished to leave a pure genetic sample, he might well have left full Feruchemists down south, and hemalurgy isn't genetic at all; anyone with knowledge can use it. The only art they would lack at the southern pole would be allomancy, as none of their ancestors ever ingested lerasium, so they'd have only the barest amount like Alendi did.

 

Does anyone have the original quote to hand? Does he say that all three metallic arts are accessed mechanically, or just allomancy?

[Swimmingly]

I think mechallomancy is all we really need to think about. If Rashek truly wished to leave a pure genetic sample, he might well have left full Feruchemists down south, and hemalurgy isn't genetic at all; anyone with knowledge can use it. The only art they would lack at the southern pole would be allomancy, as none of their ancestors ever ingested lerasium, so they'd have only the barest amount like Alendi did.

 

Does anyone have the original quote to hand? Does he say that all three metallic arts are accessed mechanically, or just allomancy?

And I guess it's possible that the Terris were the only feruchemists... everybody else just had a tiny chance of being an allomancer. I want a novella about an iron, steel, brass, zinc, pewter, or tin Misting pre-Rashek sometime. We know they existed. Imagine when allomancy was so rare, realizing you could influence another's feelings, send yourself or knives or whatever flying, etc.

[Satsuoni]

Original quote:

 

Nepene ()

You've said you want to write a book set in the southern continent. I did enjoy The Emperor's Soul a lot, so I am curious about you writing that future book. How do they use magic differently, and why should we be excited about reading a book set there?

Brandon Sanderson

The southern continent is where people have discovered how to harness the metallurgic arts in a more mechanical method. (I've hinted several places that this is possible. I've been holding off doing it until we go here.)

[Swimmingly]

thanks

[Oudeis]

I'm not sure Steel and Iron would have been that strong pre-Rashek. The implication was that all Mistings were very, very weak back then. A tineye wouldn't have metaphysical sight, he'd just find it odd that other people can't seem to concentrate and sense things better the way he can. A thug wouldn't suddenly be able to leap seven feet, he might just get a super-charged adrenaline rush when he feels threatened. As for steel and tin, those might be the weirdest. I'm not sure what would prompt you to focus on a spoon, but it might rattle and slowly start inching its way across the table at you.

[Swimmingly]

So a rioter might have Vin-on-trace-elements levels of power? Cause even that worked pretty well

[Satsuoni]

Hmm.. I would say there is a lower limit to Misting power, so that they don't get any weaker that that. For example, the mist-snapped skaa were very weak - weak enough that they couldn't snap normally at all - and yet their powers afterwards seemed ok - not weakened too much (though weakened some), and the pre-Rashek Mistings were presumably capable of snapping from simple extreme stress.

 

Many of these people won’t be very strong Allomancers. Their abilities were buried too deeply to have come out without the mists’ intervention. Others will have a more typical level of power; they might have Snapped earlier, had they gone through enough anguish to bring the power out.

My idea on this is that Allomantic potential is a little like a supersaturated solution. You can suspend a great deal of something like sugar in a liquid when it is hot, then cool it down and the sugar remains suspended. Drop one bit of sugar in there as a catalyst, however, and the rest will fall out as a precipitate.

(at least those that became allomancers between Well fillings certainly Snapped normally):

 

The catalyst is the return of the power to the Well of Ascension. As soon as that power becomes full, it sets the mists to begin Snapping those who have the potential for Allomancy buried within them.

 

So they would probably be more or less normal Mistings, just very, very rare. Besides, Iron and Steel give Ironsight regardless of whether you can then pull that metal or not - I am sure they would have noticed *that*.

[Swimmingly]

I think the strength and even presence of the lines indicates what you can do. So very very slight lines would be just weird annoyances in your eyesight

[Satsuoni]

Well, it might be an exception, but Inquisitors can see lines leading to metals in your blood, but cannot pull on them. Brandon stated that  this is a skill any Iron/Steel Misting could theoretically learn. So the correlation is not perfect.

[Swimmingly]

Oh OK. I wonder if any other magic systems allow you to sense focus materials?

[Oudeis]

Heightenings on Nalthis allow you to see color very well... not exactly the same thing, but having "color-dar" might be a bit of sensory overload.

 

Sidenote: I heard in a recent Q&A with Mr. Sanderson that the Southern Scadrians have not only mechanical allomancy, but also mechanical feruchemy. Unfortunately this is not canon because it was from my dream last night. i.e. it did not really happen.

[WeiryWriter]

Sidenote: I heard in a recent Q&A with Mr. Sanderson that the Southern Scadrians have not only mechanical allomancy, but also mechanical feruchemy. Unfortunately this is not canon because it was from my dream last night. i.e. it did not really happen.

 

We already know that they use all of the metallic arts in a mechanical way.

[Oudeis]

Not sure I agree with you that his wording means every art is accessed, not just allomancy. Namely, hemalurgy. It's already non-genetic. How could it possibly be made mechanical?

[Joe ST]

A completely baseless speculation, the mechanical metallic magics are just tying similar spiritweb stuff as biological magics to inanimate objects... so I'd say there is no hemalurgy? unless it consists of augmenting humans with technology?

 

Also more baseless speculation, are the Scadrial magics at all geographically related (but less strictly than Selish stuff).... I dunno? ><

[Oudeis]

A completely baseless speculation, the mechanical metallic magics are just tying similar spiritweb stuff as biological magics to inanimate objects... so I'd say there is no hemalurgy? unless it consists of augmenting humans with technology?

 

I concur. I think there's no hemalurgy, and why would they need feruchemy when they likely already have their own feruchemists? Rashek kept them down at the other end of the world, and wanted an unchanged genetic reserve. I think he would have left feruchemists there. Maybe even Lutha.

 

So, in short, I don't see a plausibility/need for mechanical anything-but-allomancy. I suppose they could make mechanical feruchemy just because, but I'm not sure many of the traits would be useful. I suppose pewter? Can gold store non-biological health? Can you make a tin telescope that obscures everything, then releases the stored-up sight to let you see really far away? What is "lucky" or "unlucky" for a can-opener?

[Joe ST]

I'd say its possibly more likely that they can utilize the storage externally, or share it or something?

[Shardlet]

I concur. I think there's no hemalurgy, and why would they need feruchemy when they likely already have their own feruchemists? Rashek kept them down at the other end of the world, and wanted an unchanged genetic reserve. I think he would have left feruchemists there. Maybe even Lutha.

 

The WoB suggests, however, that they would not have genetic feruchemy as we know it.

[Oudeis]

I disagree. The second question was specifically about the applications of mechanical access to the power, it wasn't a broad question about all southern Scadrian Investiture, and that was the answer that specifies it isn't genetics-based. If I recall correctly, the whole thing first came up when someone asked Mr. Sanderson if the Southern Scadrians would have allomancy, since Classic Scadrial had only weak mistings and they wouldn't have the genetic legacy of lerasium.

 

The reasons for Rashek to eliminate southern Feruchemy is: He doesn't want to risk a cross-over of the lines, potentially allowing a Compounder like himself to challenge his throne. To which I reply: Trapping them an inhospitable planet away, possibly in stasis (that's my theory), would do a perfectly fine job of keeping feruchemists from mixing with allomancers.

 

The reason for Rashek to keep southern Feruchemy: WoB is that he wanted an untouched genetic sample in case his experiment in the North went poorly. Since this is his "just in case" plan, you'd think he'd want the tool of feruchemy, since his plan was to be able to use it himself, anyway.

[WeiryWriter]

If I recall correctly, the whole thing first came up when someone asked Mr. Sanderson if the Southern Scadrians would have allomancy, since Classic Scadrial had only weak mistings and they wouldn't have the genetic legacy of lerasium.

 

Actually, the question was "How do they use magic differently?"  To which Brandon replied "...people have discovered how to harness the metallurgic arts in a more mechanical method." (emphasis mine)  It is quite clear that Brandon is referring to more than just allomancy (the use of "metallurgic arts" instead of allomancy, the plurality of "arts").

[Oudeis]

You have a point, and if they turn out to have mechanical feruchemy I will concede that you told me so. I'm gonna remain skeptical.

[Swimmingly]

I just want my magitech robots, but those are probably gonna have to wait a couple trilogies

[Oudeis]

Personally I'd start fishing in Nalthis's waters for that. "Upon call, be as my arm, and move as I must."