speculation [Bands Spoilers] Being your own Nicroburst

[Kadrok]

So I don't know if anyone else has already mentioned this, but I think the biggest (or at least most widely applicable) implication of how Nicrosil Feruchemy appears to work concerns Twinborn with Nicrosil as their Feruchemical metal, rather than all that fiddly Fullborn stuff.

 

Nicrosil Feruchemy appears to let you store your powers the way any other non-Copper attribute could be stored: your ability is diminished in the short term while you're storing, but returns once you're not storing. The reason I would suggest that it doesn't work like Copper is that otherwise it wouldn't make sense that the Southerners can produce useful tools like the medallions in any decent quantity; if they had to permanently burn out spiked Soulbearers to make finite medallion charge you'd think they'd just use Hemalurgy and be done with it - more direct, and permanent. So, Nicrosil works like non-Copper Feruchemy with no permanent loss one storing is ceased. We also know that if you mess around with Identity as well you can make it so anyone can tap your stored power and use it.

 

But I'm far more interested in what you could do without Identity shenanigans, because given what we know and what we have seen, there is no reason to think Nicrosil Feruchemy doesn't work the way any other (non-Copper) Feruchemy works, allowing you to store something (in this case your powers) and then tap them to temporarily enhance yourself later.

 

This means that a Coinshot/Soulbearer Twinborn could store their ability to use Steel Allomancy, becoming a weaker Coinshot while they were storing, but gaining the ability to temporarily become a stronger Coinshot later. If you stored enough, who knows... maybe you could do what the Lord Ruler did and push on glass!

 

This phenomenally changes the balance of power, because it makes Twinborn with Nicrosil as their Feruchemy potential Allomantic powerhouses (but for just their metal, obviously)! Tap your Seeking and hear the thrum of Harmony's power! Tap your Oracle powers and see your future in greater detail or see further into your future! The temporary ability to enhance your powers puts me in mind of Duralumin or Nicrosil Feruchemy Allomancy... only way better!

 

(I apologise if someone has already posted this, I do try to look over the other recent posts to make sure I'm not being redundant)

Edited February 13, 2016 by Moogle

[Haelbarde]

I think you mean allomancy in that last sentence, but yeah. Makes it so much more useful because it has the potential for being twinborn, plus it's a great thing to store. Until you need it, you spend all your time storing as much as you need.

[Kadrok]

I think you mean allomancy in that last sentence, but yeah. Makes it so much more useful because it has the potential for being twinborn, plus it's a great thing to store. Until you need it, you spend all your time storing as much as you need.

Many thanks, I've fixed it.

[Irkutsk]

I've considered this. I think a A.Pewter F.Nicrosil twinborn would be an amazing super-soldier. Pewter is already a very useful ability with increased strength and durability and minor increases to healing, reflexes and pain tolerance. Tapping Nicrosil would make pewter incredibly powerful by increasing all it's effects.

[Twenty@20]

To expand on this concept, could a nicrosil ferring store enough Investiture which when tapped could allow them access to any other feruchemical or allomantic power? Then suppose he becomes a nicroburst temporarily and starts compounding Investiture. Could we have another TLR eventually. Apologies if this sounds implausible. This theory has been playing on my mind since I read Bands.

PS:Alternatively a Soulbearer ferring could get a nicrosil spike with the same end result.

Edited February 1, 2016 by Twenty@20

[Irkutsk]

To expand on this concept, could a nicrosil ferring store enough Investiture which when tapped could allow them access to any other feruchemical or allomantic power? Then suppose he becomes a nicroburst temporarily and starts compounding Investiture. Could we have another TLR eventually. Apologies if this sounds implausible. This theory has been playing on my mind since I read Bands.

PS:Alternatively a Soulbearer ferring could get a nicrosil spike with the same end result.

I am fairly certain you can only store investure if you already have that power. So a Nicrosil Ferring can only store the power to use F.Nicrosil. If they were twinborn or had a spike or something they could store their other power, but they can't acquire powers they don't have by tapping investure.

[natc]

We need nicroburst medallions/spikes to facilitate compounding of investiture for all nicrosil twinborn. Stat.

A soulbearer coinshot could probably push internal metals and glass like TLR can with enough storage, yes? That could be dangerous.

[Argent]

A couple of points:

• You assume storing Investiture is quantitative - i.e. you store a certain amount of the Investiture you already have for later retrieval. The impression I got from reading The Bands of Mourning was that it's qualitative instead, i.e. you store your ability to use (a specific type of) Investiture. I admit I am hazy on the details, so I could be wrong here.
• Regarding how the Southerners get their medallions, I got the impression that only the heat ones can run out of juice, and since the Firemothers and Firefathers the Sovereign set up the Southerners with are likely brass Compounders, running out of heat is never a problem for them. So running out of heat fabrials ter'angreals medallions shouldn't be a problem either.

[Kadrok]

 

A couple of points:

• You assume storing Investiture is quantitative - i.e. you store a certain amount of the Investiture you already have for later retrieval. The impression I got from reading The Bands of Mourning was that it's qualitative instead, i.e. you store your ability to use (a specific type of) Investiture. I admit I am hazy on the details, so I could be wrong here.

It's both, or at least that was my impression. I think of it like Tin. You do store specific types of investiture, just as you store specific senses, as different pools. But there is a quantity of that ability... like stored Sight you can tap a lot of it to have a greater effect. At least, that's what I'm supposing.

 

 

 

Regarding how the Southerners get their medallions, I got the impression that only the heat ones can run out of juice, and since the Firemothers and Firefathers the Sovereign set up the Southerners with are likely brass Compounders, running out of heat is never a problem for them. So running out of heat fabrials ter'angreals medallions shouldn't be a problem either.

What gave you that impression? And when you talk of running out of juice, are you talking about running out of the stored heat, or the stored ability to tap that heat (Firesoul investiture)?

 

 

 

EDIT: Also, how long has there been a bracket in front of the title? I only just noticed it and already it's driving me mad.

Edited February 2, 2016 by Kadrok