[Bands Spoilers] On the Feruchemy of a Certain Individual

[Moogle]

Hoid is a Feruchemist, we have been told. But it also came from Preservation, long ago.
 

Q. For Feruchemy, can you only inherit that? Or is there another way to get it?
A. You could obviously get it through a Hemalurgic spike.
Q. Yeah, but that’s kind of a different thing.
A. It is hereditary, but it came from somewhere. [...] Which is a RAFO, but it’s not a big RAFO. There’s not something you missed in the books, or anything like that. It originally came from Preservation long ago. And there are other ways to get it, but you have not missed any major plot points regarding that. Good question.
(source)

 
I find it unlikely Leras gave it to him. So, since it's inherited, how could Hoid have gotten Feruchemy?
 
Well... if Bands is anything to go by, it seems like he could have gotten it with a medallion made by a Feruchemist storing all of their abilities. Perhaps he's not a true Feruchemist, but perhaps he's cheated himself that way.
 
Anyone have evidence for/against this idea?

[dyring]

Odds are you could get it by the right alloy of atium and lerasium, just as distilled lerasium makes you an allomancer. Since Feruchemy is supposedly a mix of the two.

[Shardbearer]

Maybe Harmony could have made him a feruchemist? I'm not sure he would... but maybe?

[Blaze1616]

At what point does Hoid gain his Feruchemy? I know that the question was finally answered during the AMoL tour, but at which point does he actually gain Feruchemy? Is it before or after he takes the Lerasium bead? If before, then your medallion idea sounds plausible. If after, then dyring's idea of some Lerasium/Atium alloy is plausible too. This would beg the question of where he got the Atium from, however, since Kelsier had destroyed the Pits.

 

Do we know how often Hoid had visited Scadrial before TFE? Or if he had at all? Getting a Feruchemist's metalminds wouldn't be too difficult, given how slippery the man is.

[Plaeggs]

Well, Hoid could have gotten it from Adonalsium. Since Preservation was, after all, a part of Adonalsium before the Shattering, it stands to reason that Adonalsium could have given it to Hoid if he wanted. 

[Oathbringer]

Well, as was stated in Mistborn: Secret History, it has to do with expanding the soul--Harmony (Sazed) was able to turn Spook into a full Mistborn without Lerasium. Hold couldn't have inherited it (most likely) he goes back before the splintering of Adonalsium I think. The alloy of Lerasium and Atium sounds very interesting, but I think it more likely that he received it from Preservation. Though it might seem like Preservation would have no reason, we don't know all of Hoid's doings--for instance, it seems even a stretch for Preservation to bind Ruin under contract, to even come up with a plan that broke their deal. Now if Hoid helped, came up with the idea, or otherwise assisted Preservation in making the Well of Ascension that would make more sense--Hoid gains easy access in world hopping to Scadrial (Well of Ascension and the Pits of Hathsin). But knowing Hoid, he found a little side payment, maybe Harmonium or some other element existed before when BOTH preservation and ruin were free on Scadrial--the terris received some but like lerasium Hoid could have "received" some...

[+hwiles]

Well, as was stated in Mistborn: Secret History, it has to do with expanding the soul--Harmony (Sazed) was able to turn Spook into a full Mistborn without Lerasium. Hold couldn't have inherited it (most likely) he goes back before the splintering of Adonalsium I think. The alloy of Lerasium and Atium sounds very interesting, but I think it more likely that he received it from Preservation. Though it might seem like Preservation would have no reason, we don't know all of Hoid's doings--for instance, it seems even a stretch for Preservation to bind Ruin under contract, to even come up with a plan that broke their deal. Now if Hoid helped, came up with the idea, or otherwise assisted Preservation in making the Well of Ascension that would make more sense--Hoid gains easy access in world hopping to Scadrial (Well of Ascension and the Pits of Hathsin). But knowing Hoid, he found a little side payment, maybe Harmonium or some other element existed before when BOTH preservation and ruin were free on Scadrial--the terris received some but like lerasium Hoid could have "received" some...

 

It sounds to me like you're suggesting Harmonium might be able to grant Feruchemy if burned by a normal person based on the idea that since Harmony combines the powers of Ruin and Preservation, and when Ruin and Preservation worked together to create the people of Scadrial they (either intentionally or unintentionally) made some Feruchemists.  I was searching to see if someone had posted this theory already, so congrats on beating me to it!

 

As for my contribution to the discussion of when/how Hoid got his Feruchemy powers, I think that it probably hasn't been decided yet, but I like the "getting it from Adonalsium" theory .  Once Dragonsteel comes out in 20ish years maybe we can get some resolution on the issue. 

[TheOneKEA]

It sounds to me like you're suggesting Harmonium might be able to grant Feruchemy if burned by a normal person based on the idea that since Harmony combines the powers of Ruin and Preservation, and when Ruin and Preservation worked together to create the people of Scadrial they (either intentionally or unintentionally) made some Feruchemists.  I was searching to see if someone had posted this theory already, so congrats on beating me to it!

 

I think it's more plausible that harmonium can grant Feruchemy by Connecting yourself to it and attempting to store something in it. Since we know that god metals are mundane pieces of matter with Investiture attached, the Connection and subsequent attempt to store might transfer the Investiture into your spiritweb and turn the harmonium into an inert chunk of slag.

[Kadrok]

Well... if Bands is anything to go by, it seems like he could have gotten it with a medallion made by a Feruchemist storing all of their abilities. Perhaps he's not a true Feruchemist, but perhaps he's cheated himself that way.

 

Anyone have evidence for/against this idea?

Since storing of ability seems to work more like non-Copper Feruchemy, that would only be a temporary source of Feruchemy... unless he was also a Nicroburst and compounded the investitures that gave him access to the Feruchemy powers.

 

I've suggested in the past based on that revelation regarding Preservation that perhaps the Lerasium beads once held a "Feruchemy" charge that you could tap to become a full Feruchemist, in the same way as one can burn Lerasium to become a Mistborn. If that were the case then Hoid showed up when Feruchemy was first being doled out and gain it then. The hole in that idea is, why would he have to have later stolen a bead of Lerasium? Surely he would have been aware enough to recognize the significance of the metal, even back then?

 

To be honest I'm starting to lean more towards the "Lerasium can store anything" theory rather than my "it grants Feruchemy through tapping" theory, but I'd still suggest that he very well could have been around when Feruchemy was first being doled out. Afterall, he has that connection with the Worldbringers...