Hypothetical Additional Metals

[Halyo_Alex]

I was bored, and, like any normal person would, I decided to make my own, non-canon, hypothetical "quadrant" to add to the three Metallic Arts. I used real metals and alloys of those real metals (including the infamous silver), but these effects could easily be Lerasium alloys' effects instead, if you want them to be more canon. 2 of them would be Physical (Cobalt and Nixium, likely would be alloys of Lerasium and iron/steel), and 2 would be Enhancement (Silver and Argentum, would likely be alloys of aluminum and duralumin). I also have a nice little minimalist chart of these 4 set up, just for the fun of it, and for practicing graphic design for later.

I'll elaborate on the brief descriptions of the powers in each of the segments of that chart here.

- The quadrant itself is the Mystic metals category. It's a nice catch-all term for the somewhat disparate abilities of the metals, without just being "hybrid" again like Feruchemy's hybrid quadrant.

- The Mystic Allomantic metals, as mentioned above, are 2 Physical effects and 2 Enhancement effects. Cobalt/Nixium's effects work by altering the overall velocity of a metallic object within reach. Nixium Pushes the metals, adding to their current velocity. However, like Steel, the Pushes are equal and opposite reactions on the Allomancer as well, as if they themselves were Pushing in the same direction that Nixium is adding the velocity in. So to accelerate an object upwards, the Allomancer will be pushed downwards equally in exchange.

- Likewise, Cobalt Pulls on metals, reducing their current velocity, including the inevitable pull of gravity, allowing an allomancer to produce hovering footholds with which to leap between. As with Nixium, Cobalt transfers force to the allomancer, meaning that the taken velocity is added to theirs. This results in the allomancer feeling an increased gravitational pull when stopping a metal object from falling, based on the mass of the object being anchored.

- Ahh, Silver, silver, silver... A tricky metal to be sure, and quirky enough to explain why it was (and, is) considered Allomantically Inert by all metalborn. Silver works by channeling its power into the "floodgates" of other metals' power, flowing into and through the Allomancer via their other burning metals. When burned by itself, this effect enters a feedback loop of constricting its own power, which induces a nauseating feeling that is almost completely indistinguishable from the sickness of burning a non-allomantic metal or impure alloy. Burning silver and Duralumin amplifies this issue, as the Silver constricts both the duralumin and itself, while the duralumin forces the Silver to expend itself at astronomical rates, causing the silver constriction to intensify to the point where no power can flow, releasing a huge amount of pent-up allomantic power when the constriction wears off, sickening the allomancer deeply, even killing them. Flaring silver and duralumin will kill an allomancer foolish enough to try it. When properly employed, Silver reduces the power output per gram of metal, which may seem purely negative as Aluminum does, but it comes with the added benefit of making the allomancer's metal resources more difficult to Leech or Nicroburst away, keeping them safe from harm while you have Silver to burn.

-Argentum, then, is the opposite. It uses the influx of power from Preservation to widen the "floodgates" of other metals burned alongside it. It enhances the power output per gram of metal, which pairs nicely with Duralumin, giving you a further multiplication on power received per second. It also allows you to be a bit more subtle with your burn rate, keeping a low burn while still getting a fair bit of power out of the metals. As you might guess, Argentum-boosted metals are easier to Leech or Nicroburst away. As well, Argentum Savants are not terribly uncommon among Argentum allomancers, due to the fact that by burning Argentum alone, you can have a positive feedback loop of increasing power flowing through via Argentum widening its own "floodgates" over and over. Benefits of Argentum Savantism include a generally improved power output per gram of metal in all metals that the Savant can burn, and an improved ability to control your metals' burn rates. Drawbacks include an addiction-like dependence on Argentum allomancy, as well as a particular vulnerability to being Nicrobursted. Some speculate that the Argentum Allomancer welcomes the rush of power from a Nicroburst on a subconscious level, being familiarized with it from Argentum Allomancy, though this is unconfirmed.

 

- The Mystic Feruchemical metals, then, are quite fun. Cobalt feruchemy is my personal favorite, as it allows the feruchemist to shrink or grow, like ant-man. Cobaltminds are often worn as bracelets at normal size, rings at large size, and a belt at small size, with their standard "big" and "small" sizes being dependent on when the Cobaltmind fits as such. Cobalt Feruchemy also strengthens the body to prevent it from collapsing at larger sizes from the Square-Cube Law, and to allow mobility even at such sizes, much like how Iron feruchemy strengthens the body to allow movement at great weights.

- Nixium Feruchemy is rather odd, as it stores Ionic Energy. Fire, Electricity, both can be stored in Nixiumminds, allowing a Nixium feruchemist to quench flames or deplete batteries and charge their metalminds with that type of energy. One Nixiummind cannot store both fire and electrical energy in it at a time, but multiple Nixiumminds can be employed by a Nixium feruchemist to circumvent this. When tapping, the Nixium Feruchemist can direct the stored energy out of their body, typically through the hands, casting lightning bolts or spouts of flame. It's one of the most visually stunning feruchemical powers, to be sure. The Feruchemist is also protected from electrocuting or burning themselves when tapping.

- Silver feruchemy stores Light from a small radius around a feruchemist, typically close to their skin, though further out as they store more aggressively. In an enclosed room with a large amount of uncharged silver, a feruchemist can darken the whole room to pitch-black for some time. Tapping Silver causes the Feruchemist to glow, illuminating the area around them. They are also not blinded by the light emitted from their Silver feruchemy, though others can be, making a quick, aggressive tapping of Silver an effective flashbang, of sorts, disorienting foes. (side note: this unintentionally made a pun of Silver-light. I couldn't pass this up after I realized that.)

- Argentum Feruchemy stores Sound, a fitting counterpart to Silver. When storing, the feruchemist and his/her immediate surroundings become muted, with the area affected increasing as they store more aggressively. When tapping, sounds produced by the feruchemist become amplified, moreso the more they tap. With enough stored Sound, the feruchemist can create dangerously loud sounds, which is of particular effect against Tineyes or Windwhispers. The feruchemist is also strengthened to be able to withstand the loud noises they produce, unable to deafen themselves.

 

- Cobalt Hemalurgy steals Mystic Allomantic powers. Pretty simple, just like any other allomancy-stealing spike.

- Nixium Hemalurgy steals Mystic Feruchemical Powers, which functions just as expected.

- Silver Hemalurgy steals Spiritual Fortitude, which is somewhat complex. A spike will enhance the "can't push/pull on metals inside someone" effect, will reinforce the user against Emotional allomantic possession, and even increases the spike threshold for Shardic possession by a net gain of 1 for every silver spike (of average strength). A Silver Kandra Blessing would make them immune to Emotional allomantic possession, and almost fully immune to Shardic possession, in theory being more trouble than it's worth, requiring too much concentration to break through (if we're talking about Ruin trying to control an army of Kandra, Koloss, and Inquisitors, which, isn't likely to happen again. But a Silver Kandra COULD resist Harmony, if they tried hard enough, though that is in part due to his conflicting Intents, rather than the sheer strength of Silver.

- Argentum Hemalurgy Steals Physical Immunity, which is to say, potency of your Immune System, and liver. Diseases, and poisons, are reduced in effectiveness against someone with a Nixium spike.

 

So, what do you guys think? These WOULD be more logical as godmetal alloys, i admit, but the idea was too fun to pass up to stave off boredom.

[Honorless]

I like em! 

[Halyo_Alex]

2 hours ago, Honorless said:

I like em! 

You might notice on the chart that I used the 4 "unknown metal" runes from the steel alphabet (if you've looked up the steel alphabet page on the coppermind), which currently haven't had feruchemical rune variants revealed. So, all 4 of these feruchemical runes are hand-made by me, trying to follow the same logic as the canonic ones. Did I do it right?

[Honorless]

On 2/11/2020 at 10:20 PM, Halyo_Alex said:

You might notice on the chart that I used the 4 "unknown metal" runes from the steel alphabet (if you've looked up the steel alphabet page on the coppermind), which currently haven't had feruchemical rune variants revealed. So, all 4 of these feruchemical runes are hand-made by me, trying to follow the same logic as the canonic ones. Did I do it right?

Oh my, I didn't notice. I did notice that you used Terris for the Hemalurgic symbols though.

They look perfectly natural, well done! 

Edited March 9, 2020 by Dreamer
typo

[Halyo_Alex]

8 minutes ago, Honorless said:

Oh my, I didn't notice. I did notice that you used Terris for the Hemalurgic siblings symbols though.

They look perfectly natural, well done! 

Yes, the ancient Terris runes have that sort of... I wouldn't say "sloppy" per se, or "crude", but they're jagged, with ink splots here and there. If they were red, you bet they would look like blood, so of course I'm gonna use those for Hemalurgy until we get a set of runes dedicated to that instead.

Thanks! Good to know I didn't disappoint.

[Quantus]

Cool list!

What is Nixium (a cobalt alloy presumably)?  I cant find an actual metal named that online and was curious of the ratios.  On that note the only Argentum Ive ever heard of is just the latin name for Silver, is there also an alloy?

[Halyo_Alex]

27 minutes ago, Quantus said:

Cool list!

What is Nixium (a cobalt alloy presumably)?  I cant find an actual metal named that online and was curious of the ratios.  On that note the only Argentum Ive ever heard of is just the latin name for Silver, is there also an alloy?

According to my source:

Nixium is 42% cobalt, 58% nickel. Wikipedia mentions nickel-based single-crystal alloys of cobalt on the Cobalt Wikipedia page, so it appears this is one of those.
Argentum is 92.5% silver, and 7.5% nickel. It appears to be a specific form of Sterling Silver, called Argentum, for some reason.

Makes me wonder if I should design another non-canon metal category based on Nickel itself.

[Quantus]

Ever consider Mercury?

I only ask because this came thought the firehose for me this morning"

Spoiler

 

[GoWibble]

Wow. those are great

[Halyo_Alex]

23 minutes ago, Quantus said:

Ever consider Mercury?

I only ask because this came thought the firehose for me this morning"

  Reveal hidden contents

 

Well, considering how toxic mercury is, it really doesn't strike me as practical for an Allomantic metal. That and it's liquid state makes it basically impossible to use as a metalmind or a hemaspike.

HOWEVER, this does remind me that you can make various mercury amalgams with metals including gold, and even aluminum. Aluminum mercury amalgam is REALLY weird, I recommend you watch NileRed's YouTube videos on it. 

[Quantus]

3 minutes ago, Halyo_Alex said:

Well, considering how toxic mercury is, it really doesn't strike me as practical for an Allomantic metal. That and it's liquid state makes it basically impossible to use as a metalmind or a hemaspike.

True, but the same can be said for Chromium/Nicrosil and Cadmium/Bendalloy, they have to burn off their swallowed reserves before bed or risk poisoning.  Actually, it turns out that the main danger with elemental Mercury is through vapor inhalation, but it has ridiculously low absorption through the skin or gastro-tract. Which validates an episode of CSI I saw years ago that Ive doubted this whole time.  

Regardless the canon solution to any of these is for the mistborn to be diligent about burning off all excesses.  That fortunately sidesteps all the toxicity issues since the atoms themselves are obliterated and cannot accumulate (like lead does in your bones, for example).

 

Spikes would certainly be hard, but I think it should work for a metalmind so long as it serves a "commodity" purpose (ie not like Copper) so there is nothing list by splitting up the metal.  

[Halyo_Alex]

4 minutes ago, Quantus said:

True, but the same can be said for Chromium/Nicrosil and Cadmium/Bendalloy, they have to burn off their swallowed reserves before bed or risk poisoning.  Actually, it turns out that the main danger with elemental Mercury is through vapor inhalation, but it has ridiculously low absorption through the skin or gastro-tract. Which validates an episode of CSI I saw years ago that Ive doubted this whole time.  

Regardless the canon solution to any of these is for the mistborn to be diligent about burning off all excesses.  That fortunately sidesteps all the toxicity issues since the atoms themselves are obliterated and cannot accumulate (like lead does in your bones, for example).

 

Spikes would certainly be hard, but I think it should work for a metalmind so long as it serves a "commodity" purpose (ie not like Copper) so there is nothing list by splitting up the metal.  

I see! It would ironically be much more convenient to get rid of it with aluminum allomancy so you don't have to burn through it with whatever effect it gives (not that that would be a strictly problematic thing, it would be a convenience).

I suppose if you had a vial of mercury, you could put your finger to the surface to store the feruchemical attribute in it, then cork it back up. Huh.

[Quantus]

2 minutes ago, Halyo_Alex said:

I see! It would ironically be much more convenient to get rid of it with aluminum allomancy so you don't have to burn through it with whatever effect it gives (not that that would be a strictly problematic thing, it would be a convenience).

No, that's a good point, and something Ive long wondered about Wayne and his potentially reduced Lifetime.  If he is swallowing Bendalloy every day (rather than at need only) and having to burn off the excess each day, he's going to lived a lot more hours and days than his chronological age would indicate (even if they new his actual birthday).  Though Wayne might be able to burn it off with Gold instead.  

2 minutes ago, Halyo_Alex said:

I suppose if you had a vial of mercury, you could put your finger to the surface to store the feruchemical attribute in it, then cork it back up. Huh.

That's what I figured, though if the best use is compounding (like Gold) you may just chug it immediately.  

[Halyo_Alex]

6 minutes ago, Quantus said:

No, that's a good point, and something Ive long wondered about Wayne and his potentially reduced Lifetime.  If he is swallowing Bendalloy every day (rather than at need only) and having to burn off the excess each day, he's going to lived a lot more hours and days than his chronological age would indicate (even if they new his actual birthday).  Though Wayne might be able to burn it off with Gold instead.  

Oh shoot, you're right... Also makes me wonder about Marasi, then. She might seem to live longer than expected, depending on how often she actually takes a vial of Cadmium and has to subsequently burn it off. I wonder if she could potentially survive well into Era 3...?

6 minutes ago, Quantus said:

That's what I figured, though if the best use is compounding (like Gold) you may just chug it immediately.  

Though with gold compounding you can store the vast amounts of healing in a series of goldminds to tap at a steady pace, rather than letting your allomantic burn rate dictate how the power is released. Maybe. I dunno. Something just seems off with your statement there.

[Quantus]

25 minutes ago, Halyo_Alex said:

Though with gold compounding you can store the vast amounts of healing in a series of goldminds to tap at a steady pace, rather than letting your allomantic burn rate dictate how the power is released. Maybe. I dunno. Something just seems off with your statement there.

As far as I know you can do that with any Twinborn compounding, not just gold and Aitum, you just store everything you get out of the burn.  And since Metalminds that are broken can still be accessed per WOB, so the resulting mercury wouldnt need to stay together to keep it's charge.  That being said, the actual usefulness of said Compounded Ferucehmcial Trait is entirely going to depend on what it actually Stores.  

[Halyo_Alex]

1 minute ago, Quantus said:

As far as I know you can do that with any Twinborn compounding, not just gold and Aitum, you just store everything you get out of the burn.  And since Metalminds that are broken can still be accessed per WOB, so the resulting mercury wouldnt need to stay together to keep it's charge.  That being said, the actual usefulness of said Compounded Ferucehmcial Trait is entirely going to depend on what it actually Stores.  

Right, right. That's what I thought. Good to know, though!

[Halyo_Alex]

(apologies in advance for the double-post...)

Well I've done it again.

After thinking of yet more powers that I would add to the metallic arts, I decided to make some tweaks to my previous charts. They're now the "enrichment" metals because, let's face it, silver/argentum really does feel like an alternative to aluminum/duralumin from the enhancement category... Also, the feruchemical metals from that part are the "energy" metals (due to storing electricity, sound, and light, though Cobalt is an odd one out like Brass in the Cognitive category ).

With that update out of the way, I present the next category of my hypothetical metals, the new Mystic category!

 

- Starting us off in the allomantic effects, we have Nickel! As said before, it was starting to feel like Nickel should be in whatever my next metal category was. Nickel gives an allomancer the unique ability to slow down "growth" in a nearby radius. This includes the obvious, like healing, or plant/animal growth. But it also includes things like bacteria and viruses' ability to replicate themselves, which means that infections become weakened. Due to the fact that Nickel also slows healing in humans, however, this is only a way to delay until proper medicine can be applied to truly cure the infection. Biological toxins are also processed slower by the body, which makes this good at staving off poisons for the same reason.

- As nickel's alloy counterpart, we have Constantan. It is an alloy of Nickel (45%) and Copper (55%). As you may expect, Constantan speeds up "growth" in a smaller radius than Nickel (a bit like cadmium vs bendalloy's bubble sizes). Constantan's effect will make plants grow at a perceptible rate, moreso if flared. However, it will also speed up infections in the body by accelerating bacteria and viruses' ability to replicate, and will speed up the metabolic processing of poisons in the body. But, it does also accelerate healing, so physical injuries will knit back together faster than normal.

- For the "internal" pulling metal, we have Palladium. I say "internal" in quotations because it's "internal" like how Copper and Bronze are "internal". With that aside, Palladium gives an allomancer the ability to perceive the thoughts of others around them, like Preservation can. They can select a specific individual to listen to, or a group, though their mind can be overwhelmed unless they can also burn Atium or tap Zinc. Or tap Palladium, but we'll get to that.

- As Palladium's alloy counterpart, we have Orichalcum. It is an alloy of Palladium (33.3%) and Gold (66.7%), more commonly referred to as a form of White Gold, in real life. Anyway, Orichalcum gives the allomancer the ability to send their thoughts to others, like Ruin can. They can, again, specify one person to speak to, or commune with a group of people. due to the "sending" nature of this metal, it's not as overwhelming to speak telepathically with a group, so Atium allomancy isn't needed to process it all. As you might expect, a Mistborn could use both Palladium and Orichalcum together to hold an entire silent conversation with someone. And that person doesn't even need to be metalborn! 2 Orichalcum or Palladium mistings could also converse, by hearing or speaking to the other with their metal power.

 

- For the Feruchemical effects, let's once again start with Nickel. Nickel stores Dexterity or muscle memory. Unlike Copper, which has been WoB'd to not store muscle memory, Nickel can. Storing Dexterity makes the feruchemist clumsy, while tapping it makes them, well, dexterous. They can swiftly perform actions that require small, precise movements (such as lockpicking), or keep their balance more effectively. Storing muscle memory does exactly what you might expect. Unsealed Nickelminds, then, are quite powerful, as they allow someone to pass on a honed skill to their successor, for whatever purpose they need. Once tapped back out, the muscle memory remains in the recipient, allowing them to start from where their predecessor left off.

- Feruchemical Constantan stores Physical Force. Unlike Pewter, the feruchemist's muscles stay the same size. However, they will find themselves incapable of producing strong forces by moving their body. Jumping will be highly ineffective, and punches will feel like how it feels to punch in a dream (that is, you punch with all your might, but it produces no tangible results). Tapping Constantan, however, allows the Feruchemist to leap to great heights or distances, or punch with a disproportionate amount of force behind their strikes. A Pewterarm makes for a great twinborn with constantan, for reasons that should be quite clear.

- Feruchemical Palladium stores Mental Stability. When storing, the feruchemist will be scatterbrained and unable to keep a train of thought going. That's not to say they become stupid or slow-witted, like F-Zinc. They can still form a cohesive thought, it's just that elaborating on that thought becomes a challenge, more-so with stronger storing. When tapping, the feruchemist can focus incredibly easily, ignoring distractions around them like they don't even exist.

- Feruchemical Orichalcum stores Mental Connection. When storing, the Feruchemist becomes literally incapable of hearing themselves think. This can help with meditation, for example, or trying to fall asleep (though, unlike Bronze, Orichalcum cannot be stored once actually sleeping). When tapping, the feruchemist will be able to hear the thoughts of everyone near them, much like Allomantic Palladium. The key differences are twofold, however. Firstly, this power cannot single out any people to listen to. Secondly, the Feruchemist will always hear people's thought words in the feruchemist's native language, much like how Tapping connection from Duralumin does the same with the spoken words.

 

- Now for the hemalurgic effects. Once more, let's start with Nickel. Nickel steals Dexterity and muscle memory. Depending on the bind point, the recipient can gain muscle memory for different actions, or just an overall dexterity boost.

- Constantan steals Mystic Allomantic powers. Works exactly how you'd expect.

- Palladium steals Mental Stability. Like the Feruchemical trait, the increase in this attribute means the recipient will be able to concentrate on the desired task more easily.

- Orichalcum steals Mystic Feruchemical powers. Again, functions as expected.

 

So, there we go! What do you guys think of these ones? The chart below includes the new version of Silver and the others, newly-recategorized as Enrichment and Energy metals, as well as Nickel and its buddies as the new Mystic category.

[Karger]

On 2/11/2020 at 1:39 AM, Halyo_Alex said:

Pushing in the same direction that Nixium is adding the velocity in. So to accelerate an object upwards, the Allomancer will be pushed downwards equally in exchange.

First of all I am going to congratulate you on some awesome choices.  Now because I am me I have to start griping about physics.  What happens to conservation of momentum in this case?  Also what makes the external effects of your metals mystical in nature?

On 2/11/2020 at 1:39 AM, Halyo_Alex said:

Likewise, Cobalt Pulls on metals, reducing their current velocity, including the inevitable pull of gravity

Gravity is acceleration not velocity.

On 2/11/2020 at 1:39 AM, Halyo_Alex said:

This results in the allomancer feeling an increased gravitational pull when stopping a metal object from falling, based on the mass of the object being anchored.

But an object that is not falling has a velocity of 0 and if you increase it then in which direction?

 

[Halyo_Alex]

Just now, Karger said:

First of all I am going to congratulate you on some awesome choices.  Now because I am me I have to start griping about physics.  What happens to conservation of momentum in this case?  Also what makes the external effects of your metals mystical in nature?

I admit "mystic" was mostly meant to be a catch-all term like "hybrid" in feruchemy. momentum is conserved, by transferring it to the allomancer from their chosen metallic object(s)

Just now, Karger said:

Gravity is acceleration not velocity.

But you can stop the object from ever starting to fall downwards, is what I meant.

Just now, Karger said:

But an object that is not falling has a velocity of 0 and if you increase it then in which direction?

Not sure. Maybe it speeds up in the direction the planet is moving.

[Karger]

1 minute ago, Halyo_Alex said:

But you can stop the object from ever starting to fall downwards, is what I meant.

Then its V will still point upwards and your hovering platforms will be flying upwards at an increased rate.  If you jump on it you will fall as you are really just borrowing that object's weight.

4 minutes ago, Halyo_Alex said:

Not sure. Maybe it speeds up in the direction the planet is moving.

Relative to what?

[Halyo_Alex]

Just now, Karger said:

Then its V will still point upwards and your hovering platforms will be flying upwards at an increased rate.  If you jump on it you will fall as you are really just borrowing that object's weight.

Wait, you're talking about using cobalt to transfer the momentum of falling to the allomancer, right?

Just now, Karger said:

Relative to what?

Wait, i must have misunderstood.

[Draginon]

Would platinum be a good metal?

[Halyo_Alex]

1 hour ago, Draginon said:

Would platinum be a good metal?

Platinum can work. Possibly the trickiest part of adding a new metal (assuming you have an effect in mind) is finding a named alloy to pair it with. There's not that many good ones that I could find.

[Draginon]

13 hours ago, Halyo_Alex said:

Platinum can work. Possibly the trickiest part of adding a new metal (assuming you have an effect in mind) is finding a named alloy to pair it with. There's not that many good ones that I could find.

One of the only alloys I found was Platinum Sterling, but since that’s a trademarked name it would need a different name, but an interesting Allomancy for these could be Imitation. Platinum could Imitate External powers while it’s alloy could Imitate Internal powers, almost making them semi-Mistborns. Imagine how scary it would be if a couple bad guys had this ability since you couldn’t properly predict what they’ll do since they could always be doing Pewter stuff but then in a fight they whip out Steel powers.

As for a counterpart to these could be a pair that imitate off world powers.

[Karger]

16 hours ago, Halyo_Alex said:

Wait, you're talking about using cobalt to transfer the momentum of falling to the allomancer, right?

Yeah since you are not actually creating any just borrowing it then you will not be able to jump on a hovering platform any more then you can carry yourself.

16 hours ago, Halyo_Alex said:

Wait, i must have misunderstood.

The planet's motion relative to what?