Inheritance of Alomantic Abilities vs The 16%

[NinjaMeTimbers]

Ye I think when whoever it is that goes to meet the terris people in the pits hears they haven't been affected, but then they have spent a long time having feruchemy bred out of them and were the least likely to gain hereditary lines of allomancy

Can't remember about nobles

But we decided that the mist snapping can't be inherited Allomancy, that it has to be activating the part of preservation that everyone has... so the hereditary part doesn't fit.

[Wispsy]

Ye ye but the terris people have been having it bred out of them, whereas the rest of the population have had 1000 years to dilute 10 beads of lerasium to every1!

That or maybe they just lived hard lives that counted as snapping?

[NinjaMeTimbers]

Ye ye but the terris people have been having it bred out of them, whereas the rest of the population have had 1000 years to dilute 10 beads of lerasium to every1!

That or maybe they just lived hard lives that counted as snapping?

Hmmm... perhaps. Would it be safe to assume that all/almost all of the skaa have noble blood somewhere in their history? And the Terrismen never interbred with the nobles so don't have any? Then the mist snaps 16% of those who do? That doesn't explain why the mist doesn't affect the nobles... The idea behind the mists I think I read somewhere that it brought out what even a beating couldn't, so why wouldn't the mists occasionally succeed where beatings failed for the nobles?

[CrazyRioter]

Hmmm... perhaps. Would it be safe to assume that all/almost all of the skaa have noble blood somewhere in their history? And the Terrismen never interbred with the nobles so don't have any? Then the mist snaps 16% of those who do? That doesn't explain why the mist doesn't affect the nobles... The idea behind the mists I think I read somewhere that it brought out what even a beating couldn't, so why wouldn't the mists occasionally succeed where beatings failed for the nobles?

actually it was said somewhere after that that the mists did occasionally affect the nobles, most of the nobles with allomantic potential had enough to be snapped by a beating, but a few of them had less then that but enough to be snapped by the mists. The initial impression that they weren't affected at all was in error.

[Wispsy]

The lord ruler was not particularly pleasant with how he treated the terris population, he was somewhat stricter with them then skaa, and then the inquisitors attacked and wiped out the feruchemists that managed to remain, killing those with a still strong connection to preservation, also probably not a great time for them that remained

[happyman]

actually it was said somewhere after that that the mists did occasionally affect the nobles, most of the nobles with allomantic potential had enough to be snapped by a beating, but a few of them had less then that but enough to be snapped by the mists. The initial impression that they weren't affected at all was in error.

I'd love it if this was true, but do you have a quotation for that?

[Catalyst21]

Ye ye but the terris people have been having it bred out of them, whereas the rest of the population have had 1000 years to dilute 10 beads of lerasium to every1!

That or maybe they just lived hard lives that counted as snapping?

Allomancy existed before the 10 lerasium beads, the beads just magnified the connection.

[Wispsy]

exsisted but was incredibly rare, then they had an extra 1000 years of very strict breeding which involved a large majority of the men becomming eunuchs and the women with little connection being forced to have children of men with little connection.

what i wonder is how long the people on the other side of the world have known about allomancy!

[pmj812]

It seems to me that our biological inability to really grok math is getting in the way here. There's really no sense to the notion that it should be 1% per misting and therefore 16% per metal and an additional 1% for atium and 1% for malatium (I assume that's where the 18 is coming from?)

Plus, doesn't Kelsier say 1 in 10,000 is a mistborn? The mists don't seem to have made anyone a mistborn.

After all, the AOL Ars Arcanum (SPOILERS COMING) suggests that there's an entire other set of 16 made up of atium alloys, and 16 of lerasium as well.

But the mists didn't snap any Mistings of these still-unknown God alloys. Because they weren't needed. Preservation was making a gift of allomancy to the people who snapped in the mists. And the numbers were chosen to send a message.

Think about it, Demoux (for instance) had been through a lot - fought in a great many desperate situations, had a lot of traumatic experiences... if he'd been born a Seer, he should have Snapped well before the mists.

EDIT: I've just realized something very important: the mists are a form of Lerasium. Or to put it another way, Lerasium is a metal made of congealed mist.

Proof: Atium was Ruin's "body," the mists were Preservation's "body."

Which means that the mists and Preservation's god-metal are of the same substance. So it's no surprise that they would be able to give the gift of allomancy.

Edited November 15, 2011 by pmj812

[lauren.e135]

Some of BS's comments on snapping:

http://www.brandonsanderson.com/annotation/345/Mistborn-3-Chapter-Seventy

Allomancy is the same. It's in there, but it takes a reaction—in this case, physical anguish—to trigger it and bring it out. That's because the Allomantic power comes from the extra bit of Preservation inside of humans, that same extra bit that gives us free will. This bit is trapped between the opposing forces of Preservation and Ruin, and to come out and allow it the power to access metals and draw forth energy, it needs to fight its way through the piece of Ruin that is also there inside.

As has been established, Ruin's control over creatures—and, indeed, an Allomancer's control over them—grows weaker when that creature is going through some extreme emotions. (Like the koloss blood frenzy.) This has to do with the relationship between the Cognitive Realm, the Physical Realm, and the Spiritual Realm—of which I don't have time to speak right now.

Suffice it to say that there are people who have Snapped because of intense joy or other emotions. It just doesn't happen as frequently and is more difficult to control.

In response to noblemen snapping, and why the mist didn't turn anyone into a mistborn:

http://www.brandonsanderson.com/annotation/318/Mistborn-3-Chapter-Forty-Nine-Part-2

Noblemen, despite what Spook says in this chapter, are not immune to the mistsickness. The rumor Spook is referencing does have merit, however. You see, since the mists are Snapping people and awakening the Allomantic potential within them, it will affect far fewer noblemen than skaa. Why? Because a lot of the noblemen have already Snapped. They were beaten as children to bring out the powers.

the mistsickness is also awakening Allomantic potential that would otherwise be too subtle to be brought out. Pretend there’s a sliding scale of Allomantic potential. 100% means you’re an Allomancer—in this series, only two people have hit 100%—Vin and Elend. Buried within a lot of people, however, is enough of a touch of Preservation’s power to hit, say, 50% on the relative scale of Allomantic power. These people, when beaten and made to pass through something traumatic, awaken to their Allomantic abilities.

There are a lot of people out there, however, with something more like 20% to 30%. These are the people the mists are Snapping—since the mists are, themselves, partially the power of Preservation, they can touch people and increase their Allomantic potential slightly and then bring it to the forefront.

[lauren.e135]

My guess is that perhaps a person's allomantic potential is what determines what kind of misting they become. Perhaps if they have a very small allomanic potential they become an atium misting because of atium's nature (being Ruin's body and all). This way instead of a scale of 1% - 16% there is maybe a scale of 100% to say 20 to 30%. 100% means mistborn, and anything below equates to being some form of misting.