Questions about the Mists

[Mistchemist16]

So I had a few questions about the specifics of Preservation’s snapping mists

1. The Mists raised the Allomantic potential of people who didn’t have any to begin with. But what would it do to an unsnapped Misting or Mistborn? Would they just face a regular snapping? Would they become a more powerful Misting? If it helps, imagine a room of 100 unsnapped Mistings. In theory, the Mists should still act, but maybe not if the targets are treated as Snapped Mistings

2. If #1 is true, can the Mists overwrite the ability of an unsnapped Misting?  For example, 100 unsnapped Thugs walk into the Mists. Some would have to convert into other metals if Preservation still wanted 16 of each Misting. But I also assumed that the Mists do make one of each Misting and the 16% isn’t just referring to who gets sick. Similarly, can the Mists turn an unsnapped Mistborn into a Misting?

3. The one that interests me most. Can the Mists affect Feruchemists? It’s could easily be possible since the Keepers were all dead by HoA. Trickier if you assume the Mists never stopped Snapping people, but still not impossible, since Keepers wouldn’t have much reason to be in the night mists. (Side question: how many members did the Keepers have? Just curious  to see how many could trigger the Mist if they were all together.

4. Is there any reason to think the Mists ever stopped Snapping people? They did only appear at night after Rashek used the Well, but I don’t buy that he suddenly figured it out in the relatively short time after scorching Scadrial. The transformations would also be easy to mask. Affected nobles or noble blooded skaa would just be thought of as Snapped the normal way. Skaa were even more superstitious and few would go into the Mists. On top of that, even fewer would figure out their powers, since knowledge is rare and skaa mistings either hide or die/become inquisitor fodder. If they did, most people would probably conclude noble blood. Given what we know, I honestly think it’s more likely the Mists never stopped Snapping than that they did, despite only acting at night. But if there’s any contradictory evidence or things I’ve forgotten from HoA, let me know

[Quantus]

The Mists dont do any of that innately. They have done so in the stories because they were being directed personally by Preservation at the time. It was an Act of God, using the mists as their hands.  So in this context The Mists are able to do anything a Shard can, and may not actually exist when not being so directed. The Mists themselves never snapped people, Preservation did, and he was doing so at the 1/16th ratio in a specific attempt to communicate.  

[alder24]

36 minutes ago, Mistchemist16 said:

1. The Mists raised the Allomantic potential of people who didn’t have any to begin with. But what would it do to an unsnapped Misting or Mistborn? Would they just face a regular snapping? Would they become a more powerful Misting? If it helps, imagine a room of 100 unsnapped Mistings. In theory, the Mists should still act, but maybe not if the targets are treated as Snapped Mistings

What do you mean "unsnapped misting"? During Era 1, every Misting and Mistborn was snapped. But because the Snapping was such a traumatic event, most of the population (Skaa) didn't do it, as they didn't even have hope for becoming a Misting. But during 1000 years, the Allomancy DNA was still present in some of them, or strengthened as they were the offsprings of nobles and skaa, so the gene was there in all of Scadrial's population. That's where Mist and the Snapping came, as they Snapp every person as they had Allomantic genes in them. But in most cases, their potential was too small to manifest normally, so Mists just increased this potential. They chose specific people from every single metal to make proper 16% ratio. But this power was always within them, just too weak to be awakened. Everyone who was Snapped by Mists WAS a hidden Misting. Yomen, who was Snapped by Obligators, was a prove that Atium Mistings existed long before, so even Atium Mistings weren't the produce of Mist, this gene was within population. Mist just provided cracks in people's soul to allow them to use Allomancy, draw from Preservation. It didn't overwrite anything, it only increased the potential of the weakest.

36 minutes ago, Mistchemist16 said:

2. If #1 is true, can the Mists overwrite the ability of an unsnapped Misting?  For example, 100 unsnapped Thugs walk into the Mists. Some would have to convert into other metals if Preservation still wanted 16 of each Misting. But I also assumed that the Mists do make one of each Misting and the 16% isn’t just referring to who gets sick. Similarly, can the Mists turn an unsnapped Mistborn into a Misting?

Not likely, they would be snapped into Thugs. Mistborn into Mistborn etc. Everyone has the seed of Allomancy in them, that's why they get Snapped. Mists just increased their potential which they already had in them.

Spoiler

Brandon Sanderson

The Sliding Scale of Allomantic Potential

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.

However, that won't stop all of them from being affected by the mistsickness, because 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.

The Hero of Ages Annotations (Dec. 29, 2009)

 

Spoiler

Brandon Sanderson

Chapter Seventy

The Reason for the Mistsickness

So, it finally comes out. I wonder at this numbers plot, as I think many readers will glaze over it and ignore it. I think others will read into it and figure out what it means very quickly, then feel that the reveal here isn't much of a revelation. Hopefully I'll get a majority in the middle who read the clues, don't know what they mean, but are happily surprised when it comes together. That's a difficult line to walk sometimes.

What is going on here is that the mists are awakening the Allomantic potential inside of people. It's very rough on a person for that to come out, and can cause death. Preservation set this all up before he gave his consciousness to imprison Ruin, so it's not a perfect system. It's like a machine left behind by its creator. 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.

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.

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.

The Hero of Ages Annotations (March 30, 2010)

 

36 minutes ago, Mistchemist16 said:

3. The one that interests me most. Can the Mists affect Feruchemists? It’s could easily be possible since the Keepers were all dead by HoA. Trickier if you assume the Mists never stopped Snapping people, but still not impossible, since Keepers wouldn’t have much reason to be in the night mists. (Side question: how many members did the Keepers have? Just curious  to see how many could trigger the Mist if they were all together.

Not likely, because most Terris people didn't have Allomatic genes in them. If they do, it would dilute their Feruhemy making them Twinborn.

Spoiler

Travyl (paraphrased)

Why do the Twinborn in Alloy of Law have only one Feruchemical power, when all previous Feruchemists, in spite of breeding programs, could use all the metals? 

WetlanderNW (paraphrased)

Or were Ferrings always part of the system and we just didn't meet them in Mistborn?

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

The Ferrings are a new development since Mistborn, as the Feruchemists have been interbreeding with the Allomancers. Basically, the Allomancy genes interfere with the Feruchemy genes, breaking it down and creating the limitations we see in Alloy of Law.

Footnote: Brandon's response was very enthusiastic. He noted how perceptive the question was, and obviously enjoyed the discussion. The reporter has expressed their regret at lack of an audio recording to share his enthusiasm.
Alloy of Law Seattle Signing (Nov. 11, 2011)

 

36 minutes ago, Mistchemist16 said:

4. Is there any reason to think the Mists ever stopped Snapping people? They did only appear at night after Rashek used the Well, but I don’t buy that he suddenly figured it out in the relatively short time after scorching Scadrial. The transformations would also be easy to mask. Affected nobles or noble blooded skaa would just be thought of as Snapped the normal way. Skaa were even more superstitious and few would go into the Mists. On top of that, even fewer would figure out their powers, since knowledge is rare and skaa mistings either hide or die/become inquisitor fodder. If they did, most people would probably conclude noble blood. Given what we know, I honestly think it’s more likely the Mists never stopped Snapping than that they did, despite only acting at night. But if there’s any contradictory evidence or things I’ve forgotten from HoA, let me know

Yes, they stopped. Mists were awakened when the power of the Well was full, and it was the mechanism made by Preservation in case Ruin got freed. See second WoB. If snapping was happening during this 1000 years, people would notice.

Edited February 20, 2023 by alder24

[Mistchemist16]

3 hours ago, alder24 said:

What do you mean "unsnapped misting"? During Era 1, every Misting and Mistborn was snapped. But because the Snapping was such a traumatic event, most of the population (Skaa) didn't do it, as they didn't even have hope for becoming a Misting. But during 1000 years, the Allomancy DNA was still present in some of them, or strengthened as they were the offsprings of nobles and skaa, so the gene was there in all of Scadrial's population. That's where Mist and the Snapping came, as they Snapp every person as they had Allomantic genes in them. But in most cases, their potential was too small to manifest normally, so Mists just increased this potential. They chose specific people from every single metal to make proper 16% ratio. But this power was always within them, just too weak to be awakened. Everyone who was Snapped by Mists WAS a hidden Misting. Yomen, who was Snapped by Obligators, was a prove that Atium Mistings existed long before, so even Atium Mistings weren't the produce of Mist, this gene was within population. Mist just provided cracks in people's soul to allow them to use Allomancy, draw from Preservation. It didn't overwrite anything, it only increased the potential of the weakest.

When I say unsnapped misting, I mean someone like Kelsier was before the Pits. Someone with the potential to unlock Allomancy through normal means, but whose powers hadn’t manifested. I know that there would not be nearly enough of these people in practice. I was more curious about the theory: what if you had these Mistings? Would the Mists simply fill the same role as mundane trauma or would they have a special effect? If the latter, then it would likely be either increasing one’s power (though probably not turning an unsnapped Misting into a Mistborn) or changing their metal to fit the pattern
 

3 hours ago, alder24 said:

Not likely, because most Terris people didn't have Allomatic genes in them. If they do, it would dilute their Feruhemy making them Twinborn.

  Reveal hidden contents

Travyl (paraphrased)

Why do the Twinborn in Alloy of Law have only one Feruchemical power, when all previous Feruchemists, in spite of breeding programs, could use all the metals? 

WetlanderNW (paraphrased)

Or were Ferrings always part of the system and we just didn't meet them in Mistborn?

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

The Ferrings are a new development since Mistborn, as the Feruchemists have been interbreeding with the Allomancers. Basically, the Allomancy genes interfere with the Feruchemy genes, breaking it down and creating the limitations we see in Alloy of Law.

Footnote: Brandon's response was very enthusiastic. He noted how perceptive the question was, and obviously enjoyed the discussion. The reporter has expressed their regret at lack of an audio recording to share his enthusiasm.
Alloy of Law Seattle Signing (Nov. 11, 2011)

 

I was under the impression every Scadrian had some potential for Allomancy. They may not be able to awaken it without the Mists or even dying, but every Scadrian has a piece of Preservation. Or to use the sliding scale analogy, only people from other planets have 0%. You could still argue that everyone who snapped was related to one of Rashek’s OG nobles, even if by hundreds of years. But I’d need to see more clarification that the Innate Investuture Scadrians have and that is used to steal Hemalurgic strength is different from Allomancy.

 Also, the dilution only happens if you have kids naturally. Becoming an Allomancer using Preservation directly doesn’t cause the effect. Rashek got to keep both systems and WoB states you can be a Mistborn-Ferring or Feruchemist-Misting

Donnovan Kidwell

Is it possible to be a full Feruchemist and a Misting or vice versa, like a lopsided Twinborn?

Brandon Sanderson

Possible, yes. Highly unlikely, but possible.

General Twitter 2015 (Sept. 3, 2015)

As such, I don’t see why a Feruchemist snapped by the Mists would suddenly lose their powers.

3 hours ago, alder24 said:

Yes, they stopped. Mists were awakened when the power of the Well was full, and it was the mechanism made by Preservation in case Ruin got freed. See second WoB. If snapping was happening during this 1000 years, people would notice.

Word of Brandon is king, so I won’t dispute that part any further. However, I believe you are underestimating how difficult it would be to notice the effects of mist Snapping. Let’s say that the Mists were always Snapping people, but only at night.

Noble: If a noble unlocked Allomancy after getting sick, people would probably just assume they always had the potential. Sure, some nobles who couldn’t Snap normally would get powers.  But in that case, the logical assumption was that the noble got a false negative as a kid, not that they randomly got powers after being sick.

Noble blooded skaa: Same deal as nobles but arguably easier since no one is watching to see if the skaa Snap and skaa have even greater incentive to hide their powers.

Skaa: Few go out into the Mist anyway because of superstition. The small percentage who do and survive being sick couldn’t easily find their powers. They might get hints through trace metals like Vin did. But then they’d have to hide or die. And since skaa genealogies aren’t a hot topic, most people would just assume the pure blooded skaa had a noble ancestor farther back

At best, people would know that you can get sick while in the Mists sometimes. Even the 16 day period for atium mistings doesn’t say anything because you can’t realistically  test for random Atium mistings. Given the way the Final Empire treated Allomancy, it’s not likely anyone could ever have connected the Mists to making new Allomancers and TLR would probably redact anything that did pop up. But it doesn’t matter either way because WoB confirms the Mists were not Snapping people before WoA.

Edited February 20, 2023 by Mistchemist16

[alder24]

5 minutes ago, Mistchemist16 said:

When I say unsnapped misting, I mean someone like Kelsier was before the Pits. Someone with the potential to unlock Allomancy through normal means, but whose powers hadn’t manifested. I know that there would not be nearly enough of these people in practice. I was more curious about the theory: what if you had these Mistings? Would the Mists simply fill the same role as mundane trauma or would they have a special effect? If the latter, then it would likely be either increasing one’s power (though probably not turning an unsnapped Misting into a Mistborn) or changing their metal to fit the pattern

Understand now, and I've already answered this and provided WoB, as I thought that's what you meant. WoBs explained Mists mechanics very well. Mists would act just like trauma, no special effect. Everyone has the seed of Allomancy (Preservation's fragment), at worst Mists were pushing that seed to be active.

7 minutes ago, Mistchemist16 said:

I was under the impression every Scadrian had some potential for Allomancy. They may not be able to awaken it without the Mists or even dying, but every Scadrian has a piece of Preservation. Or to use the sliding scale analogy, only people from other planets have 0%. You could still argue that everyone who snapped was related to one of Rashek’s OG nobles, even if by hundreds of years. But I’d need to see more clarification that the Innate Investuture Scadrians have and that is used to steal Hemalurgic strength is different from Allomancy.

 

 

Yes, everyone has the seed of allomancy and feruchemy in them, but very very weak in most cases. Terris people, because they were always separated from others for thousands of years, have a very strong seed of Feruchemy, and extremely weak seed of allomancy, so it won't happen there. And I think in HoA it was even said that Mists don't snap Terrisans.

 

Spoiler

Comatose

So here's my last question. If there ARE people on the other side of the world, did Vin kill them all by placing the sun on their side, or do they have they're own Ruin/Preservation battle going on over there as well? Do they also have allomancy feruchemy and hemalurgy?

Brandon Sanderson

No, they're not dead. Yes, Rashek was aware of them. In fact, he placed them there as a reserve. I knew he wanted a 'control' group of people in case his changes to genetics ended with the race being in serious trouble. All I'll say is that he found a way other than changing them genetically to help them survive in the world he created. And since they were created by Ruin and Preservation, they have the seeds of the Three Metallic Arts in them—though without anyone among them having burned Lerasium, Allomancers would have been very rare in their population and full Mistborn unheard of.

Hero of Ages Q&A - Time Waster's Guide (Oct. 15, 2008)

 

 

Spoiler

Chaos (paraphrased)

Since the dawn of Scadrial, why was Feruchemy isolated in a single distinct population in the world, namely the Terrismen? Allomancy, while rare within the population of Scadrial, at least was not isolated to one population, it was spread evenly, it seems. What is special about the Terrismen that only they get the power of Feruchemy? Does it have something to do with the previous Ascensions before Rashek, with the guardian keeping the power for a time?

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

It's all in the spiritual DNA, which is passed on like normal DNA. However, they are a separate people. They've kept themselves isolated, similar to the Jews in our world. When I asked he said there have been some Feruchemical-mistings [Ferrings] in the past, but they are very rare.

Ancient 17S Q&A (May 1, 2010)

 

8 minutes ago, Mistchemist16 said:

 Also, the dilution only happens if you have kids naturally. Becoming an Allomancer using Preservation directly doesn’t cause the effect. Rashek got to keep both systems and WoB states you can be a Mistborn-Ferring or Feruchemist-Misting

Yes, they had kids, Ferrings existed, they passed on strong allomantic and feruchemical seeds which suppress each other. And this WoB also says this, it's extremely unlikely, but still slightly possible, to get Halfborn. This WoB is about era 2 (date). During era 1, because there was almost no interbreeding, it was just not possible. 

23 minutes ago, Mistchemist16 said:

As such, I don’t see why a Feruchemist snapped by the Mists would suddenly lose their powers.

I've never said this. And Terris people were not targeted by Mists. It was said in HoA, possibly when Sazed/Elend visited them at the Pits.

27 minutes ago, Mistchemist16 said:

Let’s say that the Mists were always Snapping people, but only at night.

Noble: If a noble unlocked Allomancy after getting sick, people would probably just assume they always had the potential. Sure, some nobles who couldn’t Snap normally would get powers.  But in that case, the logical assumption was that the noble got a false negative as a kid, not that they randomly got powers after being sick.

Noble blooded skaa: Same deal as nobles but arguably easier since no one is watching to see if the skaa Snap and skaa have even greater incentive to hide their powers.

Skaa: Few go out into the Mist anyway because of superstition. The small percentage who do and survive being sick couldn’t easily find their powers. They might get hints through trace metals like Vin did. But then they’d have to hide or die. And since skaa genealogies aren’t a hot topic, most people would just assume the pure blooded skaa had a noble ancestor farther back

At best, people would know that you can get sick while in the Mists sometimes. Even the 16 day period for atium mistings doesn’t say anything because you can’t realistically  test for random Atium mistings. Given the way the Final Empire treated Allomancy, it’s not likely anyone could ever have connected the Mists to making new Allomancers and TLR would probably redact anything that did pop up. But it doesn’t matter either way because WoB confirms the Mists were not Snapping people before WoA.

You are missing the most important proof that it didn't happen - Rashek. He Ascended, he possessed the knowledge of the Preservation, and after spending all of the power, he would know if Mist were still snapping or not - this would in turn be known to Obligators, as even they were snapped and tested for metals like Atium, and they knew there was 16 metals. They would know it. Nobody even knew what Deepness was after Rashek's death, Mists were not snapping people.

Snapping during Era 1 worked by beating someone almost to the death, so if some noble kid goes on the field trip and comes back burning metals, people will eventually get suspicious.

You are also missing that thousands of people were still traveling outside during nights. Skaa refugees (prologue of TLE!!!), rebels, soldiers, spies, caravans, some workers here and there - it did happen and even in large groups. They would notice that Mists were attacking people. This would be a well known fact by the times of Sazed, and even he would have this information in his metalminds.

It's not just about getting powers, it's about Mists suddenly attacking people. This would be very visible, and the rumors would spread like wildfire, especially among fearful skaa. Nobody knew this, and this was a revelation for Sazed in WoA. Skaa feared the Mists, or rather what was lurking there, but they had no idea that Mists could attack them. It didn't and it couldn't happen.

 

 

[Mistchemist16]

2 hours ago, alder24 said:

Understand now, and I've already answered this and provided WoB, as I thought that's what you meant. WoBs explained Mists mechanics very well. Mists would act just like trauma, no special effect. Everyone has the seed of Allomancy (Preservation's fragment), at worst Mists were pushing that seed to be active.

 

 

Yes, everyone has the seed of allomancy and feruchemy in them, but very very weak in most cases. Terris people, because they were always separated from others for thousands of years, have a very strong seed of Feruchemy, and extremely weak seed of allomancy, so it won't happen there. And I think in HoA it was even said that Mists don't snap Terrisans.

 

  Reveal hidden contents

Comatose

So here's my last question. If there ARE people on the other side of the world, did Vin kill them all by placing the sun on their side, or do they have they're own Ruin/Preservation battle going on over there as well? Do they also have allomancy feruchemy and hemalurgy?

Brandon Sanderson

No, they're not dead. Yes, Rashek was aware of them. In fact, he placed them there as a reserve. I knew he wanted a 'control' group of people in case his changes to genetics ended with the race being in serious trouble. All I'll say is that he found a way other than changing them genetically to help them survive in the world he created. And since they were created by Ruin and Preservation, they have the seeds of the Three Metallic Arts in them—though without anyone among them having burned Lerasium, Allomancers would have been very rare in their population and full Mistborn unheard of.

Hero of Ages Q&A - Time Waster's Guide (Oct. 15, 2008)

 

 

  Reveal hidden contents

Chaos (paraphrased)

Since the dawn of Scadrial, why was Feruchemy isolated in a single distinct population in the world, namely the Terrismen? Allomancy, while rare within the population of Scadrial, at least was not isolated to one population, it was spread evenly, it seems. What is special about the Terrismen that only they get the power of Feruchemy? Does it have something to do with the previous Ascensions before Rashek, with the guardian keeping the power for a time?

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

It's all in the spiritual DNA, which is passed on like normal DNA. However, they are a separate people. They've kept themselves isolated, similar to the Jews in our world. When I asked he said there have been some Feruchemical-mistings [Ferrings] in the past, but they are very rare.

Ancient 17S Q&A (May 1, 2010)

 

The problem is that I don’t think the Mists work like you are suggesting. I always thought of the Mists as something more like lerasium. You add Investiture and the “code” that makes your power work. Another analogy would be getting Breath. You’d receive both the Investiture and the mechanisms that let you use it. I will admit getting the Mists is less good than Lerasium because the latter doesn’t cause Snapping. But Investiture is added to make new things possible.

The key to the Feruchemist question is whether or not pure blooded skaa have enough ancestry to the OG nobles to be better than Feruchemists. Skaa did heavily interbreed with nobles and the Terris women would never be allowed near anyone with noble blood. But I could also believe that the Mists function like discount lerasium and mostly just add powers, though not enough to get them free like Elend.

2 hours ago, alder24 said:

Yes, they had kids, Ferrings existed, they passed on strong allomantic and feruchemical seeds which suppress each other. And this WoB also says this, it's extremely unlikely, but still slightly possible, to get Halfborn. This WoB is about era 2 (date). During era 1, because there was almost no interbreeding, it was just not possible. 

I've never said this. And Terris people were not targeted by Mists. It was said in HoA, possibly when Sazed/Elend visited them at the Pits.

I was responding to your claim that the Mists would dilute Feruchemists into Twinborn. If I misread and you were actually saying that Mist Snapped Terrispeople couldn’t have Halfborn kids, let me know. But I thought you were saying you that if the Mists did Snap Feruchemists, the victim would lose all but one Feruchemical power, becoming Twinborn.

2 hours ago, alder24 said:

You are missing the most important proof that it didn't happen - Rashek. He Ascended, he possessed the knowledge of the Preservation, and after spending all of the power, he would know if Mist were still snapping or not - this would in turn be known to Obligators, as even they were snapped and tested for metals like Atium, and they knew there was 16 metals. They would know it. Nobody even knew what Deepness was after Rashek's death, Mists were not snapping people.

Snapping during Era 1 worked by beating someone almost to the death, so if some noble kid goes on the field trip and comes back burning metals, people will eventually get suspicious.

You are also missing that thousands of people were still traveling outside during nights. Skaa refugees (prologue of TLE!!!), rebels, soldiers, spies, caravans, some workers here and there - it did happen and even in large groups. They would notice that Mists were attacking people. This would be a well known fact by the times of Sazed, and even he would have this information in his metalminds.

It's not just about getting powers, it's about Mists suddenly attacking people. This would be very visible, and the rumors would spread like wildfire, especially among fearful skaa. Nobody knew this, and this was a revelation for Sazed in WoA. Skaa feared the Mists, or rather what was lurking there, but they had no idea that Mists could attack them. It didn't and it couldn't happen.

 

 

1. If your statement about Rashek is correct, he would have needed to understand the change in the time after moving Scadrial. Not impossible, but slightly bizarre, especially since he was busy fixing the rest of the world. Though Vin didn’t get all of her Shard knowledge right away either.

2. The other thing about nobles Snapping is that they wouldn’t check for their powers barring trace metal shenanigans. So even if the noble learned of their powers, it wouldn’t necessarily be in the days after getting sick. You could still track the pattern by studying mist sickness and finding victims had no reports of Allomancy before. But mist Snapped nobles might not be caught.

3. The last point is the most compelling one in your favor. Even though it’s relatively easy to block the Mists, some people would still go out in it. Also, the fact that mist sickness starts with seizures and one out of every one hundred victims get sick for weeks means someone would get noticed over 1,000 years. Even though some would become superstition, the disease would show up in a medical textbook somewhere, barring redaction. But I’m also fine giving up because none of this is canon.

[alder24]

11 hours ago, Mistchemist16 said:

The problem is that I don’t think the Mists work like you are suggesting. I always thought of the Mists as something more like lerasium. You add Investiture and the “code” that makes your power work. Another analogy would be getting Breath. You’d receive both the Investiture and the mechanisms that let you use it. I will admit getting the Mists is less good than Lerasium because the latter doesn’t cause Snapping. But Investiture is added to make new things possible.

This isn't me who is suggesting it, it's literally a WoB, Brandon who explained it that way in Mistborn Annotations. Look again at those two WoBs:

Spoiler

Brandon Sanderson

The Sliding Scale of Allomantic Potential

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.

However, that won't stop all of them from being affected by the mistsickness, because 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.

The Hero of Ages Annotations (Dec. 29, 2009)

 

Spoiler

Brandon Sanderson

Chapter Seventy

The Reason for the Mistsickness

So, it finally comes out. I wonder at this numbers plot, as I think many readers will glaze over it and ignore it. I think others will read into it and figure out what it means very quickly, then feel that the reveal here isn't much of a revelation. Hopefully I'll get a majority in the middle who read the clues, don't know what they mean, but are happily surprised when it comes together. That's a difficult line to walk sometimes.

What is going on here is that the mists are awakening the Allomantic potential inside of people. It's very rough on a person for that to come out, and can cause death. Preservation set this all up before he gave his consciousness to imprison Ruin, so it's not a perfect system. It's like a machine left behind by its creator. 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.

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.

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.

The Hero of Ages Annotations (March 30, 2010)

Eland had 100% Allomantic potential because he burned Lerasium, which added to it. Vin was a natural, a unique person with a unique connection to Preservation. All the other people, with Allomantic potential lower, down to 50%, can be snapped normally and become Mistborn or Misting - That's Kelsier, Ham, Breeze, Spook etc. But every person on Scadrial has Allomantic potential because it's buried within extra Preservation's fragment in their soul. They have very low potential and those people are targeted by Mists. Nothing is added here by Mists, no investiture. Those people will be weak Misting. It's all explained within those 2 WoBs.

Being an Allomancer is a matter of Connection to Preservation. The Connection is there, but it needs cracks in the soul, to draw Preservation's power for Allomancy. Sometimes the Connection is too weak to get through Ruin's part of the soul - that where Mist came to help - those extreme emotions during Snapping makes Ruin's control weaker, and it's allowing cracks to form and allow this Connection to access power.

12 hours ago, Mistchemist16 said:

I was responding to your claim that the Mists would dilute Feruchemists into Twinborn. If I misread and you were actually saying that Mist Snapped Terrispeople couldn’t have Halfborn kids, let me know. But I thought you were saying you that if the Mists did Snap Feruchemists, the victim would lose all but one Feruchemical power, becoming Twinborn.

No, I was saying that Terris didn't have preexisting Allomantic seed in them (they had very very weak, on WoB's allomantic potential scale it would be less than 10%). If they had it a bit stronger, this would dilute their Feruchemy into Ferrings, and possibly Twinborns - and this all would had happened long before Mist snapping, so during Final Empire we would see Ferrings and Twinborns - we didn't (Ferrings had happened but to some but very rarely, possibly to those who's parent wasn't from Terris), because Terris were separated, they didn’t interbreed, they didn't dilute their genes. And they already had a preexisting Connection to Preservation, but granting them Feruchemy.

12 hours ago, Mistchemist16 said:

1. If your statement about Rashek is correct, he would have needed to understand the change in the time after moving Scadrial. Not impossible, but slightly bizarre, especially since he was busy fixing the rest of the world. Though Vin didn’t get all of her Shard knowledge right away either.

It was stated that the more he was using the Power of the Well, the more he understood it. His first move after Ascending was moving the planet. So it's a relatively safe assumption that by the end of it he knew the nature of Mist - he was touched by the same power after all.