Questions on AofL

[Tulir]

So last night I got and finished The Alloy of Law, and I saw something in the Ars Arcanum that I wondered about. I didn't get what the Feruchemical properties of Cadmium, bendalloy, chromium, nicrosil, aliminum, and duralumin.

Cadmium: what does it mean to store "Breath"?

Bendalloy: does it just store energy and give it back later to any task?

Chromium: Does it make you lucky?

Nicrosil: What does it mean to store "Investiture"?

Aluminum: How do you store Identity?

Duralumiinum: How do you store Connection and what does that mean?

If anyone could answer these questions, it would be greatly appreciated.

[name_here]

Cadium: Alters how much O2 you need to inhale to sustain your activity level

Bendalloy: It basically stores how much you've been fed

Chromium: Apparently

Nicrosil: Secondhand RPG book info:

The details are uncertain, but apparently you can fill it with energy from other metalminds and then tap it to fill other metalminds of any type regardless of the source metalmind. It might also interact with other magic systems in an unknown manner.

Edited December 16, 2011 by name_here

[CrazyRioter]

bendalloy stores calories, as in, you need to eat a lot while storing, and can later tap to go without food for a long time. Cadmium works the same with oxygen, you get out of breath easier while storing, and can go without air while tapping.

[Tulir]

Ok, thanks, though I still wonder how it is possible to store luck and identity.

[Chaos]

One could argue that storing Investiture applies to Allomancy. As the Note on the Metallic Arts says, burning a metal starts an Investiture. I assume if you are an Allomancer and a Feruchemist, you could then store such an Investiture--that of burning, say, Allomantic brass--into your nicrosilmind, and draw upon it/Compound later. That's my favorite theory for what the Lord Ruler did to enhance his brass burning.

[Tulir]

Ok, that makes more sense.

[Aradel]

One could argue that storing Investiture applies to Allomancy. As the Note on the Metallic Arts says, burning a metal starts an Investiture. I assume if you are an Allomancer and a Feruchemist, you could then store such an Investiture--that of burning, say, Allomantic brass--into your nicrosilmind, and draw upon it/Compound later. That's my favorite theory for what the Lord Ruler did to enhance his brass burning.

More than that even. If you're storing pure investiture, that means you can be burning allomantic steel, pull the investiture (shard power/body/whatever) out of it, and re-use that power in any other way you have access to. i.e. Wax could store power from burning steel, and use it to fuel his ironminds if he had access to feruchemic nicrosil as well.

Edited December 17, 2011 by Goradel's Nephew

[Chaos]

More than that even. If you're storing pure investiture, that means you can be burning allomantic steel, pull the investiture (shard power/body/whatever) out of it, and re-use that power in any other way you have access to. i.e. Wax could store power from burning steel, and use it to fuel his ironminds if he had access to feruchemic nicrosil as well.

I disagree on this account. I mean, it's possible, but remember that tin stores senses, and it stores them separately. Each type of Investiture could similarly be stored separately.

EDIT: For example, if the Lord Ruler could do this, and exchange different types of Investiture around, he wouldn't have to age at all; he could store any Investiture and get age back. So, if you could store Allomantic effects, he could store Soothing and get Feruchemical age back. And man, if this was a possibility, the Lord Ruler would've used it.

No, more likely nicrosil is the universal battery, acting like tin, but for more generalized effects.

[Eric]

Actually, that's exactly how the Adventure Game describes it. "[You’re] essentially transforming the charges stored in any single metalmind into an indistinct, universal power that’s kept within your nicrosilmind. ... [You] may not tap any metalminds while storing charges in a nicrosilmind... Charges of investiture may be used as any other Feruchemical charges, and charges from one or more nicrosilminds may be tapped and added to any number of Feruchemical efforts at the same time."

It also explains why the Lord Ruler would be old in his room: you can't tap metalminds while storing Investiture, so he had to be Compounding gold or burning pewter to stay alive (or Compounding Atium, but it seems like a waste if you can't store the excess).

[Chaos]

That's a valid point, though the fact that the RPG doesn't mention how Allomancy is applied with this leads me to think this is not fully accurate. And realize that it may not be.

[Eric]

Very true, but it's also the best source we have at the moment.

Terrifying thought: I wonder if you could use the investiture to enhance Hemalurgic spikes. Not using them, actually upgrading the power stored within them, similar to how you can overwrite other metalminds.

Less terrifying thought: if you could just flat out make Hemalurgic spikes with Investiture, it would go a long way to making Hemalurgy not evil.

[Chaos]

Very true, but it's also the best source we have at the moment.

Terrifying thought: I wonder if you could use the investiture to enhance Hemalurgic spikes. Not using them, actually upgrading the power stored within them, similar to how you can overwrite other metalminds.

Less terrifying thought: if you could just flat out make Hemalurgic spikes with Investiture, it would go a long way to making Hemalurgy not evil.

Well, Sazed made the Pathian earrings out of old Inquisitor spikes, so I doubt that.

And yeah I know it is the best source... sigh. I will hold out though Hey, at least the game said that spikes never fully lose their power.

[Eric]

Yeah, that's pretty cool. There's a minimum level they can impart, so Wax did get something while wearing it.

[Deus Ex Biotica]

Maybe. On the other hand, that earring is only a tiny fraction of the spike, which I imagine would reduce things further.

After all, if that didn't bypass the minimum, then you could use a huge spike to steal a very weak Allomantic power,then divide that spike into dozens of smaller ones. They all have a minimum amount of power they can give, so if you put them all in yourself, power has been gained. And Hemalurgy doesn't do that.

-- Deus Ex Biotica

[Eric]

I think that it would work slightly differently in a novel than it would in the game world. The game only gives you so many levels you can be at in each thing; Wax might have the barest ability to burn bronze, or pewter, or store warmth, such that he'd barely manage anything with it beyond surprising someone occasionally. The game gives you a minimum *usable* level for what it can decay to, and I'm not sure that would hold true in a novel (given that Marsh pretty much confirms this in his inner monologues). I'd assume you're correct that dividing the spikes simply divides up the remaining charge equally across all the pieces.

[Deus Ex Biotica]

Exactly.

The game has a minimal level it cares to track, but the "real world" is more variable, and can go down to negligible amounts.

[Arcanist Lupus]

I've always assumed it was asymptotic. You can always get closer to zero, but you can't reach it. But a charged spike is fundamentally different from an uncharged spike, so even a spike with a minuscule amount of charge will still have certain properties that an uncharged spike doesn't have, even if it doesn't allow you to use the Allomancy or Feruchemy it grants.