Extreme Leeching

[Duxredux he/him]

Okay, at the extreme end A-Steel can affect the trace metals in a person's body. Could Leeching do the same if similarly supercharged? Can a Leecher burn the iron atoms right out of the hemoglobin, denature their very blood and cause catastrophic shock to the body? Is there any other use cases for similarly overpowered applications of Allomancy?

[alder24]

26 minutes ago, Duxredux said:

Okay, at the extreme end A-Steel can affect the trace metals in a person's body. Could Leeching do the same if similarly supercharged? Can a Leecher burn the iron atoms right out of the hemoglobin, denature their very blood and cause catastrophic shock to the body? Is there any other use cases for similarly overpowered applications of Allomancy?

Cosmere spoilers:

Spoiler

Leeching does more or less the same thing Nightbood or Larking do - so you can expect a lot from it. Chromium affects investiture, so at the highest end I would expect it to affect the soul itself, but for some applications you would need more than even duralumin can provide. Anything that's kinetic investiture can be affected:

Spoiler

Wyndlerunner

You've mentioned in the past aluminum savants being able to somewhat heal their spiritweb, healing them of the cracks, sort of healing them of Allomancy. Could a chromium savant do this to other people, kind of like in the Avatar [The Last Airbender] finale where he seals bending?

Brandon Sanderson

I will say RAFO, but I will say you're theorizing along correct directions.

Orem Signing (March 16, 2019)

 

Spoiler

Questioner

If you were a Leecher, could you destroy a Shardblade?

Brandon Sanderson

I'm going to RAFO that for now, let's just say that it would be incredibly difficult if it were possible, and I'm not going to even say if it is. But that kind of power... 

Questioner

Let's just say they were burning duralumin as well.

Brandon Sanderson

Let's just say that the Investiture in a Shardblade is much greater than your average Allomancer, but... This type of thing is not unheard of in the Cosmere. The larkin, the Leechers, and Nightblood all have a similar sort of thing going on. Destroying a Shardblade would be really hard. And Investiture resists other forms of Investiture, so.

Calamity Austin signing (Feb. 25, 2016)

 

Spoiler

Questioner

Nicrosil and chromium, do those have any interaction with people using Feruchemy, or other Investiture in general? Leechers or Nicrobursts.

Brandon Sanderson

Could you use those on Feruchemists? You should be able to, yes.

Questioner

Would that only work while they're tapping it?

Brandon Sanderson

If it's active Investiture, probably yes. You'd probably need it to be kinetic Investiture in order for them to do anything about it.

Dragonsteel Mini-Con 2021 (Nov. 22, 2021)  

 

 

Edited October 31, 2023 by alder24

[Quantus he/him]

53 minutes ago, Duxredux said:

Okay, at the extreme end A-Steel can affect the trace metals in a person's body. Could Leeching do the same if similarly supercharged? Can a Leecher burn the iron atoms right out of the hemoglobin, denature their very blood and cause catastrophic shock to the body? Is there any other use cases for similarly overpowered applications of Allomancy?

I doubt they'd be able to drive that sort of blood oxygenation issue, on the logic that Iron in any complex molecule is essentially a different Iron Alloy. It should only effect pure iron and the specific Steel allow, not Iron Oxide, Iron Carbide or other such things.  

Separately, there's ongoing debate on whether leechers can actually leech metals from Non-Allomancers, of it it requires the target to have the corresponding mundane metal burning power first.  

For other applications, WOB says a Leecher can kill a Returned Outright, though I dont know if that's targeting the Divine Breath or just purging the normal ones and instantly starving the DB.