Hemalurgy and the clinically insane.

[Tamriel Wolfsbaine]

@Trusk'our because this is a hemalurgy question I just have to flag you.  

 

So Wax chooses to not wear his Earring because he doesn't want Harmony to chat him up.  

But Harmony is a big talker of free will and stuff right?  

If you had a spike and simply didn't want Harmony to talk to you do you think he would respect that and just leave you alone?  

Do you think, as a totally normal person with 1-3 spikes there are ways to prevent the Shard from trying to communicate with you and drive you mad?  

I asked a while about Kandra and breaths. Do you think a typical human with a spike or two or three could guard their mind from outside influences with enough added on breaths?  Do you think there are any tricks with Aluminum to protect the user?  

[alder24]

5 minutes ago, Tamriel Wolfsbaine said:

So Wax chooses to not wear his Earring because he doesn't want Harmony to chat him up.  

It's more to that. He hates the way Harmony treated him and pushed him towards Wax's current role, he hates being Harmony's sword, he hates that Lessie died twice. Wax not wearing his earring is the manifestation of his feelings and it represents him stepping away from the Path.

7 minutes ago, Tamriel Wolfsbaine said:

But Harmony is a big talker of free will and stuff right?  

It depends who you were to ask. Set might say otherwise.

9 minutes ago, Tamriel Wolfsbaine said:

If you had a spike and simply didn't want Harmony to talk to you do you think he would respect that and just leave you alone?  

Yes. Harmony doesn't talk to people, even with Pathians who "pray" to him. He respected Wax's wish and he doesn't speak or even listen to him anymore. It seems like the same is going on with Kel, because Kel had to meet with Harmony and didn't just start talking with him. Kel being a Sliver makes him more resilient to Shard's influence, this plays a role too.

11 minutes ago, Tamriel Wolfsbaine said:

Do you think, as a totally normal person with 1-3 spikes there are ways to prevent the Shard from trying to communicate with you and drive you mad?  

Some. Trellium spike but that exposes you to Autonomy. Maybe lots of aluminum around you. But generally there is not much you can do. Being highly invested helps.

12 minutes ago, Tamriel Wolfsbaine said:

I asked a while about Kandra and breaths. Do you think a typical human with a spike or two or three could guard their mind from outside influences with enough added on breaths?  Do you think there are any tricks with Aluminum to protect the user?  

Yes to Breaths (lots of Breaths), hard maybe to aluminum.

[Returned]

1 hour ago, Tamriel Wolfsbaine said:

But Harmony is a big talker of free will and stuff right? 

Well, to a point. An argument can be made that any meddling in events such that they turn out differently than someone else is trying to achieve is impinging on that someone else's free will. The incredible knowledge and foresight granted by Preservation and Ruin only turbocharges that, practically and abstractly. But more concretely, Harmony wasn't keen on letting Autonomy do whatever she wanted, nor Bleeder. So I'd say Harmony cares for free will a lot, but isn't an absolutist.

1 hour ago, Tamriel Wolfsbaine said:

If you had a spike and simply didn't want Harmony to talk to you do you think he would respect that and just leave you alone?  

Depends on what you're up to. For the most part, probably. Unless he needed something from you that would overwhelm his desire to honor your wishes, in which case your preference will probably matter a lot less.

1 hour ago, Tamriel Wolfsbaine said:

Do you think a typical human with a spike or two or three could guard their mind from outside influences with enough added on breaths?  Do you think there are any tricks with Aluminum to protect the user?  

From direct contact with Harmony? Maybe. Someone would likely only choose to remain spiked in exchange for the power it grants (situations like Penrod's aside), and that power comes from a manifestation of Ruin. I imagine there are lots of tricks one might be able to use, like sitting in a perfectly sealed aluminum box, to some effect. But I also suspect that the tension between harnessing Ruin's essence (for lack of a better word) within yourself, while also blocking off Ruin's ability to talk to you via your harnessing of its essence, is probably not going to favor the mortal.

As for avoiding madness... that's a fuzzy goal to start with, and one I think it would be hard to reliably avoid while making use of Cosmere magics.

Edited November 29, 2023 by Returned

[Trusk'our he/him]

3 hours ago, Tamriel Wolfsbaine said:

@Trusk'our because this is a hemalurgy question I just have to flag you.  

I'm honored by your invitation friend 

3 hours ago, Tamriel Wolfsbaine said:

So Wax chooses to not wear his Earring because he doesn't want Harmony to chat him up.  

But Harmony is a big talker of free will and stuff right?  

If you had a spike and simply didn't want Harmony to talk to you do you think he would respect that and just leave you alone?  

That's an interesting question. For the most part, I'd say that, yes, he'd leave you alone to your own devices even if you were pierced with Hemalurgy and open to his influence or even straight up control.

But he's still got a human-ish mind and has clear preferences for how he believes things should be done, even if they typically involve him not directly interfering. That means there are definitely going to be situations where Sazed would take control of you if he truly wanted to and he was able, such as when Bleeder went rogue and abandoned her contract with him and started murdering people, or if the Set members opened themselves up too much.

So I'd say you'd mostly be safe from Harmony's control as a Hemalurgist, even one who went against his direct will (in most non worlds ending cases), though there is always some possibility he won't leave you alone. Especially with Discord on the rise. . .

3 hours ago, Tamriel Wolfsbaine said:

Do you think, as a totally normal person with 1-3 spikes there are ways to prevent the Shard from trying to communicate with you and drive you mad?  

Yes. Trellium spikes seem to block Harmony's influence altogether (and other Shards that aren't Autonomy), even preventing him from knowing your location.

Aluminum in sufficient amounts around your head or body should achieve a similar effect, and post era 2 this should be a much more viable option.

It's also possible that Investing yourself enough would make you effectively immune to the Flaw as well.

3 hours ago, Tamriel Wolfsbaine said:

I asked a while about Kandra and breaths. Do you think a typical human with a spike or two or three could guard their mind from outside influences with enough added on breaths? 

Perhaps, though it depends on whether the Shard truly can only exert a certain amount of Investiture on the Spiritweb of the Hemalurgist through the cracks made by their spikes. If it is indeed limited, yes, enough Breaths should theoretically be able to negate their influence. If not, no, a Shard's influence cannot be stopped through this method.

I'm leaning strongly towards the former, as that is the most logical possibility in my mind.