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How exactly does aluminum work?


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Seeing a post by @Trusk'our made me curious about aluminum allomancy and now I am perhaps a bit more confused. 

I feel like all of the other metals in that quadrant have been confirmed to work on all sources of investiture.  But does aluminum?  

The idea of being able to burn aluminum weapons lodged inside of ones self seems really nice but would it burn away any investiture that you may be using as life support at the same time?  Could A aluminum F gold combo become a thing?  

Would burning aluminum burn up and destroy any metal even if you can't burn that specific metal?  Would an aluminum misting theoretically be able to escape any deep lasting wounds if they timed an aluminum burn right as a weapon was being plunged into their being?  

Also... in the case of Vin. When she burnt aluminum in TFE was she wearing her earring at that time or no?  Would burning aluminum destroy any metalminds pierced into your body?  

If you gave aluminum allomancy to a Returned and they burnt the aluminum would they be un-aliving themselves? 

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WoBs to facilitate discussion:

Spoiler
Quote

Coinshooter (paraphrased)

Could aluminum act as a sort of shield from other forms of Investiture? As in, could an aluminum Misting lashed to something burn aluminum and dispel the Stormlight?

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

RAFO.

Shadows of Self release party (Oct. 5, 2015)
Quote

Argent

On Nalthis, can aluminum prevent somebody from Returning? So if you kill somebody with aluminum and leave the weapon in them?

Brandon Sanderson

I don't think that's going to be enough. I think that…

Argent

Different way then?

Brandon Sanderson

Yeah there are totally ways. I don’t think that that’s going to be enough. There's a difference between being inert and blocking Investiture, and actually sucking out Investiture. If you stuck Nightblood inside of a corpse; there are certain things… if you had a larkin or whatever sitting there that ingests the Investiture as it was coming in, that would prevent [Returning]. I think with aluminum you would just have somebody that comes alive with a wound, so maybe... But I think it would just heal around [the aluminum] and you'd just have a spike in you, kind of like Hemalurgy—but not like Hemalurgy. It's inert, but you know what I mean.

Argent

Which suggests you can't actually Awaken aluminum.

Brandon Sanderson

No. It's not going to hold a charge.

Kurkistan

I assume you can't Forge it, either.

Brandon Sanderson

No. In fact the unForgable metal-

Argent

Ralkalest?

Brandon Sanderson

There's an unForgeable metal mentioned.

Kurkistan

Could we call it aluminum if we wanted to?

Brandon Sanderson

Let's just say that aluminum through most cultures was considered a mythological metal, and when people could actually find some, they considered it more valuable than gold, in our culture. So just sayin'...

Shadows of Self Chicago signing (Oct. 12, 2015)
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InsurrectionistFungus

Does aluminium have any effect on the other Allomantic metals aside from iron/steel and zinc/brass? If yes, does that include god metals and their alloys?

Brandon Sanderson

Yes and no.

17th Shard Forum Q&A (Sept. 26, 2012)
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Kurkistan

Was aluminum weird before the metallic arts were created?

Brandon Sanderson

Yes.

Oathbringer Chicago signing (Nov. 21, 2017)
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Questioner

With aluminum and Mistborn, I know that it makes the metals and stuff all go away, but if someone has toxic metal, would that also make it go away?

Brandon Sanderson

It has to be Allomantically relevant.

Orem Signing (March 16, 2019)

 

Hope that helps

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1 hour ago, Tamriel Wolfsbaine said:

I feel like all of the other metals in that quadrant have been confirmed to work on all sources of investiture.  But does aluminum?  

Yes, you can stop withering from Shades and on the extreme end aluminum Savant can cleanse his soul of unwanted effects of investiture. It works on everything. 

Spoiler

Kurkistan

If you're on Threnody and you get withered by a shade, are you better off burning Allomantic aluminum, or tapping Feruchemical gold?

*laughter*

[clarification on the question]

Brandon Sanderson

They would both work pretty well. I would say if you burned aluminum, that would kind of have the effect that you are wanting it to have, which is the effect-- negating and sucking out, so that's probably safer. But the gold would work, too.

Kurkistan

So would it be fair to describe withering as a kind of cancerous Forging-

Brandon Sanderson

Sure.

Kurkistan

That just kind of slowly takes over your soul?

Brandon Sanderson

Sure.

Shadows of Self Chicago signing (Oct. 12, 2015)

 

Spoiler

Douglas

What benefit does an aluminum savant get? Yes, I know this would normally never happen because aluminum burns itself up. Suppose a mad scientist with a willing Mistborn test subject shoved a feeding tube down the Mistborn's throat to pump in a continuous stream of aluminum, replenishing it steadily so there's always a new unburned supply. Add another tube to pump out excess water if necessary. What would he discover? Alternatively, what would Sazed with his Shard-granted knowledge know?

Brandon Sanderson

Ha, that IS a little silly of a method. However, on the extreme end of aluminum, I have in the notes the possibility of cleansing the spirit of unwanted effects of other Investitures. You'd get really good at this, and maybe even be able to cleanse the body of other impurities.

17th Shard Forum Q&A (Sept. 27, 2012)

 

1 hour ago, Tamriel Wolfsbaine said:

The idea of being able to burn aluminum weapons lodged inside of ones self seems really nice but would it burn away any investiture that you may be using as life support at the same time?

Yes.

1 hour ago, Tamriel Wolfsbaine said:

Could A aluminum F gold combo become a thing? 

Yes. It should not burn your metalminds away, because they usually aren't inside of your body. It should work like chromium, it could burn your piercings but that might take time. I think it will definitely suck investiture that you're actively tapping out of your metalminds, so just remember not to burn aluminum when tapping a goldmind. But a gold bracelet should be fine - it's not an Allomantic metal reserve, it's not in your body, it should not be affected (but that's unknown, it's possible it would try to but that might take too much aluminum to burn an entire full metalmind away).

It's possible that a skilled A-aluminum Misting could use his intent to target specific metals instead of burning off everything.

Spoiler

Kaymyth

I asked the question about chromium vs a Compounder with both Invested and un-Invested metals in both their stomach and piercings.

Brandon Sanderson

What it boils down to is this:

1) Yes, the piercings will get burned off.

2) The non-Invested metals go before the Invested ones. He said that because Invested metals are harder to affect, it takes a little extra time and effort to get them to burn off. So a Leecher trying to clean out a Compounder would have to get a good grip and hang on for a few seconds.

3) Chromium burns about as quickly as duralumin, so if you're trying to burn off a lot of metals, it is possible to run out of chromium before your target is clean. This would probably only be an issue when dealing with larger pieces (like jewelry) rather than your standard metal-flakes-in-the-stomach deal.

ConQuest 46 (May 22, 2015)

 

Spoiler

Matthew Grady

Does a metal need to be swallowed to be burned? Or can it be injected or snorted?

Brandon Sanderson

It could be either of those two things. Yes. Basically, metal into the body in any way is going to work, generally. There's nothing magical about the stomach, even though it works the best when we talk about it. It's just more intermixing the nature of the metal with your soul in the cosmere, your Spiritual entity, is what gives them that ability.

YouTube Livestream 10 (June 18, 2020)

 

1 hour ago, Tamriel Wolfsbaine said:

Would burning aluminum burn up and destroy any metal even if you can't burn that specific metal?

Any metal? No, it wouldn't get rid of lead. Any Allomantic metals? Possible? But because aluminum Mistings are called gnats, I think it's also possible that it would not get rid of metal reserves that aren't usable by that person. 

Spoiler

Questioner

With aluminum and Mistborn, I know that it makes the metals and stuff all go away, but if someone has toxic metal, would that also make it go away?

Brandon Sanderson

It has to be Allomantically relevant.

Orem Signing (March 16, 2019)

 

1 hour ago, Tamriel Wolfsbaine said:

Would an aluminum misting theoretically be able to escape any deep lasting wounds if they timed an aluminum burn right as a weapon was being plunged into their being?  

How? No. Aluminum doesn't protect you from physical injuries. Normal weapons don't have to be made out of the right Allomantic alloy, so it may not work on them at all. And because chromium burns quickly and affects small metals first, you would probably need a TON of aluminum to burn an entire sword away. That won't work. 

1 hour ago, Tamriel Wolfsbaine said:

Also... in the case of Vin. When she burnt aluminum in TFE was she wearing her earring at that time or no?  Would burning aluminum destroy any metalminds pierced into your body?  

Unknown. Chromium can do that, but it requires a lot of it. Having a right intent should also be required - in BoM Wax was hit with a granate charged with A-chromium, it burned his steel reserves away but not his metalmind. In TLM Wayne was fighting a Leecher and his metalminds were unaffected. This in my opinion suggests that you have to have the right intent to use chromium and aluminum to burn something else, like piercings, or metalminds.

Oh and I've just remembered this WoB after writing all of this. An inquisitor burning aluminum would not destroy his spikes - this implies that aluminum won't work on spikes and metalminds, but it's still possible that a precise intent is needed to do that (at least with metalminds).

Spoiler

Questioner

If someone had a Hemalurgic spike and they burned aluminum, would the negation of-- am I going to get RAFO'd?

Brandon Sanderson

You're asking if it would destroy the Hemalurgic power? Burning aluminum at that point would not destroy the Hemalurgic power. It would pull the Investiture through whatever you're doing. It would blank your power, but it wouldn't destroy you being an Allomancer with the spike...

I actually considered this in building it and that would be too easy a way to remove Inquisitors, particularly if there were dissension between them.

Skyward Atlanta signing (Nov. 17, 2018)

 

1 hour ago, Tamriel Wolfsbaine said:

If you gave aluminum allomancy to a Returned and they burnt the aluminum would they be un-aliving themselves? 

That's a good question. Spikes are unaffected so a Divine Breath might be unaffected as well. And it's not an unwanted effect of investiture. But that would probably take a lot of aluminum.

Edited by alder24
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