Why is there more atium than lerasium in era 1?

[Atlas333]

My understanding is that atium works like the water cycle where used atium will return to the spiritual realm before returning to the pits (before they were destroyed). Essentially this means there is an unlimited amount of atium over a long period of time.

However, lerasium seems to be much more finite with several beads being created at the lord ruler's ascension (if I remember right). After that, no more beads appear to be formed.

 

Why is that? My understanding is that both metals form around their perpendicularity as investiture leaks out. So why isn't there more lerasium? Did preservation just want less mistborn? Were they spending all their energy holding back ruin so nothing could leak? Any insight would be appreciated.

[Quantus he/him]

Preservation's power was also in the Mists and other places while Ruin was strictly in Atium.  Preservation built/modified the system specifically to siphon off and trap Ruin's power so it's not a really natural and/or balanced process.

 

 

Quote

 

Chaos (paraphrased)

Why is there such an imbalance between the amount of atium and the amount of lerasium in the world? Also, why are atium and lerasium very imbalanced in Allomantic power (Lerasium is far more useful than atium, really)?

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

There isn't. Leras is just spread out further. He is in the mists, in the Well, and in the lerasium. Ruin's power however is condensed strictly in atium.

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

 

 

[Atlas333]

2 minutes ago, Quantus said:

Preservation's power was also in the Mists and other places while Ruin was strictly in Atium.  Preservation built/modified the system specifically to siphon off and trap Ruin's power so it's not a really natural and/or balanced process.

That makes sense. And that's crazy there's a WoB that perfectly answers my question. Shows I should have just done my own research. Thanks,

[Treamayne]

19 minutes ago, Atlas333 said:

My understanding is that atium works like the water cycle where used atium will return to the spiritual realm before returning to the pits (before they were destroyed). Essentially this means there is an unlimited amount of atium over a long period of time.

However, lerasium seems to be much more finite with several beads being created at the lord ruler's ascension (if I remember right). After that, no more beads appear to be formed.

Why is that? My understanding is that both metals form around their perpendicularity as investiture leaks out. So why isn't there more lerasium? Did preservation just want less mistborn? Were they spending all their energy holding back ruin so nothing could leak? Any insight would be appreciated.

Please consider posting in your profile or an Intro Thread which books you have or have not read (whichever list is shorter). 

Era 1 Atium is not Pure Atium - it was a chunk of Ruin's power that Leras purposefully separated and combined with Electrum to make an alloy that was "stuck" in the investiture cycle of the Pits that you describe. The two metals replace the External Temporal metals in the Era 1 table, to keep the number "16" correct.  Discussed extensively in this Malatium thread and many other threads that can be found with a quick search. 

WoB:

Spoiler

LewsTherinTelescope

Interesting. Do you know if he had already conceived the retcon by the time the poster was written, or if that line about pure atium just turned out to fit really well retroactively?

Peter Ahlstrom

The retcon is way older than a lot of people assume.

 see this thread reply from 2009

Spoiler

Quote from: Aranfan on November 13, 2009, 10:32:29 PM

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I thought we had reached a consensus that the Atium we see the characters use was the Electrum Alloy form?

I thought myself so clever for coming up with this theory.
At this point I am in a position where I could confirm it or deny it.
However, my position also means that I must do no such thing.

Mwa ha ha ha ha.

Quote

little wilson (paraphrased)

I saw Brandon at a book signing back in mid-December, and I asked him about the 16 percent deal. He said that Preservation replaced the real External Temporal Metals with atium and malatium (at least I'm assuming malatium, but he didn't mention that specifically. He only said atium). So not-cerrobend and cadmium weren't counted in the 16%. nicrosil and chromium, on the other hand, were. So there are chromium andnicrosil Mistings running around, not knowing that they're Mistings.

TWG Posts (Jan. 20, 2009)

 

Hope that helps

Edited July 23, 2024 by Treamayne
SPAG

[alder24]

25 minutes ago, Atlas333 said:

My understanding is that atium works like the water cycle where used atium will return to the spiritual realm before returning to the pits (before they were destroyed). Essentially this means there is an unlimited amount of atium over a long period of time.

However, lerasium seems to be much more finite with several beads being created at the lord ruler's ascension (if I remember right). After that, no more beads appear to be formed.

Yes, Atium is trapped in the cycle and it won't run out - but there is a limited amount of investiture in that cycle and it's fully separate from Ruin. This is because when Ruin was trapped by Preservation, he kind of Splintered part of Ruin and separated that investiture from him by trapping it in the Atium cycle in the Pits. And that's also the answer to your question - Preservation deliberately weakened Ruin and made his Splintered investiture usable by Allomancers, so it could be used against him in the final moments of Preservation's grand plan, that's why there is so much of Atium.

We don't know how Lerasium was made or when. We don't know if Lerasium comes from natural phenomena of Shardic investiture leaking from the Spiritual Realm and manifesting physically in the Physical Realm or if it was made deliberately by someone. Rashek didn't make Lerasium, he simply found it and used it to create the first Mistborn. It's very likely that there were 16 original Lerasium beads, but what happened to those missing is unknown. It also seems that Rashek had to get Lerasium beads from somewhere as they weren't just laying right outside the Well. Lerasium isn't formed like Atium, it's not trapped in the cycle as far as we know, it's not Splintered like Atium was. The difference in quantity of those two god metals is because Preservation is already spread vastly across the entire Scadrial - he's in every person, he's in Mists and that leaves little of his essence to be leaking as solid investiture - Lerasium. Ruin on the other hand is concentrated mostly in Atium.

Spoiler

Lance Alvein (paraphrased)

You've said that "The Pits of Hathsin were crafted by Preservation as a place to hide the chunk of Ruin's body that he had stolen away". How does one Shard steal a portion of another Shard and create a Physical outlet for it, like the Pits were for Ruin's power?

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

It has to do with clash between the two Shards' power. When pressed, he then said that it was "kind of" like splintering

Hal-Con 2012 (Oct. 30, 2012)

 

Spoiler

Questioner

Did the Lord Ruler create the lerasium that he gave to the ten foreign kings? Or where they put there by Leras--

Brandon Sanderson

Oh, good question… No one's asked me that before, I don't believe. Did the Lord Ruler create the lerasium that he gave-- No, he found the lerasium. It was existent before his Ascension.

Questioner

Can I ask if it was placed there intentionally by Leras or did it sort of grow similar to how atium--

Brandon Sanderson

The Lord Ruler-- It was not placed for him, he had to-- he had to get it.

JordanCon 2016 (April 23, 2016)

 

Spoiler

SageOfTheWise

Is there a reason why Rashek left a nugget of Lerasium at the Well of Ascension?

Brandon Sanderson

He left several. It was, in his opinion, one of the best kept secrets and best protected locations in his empire.

Phantine

Were there originally 16 of them?

Brandon Sanderson

An excellent guess.

/r/books AMA 2015 (Aug. 11, 2015)

 

Spoiler

Chaos (paraphrased)

Why is there such an imbalance between the amount of atium and the amount of lerasium in the world? Also, why are atium and lerasium very imbalanced in Allomantic power (Lerasium is far more useful than atium, really)?

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

There isn't. Leras is just spread out further. He is in the mists, in the Well, and in the lerasium. Ruin's power however is condensed strictly in atium.

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

 

25 minutes ago, Atlas333 said:

Why is that? My understanding is that both metals form around their perpendicularity as investiture leaks out.

It's actually the opposite. A perpendicularity forms around massive concentrations of investiture. The Well of Ascension was handcrafted to contain Ruin's mind so it's different from perpendicularities (yes, there were several of them) below the Pits, who appeared there because of Atium presence (because Kelsier destroying the Pits collapsed all those perpendicularities).

Spoiler

Questioner

Hoid worldhops between places. How did he do it on Scadrial? With Ati's body?

Brandon Sanderson

So, there were two perpendicularities on Scadrial.

Questioner

I know he uses the pools, but how did he do it with Pits of Hathsin? There was no pool? The body was there...

Brandon Sanderson

So, it doesn't have to be going through the pool. What happens with a perpendicularity is, where there is a massive collection of Investiture, it pulls a conduit through. So, if you know what you're doing and where you are, you can get through that.

Questioner

So you don't have to use the pools, just where there's a huge concentration...

Brandon Sanderson

A huge concentration of Investiture will warp the realms.

Questioner

So can anyone worldhop that way, then? If they know what to do?

Brandon Sanderson

If they know what to do, in a perpendicularity, anyone should be able to get through there. But as proven with Raoden, if you don't know what it's supposed to do, nothing happens. He gets dumped int he pool, he thinks he's gonna die... nothing. So, it's more than just being there.

Questioner

That's how he went from the Physical to the Cognitive, so I was wondering how did he do that at the Pits of Hathsin, when there shouldn't be a pool there

Brandon Sanderson

Well, that is the equivalent.

Arcanum Unbounded release party (Nov. 22, 2016)

 

Spoiler

Dalenthas

Does the Well of Ascension still exist in the new world? Or is it no longer necessary? I assumed that Preservation collected there like Ruin collects in the Pits of Hathsin, so if Atium keeps forming then the well should keep filling...

Brandon Sanderson

The Well (and the small wells in the Pits) is no more. For now at least.

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

Edited July 23, 2024 by alder24

[Cerulean He/him]

 There is a higher concentration of investiture in Lerasium. Also Atium in Era 1 was diluted with Electrum (if im correct) so it wasnt as powerful/concentrated, therefore the investiture can be spread out over more atium.