Compounders and Generic Attributes

[Prymalfire]

Hello all, longtime theorizer but first(ish) time poster.

I would like to introduce my current Cosmere Mechanics fascination. If this has already been discussed or disproved, please do let me know.

TLDR - I think that Compounders ought to be able to store the Generic version of their attribute in a metalmind. By Generic, I mean not keyed to a specific instance of that attribute - eg. Sense stored in Tin that could be used to increase sight or hearing as desired, rather than one or the other.

A Feruchemist works by converting a portion of their Physical, Cognitive, or Spiritual self into Investiture, then storing that in their metalmind. The investiture recalls its original form - Sense that is stored by filling sight will only ever grant sight when tapped. Memory that is filled with a specific memory returns as the same memory. Same with Sustenance, same with Investiture.

Traditional compounding works by, (in my understanding), turning the investiture that would have been turned into Allomantic power into Feruchemical attribute. Because this investiture is drawn from the spiritual realm, it does not have this 'memory' of exactly how it should manifest in the user. -- Sidenote: I can see an argument that they need to burn the attribute itself to key the investiture to Feruchemy, and so it might inherit the properties of the burned power. 

If a skilled compounder were to fill their Metalmind directly from the source of compounding, without manifesting the attribute in their own Self first, I would propose that the Metalmind would be filled with this memoryless (Generic) attribute.

What would this mean?

Not so much for the compounder themselves honestly. The benefits would be seen through the use of unkeyed Metalminds in combination with these Generic attributes.
 

Tin would probably be the most straightforward of the applications - If the Tin Compounder has a way to make an unkeyed Metalmind, they can make it an unkeyed Generic Metalmind, so they do not have to be aware of or in possession of all the senses they would need to store in order to make them available to the user. (Maybe the Bands of Mourning contain Generic Sense?) A person that has an additional sense could tap that sense without the Tin Compounder needing to already posses it. A Bronze Misting could tap this unkeyed Generic Tin Metalmind to increase their Bronze Sense.

Copper is actually where I first started thinking about this idea, because I was wondering about what benefits you would get from being a Copper Compounder. What would it mean to tap Generic Memory? Well, perhaps the most intuitive thing is that it could enhance all your memories - you get much better recall of all your memories, rather than perfect recall over the memories you stored. If the ability to tap Generic attributes responds to Intent, as I believe it would, you might be able to recall completely forgotten memories, from the deep past or repressed by trauma - after all, Investiture comes from The Spiritual Realm, which is outside of time. If neither of the previous work, I think at minimum you could store the Generic Memory using the template of an existing memory, which would allow you to both store and retain a memory - interesting implications for unkeyed Copperminds. -- These are also my speculations for the normal benefits of Copper Compounding; enhanced recall, memory duplication when storing, and recalling forgotten memories (I will leave speculation about what happens when you tap Generic Memory while under the effects of another person's Identity or Connection for another time)

Nicrosil. We don't know enough about the effects of normal Investiture Metalminds to speculate. Tapping Generic Investiture could just replicate the effects of breathing Stormlight, or it could respond to Intent in interesting ways (if any of the theories about Copper hold true).

 

So, have I gotten anything wrong here? Love to hear your thoughts.

[Trusk'our he/him]

1 hour ago, Prymalfire said:

Hello all, longtime theorizer but first(ish) time poster.

Nice! Glad to hear from another Sharder.

1 hour ago, Prymalfire said:

A Feruchemist works by converting a portion of their Physical, Cognitive, or Spiritual self into Investiture, then storing that in their metalmind. The investiture recalls its original form - Sense that is stored by filling sight will only ever grant sight when tapped. Memory that is filled with a specific memory returns as the same memory. Same with Sustenance, same with Investiture.

Traditional compounding works by, (in my understanding), turning the investiture that would have been turned into Allomantic power into Feruchemical attribute. Because this investiture is drawn from the spiritual realm, it does not have this 'memory' of exactly how it should manifest in the user. -- Sidenote: I can see an argument that they need to burn the attribute itself to key the investiture to Feruchemy, and so it might inherit the properties of the burned power. 

If a skilled compounder were to fill their Metalmind directly from the source of compounding, without manifesting the attribute in their own Self first, I would propose that the Metalmind would be filled with this memoryless (Generic) attribute.

This is a pretty interesting idea, and I think that a "generic attribute" could potentially be created to be tapped (or maybe bonded by a specialized Unsealed Metalmind), perhaps similar to a blanked Connection, but I see no solid evidence that this can be done through traditional means of Compounding. 

Since in Feruchemy you get exactly what you store (perhaps the one exception being gold Feruchemy, as it's more focused and more powerful than natural healing), and since Compounding essentially just overwrites your Allomantic effect with your Feruchemical one, I don't think that this would be the way to create general attributes.

[alder24]

1 hour ago, Prymalfire said:

A Feruchemist works by converting a portion of their Physical, Cognitive, or Spiritual self into Investiture, then storing that in their metalmind. The investiture recalls its original form - Sense that is stored by filling sight will only ever grant sight when tapped. Memory that is filled with a specific memory returns as the same memory. Same with Sustenance, same with Investiture.

Traditional compounding works by, (in my understanding), turning the investiture that would have been turned into Allomantic power into Feruchemical attribute. Because this investiture is drawn from the spiritual realm, it does not have this 'memory' of exactly how it should manifest in the user. -- Sidenote: I can see an argument that they need to burn the attribute itself to key the investiture to Feruchemy, and so it might inherit the properties of the burned power. 

Yes, investiture stored by a Feruchemist is keyed to the attribute it was. Yes, during Compounding investiture is drawn from the SR, just like in Allomancy. However, just like in Allomancy, the metalmind provides a filter for that incoming investiture that "keys" it to what's inside the metalmind, telling it what form to take - to become the specific attribute that was in the metalmind. So you will never get a raw, generic investiture from Compounding, because what's inside the metalmind is never raw investiture, it's always a keyed attribute. That investiture is coming through that filter - the metal - into your body and you can't "grab" it before it passes through it - you can't get that raw investiture.

Raw investiture would be able to power any Feruchemical attribute. It wouldn't be a generic sense, it would be just pure investiture able to fuel all Feruchemy (like pure unkeyed Dor).

Spoiler

Andrew The Great (paraphrased)

What would happen if a person were to burn a metal that was Feruchemically charged using Allomancy?

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

The metal used in Allomancy is like a key or a doorway to the power that Allomancy actually uses. The metal acts as a filter, much as the Aons in Elantris do, to determine what the power actually does. However, if the metal is Feruchemically charged, then it will basically become a super-burst of Feruchemical power with no Allomantic effect. The Feruchemical charge acts as a filter as well as the metal, and changes what the power does. in this case, say you were burning steel, you would just be massively speedy for a second, and wouldn't actually have the ability to push on anything Allomantically. Hope that answered the question. I get the concept, so if you need me to explain it differently, let me know and I'll try. Oh, the other thing I forgot is that this concept only works if it's a metal that you charged yourself. If it's a metal someone else charged, it would just work like regular Allomancy, and the Feruchemical charge would just cease to exist.

Andrew The Great (paraphrased)

If someone aluminum or duralumin burned the Feruchemically charged metals, what would happen?

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

Basically the same thing as above, except with aluminum. Aluminum, they would just go away.

Idaho Falls Signing (June 20, 2009)

 

Spoiler

Lyndsey Luther

Ok, last question. It was really difficult coming up with three questions that haven’t been asked already...

Brandon Sanderson

OK... you’re not going to ask me the “what would you ask me” question?

Lyndsey Luther

Not quite...

Brandon Sanderson

OK good, because I hate that one! (laughs)

Lyndsey Luther

My question is if there’s anything that you’ve never been asked that you would like to talk about?

Brandon Sanderson

Oooooh, ok. Hm. That one is so hard! Every time people ask me something like this... What have I never been asked that people should be asking, is basically what the question is? Something that the fans have just missed... They pick up on so much, that it’s hard... I do wonder if, you know… all the magic systems [in my books] are connected and work on some basic fundamental principles, and a lot of people haven’t been asking questions about this. One thing I did get a question on today, and I’ll just talk about this one... they didn’t ask the right question, but I nudged them the right way, is understanding that tie between AonDor [the magic system from Elantris] and Allomancy [Mistborn’s magic system].

People ask about getting the power from metals and things, but that’s not actually how it works. The power’s not coming from metal. I talked a little about this before, but you are drawing power from some source, and the metal is actually just a gateway. It’s actually the molecular structure of the metal… what’s going on there, the pattern, the resonance of that metal works in the same way as an Aon does in Elantris. It filters the power. So it is just a sign of “this is what power this energy is going to be shaped into and give you.” When you understand that, Compounding [in Alloy of Law] makes much more sense.

Compounding is where you are able to kind of draw in more power than you should with Feruchemy. What’s going on there is you’re actually charging a piece of metal, and then you are burning that metal as a Feruchemical charge. What is happening is that the Feruchemical charge overwrites the Allomantic charge, and so you actually fuel Feruchemy with Allomancy, is what you are doing. Then if you just get out another piece of metal and store it in, since you’re not drawing the power from yourself, you’re cheating the system, you’re short-circuiting the system a little bit. So you can actually use the power that usually fuels Allomancy, to fuel Feruchemy, which you can then store in a metalmind, and basically build up these huge reservoirs of it. So what’s going on there is… imagine there’s like, an imprint, a wavelength, so to speak. A beat for an Allomantic thing, that when you burn a metal, it says “ok, this is what power we give.” When it’s got that charge, it changes that beat and says, “now we get this power.” And you access a set of Feruchemical power. That’s why Compounding is so powerful.

Open The Fridge Interview (Nov. 16, 2011)

 

Spoiler

Questioner

As far as the Lord Ruler goes, how did he use the Twinborn thing? Feruchemy and Allomancy?

Brandon Sanderson

What he had to figure out how to do is: Allomancy is powered by Spiritual power directly from the Shard of Adonalsium. Whereas Feruchemy is powered by your own Investiture and effort being transferred into the thing. What he needed to do was figure out a way to power Feruchemy with Allomantic power, right? You could have done the same thing by fueling it with the Dor, or with Stormlight, or another external. But he only had access to three magics. So what he had to do was figure out that.

So what he's doing is, he's basically taking metals, (since he's a Feruchemist and an allomancers), and he is burning metals that he has Invested himself, but then using... basically, switching it so he gets a burst of Allomantic power that is charged with a Feruchemical attribute. So it's powering Feruchemy with Allomancy by burning the metal that he himself has Invested.

Questioner

So he was essentially putting stuff into the metal?

Brandon Sanderson

Basically, priming the pump. He puts it in with Feruchemy. Then he burns it with Allomancy. But that fuels Feruchemy with Allomancy, which allows him to draw on the powers of the Shards, rather than himself. So it's not really a perpetual motion machine, because he's drawing the power from someone else. But it's external, which allows him to break the rules of Feruchemy.

The big question I have is: that works in the book, because you can dig into the technicalities of the book. But that's not gonna work in the movie, right? That explanation right there, that's so many levels over the heads of the audience. So I have to figure out a way to not break the cosmere magic, but make it simpler to understand in the movie. Which is the big headache in writing the screenplay. That's probably the biggest challenge in the screenplay is to figure out how to make that all work.

LTUE 2020 (Feb. 15, 2020)

 

[Prymalfire]

7 hours ago, alder24 said:

Yes, investiture stored by a Feruchemist is keyed to the attribute it was. Yes, during Compounding investiture is drawn from the SR, just like in Allomancy. However, just like in Allomancy, the metalmind provides a filter for that incoming investiture that "keys" it to what's inside the metalmind, telling it what form to take - to become the specific attribute that was in the metalmind. So you will never get a raw, generic investiture from Compounding, because what's inside the metalmind is never raw investiture, it's always a keyed attribute. That investiture is coming through that filter - the metal - into your body and you can't "grab" it before it passes through it - you can't get that raw investiture.

Raw investiture would be able to power any Feruchemical attribute. It wouldn't be a generic sense, it would be just pure investiture able to fuel all Feruchemy (like pure unkeyed Dor).

  Reveal hidden contents

Andrew The Great (paraphrased)

What would happen if a person were to burn a metal that was Feruchemically charged using Allomancy?

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

The metal used in Allomancy is like a key or a doorway to the power that Allomancy actually uses. The metal acts as a filter, much as the Aons in Elantris do, to determine what the power actually does. However, if the metal is Feruchemically charged, then it will basically become a super-burst of Feruchemical power with no Allomantic effect. The Feruchemical charge acts as a filter as well as the metal, and changes what the power does. in this case, say you were burning steel, you would just be massively speedy for a second, and wouldn't actually have the ability to push on anything Allomantically. Hope that answered the question. I get the concept, so if you need me to explain it differently, let me know and I'll try. Oh, the other thing I forgot is that this concept only works if it's a metal that you charged yourself. If it's a metal someone else charged, it would just work like regular Allomancy, and the Feruchemical charge would just cease to exist.

Andrew The Great (paraphrased)

If someone aluminum or duralumin burned the Feruchemically charged metals, what would happen?

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

Basically the same thing as above, except with aluminum. Aluminum, they would just go away.

Idaho Falls Signing (June 20, 2009)

 

  Reveal hidden contents

Lyndsey Luther

Ok, last question. It was really difficult coming up with three questions that haven’t been asked already...

Brandon Sanderson

OK... you’re not going to ask me the “what would you ask me” question?

Lyndsey Luther

Not quite...

Brandon Sanderson

OK good, because I hate that one! (laughs)

Lyndsey Luther

My question is if there’s anything that you’ve never been asked that you would like to talk about?

Brandon Sanderson

Oooooh, ok. Hm. That one is so hard! Every time people ask me something like this... What have I never been asked that people should be asking, is basically what the question is? Something that the fans have just missed... They pick up on so much, that it’s hard... I do wonder if, you know… all the magic systems [in my books] are connected and work on some basic fundamental principles, and a lot of people haven’t been asking questions about this. One thing I did get a question on today, and I’ll just talk about this one... they didn’t ask the right question, but I nudged them the right way, is understanding that tie between AonDor [the magic system from Elantris] and Allomancy [Mistborn’s magic system].

People ask about getting the power from metals and things, but that’s not actually how it works. The power’s not coming from metal. I talked a little about this before, but you are drawing power from some source, and the metal is actually just a gateway. It’s actually the molecular structure of the metal… what’s going on there, the pattern, the resonance of that metal works in the same way as an Aon does in Elantris. It filters the power. So it is just a sign of “this is what power this energy is going to be shaped into and give you.” When you understand that, Compounding [in Alloy of Law] makes much more sense.

Compounding is where you are able to kind of draw in more power than you should with Feruchemy. What’s going on there is you’re actually charging a piece of metal, and then you are burning that metal as a Feruchemical charge. What is happening is that the Feruchemical charge overwrites the Allomantic charge, and so you actually fuel Feruchemy with Allomancy, is what you are doing. Then if you just get out another piece of metal and store it in, since you’re not drawing the power from yourself, you’re cheating the system, you’re short-circuiting the system a little bit. So you can actually use the power that usually fuels Allomancy, to fuel Feruchemy, which you can then store in a metalmind, and basically build up these huge reservoirs of it. So what’s going on there is… imagine there’s like, an imprint, a wavelength, so to speak. A beat for an Allomantic thing, that when you burn a metal, it says “ok, this is what power we give.” When it’s got that charge, it changes that beat and says, “now we get this power.” And you access a set of Feruchemical power. That’s why Compounding is so powerful.

Open The Fridge Interview (Nov. 16, 2011)

 

  Reveal hidden contents

Questioner

As far as the Lord Ruler goes, how did he use the Twinborn thing? Feruchemy and Allomancy?

Brandon Sanderson

What he had to figure out how to do is: Allomancy is powered by Spiritual power directly from the Shard of Adonalsium. Whereas Feruchemy is powered by your own Investiture and effort being transferred into the thing. What he needed to do was figure out a way to power Feruchemy with Allomantic power, right? You could have done the same thing by fueling it with the Dor, or with Stormlight, or another external. But he only had access to three magics. So what he had to do was figure out that.

So what he's doing is, he's basically taking metals, (since he's a Feruchemist and an allomancers), and he is burning metals that he has Invested himself, but then using... basically, switching it so he gets a burst of Allomantic power that is charged with a Feruchemical attribute. So it's powering Feruchemy with Allomancy by burning the metal that he himself has Invested.

Questioner

So he was essentially putting stuff into the metal?

Brandon Sanderson

Basically, priming the pump. He puts it in with Feruchemy. Then he burns it with Allomancy. But that fuels Feruchemy with Allomancy, which allows him to draw on the powers of the Shards, rather than himself. So it's not really a perpetual motion machine, because he's drawing the power from someone else. But it's external, which allows him to break the rules of Feruchemy.

The big question I have is: that works in the book, because you can dig into the technicalities of the book. But that's not gonna work in the movie, right? That explanation right there, that's so many levels over the heads of the audience. So I have to figure out a way to not break the cosmere magic, but make it simpler to understand in the movie. Which is the big headache in writing the screenplay. That's probably the biggest challenge in the screenplay is to figure out how to make that all work.

LTUE 2020 (Feb. 15, 2020)

 

7 hours ago, alder24 said:

Yes, investiture stored by a Feruchemist is keyed to the attribute it was. Yes, during Compounding investiture is drawn from the SR, just like in Allomancy. However, just like in Allomancy, the metalmind provides a filter for that incoming investiture that "keys" it to what's inside the metalmind, telling it what form to take - to become the specific attribute that was in the metalmind. So you will never get a raw, generic investiture from Compounding, because what's inside the metalmind is never raw investiture, it's always a keyed attribute. That investiture is coming through that filter - the metal - into your body and you can't "grab" it before it passes through it - you can't get that raw investiture.

Raw investiture would be able to power any Feruchemical attribute. It wouldn't be a generic sense, it would be just pure investiture able to fuel all Feruchemy (like pure unkeyed Dor).

  Hide contents

Andrew The Great (paraphrased)

What would happen if a person were to burn a metal that was Feruchemically charged using Allomancy?

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

The metal used in Allomancy is like a key or a doorway to the power that Allomancy actually uses. The metal acts as a filter, much as the Aons in Elantris do, to determine what the power actually does. However, if the metal is Feruchemically charged, then it will basically become a super-burst of Feruchemical power with no Allomantic effect. The Feruchemical charge acts as a filter as well as the metal, and changes what the power does. in this case, say you were burning steel, you would just be massively speedy for a second, and wouldn't actually have the ability to push on anything Allomantically. Hope that answered the question. I get the concept, so if you need me to explain it differently, let me know and I'll try. Oh, the other thing I forgot is that this concept only works if it's a metal that you charged yourself. If it's a metal someone else charged, it would just work like regular Allomancy, and the Feruchemical charge would just cease to exist.

Andrew The Great (paraphrased)

If someone aluminum or duralumin burned the Feruchemically charged metals, what would happen?

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

Basically the same thing as above, except with aluminum. Aluminum, they would just go away.

Idaho Falls Signing (June 20, 2009)

 

  Hide contents

Lyndsey Luther

Ok, last question. It was really difficult coming up with three questions that haven’t been asked already...

Brandon Sanderson

OK... you’re not going to ask me the “what would you ask me” question?

Lyndsey Luther

Not quite...

Brandon Sanderson

OK good, because I hate that one! (laughs)

Lyndsey Luther

My question is if there’s anything that you’ve never been asked that you would like to talk about?

Brandon Sanderson

Oooooh, ok. Hm. That one is so hard! Every time people ask me something like this... What have I never been asked that people should be asking, is basically what the question is? Something that the fans have just missed... They pick up on so much, that it’s hard... I do wonder if, you know… all the magic systems [in my books] are connected and work on some basic fundamental principles, and a lot of people haven’t been asking questions about this. One thing I did get a question on today, and I’ll just talk about this one... they didn’t ask the right question, but I nudged them the right way, is understanding that tie between AonDor [the magic system from Elantris] and Allomancy [Mistborn’s magic system].

People ask about getting the power from metals and things, but that’s not actually how it works. The power’s not coming from metal. I talked a little about this before, but you are drawing power from some source, and the metal is actually just a gateway. It’s actually the molecular structure of the metal… what’s going on there, the pattern, the resonance of that metal works in the same way as an Aon does in Elantris. It filters the power. So it is just a sign of “this is what power this energy is going to be shaped into and give you.” When you understand that, Compounding [in Alloy of Law] makes much more sense.

Compounding is where you are able to kind of draw in more power than you should with Feruchemy. What’s going on there is you’re actually charging a piece of metal, and then you are burning that metal as a Feruchemical charge. What is happening is that the Feruchemical charge overwrites the Allomantic charge, and so you actually fuel Feruchemy with Allomancy, is what you are doing. Then if you just get out another piece of metal and store it in, since you’re not drawing the power from yourself, you’re cheating the system, you’re short-circuiting the system a little bit. So you can actually use the power that usually fuels Allomancy, to fuel Feruchemy, which you can then store in a metalmind, and basically build up these huge reservoirs of it. So what’s going on there is… imagine there’s like, an imprint, a wavelength, so to speak. A beat for an Allomantic thing, that when you burn a metal, it says “ok, this is what power we give.” When it’s got that charge, it changes that beat and says, “now we get this power.” And you access a set of Feruchemical power. That’s why Compounding is so powerful.

Open The Fridge Interview (Nov. 16, 2011)

 

  Hide contents

Questioner

As far as the Lord Ruler goes, how did he use the Twinborn thing? Feruchemy and Allomancy?

Brandon Sanderson

What he had to figure out how to do is: Allomancy is powered by Spiritual power directly from the Shard of Adonalsium. Whereas Feruchemy is powered by your own Investiture and effort being transferred into the thing. What he needed to do was figure out a way to power Feruchemy with Allomantic power, right? You could have done the same thing by fueling it with the Dor, or with Stormlight, or another external. But he only had access to three magics. So what he had to do was figure out that.

So what he's doing is, he's basically taking metals, (since he's a Feruchemist and an allomancers), and he is burning metals that he has Invested himself, but then using... basically, switching it so he gets a burst of Allomantic power that is charged with a Feruchemical attribute. So it's powering Feruchemy with Allomancy by burning the metal that he himself has Invested.

Questioner

So he was essentially putting stuff into the metal?

Brandon Sanderson

Basically, priming the pump. He puts it in with Feruchemy. Then he burns it with Allomancy. But that fuels Feruchemy with Allomancy, which allows him to draw on the powers of the Shards, rather than himself. So it's not really a perpetual motion machine, because he's drawing the power from someone else. But it's external, which allows him to break the rules of Feruchemy.

The big question I have is: that works in the book, because you can dig into the technicalities of the book. But that's not gonna work in the movie, right? That explanation right there, that's so many levels over the heads of the audience. So I have to figure out a way to not break the cosmere magic, but make it simpler to understand in the movie. Which is the big headache in writing the screenplay. That's probably the biggest challenge in the screenplay is to figure out how to make that all work.

LTUE 2020 (Feb. 15, 2020)

 

Hey, appreciate you taking the time to respond! 

My intent wasn't to say that the compounder would be storing unkeyed investiture, like unkeyed Dor. It was more to say that they could store 'unobligated' attribute. Sense that doesn't know until it is manifested which sense it represents. 

I agree that the fact that the filter needs to possess a Feruchemical charge hurts my theory. But, I can think of a counter argument. 

Burning Lerasium uses Lerasium as the filter to access the spiritual realm. But it doesn't draw forth investiture in the form of the filter (this would just create more Lerasium). The investiture is manifested as a Power (the power to alter the spiritweb to create a Mistborn) But Godmetals are weird, so that's not a slam dunk. 

I guess that is the core of my theory: that using Feruchemically charged metal as a filter for Allomancy creates Feruchemical Power directly, rather than copying / amplifying the Feruchemical Charge that was present in the metal. Everything else is contingent on that theory. I don't know if any of the WoB can prove or disprove that. 

 

[alder24]

21 minutes ago, Prymalfire said:

My intent wasn't to say that the compounder would be storing unkeyed investiture, like unkeyed Dor. It was more to say that they could store 'unobligated' attribute. Sense that doesn't know until it is manifested which sense it represents. 

But there is nothing like that. Investiture is coming from SR in its raw and pure form and gets filtered into its "keyed" attribute form by a metalmind. There is no intermediate stage of a general attribute. It's either raw investiture, or a specific attribute. You can't store a general sense into a metalmind for it to key raw investiture into a general sense. At the very best case, you can use raw investiture to fuel any attribute in Feruchemy - but you need another source of investiture for that.

24 minutes ago, Prymalfire said:

Burning Lerasium uses Lerasium as the filter to access the spiritual realm.

That's not true. God metals aren't keys for investiture drawn from SR like normal metals are, they are the fuel themselves. God metals are investiture in the physical form. There is no conduct of investiture from SR when you burn a god metal, you're using the investiture that makes it up. 

Spoiler

Brandon Sanderson

Atium's Mechanism

Atium is, indeed, different from the other metals. When you burn most Allomantic metals, it opens a conduit through which you can draw upon Preservation's power and use it in very specific ways.

Atium doesn't do that. Atium is, itself, a fuel. When you burn it, the metal itself provides the power. A subtle distinction, I know, but it has to do with where the power is coming from. Most Allomancy is fueled by Preservation, but atium and malatium are fueled by Ruin.

This metal doesn't quite belong on the table where it has been placed.

The Hero of Ages Annotations (April 1, 2010)

 

30 minutes ago, Prymalfire said:

I guess that is the core of my theory: that using Feruchemically charged metal as a filter for Allomancy creates Feruchemical Power directly, rather than copying / amplifying the Feruchemical Charge that was present in the metal. Everything else is contingent on that theory. I don't know if any of the WoB can prove or disprove that. 

I think the WoBs I've posted before disprove that already. The structure of a metal and its Feruchemical charge tells incoming investiture what form to take. It doesn't create power directly, investiture is copying the form of investiture present in burnt metalminds. Imagine the metalmind being a tuning fork which tunes investiture passing through it to a specific tone, which the fork resonates with - the specific attribute stored in that metalmind.

[Prymalfire]

Cheers. Yeah, seems like there is not sufficient evidence that this is an ability Compounders inherently have access to. I still do think that Generic Attribute could be stored in an metalmind, but I will consider that a pet theory until there is more evidence.