Mistborn What ifs

[Acolyte of Radiance]

Im curious,post your favorite mist born what ifs here. Example:What if sazed brought vin and blend back to life instead of them wishing too stay dead?

Edited August 15, 2024 by Acolyte of Radiance

[Quantus he/him]

I think "What if Kelsier kept the Preservation Shard?"  In my mind it would have fallen out with Marsh holding Ruin and it getting very interesting as they relate to each other very much as Siblings, for better or worse.  

[JustQuestin2004 he/him]

What if Sazed died and Kelsier took both powers to become Discord?

I had an idea for a story based on this, it would involve Scadrial still being mostly saved by Kelsier, now Discord, but the entire continent being shattered into a huge archipelago and life being significantly harder than with Harmony.

More details in a Spoiler to not clog up this thread.

Spoiler

Kel would be trying his best to fix things, but his imbalance to the two powers makes it hard for him to control them, especially since he's still just a ghost, leading to the powers fighting against him almost as much as they do each other.

The Mists would change, becoming mixed with Preservation's and Ruin's power, and being stuck on 'Mistsnapping' mode, only they'd turn almost anyone that goes into them into an Allomancer, but would also inflict a 'Malady' upon any Mistsnapped Allomancer. You can still die from the trauma, especially from the young or old, so it's risky. The Malady would be so intertwined the Allomancy that even if you spiked a Mistsnapped Allomancer, it would bring the Malady with the power. 

The Maladies would be somewhat like Savantism, only much more damaging. Examples would be:

-Coinshots and Lurchers would suffer from incredibly severe shortsightedness and farsightedness.

-Sliders and Pulsers would have their perspective either permanently sped up or slowed down, making life either too slow or too fast. 

-Rioters would have their own emotions permanently rioted, like a severe, magically enforced bipolar disorder. Soothers would have all their emotions permanently soothed, making almost like severe, magically enforced depression.

Anyway, so it's possible for anyone to become an Allomancer, they'll just also be risking their life and cursed for the rest of their life if they win the coin toss. The curse might be inheritable due to it being caused by additional unstable Ruin Investiture. Natural Allomancer's don't gain additional powers from this and are immune to the effects, Ferring may or may not be susceptible, not sure if I like Cursed Twinborn or not.

Discord can't control where the Mists appear, since they can appear during the day or any time or place in general, but he's been largely successful in preventing them from going into large settlements.

 

Due to the world being mostly islands, there would be pirate allomancers! Big selling point there.

Main character would be a Mistsnapped Leecher/Soulbearer Twinborn, called a Sapper. Their Resonance would allow them to store away Leeched Investiture into their Nicrosilminds and draw upon it later, they suffer from pseudo-Drabness due to their Malady.

Main plot would be set around the end of Spook's rule.

 

 

[Duxredux he/him]

What if Kelsier had Snapped in childbirth like Vin had? By burning metals early in life, Ruin would have become aware of him much sooner and possibly would have used Marsh as Hemalurgic material for a Bronze spike for Kel, and Kelsier would have started out as a Mistborn. Would Preservation's plan have been derailed by this?

 

What if Harmony had let MeLaan do all of his PR with Wax instead of letting VenDell and TenSoon do it? Those two are really bad with talking to Wax. Without those two antagonizing Wax, would Wax have gotten further against the Set earlier?

[+robardin he/him]

Well it would significantly change the characters/storylines as we know them, for some of what has been considered above...

Harmony DID restore (heal) Vin and Elend's bodies, and they could have returned to life in them, but instead they chose to go Beyond.

Or perhaps he COULD have "forced the issue", but respected their wishes. Either way, it's impossible: the first for Cosmere mechanical reasons, the second for reasons of "then he wouldn't have been Sazed".

I don't think Kelsier could have taken up both Shards, at least not naturally; as it was in Secret History, we see that he needed that "Connection bomb" from the Ire to seize Preservation upon Leras' death, and the power "resisted" him, because of his natural connection (by nature and character) to Ruin.

And I think merging both Shards into one, be that Harmony or Discord, required picking both up at the same time, as Sazed did. At least those particular two: given how opposite Preservation and Ruin are, I don't think a Vessel of Preservation could "take up" Ruin as an add-on, so to speak.

And as for Kelsier Snapping earlier in life "as Vin had" - I've always wondered why Kelsier didn't Snap when Marsh did, as they grew up together, and Marsh cited seeing their mother taken by the Steel Ministry for execution was what Snapped him.

At one point Kelsier explained to Vin that "the stronger the Allomancer, the more it takes to Snap", implying that that trauma wasn't enough to Snap him as a Mistborn but seeing Mare beaten to death in front of him at the Pits was... But not working the Pits for weeks at a time before that, on death's edge, while getting his arms scarred?

I think Preservation had a hand in Kelsier's Snapping, like giving him a bit of mistboost to Mistborn level Investiture, which was all part of Preservation's Very Long Game to die but take Ruin with him and to create the true Hero of Ages, in Harmony (Discord?), as Kelsier recalls when hearing Leras' (ghost's) last words:

Quote

And remember... remember what I told you, so long ago... Do what I cannot, Kelsier...
SURVIVE.

The word vibrated through him, and Kelsier gasped. He knew that feeling, remembered that exact command. He'd heard that voice in the Pits. Waking him, driving him forward.

Saving him.

Kelsier bowed his head as he felt Preservation fad, finally, and stretch into the darkness.