What Would an Oracle Tapping/Storing Fortune See?

[+Lewis Nethur He/Him]

I have some very biased opinions on the matter that I don't want to pollute the discussion with so I just want to throw open the gate and ask the question:

What do y'all think tapping/storing Fortune would do to active Electrum shadows?

Would it narrow possibilities to show only the shadows that one wishes to see, IE: bias the shadows so that primarily only positive/negative outcomes are shown? Would it cause feedback loops within one's own brain revealing infinite unintelligible possibilities? Would it allow longer/shorter futuresight? Would it reveal shadows from alternate futures that are impossible or contradictory?

If two Oracles burning electrum got into a fight, and one was tapping Fortune at 10,000%, could they break the Cosmere's prohibition against dueling-futuresight-feedback and see only a single crystal clear and perfect path forward?

Or like...would it just drive them crazy and give everyone a headache? 

[Trusk'our he/him]

Personally, I think an Oracle tapping Fortune while burning electrum may simply boost their Allomancy, since their mechanics are very similar in nature. 

It could be that they're separate enough to not directly stack, but since both rely on reading Spiritwebs (albeit electrum utilizes a more direct system filtered through the cognitive aspect by harnessing shadows while chromium tampers with organic Fortune) I think this is the most likely outcome- improved Allomantic electrum, probably with added mental acuity to handle it, as stronger uses of Investiture are meant to do.

Spoiler

https://wob.coppermind.net/events/352-miscon-2018/#e10298

Chaos

Odium said to Taravangian, "You did this without access to Fortune or the Spiritual Realm?" How does one access Fortune without the Spiritual Realm or Feruchemical chromium, as almost all future sight tends to utilize the Spiritual Realm in some way?

Brandon Sanderson

So, that line is mostly just me saying... *long pause* I think you're picking apart those things too much.

Chaos

Right, that makes sense. Hey, Odium said it, so I didn't know-- Gotta take that seriously, so.

Brandon Sanderson

So, yeah, don't read too much into picking apart those two things. You can read it as-- Honestly, that is me making sure I am being clear in the text.

Chaos

That there are those are two different things.

Brandon Sanderson

Yeah those are two different things, but they are just interrelated. Fortune is a property, and the Spiritual Realm is a place, but not a place. Do you know what I mean? To use Fortune, you're always involving the Spiritual Realm, but in the Spiritual Realm, you're not always involving Fortune.

Spoiler

https://wob.coppermind.net/events/171-oathbringer-release-party/#e8147

Questioner

Is looking into the Spiritual Realm the only way to look into the future?

Brandon Sanderson

Any looking into the future involves looking at Spiritwebs, probability, and stuff like that. So, yes.

It would also be interesting if they could store extra Fortune while burning electrum, though due to differing systems this might be less likely to work. Depends on whether Fortune is counted as one's sense of Spiritwebs, or whether it's more roundabout, I think.

[+Lewis Nethur He/Him]

5 minutes ago, Trusk'our said:

Personally, I think an Oracle tapping Fortune while burning electrum may simply boost their Allomancy, since their mechanics are very similar in nature. 

It could be that they're separate enough to not directly stack, but since both rely on reading Spiritwebs (albeit electrum utilizes a more direct system filtered through the cognitive aspect by harnessing shadows while chromium tampers with organic Fortune) I think this is the most likely outcome- improved Allomantic electrum, probably with added mental acuity to handle it, as stronger uses of Investiture are meant to do.

  Hide contents

https://wob.coppermind.net/events/352-miscon-2018/#e10298

Chaos

Odium said to Taravangian, "You did this without access to Fortune or the Spiritual Realm?" How does one access Fortune without the Spiritual Realm or Feruchemical chromium, as almost all future sight tends to utilize the Spiritual Realm in some way?

Brandon Sanderson

So, that line is mostly just me saying... *long pause* I think you're picking apart those things too much.

Chaos

Right, that makes sense. Hey, Odium said it, so I didn't know-- Gotta take that seriously, so.

Brandon Sanderson

So, yeah, don't read too much into picking apart those two things. You can read it as-- Honestly, that is me making sure I am being clear in the text.

Chaos

That there are those are two different things.

Brandon Sanderson

Yeah those are two different things, but they are just interrelated. Fortune is a property, and the Spiritual Realm is a place, but not a place. Do you know what I mean? To use Fortune, you're always involving the Spiritual Realm, but in the Spiritual Realm, you're not always involving Fortune.

  Hide contents

https://wob.coppermind.net/events/171-oathbringer-release-party/#e8147

Questioner

Is looking into the Spiritual Realm the only way to look into the future?

Brandon Sanderson

Any looking into the future involves looking at Spiritwebs, probability, and stuff like that. So, yes.

It would also be interesting if they could store extra Fortune while burning electrum, though due to differing systems this might be less likely to work. Depends on whether Fortune is counted as one's sense of Spiritwebs, or whether it's more roundabout, I think.

Nice!

and oh, I wasn't even gonna ask about that, I'm 100% sure that any ability that allows one to interact with or alter the future (burning atium, burning electrum, having a Shard whisper secrets/instructions into their ear via hemalurgy, reading prophetic text like the diagram, ect.) Is going to augment their ability to store F-Fortune. 

[alder24]

38 minutes ago, hwiles said:

I have some very biased opinions on the matter that I don't want to pollute the discussion with so I just want to throw open the gate and ask the question:

What do y'all think tapping/storing Fortune would do to active Electrum shadows?

Would it narrow possibilities to show only the shadows that one wishes to see, IE: bias the shadows so that primarily only positive/negative outcomes are shown? Would it cause feedback loops within one's own brain revealing infinite unintelligible possibilities? Would it allow longer/shorter futuresight? Would it reveal shadows from alternate futures that are impossible or contradictory?

If two Oracles burning electrum got into a fight, and one was tapping Fortune at 10,000%, could they break the Cosmere's prohibition against dueling-futuresight-feedback and see only a single crystal clear and perfect path forward?

Or like...would it just drive them crazy and give everyone a headache? 

Extra strength in A=electrum isn't very useful compared to Atium. I bet you would see slightly further into the future with every shadow, but it won't reduce the numbers of shadows. Unless you tap a huge amount of Fortune at once then you would peer directly into the Spiritual Realm, like Elend did at the end of HoA - only then it would be useful. 

No breaking of "the Cosmere's prohibition against dueling-futuresight-feedback" would happen, the Oracle with F-chromium would gain a slight advantage over the normal Oracle. Even Shards can't overcome this prohibition. 

Spoiler

Wigginns

What would a Hemalurgic spike granting atium do for an Allomancer already able to burn atium? Does it function similarly to bronze, granting enhanced atium-ing? Along this line of thought, would enhancing electrum burning via spike be of any advantage?

Brandon Sanderson

A spike of something you have would enhance your ability, giving your more strength. With atium, more strength makes for a minimal edge--the length you can push out the atium shadows. However, there's a certain breaking point where you kind of crack the whole system, peer straight into the [Spiritual Realm], and kind of have a "It's full of stars" moment.

Electrum could reach this same moment, potentially, though there's more interference to fight through. Extra strength in electrum isn't going to be terribly useful up to that point.

Alsadius

Is that what happened when atium was burned with duralumin?

Brandon Sanderson

Yes.

Footnote: In his original response Brandon mistakenly said burning atium and duralumin would cause the Allomancer to peer into the Cognitive Realm, rather than Spiritual Realm. He has since confirmed that this was a mistake.
/r/books AMA 2015 (Aug. 1, 2015)

 

Spoiler

TearablePuns

Can a person Compounding luck defeat a Mistborn burning atium?

Brandon Sanderson

*Hesitantly* Yes. That is theoretically possible. I would say the emphasis on, "Could there?" But it is plausible that that could get around it.

Legion Release Party (Sept. 19, 2018)