Metallic Arts and Relevant Numbers

[Trusk'our he/him]

Given how certain numbers seem to affect the strength of Honor's Investiture (10 being its own, but both 1 and 16 being good substitutes), could this also affect Scadrial's Investiture?

For example, we know if you're born with Allomancy or Feruchemy you either have one power or all sixteen. I wonder, could this be a similar situation to Honor's, where the Investiture seeks specific numbers to fulfill?

What about Hemalurgy? If an Inquisitor had sixteen Hemalurgic spikes, would it strengthen their power somehow, maybe reinforce their Spiritweb to the burden placed on it?

Or, if sixteen Steel Inquisitors bonded one another with Emotional Allomancy to resist outside influences, would the number affect the strength of the bond like the Heralds?

[Qianweilian He/him]

I mean, Rashek originally made 16 inquisitors.

[Dofurion]

Since I read this information in Wind and Truth, I feel that I old hypothesis that the true number of Preservation is 4, and I based it on the following WoB:

Quote

King of Herdaz

Roshar is themed around the number ten. Scadrial and the cosmere as a whole is themed around the number sixteen. Are there any other planets themed around certain numbers? And if so, where and what are they? Or Read and Find Out?

Brandon Sanderson

Read and Find Out for that, but yes, this is a thing that I wanted to do at the beginning of the Cosmere and really leaned into in a couple of them. Honestly, with Mistborn, sixteen became the thing, but I was planning to lean into four more than sixteen for that series. But then sixteen became so important to the whole cosmere, and I wasn't sure... let's just say, four is where I was gonna go with that one.

But yes, there are others. Whether I'll actually really lean into them or not remains to be seen. But yes, I have plans.

YouTube Livestream 13 (July 23, 2020)

 

[Y F-N she/her]

I would also assume that Odium's number was 9. Nine Unmade, nine types of Fused. My assumption is that every Shard has a number associated with it, going from 1 to 16.

[Hoids4thApprentice he/him]

On 1/21/2025 at 6:02 AM, Y F-N said:

I would also assume that Odium's number was 9. Nine Unmade, nine types of Fused. My assumption is that every Shard has a number associated with it, going from 1 to 16.

I agree. I also think Brandon confirmed as much in WoB at DSNX24.

I think that as well as 9 and 10 being Odium and Honour. I also think that Yumi and the Nightmare Painter confirmed Vituosity as associated with 13 and that Warbreaker confirmed Endowment as associated with 5. 

As for Ruin and Preseravation, as Dofurion says above, it maybe that Preservation is 4 rather than 16 based on the WoB he quotes@

On 1/21/2025 at 4:29 AM, Dofurion said:

Since I read this information in Wind and Truth, I feel that I old hypothesis that the true number of Preservation is 4, and I based it on the following WoB: 

On 1/21/2025 at 4:29 AM, Dofurion said:

Honestly, with Mistborn, sixteen became the thing, but I was planning to lean into four more than sixteen for that series.

 

It could also mean that the prominence Brandon is giving 4 as well as 16 for that book is to indicate that Ruin is associated with one of those numbers and Preservation with the other. 

Giving some thought to other potential associations. We understand from the Sel essay that there are three different Empires with different magic systms on Sel, so Domain could be associated with 3? I feel that Autonomy, by definition, should be associated with 1 (but I can also see that Taldain has 2 suns 2 sides so ...?).