Koloss Accepting Hemalurgy

[Trusk'our he/him]

You know, even with the power Hemalurgy can grant, I don't see many people willing to accept relatively large pieces of shrapnel inserted into their bodies. It feels like even if it is deemed "necessary" by Era 3 sometime that there will be significant pushback.

It makes me wonder though, Koloss culture already revolves around piercing yourself with spikes to keep it going. Would they be more willing, perhaps even eager, to accept new types of spikes?

And, even if better power-granting alternatives exist past Era 3 (as I'm sure Metalminds will eventually do, at least in the majority of cases), I wonder if a subset of Koloss will stubbornly refuse to use more modern methods of Investiture. . . which, ironically, sounds like a mindset more of Preservation than of Ruin. Bet the Shard would be frustrated with that.

 

[DoctaDajman]

25 minutes ago, Trusk'our said:

You know, even with the power Hemalurgy can grant, I don't see many people willing to accept relatively large pieces of shrapnel inserted into their bodies. It feels like even if it is deemed "necessary" by Era 3 sometime that there will be significant pushback.

It makes me wonder though, Koloss culture already revolves around piercing yourself with spikes to keep it going. Would they be more willing, perhaps even eager, to accept new types of spikes?

And, even if better power-granting alternatives exist past Era 3 (as I'm sure Metalminds will eventually do, at least in the majority of cases), I wonder if a subset of Koloss will stubbornly refuse to use more modern methods of Investiture. . . which, ironically, sounds like a mindset more of Preservation than of Ruin. Bet the Shard would be frustrated with that.

 

Can a koloss withstand any spikes beyond their 4 iron spikes already?  Would they need a linchpin spike?  Seems like adding more weakness on top of their already known weaknesses may be something they don't wish to do. Plus how are their minds after they accept their spikes anyways? Maybe it's more a matter of what their spiritweb is able to handle than it is what they want either direction. 

I guess this makes me wonder, have any inquisitors been outfitted with 4 iron spikes? And if they have isnt it interesting that their bodies didn't warp the way a koloss does? 

[Koloss17 She/They]

As a koloss myself, I would say that it's likely that koloss would certainly try. However, koloss already have four spikes on them, and there is a limit to the amount of spikes a body can handle. Obviously inquisitors have a whole lot, but that's because their spiking is meticulously done and they are implanted with a linchpin spike to keep everything together. Given that koloss' spikes are much more transformative than inquisitors, I wouldn't be surprised if their spiritwebs couldn't handle too many more spikes.

It seems possible that there could be some koloss allomancers in the future though.

[Duxredux he/him]

Well... We have Tarson who was Koloss-blooded and a Pewterarm. Had ritualistic Survivorist scars to boot. Hemalurgy probably isn't too far off from religious cutting. 

If we're talking fully spiked Koloss, @DoctaDajman is right to wonder if Koloss would remember how to use Allomantic abilities.

Quote

17th Shard

If an Allomancer is turned into a koloss, would they keep their powers?

Brandon Sanderson

That's actually something I've thought about. An Allomancer turned into a koloss would keep their powers because, as you'll recall, an Allomancer turned in to an Inquisitor retains their powers. Whether they would be able to always know how to use them remains to be seen, but you could definitely have a koloss Allomancer if you built them right.

17th Shard Interview (Oct. 3, 2010)

 

As for who would willingly accept Hemalurgy, nowadays IRL people get piercings all over the place for simple fashion or self-expression. Getting superpowers is probably just a bonus for some. The line would probably be drawn at the more invasive spikes, like eye spikes. 

[DoctaDajman]

1 hour ago, Duxredux said:

Well... We have Tarson who was Koloss-blooded and a Pewterarm. Had ritualistic Survivorist scars to boot. Hemalurgy probably isn't too far off from religious cutting. 

If we're talking fully spiked Koloss, @DoctaDajman is right to wonder if Koloss would remember how to use Allomantic abilities.

 

As for who would willingly accept Hemalurgy, nowadays IRL people get piercings all over the place for simple fashion or self-expression. Getting superpowers is probably just a bonus for some. The line would probably be drawn at the more invasive spikes, like eye spikes. 

Its funny you say this because that is, in my mind, the best first one to get. An eye spike to grant the steel sight we see with inquisitor PoV and Kelsiers meeting with Harmony is top of my list. If it could grant A pewter that would be my first choice. I would also be happy to take A iron or A steel, in that order, which we know it can do. 

It seems that everywhere a hemalurgic spike goes the magic compensates for it, which makes me have a new question... are inquisitors hearts, livers, kidneys, or lungs also super spiritually powered?  

What do you suppose the hearts version of spiritual sight is? (Kelsier described it as seeing how the gods see if I'm not misremembering.) It would be really interesting if your cardiac system was overhauled in some way that enhances it... maybe even just not getting as tachycardic with a good workout... 

[Treamayne]

2 hours ago, DoctaDajman said:

which makes me have a new question... are inquisitors hearts, livers, kidneys, or lungs also super spiritually powered? 

No, Inquisitors are no longer human. Their organs are not in the same place as a human. HoA Ch 41 Epigraph:

Spoiler

Hemalurgic spikes change people physically, depending on which powers are granted, where the spike is placed, and how many spikes someone has. Inquisitors, for instance, are changed drastically from the humans they used to be. Their hearts are in different places from those of humans, and their brains rearrange to accommodate the lengths of metal jabbed through their eyes. Koloss are changed in even more drastic ways.

Hope that helps

[Trusk'our he/him]

3 hours ago, DoctaDajman said:

It seems that everywhere a hemalurgic spike goes the magic compensates for it, which makes me have a new question... are inquisitors hearts, livers, kidneys, or lungs also super spiritually powered?  

What do you suppose the hearts version of spiritual sight is? (Kelsier described it as seeing how the gods see if I'm not misremembering.) It would be really interesting if your cardiac system was overhauled in some way that enhances it... maybe even just not getting as tachycardic with a good workout... 

It's quite an interesting quirk.

I think that when a bindpoint is pierced by a spike the associated organ is changed to work in a directly "magical" fashion, letting the Spiritweb of the spike take over.

My conclusion from this WoB is that certain spikes can directly add to the vitality of an individual as long as they're in place, though some (probably linchpin spikes) are too integral to lose and survive. 

Spoiler

https://wob.coppermind.net/events/243-hero-of-ages-qa-time-wasters-guide/#e6073

Kaimipono

Why exactly do some spike removals kill (dual eye, or central spike) but most don't?

Brandon Sanderson

For the same reason that a bullet through one part of the body will kill you, but getting shot somewhere else won't. The physical form of a person who has undergone a Hemalurgic transformation is no longer what we think of it. The direct connection to Preservation starts keeping them alive. (Imagine stapling someone's soul to another person's soul, their life essence, then stapling that to the power of creation itself, giving you a conduit directly to power, letting you leech it and steal it.) That power keeps you alive, despite the wounds. Some of the time, the other staples are enough to keep you alive, even if one is pulled out. Others are too important.

 

6 hours ago, DoctaDajman said:

Can a koloss withstand any spikes beyond their 4 iron spikes already?  Would they need a linchpin spike?  Seems like adding more weakness on top of their already known weaknesses may be something they don't wish to do.

6 hours ago, Koloss17 said:

As a koloss myself, I would say that it's likely that koloss would certainly try. However, koloss already have four spikes on them, and there is a limit to the amount of spikes a body can handle.

I was thinking more along the lines of Koloss-blooded or at least those who adopted Koloss culture. I should have been more clear on that account- I'm sorry.

I'm sure some spikes could be added to a full blooded Koloss with the right fiddling (though I doubt it's worth it, from a power-optimizing point of view). It would probably be like trying to create Inquisitors again, maybe by making the Ruinous portion of the soul more dominant than the Preservation side.

5 hours ago, Duxredux said:

As for who would willingly accept Hemalurgy, nowadays IRL people get piercings all over the place for simple fashion or self-expression. Getting superpowers is probably just a bonus for some. The line would probably be drawn at the more invasive spikes, like eye spikes. 

I mean, I'm sure there would be people all over that, I just don't imagine the mainstream population being terribly fond of the "let's rearrange your internal organs as I shove a metal cone in your abdomen" aspect. 

Hence my reasoning that an entire culture that already (presumably) reveres a subset of Hemalurgic spikes as holy relics or priceless tools would adopt new kinds of spikes with little hesitation.

The Basin getting a squad of Koloss-blooded shock troops bearing Hemalurgically endowed powers would be a fairly formidable force come Era 3.

Edited March 15, 2025 by Trusk'our

[DoctaDajman]

3 hours ago, Trusk'our said:

It's quite an interesting quirk.

I think that when a bindpoint is pierced by a spike the associated organ is changed to work in a directly "magical" fashion, letting the Spiritweb of the spike take over.

My conclusion from this WoB is that certain spikes can directly add to the vitality of an individual as long as they're in place, though some (probably linchpin spikes) are too integral to lose and survive. 

  Reveal hidden contents

https://wob.coppermind.net/events/243-hero-of-ages-qa-time-wasters-guide/#e6073

Kaimipono

Why exactly do some spike removals kill (dual eye, or central spike) but most don't?

Brandon Sanderson

For the same reason that a bullet through one part of the body will kill you, but getting shot somewhere else won't. The physical form of a person who has undergone a Hemalurgic transformation is no longer what we think of it. The direct connection to Preservation starts keeping them alive. (Imagine stapling someone's soul to another person's soul, their life essence, then stapling that to the power of creation itself, giving you a conduit directly to power, letting you leech it and steal it.) That power keeps you alive, despite the wounds. Some of the time, the other staples are enough to keep you alive, even if one is pulled out. Others are too important.

 

I was thinking more along the lines of Koloss-blooded or at least those who adopted Koloss culture. I should have been more clear on that account- I'm sorry.

I'm sure some spikes could be added to a full blooded Koloss with the right fiddling (though I doubt it's worth it, from a power-optimizing point of view). It would probably be like trying to create Inquisitors again, maybe by making the Ruinous portion of the soul more dominant than the Preservation side.

I mean, I'm sure there would be people all over that, I just don't imagine the mainstream population being terribly fond of the "let's rearrange your internal organs as I shove a metal cone in your abdomen" aspect. 

Hence my reasoning that an entire culture that already (presumably) reveres a subset of Hemalurgic spikes as holy relics or priceless tools would adopt new kinds of spikes with little hesitation.

The Basin getting a squad of Koloss-blooded shock troops bearing Hemalurgically endowed powers would be a fairly formidable force come Era 3.

I see.  My question now is just how enhanced are kolossblooded. It talks about them being tougher and stronger than the average human but the only one we have seen on screen was a pewter savant so all of Tarson's feats of strength are completely unreliable for our scientific purposes of breaking down just how super soldier a kolossblooded is.