Inquisitor using Electrum in Book 1? *spoilers*

[DariusJenai]

I noticed this on a read-through looking for something else.  When Vin and Kelsier break into Kredik Shaw the first time, Vin winds up in a fight with an Inquisitor.  After burning her atium, the Inquisitor begins burning a metal that causes her to see infinite shadows.  Vin believes this metal to be atium, but there's a couple good reasons for it to probably be Electrum.

1) The inquisitor begins burning this metal without swallowing any new metals.  According to Zane, digestive juices destroy atium fairly quickly, so it's doubtful the Inquisitors were just walking around with a bellyful.  It's possible he swallowed some before, but since he seemed surprised when she stopped his attacks, it's obvious he wasn't planning on dealing with atium.

2) The Lord Ruler has his own particular atium plans going on, and I can't imagine that he was handing out nuggets to his inquisitors on the off chance that they would run into a Mistborn with atium.  Especially since they had their own private metal that could counteract atium while not having to give Inquisitors (who Ruin can control/manipulate), actual beads of atium.

Arguably, Vin's ability to escape at all could be taken as evidence, since he would have been able to forsee it and stop it if he was burning atium of his own, but since it never explicitly states when Vin stops burning her atium, it's possible that both were burning up until the time she was actually gone.

[happyman he/him]

It's possible, of course, but I don't think we have much evidence the favor it, either.  While the Lord Ruler was alive, he controlled the Inquisitors allomantically himself, so I suspect he didn't think Ruin could control them while he was alive and able to control them.  As for your other points, IIRC, the scene had the Inquisitors going after them after they sensed intruders burning metals.  Thus all inquisitors who showed up would be prepared to fight Allomamcers.  Enemy mistborn would be a very real problem if this was the case and the Inquisitors would come prepared.  Also, the Lord Ruler had access to as much Atium as he wanted.  The scarcity wasn't a problem for him; it was just a problem for everybody else.

[SOM1else he/him]

yes but he wanted to limit thier atium use so that if ruin got free he would still not have all his power. But he wouldnt care if it got ruined by thier stomache acid because it makes a lower total amount.

[Aeshdan he/him]

Also, the Lord Ruler had access to as much Atium as he wanted.  The scarcity wasn't a problem for him; it was just a problem for everybody else.

Actually, he didn't. Remember, he had to be very careful about sneaking out the atium so Ruin wouldn't know where he was getting it.

[Deus Ex Biotica]

Ever since Electrum was introduced, it was my theory that all the Inquisitors used Electrum instead of Atium. This changed, of course, once Ruin began controlling them directly.

Even for the Lord Ruler, it is much easier and safer to use the metal which (1) nobody else knows in Allomantic, and thus its movements are watched less closely, and (2) would not let an Inquisitor have a chance to defeat you if they caught you without any Atium/Electrum after somehow slipping your control.

-- Deus Ex Biotica

[Vortaan he/him]

It's possible, of course, but I don't think we have much evidence the favor it, either.  While the Lord Ruler was alive, he controlled the Inquisitors allomantically himself, so I suspect he didn't think Ruin could control them while he was alive and able to control them.  As for your other points, IIRC, the scene had the Inquisitors going after them after they sensed intruders burning metals.  Thus all inquisitors who showed up would be prepared to fight Allomamcers.  Enemy mistborn would be a very real problem if this was the case and the Inquisitors would come prepared.  Also, the Lord Ruler had access to as much Atium as he wanted.  The scarcity wasn't a problem for him; it was just a problem for everybody else.

If Lord Ruler controlled the Inquisitors allomantically, how did Marsh betray him? And being prepared to fight Allomancers is different from being prepared to fight Mistborn. Mistborn are EXTREMELY rare it seems. I doubt any of them would be wasted in an attempt to kill, effectively at the time, God. I'd buy the electum theory, with one problem: that means the Lord Ruler is aware of electum mistings when no one else is. How would he find them reliably enough to endow Inquisitors with it?

[Arcanist Lupus he/him]

If Lord Ruler controlled the Inquisitors allomantically, how did Marsh betray him? And being prepared to fight Allomancers is different from being prepared to fight Mistborn. Mistborn are EXTREMELY rare it seems. I doubt any of them would be wasted in an attempt to kill, effectively at the time, God. I'd buy the electum theory, with one problem: that means the Lord Ruler is aware of electum mistings when no one else is. How would he find them reliably enough to endow Inquisitors with it?

The same way he found Atium mistings, by spiking the drinks of nobility, and then causing a disturbance, and watching to see who instinctively burned their metals.

[Chaos he/him]

Ever since Electrum was introduced, it was my theory that all the Inquisitors used Electrum instead of Atium. This changed, of course, once Ruin began controlling them directly.

Even for the Lord Ruler, it is much easier and safer to use the metal which (1) nobody else knows in Allomantic, and thus its movements are watched less closely, and (2) would not let an Inquisitor have a chance to defeat you if they caught you without any Atium/Electrum after somehow slipping your control.

-- Deus Ex Biotica

I'm not quite sold on this statement. Why, when Ruin began controlling them directly, would the Inquisitors switch to atium. If anything, Ruin would switch them away from the atium, because any atium burned is less power for Ruin. If all the Inquisitors could use electrum, Ruin would much rather them use that power, except in select times where they really need the atium.

But, did we see many Inquisitors burn atium in Hero of Ages? If memory serves, just a few select instances, when absolutely necessary.

Some select Inquisitors may have electrum abilities, but I think it would still be more common for them to have the actual atium power.

[fyodor]

I think it's also worth noting that in the first book generally atium is a somewhat less rare commodity. Kelsier is pretty confident of his ability to get it-he can spare enough to let Vin try it out. On top of this the Lord Ruler would presumably be somewhat freer with the Atium with his servants.

It also seems reasonable to me that the Inquisitors swallowed some when they detected other Allomancers in the building. They could (presumably) pierce copperclouds so they knew that they were dealing with two mistborn. It would seem prudent to swallow their Atium beforehand instead of trying to eat it in a fight with another atium-powered mistborn.

[name_here]

One point in favor of the electrum theory: The only Atium in Kredik Shaw after the death of the Lord Ruler was the Atium in his bracers. If there had been enough Atium for the Inquisitors to use it with regularity, they would presumably have a significant quantity on hand that Vin would have recovered for later use.

[fyodor]

One point in favor of the electrum theory: The only Atium in Kredik Shaw after the death of the Lord Ruler was the Atium in his bracers. If there had been enough Atium for the Inquisitors to use it with regularity, they would presumably have a significant quantity on hand that Vin would have recovered for later use.

Fair enough, but they didn't find any electrum either.

[name_here]

But they wouldn't have been looking for electrum. They didn't know it was Allomantically sound.

[Windrunner he/him]

Well by this point Vin suspected that there were more Allomantic metals, she just didn't know what they were. If I were tearing apart the Lord Ruler's palace looking for Atium, and I came across some mysterious powdered metal I'd probably try it out, especially since I knew that there were secret metals.

[Vortaan he/him]

The same way he found Atium mistings, by spiking the drinks of nobility, and then causing a disturbance, and watching to see who instinctively burned their metals.

This doesn't seem to work. Atium is a known metal, the person burning it could assume that they are Mistborn. Electum is NOT a known metal, people burning it would have no knowledge of what was happening.

[Kurkistan he/him]

This doesn't seem to work. Atium is a known metal, the person burning it could assume that they are Mistborn. Electum is NOT a known metal, people burning it would have no knowledge of what was happening.

Just to clarify here, the Inquisitors would use Seekers (preferably double-bronze) to see who burned what. Self-reporting Oracles wouldn't be necessary.

[Vortaan he/him]

Just to clarify here, the Inquisitors would use Seekers (preferably double-bronze) to see who burned what. Self-reporting Oracles wouldn't be necessary.

Still, if you are in a party and suddenly experience something after an event that you can't explain, I'd expect someone to say something to someone. I find it more likely that electum was never given to the original Mistborn, so they never had any knowledge of it. Maybe the Lord Ruler used Mistborn to give it to Inquisitors?

[Kurkistan he/him]

Still, if you are in a party and suddenly experience something after an event that you can't explain, I'd expect someone to say something to someone. I find it more likely that electum was never given to the original Mistborn, so they never had any knowledge of it. Maybe the Lord Ruler used Mistborn to give it to Inquisitors?

"Well look at that, fellow nobles who I am in constant competition with; I saw a ghost for a half second there. Oh, and here come the Inquisitors! And now I'm being dragged away, never to be seen again! Toodaloo!"

No one is likely to want to reveal their "mental instability" to their fellows, and anyone would probably be too startled during the moment when they burned electrum to know what had happened, especially considering the commotion which would be happening at the same time.

Mistborn are far too valuable both as ways to strengthen the bloodline and as potential tools to waste acquiring a single spike, so their sacrifice was almost certainly avoided whenever possible.

Edited December 24, 2011 by Kurkistan

[Deus Ex Biotica]

Also, Atium and Electrum have roughly equal degrees of "half-second ghost," so I doubt that's a factor.

It is a good point about how Ruin has no incentive to want more Atium burned, and The Lord Ruler does. I will rescind my idea on that basis.

-- Deus Ex Biotica

[Aethling he/him]

I think it is a pretty decent theory. Vin and Kelsier would not have known about Electrum, but the LR would have known. Remember he puts plates in the caches with additional metal combinations that Vin and Elend didn't even know about at the end. Gold was considered a useless allomantic metal, so why would someone have tried making different alloys of it at random? Electrum makes it into the list by the second book, so it is fairly believable that it may have been used in the first book.

[fyodor]

I think it is a pretty decent theory. Vin and Kelsier would not have known about Electrum, but the LR would have known. Remember he puts plates in the caches with additional metal combinations that Vin and Elend didn't even know about at the end. Gold was considered a useless allomantic metal, so why would someone have tried making different alloys of it at random? Electrum makes it into the list by the second book, so it is fairly believable that it may have been used in the first book.

I think that the main problem is that someone asked the author about how they found seers to give atium to inquisitors and he gave a straightforward answer (that is the source of the drink spiking quote). I don't think that he would mislead us about atium abilities and it doesn't make sense to go through that much trouble to give them atium if they aren't going to use it.

Edited December 25, 2011 by fyodor

[Kurkistan he/him]

I think that the main problem is that someone asked the author about how they found seers to give atium to inquisitors and he gave a straightforward answer (that is the source of the drink spiking quote). I don't think that he would mislead us about atium abilities and it doesn't make sense to go through that much trouble to give them atium if they aren't going to use it.

I have no problem with Inquisitors being capable of using atium, but we're looking at electrum as a more cost-effective source of protection. Atium for definite engagements, electrum for general defense against surprise attack.

[Musicspren he/him]

Hero of Ages, hardcover page 58

Each previous cache had also contained information, written in steel. In Urteau, for instance, she had learned about electrum.

We know TLR knew of it and used it. I doubt he needed it himself; even if he didn't give atium to the Inquisitors, he could have supplied himself with it. It makes sense that he would have given electrum to the inquisitors so they could fight atium-users. If he wanted atium burned through rather than stored, it would have been easy to have an atium burning party with he and the Inquisitors to use up everything left over for the year. Doing so would have made the secrecy of storing it in the Homeland unnecessary. Perhaps burning it makes it regrow in the Pits more quickly (or perhaps he believed that, which would have the same effect on his actions). Either way, if his goal was to use up atium, he was fully capable of doing that.

The potential problem with having Inquisitors burn electrum is that they would have required an atium spike for a non-atium power. That's theoretically possible, yes, but using an atium spike might use more atium than most Inquisitors would use in many years without electrum. However, if he always recovered the bodies of dead inquisitors, he could have reused their atium spikes indefinitely, possibly making it efficient again. Plus, it is a fairly effective way of storing atium; it never gets burned (presuming that, for whatever reason, he didn't want that), and no one is really going to steal it from an Inquisitor's chest.

[Aeshdan he/him]

I have no problem with Inquisitors being capable of using atium, but we're looking at electrum as a more cost-effective source of protection. Atium for definite engagements, electrum for general defense against surprise attack.

Very good point here(upvoted). Maybe they always carried electrum just in case they had to fight mistborn (which is impractical with atium)

[name_here]

I figure that the Lord Ruler did not want to give the Inquisitors Atium because they were subject to Ruin mind-control in the event of his escape, and he couldn't trust that they would avoid being nudged to squirrel it away in a "safe" location prior to that, so he pretended he wasn't giving them Atium because it would undermine his supposed market control by shrinking his stockpile and finding Seers to spike them with also chewed through his stocks too fast to be a regular thing.

[Thought]

This discussion seems to be based on the assumption that an an Inquisitor wouldn't just walk around with Atium in his or her stomach, since we are told that digestive juices destroy it after a short period. So allow me to ask: why do we assume that Inquisitors have digestive juices that would be harmful to atium? After all, we know that their physiology has been drastically altered by their spikes.