Are atium and lerasium finite?

[Vidcom]

This occurred to me the other day, because it's never stated anywhere whether it is or isn't. In Alloy Of Law, atium is known to be rare, but this could be because the area where it grows has been scattered by Harmony (anyone who controlled the Pits of Hathsin would be too powerful), so if this is true, then surely the same would be for lerasium?

[Eric]

Atium and Lerasium are dispensed at the whim of Harmony in the Alloy of Law era. They are as finite as he wills them to be.

[Nepene]

Atium is indeed limited. Elend and his seers managed to use it all up. It does regenerate after being used though.

Lerasium is rarely produced and so is inherently limited.

If Harmony chose he could produce a huge amount of atium or lerasium. I am not sure if he could produce enough to be limitless if humans constantly burnt it.

[name_here]

The amount must be limited, because depositing Atium made Ruin equal in power to Preservation after Preservation expended a finite amount of energy creating Scadrial. The total amount that could possibly be produced would be vast beyond imagining, but still finite.

Atium regenerates, but I'm pretty sure there's a maximum amount that could be in existence due to the Pits at any given time, and when burned the energy returns to the Pits to make more.

The Pits were trashed by Kelsier, though, so they haven't been producing. They were, however, predicted to regenerate and start producing again in... about the time period between the original trilogy and Alloy Of Law. Harmony may or may not have done anything about that.

Edited January 28, 2013 by name_here

[Thought]

Lerasium is highly limited, in comparison to Atium. The reason for this being that it is an enhancement metal: burn it, and it essentially binds to your sDNA, being thus with you forever, and your children, and your children's children's children. Atium, once burned, returns to the aether where it can condense again. However, the respective shards have some control over the production of their metals (not sure how Preservation forced Ruin to produce Atium), so the exact limits are a bit up to them, but given that the shards are themselves limited, definitely finite.

[happyman]

I would have to go with finite, myself.

Potentially very, very large, but finite. "Finite" is a rather vague description; it's only limit is infinity, which lands us in an interesting philosophical conundrum. But it still has meaning, so I say, finite.

[Millennium]

If I'm understanding Brandon right, they're finite but renewable: it is possible to run out, but they eventually regenerate, and could thus be sustained indefinitely if they were managed carefully. This is definitely true of Atium, which slowly regenerates at the Pits of Hathsin. Almost all of it was burned at the end of The Hero of Ages, to deny Ruin his physical aspect, but by the time of The Alloy of Law there might be burnable quantities again. That said, first people would first have to find the Pits again, and then rediscover Atium's value.

It's tougher to say with Lerasium. When Vin arrived at the Well of Ascension in the book of the same name, there was only one bead there (though it's now thought that there had until very recently been two beads, and Hoid took one). I can see three possibilities here, but each opens up new questions:

• Lerasium doesn't regenerate. These beads were left over from Rashek's Ascension, and he left them there for safekeeping. But why did he hold them back?
  
• Lerasium regenerates, but does so much more slowly than Atium does, such that only two beads were made in the thousand years since Rashek's Ascension. But why does it regenerate more slowly?
  
• Lerasium regenerates, but someone -probably the Lord Ruler- has been taking the beads as they are formed. But since he clearly hasn't been feeding them to nobles or Steel Inquisitors, what was he doing with them? Or was someone else taking the beads?
  

[Phantom Monstrosity]

We aren't necessarily certain Hoid only took one.

[dj26792]

But we do know he was at the well just before Vin was there, that he took something from the well and now has 'some metal he isn't supposed to have' These pieces of information seem to point so clearly towards him having lerasium that he either must have some, or Brandon for some reason wants us to think he does, despite the fact that he doesn't, now I personally find the idea of him having Lerasium far more likely to me.

[Voidus]

But we do know he was at the well just before Vin was there, that he took something from the well and now has 'some metal he isn't supposed to have' These pieces of information seem to point so clearly towards him having lerasium that he either must have some, or Brandon for some reason wants us to think he does, despite the fact that he doesn't, now I personally find the idea of him having Lerasium far more likely to me.

Brandon's confirmed that he has Lerasium, I think Phantom is talking about how much Lerasium he has.

[Observer]

I always thought that Rashek took some of the Well's power and solidified it into a metal, meaning that Lerasium is as finite as the Well and gets a spike in supply every 1020 years.

[Voidus]

I always thought that Rashek took some of the Well's power and solidified it into a metal, meaning that Lerasium is as finite as the Well and gets a spike in supply every 1020 years.

That's 1024 years (It's a multiple of 16), but yeah I always figured that as well.

[Eric]

I actually assumed that's what any and all previous "Heroes" had done: take the power of the Well and use it to create Lerasium. No real basis, aside from that I thought there were probably predecessors to Rashek and Alendi.

[Thought]

From Sazed's description, I had assumed that the well had only filled up twice. Once when Rashek took it, and then again when Vin did. Since Rashek found the lerasium, that seemed to indicate that Preservation put it there.

[Phantom Monstrosity]

Didn't Rashek congeal some of the well's power to make the Lerasium.

[Eric]

From Sazed's description, I had assumed that the well had only filled up twice. Once when Rashek took it, and then again when Vin did. Since Rashek found the lerasium, that seemed to indicate that Preservation put it there.

Which part? I haven't read it in a while...

Didn't Rashek congeal some of the well's power to make the Lerasium.

I've heard that as hypothesized, but not confirmed.

[Vortaan]

Lerasium is highly limited, in comparison to Atium. The reason for this being that it is an enhancement metal: burn it, and it essentially binds to your sDNA, being thus with you forever, and your children, and your children's children's children. Atium, once burned, returns to the aether where it can condense again. However, the respective shards have some control over the production of their metals (not sure how Preservation forced Ruin to produce Atium), so the exact limits are a bit up to them, but given that the shards are themselves limited, definitely finite.

From what I understood, just consuming Lerasium makes you a Mistborn, not burning it. We haven't seen anyone burn it yet.

[Voidus]

From what I understood, just consuming Lerasium makes you a Mistborn, not burning it. We haven't seen anyone burn it yet.

No you need to burn it to become a Mistborn, but anyone can burn it. Brandon has said that if you knew what you were doing you could do some cool things with it, but a Mistborn burning it would just become stronger.