Do we know the origin of Feruchemy?

[Darth_Hel]

Not sure if there is any WoB on this. But is it possible that Feruchemy is a result of a third shard? It seems like Feruchemy would make a great magic system for a shard like autonomy. You rely on your own power to fuel your magic, save up something of yourself to use it later, you're basically autonomous.

 

So, is it possible that people just assume its a mixture of preservation and ruin but its not?

[Voidus]

Not sure if there is any WoB on this. But is it possible that Feruchemy is a result of a third shard? It seems like Feruchemy would make a great magic system for a shard like autonomy. You rely on your own power to fuel your magic, save up something of yourself to use it later, you're basically autonomous.

 

So, is it possible that people just assume its a mixture of preservation and ruin but its not?

Pretty sure we have multiple WoB that it's a mix of Ruin and Preservation.

[Firehead13]

If I remember the in-text description, Feruchemy is purely of preservation, hemalurgy is purely of ruin, and allomancy is the bastard child of both. In Feruchemy, you store energy then release that same amount of energy, no more and no less. That makes it preservation. Hemalurgy causes the loss of power, making it of ruin. Allomancy is the odd one here, because energy is gained, though I believe it is explained away by mixing the two shards.

[Elbereth she/her]

That's a bit mixed up. Allomancy is pure Preservation (and is end-positive), Hemalurgy is purely Ruin (and is end-negative), and Feruchemy is the mixture.

And here's your quote:

QUESTION

Feruchemy is the "balance" between Ruin and Preservation. Would any combination of Shards create a "balance" magic, so to speak, or are only certain Shards compatible?

BRANDON SANDERSON

Feruchemy ended up being a balance system, because of how polar Ruin and Preservation were. Any world with at least two Shards will result in a similar phenomenon.

[Darth_Hel]

cool, thanks.

[+Authweight]

There's also WoB that anywhere you have multiple shardic influences, you are likely to see a naturally arising "blended" manifestation of investiture. This obviously has significant consequences for our understanding of Sel and Roshar.

Edited October 24, 2015 by Authweight

[coppercloud]

There's also WoB that anywhere you have multiple shardic influences, you are likely to see a naturally arising "blended" manifestation of investiture. This obviously has significant consequences for our understanding of Sel and Roshar.

I can't remember if its a WoB or just popular theory that the way hemalurgy works on Scadrial is different than the way it works on other worlds. That the shards change the way it works.

[Ari he/him]

There's also WoB that anywhere you have multiple shardic influences, you are likely to see a naturally arising "blended" manifestation of investiture. This obviously has significant consequences for our understanding of Sel and Roshar.

 

Pretty sure we've actually seen a blended system on Sel already. The Jindo seem a great candidate to have one.

 

 

I can't remember if its a WoB or just popular theory that the way hemalurgy works on Scadrial is different than the way it works on other worlds. That the shards change the way it works.

 

IIRC this is still unresolved? The debate is essentially whether Hemalurgy functions as "<world focus> will steal <world-related> powers in some matrix of focus types and bind points." or whether it's "metals will steal all powers, and there's a more complicated matrix of metal types and bind points that are relevant to stealing investiture alien to Scadrial."

[DreamEternal]

Pretty sure we've actually seen a blended system on Sel already. The Jindo seem a great candidate to have one.

Since both shards on Sel are splintered, and the selian magics are as far as I remember confirmed by WoB to be different manifestations of the same system, I'd say Sel actualy lacks "pure" systems.

Edited October 27, 2015 by CognitivePulsePattern

[DeadFencer]

I have a theory based on nothing that Harmony can affect the past. (Even though the prophecy about the hero of ages was corrupted by Ruin, it had some accuracy, like the ability to save the world on their arms. Maybe Sazed wrote it retroactively?) If Sazed affects the past, maybe Feruchemy comes from him?It seems like a harmony-esque power; the ability is stored (Preservation) but has to be used eventually (Ruin).

[Voidus]

I have a theory based on nothing that Harmony can affect the past. (Even though the prophecy about the hero of ages was corrupted by Ruin, it had some accuracy, like the ability to save the world on their arms. Maybe Sazed wrote it retroactively?) If Sazed affects the past, maybe Feruchemy comes from him?It seems like a harmony-esque power; the ability is stored (Preservation) but has to be used eventually (Ruin).

I think that was Preservation who originally wrote them and the Ruin distorted them to suit his needs where possible.

[Ari he/him]

Since both shards on Sel are splintered, and the selian magics are as far as I remember confirmed by WoB to be different manifestations of the same system, I'd say Sel actualy lacks "pure" systems.

 

Really? I recall Brandon saying all of them accessed the Dor, sure. (Which we're pretty sure is some weird consequence of having two Splintered shards on the same planet) That doesn't necessarily mean that some still aren't aligned more with Devotion (like AonDor) or with Dominion. (like the Dakhor runes)

 

The quotes I've seen on Theoryland relating to Sel talk about similar mechanics throughout Selish systems, but that is not the same thing at all to them all being mixtures of Devotion and Dominion. I see one that calls them "all the same magic", but it's really not clear which of three things Brandon's addressing there: the similarity in how Selish magic works, by programming things via symbols, or the same power source being used for everything ie. the Dor, or that Dominion and Devotion are no longer distinct. And in shutting down a theory that AonDor was of Dominion, he kinda implied that it might be of Devotion instead. (which seems very likely given it has her name in its name!) So I'm feeling that we don't have a clear statement on that at all here.