fGold healing and hemalurgy

[ccstat]

So I hope this isn't seen as necro-ing. I just came up with a theory almost identical to the OP, and did a search to make sure it was original before posting. Turns out, someone already thought of it. I'm posting both as an independent corroboration of the thought process, and also to add my own thoughts, since my interpretation is a little different.

 

Essentially, it makes sense to me that Feruchemical gold is able to knit together pieces of the spiritweb that have been disconnected but left in place. In the case of a shardwound, I think Feruchemical gold would be healing the connection, not regrowing a removed piece. In a hemalurgic application, that means that the torn edges of spiritweb can grow back together, making the spiking survivable, but that stolen traits would not be regrown.

 

Yes, the amount of health involved is substantial, so your average ferring may be hard pressed to heal themselves after spiking, but a twinborn compounder like Miles could do it without blinking. (Someone who casually blows himself up with dynamite just to untie a few knots probably has some health to spare.)

 

This is, of course, assuming that the necessary gold abilities are left in place. Importantly, we know that hemalurgy does not just steal the allomancy and feruchemy. Koloss are made through stealing strength or life force (I don't recall the word specifically). Though I am becoming a bit more skeptical of this application, I had initially thought that this theory would allow for sustainable hemalurgy. It seems possible to me that life force and strength, as things that are universal and needed daily, may be regenerable naturally, in the same way that your body makes more blood all the time as needed. If you don't die it is just a matter of time to fully recover from severe blood loss. (By way of extending the analogy, losing allomancy would be more like losing a kidney--also survivable in the right circumstances, but you don't grow a new kidney.)

So, if this part is true (and I admit it is the weakest point in the reasoning) then you could get an unlimited number of koloss-type spikes from a double gold twin born. This is particularly useful if the hemalurgy-powers-south-scadrial-tech theories are right.

 

I do like Darnam's thoughts on surgery through history. In particular, this idea:

I put to you that this is what hemalurgy as we've seen it is like; a brutal system that deals far, far more damage than it technically needs to, both in body and soul.

I think that hemalurgy has the potential to be performed properly, with neater incisions that take only and exactly what they have to, and follows up with spiritual sutures that hardly leave a scar. I see no reason to assume that this is the default setting.

It made me think of hemalurgic acupuncture. Maybe that will be a thing.

[Moogle]

Your thoughts are interesting and well-put as usual, ccstat.

 

Worth noting is memory-removal with Breath in Warbreaker. You 'Awaken' something with a part of your Breath which corresponds to your memories, allowing you to forget things. (The little abused girl that Vasher and Vivenna saves does this after Vasher instructs her.)

 

I think Hemalurgy should be capable of a similar effect, with similarly non-lethal consequences by a skilled practitioner. That's what your Hemalurgic acupuncture made me think of - you get poked with needles, and they remove your memories of stress, relaxing and making you happier.

Edited January 31, 2014 by Moogle

[ccstat]

Thanks, Moogle. And great connection to the memory removal scene! I would not have seen that relationship on my own, but it really could fit together that way. In general, an end-negative magic system is "worse" because it is about removing and losing things rather than gaining power, but as you point out there are certain situations where that is exactly what is desired.

 

So theoretically if Hemalurgic acupuncture is possible, we could rethink an application of that magic system as primarily removal of something you want gone, with that trait potentially recycled as an added bonus (rather than theft in order to get something). In most cases removing part of your spiritweb/identity is not a good idea, but some potential situations where it might be:

• Traumatic events (e.g. the memory removal above, or severe PTSD like Dunny)
• Disabling emotions
• Controlling investiture by Odium (shoot voidbringers with a hemalurgic needle-gun to turn them good again )

The level of skill and ethical consideration would need to be extremely high to make this a useful tool and not a lobotomy. And obviously, greed being what it is, it would be very hard to guard against abuses of the system towards a Final Empire style usage. Still, I think there would be potential. (All of this being contingent on a rather wishful thought experiment.)

Edited February 2, 2014 by ccstat