Origin of Feruchemy Speculation

[Araris Valerian he/him]

Feruchemy is the balance magic between Ruin and Preservation. Furthermore, it only existed in the Terris people as far as we know before AoL, and even then it requires some Terris bloodlines. My theory is that feruchemy comes about when a person who has excess investiture from Preservation, which manifests as allomancy, gains some of Ruin's investiture as well. We know from HoA/WoA that there was some hemalurgy that went on before the ascension. Perhaps the ancestors of the Terris practiced hemalurgy at some point, which led to the investiture being passed down until it manifested as genetic feruchemy.

 

To restate, feruchemy is the balance between Ruin and Preservation, and thus may have come about when the investiture given by Preservation to all humankind was passed down along with an equal amount of investiture from Ruin, creating feruchemy. This assumes that hemalurgic traits are passed down through the generations, but I think that it has some viability. 

 

Any other ideas about how feruchemy came about and was limited to only a single population?

[Elementalist he/him]

I had always believed that it was due to Terris's close proximity to the Well of Ascension, which contained parts of both Preservation and Ruin.

[WeiryWriter he/him]

The problem I see is that all native Scadrians have investiture from Ruin and Preservation, with an excess of the later, so it wouldn't be unique to the Terris peoples?  Also the genes for allomancy do not seem to be extant in the Terris genepool.  Hemalurgy was widely practiced, if not entirely understood, prior to the Ascension of the Lord Ruler so if it was partially responsible for the development of feruchemy, feruchemy would be more widespread.

 

Feruchemists still have more Preservation than Ruin, as opposed to a balance between the two, otherwise they would not be sentient.

 

My personal theory is that it has to do with the fact that Classical Terris was the location for both of the shardpools.

 

Edit: @Power, The Well of Ascension does not contain part of Ruin, it is wholly of Preservation.  I guess it could be said that it acted as the "lock" on Ruin's prison, but it itself does not contain Ruin.

Edited January 7, 2014 by WeiryWriter

[Oudeis he/him]

Edit: @Power, The Well of Ascension does not contain part of Ruin, it is wholly of Preservation.  I guess it could be said that it acted as the "lock" on Ruin's prison, but it itself does not contain Ruin.

 

The black smoke was of Ruin, and it was physically located at the Well.

[Shardlet he/him]

At the Well, but not part of it.

[Elementalist he/him]

I apologize. I was acting on the erroneous belief that the Well was the prison for Ruin's mind. I forgot that it was actually the key to said prison. However, the soul of my argument still stands, as part of Ruin's body did coalesce there. @Weiry, I definitely agree that the proximity to the Shardpools was a large factor as well.

[Oudeis he/him]

At the Well, but not part of it.

 

 

the Well of Ascension, which contained parts of both Preservation and Ruin.

 

All he said was that the Well "contained" part of Ruin, which it did, much as this glass sitting next to me contains water, even though the water isn't part of the glass. His statement was correct.

 

Regardless, within the Terris mountains, no more than a week's journey from the Well (and not quick travel; treacherous mountainous travel. Can any mountaineers out there guess how many miles per day people with technology roughly analogous to Earth between 1000 and 14000 could travel in such circumstances?) was Ruin's own Shardpool.

[Shardlet he/him]

All he said was that the Well "contained" part of Ruin, which it did, much as this glass sitting next to me contains water, even though the water isn't part of the glass. His statement was correct.

 

Yes, this is semantics to degree, I know, but the liquid essence of Preservation was in the Well (like the water is in your glass).  Your glass however, does not contain the book that it is next to.  Similarly, the Well did not contain the black smoke which was a part of Ruin which was essentially in the next room over.

[Oudeis he/him]

You're absolutely right. His basic point, that the culture of Terris was very near the locations of concentrated Ruin and Preservation, is entirely invalid because Ruin was seven feet to the left.

Edited January 8, 2014 by Darnam

[Elementalist he/him]

Shardlet is right that the Well did not contain a part of Ruin, and Darnam is right that my basic point is still the same. You've each proved your points. I'm sorry that there was confusion, I should have stated my original post better.

[Vortaan he/him]

Well, we know it wasn't the presence of the black smoke that led to Feruchemy, or pretty much all of Luthadel would've been Feruchemists by the time of the books. The Shardpools idea seems to hold the most water right now. It could also be that Leras just made them a bit different, OR that there was a similar purge of Feruchemists in the past and that Terris was where the refugees fled. Honestly if I were fleeing from a racial purge, inhospitable mountain terrain wouldn't seem like a bad idea.

[Sheridan_rd]

I would agree that Feruchemy is likely the result to the Terris people living in the vicinity of 2 shardpools.

(Although my previous theory that the Terris were the first people created on Scardial, and were over-invested by the inexperienced Gods Ruin and Preservation, has never been confirmed nor denied)

I think that Feruchemy was either the result of a earlier Sliver of Preservation using the WoA to help their people survive in the Mountains; or the result of the Terris consuming Atium from the Pits of Hathsin.

My second idea is based on how quickly Atium dissolves in a person's stomach and the effect Lerasium has when ingested.

 

[cometaryorbit]

On 1/7/2014 at 9:52 PM, Vortaan said:

Well, we know it wasn't the presence of the black smoke that led to Feruchemy, or pretty much all of Luthadel would've been Feruchemists by the time of the books. The Shardpools idea seems to hold the most water right now.

The Pits of Hathsin were relatively close to Luthadel, though, so it seems like that was a factor.

Personally, I think it was probably intentional action by Preservation, possibly at the same time as the origin of the Terris Prophecies. Maybe when Preservation provided the Prophecies, he 'empowered' the people the Prophecies were given to as evidence that they were real?

[nervousnerd he/him]

12 hours ago, Sheridan_rd said:

I would agree that Feruchemy is likely the result to the Terris people living in the vicinity of 2 shardpools.

(Although my previous theory that the Terris were the first people created on Scardial, and were over-invested by the inexperienced Gods Ruin and Preservation, has never been confirmed nor denied)

I think that Feruchemy was either the result of a earlier Sliver of Preservation using the WoA to help their people survive in the Mountains; or the result of the Terris consuming Atium from the Pits of Hathsin.

My second idea is based on how quickly Atium dissolves in a person's stomach and the effect Lerasium has when ingested.

 

This is interesting in that the Horneaters in the Stormlight Archive are in a similar vicinity to a shardpool and

Spoiler

Rock has the power to see spren that normal people can't see.

It isn't a two shardpool situation there as far as we know but it is interesting that certain abilities seem to at least begin in people who live near shardpools.

Edited February 10, 2017 by nervousnerd

[Sheridan_rd]

Actually I was suggesting the presence of the Shardpools in Terris mountains gave the people the opportunity to harness the investitures.

Similar to Elentris on Sel was built to focus and enhance the power of Devotion's Shardpool and the Aons

[The One Who Connects he/him]

10 hours ago, nervousnerd said:

This is interesting in that the Horneaters in the Stormlight Archive are in a similar vicinity to a shardpool and

  Reveal hidden contents

Rock has the power to see spren that normal people can't see.

It isn't a two shardpool situation there as far as we know but it is interesting that certain abilities seem to at least begin in people who live near shardpools.

Stormlight Spoilers

Spoiler

Rock also mentions physically swimming beneath the normal lake down into what we assume is the Shardpool. I cannot remember the specific phrase, but it definitely implied that he could tell it was a different liquid. Something "purer"

Meaning that this case might not be purely due to "vicinity" of a Pool.

Edited February 10, 2017 by The One Who Connects

[Sheridan_rd]

That phrase implies the horneaters have a coming of age ritual, in which some develop special abilities. 

Similar to Avian in "Sixth of Dusk".

Perhaps a comparable ritual existed for the ancient Terris that over many generations became inherent 

[Yezrien]

There's a WoB on this:

Quote

QUESTION

How is a new Feruchemist made?

BRANDON SANDERSON

What do you mean?

QUESTION

Well you can make a new Mistborn by lerasium--

BRANDON SANDERSON

Oh, okay. Other than through birth?

QUESTION

Yeah.

BRANDON SANDERSON

That’s a RAFO, good question though. Right now, as far as anyone knows, it’s by birth only. But-- Well we’ll leave it there. You know that the extra Preservation instead of Ruin had some effects on people on Scadrial

To me, this says the extra Preservation is just one piece of the puzzle. What really happened is a little more dramatic, like with Lerasium. And considering Hoid's implied involvement with the Terris Worldbringers, I expect he had something to do with it.