Hemalurgic Compounding

[KnightGradient]

Compounding. Arguably the most powerful powerset to have. With it, you can have limitless luck, strength, or life. But I've been pondering compounding in its relation to Hemalurgy. So I'll cut right to the chase; I think there is a different way to Compound with Allomancy.

Feruchemical Compounding requires somebody born with both Allomancy and Feruchemy, and that they share at least one metal(i.e. Gold like Miles Hundredlives). They then burn a Feruchemical storage Allomantically, and gain the power tenfold(or something like that).

Hemalurgic Compounding, the proposed one, is a lot more complicated. Lets say, grab an atium spike(preferably one small enough to swallow), and with it, stab poor old Coinshot Joe to steel(badum tssss) his power. Then, we grab a random pedestrian with no Allomantic heritage, and instead of stabbing them to make them Metalborn, have them ingest it, similar to lerasium, and burn it to become a Coinshot.

Basically, a Hemalurgic spike would be identical to a lerasium-(random metal) alloy, in that it would grant you that Allomantic power. It also would insert itself into you sDNA, while spiking would insert itself into your Spiritweb, the difference being burning lerasium-(random metal) alloy makes it a genetic ability.

The compounding part of this is, that if instead of a random pedestrian, we picked Coinshot Steve to have burn the spike. He would then have his power increased, similar to a Hemalurgic spike. I also believe that it would be multiplied, since Feruchemical Compounding does the same, meaning Coinshot Steve would be a lot stronger than two regular Coinshots.

What are the benefits to burning the spike instead of sticking a bunch of metal in your flesh?
1. Harmony couldn't be messing with you(thoughtwise and such) in case you aren't religious.
2. It's a lot less conspicuous then metal spikes poking outside of your flesh.
3. More power to be gained if Allomantic heritage is present.
4. Requires less knowledge of Hemalurgy to work.

So there it is! The simple and easy guide to becoming a Hemalurgic compounder. If this has been done before, I am not aware.

[Oversleep]

I believe there is a WoB about burning spikes - it won't do any good to you.
I am no good at finding WoBs and currently there aren't any Theorydancers in my Knights Theoretic, so... I hope somebody could provide a source.

Edited December 11, 2015 by Oversleep

[natc]

All I actually remember on the subject is some mention of gene splicing . . .

[Landis963 he/him]

First off, Atium wouldn't make the spiked person a mistborn (or even a misting) - that's what lerasium does to a layman.  Lerasium, when used hemalurgically, steals some unknown attribute, which has been consistently RAFO'd since, oh, Hero of Ages.  However, if you stuck a hemalurgic Steel spike in a coinshot, and said coinshot elects to burn the spike rather than his other internal stores, then by WoB odd things would happen to their spiritweb.  (something along the lines of the coding on the spike getting melted into their spiritweb, IIRC) It is unlikely that any of these things will result in a desirable quality of life afterward.  

Edited December 11, 2015 by Landis963

[skaa he/him]

From here:

 

 

MARU NUI ()

What happens when you burn a Hemalurgic spike?

BRANDON SANDERSON ()

Burning a Hemalurgic spike would have the effect of splicing your spiritual DNA to that of the person's that is in the spike, which would have some very strange consequences.


 

 

Note that Brandon had a different answer a few years prior to that, so he probably hadn't thought about the possibility of burning Hemalurgic spikes until someone asked him about it, which means it's not part of his original plan for the Metallic Arts. But he can always change his mind. 

[EdroGrimshell]

Well, IIRC, the magic systems being hacked together have the benefits and drawbacks of the Transit system, namely that enhancing Feruchemy with Allomancy (Compounding) has the benefits of being End-Positive and the extra power comes from an outside source, the downside is it burns the metal.

 

Benefits of Hemalurgy are that you steal the ability and anyone can learn it, downside is that it's End-Negative. Of course, technically Hemalurgy is already a "hack" to the system, allowing you to enhance Feruchemy or Allomancy by getting a spike with the power in it.

 

Benefits of Feruchemy are that it's End-Neutral and you can tap it at an increased rate, downside is you need to store up all of the abilities yourself. (This is why I think that the "Storing Allomantic Investiture in Nicrosil" for enhancing allomancy with feruchemy works.)

 

Hemalurgy already hacks the system as a Transit ability, since it steals the abilities to grant them to others, so you can't compound it, unless you reverse it and enhance hemalurgy through allomancy or feruchemy. So I think that getting spiked with an allomantic/feruchemical skill you already have is technically Hemalurgic Compounding. The other way around, however, seems like it'd be the more interesting question.

[Eagle of the Forest Path he/him]

This makes me wonder what happens when you hemalurgically steal a human attribute that is being enhanced by feruchemy (or allomancy I guess).

 

For instance, a copper spike can steal intelligence and memory (according to the coppermind).

So if you use it on a Sparker ferring who is currently tapping loads of mental speed, can you steal the enhanced intelligence or only the amount the target would naturally possess?

 

Same thing for an iron spike in a Brute, a zinc spike in a Pinnacle, a tin spike in a Windwhisper or Tineye...

 

Though I have a hard time imagining why someone would want to spike an allomancer or feruchemist for their human attributes instead of their powers.

Edited December 11, 2015 by EagleOfTheForestPath

[EdroGrimshell]

Soulbearer using Hemalurgy, infuses the metal spike with investiture to stop the loss of power, making the use of Hemalurgy End-Neutral. Would take work to actually do that though.

 

Then a Trueself could Store their Identity when getting spiked to potentially overwrite their spiritual DNA more closely, rather than overlaying it, mitigating some of the issues of the spike, like being able to "unspike" and keep the ability.

 

Just a couple ideas. I think the first might work, but the second is very iffy at best.

[Voidus]

As Skaa pointed out Brandons given a few different answers over the years.
Either:
Need to burn a spike that had stabbed you and stolen your own power.
Burning a spike would be incredibly painful and potentially kill you.
It would permanently splice your DNA.

[natc]

Granted the "kill you" part isn't mutually exclusive with the other two.

[Yata he/him]

Soulbearer using Hemalurgy, infuses the metal spike with investiture to stop the loss of power, making the use of Hemalurgy End-Neutral. Would take work to actually do that though.

 

Then a Trueself could Store their Identity when getting spiked to potentially overwrite their spiritual DNA more closely, rather than overlaying it, mitigating some of the issues of the spike, like being able to "unspike" and keep the ability.

 

Just a couple ideas. I think the first might work, but the second is very iffy at best.

Sorry but about the Soulbearer things, from where do you get the Investiture ? And Why does it stop the Decay ?

[EdroGrimshell]

It'd probably have to be a full-blood feruchemist or a twinborn, or the ability to drain investiture from a Hemalurgic Spike. And Hemalurgic decay, as I understand it (and I may be very wrong here) is the loss of investiture from the metal as it leaks off, weakening the Spirit Web as it goes and thus reducing the power for an End-Negative Power. With Feruchemy, you'd have to store up power (easy to do, probably requires draining the investiture from a hemalurgic spike or two... likely earrings so they aren't lethal when removed) and then putting that into the other spikes to stop the loss of power OR to empower the spike by binding the investiture more tightly as if it were a metalmind. Of course, you'd also need to find a way to channel the investiture into the spike.

 

Again, this is speculation and I have no idea if it'd actually work, but it's an idea that might work based on my perception of the system, which, again, may be flawed.