[WOR] Nightwatcher and Feruchemy

[Observer]

I apologize for the poor formatting in advance.

 

So, in light of recent-ish WoB telling us that F!Zinc is not bullet time as we had assumed, but instead an aide in intuitive leaps and intelligence, I've come to notice similarities in what the Nightwatcher does. Starting with the most obvious example, we have Taravagnian.

 

Taravagnian's intelligence varies day to day in a way that might actually be consistent with F!Zinc. Since we now know the intelligence and the ability to make leaps of intuition can definitively be stored and traded as investure, this might be the mechanic behind that Nightwatcher's boon. (It may even be the reason his intellect spreads around evenly. Storing intellect and then using it up later at a more or less even spread. But I'm not nearly so sure of that.)

 

But can this be applied to other Nightwatcher boons as well? Actually, I think it can.

We know from Slider Ferrings that body fat and the energy a person gets from eating can be converted into Investure. It's possible that you could convert the investure inside a Bendalloy-Mind from food-based energy into raw Investure with the right tools. The might actually be what Lift is doing every time she eats. The food is going straight into the Cognitive and being converted from energy and into Stormlight Investure. 

 

Finally, Dalinar. I'm not sure if forgetting his wife was the boon, the curse, or both. Either way, if the Nightwatcher is using principles similar to those of Feruchemy, his memory loss feels a lot like Copper Feruchmeny. The way he forgets her name the instant its spoken is similar to what happens if you store your present experiences into a Coppermind live, if we assume the Shshsh thing is how his mind, or the narrative, comprehends the process.

 

Theories? Criticism? Did somebody already come up with this before me? Let me know below

[skaa he/him]

The similarities do seem to be there, I agree. Also, both the Old Magic and Feruchemy have a balance theme going on. Unfortunately I don't yet have a good theory connecting these two magic systems. The kneejerk response would be that all manifestations of Investiture are under the general laws governing the Cosmere and so it is natural to find similar magics on different Shardworlds, but perhaps there's a more interesting connection. *shrugs*

Oh, and may I ask for a link to that WoB, please? Thanks!

Edited February 20, 2016 by skaa

[Observer]

[11:32]
Alterodent: With zinc, you get mental speed. How is that any different from steel, except without [physical] speed?
A: I think of the mental speed actually turning you into... Let's say you sped up your body, and you wanted to figure out some really complex equations.
Q: So it lets you have intuitive leaps.
A: Right. It basically turns you into Ken Jennings. That's how I imagine it.
Kurk: So it's not like bullet time?
A: No... It'll bullet time a little bit, it certainly will, because you're thinking faster than everyone else, but it has applications beyond bullet timing. Bullet time is really-
Kurk: That’s steel’s thing?
A: That’s kind of steel's thing. They overlap on that one, because the steel thing... But yeah. It's more like "I think fast, but my reaction speed is not sped up".
(source)

[Runyan Firetree]

I like this theory a lot but I think skaa may be more correct.  How would the theory address Av's family member's experiences?

 

 

“Nah,” Av said. “Don’t fancy making the trip all the way to the Valley. Besides, my brother went. Came back with two numb hands. Never could feel anything with them again.”

“What was his boon?” Baxil asked as the mistress wrapped up a vase with a cloth, then quietly shattered it on the floor and crushed the pieces.

“Don’t know,” Av said. “He never said. Seemed embarrassed. Probably asked for something silly, like a good haircut.” Av smirked.

...<break>...

“I didn’t,” Av said. “On account of my father going, my mother going, and each of my brothers going. A few got what they wanted. Most all of them regretted the curse, save my father. He got a heap of good cloth; sold to keep us from starving during the lurnip famine a few decades ago.”

“What was his curse?” Baxil said.

“Saw the world upside down from then on.”

“Really?”

“Yeah,” Av said. “Twisted all about. Like people walk on the ceilings and the sky was underneath him. Said he got used to it pretty quickly, though, and didn’t really think it a curse by the time he died.”

Even thinking about that curse made Baxil feel sick.

Edited March 10, 2016 by runyan_ft

[Nashan’Elin he/him]

I like this theory a lot but I think skaa may be more correct.  How would the theory address Av's family member's experiences?

Av's brother's numb hands sounds a little like tin Feruchemy, storing touch. No idea about the father though

[Zathoth]

Im not the only one to make that connection XD That said I think skaa is mostly right. The old magic is probably an end neutral system and we can speculate how it really works (realmatically and all that I mean) from that, but I wouldnt say that it is a Rosharan version of Feruchemy.

 

That said Taravangians bane/boon really looks like F Zinc.