hoidhunter he/him Posted March 10, 2016 Report Share Posted March 10, 2016 (edited) While trying to get my over caffeinated mind to sleep last night, I found myself pondering the cosmere (as usual). Something occurred to me that I don't remember ever seeing addressed. What would happen if someone tried to swallow and burn a piece of metal that had a hemalurgic charge instead of a feruchemical one? Now, there are obvious reasons why this would be hard to attempt in the first place. Following the rules, an allomancer can't take just any old metalmind and burn it...it is keyed to the feruchemist's identity...so the only people who can compound are people who, for whatever reason, can use the same metal for both feruchemy and allomancy...twinborn, hemalurgist, etc. Assuming that this remains constant with the theoretical situation I'm positing, you would have to either: A: Take a shaving off of a spike already in your body B: Spike yourself, survive, and still have access to the ability to burn the type of metal the spike is made of. Method A sounds a lot easier to pull off...method B...almost impossible... I could easily accept that this is just not something that works...which is why it has never been addressed. But just for fun, what do you guys think would be the result of hemalurgic compounding? Edited March 10, 2016 by hoidhunter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Khyrindor he/him Posted March 10, 2016 Report Share Posted March 10, 2016 WoB says it would have some very weird effects. Also, I think you're wrong about the fact that you wouldn't be able to burn a spike that someone else was used up in making. Hemalurgy is all about stealing, so the Feruchemy rule of not using others' metalminds likely doesn't apply. Hemalurgy works by tearing a piece of someone's soul off, and then stapling it to yourself. If someone burned that spike instead, you would literally be burning away a piece of someone's soul. Perhaps you would have their stolen abilities tenfold while you're burning it, or maybe some of their soul would still graft onto you. Personally I think it's a bit of both. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hoidhunter he/him Posted March 10, 2016 Author Report Share Posted March 10, 2016 So this has been addressed before? I'd love to see that WoB...but from my experience reading interview and signing questions with Brandon...he probably literally said "that would have some weird effects." I see what you're saying about identity not being an issue with hemalurgy. Thanks for the input. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
natc Posted March 10, 2016 Report Share Posted March 10, 2016 I recall the sDNA splicing thing too, but not sure where. Whether it works for any spike or just spikes of yourself (lol why) was contradicting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Khyrindor he/him Posted March 10, 2016 Report Share Posted March 10, 2016 (edited) So this has been addressed before? I'd love to see that WoB...but from my experience reading interview and signing questions with Brandon...he probably literally said "that would have some weird effects." I see what you're saying about identity not being an issue with hemalurgy. Thanks for the input. Yeah it was a WoB and that's pretty much all it said. I'll look for it. EDIT: Found it: 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. Source. Edited March 10, 2016 by Khyrindor 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hoidhunter he/him Posted March 11, 2016 Author Report Share Posted March 11, 2016 (edited) Neat. Thanks for finding the quote...upvote That being said...what exactly would the afore mentioned "strange consequences" be? could this be a cleaner (possibly temporary) way to obtain someone else's powers? Could you kill a feruchemist with a spike, steal their metal minds, burn the spike to adopt their Spiritual identity, and then use their feruchemial stores? And what, if any, would be the different effects...depending on what trait, power, etc., had been stolen with the spike? Edited March 11, 2016 by hoidhunter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Voidus Posted March 11, 2016 Report Share Posted March 11, 2016 There are multiple conflicting WoBs on the matter actually, one that says it would be very painful and probably kill you, the aforementioned splicing one and also I believe one that says that you could indeed only use a spike that had killed you and stolen your powers.So short answer: I'm not sure Brandon's actually completely decided yet. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hoidhunter he/him Posted March 12, 2016 Author Report Share Posted March 12, 2016 Ah... I wonder just how many RAFO's are actually (I haven't decided and don't want to make something up on the spot) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eagle of the Forest Path he/him Posted March 14, 2016 Report Share Posted March 14, 2016 ...one that says it would be very painful and probably kill you,... IIRC that one was actually referring to spikes that are, you know, spiking the burner. Like an inquisitor burning one of their eye-spikes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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