Allomantic Compounding Methodologies

[Three1415]

Now, this doesn't seem to have been suggested before, but a lot of evidence seems to point in this method's favor for this being the actual mechanism (or at least a mechanism) for allomantic compounding, beyond just nicrosil. At the very least, it is an interesting thought experiment, because one would not be required to be Fullborn to acquire the associated benefits. I propose that the following should work:

 

Step 1: Get a hemalurgic spike with the desired power.

Step 2: Swallow the spike (if it is small), or place it inside your body somehow (e.g., actually spike yourself).

Step 3: Burn the spike itself.

Step 4: Profit.

 

If we look at how Feruchemical Compounding works, you repeat the same steps as above, only with a metalmind; the burned power is routed through the Feruchemical outlet rather the Allomantic one, amplifying the former's power instead. If you are burning a spike, it is logical to conclude that what should happen is that the stored Allomantic ability in the spike should itself be amplified, vastly increasing one's Allomantic ability while the spike burns. All one has to do after that is burn the associated metal and make use of the dramatic increase in allomantic power given by the burning spike. As evidence, we have, from a WoB:

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DARXBANE (16 OCTOBER 2008)

In an annotation from book one, it is mentioned that The Lord Ruler needed all three magic systems in order to do what he did. I always assumed that it meant his Hemalurgy enhanced his Allomancy. Did Marsh get a double power, or is the Feruchemy-Allomancy combo enough? (a sidebar to this question is whether or not stacking abilities is possible through Hemalurgy).

BRANDON SANDERSON (17 OCTOBER 2008)

He used Hemalurgy to pull off his most dramatic effects. Marsh didn't need them, but it makes things much easier.

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Massive soothing-fields, for instance, would certainly be a dramatic effect using Hemalurgy; additionally, if done correctly, it would probably not require one to actually spike oneself, and thus expose one to Ruin's influence even more. 

Alternately, compounded nicrosil might have been sufficient, but we are still not really certain how that works (someone should ask Brandon whether TLR actually used nicrosil or not); I think both of these are plausible, and this WoB, as well as the ones that imply it is directly possible to Compound Allomancy, suggest that this might have been the real mechanism TLR used.

[Voidus]

We have a lot of conflicting WoB on what would happen if you burned a spike, but given when they occurred I'd say it's unlikely that TLR did this.

Also we know that there is a way specifically to use feruchemy to enhance Allomancy, this wouldn't fulfill that. 

[18th Shard he/him]

Also, the spike containing one Allomancer's ability is then gone. You wasted a permanent Soother spike for a single strong Soothing, even if iti works the way you proposed. Non-economic use here.

[Yata he/him]

I like this theory, but I don't think it's likely.... First of all, if Rashek burned Spike to perform his great feats, the "burning Spike" effect would be canon from years and BS seems to imply that he didn't a canonic effect about burning spike.

 

Then It would be a really waste of Allomancy, a Spike contains little Investiture, probably Rashek to reach his "great feat" needed to burning pretty fast and many spike every day... It's unlikely he had so much Spike avaliable.

 

Last but it's just a funny thing, not a contros...only the half of the possible Mistings may gain power through this method... the rest of them would be really envy of Lucky ones