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Stormlight Three Update #4


Jofwu

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I'm not going to knock other authors by name (I think we all know who though) that I have been desperately waiting for their next book but I wish others would follow suit with Brandon when it comes to updating their fans. I don't care if it is bad news just knowing where he is at with the process makes me feel he cares about his readers. 

Edited by StormingTexan
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@StormingTexan I really enjoyed listening to the DragonCon panel posted earlier this week... Somewhere in there he talked about how he sees us as his patrons, and that keeping us updated is part of his responsibility in that sense. I totally understand why most authors don't communicate as much as he does, but I sure do appreciate him for it!

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So this isn't a complaint, but does anyone remember how Brandon once said that he expected TWoK to be the longest book in the series?  Then he said he had to make WoR longer because he wanted to add in more awesome stuff due to the wait, but he expected the other books to be shorter.  Now OB is on track to be the longest one yet.  Lol.  Again I'm not complaining because I loved every page of WoR.

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1 hour ago, Djarskublar said:

Ummmm... No. WoR is 1080 pages. ~400k words. 450k words would come out closer to 1200-1250 pages. I am down for 1750 pages though!

Notice that StormingTexan said he expects book 10 to be 1700-ish pages, not book 3, based, I believe, on Brandon's current trend of writing each Stormlight book longer than the previous one. If each successive book is 50-100 pages longer than the one before, book 10 could totally be in the 1700-range.

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3 hours ago, Sunbird said:

Notice that StormingTexan said he expects book 10 to be 1700-ish pages, not book 3, based, I believe, on Brandon's current trend of writing each Stormlight book longer than the previous one. If each successive book is 50-100 pages longer than the one before, book 10 could totally be in the 1700-range.

I think this would mean that Book 11 was coming, honestly.

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On 11/09/2016 at 1:09 AM, Djarskublar said:

Oh okay... Didn't see that somehow. Yeah I'm down for that too. ALL the pages!

Haha, well, there may soon be some difficulty binding it into one volume. He's already split into two volumes for longer languages, such as German.

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Brandon also answers a lot of questions on each of his updates. Here's what he's said so far:

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legobmw99: Quick question - at what point in the process does the artwork get done? Are all the fabulous artists already working based off an outline, or do they get brought in last? How long does there work usually take?

Brandon Sanderson: Ben and Isaac are working already. They tend to do the bulk of them, and I've seen some of Ben's sketches for the first two parts. I believe the guest artists are lined up, but we'll probably wait until the book is finished before handing out assignments.

Dan Dos Santos wants to do something again, which excites me. And we want to, as always, bring someone new in as well.

 

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legobmw99: Any chance of an art teaser? Maybe just the subject of a piece? I love the art in these books, they (along with everything else, really) make the book stand apart from a lot of the genre

Brandon Sanderson: I think that would be a good idea. Once we're closer to publication, we'll do some art teasers.

 

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Pheonix_222: As someone who primarily ingests my fiction through my ears I'm very curious about the audiobook production timeline.

At what point during publication do Michael and Kate get involved? I know the audio books come out lightning quick after release.

How much involvement do you have with the recording if at all? Do you prepare any pronunciations or anything beforehand or is it on a more if-need-be basis?

Brandon Sanderson: I send them pronunciation guides about six months(?) before the book comes out. That's about all I have to do with it, other than answering any questions they send me

 

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ConnorF42: Thanks for the update! Just curious, do you write the interludes as you go, or do you write them all at the end?

Brandon Sanderson: It's been all over the place. Some in the middle, some in a big pile at the end. This time, I haven't done any so far, so it's looking like them all at the end--but that's in part because there are a number of them I'm toying with, and haven't nailed down which I want to do.

 

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djscrub: Sorry if you've answered this somewhere else, but have you nailed down for certain that Dalinar will be the flashback character in this book? I know at one point you were ambivalent between him and Szeth, and I see that you are writing Szeth flashbacks but not ticking up the progress bar for them. Is he pushed to book 4 for sure, now?

Brandon Sanderson: Most likely it will be Dalinar, like 99% sure. But you can never say 100% until the book is done, as you might decide to go a different direction. I'm going to write Szeth, assuming it's for another book, just to have it--but it also gives me more options.

 

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havoc_mayhem: After writing Szeth's section, do you have any plans to start up the Stormlight Archive #5 progress bar on your site?

Brandon Sanderson: :)

 

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Aurimus_: How much planning goes into the SA books? With all the interludes and the various parts and everything, it can't just be a simple outline. Would you ever release the outline or whatever for Way of Kings? (It shouldn't spoil anything seeing as it's a released book)

Brandon Sanderson: I want to do this sometime. If you look in the second update I did, I gave a "kind of" outline for this--just talking about the shape of the book without any specifics.

Trouble is, my outlines are often a mess, devised only to make sense to me--and often including only a few words to remind me of a scene I have in the back of my mind. But I can imagine cleaning one up at some point and posting it. Maybe for Oathbringer, once it's out. It will be easier if I do it for an outline I'm watching as I build it, remembering that people will want to try to make sense of it afterward.

 

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Aurimus_: What if you did it as a YouTube video, explaining your outlining process for SA? It would take less time than forcing yourself into a tidier than usual outline, I assume?

Brandon Sanderson: That's worth considering.

 

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FirstRyder: Were the Parshendi based on something the Shards had seen before, in the same way the humans (and horses, and chickens) of Roshar were?

Brandon Sanderson: RAFO! You're asking the right questions, though.

 

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havoc_mayhem: This relates to a question I've been saving up to ask you in person, but could be relevant here.

You've once said that there were three sentient species on Yolen: Human, Dragon and Shodel. We've seen a lot of 'people' on the different planets that were either descended from or intentionally based on humans. Frost is known to be a dragon.

Are any of the non-human species we've seen descended from or based on either Dragons or Shodel?

Brandon Sanderson: RAFO! :)

 

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WitOMatic3000: I watched your Q&A at Dragoncon and really respect your interaction with fans. So are you targeting 450k words only because that is the absolute maximum count that can bound in a single volume? :D

Brandon Sanderson: "Absolute maximum" is actually flexible with books, as you can always shrink the font size. 410k or so is the max at the current font size with the current printer, but those can both be altered.

The_Second_Best: So does that mean ~1100 is the maximum number of pages you can have with the current printer?

Peter Ahstrom: 1088, the page count of Words of Radiance. But switching to a different printer is no problem. When we semi-hyped the "longest book that can be bound" thing, it was done mostly in jest, because for most authors this is in no way a selling point.

 

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hodgkinsonable: Thanks heaps for the update Brandon, you're a legend.

My quick question is just a silly little thing. On your website you have often had updates on 4 projects in the top bar. At the moment that has both White Sands Vol. 1 which has already been published, and Alcatraz book 5 which is coming out very soon, and finally the Stormlight novella which is coming out in the collection also relatively soon. Besides those three is Stormlight 3. Are you planning on updating that bar with new projects soon, as 3 of the 4 will have already been published in the next several months?

After typing this out I feel like I'm putting more pressure on you, but that's not what I intended, I was just interested in seeing what you are thinking of working on after Stormlight 3 is done. I'm assuming Wax & Wayne 4 or the new YA?

Brandon Sanderson: My plan is to do the new teen book (Apocalypse Guard) next. Then Wax and Wayne. Then another teen book. Then Stormlight four. The State of the Sanderson post I do in Decembers tends to run down this.

Usually, there's more activity on the progress bar--but that's because other books go by quickly, so I'm hopping projects. Stormlight has dominated them all, though.

 

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yahasgaruna: Is the other teen book the Rithmatist sequel? (Crosses fingers)

Brandon Sanderson: Rithmatist 2 was what will probably go in that slot, yes.

 

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usuyami: With all the linguistic elements in Stormlight, how much have you done in the way of mapping out the linguistic history of Roshar, ie deciding that this modern language descends from this older language, which descends from that ancient language that also gave rise to all these other languages, etc.?

Brandon Sanderson: I've done a surprising amount of this. The linguist in me slipping out. The vowel shifts are one of my favorites.

 

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TerrestrialOverlord: Would you consider posting the trimmed content after the book is published?

Any updates on legion? I love that series too. I've been wishing I develop aspects. {Sigh}

Brandon Sanderson: I plan to do one more Legion story, but since the television show never got off the ground, I don't know that I can dedicate much more to it. We'll see. But at least one more.

As for the trimmed parts, if I ever cut anything that would be fun to read, I'll post it--but most is a sentence here, a repeated idea there. Nothing that makes sense on its own.

 

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Tehdren: I'm confused about the TV show. I see there is a show on FX called Legion that's in the X-Men universe. This isn't related to you is it? Was there another TV show in the works? I feel like I'm missing a chunk of information that may have already been put out there (brb, searching for old news...) Yeah I've got nothing. Was there potential for your Legion to be turned into a show?

Brandon Sanderson: We sold the rights twice, but nobody got it off the ground. Then marvel made its show with a similar enough premise--though based on their character. No relation. That pretty much killed our chances. :(

 

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Paradox2063: Dunno if you'll see this, but who would you envision playing the main character in legion?

Brandon Sanderson: I never cast Stephen in my head. So I don't have a specific choice.

 

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Use_the_Falchion: Thank you for the update! You are the best author in the world. Is there a chance that the Stormlight Archive would ever be released in Japan in Japanese like the original Mistborn Trilogy was?

Brandon Sanderson: There's a chance. My books have done fine in Japan. Not smash successes like in Taiwan, but good enough that I wouldn't be surprised to see more of them be released.

Peter Ahlstrom: Actually The Way of Kings is already out in Japan, split into several volumes. Here's a link to the first part: https://www.amazon.co.jp/dp/4153350176/

 

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yahasgaruna: Also, the plan to have each book focused on one order is still on, right? Does that mean Book 3 will focus on the Bondsmiths or the Skybreakers depending on whether Dalinar or Szeth are the flashback focus? And what about the book focused on Ash, since she was the Herald of Shallan's order? Am I right in assuming that book will focus on the Dustbringers?

Brandon Sanderson: RAFO. :)

 

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harsh20483: I have always wanted to ask this - How does one become an Herald? And is there any way for a someone else to take up the mantle of a Herald?

Also, is there any chance of the Dragonsteel series starting before the second set of Stromlight Archive comes out?

Brandon Sanderson: RAFO on the first.

Yes, there is a chance on the second.

 

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ArgentSun: Hi! I know you've been known to answer the occasional Sharder question in the comments of those regular updates of yours (which I very much appreciate!), so I wanted to try to get a clarification on a thing or two.

Recently, at DragonCon, you talked briefly about detecting worldhoppers by examining their speech, and you mentioned Hoid using "coin" on Roshar, where there are no coins. Which overlapped with a question I had been meaning to ask - why would the people around him hear "coin" instead of "sphere"? Is this magical translation (something to do with Connection) malfunctioning for some reason? Or is the use of such out-of-context words solely for the benefit of the Cosmere-aware reader?

And to keep things somewhat grounded in Roshar, I was talking with someone about the woman on The Way of Kings endsheet, and I wondered about her identity - could you reveal whether she is supposed to depict a someone/something specific, or is it just a somewhat generic image of a woman?

Brandon Sanderson: Yes, this has to do with magical translation. It's a quirk of trying to say something in the language, and the magic mixing up your intent. Someone who actually learns the local language wouldn't make this mistake.

The woman on the border of the maps isn't meant to be anyone specific, I don't believe. I've never asked Isaac about it, actually.

 

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ArgentSun: Can I just make sure I understand your reply real quick? Are you saying that if Hoid, or someone with the same magical translation, were to learn a bit of Alethi language and culture, get more used to spheres being used as currency, then the magic would stop using "coin" and replace it with sphere? Or, in a sci-fi world, maybe "credit"?

Brandon Sanderson: If he was thinking about saying sphere, he'd say sphere with the magic.

If he accidentally said coin, through the magic, it would try to translate it into coin.

If he learned the language, there's little chance he'd make this mistake. It's a natural feature of learning another language--you tend to imitate those around you. It's still possible he'd make the mistake, but from my experience with second language acquisition, you don't accidentally say words in your native language expecting them to make sense in the new language.

 

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ArgentSun: Ah, so when you say that is he had said "sphere" in his own language, instead of "coin" (which would be weird to him, because he doesn't think of spheres as currency), then the translation would be fine. Not that he could say "coin" and have the magic interpret his intent and turn into "sphere".

Brandon Sanderson: Yes, to an extent. Remember, this is magical means through connection--not exact translation. But this is a short version of what is happening.

 

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ArgentSun: But wouldn't this require, in his case, the Alethi language to have a word for "coin"? I thought what's happening is that he is saying "coin" (because it's more natural to him), and his magic - not knowing how to translate a word that doesn't exist in Alethi, just sends it across verbatim. Like how he used the word "dog" once, even though the Alethi can't have a word for it.

Brandon Sanderson: That's exactly what is happening--it's sending across the word verbatim.

 

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Torrieltar: Is that how translated puns work, then? Based on your intent?

Brandon Sanderson: Yes, that has something to do with it. Though being aware that you're using the magic, and how it works, helps. For example, Hoid (very experienced with this sort of thing) can manipulate the magic and get a feel for what will work and what won't. It's a strange thing, because in most cases, you're actually SPEAKING the language, not speaking your own and having it translated. The magic pretends you were born and grew up in that place.

So you can speak in puns, and riddles, and so forth. However, there's latency from where you actually grew up that causes a kind of "blip" when you try to force through something that just doesn't translate. If you just let the magic do its thing, you'll naturally use idioms from the world you're in. But if you lock on to one from your past, it causes a kind of disharmony in the magic--reminding your spirit web that you don't actually speak the language. It will spit out a transliteration or verbatim phrase in this case.

You will rarely see Hoid having the trouble that Vasher does in using the language and magic, as Vasher doesn't really care. But you will still see even the most expert slip up now and then.

There's an extra layer on this that I don't focus too much on, in that the books themselves are in translation--so when Hoid's using a pun, he's filtering his intent to pun through the magic, into Alethi, creating a local pun that works in the language--then that is in turn translated to one that works in our language.

 

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Dave2727: My wife has gotten me the first two books, signature included, from your website for my birthday(s). Do you intend to do this all the way through the series? I'd love to have an entire set!

Brandon Sanderson: Yes, though to not compete with bookstores, I only sell the books myself after they've been out for a year. If you want a personalized copy before then, you'll have to get them from one of my local bookstores. (Like the release party, where you can buy a book shipped to you.)

 

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arichards117: ( I apologize if this has already been explained and I somehow missed it.) When someone is "killed" by a shardblade, their soul is understood to be severed. What do Vorin practitioners believe happens to the soul if it is severed? Does this mean that the soul cannot go to the Tranquiline Halls? If this is the case, why are Shardbearers/Blades so revered rather than feared or hated?

Brandon Sanderson: Vorin belief doesn't take being killed by a Shardblade as destroying the soul, likely because of Knight Radiant traditions.

 

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brova: I'm sure you've answered this elsewhere, but I've missed it. How come the plan is a late 2017 release, if you plan on finishing your first draft a year before that? How long do you expect the editing/revisioning process to take for Oathbringer?

Brandon Sanderson: Revision/editing for Stormlight books takes much longer than for other books, as the continuity takes a lot of work. Beyond that, remember that this book will be between four and five times as long as one of my regular books. So editing takes an equivalent chunk of time.

 

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yahasgaruna: Is the other teen book the Rithmatist sequel? (Crosses fingers)

Brandon Sanderson: Rithmatist 2 was what will probably go in that slot, yes.

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@Evenstrom, thank you so much for this! That's some interesting information you've fished out, especially considering magic translation. 

Also, this: 

3 hours ago, Evenstrom said:

The woman on the border of the maps isn't meant to be anyone specific, I don't believe. I've never asked Isaac about it, actually.

:lol::lol::lol::lol:

How many threads did we have speculating about her identity? Three? Five? More? 

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6 hours ago, Evenstrom said:
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You will rarely see Hoid having the trouble that Vasher does in using the language and magic, as Vasher doesn't really care. But you will still see even the most expert slip up now and then.

 

Oh, so Vasher has a translation thingy too! I wasn't sure if he had, or if he just learned.

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"ArgentSun: Ah, so when you say that is he had said "sphere" in his own language, instead of "coin" (which would be weird to him, because he doesn't think of spheres as currency), then the translation would be fine. Not that he could say "coin" and have the magic interpret his intent and turn into "sphere".

Brandon Sanderson: Yes, to an extent. Remember, this is magical means through connection--not exact translation. But this is a short version of what is happening...

Brandon Sanderson: Yes, that has something to do with it. Though being aware that you're using the magic, and how it works, helps. For example, Hoid (very experienced with this sort of thing) can manipulate the magic and get a feel for what will work and what won't. It's a strange thing, because in most cases, you're actually SPEAKING the language, not speaking your own and having it translated. The magic pretends you were born and grew up in that place."

Did Brandon really just give away how to convert between magic systems here? I mean one of the possible ways...

Hoid is using Connection to make the magic think that he is native to that place? He must have really worked the system to let him use things like Allomancy and Feruchemy on Roshar... (I'm assuming that he's using those with the metal flakes scene and showing up exactly where and when interesting stuff happens). Hmm... now I wonder why he didn't become an Elantrian... This definitely explains why he was surprised (and pleased) to see that it hadn't worked. Always another mystery...

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10 hours ago, Darkness said:

Hoid is using Connection to make the magic think that he is native to that place? He must have really worked the system to let him use things like Allomancy and Feruchemy on Roshar... (I'm assuming that he's using those with the metal flakes scene and showing up exactly where and when interesting stuff happens). Hmm... now I wonder why he didn't become an Elantrian... This definitely explains why he was surprised (and pleased) to see that it hadn't worked. Always another mystery...

Allomancy, like all other magic systems (that we know of) not coming from Sel is independent of location. If you can use the Metallic Arts in one place of the Cosmere, you can use them in all of them. This is (and these are my own words) because the power, the Investiture, that fuels these magic systems comes from the Spiritual Realm (or, in the case of Feruchemy, from oneself), and in the Spiritual Realm time and space have almost no meaning. 

The Sel magic systems are an exception, of course, because there the power comes from the Cognitive Realm - where the Dor is - and location does matter in there.

16 hours ago, Rasarr said:

How many threads did we have speculating about her identity? Three? Five? More? 

's why I asked. 

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9 hours ago, Argent said:

Allomancy, like all other magic systems (that we know of) not coming from Sel is independent of location. If you can use the Metallic Arts in one place of the Cosmere, you can use them in all of them. This is (and these are my own words) because the power, the Investiture, that fuels these magic systems comes from the Spiritual Realm (or, in the case of Feruchemy, from oneself), and in the Spiritual Realm time and space have almost no meaning. 

The Sel magic systems are an exception, of course, because there the power comes from the Cognitive Realm - where the Dor is - and location does matter in there.

's why I asked. 

Thanks Argent, location independence did slip my mind as I wrote my post :) for feruchemy, I was more wondering how Hoid got that ability. It seems to me that he would have to connect to Scadrial everytime he wants to use feruchemy, just because it is an sDNA inherited ability, and he'd have to trick the magic into thinking he was a born feruchemist each time he wanted to store investiture (maybe he even has to re-key his spirit web to gain access to whatever metal mind he stored while connected). But it's possible I'm just reading into it too much. Maybe he just has to connect once and he's good? Seems unlikely though, since connection in other things (soul stamps, etc.) have to be maintained periodically. I cant wait for the official explanation for how he does it! I think we can piece out the gist, but all the nuances will be fun to explore!

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Something to do with the lerasium bead is my best guess as well. It has been hypothesized that he is keeping the bead somewhere inside his body (though I'll be the first to point out that it's a flimsy theory), so it wouldn't be entirely outside of the realm of possibility that it's allowing him to use Feruchemy similarly to how burning lerasium turns a person into an Mistborn. I could, perhaps, think about the Spiritweb is affect in all three Metallic Arts, and try to deduce whether it is reasonable to believe that lerasium could affect in a manner... parallel to how it affected Elend's. But I am so very tired right now...

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On 9/10/2016 at 1:15 AM, jofwu said:

@StormingTexan I really enjoyed listening to the DragonCon panel posted earlier this week... Somewhere in there he talked about how he sees us as his patrons, and that keeping us updated is part of his responsibility in that sense. I totally understand why most authors don't communicate as much as he does, but I sure do appreciate him for it!

The man is a treasure. Would that other authors measured up. 

 

1 hour ago, Argent said:

Something to do with the lerasium bead is my best guess as well. It has been hypothesized that he is keeping the bead somewhere inside his body (though I'll be the first to point out that it's a flimsy theory), so it wouldn't be entirely outside of the realm of possibility that it's allowing him to use Feruchemy similarly to how burning lerasium turns a person into an Mistborn. I could, perhaps, think about the Spiritweb is affect in all three Metallic Arts, and try to deduce whether it is reasonable to believe that lerasium could affect in a manner... parallel to how it affected Elend's. But I am so very tired right now...

Hrm, I always kinda (sorta) figured you'd need a Atium/Lerasium alloy to give Feruchemistry, as it is the melding of the two, but that's actually pretty good. 

 

Wait. 

 

Wait. 

But Hoid is an allomancer, he'd have to have taken the bead for that yah?

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Maybe he uses allomancy with "artificial tools" (to be vague) and he is not an allomancer

Spoiler from mistborn

Spoiler

I have this idea from months...but the reason of Feruchemy in the Terrismen may be the same of Allomancy in the nobles.
5 bead of Lerasium gifted by Preservation to Terrismen and istruction on their use to unlock Feruchemy.

It's possible they needed to alloy the Lerasium with the Atium (but they may actually find the Atium within their land) or maybe no

 

Edited by Yata
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31 minutes ago, Yata said:

Maybe he uses allomancy with "artificial tools" (to be vague) and he is not an allomancer

Spoiler from mistborn

  Reveal hidden contents

I have this idea from months...but the reason of Feruchemy in the Terrismen may be the same of Allomancy in the nobles.
5 bead of Lerasium gifted by Preservation to Terrismen and istruction on their use to unlock Feruchemy.

It's possible they needed to alloy the Lerasium with the Atium (but they may actually find the Atium within their land) or maybe no

 

Oh, you reckon he is doing it like he lightweaves?

Definitely possible, especially given BoM. 

Spoiler

But wait, didn't Lord Ruler make those beads to give to his nobles (and maybe himself)?

I didn't think Lerasium existed before that, but do correct me if I am mistaken.

I presumed that Terris being around Ruin and Preservation's digs for so long just let them absorb the powers. This was baseless of me, I'll admit. 

 

 

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1 hour ago, Savanorn said:

Oh, you reckon he is doing it like he lightweaves?

Definitely possible, especially given BoM. 

  Hide contents

But wait, didn't Lord Ruler make those beads to give to his nobles (and maybe himself)?

I didn't think Lerasium existed before that, but do correct me if I am mistaken.

I presumed that Terris being around Ruin and Preservation's digs for so long just let them absorb the powers. This was baseless of me, I'll admit. 

 

 

I am afraid but I don't understand the Lightweaves part....feel free to write me a PM.

About the second part.

Spoiler

The Lord Ruler didn't create the Lerasium during his Ascension.The Metal was already on Scadrial and He found it in the years after his Ascension (we have a WoB about this).

Indeed is possible your theory as the mine....it was just  my idea without proofs or official confirm

 

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13 minutes ago, Yata said:

I am afraid but I don't understand the Lightweaves part....feel free to write me a PM.

About the second part.

  Hide contents

The Lord Ruler didn't create the Lerasium during his Ascension.The Metal was already on Scadrial and He found it in the years after his Ascension (we have a WoB about this).

Indeed is possible your theory as the mine....it was just  my idea without proofs or official confirm

 

Firstly, my understanding is that Hoid can lightweave but does so in a Yolish manner as opposed to a Radiant one. 

Secondly, wow, I'm off with that then. 

 

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