Quiver Posted January 24, 2014 Report Share Posted January 24, 2014 I was going to ask a question regarding Harmony, but it depends upon something to do with atium. In particular, it's something I forgot about atium. Does atium still exist in the time of Alloy of Law? I realise it, and Lerasium, are referred to as the God Metals (and mythical, like Mistborn) but does atium itself continue to exist and contain a portion of Ruin's power? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tarion Posted January 24, 2014 Report Share Posted January 24, 2014 Unless there's a quote saying otherwise, I suspect it's gone. It's more likely that there's a new god metal coalescing somewhere called "Sazedium", with spectacular Feruchemical properties (As well as being incredibly useful for Hemalurgy and Allomancy). 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WeiryWriter Posted January 24, 2014 Report Share Posted January 24, 2014 I was going to ask a question regarding Harmony, but it depends upon something to do with atium. In particular, it's something I forgot about atium. Does atium still exist in the time of Alloy of Law? I realise it, and Lerasium, are referred to as the God Metals (and mythical, like Mistborn) but does atium itself continue to exist and contain a portion of Ruin's power? Atium still exists. Marsh has a bag of it which is how he's still alive. Whether it is still being produced is another matter. We know Harmony is doing something with his surplus Ruin power but we don't really know what. He could be producing atium. My personal theory is that it goes to the true-breeding koloss and that they have more Ruin than Preservation. But any atium or lerasium that comes into existence during Alloy-era would operate exactly as they did during the Final Empire. Unless there's a quote saying otherwise, I suspect it's gone. It's more likely that there's a new god metal coalescing somewhere called "Sazedium", with spectacular Feruchemical properties (As well as being incredibly useful for Hemalurgy and Allomancy). I personally think it more likely that sazedium would be alloy of atium and lerasium. Afterall Harmony is kind of an alloy of Ruin and Preservation. Also this quote: Fire Arcadia Are there 50 Allomantic Metals? Brandon Sanderson Nearly. Does Harmony have a metal? Fire Arcadia Is that an alloy of Lerasium and Atium? Brandon Sanderson You're along the right lines. (source) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aether Posted January 24, 2014 Report Share Posted January 24, 2014 (edited) It seems Brandon is intent on making it as difficult as possible to asnwer that. Here's a bunch of quotes that might help further cloud the issue: Dalenthas (15 October 2008) Does the Well of Ascension still exist in the new world? Or is it no longer necessary? I assumed that Preservation collected there like Ruin collects in the Pits of Hathsin, so if Atium keeps forming then the well should keep filling...Brandon Sanderson (16 October 2008)The Well (and the small wells in the Pits) is no more. For now at least.<source> irotin (14 November 2011) Kel said he ended atium production for a few hundred years. Will atium reappear in Alloy and such, or did Sazed move the Pits?Brandon Sanderson (Mon Nov 14)RAFO. <source> zchance (15 October 2008)I'm surprised no one else has asked but does this new world have atium? If atium was the body of Ruin then it would seem when Sazed took up Ruin's power he would have reabsorbed all of the atium. New atium then would be bits of Sazed's new powers and weaken him with each newly formed bead. It would seem then that if atium exists it would be much rarer, and mean that Sazed would not be able to control this process.I guess I am trying to understand why he would want to allow any atium to make its way into the hands of people or rather out of his control?Brandon Sanderson (16 October 2008)It's theoretically possible for atium to appear in the future, but right now Sazed has no plans to release any of it to the people. It is, effectively, now something of myth and legend.<source> Douglas When Kelsier destroys the Pits of Hathsin in Final Empire, it is mentioned that they'll take something like 300 years to start producing Atium again. Do the Pits of Hathsin still exist in any form after Sazed reshaped the world, and is that timeline for them still valid?Brandon SandersonRAFO<source> Douglas In Alloy of Law, evidence is uncovered that the bad guys are attempting to breed a Mistborn. The time span of the gap between this and the original Mistborn trilogy, perhaps with the interval I vaguely remember being stated for between Alloy and the next main trilogy added, is suspiciously close to 300 years. Does the organization Wax's father is part of know the location of the Pits of Hathsin, or otherwise have access to Atium, either now (as of Alloy) or in the time period of the planned second trilogy?Brandon SandersonYou are on the right track<source> . EDIT: Ninja'd. Somewhat. Edited January 24, 2014 by Aether 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quiver Posted January 24, 2014 Author Report Share Posted January 24, 2014 We know Harmony is doing something with his surplus Ruin power but we don't really know what. He could be producing atium. My personal theory is that it goes to the true-breeding koloss and that they have more Ruin than Preservation. B This was what I was building up to asking; how did Sazed become Harmony is he had more Ruin than Preservation. I like your theory that it went to the koloss. Yes, they had some intelligence in Hero of Ages, with their decisions(instincts?) to spike people to create more of them, but they didn't seem like real... creatures with sentience, unlike the Parshendi or the Kandra. Especially if Tarson really is Koloss-blooded, and that's not some Roughs slang for "he's a bad dude, like a koloss". (And now I picture Alloy of Law gangsta crews, rolling around Elend and popping coins in anyone who enters their hoods. Fantastic.) Anyway, thanks everyone for replying to this. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
digitalbusker Posted January 24, 2014 Report Share Posted January 24, 2014 Especially if Tarson really is Koloss-blooded, and that's not some Roughs slang for "he's a bad dude, like a koloss".Tarson's koloss blood is definitely not a metaphor. He had a faint Roughs accent and a solid--though not tall--build, with bulging forearms and a mottled, grayish complexion, almost as if his face were made of granite. Koloss blood, Waxillium thought. He was squat and tough, but not very tall. He was only in his twenties--like all koloss-blooded, he'd continue growing.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shardbearer Posted January 24, 2014 Report Share Posted January 24, 2014 (edited) There's also this: http://www.theoryland.com/intvmain.php?i=977#85 rags How is Harmony balanced when a part of Preservation's power is expended on human sentience? Isn't that what caused all the trouble to begin with? Brandon SandersonIndeed. Hm... What could Sazed be doing with that extra power... Edited January 24, 2014 by Shardbearer 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
name_here Posted February 1, 2014 Report Share Posted February 1, 2014 Atium is not presently known to exist except in the hands of Marsh (and presumably Demoux). However, there are some strange rumors concerning a region known as The Pits inhabited by Koloss. By my understanding of the mechanics, the power in the original Atium should be re-manifesting about at the time of Alloy Of Law, since that's when Kelsier predicted the geodes would regenerate. The entire plan hinged on Ruin being unable to reclaim the power in burned Atium, so it clearly doesn't snap back to the original Shard automatically. Now, since Preservation set this up in the first place, Harmony could presumably unmake it and take the Atium power back or lock it away indefinitely. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shardlet Posted February 28, 2014 Report Share Posted February 28, 2014 By my understanding of the mechanics, the power in the original Atium should be re-manifesting about at the time of Alloy Of Law, since that's when Kelsier predicted the geodes would regenerate. I have often wondered at how Kelsier arrived at the ~300 years time-frame for this. How would he have known? Then one must factor in that Sazed's ascension kind of changed the game. Now that Sazed embodies both Ruin and Preservation, it is his decision on how and when to release atium into the world again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Delightful Posted March 2, 2014 Report Share Posted March 2, 2014 How do we know Marsh has atium? Is there a WoB on that or something? Something else I don't understand - how can someone be Koloss blooded? They're made up of multiple people all spiked together, and specifically reproduce by spiking others. How did they become human enough to have part human part koloss descendants? Something to do with Harmony? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Swimmingly Posted March 2, 2014 Report Share Posted March 2, 2014 How do we know Marsh has atium? Is there a WoB on that or something? Something else I don't understand - how can someone be Koloss blooded? They're made up of multiple people all spiked together, and specifically reproduce by spiking others. How did they become human enough to have part human part koloss descendants? Something to do with Harmony? Speculation is that Koloss were made a true breeding, sentient race with the extra Ruin Investiture he had, the bit of extra power that caused the whole mess in the first place. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moogle Posted March 2, 2014 Report Share Posted March 2, 2014 (edited) How do we know Marsh has atium? Is there a WoB on that or something? Marsh had the bag of atium that the kandra went to try and sell. We also have WoB confirming it, though no WoB was really needed. Something else I don't understand - how can someone be Koloss blooded? They're made up of multiple people all spiked together, and specifically reproduce by spiking others. How did they become human enough to have part human part koloss descendants? Something to do with Harmony? Harmony tinkered about with them. We do have WoB on that. Also, each koloss was one person with a few spikes. The spikes required the deaths of other humans, but it isn't quite right to say they were multiple humans spiked together. A Shard could theoretically create koloss spikes without killing someone, I believe. Kaimipono (15 October 2008)Also, are koloss just naturally bad-tempered, even without Ruin's influence? Cause the koloss are still taking swipes at Sazed immediately after the merger. (And, does Sazed zap all the koloss? Did they all get toasted by the sun? But what about Human and his friends underground? Are there still koloss around? Just wonderin'.) Brandon Sanderson (15 October 2008) Koloss were bad tempered before Ruin's influence, though he certainly made them worse. They were designed by the Lord Ruler to be aggressive, so aggressive that they would destroy themselves if they got loose and away from him. (This was intentional. Note that he didn't give the spark of humanity in them enough credit, and they managed to overcome this and 'evolve' in a way to keep their species going, even after he died.) There ARE still koloss around, though many of them were vaporized. Human is alive. Sazed took pity on them, however, and they have been transformed. They are now a race that breeds true, like the Kandra, and have different thought processes from what they once had. You'll see more of them in the sequel series. (source) Edited March 2, 2014 by Moogle 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MistConnection Posted March 12, 2014 Report Share Posted March 12, 2014 Speculation is that Koloss were made a true breeding, sentient race with the extra Ruin Investiture he had, the bit of extra power that caused the whole mess in the first place. So humans have more Preservation than Ruin and Koloss have more Ruin than Preservation? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HydrogenAlpha Posted March 12, 2014 Report Share Posted March 12, 2014 rags How is Harmony balanced when a part of Preservation's power is expended on human sentience? Isn't that what caused all the trouble to begin with? Brandon SandersonIndeed. Hm... What could Sazed be doing with that extra power... I guess Sazed had to create sentient life with more Ruin than Preservation in order to balance out his both shards. The shards affect the shardholder after some time and I don't think a majority of Ruin would be desirable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
junior Posted March 13, 2014 Report Share Posted March 13, 2014 Also, each koloss was one person with a few spikes. The spikes required the deaths of other humans, but it isn't quite right to say they were multiple humans spiked together. A Shard could theoretically create koloss spikes without killing someone, I believe. I can't remember where it was mentioned off the top of my head, but iirc there's been mention that Wax's earring - which is a spike - came from a spiked criminal who was executed. So someone at some point post-world change was presumably aware of how Hemalurgy works. Though (Steelhunt spoiler)... The Steelhunt excerpt from Shadows of Self includes what I think is a passage written by Marsh that suggests that Harmony is attempting to make Hemalurgy a forgotten practice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Delightful Posted March 14, 2014 Report Share Posted March 14, 2014 I can't remember where it was mentioned off the top of my head, but iirc there's been mention that Wax's earring - which is a spike - came from a spiked criminal who was executed. So someone at some point post-world change was presumably aware of how Hemalurgy works.Do you have a quote for that? I guessed by how the earring allows wax to communicate with Harmony that it was Hemalurgy, but I've been wondering who was killed to create it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tempus Posted March 14, 2014 Report Share Posted March 14, 2014 I searched the ebook for 'earring', 'criminal', and 'execution' and found no relevant quotes. Wax got his earring from a woman on a train, no further info. Theoryland, however... BRANDON SANDERSONThe person who gave Wax his earring was the kandra, MeLaan. Also, that Kandra are working as "Sazed's Angels". And their role is primarily to go along fixing things by Sazed's Will. Brettin was killed towards the end of the book, but not in the storyline related plot. Sazed saw this, and told Tensoon to go get his bones, which is why he wasnt able to imitate him properly. and ZXG15One person asked what metal Wax's earring was made of. BRANDON SANDERSONHe wouldn't say which metal, however he did confirm that it does have a "slight hemalurgic charge". and Another factor to consider here is that Wax was given a special earring designed for communication with a being that he actually worships. and lastly FOOTNOTEThe two kandra in Alloy of Law were TenSoon as Constable Brettin in the end and MeLaan as the woman who gave Wax his Pathian earring. So... no. I can't find anything about a spiked criminal who was executed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
name_here Posted March 15, 2014 Report Share Posted March 15, 2014 It was made from a melted-down Inquisitor spike, according to WoB. The battle left a bunch of spikes free for the taking. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tempus Posted March 15, 2014 Report Share Posted March 15, 2014 Do you have a source for that? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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