Hemalurgy and metalminds on limbs killed by shardblade

[Joelbro]

Hi,

I was wondering, would a hemalurgic spike put though someone's arm that had been cut higher up with a shardblade still grant powers? I'm currently thinking shardblades sever the limb spiritually, which also shuts down the nerves but doesn't kill the flesh. But i think the allomantic/feruchemic abilities are passed on via the spirit realm. I'm just not sure if it wouldn't work though.

 

Building on that, if you strap a metalmind to a dead arm could you still tap it?

And finally, if you have a large amount of metal piercing a dead arm could Harmony or Ruin still whisper to you?

 

I may have answered my own question but I'm eager to see if you guys agree or disagree 

Edited July 5, 2017 by Joelbro

[The One Who Connects he/him]

Relevant WoB:

Quote

"Q: Does a limb that has been ""severed"" by a Shardblade have any Hemalurgic bindpoints? If the same limb was then cut off more conventionally, would a Bloodmaker ferring be able to grow it back?
 
A: A severed Shardblade limb needs repair to the soul before it would function again. A Bloodmaker would be able to heal it without needing to grow it back."

[Calderis he/him]

The intuitive answer is no. None of this would work. The physical limb still exists but it's not a part of the person anymore. 

But the Spiritual Realm is weird, so I don't know that for sure. 

 

[+Extesian he/him]

Welcome to the Shard! This is a really interesting post. I agree that its unlikely anything would work on a dead arm. I think realmatically, that arm is spiritually severed from the rest of the spirit web so spiking it wouldn't work. That said, if the arm is just severed from the rest of the spirit web, could the arm itself still have the SDNA necessary? Hmmm. Not to spike something out because that requires (as far as we know) the heart.

The interesting one for me is severing a spike with a Shardblade. My feeling is that a spike has no individual identity so severing it isn't severing it's spirit web. Spikes can be split into smaller spikes and used I think, they're just not as effective. So I think it would still work. But that is an interesting point about what a spike is in the spiritual realm. I get the feeling there's an answer I haven't seen. 

[+Lewis Nethur He/Him]

As is the case with Lopen and Kaladin, the person would probably still perceive the arm as a part of themselves. This alone isn't enough to allow them to use the arm, but I think it could leave the door open for hemalurgy still working.

After all, the spike would still be touching your active circulatory system. If the spike is still in contact with your living flowing blood, it should continue to confer its attribute. If the spike was in your ear that had been severed by a shardblade, it might quit working though...

Metalminds can be used instinctively, like how gold can be tapped even if one's head is chopped clean off. I would argue that a metalmind on a limb severed by a shardblade might be able to be used by the body as a last ditch survival instinct, but I'm doubtful it could be used consciously.