Marsh's Powers, and the Hemalurgy use.

[PorridgeBrick he/him]

I really don't see any need for human attributes, when you can obtain that just as easily through Allomancy or Feruchemy, without the nasty side effects. He's got Pewter compounding. How much stronger do you need to be?

[TheArcanist he/him]

Agreed. I think we've pretty satisfactorily determined what Spikes Marsh has. Now we need to know what he can do with them. Any suggestions of what he's capable of, combining compounding, flaring, and savancy in different metals?

[SmurfAquamarineBodies he/him]

He would dominate any battlefield he was on. Compound weight, speed and strength charge in and punch the opponent. ( I'm no scientist but I believe that if someone who could pick up a large tractor and throw it a couple hundred metres, punch a person they wouldn't survive ) They explode before they are even aware that they are fighting someone. Or they could Compound weight and fire coin after coin blasting through Shardplate or anything that gets in the way.

 

Now all we need is a list of what benefits Stormlight has and what a Windrunners Surges can do.

[Pechvarry]

Unless I'm forgetting something important, I don't think he has Feruchemical iron. Seems like that would've changed his final fight with Elend pretty dramatically.

[Cstryon he/him]

Unless I'm forgetting something important, I don't think he has Feruchemical iron. Seems like that would've changed his final fight with Elend pretty dramatically.

I couldn't point out any time that he used it. But considering Ruins purpose of adding spikes, and how useful Feruchemical iron would be to those purposes, process of elimination, I'm almost certain he has Feruchemical iron.

Plus after his he nearly got beat by Sazed when they fought in WoA, I could see them learning from that mistake and adding Feruchemical iron.

[TheArcanist he/him]

I believe on the "Windrunner VS. Inquisitor" thread I outlined what just retaining Stormlight would do.

 

Also- Inkthinker has spoken. Word of Brandon regarding Marsh incoming. This is just what the Spikes are, not what they contain, but I think it'll be process of elimination from there. Here we go.

 

It's pretty close to a similar piece I did for The Mistborn Adventure Game >> www.inkthinker.net/illustratio… <<. Everything we put into that book was run past Brandon, and while I don't recall his feedback on the Codex page verbatim, it's what we published so I reckon it's either close enough or not that important (I have a vague memory of him telling me that what's most important is lots of blood contact). 

It'll probably do until someone can ask him at a signing or something, but even then I bet a clip he asks Peter. Between all the Cosmere books just up to now, he's got so many details to keep track of that they've started to wiki them.

Marsh's page in the Game says he has, prior to the death of TLR, 10 spikes in total (4 Steel, 4 Bronze, 1 Gold and 1 Atium). At the height of his power, just before Harmony, he had 22 spikes (8 Steel, 2 Pewter, 8 Bronze, 2 Gold, 1 Aluminum and 1 Atium). I'm 99% sure that the four steel go two in the eyes, one at the top of the spine, and one through the heart. As to the bronze, gold and atium, I'd put the singles into his torso along the center line, and the four bronze into his ribs (2 each side). Symmetry is more attractive. 

If you want to add more, placing them along the sides of the spine makes for a neat silhouette. I don't suggest actually having them stick out of his skin very far, that's just the diagram. In practice, I think you'd nail 'em all the way in. And they don't all have to be as long or wide as rail spikes, that's just the first four steel ones.  

I hope that helps, some!

 

Okay, so, here's our new list of Spikes.

 

Marsh: Hero of Ages era

Total: 22

Steel: 8 [Takes Physical Allomantic Powers]

Bronze: 8 [Takes Mental Allomantic Powers]

Pewter: 2 [Takes Physical Feruchemical Powers]

Gold: 2 [Takes Feruchemical Hybrid/Temporal Powers]

Aluminum: 1 [Takes Allomantic Ehancement Powers]

Atium: 1[Wild Card]

 

Confirmed Placements

Eye Spikes: Each of these is Steel Spike, most likely possessing Allomantic iron and Allomantic steel. [2 Steel]

Linchpin Spike: This is a Steel Spike, but which power it possesses I'm unsure of. It's most likely Allomantic pewter. [1 Steel]

Heart: Now, this one isn't a Steel Spike so much as one that grants Steel- as we know from the Coppermind that a Pewter Spike goes here granting Feruchemical steel. [1 Pewter]

Sternum: As Inkthinker said that symmetry in Hemalurgy is preferred, another steel spike goes here, granting Allomantic steel [1 Steel]

Rib Spikes: All of these are either Steel or Bronze, so in total there are twelve Spikes granting various powers going in between Marsh's ribs. Process of elimination should help figure out what each one does. [4 Steel, 8 Bronze]

Unknown Placement: An Pewter Spike granting some sort of physical Feruchemical ability, most likely Feruchemical pewter. [1 Pewter]

Unknown Placement: An Aluminum Spike granting Allomantic duralumin [1 Aluminum]

Unknown Placement: An Atium Spike granting Allomantic atium [1 Atium]

Unknown Placement: Two Gold Spikes, most likely granting granting Feruchemical gold. Unknown if one of these is, in fact, a Spike of a different metal granting Allomantic gold. [2 Gold]

 

*****

 

Now we have Three Hemalurgic Laws, one of which was just revealed to us.

 

The First Law of Hemalurgy: The Law of Hemalurgic decay. Any stolen power is weaker than the original, and the Investiture diminishes the longer the Spike remains outside of a body.

The Second Law of Hemalurgy: The First Law can be avoided or reduced by a Spike of sufficient size.

The Third Law of Hemalurgy: In Hemalurgy, symmetry is preferred.

 

So, I think the only thing left to determine, as it's pretty clear what most of these Spikes do, is what the twelve Spikes in the ribs [4 Steel, 8 Bronze] do, keeping in mind this new law of Hemalurgic Symmetry.

 

EDIT: Rust and Ruin he just gave us a partial Hemalurgic bind points chart! Does anyone know how to translate the Steel Alphabet?

Edited May 30, 2014 by TheArcanist

[Cstryon he/him]

Ok, so some of these seem easy and obvious. Placement aside, let's think of the type of spikes, and what they give. A few powers we know he has for sure, and which spikes they should be:

Feruchemical gold - From a gold spike

Allomantic gold - allowing for him to compound health, not sure what spike that would be. Gold is Internal Temporal

(maybe gold spikes allow for taking both Feruchemical gold, and Allomantic gold. Assuming they are big enough, now he also has his goldminds)

 

Allomantic atium - Only one that seems to work is the Atium spike.

Allomantic duralumin - Aluminum Spike

 

Now I didn't list all of them, we need to figure out the ones that make him what he his, Healing, Imortal.

Could a Bronze spike take Allomantic atium, allowing for his Atium spike to give him Feruchemical atium?

 

Maybe he doesn't compound health, considering through out the whole Trilogy, he wasn't fighting all the time. And I doubt he has need for comfort. Maybe he is constantly storing health to some degree. He stops storing to do tasks that needs him to not be under the weather, and only taps when he needs to heal. I'm not too inclined to think this, but if he doesn't have Allomantic gold, that could leave one of the Gold spikes to possibly take Feruchemical atium.

 

Another thing to consider. 22 spikes up to the time of the Final Ascension. This means, if we are missing powers, he could have gained a few more from the left over spikes when Vin killed the rest of the Inquisitors. And used them after Sazed ascended. 

[TheArcanist he/him]

A Bronze Spike could not- Atium isn't a Allomantic Mental Power, but an Allomantic Temporal one. Gold specifically steals Feruchemical Temporal/Hybrid powers, so I doubt a Gold Spike could steal Allomantic gold, so maybe he just has two goldminds instead of compounding Gold.

 

We know from a WoB that Marsh acquired Feruchemical atium from a dead Inquisitor after Vin ascended to temporarily become Preservation, because it was posted earlier on this thread. So technically by the period of Alloy of Law Marsh has, most likely, 23 Spikes. Ruin probably stabbed him with Spike 23 [Feruchemical atium] immediately after Vin ascended. If I recall correctly, he was the last, or one of the last, Inquisitors alive at that time.

 

Source: http://theoryland.com/intvmain.php?i=708#8

[PorridgeBrick he/him]

We have to remember that Harmony changed back the Metallic Arts. I find it very plausible that before his Ascension, when Atium was in the temporal block, that Gold spikes could steal Feruchemical atium too, as part of its quadrant. Thus Marsh's spike would not actually be reproducible today.

Anyways, my thoughts.

8 Steel: Pretty clearly just doubling up all the metals. 8 Spikes, 4 powers possible.

8 Bronze: Same thing. 8 spikes, four powers. As Marsh is a Bronze misting, that means one power is tripled. I'll put my money on Allomantic bronze tripled, for the sake of symmetry.

2 Pewter: This one is interesting. Feruchemical steel, definitely. But what is the other? Weight, as the only physical power not covered yet? Or strength, for maximum overkill when combined with the doubled up Allomantic pewter?

2 Gold: Feruchemical gold and Feruchemical atium.

1 Aluminum: Allomantic duralumin.

1 Atium: Allomantic atium.

Arcanist, I doubt he has 23. Inkthinker does specify that it's at the height of Marsh's power. If he got another spike after, then 22 would no longer be the height.

[TheArcanist he/him]

I hadn't thought of using Gold to steal Feruchemical atium under Preservation's altered Metalic Arts set. That is entirely possible. Yes, he says at the height of his power, but the WoB also says that Marsh scrounged up the Spike from an Inquisitor than Vin killed immediately before her ascension. Of course, this could be one of those included in the list, but my gut instinct is that it is not included in the twenty-two.

 

I'm almost certain the other is Feruchemical pewter. During Hero of Ages I remember a part where he's described as growing, literally, in a similar manner to how Sazed did during the Siege of Luthadel by tapping his pewtermind. So, if that's true, here's the new tally.

 

Total: 22 [23 (?)]

 

Steel: 8 [Allomantic iron (x2), Allomantic steel (x2), Allomantic pewter (x2), Allomantic tin (x2)]

Bronze: 8 [Allomantic copper (x2), Allomantic bronze (x2), Allomantic zinc (x2), Allomantic brass (x2)]

Pewter: 2 [Feruchemical steel, Feruchemical pewter]

Gold: 2 [Feruchemical gold (x2) or Feruchemical gold + Feruchemical atium]

Aluminum: 1 [Allomantic duralumin]

Atium: 1[Allomantic atium] (+1 Atium Spike for Feruchemical atium?)

[PorridgeBrick he/him]

He does say "just before Harmony". Scrounging up a spike right after Vin ascends would certainly fit well with that. And the fact that he specifies "just before" means he must have gotten to the count of 22 pretty late.

[Lightning he/him]

I always thought that one of his spikes gave him Allomantic electrum, so he didn't have to use atium to counter atium.  (In fact, I thought this was a standard spike for all inquisitors, since they don't seem to just "out-atium" their opponents.)

[TheArcanist he/him]

Except none of the metals of any of the Spikes is capable of stealing an Allomantic temporal power, which is what Electrum is. It's the internal temporal pushing metal. I suppose one of the Gold Spikes could be used to grant Feruchemical electrum, but none of them are capable of grant Allomantic electrum, which would be pointless anyways, since Marsh could burn atium, and the Inquisitors seemed fairly oblivious to the existence of electrum. If they'd been aware of it, they wouldn't have been surprised that Elend was capable of countering atium.

[WeiryWriter he/him]

EDIT: Rust and Ruin he just gave us a partial Hemalurgic bind points chart! Does anyone know how to translate the Steel Alphabet?

 

Somebody translated that sheet (which is from the Treatise Metallurgic in the MAG) a while back.  If you want to translate it yourself, the Coppermind has a chart.