Why slatrification works and why my way should be truth

[+Ark1002]

Ok, let's start this off with a little lesson in sand mastery.

In sand mastery, each of the grains of sand are covered in little pieces of algae like stuff. You give water from your body to these, getting them to move, and do as you command.

Which leads to why slatrification makes clear sense:

it isn't actually turning sand to water, per se. It is you tricking the algae, giving it a little bit of water, and instead of having it move, squeezing all the water out of it, getting water to drink, even if it is a bit sandy.

 

How this would work: the algae is able to compress the water, fitting in an incredible amount into a small space. So for every grain of sand, you gain about three times that much water. So when you do this on a large scale, all the sand settles to the bottom, and you're left with perfect water. Perceived as "turning the sand into water".

 

I feel like this makes a lot of sense, and would explain it perfectly.

[Karger he/him]

10 minutes ago, Ark1002 said:

I feel like this makes a lot of sense, and would explain it perfectly.

Except we don't really know the full details about how this works and also the potential for unlimited sand mastery annoys people.

[+Ark1002]

17 hours ago, Karger said:

Except we don't really know the full details about how this works and also the potential for unlimited sand mastery annoys people.

?

I was saying this is an explanation for how it works

we have no idea, so i thought something up that makes sense

[Karger he/him]

8 minutes ago, Ark1002 said:

I was saying this is an explanation for how it works

It would explain some things perfectly but it has other problems.  IE how does the water move from man to sand?

8 minutes ago, Ark1002 said:

we have no idea, so i thought something up that makes sense

It does but it also creates problems(unlimited mastering).

[Weltall]

Slatrification is problematic to Brandon and the readers for the obvious reason that it allows anyone who can do it to bypass one of the fundamental limitations on Sand Mastery. Whether it's supposed to work by literally turning the sand into water like Soulcasting or wringing it out of the lichen like you propose, it still gives the Master more water than they started with, meaning that the limitation becomes a non-issue. Even if your proposal kills the lichen and so that particular clump of sand can never be Mastered again, it's no real limitation on a planet that's half covered with the stuff. Which is why Brandon's approach has been to downplay it with the aim of getting rid of it as a mechanic entirely rather than trying to come up with an explanation for how it works.

[+Harrycrapper]

On 2/18/2020 at 3:35 PM, Weltall said:

Slatrification is problematic to Brandon and the readers for the obvious reason that it allows anyone who can do it to bypass one of the fundamental limitations on Sand Mastery. Whether it's supposed to work by literally turning the sand into water like Soulcasting or wringing it out of the lichen like you propose, it still gives the Master more water than they started with, meaning that the limitation becomes a non-issue. Even if your proposal kills the lichen and so that particular clump of sand can never be Mastered again, it's no real limitation on a planet that's half covered with the stuff. Which is why Brandon's approach has been to downplay it with the aim of getting rid of it as a mechanic entirely rather than trying to come up with an explanation for how it works.

I understand why Slatrification is problematic, it basically makes for unlimited Sand Mastery on Dayside. I could see it being a component of Sand Mastery that doesn't become prominent until Sand Masters are in a different setting than Dayside for narrative reasons. Slatrification doesn't create the same narrative issues if invested sand isn't a readily available resource. 

Spoilers for era 2 Mistborn:

Spoiler

Also, doesn't Allomantic compounding of Feruchemical attributes have the same problem? Yes, I know that compounding is rare and you need two magic systems to accomplish it. But. with the advent of Hemalurgy and unsealed metalmind technology from Southern Scadrial, it's about to become more common.  

 

[StanLemon]

 

Spoiler

With Unsealed Metalminds allowing for effectively infinite Compounding and Dalinar "Open A Perpendicularity And Freely Charge All the Radiants In The Area" Kholin. The argument against Slatrification falls kind of flat

 

Edited March 3, 2021 by StanLemon

[+Harrycrapper]

10 minutes ago, StanLemon said:

Spoiler

With Unsealed Metalminds allowing for effectively infinite Compounding and Dalinar "Open A Perpendicularity And Freely Charge All the Radiants In The Area" Kholin. The argument against Slatrification falls kind of flat

 

Hey, you should spoiler your post, this is a White Sand topic and spoilers from other series need to be hidden, preferably with info for which books it spoils. But yes, I'm not sure how Slatrification is a problem once a story is set outside of Dayside given some of the other OP applications of other magic systems.