Nomenclature for Skaa Allomancers

[Wyrmhero he/him]

So we have Allomancers in The Final Empire, who can be either noble or skaa. We call those who burn all metals Mistborn, and those who burn one metal Mistings (If this information comes as a surprise to you, you may want to reread the books, but this time closely). We have Feruchemists who store all metals, and (in Alloy of Law onwards) Ferrings who store one metal like Mistings do. We've even started using Metalborn for those who are both a Misting and a Ferring. I'm not even going to get into what a TwinAwesome like TLR can do.

 

However, while thinking about a MAG game I might run next year, when referring to Allomancers it can be a little awkward to differentiate between the two different 'races' that Mistings can be - skaa and noble - in a quick way. Does anyone have a better way to shorthand 'skaa Misting' or 'noble Misting' and what have you than that, or are we stuck with those slightly awkward ways of refering to them?

Edited June 1, 2014 by Wyrmhero

[king of nowhere]

I think if you introduce too many new words people will make confusion.

[Swimmingly he/him]

A misting is a term talking about magical capacity. Skaa and noble are racial/class dividers. It's like inventing two separate words for Mongolian and Andorran basketball players.

[Chaos he/him]

We've even started using Metalborn for those who are both a Misting and a Ferring.

Technically, a "metalborn" is either a Ferring or a Misting; it is the generic term for all of these.

[Wyrmhero he/him]

Oh, right, whoops.

 

I didn't mean as an official word as such, more kind of slang, perhaps? I could definitely see some Skaa Allomancers coming up with words to separate Allomancers into 'them' and 'us' as a PR exercise.

[WeiryWriter he/him]

The only in-world example of this is Thug vs Pewterarm for pewter mistings.  Skaa tend to use the former, Nobles the latter.

[Kobold King he/him]

A misting is a term talking about magical capacity. Skaa and noble are racial/class dividers. It's like inventing two separate words for Mongolian and Andorran basketball players.

 

Swimmingly, Swimmingly, Swimmingly. When will you learn the importance of categorization? FYI, the proper terms are "Gobi Dunkers" and "Catalan Carriers".

[Pathfinder]

Well since it is your game, you could always come up with some all of your own. Hell you could even come up with ethnic slurs. When a noble refers to a skaa misting, he or she could call them slags (stony waste matter separated from metals during the smelting or refining of ore). I would need more time/research to come up with more, but then again like I said it is your game, so might be more fun for you to do so. It could get you more immersed in the world you create. 

[Wyrmhero he/him]

I quite like that as an idea. I'll have a look for other words meaning that sort of poor quality metal stuff, but slags certainly works (though considering it's a British game, might evoke the wrong image).

[Pathfinder]

LOL, that might get a little awkward. glad to help 

[Swimmingly he/him]

You could go in the same vein as Thug vs Pewterarm - Soothers could be Cons and Rioters could be Mobs, Lurchers could be Thieves and Coinshots could be Shooters, Tineyes could just be Eyes, etc.