Kurkistan

*Skims conversation* Wait, when did I do that?

That's an interesting way of putting it. As for whether anyone but Sazed can understand the "religious mystery": Brandon obviously does, so yes, someone else can understand it.

That point is addressed later on in that same thread, with a full source here.

You are right about the earring allowing the communication, as I cite in the FAQ proper, and you are not alone in speculating on whether Wax got Allomantic Pewter from his earring. Heck, I even got a RAFO from Brandon on the topic.

I think Brandon has a UK publisher for Alcatraz, FYI.

I disagree slightly about a characterization of "Harmony" as equivalent to balance.

An interesting observation. You are likely wrong, though, given that we know from multiple sources that the effects of a Niceoburst an an Allomancer is virtually identical to the effect of that same Allomancer burning Duralumin. What WoB are you referring to?

Okay. In the future, it would probably be wise to wait a day or two after putting up a "question" thread before you post it to the List.

Quite right, Shardlet. Here's the link, for those curious. Why did you feel the need to ask the question in two places at once, Malliw?

Just the person burning copper, barring extreme and manipulative skill. EDIT: NINJA!

Sorry Tal, it seems I make a habit of singling out relatively blameless individuals when trying to highlight and impose my own personal style preferences.

Yes, thank you Joe

Also, it could well be argued that entire vision is metaphorical, so 2 Shards == 2 Stars makes a fair amount of sense, especially given that we know Odium was responsible for Aona and Skai's deaths.

Video's Up: Has quite a few questions that aren't in the AMA, though I'm still watching it, so I'm not sure as to the proportions.

I doubt it, since Odium is a Shard of Adonalsium. Unless I'm missing your meaning?

I suppose we just disagree, then. I think that Ati-Ruin could build a ladder after a million years.

@Weiry Thank you for the correction. @Vortaan Yes, that is what I meant to get across. Thank you for attempting to clarify. @Tal No problem with the bold, it's just a bit of poor form (in my book, at least). Generally people use italics when they want to emphasize stuff (that I've seen, at least) since bold can be interpreted as shouting. I would imagine that the "catch" is the whole "murder of innocents" thing. Killing people generally isn't considered to be an activity you "just" do. Awakening has quite a similar system, actually: people give up a part of their souls, and there's not loss there.

Perhaps, but I still doubt it. So far as Ruin is concerned, "what he started with" is a pile of sticks and an intact city. I think he'd count it as a win if he ends with a serviceable ladder and a city in Ruins. Think of it this way: What would Ruin do if he only had 2 options available to him? He can either build a functional ladder (without undo sacrifice) and then burn the city down but leave the ladder alone, or he can burn the sticks and not do anything else. If he chooses the first, then that ladder will stay intact and functional for the foreseeable future, and there's nothing Ruin can do about it. If you explained this state of affairs to Ruin, do you think he'd say "oh, well I can't do anything that would 'preserve' the sticks, so I guess I'll just set the sticks on fire and call it a day"? I do not. And yes, it has gone an interesting direction. Thread-derailing can be quite fun.

No need for the bolding, Tal. We also have Forging (+) and Bloodsealing (?), and literally every Sellian magic system is actually just a manifestation of a single overarching system--which system involves both of the Shards. There is no justification for using a pseudo process of elimination to categorize Dakhor as end-negative. -On that note, Dula fighting likely isn't neutral. It almost certainly draws on the Dor, as enabled by the movements. As I said, the power transfer may be 100% efficient (ala Feruchemy), or the sacrifices may just be the thing needed to get the Investiture going, after which the Dor takes over. An Elantrian becomes an Elantrian by being Devoted to something, then gets access to the Dor; for all we know, a Dakhor monk becomes a Dakhor monk by sacrificing others and so changing their selves, then they get access to the Dor.

There is that... Okay, free-book me, Joe. (please)

I like free things... But I already own the paperback, so it would be a bit wasteful...

A good point. Still possibly wrong, though. Hemalurgy is quite unique in that it necessarily squanders power; it loses something to entropy. For all we know, Dakhor gets a 100% transference of power, or the sacrifices necessary to create its glyphs are simply initiators to an ongoing Shardic Investiture that really gets things done. Actually, I think that second is more likely: the only time we see Dakhor just straigh-up sacrifice someone for magical effect is the instance of teleportation. Even then, the sacrifice might have been either a key to start Investiture, a small part of a greater Shardic whole, or used at 100% efficiency. Otherwise, it seems that you sacrifice people to create the glyphs, but then the Dor takes over and gives you its power going forward.

I think you're being ungenerous here, Vortaan. If you show Ruin some sticks and a chasm that he can't jump--on the other side of which is a city ripe for Ruination--he will make those sticks into a (twisted and ugly, but still perfectly functional) ladder so that he can destroy the city. Making the ladder--imposing a unique and purposeful order on something--is a creative act in my book. Ruin gets to be even more Ruinous after the bargain, in the long run, while Preservation gets to Preserve stuff against Ruin indefinitely if his betrayal works.

I would guess that the mechanics work such that, at any given moment, Endowment has all the people who died doing "Endowy" things to choose from. Lightsong was of the proper disposition and timing to bring back, then.

Sorry Vortan, I think you're off here. Ruin is stated as being capable of creating towards the end of destruction. We have it from the books that Ruin knew that "if he built one thing up, he could use it to knock down two others." (HoA Ch 8 epigraph). Sure he "built" from existing stock and in so doing twisted it, but he still built something up.