Lindel

Any mega-Splinters like the Stormfather running around?

Only humans on Nalthis have Breath. If a Nicrosil Ferring stored their own Innate Investure, that's exactly what they'd get back, not a Breath. It wouldn't change to Investiture from an entirely different Shardworld just by being stored in a Metalmind.

Didn't the OP say that the Splintering happened post-Ascension? So Mistwraiths, Kandra, and Steel Inquisitors would be basically the same. And since we're assuming Allomancy and Feruchemy still work basically the same, why not assume Hemalurgy does? Minus Ruin's whispering into your mind, of course. As I see it, the Koloss, Kandra, and Mistwraiths would all be basically the same. "Mistwraiths" as Splinters of Ruin or Preservation would be different from the un-Blessed Kandra known as Mistwraiths, and would need a new name to avoid confusion. The Lord Ruler's three Construct races were created at the time of the Ascension, which was before the Splintering, so they would remain basically untouched. The question is, what form would Splinters of Preservation and Ruin take? Seons are very different from Spren on Roshar, so I'm guessing Splinters on Scadrial would be different from both. I'll post some more concrete suggestions later, hopefully.

Breath and Stormlight? I guess those two aren't entirely unrelated, though.

I believe he said there's an argument to be made for Harmony currently being the single most powerful thing in the Cosmere.

The Assembly of the New Empire? EDIT: How close is "very close"?

Yeah, I think Loyalty works for Preservation + Devotion, while Honor + Devotion might be something more like Duty.

Ooh, I like that! Honor + Dominion could be... Justice, perhaps?

Endowment + Cultivation = ...Nourishment? I don't think that's quite the word I'm looking for.

Preservation + Endowment = Provision, perhaps? I'm thinking Cultivation + Ruin is more along the lines of Refinement. Get rid of the bad, pruning the tree, etc. Maybe something in relation to the "Harvest". Honor + Devotion = Loyalty? I like Honor + Odium = Revenge/Vengeance!

Don't eat the cookies! They're spiked. Welcome to the forum, and help yourself to a couple up-votes and a Hemalurgy-free chocolate truffle.

Welcome to the Seventeenth Shard! You've come to the right place. I wouldn't eat that cookie if I were you...

Well, we have words of Brandon that there's an argument to be made for Harmony being the most powerful thing in the Cosmere. Odium is apparently very scared of him. I'd say it's likely that Harmony is the most powerful single entity in existence. (Source) and (Source)

“At first glance, the key and the lock it fits may seem very different," Sazed said. "Different in shape, different in function, different in design. The man who looks at them without knowledge of their true nature might think them opposites, for one is meant to open, and the other to keep closed. Yet, upon closer examination he might see that without one, the other becomes useless. The wise man then sees that both lock and key were created for the same purpose.”

We've got one in General Brandon Discussion. Is it helpful to the mods if I report each post, or is it better just to report the user and leave it there?

We have WoB that Vasher was first planned as a character in the Stormlight Archive before Warbreaker was ever written. Let me see if I can find it... Here it is. EDIT: Just got ninja'd by WeiryWriter.

Yeah, it took me some time to work out what I was really trying to say. We have WoB that Feruchemy was somehow introduced to the population by Preservation. It would follow that Allomancy was intentionally introduced at some point. I'm not sure that Preservation necessarily designed Allomancy, as you're saying. We know he tweaked the metals chart, swapping Bendalloy and Cadmium for Atium and Malatium. Why would it be necessary to alter the chart for his own purposes if he'd designed it in the first place? It would depend on the timing. It's possible he designed the chart in its original form, and later changed his mind and reworked it.

Which is exactly why Rosharan Fabrials were discovered earlier, and are much more prevalent across Roshar. On Scadrial, it's more complicated. fool Well, metals on Scadrial form a gateway for preservation's power. We have WoB that it's possible to infuse a Spike with mists. It's probably safe to assume that the molecular structure of the metal, just as it tells a Hemalurgic spike what to steal, or what effect it has when burned Allomantically, it channels the same power in some way when infused. The process of infusing a spike is clearly more complicated than simply leaving it out in the mists. The nature of Investure on Scadrial clearly changes how these mist-fabrials are created and how they function, but the basic principles are the same.

I meant they create Surge-like effects. Healing Fabrials, for example, share similarities to the Progression Surge. Modern fabrials, unlike Soulcasters, don't copy Surgebinding effects, but they seem to be based on similar principles.

As I see it, the most "natural" form of magic in the Cosmere is always based on the workings of the person's Spiritweb. Everyone on Nalthis, whether it's something in their sDNA or something to do with being born on the planet, has a Breath. On Roshar, bonding a Spren changes your Spiritweb. On Scadrial, certain genes in your sDNA grant you either Feruchemy, or Allomancy. So I guess I'm agreeing with Blaze. The only mechanical systems we've seen so far are the fabrials on Roshar and the Southern Scardial's mechanical Metalic Arts, which I assume are quite similar. "Mist-fabrials", so to speak. They're basically both man-made ways of using Investiture. I don't know about anyone else, but it seems highly unlikely to me that magical machines predate magical people. Fabrials, and by extension mist-fabrials, are just another way of accessing that Shard's Investiture. Fabrials on Roshar bind spren within gemstones to utilize the Surges. Mist-fabrials are presumably a similarly mechanical method of accessing Preservation's power. I've also always assumed that mist-fabrials was something discovered by Southern Scadrians after Rashek's Ascension, whereas Feruchemy and Allomancy were both present before, although Allomancy was less common back then. If the machines had existed during Alendi's time, we'd probably see some kind of remnant of that in the Final Empire. In conclusion, it's my opinion that although the possibility of creating mist-fabrials has existed as long as any of the other Metallic Arts, it's no more "natural" than Allomancy or Feruchemy. Given the fact that Feruchemy and Allomancy naturally show up in Scadrian genes, whereas mist-fabrials would, like any machine, require sufficiently advanced scientific knowledge, it seems likely that the two genetic Arts were discovered first. EDIT: Just saw that "mist-fabrials" is under your list of espoused theories. And I went through all the trouble of an entire Google search to find it...

That's exactly what I was about to point out. We have WOB that Hemalurgic spikes can't be burned.

One little nitpick - the fire doesn't create the flamespren, it attracts them. It's an interesting idea, but I think you'd need to back it with more evidence to really consider it a functional theory. At the moment it's really just a shot in the dark. But, if, five years down the line, turn out to be right, you can tell us all, "I told you so!"

The problem is that people have done hive minds so many times, and after a while they all start to feel the same. What can I do to make mine more unique in some way, to make it stand out and really feel original?

This is one of the less refined concepts in this world, but one that I think has potential It's called the Fusion. It's basically a hivemind, but one built on the same principles upon which the Wandering Cities and Blazehearts were designed. Basically, it's a collection of many individual organisms, but it considers itself to be a single lifeform made up of many little moving parts. There are four main "veins" of the Fusion. Starting at the bottom, there are the Thralls. They basically living batteries. Magic on Naelus feeds off connections between living things. While the connection between Wanderers and their inhabitants is symbiotic, the connection between the Thralls and the rest of the Fusion is more parasitic. ...I'm going to go off on a short tangent, I apologize. In order to get some of what I'm talking about, you have to understand this: The force behind the Fusion is very similar to the force behind the Wandering cities. Each Wandering city has a spirit, or a soul, bound to its body and to Naelus through connections to Naelan humans. One of those souls is what's in control of the Fusion. So when I say it's a parasitic relationship, I mean that the soul controlling the Fusion basically feeds off the humans that it's assimilated. Compare that to the Wanderers, where both parties benefit. Wanderer gets to not die, humans get to not die. Everyone's happy! Anyway, where was I? Right, Thralls. Power is harvested directly from the Thralls and distributed throughout the Fusion. Much of their body mass is actually physically harvested to create the other veins, making them appear pale and emaciated. They're constantly attached to spinelike growths that crop up in clusters within a Fusion hive. The spines appear to pierce their stomach, through their throat, exiting out the mouth. Next up are the Brawn. They're the muscle of the Fusion, forming the working and fighting force. They're roughly human in size and shape, although their skin often has a grayish tinge. They have no visible hair, but their body is covered is covered head to toe in thin, bladelike feelers, the only exception being the face and the palms of the hands. These feelers are used both as sensory receptors and organic weapons. Next we have the Scions, which essentially make the nervous system for the Fusion. They transmit commands down from the Overseers to individual branches. There's roughly one Scions for every two dozen Brawn. Scions are similar in appearance to Brawn, but usually stand between eight and nine feet tall. They have a set of several longer feelers on each arm, growing from just below the elbow and extending about a foot and a half past their fingertips. They use these as effective weapons in combat, wielding them like daggers. Last, the Overseers. The brain of the Fusion. Collectively, the Overseers are the mind that governs the Fusion. Rarely seen, the Overseers stand approximately fifteen feet tall. Their upper body is twisted and skeletal, with a skull-like face and a long, flexible neck. Their fingers are long, thin, and gnarled claws. I'm trying to think of how to describe their lower half.. It's basically like a huge, skeletal centipede, with many little legs protruding like ribs from under a layered shell. This tapers off toward the back into a sharp stinger. A little strange, I know. It's not a perfect description, but it's the best way I can think of to convey the image in my head. Anyway, thoughts? This part could definitely some work, so any feedback is greatly appreciated!

I really this universe. Very mythic feel to it. I love how it blends lore from various different sources in mythology, but you can tell that all those myths were just based on human misunderstandings, which is really cool. I'd love to see the same story continued, or another in the same universe.