Deus Ex Biotica

Someone with full Allomantic and Ferruchemical abilities would be better than Marsh at everything except being a Seeker (Marsh started as one, so he can now pierce Copperclouds), and experience (300-400 years of practice don't seem to have taught him much about emotional Allomancy, but I assume he's gotten good at some other things). For now, however, The Set seems entirely focused on Allomancy. I do sometimes contemplate a matchup between Marsh and a modern Mistborn with all sixteen metals - Bendalloy is of limited use when you're facing off against someone who can Compound speed and probably Strength as well (you could dodge bullets or coins, but Marsh would just want to get in close and tear you apart), but Chromium is a nasty advantage. Maybe Marsh isn't such a trump card, after all. Then again, push him far enough, and he might be willing to burn some of that priceless Atium he' got... The setting of the second book has been described alternately as "modern" and "20th century". El Trains are a definite possibility. -- Deus Ex Biotica P.S. I wonder what Speed Bubbles look like to Atium burners?

It was a whole pile of books, but yeah - the Words Of Founding are the sum total of the Keeper's Metalminds. He had also left a book with his personal thoughts and divine insight, but that one does not appear to have seen widespread distribution, given all the references to Hemalurgy and the like.

I understand that. And maybe you're even right - I'm not completely sold upon this theory. (And we do know at least one place in Alloy of Law that Hemalurgy is hidden on the side of the good guys - Wax's earring.) So long as you're not disputing that it will show back up, and be used on the "killing lots of people to make superman" scale again, someday.

That makes a lot of sense to me - I'll buy it. 3 humans for a Kandra, 5 for a Koloss, and 11-12 for a "normal" Inquisitor (depending on whether you count the "base" person, since Inquisitors appear to have complete memories of their human lives) - Kandra are still the most bloodless of Hemalurgic creations known. -- Deus Ex Biotica

Gold: See a past version of yourself. Electrum (Gold's Allomantic Alloy): See future versions of yourself. Malatium (Gold + Atium): See past versions of others. But I see what you are saying. I suppose it is possible that the proper mix of Atium and Bendalloy or Cadmium could allow you to travel backwards, but Marsh has literally all the Atium in the world, and no more is likely to exist, so it would be hard to find out. In any case, I doubt you could go very far - Atium burns fast. Even a way of jumping a few minutes or seconds back in time would be interesting, though... -- Deus Ex Biotica

Alternately, if by Mistwraith you actually mean the non-sentient biological mashup oozes, I don't recall seeing one, but people talk about (Wayne even draws them on Wax's sketches!), so we know they still exist in the world.

Let us be frank: Hemalurgy is not going to stay restricted to people too ethical to use it indefinitely. I could theorize about rogue Kandra, conspiracies going back to the Words Of Founding, some project of Marsh's gone wrong, servants of Odium, or the unknown author of the writeup at the end of Alloy Of Law, but I've never been really confident in that wort of thing. Here is what I am confident in: Hemalurgy is too useful and too creepy a setting element to just disappear. Even if I am wrong about Miles and others are wrong about Tan, it will be used by villains again. The question of how is interesting, but the question of whether it shall occur at all is... nonexistent. -- Deus Ex Biotica

With all respect, we have no possible way of knowing that. We see exactly nothing of what he was like before he started running the Vanishers. We do know that he tended to kill criminals rather than jailing them, that Wax respected him, and that Wayne thought he was a terrible person, but we have no read on whether the emotions he displays are in keeping with his nature. Yes. Exactly. This is precisely why it makes no sense at all for the philosophy he spouts off to Wax when nobody else is around (and to the firing squad when he has no reason to put on a show for The Set) to align with those of the people he merely pretended loyalty towards. -- Deus Ex Biotica

Why would that follow? I am travelling forwards in time right now. So are you. I have never heard of anyone going backwards - one does not require the other.

The Threads on The Set and Trellism touched on this, but now that I have a guess, I think it needs some space of its own. Incongruous details: * Miles' idea of Trellism seems totally unrelated to anything we knew about the religion previously. * While dying, Miles had strange delusions. * The Late Lord Ladrian boasted that he did not sound like Miles - Miles sounded like him... even though Miles clearly did not see him as the source of any spiritual or personal epiphany, just a temporary ally of convenience. So, why did Miles suddenly turn to absurdly large-scale crime and raving madness, apparently at the behest of someone he didn't even know was controlling him? Hemalurgy. Someone's been secretly charging his Metalminds before he puts them in. Wouldn't Hemalurgy just make him closer to Sazed? Apparently not. There's pretty good evidence that Bloody Tan was also going Hemalurgically insane - it seems that something else, either a very strong Rioter/Soother (or team of same), or some other Shard (can any Shard interact with Hemalurgy? We do not know - Preservation was in no position to try) is using spikes to control people with violent aims. And the Set are in on it. That, or Miles was an unstable guy who got manipulated, and I'm just being paranoid. -- Deus Ex Biotica

They seem to be, but there is a way for them to sire children - some God-Emperors learn it, some do not. As of yet, that's all we know, but it seems to be something they can do after Returning, so I do not think it has to do with being a different kind of Returned in the first place.

You. Win.

Wait, what? Did I miss a memo about Bronze being able to detect even Ferruchemy? Those Inquisitors got pretty blindsided by Sazed... Lately, I've been more and more amused by the idea of a Coinshot who doubles as a Cadmium Ferring backing up a group of bandits. They could hide in a canal for hours with a bunch of shell casings (or any scrap metal) close to an amush spot, and if there was trouble, start shooting back from under the canal (I think this would work despite the pressure change as the shots exited the water, since, unlike bullets, Coinshot attacks have a constant force acting on them), and the enemy would not know where to shoot back. Wait a minute... I know how Wax could shoot out of Wayne's Bendalloy bubbles. Once a bullet gets distorted, it probably has too much force to be kept on track precisely by Steelpushing. But if Wax through a bunch of coins (or, knowing him, shell casings) at people, let them get distorted, then re-positioned himself within the bubble to line up a new shot and Pushed again, that should work. Nasty. -- Deus Ex Biotica

Interesting! I'm not sure it changes what order I would expect things to have happened in on Nalthis, but that seems very telling about the Returned - not all the energy can come from Endowment, if you need a Breath to make it possible (or, at least, to make it possible "as we know it").

Strictly speaking, we have at least 11 Misborn books, given that there is intended to be at least one more with Wax and Wayne, too. And I thought there was going to be a full Elantris trilogy. That still only makes 30, though - I am also curious what Chaos' numbers include. There's been some discussion of that in assorted Threads. So far, no agreement. -- Deus Ex Biotica

Right. So, say you have enough Cadmium for (just estimating here) a minute inside, two hours outside. Burn Duralumin, and a split second passes inside while two hours pass outside. At least, such is my theory. Bendalloy is even more of a mixed bag. I would assume that Duralmin (or Nicrosil) bursting it would result in you having a second or so where the outside world seemed completely stopped, rather than merely slowed. The utility of this is questionable. -- Deus Ex Biotica

I do not think that the Drakhor magic is based on their land, since they appear to be confident their powers will work fully even far from their homeland - the Elantrians are notably weaker when they get further from Elantris.

Good catch - in The Final Empire, nobody knew where the Atium came from besides Kelsier, The Lord Ruler, the Kandra, and House Venture. Of course, A House Of Ashes shows Kelsier publishing lots of information on Allomancy and the like to be distributed to the Skaa, so maybe he let knowledge of the Pits get out that way, too.

One concern: Breath needs to exist before Returned, or else the Returned die after a week. Other than that, this makes sense to me!

Here's a Hemalurgy question: would it be possible to give a Mistwraith spikes carrying an Allomantic or Ferruchemical power, thus creating a Kandra with additional powers? (I searched the Brandonthology and found nothing, so I understand if nobody knows, but I find it an interesting question.) Unlike other things made through Hemalurgy, Kandra start as Mistwraiths, who might or might not even have real Bind Points (since their bodies are amorphous). Further, maybe they don't even become Kandra if you don't give them raw attributes, since giving attributes rather than powers is noted for physically warping the target more, and if you didn't warp a Miswraith enough, would it even be sentient? Then again, TenSoon can gain the benefits of two sets of Blessings just by oozing around them, so maybe all you need to do is make a normal Kandra, then hand it some Allomantic/Ferruchemical spikes? -- Deus Ex Biotica

Note: I suspect that not all Steelpushers could do those tricks. Character!Push is noted as highly skilled, while Wax remarks on how instinctual his grasp of Allomancy is.

I am still not totally sold on the idea that that "Investure" means that, but if it does, that could be really cool. And, if you burn something like Bendalloy, you could have a HUGE reserve in your Metalminds, since you could be filling it at nearly %100, all the time*. Here's a not-quite-Twinborn idea I've been toying with lately: Koloss-Blooded, like real Koloss, grow constantly. To me, that indicates their body's ability to regenerate is totally out of control. So, if one were a Bloodmaker, they could curb those eventually-inconvenient growth spurts, while getting a sizeable charge of Health. If you really want a proper Twinborn, stir in Pewter (even more Health and strength), Tin (I think that a shockingly astute and stealthy Koloss-Blooded would catch people off guard quite nicely, don't you?), or Iron (I really like the idea of near-invulnerable Lurcher - shots aimed at them will hit their armor plate harmlessly, shots aimed at their team will hit their skin, and they'll heal). -- Deus Ex Biotica * The management is not responsible for any side effects experienced by having virtually no connection to Preservation/Harmony for extended durations. If you begin to have delusions of dead friends, relatives, or enemies, please consult a Terris Sage immediately.

Oh, I certainly believe that Sazedium could be used by anyone as a Metalmind. But, just as Atium can be burned for an effect not directed related to Hemalurgy (and, it is hinted, Lerasium can be burned for other things in addition to boosting Allomancy), I assume Sazedium could be burned for something besides Feruchemy. And, in either case, I do not think that Sazedium would actually be an alloy of Lerasium and Atium, for the reasons above.

Based on my theory about what Positive, Negative, and Neutral really mean, I think I must revise my guess to Negative, as well. It seems to fit the archetype of magic the Shard provided, but does not fuel.