cometaryorbit

IMO, the big differences are that for Earth in 1850, people had existed on all habitable continents for 10,000+ years, total population was 1.2+ billion, and the world was in an age of colonial empires actively competing for territory. Scadrial, OTOH, has all its people deriving from 2 small groups after a devastating population bottleneck, and total population is probably tiny*. There isn't anyone to conquer -- most land is simply unpopulated - so colonial empires on the model of Earth of that era just aren't possible. Without that competition of colonial empires, the motivation to explore the world of 16th - 19th century Earth doesn't exist. The Basin's rich resources give the North no reason to expand, and the medallion dependence probably makes it very hard for the South to expand. (I think airships are probably very recent, and that's why we're seeing contact now.) Their lack of interest in sea travel doesn't really strike me as that surprising - with no one to trade with externally (due to a basically empty world) there's much less reason to invest in it. Also, the "Malwish Consortium" label on the map covers a huge area, and no cities are marked. Perhaps most of their population is very far from the Elendel region (kind of Iike how Canada is huge but most of its population lives in a pretty small area). The conflict with the Maskless could be fairly recent too. In fact, if only two populations survived the Catacendre, they'd have to be a "breakaway" group. Allik's term "deniers of masks" in BoM could suggest they used to be part of the Southern culture then "denied" it. *we have no numbers on the Southerners, but Sazed's "others, who were nearly destroyed" comment in SoS could suggest they were actually *worse off* than the North.

Nicroburst plus electrum might not do that. Electrum could theoretically get that kind of Spiritual Realm vision per WoB, but there's more interference to fight through... Elend got there with atium plus duralumin with lerasium-Mistborn strength. Era 2 Misting strength might not be enough, especially with the added interference for electrum vs. atium. (I have no idea what nicrobursted gold would do...)

Yeah, pretty much. Odium isn't just hate the way Honor isn't just honor. Honor's also about bonds in a wider sense. Adhesion is Honor's Truest Surge, the Surge of Binding and Oaths, but even "I can speak your language now" Spiritual Adhesion - much less "magic glue" basic Physical Adhesion - seems only very tangentially related to "honor". 'Honor' may be an interpretation of the fundamental principle of bonds. It's interesting to me though that Taravangian's Ascension scene puts fury as equal to hatred, maybe even more so. It's not hatred with anger and fear and desire etc as side issues, it's more (fury+hatred) with fear and desire etc as side issues. I think @Returnedis on the right track with conflict, given the importance of "fury" in the Taravangian scene and the part about 'the power likes arguments' (even when the Vessel just wants to be obeyed) in the Sja-anat interlude. Odium IMO is most fundamentally about opposition and the motivation for opposition, perhaps aggression. That's why its essence is primarily (anger+hatred) rather than just hate. The term "Passion" is an interesting one though. Rayse is definitely being deceptive at some level, but there's an ambiguity to the word. In modern times it most commonly is more or less equivalent to "desire" either romantically (even in Stormlight there are 'passionspren') or as in "having a passion for (an activity)". But the older meaning is more like emotion (of any type) that threatens rationality, that can sweep someone away. The 'animal' part of the soul, vs specifically human reason. Ultimately it comes from a word for "suffering" as in "Passion of Christ" in Christianity.

Yeah, Shardblades are lighter than a real sword their size would be, but still heavier than Bridge Four expected. Shardblades also vary a lot in width. Sunraiser is very narrow, whereas Firestorm might be more like yours (yours still looks wider to me but that might be foreshortening in the photo). Oathbringer is six feet long and "a handspan" wide, which seems fairly narrow for its length.

Yeah, I agree. Savantism is about steeping yourself in a power so long and so much, so powerfully (Spook didn't just burn tin all the time, he flared it almost constantly) that it pervades your soul and transforms it. Assuming you even *can* do this with a metal that probably basically burns up instantly (lerasium melds with Elend's soul, according to Kelsier's POV) it would take a completely absurd, impossible quantity. But yeah if you did meld that completely absurd quantity with your soul, you'd basically be Preservation.

It doesn't have to be one isotope, but godmetals having more than one would be very strange IMO. They're basically pure Investiture condensed into matter - seems to me that process would produce one specific result. Harmonium is chemically reactive, but not unstable in the radioactive sense. Ettmetal-water explosions aren't nuclear, they're chemical with extra energy drawn from the internal Spiritual strain/repulsion of the harmonium.

I would think the Fused in space probably just died when their Light ran out. The pressure reference is a bit odd though - what kills humans in a vacuum is lack of oxygen, not pressure. But I guess they were constantly healing pressure-related injury and so ran out of Light. Ironically, if they could turn off their healing they'd probably have survived. If the Light kept oxygenating their blood without the need to breathe, I don't think the pressure damage would be fatal. I dont think it would be for a human. (Very very unpleasant, but probably not fatal.) People don't explode in vacuum - the skin is strong enough to retain pressure. It stretches a *lot*, and the person would be all bruises afterward, but there's no exploding or blood boiling or anything. The water on the tongue will boil away, etc. But not blood, that's safely inside the body.

Hoid's inability to do harm makes me think his Dawnshard is one associated with protection or persistence. Something like Remain (the same) or Protect or Persist. IMO likely associated with: Preservation (stasis) Autonomy (persistence of identity) Valor (protection from outside forces) Mercy (protection from self / consequences) Rysn's is Change or equivalent, imo linked to... Ruin (entropy) Cultivation (controlled growth) Not sure the other two. Possibly Odium if it's fundamentally more conflict than hate. Possibly Whimsy if that Intent is "change for the sake of change" rather than something more like "the divine urge to create for the love of creation". One other is "known to bind". Probably including: Honor (oaths, bonds) Devotion (loving service/unity by love) Dominion (rule/unity by force or unity imposed) Not sure the 4th. There's one we have no clues for.

Pagerunner When you tap the nicrosil portion of a medallion, will it run out over time? Or is it like a coppermind, where something discrete is taken, used, and returned? Brandon Sanderson Good question! Like a coppermind. General Signed Books 2018 (Oct. 15, 2018) Memories are stored and retrieved as discrete objects, not as a pool of power that can be divided up however you want like other Feruchemical attributes. Medallions work the same way. But the Bands *don't*. We don't know which way the default (non-unsealed) use of f-Nicrosil would work.

Possible, but Vin did figure out how to use Zane's own future-knowledge against him. I don't think it would necessarily be obvious to just anyone, but I think Vin would have known. What she did with Zane seems a much harder deduction. Knowing that atium shadows interfere with one another, then seeing how similar electrum shadows are... I think it's not that much of a leap. Especially when you're looking for new metals specifically to find an advantage because you're out of atium, which is what Vin was doing when she discovered duralumin. I think they got the formula itself from TLR's storage cavern plate.

I don't think you could ever get enough of a lerasium alloy to use it to Ascend. Not sure lerasium savantism is a thing as such. Being a savant is basically steeping your spiritweb in the power so much that it transforms you... so it's analogous to Ascension when that power is the pure power of a Shard. Also, Ascension isn't unambiguous. TLR Ascended but he never held the entire Shard. A Well-equivalent amount of lerasium (which surely never existed, but hypothetically...) could give you that kind of Ascension, possibly.

It's impossible to know for sure - Allomantic strength variance is normally pretty small and we dont see much of non-atium mistings snapped by the Mists - but I think the Mists are pushing below threshold people just barely over the threshold, so they're minimal strength.

I think Rashek, centuries in, was mentally destabilized by immortality enough to allow Ruin to talk to him. It's also not clear whether he was spiked or not, WoBs seem to go both ways on that one. There's also a WoB suggesting just being pierced by Invested metal could have Hemalurgy-like effects. Also, his bracers were *atium*. Being pierced by atium might let Ruin in even if it's not actually Hemalurgy.

I think all he'd need is atium (plus berserk rage). Kill the guard collecting geodes, steal the geodes, use them to kill more guards and get the rest of the geodes that hadn't been shipped out yet... Atium is a *huge* factor in a fight. And it doesn't need training, it practically fights for you. And the guards apparently weren't Allomancers. I don't think Kelsier killing them all with atium alone. Also, after his initial escape he might have found some iron or steel or pewter and then kept going to kill more soldiers and nobles in the area. -- Also, Mist-snapped Mistings were immediately useful. Training is important, but some things can be done your first day as an Allomancer - especially "passive" boosts like the internal metals.

Sure but there's a difference between Alendi-era (when Mist Snapping was definitely occurring and there were definitely Mistings) and before that, before the Deepness. I am not sure there were any Mistings before the mist started Snapping people in preparation for the Well's filling. (There likely were 1024 years before, in the previous cycle, but those were weak Mistings so they wouldn't pass on Allomancy for very long. It was likely forgotten by Alendi's time.)

I don't think this is correct. Many everyday things, including all living things, are slightly radioactive because they contain a small proportion of radioactive isotopes of otherwise stable elements (like potassium-40 and carbon-14 in living things). But that doesn't mean *all* ordinary matter is radioactive. Many atoms are truly stable, and due to its unnatural origin I'd expect atium to have only one isotope.

Allrianne isn't half-skaa or anything, but Lord Cett does specifically say the Cett family has very few Allomancers due to (farther back in the past) skaa ancestry - Allrianne's the first in centuries iirc. Alendi and others of his time were Mist-snapped. "Allomancy came with the mists"; it wasn't known before Alendi's time - while the potential existed in Scadrian humanity, if there were any active Allomancers before the events of Alendi's time, it was so rare it was unknown.

Yeah, exactly. It's kind of a perfect lie because no one can test it without risking death. Also, the experience of somewhat-off alloys causing pain would make it look true. Hmm, good point. I always thought Vin was taking extreme risks out of desperation and genuinely could have died, but you're probably right.

I think Hoid is using Fortune magic, though I could be wrong about that. Wayne might just have stronger natural Fortune, like some people have more natural strength or senses or determination or Investiture. But yeah the existence of Fortune as a Feruchemical attribute that can be stored I think shows that people by default have some level of Fortune in the cosmere. It probably has something to do with Connection to possible futures etc. (Although Connection is a separate Feruchemical attribute, so who knows.. ) And yeah, @Returned I agree it's "gut instincts / snap decisions turn out right" rather than "probability goes crazy in an area around you" WoT-style.

It is worth noting that there's a WoB or two that you can't even try to burn a totally non viable metal. So Kelsier's belief that it's fatal could be derived from TLR's deception about Allomancy to keep people from experimenting with new metals. (Although having lead or mercury in your stomach is pretty bad for you anyway.) I agree that impure-but-viable pewter shows up as pewter, not as a separate reserve, yeah. But pure lead might not be detectable as a reserve at all. It seems that Mistings don't detect reserves of the wrong metal at all (from the 'testing the mist fallen' scene in HoA) but Mistborn are weird so that might not be evidence . I guess another possibility (rather than TLR deception) is that maybe you can't burn pure lead, but if you have something that is still an alloy of tin and lead but is way off (like 50/50 rather than 91/9) the sickness could be so bad it's fatal. Or if it was pewter mixed with some third metal in large quantity.

There's a WoB that it's a discrete trait like memories, unlike other Feruchemical attributes. The Bands, though... Wax says their Investiture stores are "running low". A discrete thing can't run low, it's either there or not.

True, but I was more thinking during all the time between TFE and WoA. But I guess he was away from Luthadel for most of that. As for surprise, at the end of TFE he's dealing with bigger mysteries (what was the deal with TLR?) and between books there's a year. So we never see him learn about aluminum to see whether he's surprised. And once aluminum is known to be Allomantic duralumin isn't surprising. Vin had to find the right formula, but the existence of an Allomantically valid alloy would be expected. - I do think this issue (what metals the Keepers knew) is why the "warmth is Cognitive" thing couldn't be retconned. Because if the Keepers knew electrum Sazed would have suggested that it was the Allomantic alloy of gold and the "Vin has no atium" part of book 2 wouldn't work.

Hmm, yeah, there probably should have been at least a couple travelers left. Sazed seems to think he and Tindwyl were the only ones not caught in the Inquisitor attack (thus leaving him as the only one left in HoA) but that might be influenced by his grief. I kind of doubt the Keepers knew any metals other than the known ten had Feruchemical properties, because Sazed had all the knowledge (not just religions) stored, and surely he would have suggested any metals he knew were Feruchemically viable when Vin is desperately experimenting with aluminum alloys. Although, that's also strange bc the ancient Terris probably knew more metals than the nine (non-atium) ones. But I guess the Keepers weren't founded until the 3rd century so they wouldn't necessarily have known. Feruchemy was probably common enough in ancient Terris that the loss of all Feruchemists completely devastated their culture and knowledge base (how else could their religion have been lost)?

No, lerasium steals "all abilities" but these are things like basic strength, senses, intelligence/memory, mental fortitude - the abilities used in Kandra Blessings. Atium steals "any power" - "powers" are the Allomantic/Feruchemical powers (as well as off-world things like Sand Mastery). As far as we know, there's no way to grant multiple Allo/Feru powers with one spike. (And the HoA epigraphs imply Ruin couldn't do it, talking about how killing a Mistborn for one power was usually a waste.) I don't think that could work anyway, since the Hemalurgy table shows bind points divided by metal quadrant. All powers wouldn't fit at any one point. I do agree you probably don't need a Fullborn to make the Bands though. Even if you're limited to 3 people involved*, one Mistborn and one Full Feruchemist could do it. There were probably still Full Feruchemists in the post-Catacendre generation (actually, though Sazed says in HoA he's likely the last, it seems entirely possible there were Full Feruchemists too young to have discovered their powers and who thus didn't get found and killed by the Inquisitors). *and I am not sure the Bands are really the same 'technology' as medallions - their Investiture stores run out, whereas medallions don't).

I think that means relative to other cosmere worlds at that time, not space-traveling advanced. Forests of Hell seems vaguely inspired by colonial or frontier era America, but the fire issues very much limit their practical technology. They know gunpowder, but don't generally use guns, for example. Metalworking is probably also very dangerous outside of the fort cities. The Homeland could easily have been Industrial Revolution level, but I don't think think they were anywhere near our level.