Vortaan

To be fair, Nightwielder doesn't say a whole lot, nor do we get a lot of background info on what kind of atrocities he's committed in the past. He also seems to cling to some kind of Japanese cultural elements, so that might explain why he seems much more indifferent/arrogant to more European sensibilities.

It might have just been Sarene being a little less clever than she could be. She arrives, Raoden is dead, and then she gets caught up in all the intrigue of the Arelon political situation. In all honesty, she doesn't do a whole heck of a lot to prove her "Raoden was murdelered" theory, does she? She sends Ashe through the dungeons, and that's... pretty much it.

Personally I have to wonder if Calamity isn't the first Epic ever, one powerful enough that s/he is gifting every other Epic. I'm slightly inclined towards this by the fact that the third book is named Calamity, and the other two books are also named after Epics.

I think something to note here is that some of these powers are probably always on. Fortuity and Steelheart definitely, Prof maybe. I'm curious if Deathpoint's secondary power was something that was always on as well. Regardless, it seems like the EE would have more of an effect under the cumulative usage model if you can't turn the power off. In fact, depending on how aware an Epic is of the EE, you might end up totally under it's sway before you realized it was a problem. Prof in particular comes to mind, as Tia makes a comment about not being able to get him back.

This strikes me as kind of... dark for Brandon, doesn't it? Even Inquisitors have some free will. If Epics like Steelheart are effectively doomed to become depraved monsters, isn't the logical thing to put down EVERY Epic, just in case they do develop a always-on power?

So assuming you've finished the book, you've discovered that not all Epics are monsters... as long as they don't use their powers. But what about powers that are always on, like Fortuity's or Steelheart's? Are these Epics doomed to be monsters, even if their natural inclinations are nowhere near that? what about if Prof wasn't a gifter, would he be doomed because of his healing?

No, just a theory. Probably false, since we don't see evidence that Jasnah can see Shallan's Cryptics, and she has definitely killed, although possibly not anyone important to her

You're also assuming that Elkohar's Cryptics are the same as Shallan's. That's a bit of a reach with what we know too.

Good question, we actually don't know a whole lot about Elhokar, do we? Has he been on an plateau runs? Although I imagine it would have to be someone more important to him personally. It's inconceivable to me though that he was raised in Alethi high society without killing someone. The men seem to hold the whole martial violence thing in far too high regard for him to not have done some battling.

Fair enough, although the basic point still stands.

Then this still doesn't solve the mass problem. Assuming that storing health gives you the ability to turn back the clock, so to speak, then where does the second arm come from to replace the one on the ground in front of you? Or to use a less extreme example, where did Wayne's second back come from?

There was some speculation on another thread that Voidbinding is tied to death. If this is the case, Shallan's Cryptics could have been drawn to her after she killed her father, and bonded to her in her search for truth. Truth is, after all, the death of lies, and Shallan consciously Soulcasts the first time when she tells Jasnah the truth.

Is it bad that I don't like the "The shard provides energy which turns into matter" argument? If this is this case, why does storing pewter cause muscles to deflate? I'm ok with the mass being converted into energy and then later being turned back into mass, but in the case of gold, it doesn't seem like mass is being stored at all. I suppose an argument for health being stored and turning into energy that can be converted into mass as necessary could be made, but in that case I would think healing a deadly deadly poison would probably use less healing than restoring an arm... which seems off.

So a question has been rattling around in my brain during a AoL reread. Where does Miles get the extra mass he would need to heal wounds like losing fingers, toes, arms, and etc? Before someone writes this off as a silly question, the only other Feruchemical ability that ties into a large gain in mass is pewter, and while storing there is a decrease in muscle mass that makes sense for the later increase. We've seen Sazed store gold, and he doesn't seem to be getting skinnier or weaker, he just gets sick. Same with Wayne. So where does the mass for these larger healings come from? Particularly if a large injury like losing an arm or leg happens... does it all get shunted from hammerspace on the back of your invisible clone? This kind of makes me think that gold healing is actually a personalized reversal of time more than actual healing. You reset your body to an earlier state, rather than heaing your body's current damage.

I like the thought, but if a dead spirit could possess the holder of a Shard, why did Odium need to Splinter Dominion and Devotion? Wouldn't it be better to kill Aona and Skai and place dead, obedient souls in their place?

Ten's also a pretty Cosmere important number. Ten Heralds, Ten Heightenings, Ten Orders... I seem to recall there being ten Shardworlds, but I'm probably wrong on that. So ten as a hint doesn't surprise me. Also, the quote you refer to for the number of nobles who ingested lerasium pretty strongly hints that Rashek got his Allomancy the same way. If not, why wasn't Vin an Elend-level Mistborn after using the Well?

Well it definitely would have been used. Letting it sit is asking for an Inquisitor to take it. I think it may have gone to Spook. Ham already has a prime battle metal, Sazed was refusing to even use Feruchemy, Breeze was shell shocked, and Demoux was still pretty much trusted young captain. That leaves Spook, their best spy without being Mistborn. Since Elend and Vin were searching for caverns, having a Mistborn spy seems like the most logical choice

I think we're going to have to agree to disagree. Even if the Sparker's mind is moving ten thousand times faster than normal, their body just can't keep up with the increased information. I believe there is a bit where Sazed runs into exactly this issue. He can see something coming, but without steel he isn't fast enough to take advantage of it. An Atium misting doesn't react to things, they dodge them before they even happen. This is going to be the big difference in that a Sparker is only ever going to be reactive while atium is always going to be proactive. Heck, a large enough zinc tap may just give you a few hours of time to contemplate every possible angle of the knife heading for your chest.

I think the difference between the Sparker and the Seer is that by reacting BEFORE something happens, the speed difference is somewhat limited. Sazed only really makes the best use of his zinc when he has steel to use too. Atium mistings, on the other hand, we have proof can react fast enough to dodge Thugs, so... yeah, Seer wins

Think this goes to the Seer. Yomen was able to dodge a pewter-enhanced Elend. Even if a Sparker could predict what the Seer is going to do, I don't think they'd be fast enough to take advantage of it.

I'm thinking Vasher vs. Szeth goes to Szeth. Awakening is more versatile, but Szeth is used to fighting people that can kill you with one swipe of their Blade. This kind of negates a lot of the advantage of having Nightblood, and I think a Reverse Lashing wouldn't have a ton of trouble pulling a bunch of Awakened cloth to it.

This could very well be because it's easier to win Plate with a Blade than it is a Blade with Plate... if that makes sense.

I wonder if an atium Misting being around, or anyone who can burn atium, would force Sazed to release atium? If there is a capacity for it's use, does a Shard need to vent some power there to allow for it?

Hm... if the Unmade are equivalent to the Ten Fools, do you think there is a form of nahel bond for things that aren't human? And this kind of twisted bond is what creates Essences?

I think I'm just going to concede the point and move on, as I seem to be in the minority here. Although the question I'd ask would be if this is so easy for Shards to do, why does Sazed need the kandra and Marsh? Couldn't he just make a ton of varying bodies to inhabit for a brief moment and nudge things along in the directions he wants?