spacemonkey

From each series, my favorite characters are: Elantris: Hrathen. His personal struggles were one of the most engaging parts of the book. Mistborn: Sazed. I like scholarly, intellectual characters. Warbreaker: Vivenna. Her growth as a character, and the contrast between her early chapters and the later ones, was very interesting to read. Alloy of Law: Wayne. He's probably the snarkiest character Brandon's written so far, and that's saying something. Way of Kings: Jasnah. For the same reasons as Sazed, plus it's rare for a religious author to write an athiest with such obvious moral integrity and depth of character, and I was very pleased to see it.

I was a WoT fan first. When I heard that Sanderson had been commissioned to finish the series, I decided to check out his work, and I got hooked by Mistborn.

Unfortunately, no. I couldn't get away from my classes.

Also, it's important to remember than only a Mistborn or an Atium misting can burn Atium. Given that Mistborn are now so rare as to be nonexistent, and that without access to a supply of Atium, a Seer would probably never know that they were an Allomancer at all, it's unlikely that most people would even be able to make use of Atium if they had it. At least not with Allomancy, anyway. It could still be used in Hemalurgy- although again, at this point most people don't even seem to know Hemalurgy exists, so unless that changes they might not even realize what Atium was if they found it.

That's correct. Sazed wasn't able to communicate with Tindwyl because she'd moved on from the Three Realms. We don't know much at all about the Spiritual Realm yet, except that Shardblades are stored there. Although if Shardblades can be sent there, and people can enter the Cognitive Realm, that raises the question: is it possible for a living person to enter the Spiritual Realm? Other than by becoming a Shard, that is.

It's true that we don't know that specific gemstones are absolutely necessary for Soulcasting, but given we have yet to see Jasnah Soulcast without using a gem aligned with the Essence she wants to transform, I'm operating on the assumption that it is a strict requirement until the books or Brandon state otherwise.

Having given some thought to Investiture and what we've seen of it, I find it unlikely that Investiture itself is a universal force; I think it's more likely to simply be the power of a Shard. I'm fairly sure that Brandon has said that Allomancy and AonDor draw from similar sources rather than the same one, although I don't have a quote on hand to confirm that.

Also, it is possible to push on somewhere other than the center of mass; this can be seen in Final Empire when Kelsier pushes and pulls on opposite ends of metal bars simultaneously to make them rotate extremely quickly.

Actually Jasnah said that blood was different from an organic substance like jam because it's one of the Essences. From chapter 72:

This has been mentioned before. Plus, Awakened objects are also Invested.

Well, it's not guaranteed that Shallan is in order 6. I agree that it seems like the most likely possibility, though, especially given how similar her name is to Shalash. But really, going by the character traits probably isn't the best way to judge which order someone is in. People are more complex than that. And as for Szeth... well, we know he didn't gain his powers through a spren-bond, but they do seem the function the same way as Kaladin's abilities, and Szeth himself has commented that he has the same powers as a Windrunner. Also, if I recall Brandon's comments correctly, there are either thirty or ten magic systems on Roshar, depending on how you look at it. So presumably there are three different ways to gain each set of powers.

Also, Jasnah says that Soulcasting fabrials were designed to mimic the natural ability that some of the Knights Radiant possessed. It makes sense that both methods would require gemstones.

Hmm. The main problem I have with this theory is that there was a visible change in the Shardblades when they were abandoned by the Knights Radiant, and Brandon has stated definitively that the Recreance occurred after the Oathpact was broken. In his visions, Dalinar sees that the Shardblades and Plate glowed while the Radiants wore them, but the glow vanished when they gave them up. Possibly, it was their bearers' decision to break their vows- a violation of their honor, one might say- that caused the change. I agree with your conclusions about the Oathpact, though. Some sort of bargain between Honor and Odium sounds plausible. We know Ruin and Preservation did the same thing, after all.

Well, Kaladin doesn't need gems, but he doesn't use the same surges as Jasnah. Presumably the Lashings have a different focus. And Jasnah sounded pretty desperate when she was calling for a garnet, which is the same gemstone that Shallan used when she transformed the goblet into blood. I don't think Jasnah would have let Shallan die just to maintain her cover.

This sounds plausible. We know that the mist can fuel Allomancy, and it's just Lerasium in a gaseous form. The question then becomes what alloys of Lerasium would do for someone who already had the type of Allomancy it granted.

Brandon has commented that the second Mistborn trilogy will take place at around the same time as WoK, and that it will be set a hundred or so years after AoL.

The biggest problem I have with this theory is that in the Letter, Hoid says "as you are now essentially immortal". That implies that he knew whoever it was before they were immortal, and Hoid never met Sazed before he became Harmony. It is also implied that the recipient of the letter was around at the time Odium killed Aona and Skai, which Sazed definitely wasn't.

For people using a fabrial, yes. Kabsal mentions that tapping a gem is all that is needed to activate a Soulcasting fabrial. However, it is the specific type of gem used that determines what the end result of the transformation is. Gems are probably the focus for natural Soulcasting as well, as Jasnah needed a garnet (linked with blood on the Soulcasting chart) to cure Shallan when she was poisoned, although the actual activation trigger is obviously something different.

Some of those traits are out of order. Specifically, 2 and 5 should be switched, according to the latest version of the Ars Arcanum. So the actual breakdown goes like so: 1. Protecting/Leading 2. Just/Confident 3. Brave/Obedient 4. Loving/Healing 5. Learned/Giving 6. Creative/Honest 7. Wise/Careful 8. Resolute/Builder 9. Dependable/Resourceful 10. Pious/Guiding

It's also possible that Demoux could have extended his life with time dilation. All he'd have to do is get a Pulser to burn Cadmium near him. So he wouldn't actually have to be a Feruchemist, which last we know, he wasn't.

Or it might be possible to take other people with you into Shadesmar, so someone else could have given Demoux a ride, so to speak.

I hadn't thought of that, but I agree that Awakening is at least a semi-plausible method of getting to Shadesmar. And come to think of it, whatever it is the Dakhor do is just as feasible as AonDor, although it would probably involve a lot of human sacrifices. We don't really know enough about it to say for sure, though. Actually, it's also occurred to me that it might be possible for a Feruchemist to send just their mind into Shadesmar, again probably with an alloy of atium. I doubt this would work for worldhopping, though.

It occurred to me that the Seventeenth Shard are presumably using Shadesmar to worldhop like Hoid, so they must have found ways to do enter the Cognitive Realm. That got me wondering about how it might be possible to reach Shadesmar with magic systems other than Soulcasting. Out of the ones we've seen, AonDor seems like the only one that might be able to accomplish it, given its flexibility, and we know that there are Elantrians in the Seventeenth Shard. Although I suppose it might be possible that burning an alloy of atium with one of the mental metals could allow a Mistborn to enter Shadesmar. Can anyone else think of any other possibilities?

As far as the original topic of what the Hemalurgic properties of the metals might be, it seems likely that Nicrosil and Duralumin steal spiritual traits of some kind. The problem is that we don't really know enough about the Spiritual realm to guess what that might be, outside of the traits we know of from the Feruchemical Spiritual metals- luck, identity, and connections- but somehow I doubt that Hemalurgy will work with the same attributes as Feruchemy. And from the Allomantic temporal quadrant... who knows? One of those metals must steal the Allomantic temporal powers, but given that there doesn't seem to be an equivalent Feruchemical quadrant, that leaves three metals open. Any ideas on what these metals do?

I'll try to answer your questions in order as best I can. 1. I'm fairly sure that none of the magic systems are actually directly created by the Shards. So Preservation can make people Allomancers, but if I understand Brandon's comments on the matter correctly, Allomancy itself is simply the way that the power of Preservation inherent in all humans on Scadrial is expressed. There weren't any mistborn before Rashek used the Well of Ascension, but there were mistings, although they were rare and most of them probably didn't know they had any powers. Alendi was one. As for the metals, yes, there are some that don't have any effect on their own in Allomancy, although they do still have applications in Feruchemy, and presumably Hemalurgy as well. As to why some of the metals seem useless allomantically, it could be that they have applications that the people on Scadrial have yet to discover. The fact that aluminum cannot be pushed or pulled, and blocks emotional Allomancy lends credence to this. It's also possible that if Allomancy wasn't actually deliberately designed by Preservation, it simply isn't built with fairness in mind. 2. The sixteen percent thing was probably a function of the mists, and not something inherent in Allomancy. 3. Almost definitely. There are still two more whole trilogies to go, after all. Have patience, young grasshopper.