Thought

Huh... I totally thought that that was "Plagiarism."

Actually, Sazed states that all the original inquisitors had a pewter spike for healing (HoA, ch 36). Since he can't mean the original-original ones (that ones that TLR first made after taking the well), since there were no feruchemists that he was aware of at the time (which is also exactly why they persisted), I think we can take "original" to mean "Lord Ruler created." We know that once Ruin had control of them, he started making more. We also know that the one that Vin and Elend faced in the above quote wasn't their first (I think it was their third, actually). I think that means that 9 spikes was the basic set up for Ruin, while 11 was for TLR (it makes sense that Ruin wouldn't waste time on Atium or gold: gold is largely useless, while he would probably rather an inquisitor die than burn atium). But given that not all inquisitors could pierce copperclouds (and thus, the odd numbered spike couldn't have been used to shore up anyone who wasn't a seeker or mistborn), there is still the oddity of why odd numbers. Could it be that the linchpin spike doesn't actually have an allomantic charge?

While I am happy to deconstruct your section, I'd argue that it would be more useful to you to deconstruct it (and other works) yourself: that is where you'll gain a better understand of writing. That being said... ReaderAtPost

Things seem mighty fancy here, so let me take you back to basics: meat. First, get a filet mignon. You're having steak, why waste the opportunity on lesser cuts of meat? A flat iron can work, but save the ribeye, the porterhouse, and whatever gibberish the butcher has, for stews that you don't give a flying inquisitor's left spike about. Don't get them too thick, nor too thin. Usually around 2 inches thick is good. Aim for 8-12 ounces. Second, preheat your oven to 500. This isn't your aunt-who's-an-obligator's easy bake oven. Third, put the meat out on a clean work surface and liberally sprinkle it with kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper. Rub those spices in. I recommend flipping it and repeating this process on the back side, but you don't need to. Next, coat the steak (both sides) with oil. Be a bit sparing, but make sure that the top and bottom are fully covered. Use an oil with a high smoke point (avocado or grape seed oils are good for this). Do not use something weak, like olive oil. Save that stuff for your focaccia: here, we need something that could impress a kandra. Cover and set aside. Fourth, put a hardy, 10inch-ish pan into the oven to heat up. Cast iron is best, but other pans can survive these temperatures as well. Just, make sure you pan is up to the job, first: we don't want it falling apart like some skaa misting under an Inquisitor's axe. It will take several minutes to get up to temp (depending on the pan). Fifth, take that pan out (being sure to use the proper protective gear: this is hot enough to make Miles Hundredlives wince) and place it on a burner set on high (if you are using an electric stove, make sure that the burner it already red hot). Place the steaks onto the pan and let them sit for a minute. Don't push it around, just let it sit. Then, flip it, let the other side cook for a minute, and flip it again and stick the pan, steaks and all, into the oven. Drop the temperature in there to 425 F. Sixth, let the steak cook in the oven for 2 minutes, then flip them and return to the over for another 2 minutes. Start checking the steak for the proper temperature at this point, and repeat at 1 minute intervals if you need to. You want the core temperature to be at 125-135 F (aim for a few degrees below). That will give you a medium rare steak. If you go for medium or above, then, really, you are just doing Ruin's bidding. When the steak reaches that temperature, take it out and put it on a rack and tent it with foil. Allow it to rest for 5 minutes. Seventh, serve that steak. Forgo sauce. Do you doubt me on that? What, you just went through all this work so you could corrupt the delicate flavor? Even the koloss know better than that. Ah, but you probably want more than just meat. A good meal is a bit like allomancy. For every push there is a pull, for every salt there is a pepper, for every meat there is a vegetable. So, lets go with green beans. Step 1, wash about a pound of whole green beans and then cut off the ends. Step 2, slice a shallot (or white onion, if you can't find shallots). Step 3, dice a clove or two of garlic (depending on taste: I use 3 or 4, but most people don't like as strong of a garlic taste as I do). Step 4, blanch the green beans by boiling them in water for about 4 minutes (maybe less, if they are thin). They should just be turning bright green. Drain them and set the beans aside. Step 5, put a frying pan over medium heat, add about 2 tbsp of your oil (you can use a low smoke point oil, like olive, but come on, we already had this discussion) and saute the shallot/onion and garlic until tenderish, about 3 minutes. Step 6, add the green beans, salt them, and continue cooking until the beans just start to brown (don't stir often). Step 7, remove the beans and serve with the steaks.

Inspired by the First Lines thread, I thought it might be an interesting and useful practice for writers to review other people's first chapters (and post their own first chapters for review). For the review of first chapters (and we can tackle prologues, too) of published works, probably what is most useful would be to identify what we like, what works, and try to figure out how the author did that. This would be less of a critique, then, and more of a deconstruction. For the review of our own chapters, I think deconstruction might still be better than critique, but I think it might still be good, in classic Moshe style, to try to identify what doesn't "work," so that then the author can try to fix it. Since I suffer from "Eternal First Chapter Syndrome," I can't offer up one of my own chapters to get us started, but if I might be so bold, I'll put forward Sanderson's own Warbreaker. The advantage here is that because Sanderson is awesome, we can actually look at different drafts of the work. It is possible to look at what he did right in his 1.0 draft and then track how he refined that and polished that over the subsequent revisions. The fact that he was kind enough to put it and leave it online also means that it's easier to work with than, say, the first chapter of The Family Trade, from the Merchant Princes series, by Charles Stross. Anywho, here's a link to Warbreaker: http://www.brandonsanderson.com/book/Warbreaker/page/20/WARBREAKER-Rights-and-Downloads I'll give people some time to formulate their own thoughts, and then see about posting my own regarding v1.0

Ah, but you see, the dead man's switch is the key. No allomancer could hurt you for fear of setting off the bomb. If the explosives were explode-y enough, even Miles couldn't survive it. Thus, no misting/ferring would ever attack you, and thus you'd never need to defend yourself against them. Although, on the grand scale of things, this might be a somewhat evil approach. It does, after all, put the lives of everyone near by at risk, not just allomancers or feruchemists.

Ah, thanks. I was working my way through HoA, and apparently just hadn't gotten to it yet (though it is interesting how much information the book gives on hemalurgy). There is a curiosity with that Ars Arcanum, though: it lists Atium as stealing temporal powers, which Sanderson later revealed is technically incorrect (as it is a wild card). Thus, that chart must be taken as being an in-world creation, rather than author fiat, which is then quite curious: who in the world was experimenting with aluminum spikes? And on allomancers who were burning metals that were generally not known? Quite curious.

High yield explosives on a dead man's switch. As they say, the only way to win is not to play.

Did he? I'd point out the First Contract, and the clause that had the Kandra remove Ruin's servants right as he needed them most. It seems that Rashek had at least the awareness to know that Ruin could use hemalurgical creatures.

Out of curiosity, how do we know that aluminum takes enhancement allomancy? I ask because, as the OP noted, the unalloyed lower metals steal human attributes and I haven't been able to find a reference to where hemalurgical aluminum was revealed. This oddity is emphasized by the RPG, which makes an alloy (duralumin) steal Feruchemy. That is consistent with the lower pattern, but not the upper metals if aluminum does indeed steal allomancy. EDIT: I've checked the brandonothology, annotations, blog entries, etc, and can't find what mentions an aluminum spike. I can't find any reference in MB (not surprisingly), nor WoA (also not surprising), still looking in HoA. I read AoL recently enough that I am near positive it isn't in there, either. Anyone know where this information is coming from?

There were, what, about 20 Inquisitors during TLR's day? As compared to a sustainable population of nobility, who purchased bags of the stuff from him. If giving people atium while not telling them where the stockpile was undermined his whole plan, then the nobility were a far worse mistake than the inquisitors. We already saw that Ruin had servants out in the world: better to use the hidden agent than the one that the Lord Ruler had an eye on.

Alas, no. Pewter in allomancy increases speed, but a steelmind controls speed in feruchemy.

It's also revealed by Sazed anytime he stores or uses strength. For example, in The Final Empire and Well of Ascension, his muscles deflate while he stores and then, when he draws upon strength, his muscles inflate: thus, he must be losing and gaining mass as well (or else he'd be changing his density, which would become really problematic).

Aluminum is identity, chromium is luck. But that would be fun if there was a feruchemist who could steal the metalminds of ferrings.

The short answer is: sort of. Perhaps if we track the compounding process things will make more sense to you? To note, unless otherwise noted, all degrees listed are in Fahrenheit. Step A: A twinborn brazier Johnny Storm, stores warmth in brass. He stores 10 degrees 1 hour, thereby lowering his body temperature for that hour from 97 to 87. Step B: Johnny swallows the metalmind. Step C: Johnny burns that metalmind. Since allomancy gives 10x the energy (though that might be a figurative rather than literal number), those 10 degrees are turned into 100 degrees of warmth that he can tap. Since the metalmind is burning, he has to presumably draw out all that power before the metal burns up, so the actual heat he gets might be more (say, 400 degrees over 15 minutes, instead 100 over an hour). Step D: Johnny doesn't need 100 degrees all right now, so he "lowers" his body heat by 100 (taking it down from the 197 that burning the metalmind had given him). He's just fine, since 97 is actually normal. But now he has a new metalmind that has 100 degrees over 1 hour worth of heat. That's all dandy, but let’s not stop here. Step E: Johnny swallows this new metalmind. Step F: Johnny burns this second metalmind. It has 100 degrees of warmth over 1 hour, now it has 1,000 degrees of heat over 1 hour. He has no need to be 1097 degrees right now, so he stores the excess 1000 degrees in a presumably very large metalmind. Later, he jumps off a roof, yells "flame on" and flies off into the sunset. As no point would the compounding process allow him to, say, lower his temperature to 0 Kelvin. Even if that were possible, that isn't something that compounding would influence.

Alas, we have no real idea. The only time this power is even mentioned, to my memory, is at the end of Alloy of Law, where all it says is that it isn't well understood even among ferrings, and it rarely discussed outside the community. Unless there are more sources, anything we would postulate would be wild speculation.

To note, the kandra can't even reproduce themselves: they have to take mistwraiths and give them spikes. That seems to argue that they're all sterile.

ReaderAtSister's Moru's: Reader

Compounding is generally considered to be an additive process (since it involves combining two separate things into one). As Sanderson explained it in the books, to "compound" between feruchemy and allomancy, one puts power into a metal (via feruchemy) and then burns it with allomancy. In essence, one creates a new metal that has the effect of the attribute that had been stored in it. Put health into gold and then burn the gold and you have a metal that, allomantically, heals a lot all at once. That isn't overly useful, so a feruchemist can then store that power into a metalmind to draw upon as a more useful rate. At no point does compounding take an unusual amount of attributes from the user. The original storing process happens just as per normal feruchemy. A Twinawesome (mistborn+feruchemist, as opposed to twinborn=misting+ferring) could probably store more effectively (burn pewter so you can resist the cold better, thereby allowing you to safely store more heat), but nothing except feruchemy is involved in the original storing process. Once the new "alloy" has been burned, one is only getting the attribute stored, so at no point can one use compounding to ridiculously lower one's temperature. Indeed, there may well be a lower limit to how much one can store at any given time. If a feruchemist can only store the heat they generate, then, actually, they could never make themselves cooler than the ambient temperature. As for practical applications: again, this wouldn't normally be a drastic effect, nor would it be sudden. Even if a feruchemist could store 20 degrees F of their body heat all at once, that wouldn't act like an icepack. That would, at best, feel like room temperature.

Impractically, yes. By lowering your own temperature, you'd act as a heat sink for the rest of the area, presumably. But this wouldn't be a fast freezing process: it would take hours, during which, to my understanding, you'd feel like you were freezing yourself.

Was that the Fadrex plate? Anywho, it seems highly unlikely that the knowledge got out. We have statements by TLR that he is trying to keep electrum under wraps. We have statements by TLR that he'd punish anyone who disseminated the knowledge. We have TLR effectively exterminating technologies he didn't like. We have the proposed users of this technology being some of TLR's favored servants. If there was anywhere that the knowledge should not have existed, it is in the hands of anyone in TLR's government. However, we do have a lovely example of knowledge on the plate being out: malatium. Unfortunately, I haven't read the story describing how Kelsier got that information, but from what I've gathered, it was not ultimately from TLR's plate. If that is correct, then it took a god-like being to get knowledge from one plate to the outside. That sets a high standard for electrum.

Thank Harmony! I'm not the only one, then... My introduction to pleasure reading was My Side of the Mountain. I read books before that, and more or less plenty, but that sticks out as my mind as the book that made me read a lot. Then, a bit to my shame, read mostly Star Trek and Star Wars novels over the next several years. There were bright spots, to be sure: I read Narnia in 6th grade, I believe. Unfortunately, this means that throughout the years my familiarity with the genres has been less than what it should be. Lord of the Rings probably was read in high school. I know I played MERP before reading the books, so I'd guess I read the series in Jr. or Senior year. Found WoT in college, and generally began to branch out a good bit from there. Finally got around to reading Lovecraft at the start of Grad School, though haven't gone much beyond that into the more horrific aspects of fantastical bookings. However, my interest in the genre's was not limited to books. SNES era RPGs played a significant, if turn-based, role in my developing love for fantasy over science fiction, and games like Chrono Trigger helped smash the artificial barriers between the two in my mind. There have been movies (The Gamers: Dorkness Rising), web comics (Kid Radd), and other things that have helped along the way, but I'll say no more on them here. I'm sorry, I'm so sorry. But I had to downvote for LIES! Seriously, I am really sorry, but no, all correctness begins with chronology and ends with chronology... This is the truth! This is my belief! ...at least for now.

Perhaps: we don't know who was the one who put them there. Given how honest Rashek was being (such as talking about how Ruin was making him crazy), it seems unlikely that he intended for any of his servants to see it. He did include a warning for any obligator who might stumble upon it, too, which further indicates that he was trying to keep the knowledge secret even from them.

Sazed should still have known that (HoA chapter 2 bump). Furthermore, if holding the power was enough, then Vin should have been made as powerful (or more so) than Elend: it would have to be actively using the power that would mimic lerasium.

We have no direct evidence that Inquisitor's weren't just burning atium, either. However, I will admit, there are at least specific tests for if Inquisitor's could have been burning electrum. In HoA, Sazed reads the plate that TLR gave the formula for Electrum on. He clearly states that he shared the knowledge of the metal with no one. Thus, if the Inquisitor's were burning Electrum, they must not have know that it was electrum. Further, for them to have mistaken Electrum for Atium, they must never have encountered Atium. While Atium was rare, it was still sold, used by mistborn, used by the ministries to find atium-mistings, and was worn by TLR. Inquisitor's must have come into contact with Atium, even if they didn't burn it themselves. Indeed, some were probably atium mistings or mistborn who had burned it before. Furthermore, the description of Atium was common enough that they should have know what would happen if they burned it. Electrum doesn't produce the same effect. Thus, they must have realized that other people called atium wasn't the "atium"/electrum that they were burning. Or, in short, if we trust the plates that TLR left, then the Inquisitor's could not have been burning electrum. If they weren't burning electrum, then in the given cases that sparked this thread, they must have been burning atium. If they were burning atium, then they must have previously swallowed it. If they had previously swallowed it, they were either willing to let their digestive juices break it apart, or they weren't afraid of that happening at all.