Oudeis

Agreed. Everyone on the bridge team hates Sadeas, it would be like a Yankees fan not wanting to tell his friends that he doesn't especially like the Mets. Or, we've got nine more books in the series to go, it could be someone we've never met. Moash might be a world-hopper; it would certainly explain his lack of explanation. "I have to kill a man. He lives on a different planet. ... It's complicated, I don't wanna get into it."

But that's the problem... Duralumin's effect is to change the rate at which you burn the metal. Rate is a function of time. Bendalloy changes how 'time' works. Basically, I'm saying that I don't think it's so clear-cut that anyone can say for sure it is one way or the other until we have WoB. Nothing that affects time ever is simple. I'm currently epic re-reading the Mistborn trilogy, planned to be followed by Alloy, so I'll let you know about Wayne flaring, but I don't recall it off-hand.

I'm probably just going to ask about Fedik and the mist creature that stabbed him. I figured the ticket wasn't actually going to help me, but I'm hopefully going to get an Elantrian costume by Saturday. At a minimum, at least either myself or my friend going with me will be carrying a Seon (a balloon with an Aon drawn on it, hanging with fishing wire from a stick). Hopefully that will be enough to warrant getting a Steelhunt code; I'm hoping he sees me at the panel and saves me a Code, so he doesn't run out before I get to the front of the line.

Not sure I agree. The current people who call Arelon home were transplanted there, found the city already built, moved in and started becoming Elantrians years later. (source) I guess I was unclear before; I don't mean people start expressly deciding "I want magic to do this thing" and it does it, but I don't think anything as mutable as "national identity" can affect magic. The symbol Rao was drawn in a city long before anyone turned into an Elantrian, and the magic still seems to work the same way centuries later. I realize it's not hard-and-fast WoB but it seems to strongly indicate that magic is tied to the land itself, not the people of the land. It's a natural thing, like a weather pattern. If Florida were emptied of people, and the population of Alberta moved there, it wouldn't suddenly start being cold down there just because the populace expected it to. I understand the idea of AonDor being tied to a population, not a physical place, I just don't agree with it. I think all the evidence points to it being tied to the land itself, not the creatures that walk upon it.

Has this been asked yet? I've heard it accepted as fact that the Three Lashings are a mix of the Surges for Gravity and Atmospheric Pressure. Honestly, they all just look like Gravity to me. The citations on the coppermind don't link to anything concrete. Do we have WoB or anything specific in the books saying that the Lashings are a mix of the two, or are they all Gravity, and Kaladin will have a whole separate suite of powers associated with Atmospheric Pressure? Or is inhaling Stormlight the "atmospheric pressure", or possibly the time his mind entered the highstorm? I'm going to the signing on Saturday. I'm prolly going to ask him if the Mist Spirit that stabbed Fedik was Ruin, and if he was a victim of Hemalurgy.

In your quote, Moash swears "by the blood of my fathers". The only other man we ever hear (I think) say something like that is Dalinar, who uses it (or things very close) as a frequent oath. Is it a generic noble curse, so Moash is nobleborn? Is it a particular trait of Dalinar's, and Moash has sworn to kill Dalinar, and in his obsession has even picked up a few of Dalinar's traits? I for one think it would be very compelling if Kaladin's team of guards for Dalinar contained a man sworn to kill Dalinar.

It also explains why we never see a Spren in the past. Interesting idea, I'm not sure I buy the whole thing, but I've always wondered if we know for sure that Tanavast died before or after Honor was Splintered. He does expressly say "Odium killed me" so I doubt Tanavast is still around, but I guess it is possible.

Have you read the book for the Mistborn Adventure game? Tangent, does anyone know if there's a resource to find people who want to play this game? Eh, not really. Being a Smoker or an Aluminum Gnat wouldn't have helped Siri any. Marasi spends most of the book believing her power to be all but useless, and in the end its "use" is frankly a bit contrived; she's right in that it typically doesn't do much good. Hrathen thwarts Sarene's plans expressly by convincing everyone, herself included, that she DID get Invested. And we've heard of another Shardworld where you only gain powers during illness, which sounds like a double-edged sword at best. Yes, Investiture can usually offer you a very useful tool. There are some forms, like Mistborn or Windrunning, that are especially geared towards letting you slaughter a lot of people. Is that always good? Lirin the surgeon didn't even want his son trained in the spear, yet he was (on balance) a rather honorable person; if he'd gained the ability to inhale Stormlight and become fast and deadly, would that have helped him? It wouldn't have actually hurt him but it would have been of little or no use. Unlike a warrior, he didn't get injured often enough for the healing to be at all useful. I can't think of a Lashing that would commonly help during surgery. Investiture can be a very useful tool. The ability to sneak, lie, and manipulate can be a useful tool. The ability to organize and plan can be a useful tool. A very well crafted set of tools can be a useful tool. A lot of things can be useful tools. And you're still arguing that Mr. Sanderson creates super-men, you're not disagreeing with my suspicion that you're trying to use a Nicrosil Ferring to justify making a overpowered character. EDIT: Cuz I forgot to reply to half the things I quoted...

...Has anyone discussed the confusing case of Bendalloy-Bursting? Whether a mistborn burning both bendalloy and duralumin, or a Slider being touched by a Nicroburst, what actually happens? Let's say Wayne has enough Bendalloy for two minutes of burning, meaning fifteen seconds would pass outside. What happens if he's standing next to a Nicroburst who uses his powers on Wayne? Would the time dilation... burst OUTSIDE? As in, "five seconds" would pass outside, instead of fifteen, giving Wayne six minutes of time in his bubble? Or would it burst for Wayne, spending his two minutes in five seconds? If so what would that mean for time outside? Would so little time pass it would functionally stand still, but only for five seconds?

Also, I neglected to address this. That's an entirely wrong statement. Siri never had any powers; Vivenna never used any power beyond life sense for the first half of the book. Sarene had no powers, Hrathen had one super-strong arm he didn't use until the final chapters. Gaotana was arguably a main POV character in Emperor's Soul. Even Raoden didn't get any functional Investiture until halfway through the book. Elend is a main viewpoint character during Well of Ascension before he gets powers. Dalinar is a Shardbearer but combat is hardly the focus of his character. Shallan soulcasts twice in the entire book, and even Kaladin goes a while before he inhales his first Stormlight. Yes, POV characters with Investiture are a big part of his books, since it's the only way he can express what it feels like to use a power, but there are plenty of examples of characters who have agency, who are interesting and complicated and evocative and just plain fun, either without any power, or not using it.

If your only metric is direct combat, then I concur (though you inflated a few of the situations). Though keep in mind, without using Investiture, Kaladin DID, in fact, kill a Shardbearer. Vin, without atium, killed Zane, who was burning it. Yes, many main characters have Investiture, because it is a unique attribute of his worlds, and it is best shown via point-of-view (having Dox watch Kell fly around the city wouldn't have half the impact of showing Kell himself experiencing the feeling of plummeting through the mist). But even the main characters will, not infrequently, show how bad-chull they are by using their knowledge or skill when their Investiture fails them. But direct combat isn't the only metric by which to measure how 'powerful' someone is. Even with ultimate Mistborn power, Elend is a far more effective leader than combatant. Dalinar uses his 'powers' to dig a latrine, and is one of the most powerful agents in the book due to his conviction and honor. So yes, against NPCs and minions, people with Investiture are bad-chull, because that's a good visual. But if you know a lot about a system of Investiture, you can usually exploit its weakness. And the worlds aren't a cage-match; many of his books are driven by people like Sarene or Siri, who possess no magic whatsoever. I also notice you don't argue with my assessment that you're simply trying to find a way to become the most powerful being in the cosmere; your defense is simply, "so does Mr. Sanderson."

I think it's important that we all remember that what happened with Ruin and Preservation was nothing even slightly like Splintering. It was direct conflict, their holders both died, and the Shards themselves were entirely unharmed. We know that Skai and Aona are both dead, but we don't know if that was required for their Splintering. We know Tanavast is dead, but we don't know if that was required for his Splintering. The only thing we do know is that a direct assault of two equally matches Shards with opposing Intents will kill the holders and leave the Shards intact, so that's very unlikely to be what Odium did on Sel or Roshar or plans anywhere else.

Interesting theory, but I'm afraid I don't agree with your underlying premise. I get Ruin and Preservation, although Mr. Sanderson makes a big point that they are opposed but not opposite: the opposite of Ruin would have been Creation, Preservation is simply a balance between those two. However, I do not see how Devotion and Dominion, or Cultivation and Honor, are at all matched in any way. I can see how loving something (Devotion) and wanting to control it (Dominion) could be seen as related, but can't you say the same of Devotion and Honor? Both are codes of conduct considered 'stalwart'. You can point at two things and start trying to draw connections, but that doesn't mean they are exclusively or explicitly "complementary". My ham sandwich goes well with swiss cheese; that doesn't mean they "belong" together any more than mozzerella would. And how are Cultivation and Honor related at all?

I can see evidence of the worlds being unified enough to have a single cognitive state, one complex enough for something like 'intelligence'; keep in mind though that it would almost certainly be VERY alien. What it wants, how it expresses itself, might be entirely opposed to humankind, not because it is evil or hates us, but just because the rules for how it thinks will be so vastly different from ours. I do like the idea that Sazed has a peer to talk to.

Yes. As near as I understand it, the theory is that "being a shard" is something you can practice and get better at; Vin's moments of mist-burning, as well as her time at the Well, "prepared" her somewhat for taking up Preservation, and presumably made it easier. It wasn't necessary. Some people can quit smoking cold-turkey, and some people need to do it in stages. Both are possible, maybe one way has advantages, neither is mandatory.

Interesting... but if you store your ability to use feruchemical nicrosil, you would lack the ability to tap feruchemical nicrosil. You'd basically be locking a key inside a box.

Most of what Shardlet said, with one addendum... "exactly the same thing, except effective on an outside target" isn't a difference between a base and an alloy, it's a difference between two bases in a set (e.g. duralumin works in the burning allomancer, nicrosil works outside the burning allomancer). And it only works for the "enhancements", as tin enhances the burner's senses, but iron does not enhance the senses of those you touch. What you presumably meant was the push-pull phenomenon; iron pulls metal towards you while steel flings it away. Brass damps down emotions, zinc enflames them. But that is far from universal. Gold and electrum are hardly clear-cut, and Shardlet pointed out about Tin and Pewter. It certainly seems to be a guideline, but not a hard-and-fast rule. Finally, Mr. Sanderson said that on the extremes this would be possible, he didn't say "this happens every time someone burns aluminum". Presumably, then, if one were so inclined, they could practice with duralumin and learn how to enchance all of the poisons in their body. I'm not sure why one would want to, but iron technically gives you the ability to pull a knife directly at your own chest at mind-boggling speeds, and that hardly seems like the smartest of ideas, itself. So, as ever, allomancy can be a powerful tool, but dangerous to the user if used thoughtlessly.

That's a very possible answer, but feels overpowered. Also it's stated in the Ars Arcanum of Alloy of Law that Soulbearers don't fully understand what feruchemical nicrosil does; if it was as simple as you suggest, they would probably have a handle on it by now. Not to mention, in order to GET these powers so that one could begin storing them, one would need an awful lot of hemalurgic spikes. It's one more interesting theory on a way to create one super-powered being, but that's what doesn't jive with the rest of the cosmere. Mr. Sanderson's magic systems all seem to be about finding balance, making it so someone who uses Investiture has an inherent weakness built in so that magic users have a tool at their disposal but aren't inherently superior to a normal person.

Pulses. Pull for a fraction of a second, several times a second, to diffuse the change in speed over more time. Pulse your ironpulls against the metal of a skyscraper to hold yourself against it without harming the superstructure. You'd have to pull in 'blinks', a dozen tiny Pulls a second. Just one man's opinion.

From the few perspectives we get of zinc using, it seems that is exactly what it does. It doesnt make you stupid/smarter, it makes you think faster and slower. Keep in mind, without feruchemical steel, youll rapidly run into the limit of how fast your body can respond, however fast your mind is. "Boy, that sure is a bullet coming at me. Look at it there, on a direct course for my heart. Sure wish i could dodge faster..."

Mr. Sanderson expressly says there is no variance in any metal besides burn and flare, but throughout the series Vin is constantly using tin, pewter, iron and steel with degrees of power. And obviously the emotional metals let you be crazy subtle. I'd say it is canon that you can do what you have suggested. Please let me know how your fanfic goes. Will you post it in the fanfic section of the forum?

You raise a few good questions, but i dont think you disprove anything. We dont know what Fedik did before or after. Maybe it did serve a purpose. Preservations purpose in ripping the final words of the prophecy wasnt apparent at first. Alendi had spoken of the mist creature and his logbook and implied that people were questioning his sanity. Perhaps appearing to someone, leaving him alive but with obvious evidence that the creature exists, wouldnt just prove him right, it would give him more weight if people question him in the future. Just one example, it could be something you have to be omnipotent to understand.

Evidence that the Mist Spirit that Alendi saw was black, and therefore might be Ruin, rather than Preservation: Chapter 20 Epigraph : "It isn't a shadow. "This dark thing that follows me, the thing that only I can see - It isn't really a shadow. It's blackish and translucent, but it doesn't have a shadowlike, solid outline. It's insubstantial - wispy and formless. Like it's made out of a dark fog. "Or mist, perhaps." So. The white mist is of Preservation, and the white mist creature is of Preservation. The dark mist Vin saw at the Well, i believe we have WoB that is of Ruin. Now we've got a dark mist creature. I put to you that it is Ruin's form. Now Fedik. Here's Alendi's description of Fedik post stabbing, from near the beginning of Chapter 29. "I fear for Fedik-he hasnt been quite the same since the creature made of mist attacked him, and i worry that he will wander off a cliffside or slip through one of he many icy rifts in the ground." Why would a stab wound make someone apt to walk off a cliff? It sounds like confusion or depression. It's only hinted at, but this is consistent with someone who lost mental fortitude, or ripped their spiritweb.

They were near Ruin's pool, and the location where his mind was trapped. Perhaps the location mattered? Also, this was before Rashek hid Ruin's body. Maybe accessing the atium would have let him affect the world more directly? Im about to reread Well of Ascension and Hero of Ages. Im going to watch the Mist Spirit this time. See if it is most active near the lerasium, if you consider the whole city of Luthadel to be 'near', or near Elend, the person with the strongest connection to Preservation. Does it ever touch anything after Elend burns the lerasium? That would add an interesting dimension to me, if Preservation sacrificed his only connection to the world to save Elend, and no one realized what he gave up.

Here is my theory. Fedik was the victim of hemalurgic theft by Ruin. Here's why i think Alendi's mist spirit was Ruin, not Preservation. Preservation is of the white mists, and Ruin is of the black mist which was at the well. In the Chapter 20 epigraph, which I will quote directly if I have to when i get to a computer, Alendi clearly said it was black. Not conclusive, but i believe this to be the case. Here's why i think Fedik was spiked. Near the start of Chapter 29 the logbook is quoted, and Alendi speaks of Fedik being different since the attack. He is apparently at risk of just walking off a cliff. Sounds like someone with a damaged spiritweb. Not a solid theory, but possible. EDIT: Typos (this was originally typed on a Nook and I am not touch-screen savvy)