Honorless

Relu-Na?

I think they just steal kinetic Investiture, Investiture that is actively maintaining an ability. Allomancy is a bit iffy in that it gives access to a store of energy corresponding to the metal swallowed (if they're a Mistborn, that is, otherwise a Misting's corresponding metal), and that Allomancers aren't necessarily always burning those stores but iirc, Leechers pull away not just metals their target is currently burning but their entire metal reserves. That can mean that either, having a metal reserve is itself an active effect, which is very possible, or that the power itself is built to not just swallow a person's spark of life, which is just as likely, as that goes with Preservation's Intent. If the former is true, hacking the ability to get a death touch may be easier and artificial Allomancy via Southern Scadrial tech might be capable of it in the future.

I think so too, but I'm mostly assuming because of the presence of Lifespren and the fact that we've seen some spren draw energy from Stormlight reflexively

I could only find these two WoBs on the subject – This, which might refer to the quote you hunted down: and this: So, I think technically the title refers to the roles and identities that people play but it might also be a hidden reference to something (Who knows, maybe the Trell is Kelsier theory is going to turn out to be true)

Yup, it's mentioned that that's what the Listeners used to grow their food during the War of Reckoning on the Shattered Plains. In RoW, this method is tried on Urithiru. It's mentioned by Raboniel that Lifelight works even better than Stormlight for plants. Allomancers have a direct conduit to Preservation, so they don't need to use the Mists for fuel. Technically, the Mists can be used as fuel, we see this with Vin, and Allomantic power overflowing looks like the Mists too, as seen with the Bands of Mourning, but, Allomancers and Feruchemists simply aren't built to draw it in under normal circumstances. They pull power from the Spiritual Realm. For Radiants, the spren kinda take over the role of the metals as well as the sDNA, I suspect, and instead of pulling power from the Spiritual, they use Stormlight that's regularly distributed by the Highstorms. It seems like having more Investiture or more of a Connection to Preservation, or Harmony, can allow them to draw in the Mists. The spren are more Connected to Honor and Cultivation, being their Splinters, so the Nahel Bond allows Surgebinders to draw in Stormlight. The spren themselves are also seen drawing energy from Stormlight, so it kinda makes sense for them to share that ability with their Radiants.

Let's not forget this interesting bit from the Rhythm of War Harmony's letters epigraphs

What Dalinar did was referred to as an Ascension, iirc, what Elend did was also compared to Ascension. I think it's just a metric ton of Investiture, not necessarily becoming a Vessel of one of the Shards... or Avatars

Ah, for the level of munchkinry you want, I suggest you turn to Sel rather than Nalthis

I think it might be more appropriate to look at metal's properties to filter Investiture, like in the Metallic Arts and Fabrials. I think whatever happened was something more fundamental. Like with Raysium and Hemalurgy, they're built on the same principles, it's these principles that were tapped in the creation of Nightblood

Ixthos had a similar theory about how Shapeshifting worked for Yolish Dragons that you might find interesting:

I think so! You'd have to know the original Command, not the person that Lifeless used to be. A single Breath isn't all that much Investiture either, so easier to overcome too.

hidden for length I think it depends on the Lifeless. If they are Awakened with their own Breath, it would be easier for them to access their Metalminds. A Full Feruchemist... try to keep them away from certain metals, I guess. It could work but a bit risky.

Meekers and yes, F-Tin can be used that way: The Aviar do seem to be very intelligent. Sak understood Dusk's intent and understood speech to a high degree. We don't yet have much about artificial Metallic Arts confirmed though, do keep that in mind. Incl if parts of the process include Hemalurgy but just in case that it does: Hopefully that doesn't just mean stealing attributes but giving attributes.

Thank you! But these lines... they tempt me, mwahahahahaha! Patji's Perpendicularity?

Huh, I don't think their Gemhearts would just heal with time, no. I think they would turn to Dullform though, not Slaveform. Slaveform isolated them from the Rhythms too somehow.

From what we've seen, a person in the Cosmere is naturally Connected to the resident Shard(s), if there are multiple Shards, they are Connected to the one whose Investiture they use and whose Intent they're more aligned with. They are also Connected to the land they're born in and live in. And they're Connected to their loved ones. It seems Fortune is also involved somehow as people who've not yet met can also have a bit of Connection. Connection seems to be a force in the Cosmere signifying relation and affinity. Yes, interaction and amount of time spent seems to increase Connection (greater Connection to people close to you). Greater emotional value would mean stronger Connection. How something is perceived seems to be a part of its Connections, and that seems to be how a Bondsmith's power of repairing inanimate objects works. So, yes Connections should work in a similar manner for people and objects.

I don't think we know the answer. Iirc, the only kind of F-Connection we've seen in the books was in BoM, Allik tapping Connection to the Elendel Basin via mechanical Feruchemy to speak the associated language:

It's possible that you should be able to but it might require some kind of trick to pull off. You might be in the Cognitive Realm but you're still human, this does not make you something like a spren or a Shard, who can whisper through the holes in a person's Spiritweb. Spren are Cognitive entities, yes but this might not necessarily be something inherent to the Realm. It had occurred to me before that stronger emotional manipulation might be possible to pull off in the Cognitive Realm, like what you're thinking. There are some hints pointing towards it, such as Kelsier as a Cognitive Shadow was able to talk to someone who was mentally handicapped. I think he was only able to talk to Spook after Ascending, using their strong Connection. Soulcasting also takes the person's mind into the Cognitive Realm. Plus, the mind sensing predators of First of the Sun, it's hinted that their Cognitive Realm might be dangerous too near the Perpendicularity. The spren of emotion are Cognitive entities, though possibly as a counterpoint, they manifest partially in the Physical Realm while... feeding? Plus, the Rhythms seem to be capable of influencing emotions to some degree, and could even be the underlying mechanism for emotional manipulation. In conclusion, I think that this is possible but it might require a bit more than being on the Cognitive Realm, and would not be all that stronger an effect without a lot of power and skill, and the main benefit would be that you'd be hidden (assuming who you're manipulating can't just peer into the Cognitive Realm)

That's what I assumed, yes

Aside from all those factors mentioned by StanLemon, there's also the simple practical factor that you'll have to purchase Breaths, and those are going to be more expensive than a simple band of copper, iirc and there's also the ethical considerations. Purchasing Breaths means someone, multiple someones, become Drabs

Oh and also Any amount of Investiture left alone long enough can develop some amount of sentience on its own. Less Investiture means it would take more time, more Investiture means less time.

By the few things Brandon has said about Breaths, Lifeless and metalminds, it seems possible Identity should take care of the metalmind keying problem This WoB gives the most hope for your project: The shapeshifting via Identity idea is interesting but we don't yet know what Spiritual Identity is. It could very well just be a marker for your Investiture. Though all the bits about the importance of perception in the Cosmere - with spren, with the Heralds, with healing and restoring, with the Cognitive aspects of objects - do suggest something like this might be possible, it might not necessarily be Identity though, it could be Connection. If the theory of the Spiritweb being your web of Connections is correct, the line between the two may be fuzzy.

Yeah, you did! It's the hidden library in Elantris. It had a tunnel that led to the Pool.

Yup! This plus the art pieces in the book, as mentioned by Brandon within the WoB above, seem to confirm that this was Nazh

urban sprawl, basically. There's another term that's closer but it would give the game away The term was satellite towns Ooh, nope, pretty good guess though I would normally give a bonus clue if more than a single guesser proved me wrong in assuming that all my clues taken together can only provide one valid answer but... I really can't this time, because anything more would make it insta obvious, so sorry!