Ashbringer

Yeah, but we’re not entirely sure if the Set produced atium at all. Harmonium might be more Ruin than Preservation, where the base reaction creates energy perfectly then puts the extra Investiture as atium, while Wax’s Intent (to Preserve, and also just to see what happens scientifically) let lerasium form. But if that’s the case, Sazed is lying to Kelsier about being able to get lerasium.

I still like the earlier idea, where Wax wanted to Preserve instead of just Ruin, and thus lerasium manifested. A Hemalurgic Spike could be responsible too. But there’s a lot of those available now. Kinda depends if Sazed is lying about the lerasium or not.

Yes and no - Ruin could have taken over the koloss any time he wanted, but Vin and Elend could still control them without his interference. Inquisitors might have “inherited” control from Ruin or used duralumin/group Allomancy on their own. A Compounder can also just keep Compounding, if they want to. Initial charge of Investiture doesn’t mean much. But you all are getting rather… aggressive.

We know in the days after Lerasium was injected into the population, lone Soothers could take control of koloss/kandra where now it needs Duralumin or a “group”. I don’t think we have specific numbers. But Marsh physically can’t have enough spikes to match Elend in power in every Metal.

Also: Marsh, as noted, has double strength in Bronze from being a natural Misting. Elend is a Lerasium Mistborn, and thus is much stronger in every metal. Elend was being directly fueled by Vin-Preservation (which I think technically could have fueled metals he didn’t know about then). Elend knew he would lose and accepted it. He could have done more, but he let Marsh kill him so Vin would be willing to kill Ati.

It’s entirely possible that some of the Shards took possession of the Dawnshards. Incredibly dangerous, but entirely possible. I have a few ideas where the other two could have gone, but they’re not based on much as I don’t hunt through things for theories so much as just read WoBs. As for which Shard Hoid was supposed to take / who wasn’t supposed to take one, I think we still are unsure. Although there’s a few Shards we know Hoid wouldn’t have taken (ie Whimsy).

Alendi knew what Discord was. Or had a slight idea. That was part of the prophecy, that they’ll call him Discord and love him for it.

I think Discord isn't an on/off switch. But I think Sazed is slipping, that's clear. I don't think harmonium's splitting is a result of Discord, although the fact Wax got atium and lerasium out of it might be. Especially if it's resulting in more atium than lerasium. (Not sure if Sazed is just lying to Kelsier about not getting lerasium or not... either way is interesting.) I predict he'll be Discord by at least the end of the first Era 3 book. Another thing is that Trell-Telsin (and therefore Autonomy) knew what Discord was. That to me is... scary.

Chromium naturally destroying Investiture seems a bit much. Silver does that already for the spores. Plus doing that might just kill the spores instead of neutralizing them. You might have better luck with something like a harmonium cube charged with A-Aluminum, which (I think there’s a WoB) prevents Investiture use rather than destroying Investiture.

One other thing I forgot to mention - Twinsoul and Moonlight’s powers could easily have solved a lot of things, but they also didn’t overwhelmingly solve every problem. It wasn’t aethers or Forgery->AonDor that finally saved Scadrial from Autonomy’s army, it was Marasi using her head. (And admittedly a jar of refined Dor, but it was specifically there to be used and was used in a way we already knew was possible.) Equal power, probably. Equal skill, not so much - Ishar has millenia of experience over Dalinar and thus would probably win in an outright Bondsmithing fight, at least at that point in RoW. But that does make it skill with power vs skill from non-powers/improvisation, which is a bit different from what makes Wax vs Dumad so interesting (overwhelming power vs improvisation). Still interesting, just not the same way.

Also magically changing the mass of something makes F=MA and conservation of momentum (initial MV= final MV) not play well together. Mass changes, so velocity changes to counter, so acceleration changes, so force changes. I’m more a chemist so crunching the numbers would give me a headache, but that’s part of it. I think a Feruchemical warrior should also probably have a goldmind skullplate or something similar. It would take a hefty goldmind to regrow an entire body, but it should technically be possible, or at least keep you alive long enough for a theoretical allied Truthwatcher to save you. And yeah, don’t discount F-Duralumin.

I think the idea that it’s the tricks the characters pull to win was displayed really well in this book. At least until the ending, as they did need Hemalurgy and lerasium to disassemble the bomb, but they also used their brains there to make sure it actually worked. Wax vs Dumad (and Wayne killing Dumad) was a great example of that. Wax couldn’t use any of his powers safely, and just had to rely on skill and, admittedly, a good bit of luck with actually getting a vial back when falling. He didn’t suddenly realize he was Mistborn and Nicroburst him or something. And Wayne didn’t win because of his powers, he won because he read Dumad like a book and stole his metal vial. He survived that fight because of his powers, but they weren’t what killed Dumad. Also a few examples of people really going up against a more powerful foe and winning would be Kaladin vs Yelig-Nar Amaram (which he won because he was more skilled, along with Amaram’s weakpoint and Rock) and Dalinar and the Windrunners vs Ishar (which Dalinar only “won” because of Deus Ex Nightblood. Maybe a deserved one, because that’s why he brought Szeth along, but still.) Better one would probably be Vin vs Zane or Shan Elariel, where she won by countering atium and not via the mists or breaking copperclouds. But that’s only one power rather than a nearly-complete counter. (And maybe she did break Shan’s coppercloud, it’s been a while.)

I haven’t actually read White Sand, so I’m not certain on how they work, but it doesn’t seem like the lichen needs water to survive or to stay Invested. Maybe it does on other planets, but can sustain itself on the Dayside star on Taldain. But the spores seem like they’ll keep for a long time, and obviously aren’t using water or (external) Investiture to stay alive.

Riina was in the middle of using her laptop when Tress walked in, so she may have just not hit the metaphorical "log out" button. That, or she was so arrogant about the defenses on the outside she didn't install anything on the inside. As far as I recall, the only internal defenses she had besides herself was a cat. Riina might also be able to break Commands, or just hack into the tablets electronically. They might have security, but from what little I know of cybersecurity is things need constant updates to best protect devices, something Fort probably wouldn't know how to do.

If the mention of golden-haired-fairy-people is indeed the Iriali in TLM, then TotES is likely very far after RoW. The Coppermind says they were on Roshar for thousands of years. Something could have advanced their timetable significantly, but I think assuming it's two different populations is hasty. Foil could still technically be one of Xisis' servants, as I'd imagine there are ways for someone like Khriss to get information under the eyes of a dragon. But Foil being Xisis makes more sense. Not sure if Xisis would want immortal servants or not, and this doesn't feel like something where we're being misled. (A little like a certain Trell...)

This is kind of connecting to another thread, but I had a thought. I'm pretty sure in TotES it's mentioned that the spores take in water, send it to the Moon Aethers, and in exchange draw Investiture directly from the Spiritual Realm. Sand seems to work differently, despite being Luhel - the Investiture is already "pre-loaded" in the sand by either Taldain's sun or something else. And if spores send water to the Moon Aethers so they can keep growing, where does the sand send water to? (Also, dead spores are grey, not black, so I think that's more credence to bone spore's black state not being dead, regardless of whether it's white sand or not.)

Maybe not Lifeless, that's more about messing with Commands and it seems anyone who knows them can do so. But the Hemalurgy weakness definitely makes some bond, as Vin and Elend don't need to actively break the koloss to control them, but just need to once, then can issue more Commands with weak Allomancy or mental commands. Maybe not a Nahel/Luhel/Spirituel bond, but some bond. Sand Mastery would have to be... very strange to not be Luhel. The bond itself is Cognitive, because it's connecting the mind of the sand master to the sand lichen, and the sand master loses water (Physically) in order to make the sand do things. That's essentially identical to the Luhel bond with the Midnight Essence. Although it does seem like the Investiture comes from the lichen/sand and not entirely from the Spiritual Realm... and if the spores are sending water to feed the Moon Aethers, where is the water from Sand Mastery going? Edit: Ooh, one more Bond. Nightblood. Not the whole eating-Investiture part, but the "test" he does and whether he makes people feel sick, and why Vasher doesn't.

Aviar to Parasite definitely seems Luhel-bond-like. Person to Aviar could go either way, Dusk doesn't mention either possibility. But my hunch is it's Nahel-like or Spiritual, not Luhel-like. Aviar do seem more intelligent than other birds, and stick around their bondee more often. That and the Aviar-detector device that The Ones Above created, which seemed to disturb every Aviar on the island. That seems to imply a more Cognitive or Spiritual effect is in play. I do wonder if there's a Nahel/Luhel/Other connection with how magic systems are fueled. Luhel bonds draw Investiture straight from the Spiritual realm, while the Nahel bonds we've seen need a power source. Could you argue Allomancy is a Luhel bond with Preservation, trading metal for power...? It doesn't quite fit but it seems interesting. But other powers (AonDor) seemingly have nothing needed... maybe Sel is just an asterisk. Other bonds: bonding a Seon, bonding a Lifeless, bonding/controlling koloss, Rosharan wildlife with symbiotic spren bonds (although that's probably Nahel)... the Ashyn disease magic as Luhel?

Oh, rusts. Cassie left the dress in a heap on the floor - it was a nice dress, but if it could repair itself a little dirt could wait - and attempted to run for the first time in days. She got about two steps before nearly toppling over, whatever strength existing in her legs unable to lift her into the air. Cassie cursed again before power-walking over to her desk, grabbing her new chair and burning iron to Pull it along a little faster. "Here," she said, pushing it behind him. "Well, it definitely worked. And definitely did... damage." Were the lines that far across his face before? She was almost certain no. "Let's not try that again. But anything feel different?" She couldn't tell if Balance was in any state to respond, but it would be better to learn something new before forgetfulness set in. She gave a glance at Technotic - no, Demaren. "Do you know anything about this? You had a motivator of his, right?" @EmulatonStromenkiin

I forget, did Shai use one of the purified Dor jars to activate her Elantrian Essence Mark?

Hoid got decapitated at some point and regrew his head, but I don’t think that actually killed him. Also he’s a “Dawnsliver”, not a Sliver of a Shard. Unless he still has that Dawnshard but I’m not sure if we know if that’s still the case or not.

I like this. Feels like there's a lot of basing to it, and Mercy being the asterisk in the theory makes a decent amount of sense, seeing as their involvement in Odium vs Ambition implies Mercy is taking an... unusual view of their Intent The thing I'm hesitant about is that Adhesion and Gravitation are distinct Surges in Surgebinding, as well as that the weak and strong atomic forces are also Surges (Cohesion and Tension, respectively). But it does feel more based on creation than a few of the other theories I've heard. (Disclaimer, I haven't heard a lot.)

"There are many things I want," Cassie said, solidly meeting Balance's gaze. "Success. But most of them aren't physical. And at this point, pursuing those goals are... on hold, so to speak. I'm still understanding what I've become, and I'm hesitant to invest in other ventures." She finally blinked, a more forced reaction. "I suppose what I mean is, I don't need any perfected object at the moment. And I don't believe you owe me anything. Advice is free. If something like this would drain you significantly... why give it to me?" Cassie knew what she should recommend. Go to the Scholar's Guild, or the Hospital, and Realize something there. Let people who could actually understand what was going on get a view, find a cause and a solution. They would have a better chance to help Balance. It would make him a guinea pig. And her a hypocrite. "If you insist on making something for me..." she said, pausing for a moment, "... a dress. Like this one, left arm covered, but a dark purple. And however perfect you can. Pockets, patterns, fireproof, indestructible, whatever you think I'd... appreciate. Like I said, it's not exceptionally important. But it would be nice." @EmulatonStromenkiin

We’re also not sure exactly how trellium works. It’s corrupted too, at least to be used as a spike. It could be made specifically to interact with Hemalurgy and harmonium, or it could do similar things with other Investitures.

@Stormlightsong, clarification question - is Baccus outside Kalten’s office and already inside the Dark Alley, or is he somewhere outside trying to get into the Alleys? Kalten’s pretty deep into the Alleys at the moment.