Trusk'our

Edit: I'd like to reiterate just how big a deal I feel Spren being able to become magical items is. I know convincing one probably isn't technically easy, but plenty of sapient Spren are friendly and they could presumably change back into their old forms in time (except maybe for those like Oathgate Spren, which appear to need an external source). Even training a Lesser Spren is probably viable once you know it's possible, which could lead to an enormous level of Godmetals and Fabrials and such that can more or less spring into existence in the PR to be used, then released. It feels. . . too easy. But I am looking at things from a Scadrian's point of view like usual, so maybe it's just me.

Spren- at least the Spren that can bond to create Radiants and Lesser Spren that are associated with their Orders- under the right circumstances are capable of turning into Godmetals in the Physical Realm with Invested properties, ranging from creating power armor to vorpal blades to Surgebinding Fabrials. I had been wondering what the limitations of this might be, but I think that the existence of the Unoathed give us a clue. If I recall, the Unoathed Blades and Plate were Deadeye Spren and Plate Spren that had been buried in crem or otherwise lost to the ages, vanishing into Shadesmar after people stopped thinking about them, severing their ties to the Physical Realm. They were found in Shadesmar by Maya and asked to become tools for Adolin and company to repel the invasion of Azir, saving the day. I think, then, that you probably don't need a special circumstance to get a Spren to become an Invested Godmetal. I think you might just need to convince them to move to the PR and take that form. If they're a Radiant Spren, they might be able to become a Blade or Fabrial because of their nature. Lesser Spren I'm a little more skeptical on, since they don't feel particularly tied to Plate's power innately, though that's just my current hypothesis, and if so they might need to have once been bound to a Radiant to have that sort of "code" in their Spiritwebs. Certain Surge Fabrials that appear much grander, such as the Oathgates, I think may need some extra help to get there, probably via Bondsmith bolstering the amount of Investiture they have. In any case, I no longer have access to WaT, so if anybody can correct me on any parts I may have gotten wrong about the Unoathed when crafting this hypothesis I'd be quite happy to hear them so I may refine it into a true theory.

Ah, that's a good idea. It totally didn't cross my mind- I usually just think about the spoiler period and the correct forum, but I will keep that in mind for future posts. Thanks! That's a good take on her disposition I think, but I don't believe that the Shard itself is 100% aligned with such a personality. I say this because a Shard is not really about the Vessel getting the end of the Shard's goals, they're the dealer. For example, Ruin isn't gonna try to end its Vessel despite being about destruction, and Preservation isn't really aligned with saving itself over its creations/others. I think the Shard Autonomy would be more about preserving or granting people autonomy in their lives. But, that's just me going off my gut feelings for the most part. I like to think a Shard's Intent is more like being a ruler and trying to enforce a certain lifestyle and environment for its subjects. I'll definitely admit that my perception of this whole deal with Bavadin is pretty solidly influenced by how I, personally, would try to filter Autonomy's Intent and how I view the word and its meaning. I do think that you can have autonomy working with or under someone else, but only if you give that alliance or subordinance to that individual/organization of your own free will. I don't think that Bavadin filters Autonomy under this definition very well, since she's trying to force her Intent on everyone and build societies as she sees fit without their say so. That's just my own two clips though, and it could very well be that the Shard of Autonomy doesn't care about this interpretation very much.

Unoathed Plate appears to possess at least some of the perks of Radiant Plate, such as regenerating and functioning without external infusions of Stormlight (appearing to draw from the SR directly), being dismissal/summonable, capable of changing its shape to suit its user's needs, and being aware of its surroundings. It does make me wonder, would Unoathed Plate still interfere with a Radiant's Surgebinding while they wore it? Or, would it be capable of adapting to their Identity? Regardless, even if we assume the Plate would interfere it would still be very powerful to lend to a lower-oath Radiant. Summoning Plate is very advanced for Radiants, and getting it early on in their progression would prove invaluable, and they could even dismiss parts of the Plate when necessary to allow external Surgebinding.

Allomancy works based off of how Invested you are with Preservation, not bodily mass. So, if a Pewterarm suffers a tremendous injury and loses a limb or two, does that mean their Investiture only needs to boost a smaller proportion of body, making the enhancements stronger? For example, a Pewterarm loses an arm in battle- is their other arm (and legs and everything else) now a little bit stronger whenever burning pewter than before since the lost arm's share of Investiture can be routed elsewhere? I think it would make an interesting character where a physically disabled Pewterarm has to learn to use only one arm or have a peg leg or something, but realize there's a silver lining to exploit and use to their advantage.

Seems plausible. Each power-related metal has four related abilities to steal, and a BoM style of blending metal could upgrade this. Assuming that you can use a single Bindpoint on the recipient to use all those powers, at least. That would be the biggest hurtle, in my opinion.

I found it interesting to see how different Sazed and Taravangian are. I believe they are opposites in most ways. Sazed is a humble guy. He doesn't really see himself as a big hotshot hero, and even after taking up the Ruin and Preservation he hesitates to take worshipers and be the focus of attention. Taravangian, on the other hand, truly wants to be the top dog. He wants to be in charge and to be worshipped as a deity (not to mention that one of his immediate thoughts after achieving freedom from Honor's binding is to kill all Spren, as they might vaguely be able to pose a threat to him). Sazed highly values others' agency, so much so that he is eventually willing to let go of his Sword despite the looming threat of Retribution and Autonomy. He isn't perfect, what with the whole Bleeder scenario, but he does try. Sazed admits he has limitations and makes mistakes. Meanwhile, Taravangian just wants to rub in his superiority and gloat over his victories when he has the opportunity. Taravangian is so obsessed with control that he wants to shackle all beings under his rule. He can't even let poor dead Dalinar go, even as a dead man. I really want to see a meeting between these two. Preferably ending with Discord smiting Tetribution silly, but I'll take what I can get from a philosophical debate. As a bonus topic that is related to Sazed's standing as an amazing dude (and that Taravangian is crem), I would like to bring up a theory of mine. I believe that Bavadin is terrified of Sazed. Not Harmony per se, due to it's conflicting Intents, but Sazed himself. Her philosophy is quite Dominion-ish, with her being a very controlling person. She doesn't seem terribly well aligned with her Shard's Intent, at least not perfectly in my opinion. I think that she fears Sazed in the same way Rayse feared Ba-Ado-Mishram. He fulfills her Shard's Intent better than she does, and it might very well choose his will over her own when push comes to shove. Maybe even abandon her for him altogether. There's also the whole technological progress thing, which is definitely a factor for her attempted invasion of Scadrial, but I don't think it's the only reason.

Lol, fair enough. Kandra lifespan seems to be a combo of their wacky biology (probably shape-shifting, as you say) and some magic/Investiture stuff.

Could be the first example of preserving a Spike outside a body for great periods of time (using a process more efficient than jars of blood or cuts of meat, that is). Spike multiple people after figuring out Identity contamination. Or, following on @Elite01's suggestion, maybe spike a super long-lived creature like a Kandra? Weirder ramifications for that, if possible. I had a thought cross my mind before- Lerasium steals all attributes, right? Could it maybe take most of the Spiritweb, preserving it like a Cognitive Shadow? That's assuming the Cognitive Aspect sticks to the Spiritweb, which goes against standard Hemalurgy use as far as I'm aware, but it is using the essence of Preservation as a focus, so. . .

I would assume it would be because the Plate has a specific "program" for the Investiture. Similar to how a Fabrial-Soulcaster is affected by Investiture (presumably, seeing as they become Savants with time, which is done by permeating oneself with Investiture) even without receiving a Radiant's general perks.

Even then, good luck convincing a Shard like Ruin (assuming it's not subsumed into the whole of a bigger Shard, like Harmony- and even then. . .)

Ooo, that'd be cool. It could be like how we learn of Taln's Honorblade and how it moved around.

A Splinter of the great and mighty Stick?

I saw a new update regarding the Mistborn expansion of the Cosmere rpg, courtesy of @Atlas333 Something that really got my gears working- what could the Eternity Spike be? What would it do? So far, I've got a few ideas: It holds its charge indefinitely. This is fairly simple, but very potent in regards to Hemalurgy, particularly with how the campaign of Mistborn Legacy is set to span both Era 1 and Era 2. It makes the bearer immortal in some fashion. Also fits the idea of spanning multiple eras- it could work by turning you into some ageless Hemalurgic construct, altering your Connection to age, or possibly just turning you into a CS and pinning you to a body. It holds something vast and powerful, or is a key to such power. Could be that it holds Connection or Investiture directly from Sliver, Splinter, or Dawnsliver. I'm really just spitballing right now, but I'm really, really looking forward to this campaign.

Honestly, I don't know. I've never been able to get one of my questions seen, so. . .

If I were to guess: The spikes use Secretspren to detect Investiture. Not Hemalurgically gathered, just trapped like in a regular gemstone. Diamond is associated with the eyes. I think it's likely they correspond with those Bindpoints.

Ishar too, if I recall.

Marasi and the Allomancers of the Community burned through all of the Investiture of Autonomy's secret Well on Scadrial. A truly enormous amount of Investiture needed to flow through them for this process- Marasi herself guessed it to be thousands of times more than what the jars of Purified Dor held. This makes me wonder, would the amount of Investiture be enough to have lingering aftereffects on them or their descendants? Something similar to becoming a Sliver or Cognitive Shadow (when they die)? Furthermore, would their Spiritwebs become aligned with Autonomy's power assuming it was her Investiture at that Perpendicularity? Might be interesting to see this allowing Autonomy to Connect to some of those people in the future, maybe lead to a new version of the Set. As a bonus thought, both Marasi and Wax held the Bands of Mourning, bearing enough Investiture that they had Mists seeping from their bodies. Probably less Investiture than Autonomy's Perpendicularity, but perhaps enough to still have a residue on their Spiritwebs?

When a Radiant bears an Honorblade that grants a Surge they already possess, they get a slight increase in power. This makes me wonder, would Surge Fabrials, like Soulcasters, also provide a small boost to a Radiant's natural Surgebinding? On one hand, they don't provide the same base perks that all Radiants get- being able to inhale and biologically utilize Stormlight. However, they aren't as mechanically independent as most modern Fabrials. I think there should still be Investiture flowing through the bearer, as they can become Savants with prolonged use. So at least for me, I'm thinking Surge Fabrials would increase a Radiant's innate Surge, adding a little power.

You're right, we don't have any full takes on the metal yet, but from the existence of the Malwish medallions it appears that Feruchemical Nicrosil stores the ability to use a power. Functional Investiture, but not the fuel for them. If I were to guess, a nicrosil Twinborn could temporarily increase the efficiency and power of their Allomancy with their Feruchemy. Basically the foil to a Compounder. A nicrosil Compounder would likely have a sort of positive feedback loop where they can increase the power of their Allomancy, which in turn empowers their Compounding, which serves to further increase their Allomancy, etc. It would have an upper limit as the higher you stretch a Feruchemical attribute the more Investiture it costs, plus most of the power is just used up to sustain the process itself. I really don't think it would do much other than saturate your Spiritweb with far more Investiture than most other Metalborn over time.

What about Sazed? Doesn't he have a very similar policy of non-intervention/gentle guidance that respects individuals' ultimate agency?

I got the Stormlight books for the Cosmere RPG (for Christmas) and found a weird thing that I'm not fully following. Some of the Forms of Power allow you to use Focus or Investiture to fuel them, but it doesn't look like they gain an Investiture score from taking a Form of Power itself? Also, in the Stonewalkers book the Direform NPC statblock says they can use "Invested Enhancement" to further increase their strength and speed by 1. So, is this just an NPC ability completely off limits to PCs with Direform, or is there an extra feat somewhere or. . .?

I quickly grew to love the story of the Cosmere as a whole, but the magic systems are where my head typically drifts to. Basically, I'm less interested in what has happened and more in what could happen with the right tools.

Lerasium all the way. More power potential with, assuming it's decently sized.

Technically Feruchemical iron controls mass, so I wouldn't be surprised if a Spren tapping it became a little more substantial in the PR.