Tamriel Wolfsbaine

Nice on the 1500th. What do you think about A-pewter on a Koloss-blooded? I felt like Ham talked about it not doubling or tripling the users strength but rather brought them closer to being doubled the strength of a normal person. (Maybe mixing some WOB that said it doubles and triples when flared). Do you think this holds true for a Koloss-Blooded? If a KB who is athletic like Ham were to spar with Vin both being on pewter do you think the pewter would bring them closer together or do you think the KB would maintain a proportional advantage against Vin?

I know I have asked something similar to this but I wanted to hear what folks thoughts are on this one. Given that Koloss-Blooded are already such imposing physical beings, I am curious how that translates for ones with feruchemical powers. Specifically pewter. I know that tapping large amounts of pewter can cause a person to bulk out and at the top end, risk losing mobility. I also know that when they store they lose some of their physique and muscular builds as well. But with Koloss-blooded who are already stronger and more muscular do you think that they would lose and gain size at a different rate from your typical human? Does the muscle grow at a rate based on your mass to strength ratio? If Koloss-Blooded are simply stronger per lb of muscle to start with, would they gain more strength per lb of muscle put on later? Minimizing the negative mobility effects at larger tapped amounts of strength? Also. Do you think they could store more than a human before looking and feeling weaker? Also do you think feruchemy in general is based on specific numbers or do you believe feruchemical storage is all % based? (You don't store 100lbs but you store 50% of your weight. Which leads me to ask if you lose 50 lbs minus feruchemy would tap the 50lbs you stored before or would you tap the 50% of your current weight? )

It is most likely just some oversight while writing. I feel like I have read some WoB talking about why they didn't all die in Uritheru after the use of the oathgate and it having some sort of dome of protection or something... I imagine that can easily just be retconed to say that Roshar is so highly invested that atmospheric pressure doesn't matter. I guess in the case of the falling after the stormlight runs out you could argue that he wasn't thrown nearly high enough to have the issue or he decended at such a rate that it didn't matter much. My question is do we have other examples of a person using investiture on another person for reason X and that investiture, with no ties to the target, protecting them from the outside physics of it? We see investiture protect its user all of the time in the cosmere. But when it is being used on another person will it go out of its way to protect that person from the other unintended issues? Super nitpicky. I know.

I will @alder24 as well for this. in the case of gravitation I feel like the magic is breaking a few other laws. I totally am on board with the idea that stormlight fixes the radiant and prevents them from suffering from altitude sicknesses and dying a horrible death to HAPE. I have also accepted that teleporting via magic and ending up at a much higher elevation protects the user (or groups that the user sends to a new place via the oathgates). But what about flying crews of non magic users above a storm? In my mind I have to assume that having a lashing placed on you provides protection from the changes in barometric pressure. What would happen if the stormlight holding that lashing went out? I would really have to refer back to other books and I just listen so that makes skimming hard. But did any of the crews when testing flying other people around ever have to quickly save someone who's lashing ran out? Did the guy that Szeth flung into the air scream as he fell to his death or was he already dead from the asphyxiation that one could expect from having horrible flash pulmonary edema? Trying to figure out how risky the windrunner option is vs the other, more grounded options.

Pretty simple question. If you were stuck in the middle of a large desert with no shelter available which order would you rely on to keep you alive? They have enough stormlight for some basic surgebinding to start. Would your answer change if you were there with a group of people? Massive family reunion perhaps? I feel like there are only a couple orders that are fairly limited in what they could do. I wonder if the stoneward could stoneshape a whole city for the family in the duration of a highstorm given they would have pretty near infinite supply of stormlight once the storm is upon you. Just starting with enough shelter for the initial hit to not lose their protectee(s).

That kind of makes me wonder. When it describes feruchemists using pewter it describes them as growing larger muscles. The act of growing makes me feel like it cant be as immediate as a duralumin enhanced pewter effort. But it also makes me wonder if the time the feruchemist is growing the muscles they dont already have the strength. It seems like it is turned up instead of the instant effect. Can a feruchemist use all of the strength instantly even if their body has not fully developed into that form that allows them to use it?

What do you think about a handful of silver dust? Thrown in the face like a handful of sand? Maybe I am stretching too far on this one. I wanted to find a way to be effective without a bladed weapon but the more I think about it, some form of silver pointy thing must be the way to go.

I guess I should say that I understand that Duralumin is using all of whatever metal is being burnt and that duralumin usage is dependent on that but I had a question for everyone and figured it was a good time to use a poll. What one do you think is capable of making more impact?

@alder24 @Firesong You guys make a good point about silver and its softness. It also brings up a question I have about some stuff we saw in SA and the Unmade. When Shallan is facing the midnight mother or whatever would some silver weaponry have made that encounter trivial or does it not work that fast? I like the idea of simply putting a silver edge on the weapon, what about silver dust? Is it the Silver alone that damages the invested target or is it needed to be on a blade and to insert it? Could a club coated in some silver dust be as effective against these types of entities? If I were to carry a bottle of oil and oil my weapon then spread a coating of silver dust over the top of it would that weapon need to be bladed in order to be effective or would any silver contact start acting quickly?

I've always been a fan of The Witcher but thought that 1 awakened blade would be more than enough to carry in the cosmere. But then I was thinking about how silver is used in the cosmere. Now I am curious if you think there is anything that Silver blade would be used for in the cosmere that a shardblade like vivenna's couldnt take care of on its own? Would it be worth while for someone to carry both a shardblade and a silver weapon?

I have had similar ideas but with a pack of lifeless whitespines. A mobile group of killing machines all capable of being a launching pad for your next push or pull. I don't think lifeless chasmfiend would work as well as something smaller like whitespine. It has to do with the gemheart and if it is broken i don't know that a chasmfiend could move at all really. How would you tame one? Maybe throw a hemalurgic spike or two or three into it and dominate it with emotional allomancy. Would it have the capacity to be manipulated via F duralumin? I am sure a bondsmith could belch in its direction and tame it via connection. Other ways to use it? You could awaken a ton of ropes and attach saddle bags full of large stones or explosives and use the ropes to launch them. Mobile artillery.

The reasoning might be different but I think that the end result is similar. I think that Vivennas blade absorbing the color and maintaining its soul cutting properties while also not absorbing the investiture and life of the person holding her is strong proof that, when it comes to awakening a shardblade, Yesteels command and method outshine Shashara's original. I like hearing other ideas on what color does for it. That could line up with the idea that gems on Roshar minus their color simply wouldn't work right. Not only a lack of ability to hold light as well, but also that they would not be able to function. If the color is indeed guiding intent or something similar then I could see how the theory crosses over. WoBs state that in some cases the color of the gem is the only thing structurally that makes it different from other gems. But the two could work differently. Color guiding an intent or helping to "puppeteer" makes a lot of sense in this. Breaths are all the same and ropes are all ropes. But commands guided with color could be an explanation of how it works indeed.

I had thought about something like that. Do you think having a purpose for the fuel would matter? Maybe investiture via nicrosil compounding would be easier to convince it to feed off of? Or just any created loop with allomancy might help?

I have thought along similar lines. I think that metalminds are good examples of holding investiture really well and I believe that a large part of that is that they are metal. However I am curious why it is that both blades seem to need to feed? Maybe it is wrong to classify Vivenna's blade as feeding but it obviously is doing something more than just killing folks which is the thing I am getting caught up on. We know that Nightblood is not a perfect vessle for all of the investiture he holds. This makes me wonder if he leaked investiture when he was made or only after being used and consuming thousands more breaths in battle plus all of the souls he destroys? But it cant be argued that Nightblood is leaking investiture all of the time. If Nightblood were to be dropped into the ocean and landed hilt in the sand and blade unsheathed what would happen? Would he destroy all of the water in the ocean? Would he eventually consume the world? Or would he, after years and years have leaked out all of his investiture and return to a normal sword? Would he reach a point where he is no longer sentient or would he sit there crying out desperately for someone to use him to destroy evil for eternity? I have wondered what happens when a shardblade hits something invested. If a metalmind can block a strike or two the way plate does then how is it going to break and end? Plate leaks stormlight once cracked and then shatters. Steel doesnt really break and shatter. I always assumed that steel metalminds would have been better at blocking shardblades than plate because they would simply deform and hold their investiture still. Others speculate that the metalminds would explode and lose their investiture as well... but feruchemical storage doesnt seem to leak the same way stormlight does, and I would assume breaths would stay the same way metalminds would. So I started to agree with the conclusion that the investiture is somehow damaging the other investiture. I imagine spren being splinters allows them to constantly be fueled by Honors investiture even though everytime they are used it expends some of what they had. This would cross over to the awakened blades as well which would explain the need to feed on something in order to keep going if not the idea that they eventually would decay away. Of course this is all assuming that Vivenna's blade is infact feeding on color instead of the color draining being purely a show of it being "different". I dont know that I am convinced that Brandon would write that in for so little of a reason when we have WoBs saying that color is important for more than just awakening. I imagine there is something about color that lets it be plausible that Vivenna's blade is feeding on it the way Nightblood feeds on the user. Also- what better thing to carry a breath than a human? And the breaths in humans get less as they age. Breaths required for a heightening are a generalization as breaths from far older people or those who are sick would be dimmer than those from a child or healthy person. If breath can dim down and decay in a human that is already living and the vessel that breath was made for wouldnt it make sense that breaths shoved into a vessel not intended for them would also break down? I dont know if there is anything about unusually long lived humans turning into drabs eventually but I believe that the fact that illness makes breaths less vibrant and strong shows that even the perfect host for a breath eventually has that breath decay on them.

This is the one I have seen others quoting. Granted it is from 2007 but it makes sense that this is why the swords need to eat something at least. Not only are they so invested, vs being pure investiture, but they are going to eventually run out if they don't eat. I probably should have just combined all of my thoughts from my other post with this one but I think I try to explain it better there. Aluminum sheaths being immune to being cut are just 1 of 2 reasons why nightblood is kept in one. I think the more important note is that the breaths would eventually run out if he were not stored in aluminum.

Yes another shard post but I didn't feel this one entirely fit with the one comparing Vivennas blade to Nightblood. This post I wanted to talk more about what makes them what they are. This has one large assumption and please correct me if I am wrong on this as a lot of my thoughts may not matter much past this. Constant investiture is what separates the big boys in blade form from children that are making up plate. I assume being a splinter of a shard allows the spren who bond radiants with a sort of open connection of investiture.... or even just being created of pure investiture and thus no need to be refed with more investiture as time goes on? Blades aren't just a chunk of investiture, they are splinters capable of thought and intent and sentience. Something I don't know that lesser spren making up plate are capable of. Plate is a bit different in being made up of lesser spren. Perhaps less invested and less ability to stay manifested in the physical as well as the big brothers of the spren world who become blades? *Maybe this is beside the point, but could it be that shardplate stayed in the physical after the orders abandoned their oaths because the lesser spren weren't strong enough or capable of returning to the cognitive realm? What makes plate grow back? Is it stormlight pulling spren back from the cognitive to return to their place? Is it attracting new spren to take their place? When attempting to replicate shards I feel like understanding these things are important. We see that awakening is close! But breaths run out. Nightblood doesn't have a constant flow of investiture naturally. His is created through the command to destroy and the fact that he drains the user. Vivennas blade, I believe, is superior in that it doesn't drain from the user and instead takes its feeding from the colors of those it cuts. (This assumes that the color of the item is important in a way that would suggest it can fill in as a source of power and investiture.) Both blades are sentient and capable of having the constant flow of investiture to stay working when needed. How could one replicate shardplate though? If it doesn't need to be sentient to the point that shardblades are then I guess it might be a bit easier. But if it still requires constant investiture to function then we I think we will be scratching our heads to figure it out. Could you push a bunch of breath into it and have it work? Probably. Would it be as strong as if it were sentient? Probably not. Does that sentience matter at all if there is no way to feed it the investiture needed to stay functional? Maybe not as well. The two blades we see are able to be sheathed by aluminum! This has to be 2 fold necessary. #1 they can't cut through the aluminum so to protect the world from this incredible cutting force an aluminum sheath is important. Regular awakened sheath would be less useful as it would eventually run out of breath and then be a huge liability to the person holding it once it was weak enough to be instantly sliced through. #2 they won't decay while in aluminum similarly to hemalurgic spikes right? There is no need to feed them continuous investiture while in their aluminum sheath. How could you stop awakened armor from leaking investiture? Wrap it in aluminum? Keep it in an aluminum box while not using it? That could probably work pretty well but once it starts to get decayed how do you upkeep it? My ideas were simply reinfuse it with breaths. Maybe there is a fabrial setup that could link it to gemstones as we see with deadplate already? Perhaps a different system all together could help feed it with the needed juice to stay put together? Rub it down with liquid dor every now and then as a polish? I don't know. Genuinly hoping to hear if anyone had ideas on that. Maybe the best way to make shardplate like stuff is just just make typical armor dipped in molten aluminum and reapplying the coating when necessary?

I don't know that I would ever push the idea that Vivennas blade is stronger than Nightblood. I doubt she would try to state that either. But I do know that I would vastly prefer her blade to Nightblood. I have been thinking about some WoB that says that the breaths would eventually run dry if you just left an awakened object alone forever. They do eventually leak away. So for a weapon you would need some function to feed right? Nightblood is obvious. He feeds not only on the investiture of his wielder but also on all of those he destroys. Vivennas blade appears to consumer color instead to feed itself and keep itself working at peak. Much like regular awakening. I would like to praise Yesteel, if he is infact the one who who awakened it, for having found a superior command for making shardblades compared to Vivenna. In a nuclear war I would agree that Nightblood is likely the better choice but given the choices as I see them now... A blade that destroys everything it touches and tries to eat my soul while doing it. Or A blade that just consumes the color of the thing it cuts through and still holds that 1 shot potential. (Do we see her blade just give a deadlimb?) If I had to be equipped with one for a fight I would chose Vivennas blade in a heartbeat over Nightblood. You can fight as long as you can hold the sword with Vivennas blade. I really don't see the downside!

I've been toying with the smallest amount of powerset needed to create a one-way medallion like piece of tech. I know there is a ton of speculation here but wanted to hear other thoughts on making it possible. The idea is an outfitter for survival tech mostly. Bendalloy food and drink, brass heat, cadmium breath/o2 mostly. Truly all metals could be marketed but in interest of keeping the power levels down slightly... Anyways. We see medallions with multiple metalminds to make them work and they don't seem to me to have too much limiting them in use. Meaning I don't see a set time (maybe brass and perhaps this is the way I need to go with this). If a feruchemist blanks identity and stores into a metalmind they have one that can be tapped by anyone who has that ability right? Like Waynes large gold mind from BoM. I think it is the band of nicrosil that makes a medallion usable by anyone right? If my feruchemist were to make a medallion with a nicrosil band for use by anyone would they be completely giving up that ability to use that metal? Like storing a memory erases it entirely from your mind and keeps it in the metalmind? Or would it give a specific time of use of that power for the time that I spend storing the ability to use that power? If it is timed I think a full feruchemist could easily make many medallions. If it acts more like a memory and disappears entirely I wonder if compounding nicrosil could possibly allow one to store their ability and then burn it to gain enough to move it to another metalmind and split it somehow so that they don't run out of it? Again all purely speculative. If you can compound it and are giving the ability to use that power forever then it wouldn't be quite as marketable I don't think. How could you limit supply for that while still cranking out enough medallions to keep up with demand? Why sell infinite power for a huge payday from one or two rich people if you can sell limited batteries to everyone? It might be too costly to be worth it but could you utilize a small portion of silver within the nicrosil piece (assuming the nicrosil is infinite) to eventually destroy it? (I believe I read a WoB about silver wrecking invested stuff with time). If anyone has better ideas for selling highly limited medallions I am super interested. (Rings with 1 weeks worth of food and water or whatever.)

That sums it up well. Thanks. Yeah I guess that brings me back to the 4th heightening bonuses again.

Since I am so very torn between the inquisitor level steel sight I have to ask... Does it offer vision in only the standard field of vision? I always assumed that steel sight was 360 degrees and being a huge fan of the byakugan. If it doesn't grant the 360 view of axi then I will probably swap over to the lifesense. But I thought allomancers could pull and push on things outside of their field of view because steel sight showed them everything metal around them. I also assumed that since the inquisitors steel sight was based off of those concepts it would open up a perfect field of view around them as well in which case I have to go for the hemalurgic spike.

Definately like the perfect pitch and color recognition.

I feel it. I so badly wish I could envision a way to awaken some glass eye to give me atium sight. Even if it fed off of investiture like nightblood and had to have an aluminum patch shut over it when not using it... it would be so dope. Alas atium stays rare and it is the only reason I find myself passing on it. I do love Kelsiers description of his new sight from his spike though. I would go lifesense and the 4th heightening in a heartbeat but I fear the world's coming after me for my store of breaths. Perhaps being Returned has an advantage in that they have no store of breaths to give and maybe they wouldn't be hunted like I envision other awakeners being in the future.

Simple poll. All powers would come with the limitations set in the cosmere. Awakeners have to have the aura to use the sense. Hemalurgy requires a spiked eye. Allomancy requires the metal and rarity matters. Do you have to be Parshendi to hear the rhythms? Fortune please explain how you get it.

This is exactly why I pose the question. I have been playing with the idea of some fan fic aetherbound and how they would fit into the the world stacking systems. I know shardic magic mix and match is sort of taboo in the cosmere and most don't like it. But... aethers aren't shards and I believe they have their own rules they play by. And my head cannon seems to paint this picture that they are greedy for water and willing to trade power for it. Playing off of that and the all to obvious synergy from bendalloy compounding it made me wonder if multiple Aethers would be happy to form a bond with the same person. A compounder could potentially give them more hydration than all of their other aetherbound combined... though I recognize that it would be dangerous. The dangers of tapping too much of any metalmind at once aside, I did like the idea of the aethers looking at that specific combination of powers as almost a "chosen one" form of battery pack. In my mind the Aethers work backward from a shard almost. The users of traditional magics sort of take from the shards (though I see the infinite loop and how it is returned and recycled ultimately). Where as the Aethers are making a trade and they want the water from you even more than you really need to use them. I see aethers as being insatiable. In the case of this character, and this could be totally wrong, I almost picture the Aethers as Nightblood-ish in their desire to be used. Except they don't just want to be used to fulfill their purpose it is to gain more water specifically. Not entirely sure how Harmony would enjoy seeing his systems be abused to feed power and water to the aethers as compounding is fueled by preservation but it struck me as interesting.

I am very curious how many athers can you be bound to at once ? Could an atherbound have more than one Bud? I don't remember seeing anything indicating a limitation. We know radiants can bond multiple spren but things like scadrial are 1 or all.