Tamriel Wolfsbaine

Finding some interesting things. I thought Kel only had the steel sight but in his discussion with the agents in ch. 40 he specifically mentions his timeline being impossible even with steel pushing because metal doesn't push down into water that easily. Also found it fascinating that the chemist believes scadrial will be making aluminum cheaper than tin in just a few years. This changes a lot of the cosmere future imo. I am really looking forward to more of the book as I keep reading but this is so cool. If I recall correctly era 2 scadrial is a decade or two behind Roshar books 1-5. With the 6 year gap we could be looking at 20-30 years after the events of Roshar 5? Depending on what happens in SA 5 the possibilities are endless. I forsee the amount of anti-investiture turning the sci-fi and beyond eras into pure tech races. And they won't be able to rely on just magical tech as every step towards more tech comes out to be a step further away from investiture I feel.

Now I need to branch out and ask another question regarding the mixing of Nalthis and the Aetherbound abilities. It appears that Twinsoul was capable of choosing to make parts of his map different shades of red. All the way to nearly translucent. Can an Aetherbound awakener use breath to reduce risk of dying via dehydration... as well as use their aethers as a color source for awakening? I am pretty sure this would be a net loss of investiture to make the hack possible. I don't believe there is such thing as perpetual investiture. This would, however, allow someone with certain aetherbound abilities to not need to hide any color with them. Imagine if Vasher had been Aetherbound to an aether that allows for creating something colored as well as having a few breaths. This would make certain colorless prisons pointless but it seems like a fun interaction.

How long do you think a single breath would last for it? A single breath feeds divine breath for a week. Would a returned just drain their divine breath at a rate equal to what a single normal breath would normally last them? 1 breath = a week of water would still be pretty strong. Not saying that is how it would work as this is all 100% speculation of course.

I know that the returned can't get drunk but they do still drink sometimes. My question is this. Do people of 5th heightening levels of investiture need to eat or drink to stay alive or do they do it for the social aspects? They can't get sick or drunk... can they get dehydrated? I am sure most can see where this is going. Would being the 5th heightening allow someone aetherbound or a sandmaster to work more than a normal being? If so how much more? If there is no danger of becoming dehydrated then is 5th heightening better than bendalloy compounding for things that are driven on hydration?

I appreciate all of these responses! There is a ton to play around with here and some great ideas I hadn't thought about.

The cosmere has limited flight in nearly all of the systems to some extent. But what about those who can't fly? One of the most memorable scenes from any movie for me was from the movie "The Covenant". The scene has the main cast standing at the edge of a cliff and then they all step off only to land in sweet poses before walking away unscathed. In the spirit of having a cool cinematic scene in some table top games, I have often thought that a standard piece of gear for any adventurer once medallion tech is everywhere would have to be an iron medallion. Even if I am not gifted the ability to fly or shove on metal at least if an assassin in white were to toss me into the air my chances at survival would be far higher with some F iron on me. But what about other methods? Awakened leggings? Is this pants that just absorb most of the shock from a fall? Would they have to be large wraps that reach out like springs and almost act as an egg drop device for a squishy human body? What about for a kandra... sure human bones would likely shatter. But what metals might you get away with using to not be too mangled after falling off the empire state building? Any other options people have in mind I may be missing?

For the most dumb of reasons. A kandra who embraces copper... fully. Blessing of presence which is copper. Then they obtain the ability to compound it as well. Super brains and perfect memories. Why stop there? Make a true body that is entirely copper and fill it to the brim with storage to make a nice anti investiture being. The bones could block shardblades due to densely packed metalminds as well as being a coppercloud being able to do funny things to others who would want to attack the kandra with investiture. Copper weighs a lot. Without hurting their own mobility I imagine some materials for truebodies would need to lightened up. There are other options to give similar effects and they would honestly take a lot less time and effort but your kandra wouldn't be fully on the copper theme anymore. A kandra with no access to lerasium or other spikes could still gain access to feruchemical metals that we have seen as medallions. I figure a world hopping kandra would gain a ton of benefit from medallions with iron, copper, brass, duralumin and any other power possible. I imagine a kandra really wouldn't have to worry about the >3 powers at once thing as they could internally store the medallions and switch a connection to them back and forth at will. A skeleton of mostly aluminum would grant the anti investiture bit and block the shardblades. And if aluminum happens to have a small aoe to it the aluminum could protect the other metals. I won't lie so much of this thought process came from me seeing cumai blades and the fact that they can make copper damascus. I am sure that with the same techniques they could potentially make a truebody where every bone is made of some sweet damascus pattern filled with relevant metals to the medallions said kandra has obtained while the bulk of the material is aluminum. No matter what metals are used. Metal truebodies would be heavy heavy. Given iron is a common one in the medallion world it would only be a large benefit if a kandra could store the weight of their truebody. Perhaps that would be easier if their body was all metalminds with their own identity present. But we see aluminum doing weird things to all investiture and perhaps it wouldn't be able to be stored anyways. I am skeptical on this idea. Just as I am skeptical about the gold being able to heal bones. Would Feruchemical gold repair bent and broken metal bones? Would it piece back together shattered crystal bones? Or is that a hack for only actual bone? Can a kandra cause old bones to once again function and start reproducing blood cells?

I read some thoughts on Kandra and healing with Feruchemical gold. I was under the impression that bones weren't a part of the kandra and they couldn't use it. If they can forge some sort of strong identity or connection to a set of bones enough to use Feruchemical gold what is stopping a Kandra from using the same strong identity or connection to a true body and using something like Feruchemical iron to allow them to carry around a ludicrously heavy set of truebody bones?

I believe there are. They have been driven to the far sides of the roughs. Still a spooky story to tell the kids at night but the population is growing and people are expanding outwards.

In terms of spikes and holes in the spirit web. We know that the Nehel bond sort of uses those as a way to hold on and patches them up.

My #1 must pick for a kandra in the MAG is the chimera stunt and stealing a dog's sense of smell. All sensory upgrades are so huge. It plays a large role in why I like Nalthis and Scadrial so much. The benefits from the heightenings and the bonuses from all of the metallic arts sensory options are just epic. Being able to stack those into a kandra and add on the ability to process it all with other animals sensory additions is bananas.

I think it would do something. I don't know that I would volunteer to be tested on for that one personally, however if it does work I think it would allow some power spike without the moral issues of killing a human. How would a mistwraith react to being spiked? Would it kill it or would it walk around missing a part of itself forever after that? More like ripping a worm in half or taking off a lizards tail and it will grow back? Knowing that kandra can piece together parts of different bodies is awesome and I would totally get in line to be able to have the sense of smell of a dog... or those dope little hairs that let spiders feel movement in the air and react in real time... or be able to see all of the colors that a mantis shrimp sees. So many possibilities and things I would be trying to steal and use. What if you had all of these sensory organs and ended up with A tin somehow? The world would be so so much different.

I was just wondering a bit about that myself. Do you think that the investiture amount in a spike has any effect on the size of the hole it is making in the spiritweb? Do you think a spike packed with breaths would be so invested as to help counteract the vulnerability to allomantic pushes or shardic control? I do think you could get some supercharged spikes out of mixing the systems. How supercharged I don't know. I am not sure how I would house rules that for a MAG champaign or anything. Maybe just double the bonuses from the spikes. This takes me to another question though. On the coppermind it says that the blessing of presence makes it harder for shardic control. However it tips the hat to the blessing of stability for increased resilence to emotional magic control. I always pictured those being the same things but perhaps there is something different about the two or perhaps the two blessings both work to resist things in different ways?

I love all things Kandra headcannoned. It makes sense that the idea of breaths being used to create a Kandra leaves some room for want. I wonder if an awakener could cram more breaths into a Kandra blessing and draw more power from what the blessing was meant to do? Enhance or augment it in a way? Intent is vital for just about everything in the cosmere. I figure even when Vin was growing she could have felt other sources of "luck" but without it being a substantial amount of a metal she wouldn't have noticed a huge difference. I also don't think that it is a bad idea to add a verbal component to any spike. We know that 10th heightening can technically awaken with non verbal commands so long as the mental visualization is on point... but it doesn't clarify how complex those commands can be. I can totally see a world where more complex spike making would need a verbal component to it as well as some intent. I would love to headcannon someone packing a spike with more and more investiture via awakening it further to simply do what it is supposed to do better. Edit: @Trusk'our I found the word "donor" to be an interesting one. We don't know much. But could it be possible that what gives sapience and sentience to the kandra is that the donors were willing? That the donors were offered something in return? Perhaps that their minds could live on in the form of a kandra? Loyalists to TLR who he trusted? Their minds pseudo uploaded into a spike and then when placed in a mistwraith they have no memories of what or who they were but the abilities they once carried get to live on and serve for generations to come? Perhaps the first generation of kandra even wore their own spikes after their bodies were changed to mistwraiths? This is probably super far off but it was a thought that popped into my mind.

No stealing? Is the spike charged with anything? Just a steel spike used on a random person? I know the answer is that we don't know. I just like speculation. As far as the chromium and fortune you totally inspired me to make a home brew for a chromium blessing for Kandra.

So a steel spike can steel just the steelsight without the need to burn steel. That is fascinating. I have wondered about awakening a lot and how so much of what we see awakened seems to be based on what the scholars saw off planet in attempts to duplicate other systems. I wonder if you had given a scholar bead of atium and allowed them to see that. If it would have given them enough idea for a picture in their mind to awaken a glass eye or something that granted atium vision. Now I wonder if there is a hemalurgic bind point that can steel and grant future sight like atium. Or if it would be more of a spiritual sight like the way everything has an atium shadow but not everything moves. The possibilities only get bigger and better.

In the hemalurgic table it doesn't say any for Lerasium. It states ALL. Any is a thing for atium specifically. I believe it would grant all known blessings and then some. I am certainly interested in what a pewter blessing might look like. Pewter steals physical feruchemy. Is it possible ReLuur had metalminds in his truebody hidden and his blessing is composed of multiple feruchemical abilities? That said I feel like steel sight is granted specifically. Does Kelsier retain steel allomancy or just the vision of the gods with that sike?

@Quantus @Trusk'our @alder24 Thanks for the replies. So more spikes = more control no matter what though blessing of presence seems to somewhat balance it when using 2 sets. For shardic control I am curious. Is it only ruin and now harmony that can get in that easily due to it being their system? How many spikes do you think would be needed before some other random shards could control the kandra? Would more spikes make you more susceptible to all control and allomantic manipulation or just open you up to the gods? I am a huge blessing of presence nerd due to the whole "harder to control thing". I have some serious issues with the idea that agency can be yoinked away from anyone at any time. But I LOVE kandra. What are your thoughts on a kandra made with blessing spikes of Lerasium? This would offer just 2 spikes like normal as well as the benefits of all of the blessings. Probably a colossal waste of Lerasium but in terms of building some mega kandra that isn't 100% open to shardic control it might be helpful.

How many blessings do you think a kandra could sustain without a linchpin? We know Tensoon has 2 but I don't think we have seen more than that. Are blessings treated differently from normal spikes for shardic control and allomantic control? Do you think a kandra could physically hold all 8 spikes required to make the 4 blessings we know about? Or do you think 2 is a max? Tensoon didn't seem to see any downside to using a second blessing and described himself as being the most powerful kandra once he got just a second blessing. Do you think tensoon having a second blessing made him more susceptible to hemalurgic control than he would have been with just 1 blessing whether it be shardic control or allomantic?

The tech will make up a huge difference in the future of the cosmere. Medallion tech will allow for trade of highly invested unsealed metalminds and those with the money will be trading investiture left and right. Granted no shards smite everyone as they attempt this. I can totally see someone with a heightening or two being willing to part way with some breaths for a single metalmind of health like the one Wayne got in BoM. I can also see people willing to trade unsealed metalminds for cloaks that catch arrows out of the sky. The industrialization of the cosmere is going to be bonkers.

I feel like some bonds are worse than others. On a scale of "I will directly control every move you make because you have spikes" to "sure take your earing out when you don't want to talk to me and I will just stalk you with my servants who will". That said I am a fan of warlocks being bound to their patrons in D&D anyways and a midnight aether patron seems awesome.

So the primal Aether and those moons are separate? I think I am getting the picture. Get to a place to be chosen to be aetherbound. If that happens then you are capable of doing everything that can be done with spores and possibly more. You can do it anywhere in the cosmere so long as you have the water to do it. But you have a being who thinks they are akin to the gods in your mind always now and you serve them?

I like the thought that a time bubble working in your favor allows the other to work against it. They are opposites. If the bendalloy bubble made you lose water faster then the cadmium bubble could allow an ultimate puppeteer to create and control an entire fighting force from the safety of a cadmium bubble. That possibility makes me think the water must get used up at real time for the aether you are bound to. Otherwise we could have some midnight aetherbound pop up a cadmium bubble to min max their armies effectiveness. Anyways beyond the speed bubble speculation. When you say yes but not from the aether on lumar. Can you help me understand? Are all aethers from there or do they simply have much influence there? Would midnight essence monsters and creations look different and act different on another planet do you think?

This might be a dumb question. The difference between an aetherbound and what is seen in ToES is that spores are needed when you aren't an aetherbound correct? If someone was bound to the aether for midnight essence could they create their own off world without spores? I assume the speed of creation would be limited by water consumption. For someone with bendalloy do you think they would be able to control their creations from inside a bubble or would it consume water at their normal speed and the creations would be moving to slowly to be of any use?

Do you think midnight essence could be used to coat the user like a thick armor or does it need to take the form of something living so the best armor for it would just be creating a bunch of bouncer level guards? Are there weapons that could be formed with it or just summons that can attack and become the weapons for you? I assume size matters for the hydration rate. Would a midnight essence chasmfiend be too outrageous for someone with access to weeks or months worth of water do you think? I know it is all total speculation at this point but I am curious of others thoughts.