Musicspren

Haha! Thanks; I had not expected my-ahem-Ruin's edits become even sort of official on the wiki.

I think this is what happened to the Terris Prophecies...

Death by being thanked.

During Elantris's Aon Tournament, Hoid Beats Yesteel, Allomantically Creating Roshar's Own Non-toxic Youth Metalmind Shardplate.

Thank ye matey. I'll remember ye if any hemalarrrgic spikes comes me way; we could use an Inquisitarrrr on board.

Ahoy, me mateys, Darniil, Joe, and Zas. A good showing we have here aboard our ship the 17th Sharrrrd! Methinks erryone here should buckle their swash like yer matey Zas an' get ready to attack. Yaharr!

Lord Rularrrr, it be that time o' year again, International Talk Like a Pirate Day. Wikipedia says so, and they never be wrong. 'Tis a day to replace random verbs with "be" and add copious repetitions of the letter "r". To put us in tha spirit, here be a handful (or perhaps a hookful) of yer favorite quotes, as they'd've been said had the charactarrrs been pirates: Kelsierrr: There be always another secret. Lightsong: I be developin' a new ability: Irritation by Proxy! Yaharr! Wayne: It be lucky. I ain’t never died while wearin' me lucky hat! Gaz (anything he ever said): Arrrr! An International Talk Like a Pirate Day Ketek: Yarr! Yaharr! Arrr! Yaharr! Yarr! Post yer own favorite pirate quotes from Sandarrrson's books!

Wvzgs yb xrksvi.

I see two potential issues (although it may be that I just became lost in all the calculations). One, are you counting the difference between your acceleration of the cannonballs and that of gravity? Gravity doesn't just pull you down (which you have clearly accounted for), it also pulls the cannonballs down, so you have to push them down more quickly than gravity, and you are only going to gain velocity past that point. Perhaps you did that and I just couldn't tell in the calculations. For the second issue, I will take as given that physical strength remains constant (I'm not convinced, but for the sake of this example, I won't argue about it). However, that means that lifting your arms when your total mass is 300kg will be difficult to do and, beyond that, do very quickly, because your arms will weigh several kilograms each (and you'll still be lifting the normal weight cannonballs). The second issue can be circumvented with a pewter misting/iron ferring twinborn, and I'm not certain how much the first would affect the final result (or if it is even an issue; you may have addressed it and I just couldn't tell by your formulae). Despite those potential issues, that was impressively well thought-out.

01000100 01100101 01100001 01110100 01101000 00100000 01100010 01111001 00100000 01100010 01101001 01101110 01100001 01110010 01111001 00101110

I think that this is an example of your thought experiment (but less extreme, and only one half of it), and that he tapped the ironmind in the middle of the swing, but it could have been at the start too. This does sound like it. It could be explained with conservation of momentum also, but it can be taken to much more of an extreme with conservation of velocity. This seems very reasonable if we assume conservation of velocity. It could be modified to work, albeit much less efficiently, with conservation of momentum. Also reasonable, although Wax may get a bit too tired before the car can build up enough momentum. I don't think this one works. If we assume physical strength is constant and velocity is conserved (as you do), he could simply jump while at low weight and be propelled high into the air. If we assume momentum is conserved and physical strength is proportional to mass (as I do), he could jump while tapping his ironminds, then immediately start filling ironminds, and fly off. Either way, he can fly without cannonballs. One thing neither of us has considered is the possibility that there is a delay in changing the extent of tapping or storing. That is, maybe he can't immediately go to being near-weightless or a hundred times his weight; even a few seconds of delay could make many of these cases impractical. It also means that the explosion into a feruchemist mist might not occur with conservation of momentum, because the change in mass wouldn't be instantaneous.

I like your most recent discussion of velocity vs. momentum, but I have a thought experiment to counter yours. Suppose you're fighting something (let's call it the RAFO Monster), and you want to punch it. If storing iron does not affect physical strength, you could begin by storing mass and punching more quickly than usual. Whether or not that works, right before impact, you could tap your ironmind and increase your mass a great deal. If the velocity of your punch is constant and your fist alone suddenly has a mass of several kgs (not to mention the rest of your mass behind it), the amount of force will be extraordinary and the RAFO Monster will, to paraphrase how you so eloquently put it, "explode into a mist, scattered over the next few kilometres." The increase in energy alone does not bother me; storing and tapping brass (warmth) clearly represents a change in the amount of energy; it comes out balanced in the long run, but in the short run, when you only see the storing or tapping, energy is lost or gained. But that ability to super-punch (or kick, or whatever) gives an extremely powerful ability to Wax. Perhaps the moral of all this is that when you use feruchemical iron, someone or something ends up exploding into a mist, scattered across the next few kilometers.

No, death by not making sense.

Good points; you've come close to convincing on that. One more objection ("There's always another..."): I don't know how much mass Wax's arms normally have. Suppose they are three kgs each (that's probably conservative). Now he multiplies his mass by a hundred. His arms are thus three hundred kgs. Each. Raising three hundred kgs of arm plus a gun "high over his head" with each arm is not going to be possible without adding to his physical strength at least somewhat. He would still feel heavy; just because he has enough strength to overcome it doesn't preclude him feeling the added weight. However, to back up your point: WoA Ch. 58: I have as hard a time reconciling this quote with my argument as I have reconciling the previous quote with yours.

Wasing the dying, sensing the make without.

I partially agree, darniil. AoL Ch. 6 Pewter would increase your strength without increasing your weight, allowing you to move better. Allomantic pewter, which works similarly to tapping feruchemical pewter, allows Vin and Kelsier to run much more quickly than normal people could, because they are stronger while their bodies are no more difficult to move. Tapping iron would not allow you to run any faster, because your increase in strength is only enough to compensate for the greater mass. But in the incident with the gate, compare a person running into you at 3 m/s and a chasmfiend running into you at 3 m/s. Both are traveling at the same velocity, but it's probably going to be worse for you when the chasmfiend hits you. When Sazed is pushing to close the gate, he is like the chasmfiend (okay, probably not that massive, but you get the idea) traveling at 3 m/s; no faster, but far more forceful because of his increased mass and strength to compensate.

With all those quotes, I'm convinced on the mass vs. weight issue. In response to Zas's quote, I believe the latter part explains itself with regards to velocity vs. momentum: It would be like turning him into a human-sized balloon filled with normal air. Such a balloon will fall, because it is denser than air, but it will do so slowly, because the difference in density will have a hard time overcoming the air resistance. He essentially makes his terminal velocity very low, and so, even though he was traveling more quickly before, he adjusts to terminal velocity for his new density. Unless he was swinging the hammer very oddly, the effect of added weight would only be to add the weight of his arms to the blow, added mass would allow a more efficient swing (with no need to brace against its momentum) in addition to both weight and momentum of his arms. I don't think it would be worthwhile for just weight. Remember, as we have seen with Wax, it also adds to your strength. Even if he did conserve momentum, temporarily slowing him, gravity's (constant) acceleration multiplied by his increased mass means he would hit with more force, and his increased strength (due to the increased density) would compensate for any initial slowing. This seems to suggest that he was using the increased mass for momentum in addition to grip. He then continued to use the increased mass for grip to finish pushing it closed and keep it there. Again, increased strength to physically push against the ground and into the door, and, if he's leaning against it, the increased force from gravity*mass will mean he is pulled down and, because he is leaning toward the door, sideways at the same speed, but with more force on the door. Unless he started filling it at exactly the peak of his jump, he would shoot to the ground if momentum was conserved, so this suggests that it is velocity. Terminal velocity could explain the slowing (even if momentum initially hastened his fall), and he may have pushed on a window latch below him, compensating for his temporary increase in velocity. Zas, this is completely unrelated, but shouldn't your title be Quoter Extraordinaire, with the extra "a"?

Interesting thoughts. I completely agree on the mass, and it makes sense that everything increases or decreases in mass together (or, as darniil put it, density). This is a critical difference between it and pewter; storing pewter only makes you weaker, so your body has more difficulty with vital functions (your heart doesn't pump as strongly, your diaphragm struggles, etc.). Storing iron, on the other hand, makes your blood lighter as well, so although your heart is weaker, it is pushing less massive blood (and your diaphragm is pushing/pulling on less massive lungs). However, somewhat because I agree on mass, I disagree on the velocity/momentum issue. Velocity is distance/time. That doesn't include mass. I believe it must be momentum that is conserved. I suspect the reason Wax doesn't shoot off wildly is that he's had a lot of practice. My guess is that, with proper timing, you could tap iron, increasing your mass and strength, then jump, then start storing iron immediately, and go flying. But in doing that, you're not going to have much control over your trajectory. In Wax's case, he can use allomantic steel to achieve about the same effect. However, if he is ever deprived of his steel (a leecher attacks, or he is held captive), we might see such a trick.

Way of Kings discussed below (possible spoilers): I suspect Breath may be rather like spren on Roshar. Spren are like the Breaths of non-human physical and cognitive things (I know painspren are attracted to/are caused by human pain, but their direct connection is to the pain, not the human; for all we know, painspren might come to chulls or other animals with sufficient cognitive presence). On Roshar, everything physical or cognitive thing has a type of spren, sometimes visible, which is aligned to it, innately drawn to it. On Nalthis, suppose we call Breaths Sentiencespren (I wanted Lifespren, but that's already been used). They "stick" best to matter that was once alive (and would have had a greater cognitive aspect than inorganic matter), particularly if it resembles a human (which would have the greatest cognitive aspect), just as painspren "stick to" pain, and flamespren "stick to" fire. Because lifeless are so similar to living humans, the Sentiencespren (Breath), once attached, becomes so "stuck" that it cannot be removed (to our knowledge). Think of the exchange among Kaladin, Tien, and their mother, in which Tien asks if he has a spren, and she says that he has a soul instead. (I can't find the exact quote, because I don't have my copy and Look Inside is inhibiting my searching of the Cosmere). Now suppose he does have a spren, a Sentiencespren, but it is so closely attached to him as to be inseparable. Something about the nature of Nalthis (presumably in people's spiritual DNA) allows humans' spren to have a visible effect (the enhancement of colors) and allows for commands which separate the spren for the human, but no other sorts of spren are visible. On Roshar, human commands phrases do not work, so Sentiencespren cannot be removed from humans, but the spren of non-humans are visible and, given what hints we have of fabrials' workings, can be isolated from what they were originally drawn to. Concerning Syl's comment about all spren being basically the same, I believe that could also be said of Breath, except for the Returned Breath. We never get the feeling that certain people's Breaths are notably different than anyone else's, excepting Returned. All that to say, I agree that everyone has a Breath and everything has a spren, but the nature of certain planets/shards determines whether they are perceptible to other people.

Death by keteks, inspired words, symmetrical words, inspiring keteks, by death. (or, if you prefer the symmetrical, rather than grammatical, divisions, Death by keteks/inspired words/symmetrical/words inspiring/keteks by death)

Let it be witnessed by any obligators here that, in response to darniil's comment here, any hemalurgic spikes I win in a prize shall be transferred to darniil. This does not include the rest of any prize containing hemalurgic spikes, just the spikes themselves. In fact, it might be advisable to deliver spikes directly to darniil, so they don't lose any of their hemalurgic freshness. Unless you can now pasteurize hemalurgic spikes.

Death by RAFOs. (It's probably Hoid's fault)

I thought for a while about this, and I've decided I think it may be highly accurate. It kept bothering me that people seemed so willing to work in Elantris when they had a system nearer to socialism than capitalism. No, they almost certainly weren't doing things in the most efficient possible way (an effect of their flawed economic system), but there were doing things. Even though they would appear to have been compensated relatively little for what they did (or the quality with which the did it), they worked anyway, and did well. And therein lies the "Devotion". They were dedicated enough to their trade that just doing it was enough reward. Were New Elantris populated with "normal" people, who weren't so devoted, it would have collapsed, Raoden's charisma notwithstanding. Although Shaor is somewhat problematic for this thought, she may have just been particularly devoted to being served (and had gathered some devoted followers). In other words, this might explain the choice of people (apart from geographic location) and why their society worked at all.

I am very interested in any prize given away. Even any secret ones. Presuming those aren't, say, hemalurgic spikes or something. I wouldn't be interested in those.

I suspect that all the Enhancement metals are inert (chromium, nicrosil, aluminum, duralumin). Why do we only know about Aluminum (and, as Alliare mentions, no one mentions duralumin)? Duralumin is effectively useless at the moment until Ferrings figure out how to use it. The mistings will be gnats; it will be a useless power to them. Aluminum is rare (and expensive) enough that people won't be testing it a lot (such as making alloys). However, if certain alloys are not as expensive to make (because they use less aluminum) and remain allomantically inert, they might become prevalent. For all we know, the "aluminum" guns and bullets might actually be duralumin guns and bullets, but when you're being shot at, your main concern is not the exact metal content of the weapons and projectiles. To our knowledge, the people on the main continent don't know about chromium and nicrosil, hence they couldn't know if they are allomantically inert. I suspect that the people on the southern continent (if anything about them in the broadsheet can be believed at all) know of chromium and nicrosil, although it's possible (albeit improbable) that they have atium or lerasium (or alloys of those).