Steel Speedster

It seems I wasn’t clear about how I envisioned option 1 working, so I apologize for that. I made an edit to clarify. A concise way to summarize what each of the options are is: 1 has only a donor and no recipient, 2 has a donor and recipient, like normal Hemalurgy, and 3 has only a recipient. This is actually more like option 3, which I agree is far from useless. The fact that it behaves very little like normal Hemalurgy (since it uses uncharged spikes) does give me pause on this being the correct answer.

I may not have explained possibility #1 well enough, my bad. What I was trying to say is that instead of stealing a power from the donor, it just destroys all their abilities instead. Normally, a person dies when you spike them, in which case the aluminum spike isn’t going to do anything special—they’re dead and you get no charged spikes out of it. If you do it non-lethally, they survive, but lose all their powers permanently. In either case, nothing happens to the aluminum spike, and it should be reusable. If your goal us to remove someone’s powers but not kill them, then you could just use multiple spikes instead to get charged spikes out of the process as well, making the aluminum route a complete waste (although it could be more humane.) So, for a prison scenario, you could non-lethally spike them, destroying their powers, but they would be permanently lost, and the prisoners would each be left with a soul wound. What you’re describing sounds more like option 3, where aluminum removes powers from the recipient.

According to the Hemalurgy chart, an aluminum spike “removes all powers.” I see three possibilities for what that could mean. 1. An aluminum spike removes all powers from the victim[donor], but does not become charged. This fits with aluminum generally resisting Investiture, but it seems basically useless. Technically, you can spike someone without killing them, but if you’re going to bother doing that, why not spike out each power individually instead of destroying them all? If you do kill them, they’re dead, so they won’t be using those powers anyway. (Edit: to clarify, in this case, the only effect of aluminum Hemalurgy is to remove powers from the donor (i.e. the person that has a spike shoved through their heart, generally killing them.) The spike has no effect if you give it to someone else.) 2. After being stabbed through someone, an aluminum spike somehow becomes charged in such a way that putting it in someone else removes their powers (either temporarily or permanently.) This raises the obvious question, what is the spike being charged with? Also, aluminum doesn’t seem like it should be able to be charged at all (although aluminum Feruchemy raises the same question.) 3. Without being stabbed through someone or charged in any way, aluminum removes powers from anyone stabbed with it. This seems unlikely, because it’s then barely acting like a Hemalurgic spike at all. Furthermore, we know that a Thug or Bloodmaker can’t heal a wound around aluminum, but that implies that they still can heal in general, so their powers aren’t being removed. I’m honestly leaning towards option 1. It fits best with what we know about aluminum. Also, consider that the Hemalurgy chart describes what the spikes do to the donor, not the recipient (eg. “Steals strength.”) So if aluminum follows the same pattern, then it should remove powers from the donor. This would make it effectively useless. Hopefully this isn’t the answer, but I’m thinking it is.

I interpret that as him just using the Surge of Gravitation as an example of what he's talking about. Right before that he says that the Surges are filtered through the lens of Honor and Cultivation. Also, regarding your point about the honorblades being made of pure Honor, one could argue that the Spren themselves, who are a mix of Honor and Cultivation's Investiture, should be Surgebinding's analogue to the Lerasium beads. Perhaps the Heralds, when using the Honorblades were using a magic system that was only of Honor, but let's not forget that Odium has his own form of Surgebinding as well that looks completely different from what the Knights Radiant use. I honestly have no idea where that fits in with everything else. But like I said before, I'm not sure we can make any definitive claims. Given the WoBs that we have, however, I currently fall on the Honor and Cultivation side of the argument.

I didn’t think about this for too long, but just off the top of my head, what strikes me is that your character’s main motivation (at least, according to my recollection) is to find a way home and back to his wife, which, since it would mean walking out of the story, isn’t something he’s going to be able to do. Try thinking about what he would want to do if he can’t leave. In fact, resigning himself to the fact that he is stuck there, could be the next stage of character development. I’m going to take a look back at Eighth’s sheet. I’ll edit this post if I think of anything else. Edit: Okay, so this is what you have as his short and long term motivations: So, like I said, his long term motivation isn’t something he can act on—he has no idea how he could accomplish it, so it isn’t going to motivate him to do anything. The short term motivation is a bit vague, and more of a way to live than a goal to pursue. So, my suggestion would just be to find a motivation that he can actively pursue, preferably something that is already built into his character. It may not be something you’ve thought about him before, but there’s almost certainly something you can use. Your question was about character arc, which I didn’t really talk about, but I think finding a new motivation might fix that problem—a character’s goal is integral to their character development. Anyways, hopefully what I said makes sense and is helpful!

Ok, interesting. I didn’t think I was saying anything controversial by stating that Surgebinding is of Cultivation. Those are good points, but, as Alder points out, it seems to be pretty definitive that Surgebinding is in fact of Honor and Cultivation. We really don’t have many tools for matching magic systems to Shards. Allomancy is clearly of Preservation, since it draws Investiture from Preservation. But Feruchemy and Hemalurgy don’t draw Investiture from any Shard—the first draws it from the user, and the second from another person. I don’t think we can definitely match Shards and magic systems, unless Brandon tells us (or in situations where it’s obvious, like Allomancy and Awakening.)

So, it sounds like there’s a very low chance of ever adding districts for other planets, since getting things like Shades or an aether sea would be a lot more convoluted and bizarre than simply splitting an existing area off! (And honestly, those areas would probably not be used very often anyways, since most people seem to play as Metalborn or Radiants.) Cool! I think I’ll definitely have some ideas for the next era. I’m having fun in this era with Fenna, but it is a challenge to fit her into what’s happening since I just hopped in at the end. It’ll be nice to start the next era with characters that (hopefully) fit into the plot better. (I’ve actually been tinkering with a character that I think would be a pretty cool villain at some point. But maybe more like an era 9 or era 10 villain than an era 8 one.)

Okay, thanks! Good to know.

@Koloss17 I have a worldbuilding question. Basically, I was wondering if new districts are ever added to Alleycity. Obviously, there are districts for all of the major Cosmere planets (and even some of those don't seem to be used very often, like Sel and Taldain), but I was wondering if there is or ever would be representation for some of the other planets like Threnody, First of the Sun, Lumar, or Komashi. (Threnody and First of the Sun are kind of uncivilized, but I could see there being places outside the city with features from those.) Is it a case where we would just add them if we needed them? This isn't relevant to anything that I want to do right now or anything. Mostly I'm wondering for my own curiosity, and in case I ever wanted to make a character from one of those worlds, (which I don't currently have any plans to do--I haven't even read Tress or Yumi, so my knowledge of those planets is incomplete.)

It's possible that this is actually common knowledge, but I only just thought of it recently, so forgive me if I'm stating the obvious. For all Invested Arts, the way you access the Investiture is related to the Shard that it is connected to. On Scadrial for example, the use of Allomancy preserves your own strength by giving you power directly from Preservation, and the mechanic of Snapping could be thought of as a form of self-preservation. We also have Hemalurgy where you are required to destroy another person in order to get power. On Nalthis, it all works on principles of giving, which matches the Intent of Endowment. On Roshar, Surgebinding is connected to both Honor and Cultivation. The Oaths system is clearly related to Honor, but what about Cultivation? We see that the Oaths actually inspire character growth. In order to access more power, you have to improve and become better (with each stage marked by a new Oath, relating back to Honor.) Just a little something I noticed. I thought it was neat how interconnected the two aspects of Surgebinding were. Sorry again if this has already been pointed out.

Fenna, Smokestqck Constabulary Fenna leapt forward, storing weight to maximize her speed. She slowly increased her weight working harder to maintain her speed as she grew heavier. She sped towards the creature, preparing to strike. At the last moment, the monster dodged aside grabbing her arm with a clawed hand, cutting a gash, and swung onto her back. Fenna felt its breath on her neck as it tried to bite her, and she slammed backwards into a wall. The fiend screeched as bones cracked, and it clawed at her shoulders. Fenna leveraged herself away from the wall, increased her weight and smashed herself into the wall again. The monster somehow slipped out from behind her at the last second, and the wall gave beneath Fenna’s weight. She stumbled backwards, losing her balance and falling into the adjacent room in a pike of rubble. @Scars of Hathsin

Fenna, Smokestack Constabulary Fenna scowled at him. “Would’ve been better if you led with that, Radiant. I’m just here to help.” And snag some pewter, she added to herself. Fenna turned to see the creature stalking down the hallway. “Harmony!” she swore. “What is that?” The monster burst into motion, rushing towards them. It was quick. Rusts, rusts, rusts! What have I gotten into? @Scars of Hathsin

Fenna, Smokestack Constabulary It was one of those rusting Radiants. Fenna had seen them occasionally, but never had to deal with one in a fight before. The Radiant grabbed her by the throat, but pewter prevented him from constricting windpipe. “What are you doing here?” he hissed in her ear. ”What’s a Radiant doing in a Scadrian district police station?” Fenna countered. “I’ve as much business here as you.” The Radiant’s weighed against her as though he was pulled that way by gravity. Only her weight kept him in place. So Fenna stored weight. The Radiant’s weight now sent them both falling down the hallway. Fenna quickly tapped weight again, jerking herself free of his grip and falling to the real floor. Her weapon—a simple wooden stick—was knocked from her grasp as she landed in a roll and skidded to a stop. Fenna scrambled to her feet, turning to face her opponent again. @Scars of Hathsin

Fenna, Smokestack Constabulary As she crept soundlessly forward, Fenna heard the sounds of a scuffle. She paused, trying to tell where it was coming from. I don’t like this. I should’ve run into some one by— A flash of blue light caught her attention from the corner of her eye. Fenna whipped around, tapping weight and flaring pewter as something slammed into her, knocking the wind from her lungs. @Scars of Hathsin @Lunamor @Longshot97

Fenna, Smokestack Constabulary Fenna crashed into the ground with a sudden lurch, spraying debris in all directions and creating web-like cracks in the floor. She released her ironmind and briefly extinguished her pewter. Sharp aching flooded into her legs. Without pewter, the pain felt worse than it really was. By flaring her metal, she had protected herself from most of the damage—she would only have sone bruises, and maybe a minor cut or two. Fenna started burning pewter again, completely deadening the pain, and picked her way out of the pile of rubble she had created. It was quiet. Suspiciously quiet. Fenna pulled out her weapon and stored weight, making her lighter on her feet. She crept forward down the hall. What am I doing here? I’m such a rusting idiot. @Lunamor @Longshot97 @Stormlightsong @Scars of Hathsin

So, we all know that burning electrum makes one immune to atium. What I'm wondering is do they cancel each other out, or does electrum continue to work properly? Currently, I think that electrum is not affected, or at least, not neutralized. Let's walk through an example and see what happens. We have an electrum burner and an atium burner, which we'll call the Oracle and the Seer, respectively (even though those are actually the same thing.) They are evenly matched, the only differences being the metal they are burning, and that each is proficient in that metal. The Oracle sees their own future, including any attack that the atium burner tries to hit them with. This allows them to change the future, compounding the number of future shadows. This gives electrum its ability to block atium. The Seer now sees a cloud of shadows around the Oracle. They can try attacking these shadows, but it's most likely not going to work, because the Oracle sees the same shadows and can avoid the attack. Where the Oracle has the advantage is that electrum will let you see the outcome of any attack that the Seer makes (whether you avoid it or get hit), but atium cannot see the outcome (atium doesn't seem take into account the effects of what the atium burner will do. It just shows other peoples' futures disregarding that you could change them.) What it comes down to is this: all that the Seer can do is try randomly attacking at shadows, whereas the Oracle only has to find one future in which they avoid the next hit and follow that shadow. Thus, in an atium vs. electrum fight, electrum has the advantage. The caveat to this is that atium probably still multiplies the number of shadows the Oracle sees, which makes it harder to process, possibly to the point where it's easier for both fighters to just ignore all the future shadows, thus effectively nullifying both. So, in answer to my own question, does atium interfere with electrum? Yes, it does probably interfere, but it does not completely neutralize it--the electrum will still work, whereas atium becomes essentially useless. Those are my conclusions. A lot of this is just speculation from what we already know, so it's not completely airtight, but I think it's a pretty solid theory. Any thoughts?

Eliminating aluminum and copper, since we don't know what they do, I'll have to go with cadmium compounding. It's not bad, and certainly better than many individual powers, but compared to other compounders, it's pretty weak. Bendalloy compounding and bronze compounding are in a similar tier but are just a tiny bit better in my opinion. I do actually think that compounding breath is more useful than nutrition, but A-bendalloy is so good that it makes up for it. Never needing to sleep is going to be way more convenient for most people than never needing to breathe.

Well, no, of course that would be problematic. That just seems like the only explanation for the apparent discrepancy between the two WoBs. That's true, the evidence we have for this question seems to point many different ways. I haven't come to any definitive conclusions, because I don't think there's any explanation that's consistent with all the information we have. Okay, true. Technically, depending on the compression factor, the bubble should hold the air in for a long time from an outside perspective. From the inside, no, that air is just gone instantly. Yes.

Cadmium bubbles would trap air, because due to the molecules inside the bubble moving slower than the outside ones, more would be coming in from outside than going out from the inside.

I was able to find two WoBs about how air behaves in bubbles. The second one definitely seems to imply that air does indeed pass through the bubble boundary and deflect.

All good!

It would be unusual to get the plate before the blade, but I also think it would be pretty cool. Shardplate on its own is a dangerous weapon, and I think it would be interesting to see someone using it without a blade.