Kadrok

Steris is worth it. And Wayne, when he's not being a jerk. And also the crazy fSpiritual shenanigans promised in the blurb.

I like this theory. A pity about the WoB. I was about to mention that perhaps the pits have finally started up again, but instead of churning out Atium they're churning out Sazedium. Of course there are some issues with this anyway... but it'd be cool if some of the cosmic "wiring" (for want of a better description) from back in the Ruin-Preservation days was still around and Sazed hasn't noticed it because it's inert thus far... only to reactivate in modern times and default to the closest thing to what it was designed for...

I figured that. I've tangled with recording before. I just wanted to be sure she was done before I risked discussing spoilers with her. I'd hate to be the guy that ruined SoS Shardcast by spoiling stuff for Feather before she'd finished it, so I'm being extra careful.

Wait, so you've finished the whole book already? Wicked.

Because Time Bubbles are one of Kurk's pet things. Also being either in or out is how I remember it too. Also, MASSIVE SPOILERS FOR THE END OF THE BOOK IN THE BOX, SERIOUSLY DON'T READ FOR THE LOVE OF BRANDON AND ALL THAT IS COSMERELY (Unless you've already read it).

*Checks his map, confident he has the answer!* Er. It's not here. My map only covers the Basin and the Northern Roughs, and neither of them have a New Seran. However the MAG AoL supplement details the Southern Roughs as a weird place... I'm getting a "Repo! The Genetic Opera" vibe from this. What happens when you don't pay the dues for renting your spikes? You know, I once tried to run a MAG game featuring material from the Southern Civilisation (spoilers follow for anyone with the vain hope that I'll start up Shattered State again sometime). We know from WoB (somewhere... I'll find it if someone else doesn't have it) that the Southerners didn't have the Ashmounts and Genetic modifications that the Northerners had, but that they were given something else to help them survive, something that also allowed them to survive the post Rashek planet moving (Vin and Sazed). My conclusion was that they lived under ground in a manner similar to the way Rashek set up the Kandra, possibly on some kind of nutritious fungus like the Kandra did. Looking over my notes, I actually built a whole history for them based on what we knew and the assumption that they lived underground, including discovering the metallic arts (since the seeds for them were in all Scadrians pre-Rashek) and infiltrating the North (the setting for the MAG game I was narrating). Pity I got so busy.

Also, the talk of bone irregularities has made me less inclined to choose Bloodmaking as my Ferring power. Actually we're getting a lot of interesting talk about side effects with the Ferring abilities in this book. First the Sparker cravings and now Bloodmaker's bones.

Ah! Here's where the discussion is. I too found it odd that Wax chose the term "Metalborn". I mean, I guess it's kind of fitting, they technically have a power from the Metallic arts, but it is a bit of a stretch. My first impulse was that the Kandra had taken a spike from Bleeder, perhaps the one granting the most broken power ever, Feruchemical steel. If this is the case, no matter how good an actor the Kandra is, Wax's deduction is way out of left field and could catch him off guard. Besides, do we know how good an actor VenDrell is? I'm guessing that acting ability varies from Kandra to Kandra, some with Wayne-like skill married to shapeshifting, and others who can shapeshift but very little ability to actually play the part. Ven seems like he's more of a cloistered scholar than a shapeshifting assassin. I think King's Twit's suggestion that this is one of the reasons we have this scene from Wayne's POV (so we don't see Wax's sick plays before they happen) is spot on, I hadn't thought of that.

Is everyone caught up on Chapter 4? The real (Tor) Chapter 4, not the... other one.

There hasn't been any action here for a while, so I'm guessing it fizzled out, which is sad. You can check out this site if you want to play Mistborn by PBP: http://steelministry.com/

Could you imagine if Brandon left us on a massive cliffhanger? In the heat of Battle Wax finally sees his mysterious foe for what they are: the men of red and gold. But how? And what was all that business with the perpendicularity?! Gritting his teeth, Wax drives the Bands of Mourning into his flesh. *credits roll* *Commence two year wait*

Oooooh, intriguing. Not what I would have thought. I hate it when that happens. Upvote.

I was thinking more practically. Kelsier actually had a training montage with Gemmel. Kelsier has all the potential in the world, but the world is ending and he's the guy in charge, so he has no time to really develop. To be honest I want Elend to win... I identified far more with him than Kelsier* I just don't think he would. But my position is distorted somewhat by having seen them statted in the MAG. Kelsier's stunts top Elends extra power ratings. * it was actually quite funny. I prefer identifying with the people with powers, and so my being most like Elend was not without it's "awww man, I wanted to identify with the guy with powers" aspect. And then he got powers and all my Christmases came at once.

We'll still need a source on that. Regarding the OP... you know, the MAG has statted out Elend and Kelsier. It's not the same as the "real" thing, but maybe we should try it out? From memory Elend has a higher starting rating (Mighty level) than any of the other Mistborn, but he hasn't "leveled it up" like the others, so Kelsier has a heap of stunts unlocked. Instinctually I'm going to say Kelsier wins, either in MAG or otherwise.

Yes, exactly, this!

That's not entirely true. We have the MAG. It may not be rock hard canon, but it does give us an idea. (All of what follows is according to the MAG. Treat it accordingly) MAG Feruchemical nicrosil lets a full Feruchemist store investiture (the small i is intentional) by converting charges of another stored attribute into what I call "blank" investiture. It's basically power without a shape... you can tap it on its own but it'll do nothing. In that sense it's a bit like the investiture one draws on when one is burning metal or writing Aons - an undifferentiated energy that needs the metal or Aon as a key to tell you what form the power comes in - except this power has no form. The way one can use it according to the MAG, is that one can tap it alongside tapping another property like Strength or Health or whatever. This other property "tells it what to do" and the investiture counts as more of the other thing you tapped. In that sense it is a "wildcard" metalmind that can be used for anything if used properly. There are a couple of other ways to store it outlined. If one knew how, one could store the Mists, and one could also store the power at the well. However, this would most likely be the same kind of storage we've seen above - converting a source of power into a blank energy - and wouldn't let you store the well to use it's power later in the planet moving sense. That said, I assume this works both ways... if one could store enough charges of investiture, one could theoretically use it to pad out the power of the Well in the same way one can pad out their Feruchemical charges... though given the amount of power at the well, surely this is but a drop of water in the ocean. A lot of effort for very little return. In terms of a Twinborn with Nicrosil as their Feruchemical metal, I am convinced one could use the stored investiture to pad out their burning, or something like that, but I've had no confirmation on that. For more musing on Feruchemical nicrosil and the MAG, please see my "Nicrosil Feruchemy Masterpost" in my Sig. Feruchemical nicrosil is one of my pet favourite abilities...

Awww man, Monday is ages away!

Yes, I understand. But I wasn't sure it was a term used on Scadrial until Steris said it.

I'm on team Steris I suppose. Not that I don't like Marasi, but Steris all the way.

I only just noticed that. It's great! Now I can use Cosmere in my AoL era MAG games.

Oooooh. Interesting. Source?

Ah! Thank you both! Have upvotes. Sorry if I seem behind, I haven't been coming here as frequently as I used to, so I'm behind on WoBs.

Weird. Why wouldn't it be possible given how Compounding works (reprogram the metal to key into a different power). Ooooh, good terminology. I'm going to steal that. Though is Investiture really a depletable attribute? What are you going off? Based on MAG it isn't.

I really like Steris. She's so sweet, and she tries so hard. Also, Marasi isn't hung up on Wax, and she's coming into her own. She's a Cadmium Misting and was the second pick to a Crasher. It excites me how much she's growing. *standing ovation* Also, INVESTITURE AND IDENTITY?! Just when I was all excited about Marasi's role, Brandon hit me with that.