Timewaster's Guide Archive
Local Authors => Brandon Sanderson => Topic started by: Stormblessed on October 12, 2010, 12:06:54 PM
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Something has been bugging me.
If allomancy can shatter the atium crystals, why was Mare, a tineye sent to the Pits. Surely the Lord Ruler wouldn't risk destroying the crystals on the off chance that she got her hands on some tin.
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Well, I imagine that access to metals is controlled quite closely in the Pits. Also, Mare really has no reason to want to destroy all the Atium in the area, since it happens to be the only thing keeping her and Kelsier alive. Tin wouldn't really help her to get out of the pits, and while it might kill all the atium in the area, it would also result in the death of most of the skaa there.
Though whether Mare knows that is an interesting question.... but I'd guess metals are tightly controlled enough that it's a non-issue.
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The actual answer is that only steel or iron burning causes any problem.
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He stepped over to the rift and forced himself ti climb down inside of it. Then he burned tin. immediately, he heard a cracking sound from below. [...] He could already see his first crystalline atium-hole--or what was left of it. The long, silvery crystals were fractured and broken.
A few paragraphs below that it shows how Kelsier starts to burn iron to find the rest of the crystals. If he was burning steel beforehand, he would have no need to burn iron, nor would he remark on how the lines suddenly appeared.
Unless there's another secret.
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I'd actually been wondering about a somewhat related issue - if metals are that tightly controlled in the Pits, which seems logical, where did Kelsier get the metal he needed after Snapping to power his escape?
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The actual answer is that only steel or iron burning causes any problem.
I first I thought that was the answer, but that quote from Czanos implies otherwise. Was this just an oversight?
On actually getting metals, it is possible that Mare could pick up trace metals. I assume this is how Kelsier defeated the guards the night he snapped. Otherwise, without metals, e.g. pewter, he wouldn't have had the strength to escape.
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Also, Mare really has no reason to want to destroy all the Atium , since it happens to be the only thing keeping her and Kelsier alive.
This.
Tin wouldn't really help her to get out of the pits,
It's dark down there, which would be a motivation for me to use tin.
Not to escape, but simply to make life a little bit better for myself.
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And to add to Kykeon, she may be suffering from Allomancy withdrawals. I'm sure you would get them. Something you have been using your whole is suddenly gone, wouldn't you undergo withdrawals. She would probably do just about anything to burn some tin.
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And to add to Kykeon, she may be suffering from Allomancy withdrawals. I'm sure you would get them. Something you have been using your whole is suddenly gone, wouldn't you undergo withdrawals. She would probably do just about anything to burn some tin.
I could see allomancy withdrawals in tineyes or pewterarms. But not in most Mistings. A coinshot might be constantly thinking "Man, if only...", or try to burn steel to search for metals simply out of reflex, but I don't think they'd get the shakes or irresistible cravings.
But yeah, Mare could have been jonesing for some tin.
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Hmm. I'll have to ask Brandon again...
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And to add to Kykeon, she may be suffering from Allomancy withdrawals. I'm sure you would get them. Something you have been using your whole is suddenly gone, wouldn't you undergo withdrawals. She would probably do just about anything to burn some tin.
I could see allomancy withdrawals in tineyes or pewterarms. But not in most Mistings. A coinshot might be constantly thinking "Man, if only...", or try to burn steel to search for metals simply out of reflex, but I don't think they'd get the shakes or irresistible cravings.
But yeah, Mare could have been jonesing for some tin.
Yeah, I agree. We don't get it with Atium - Zare specifically says in WoA that its not a drug. But stuff like tin and pewter which you are constantly burning to some degree, I could definitely see it happening.
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If I remember right, none of the metals are addictive until you hit savant status, when they all become so. It doesn't make a lot of sense for a coinshot to get the desire to push on things all the time, but if they had Inquisitor-like Pushing ability they would probably get hooked on the added perception.
As for Kelsier getting metals to escape, one of the reasons the Pits of Hathsin are where they are is because of all the metal in the ground. On top of that, there is a lot of atium going around the place. All it would take is for Kelsier to Snap, use a bit of trace iron to pull a bead of atium to himself, and things get crazy.
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If I remember right, none of the metals are addictive until you hit savant status, when they all become so. It doesn't make a lot of sense for a coinshot to get the desire to push on things all the time, but if they had Inquisitor-like Pushing ability they would probably get hooked on the added perception.
As for Kelsier getting metals to escape, one of the reasons the Pits of Hathsin are where they are is because of all the metal in the ground. On top of that, there is a lot of atium going around the place. All it would take is for Kelsier to Snap, use a bit of trace iron to pull a bead of atium to himself, and things get crazy.
I admit I wondered the exact same thing on my first read through. I wondered how he had all his metals. But really it makes sense that he just got a hold of some atium. Depending on how much he had that's really all he would need to take out the entire guard post.
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If I remember right, none of the metals are addictive until you hit savant status, when they all become so. It doesn't make a lot of sense for a coinshot to get the desire to push on things all the time, but if they had Inquisitor-like Pushing ability they would probably get hooked on the added perception.
As for Kelsier getting metals to escape, one of the reasons the Pits of Hathsin are where they are is because of all the metal in the ground. On top of that, there is a lot of atium going around the place. All it would take is for Kelsier to Snap, use a bit of trace iron to pull a bead of atium to himself, and things get crazy.
I admit I wondered the exact same thing on my first read through. I wondered how he had all his metals. But really it makes sense that he just got a hold of some atium. Depending on how much he had that's really all he would need to take out the entire guard post.
Exactly. Elend's army showed that atium is all it takes. Considering he just Snapped, he wouldn't know how to use the metals very well anyway. He surely burned some trace ones, but atium is enough.