Timewaster's Guide Archive

OK look, I'm tired of the obsidian or glass being stronger.  According to Mohs Sale we have:

window glass, 5.5;

obsidian, ~5-5.5;

SO depending on the obsidian it is either a bit weaker or the same strength as glass when it comes to hardness.

Hardness and strength are independent attributes of a material. I stand corrected in referring to superior hardness. Still, an axe made of glass would be foolish, as it would shatter on impact with just about any metal. Not so obsidian, it is indeed much stronger than silicon-based forms of glass.

I never said Reen's piece of obsidian wasn't of any significance or value. The only point I made was that some folks began to theorize based on believing that the "irregular pattern" it was chipped into really meant "unusual symbols" or "strange designs". Its a common trick of the mind to wander off what you really read to what you'd like to have read, and it can lead you astray. On the other hand, nearly two complete books later and no following word about the item leaves me doubtful. Vin's earring? Yeah, I'm waiting to learn it's true importance, because it is visible too often in the text not to mean something more than we know now.

So nobody knows what happened to the forum site? Very odd.

I can't think of a single multi-volume fantasy series where the first primary character introduced ISN'T the major hero of the story. Of course, Kelsier is dead, so the next character introduced is Vin, and it is clear to me why Kelsier's setup had to come first. Comparing Vin with Elend, we know much more background on her, and more internal POV, than Elend or anyone else. Fantasy heros are very often orphans or outcasts with very hard upbringings, as is Vin's case, but Elend is neither, being instead a pampered dandy who just happens to have an honorable heart. Elend doesn't appear until well into the first volume, and doesn't get a great amount of "air-time" until quite late in the book.

Then there is also the cover art, who do we find featured?

Answering another post, Rashek never thought himself the HoA, that was Alendi. Rashek knew quite well that he was a pretender, he never felt the pulses of the WoA, but he apparently took the Power Pill after backstabbing Alendi.

It's Vin. Her boy toy may have become awesome, but he's not the Hero.

Early in this thread it is surmised that Obsidian is likely as fragile as other forms of glass. This is certainly not true. Recalling the Wiki description, it is extrusive igneous rock. As silicon oxide becomes glass when melted, the source rock for obsidian turns to the glass form. But it is volcanic glass, and it's source material has far stronger a crystalline structure than silicon. Obsidian is extremely hard, and difficult to break. This is precisely why the inquisitors use it for their axes, they are strong, sharp, and non-metallic, therefore immune to allomantic pulling/pushing. Obsidian is used for weaponry and certain armor components in many fantasy stories, and indeed in historical cases as well.

The hardness and strength of obsidian could lead one to wonder about the "chipped into an irregular pattern" and such from Reen's bit of obsidian, but I've noted that a few folks have inadvertently translated "irregular  pattern" as "strange design", or "unusual symbols". Beware the random misinterpretation, it will surely lead you astray.  I think that when Brandon says "irregular pattern", that's all he means. It was simply an oddly shaped piece of a not terribly common volcanic rock. Something Vin would certainly hold onto after Reen's disappearance.

Good day all. New to this forum, so pardon any unintentional faux pas on my part.

Without a more solid foundation than speculation (no matter how well thought out!) for the theory that Ruin/Preservation may be directly linked to one or more of the Power systems of the land, I find it difficult to ascribe such a linkage. Granted, if one exists, it would surely be between Ruin and Hemallurgy, given the deadly and bloody nature of gaining access to this Power system. I do find it plausible that the events of Vin receiving the brass earing could qualify as a sacrifice fit to confer Hemallurgy upon the recipient, and while the parallels are there, no textual hints or foreshadowings that such is true can be found.

I enjoy and appreciate the theorization, my problem is that I am a technical analyst by nature, and more likely to apply Occam than to stretch out with potential theories. The things that are known without doubt are the existence of the three Power systems (Allomancy, Feruchemy, Hemallurgy); the mists, which are governed by a force which TLR kept at bay (presumably by a hybrid application of all three Power systems); the being at the WoA, which Rashak (rightly?) chose not to release upon his ascension but which Vin freed.

The being at the WoA is not directly tied to the mists, since the mists began advancing after TLR's demise, including selectively causing deaths of some, but not others; and this is before Vin releases the being in the Well at the end of MB2.

I believe there is good confidence for the idea that the Inquisitors' allomantic abilities and superior steel sensitivity are a hemallurgical trait; that there is strength to the theory that a malevolent force (Ruin?) can touch those who have hemallurgical attributes (Zane's 'insanity', Marsh's need to take actions he can't explain and wouldn't normally approve). But I would sooner think that the Inquisitors' remarkable healing ability is a function of hemallurgy's affect on pewter, than a connection to a more spiritual force.

Some speculation has come up regarding potential differences between the noble class and the skaa regarding access to Power systems, which I would reject. Elend spent a great deal of time and effort to prove to himself, and later the rest of the nobility, that there was no real difference beyond the favor of TLR. That effort, as a major sub-theme, is wasted if there are real differences. Given Elend's transformation at the WoA, it seems likely that Rashak granted the same to his favored friends after his ascension, and made laws prohibiting interbreeding with those outside of his favor, establishing the separation of classes among the people. A thousand years of breeding diluted the noble class to the point that being an Allomancer became rare, and Mistborn extremely rare.