Author Topic: Did the Lord Ruler ... ? (Spoilers)  (Read 5627 times)

douglas

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Re: Did the Lord Ruler ... ? (Spoilers)
« Reply #15 on: January 21, 2011, 03:45:56 AM »
I don't think it has to be a spike, per se... Ruin was able to influence Vin through her earring, and Spook through a splinter. It has to be piercing the body, but it doesn't need to be a spike of the sort used for the Inquisitors.
Functionally, both of those were spikes.  They were both hemalurgically imbued, and they both granted or enhanced an Allomantic power.  They may have been smaller and less obvious than an Inquisitor's spikes, but they served the same purposes.

I'm pretty sure Brandon at least implied in one of the annotations that Rashek had enough mental instability and/or hemalurgic spiking, regardless of how much each contributed, for Ruin to talk to him and exert at least a little influence.  Rashek did at least know the full deal about exactly who and what Ruin was, so he was on guard and knew to consciously dismiss Ruin's suggestions, but he still had to deal with it constantly for 1000 years and that's a major reason why the Final Empire was so dystopian.

Tortellini

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Re: Did the Lord Ruler ... ? (Spoilers)
« Reply #16 on: January 21, 2011, 03:23:10 PM »
Still not sure how it works, but I found this: http://www.timewastersguide.com/forum/index.php?topic=6655.msg129157#msg129157


It's a question about exactly this, and the answer from Brandon is: His arm bracers, which pierced his skin, were his spikes.

happyman

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Re: Did the Lord Ruler ... ? (Spoilers)
« Reply #17 on: January 21, 2011, 04:06:44 PM »
According to Spooks letters, any metal piercing your body could be used as a way in by Ruin.  We don't know his source of information on this, but as far as I know, it's the only information we have on the subject.

My guess is that Hemalurgically imbued spikes are more effective than random metal, but random metal works.

Also, the metal has to pierce the body for it to have an effect.  It probably has to connect to blood for Ruin to get access to the mind.  Then Allomantically ingested metals would not have this effect.
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Tortellini

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Re: Did the Lord Ruler ... ? (Spoilers)
« Reply #18 on: January 21, 2011, 04:45:06 PM »
Also, the metal has to pierce the body for it to have an effect.  It probably has to connect to blood for Ruin to get access to the mind.  Then Allomantically ingested metals would not have this effect.

Neither would an earring, though. That does pierce, but only touches skin.

Inkthinker

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Re: Did the Lord Ruler ... ? (Spoilers)
« Reply #19 on: January 22, 2011, 02:13:38 AM »
Ever pierced an ear? Trust me, there's blood involved there. :)

I think you're probably right, blood is the key (it is, after all, "hemalurgy"... the etymology pretty much states "blood magic").

Offhand, can anyone recall what Vin's earring looks like? Is it a ring or a stud? For whatever reason I always saw it as a ring, but I can't recall exactly... and a stud is, in essence, a tiny spike.

Melriken

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Re: Did the Lord Ruler ... ? (Spoilers)
« Reply #20 on: January 22, 2011, 03:46:41 AM »
Offhand, can anyone recall what Vin's earring looks like? Is it a ring or a stud? For whatever reason I always saw it as a ring, but I can't recall exactly... and a stud is, in essence, a tiny spike.
Not only is it a stud, but it is a stud that looks particularly like a tiny spike.

There are several times where a comment about how it has no backing, but the pin is bent down to hold it in the ear, and one reference at the end of the series where someone comments about it looking particularly like a spike.  I loaned out my books or I would find the quote for you.

CabbyHat

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Re: Did the Lord Ruler ... ? (Spoilers)
« Reply #21 on: January 22, 2011, 05:02:55 AM »
Also, the metal has to pierce the body for it to have an effect.  It probably has to connect to blood for Ruin to get access to the mind.  Then Allomantically ingested metals would not have this effect.

Neither would an earring, though. That does pierce, but only touches skin.

At some point I do remember someone saying that the spike needs to touch blood at first. Ditto on loaning out my books... I really need to hunt down the person I gave those to, it's been months now.
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