Timewaster's Guide Archive

At least the spike that goes through the heart protrudes a little from the front of the chest. (Or was it the back? I'll have to read Zane's description again.) As for the tattoos, they're supposedly very intricate, like all ministry tattoos, branching out from the eyes and covering part or most of the forehead. Also, they have one red streak among the black, to designate them as members of the Canton of Inquisition. I think most of the spikes are about the same size, and there are two in the head, one in the spine, and eight in the chest. (Theorized that they're all in different organs, but we have no idea where exactly other than in the chest area.) As for weapons, lengths of wood affixed with obsidian make for their axes. (Though I always imagine the one Kell uses to kill that Inquisitor as a more traditional style battle axe.)

Actual refrences  . . .

“Stay calm,” Kelsier said, trying to force himself to do the
same. The Inquisitor looked toward them, spiked eyes regarding
Kelsier, before turning in the direction that Camon and the
girl had gone. Like all Inquisitors, he wore intricate eye
tattoos—mostly black, with one stark red line—that marked
him as a high-ranking member of the Canton of Inquisition.

Vin gasped in pain. There was a sickening sound as the
creature pulled his weapon free of her body; it was a length of
wood affixed with sharp obsidian blades. Vin grasped her
side, stumbling backward, feeling a terrifying amount of
warm blood seeping from the wound.

And there might be some good descriptions in Kell's fight as well, just for general info. Also might be some good ones when Marsh is introduced in Mistborn: The Well of Ascension but I don't get that one back until Monday.

Honestly, he takes great pleasure in playing with your heads.  Sometimes he's so gleeful about a particularly clever bit of teasing that he just has to call me over and show me what he did.  Oh, and he often will tell me things like, "somebody in one of the threads has totally figured everything out, but they're not advocating the idea like they believe it--I think they only said it as a joke."  I don't want any spoilers, so I just don't ask. (I've been an alpha reader since I married him, but not for any of the stuff that was written before)

I assume he's a very happy man then? Because my head sure gets played with. And I have to say, you're every bit as good at this as he is. I'm still trying to decide if your post is a good thing, because it means some of us are on the right track, or a bad thing, because now every theory that has been joked about or debunked from my Ruin-Atium Mine-Kandra theory to to Coma's Mist Spirit-Chapter Headings now should probably be rexamined.

Well, The Lord Ruler did have piercings on his upper arms, and Brandon says he has all three magic systems. Could those bands (of Atium specifically?) be the piercings of the Hero? If so, perhaps what happened is that Raskek killed Alendi in such a fashion that Alendi's (theoretical) Hemalurgical piercings could instead be used by him. Just adding to the intrigue.

You're not the only linguistics expert...

Anyway, it's more a cant or argot than a dialect.

Ookla, has everything you've said always sounded like you were on the verge of revealing some great, three-book secret? Or is that an acquired trait?


(I can see it now. . . .)
Ookla's Spouse: "Honey, could you make a trip to the store? I'd like some oranges to put in this salad."
Ookla: "Oranges aren't the only things you find in stores, you know."
Ookla's Spouse: "We're also running out of milk, you should probably pick up a gallon while you're there."
Ookla: "Milk isn't the only thing we're running out of."

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

Indeed welcome! It's always a good day when new people show up. To celebrate this goodness, I'm going to make a few corrections where I may . . .

Quote from: ]Accident[ on August 19, 2008, 01:20:04 AM

(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.

Woah...not theorizing, huh? Where did that come from? Hybrid application of the three magic systems? Never heard that before, though I kind of like it. Care to elaborate?

I've always noted how Hemalurgy repels the mists, and how one of the major things The Lord Ruler did was to "push away" the deepness. Hmmmmm . . . . >.>

Quote from: ]Accident[ on August 19, 2008, 01:20:04 AM

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.

We would sooner think the same as you. I don't recall anyone saying Inquisitor's healing ability was because of Ruin. In fact, we kind of assumed it was hemalurgy. And, as mentioned, we're almost positive that ruin can influence/control hemalurgists. And actually, Inquisitor's steel sensitivity is just because they are very well practiced in allomancy. And they can use allomancy (ok, not for sure, but I think there's more evidence this way than the other), so they don't need hemalurgy to do those things. (unless hemalurgy grants allomancy)

Agreed but for one point on semantics. Inquisitors use Allomancy. They see via Allomantic lines as shown in MB3 Prologue. However, this does not necessarily mean that they have Allomancy. Just that they have access to it's abilities. Inquisitors' Allomantic abilities could stem from the Hemalurgic rituals. (Or Hemalurgy itself.) This would mean that they might not be able to do things like burn the mists. Just a thought

[MB2 Annotation Ch 12]

Quote from: ]Accident[ on August 19, 2008, 01:20:04 AM

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.

Ahh, coma's favorite pet theory again. Yeah, we debunked that one forever ago. Even comatose disagrees with it now...I think.

While it's true that I think there weren't any difference between Skaa and nobles when The Lord Ruler ascended, I think it's plausible that some traits, such as the Balance Elend mentions, arose after a thousand years of breeding segregation. (Or The Lord Ruler could have changed them genetically using the Well of Ascension.) However, they are still the same species and probably not any more different than say two nations on Earth are. For more information check Comatose's post, which was written as I wrote this up.

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. [. . .]

I suppose it depends on how you use the word link. For me, Ruin being able to at least talk to every Hemalurgist we know of constitutes a link. Inquisitors, Zane, Vin, Vin's mom?, all of them hear Ruin's voice, and they're all Hemalurgists. (Although Vin was inside the Well of Ascension at the time, so she was pretty close to him.)

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.

However Ruin can affect things in the world before he gets freed. Zane hears voices, words written down and in metalminds are changing, stuff which is all ascribable to Ruin. I believe the current theory as to why this happens right after The Lord Ruler's death is because he was a force of Preservation. (Which he was, regardless of whether he actually had Preservation's power or not. The Lord Ruler stagnated the world for a thousand years, making the world "a little bit frozen in time" as Brandon says in Annotation: Mistborn: The Final Empire - Prologue Part II.)

Quick lesson on the lower level plains.  

Lowest plain  - This is the level we reach when we have nightmares.  Existing in this level would be what Christians call 'Hell'.

Dream plain - This is where most dreams and subconscious thought takes place.

Astral plain - This and the physical level are parallel to each other.  This is a near mirror image of the physical world and is where cognitive thought takes place.  Living on this plain would be like being stuck in 'limbo'.  You can project your conscious mind into this plain while your body sleeps.  While here you can see the physical world but can't directly influence it.

Physical plain - Where we live from day to day.

Upper plain (1) - This is a euphoria where we are still attached to many physical things, but have reached a level of enlightenment that allows us to live happily with each other.  Similar to the Christian 'heaven'.

((There are I believe 4 more levels above this, but they aren't necessary for this discussion.))


My thought is that Ruin is stuck in the Astral Plain and can't DIRECTLY affect the physical plain and therefore needs a physical form to escape those confinements.

((Note:  This information is drawn from MANY religious and cultural views.  Although between some religions names and preciseness about what happens on each plain varies.  Brandon has been known to use religion a lot in his books.))

Or it could be . . .

Physical Plain - Realm where we live on. During sleep random synapse firings in our brains trigger random events in our brain, which does it's darndest to connect them all leaving us with the sensation of dreaming as our brain continues to function. After we leave this plain, our bodies slowly decompose into dirt around us and our brain ceases to function. Ruin and Preservation are just hallucinations had by the characters, and a side effect of having two metal spikes driven through your head all Steel Inquisitors are schizophrenic. The Well of Ascension is a sinkhole of a thousand year's worth of the planet's magnetic forces, and someone who disrupts the flow can then direct it to wherever they wish.


Admittedly, that's a rather atheistic view, but it is by no means solid that Ruin is in any Astral plane of your choosing, or even that Astral planes exist in our worlds. (Though I am by no means atheistic, religion isn't fully understood yet.) I think I have to agree with Reaves, getting a body seems kind of like it would weaken him instead. Sure he could walk and talk and eat stuff, but no bodies I know of would allow him to omnisciently warp reality anywhere in the world. If it's a trade off between being a parasite to some host and being an almost God, I think I'd go with the almost God.

In the more 'random' category, here is a link to a couple places that have copies of one of my books used for sale...only I have no idea what language they are in, or even if they're really one of my books.  Anyone have a guess what "Z Mgy Zrodzony Br" means?  It says that this is a 'Polish' book, but I thought that my Polish version of Elantris was just named...well, Elantris.

I got a good laugh out of that one.