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Brandon Sanderson / Re: Reen's obsidian
« on: July 23, 2008, 07:40:49 AM »The forums here consider the earring important because Vin's mother gave it to her after messily killing her sister. Sorta like Marsh got spikes staked through him after several people were messily killed.
The bottom line is that Vin seems to have several powers that seem to be related to hemalurgy, not least of which is the ability to pierce copper-clouds. The earring would then be a piercing, like the inquisitors spikes, which somehow give or maintain this power. The sacrifice to give her this power would be her sister. Thats why the earring has gotten all the forum-time, especially because we understand so little about hemalurgy.
However I'm intrigued by the notion that Reen knew enough about Allomancy to keep a non-Allomantic weapon handy. That may well be meaningful as well.
I'm not so sure we should dismiss Vin's earring being a red herring so easily. Is it stated anywhere for sure that piercing copper clouds is a Hemalurgic ability? It could be something akin to not being able to affect metals in someone's body, but with less of a strength barrier. All the people who can pierce copper clouds are very Allomantically powerful in and of their own right, and Marsh even tells Vin when he's first training her that most Allomancers dismiss Bronze as one of the weakest powers.
Of course, Vin is strange in other ways as well, so the mystery continues . . .
And Miyabi, when the Inquisitors are interrogating Vin at the end of Mistborn one, I'm pretty sure they mention that they captured Reen and tortured him to death trying to extract Vin's whereabouts. It's true they could have been lying, but I can't see a very good motive for them to make up such an unhelpful story.