The Countdown

[Chaos]

The bracers would have been useless unless the Lord Ruler had both Allomancy and Feruchemy.

Still, Feruchemy existed pre-Ascension and used the metals. I don't know what to think if Feruchemy didn't have all 16 metals.

That's why I brought the theory up, because it's interesting

[VegasDev]

Well, yes.  But they don't provide any evidence one way of the other as to atium's existence in mistborn, pre-Lord Ruler.

If the bracers were the 'Piercings of the Hero' prior to ascension, are made with Atium and designed in such a way that they must be ripped from the flesh to remove them from the body, a small case can be made for the metals existing prior to ascension. While it might not be concrete evidence, it is still evidence. What evidence do we have that TLR created the metal?

[Chaos]

Well, primarily the fact that it is an exceptionally odd metal. It's the only metal (not counting 13/14 yet, we don't know of those yet) that is made up for this world. I find it exceptionally odd it only spawns in one place, and in that place, the atium geodes react to Allomancy.

Furthermore, there is a reason why the kandra only take atium as payment, but I don't know what it is.

It's not coincidental. It's special in some way, so I just randomly threw out there that the Lord Ruler could have created atium.

[VegasDev]

Yeah, I had mentioned that it was weird that Brandon made up two of the metals, when everything else existed IRL.

As far as spawning in one place, I believe this is only mentioned in a conversation between Kelsier and Ham, so it is possible that it spawns other locations. According to Wiki, Chromium in it's native form is rare, with a mine in Russia being the only one listed. I know there are other metals concentrated in certain geographic areas, so Atium forming naturally in one area is not unheard of.

Contracts. There is obviously something more to this story, however it could be something as simple as trying to keep as much out of TLR's hands as possible or because it is easier to hold one Atium nugget than a huge purse full of coins. If they really needed the atium, I don't see why they wouldn't just find a way to sneak into the Pits of Hathsin and get it themselves. They could eat some guard and prisoner bodies or something and being natively blind might locate it much easier than Skaa could.

[Chaos]

That's true. The Pits wouldn't be guarded by Allomancers, so if they truly had motivation, they could succeed.

[happyman]

Yeah, I had mentioned that it was weird that Brandon made up two of the metals, when everything else existed IRL.

As far as spawning in one place, I believe this is only mentioned in a conversation between Kelsier and Ham, so it is possible that it spawns other locations. According to Wiki, Chromium in it's native form is rare, with a mine in Russia being the only one listed. I know there are other metals concentrated in certain geographic areas, so Atium forming naturally in one area is not unheard of.

Contracts. There is obviously something more to this story, however it could be something as simple as trying to keep as much out of TLR's hands as possible or because it is easier to hold one Atium nugget than a huge purse full of coins. If they really needed the atium, I don't see why they wouldn't just find a way to sneak into the Pits of Hathsin and get it themselves. They could eat some guard and prisoner bodies or something and being natively blind might locate it much easier than Skaa could.

It's perfectly possible that they do need the atium for something, that the Mistborn of old knew why and that part of the deal they made with humanity was that the atium they needed would be supplied to them in exchange for the services provided, as we have seen.

Remember: humans (with mistborn) had the upper hand in the negotiations.

[Chaos]

To go along with my Preservation theory, here's a quote from p.555 of MB2, hardback:

"The Lord Ruler," she whispered. "He created the Ashmounts. The records say he made the vast deserts around the empire, that he broke the land in order to preserve it.

I just thought that was interesting.

EDIT: Another interesting one:

Vin joined him. They had walked in the passage for some time, leaving the storage cavern far behind, walking through a natural stone tunnel. It had ended here, at a second, slightly smaller cavern that was clogged with a thick, dark smoke. It didn't seep out of the cavern, as it should have, but billowed and churned upon itself.

Vin stepped forward. The smoke didn't choke her, as she expected. There was something oddly welcoming about it.

Could the reason why this smoke didn't choke her the same reason the ash doesn't choke?

[VegasDev]

Here's a few more discussion points, from re-reading the sample chapters.

Prologue:
What knowledge could Ruin learn from the synod that it already hadn't corrupted?

Chapter 2:
"Accept death," the voice hissed quietly. "Do not put yourself in a position to cause further harm to our people...."

How could TenSoon do further harm? Why does this voice want him to accept death rather than speak out at trial?

Chapter 3:
Elend flared pewter. A warm sensation--now familiar to him--burst to life in his chest, and his muscles became taut with extra strength and energy.

Does he have a touch of Terrisman in him that his muscles experience a physical change?

[CthulhuKefka]

It would be interesting if Elend had a bit of Terrisman in him. How much do we really know about the lord's of the Final Empire, other than they were the descendants of the families that stood by TLR during his ascension?

[Qarlin]

I think that may just be kind of like flexing muscles as they are used. Giving them more strength and durability also created an unconscious tensing of the muscles.

EDIT: Random Theory: What if the TLR was actually Kwaan? No basis for it, except:

• Rashek didn't necessarily have to take the power right after killing Alendi; he could have reported back to his uncle. However, when Kwaan took the power and went against the prophecies, then Rashek could have turned on him, thinking he'd gone mad or something.
• That way, TLR doesn't have the prejudice against the people of Khellenium, but might have one against his own people, knowing that they are susceptible to Ruin's influence, and how none of them supported him when he turned against Alendi.
• He would know more what he was to do with the power than Rashek
• He would consider it a burden rather than the right to rule.

So, yeah. Random theory.

[Chaos]

T-4 days! Can you feel the excitement?

We'll go with Qarlin's post because I think it would make a "lively" discussion. Random and questionable theories do that

[darxbane]

The only problem with that theory is that EUOL says TLR is Rashek in the annotation for the chapter in MB1 where Vin defeats him, or one of the adjacent chapters at least.

[Elmandr]

T-4 days! Can you feel the excitement?

We'll go with Qarlin's post because I think it would make a "lively" discussion. Random and questionable theories do that

HA! I just received my copy...i really want to finish it before the fourteenth--for the sake of figuring out whether or not HAT is going to be apart of my diet plan...

[Chaos]

T-4 days! Can you feel the excitement?

We'll go with Qarlin's post because I think it would make a "lively" discussion. Random and questionable theories do that

HA! I just received my copy...i really want to finish it before the fourteenth--for the sake of figuring out whether or not HAT is going to be apart of my diet plan...

Gah. Where did you order from? Jeez...

[Peter Ahlstrom]

It's probably time for a friendly reminder, for everyone who gets the book, that NO SPOILERS should be discussed in a thread unless the thread title has the word SPOILERS in it. If you want to respond to something in another thread with your spoilers, make an entirely new thread. (And make sure the thread title itself does not contain any spoilers.)

It also might be nicest not to post any spoiler threads until the 15th.