What will happen in book three: HOA.

[VegasDev]

Well to answer your question, Ruin was able to alter the memorized texts within the metal minds--he did it to all of the terris council.

Kwaan could realize this only because he had an uncanny ability to memorize a sheet of paper at a glance without his metal minds.

so that answers your question but raises so much more for me....

Truly, Ookla, you are a master of your craft.

Not to point out the obvious, but you didn't answer his question at all. He already stated that Ruin was able to alter the text in metalminds. His question was what other attributes stored in metalminds could Ruin alter?

[Peter Ahlstrom]

I didn't ask what Ruin did. I asked why he was able to do it. But thanks for reminding anyone else who didn't know what I was referring to.

[Elmandr]

I didn't ask what Ruin did. I asked why he was able to do it. But thanks for reminding anyone else who didn't know what I was referring to.

High Priest Ookla? there's a lifetime's worth of Ramen in it for you if you tell me whether or not Vin merges with the Mist Spirit...

[Peter Ahlstrom]

Don't be silly. RAFO.

[Qarlin]

Ewwww. Who'd want a lifetime's worth of Ramen anyway?

[Comfortable Madness]

Ewwww. Who'd want a lifetime's worth of Ramen anyway?

mmmmm.....Raaaammmmeeennnnnnn.....College students best friend and only meal.

[Chaos]

I would want some Ramen, but I have the 7-day meal plan and the dining hall is literally right next door to my dorm. It would take me more effort to cook ramen than if I just walked over there.

[Andrew the Great]

I walk in the kitchen and get food when I'm hungry.

However, when I do head off to college, I suspect I shall become quite good friends with Ramen.

[Peter Ahlstrom]

When I was in Japan I ate ramen with egg almost every morning (since I couldn't get decent sugar-free cereal there). A previous English teacher had left a huge pack of Thai (?) ramen in the apartment. It was hot stuff. After I finished it I just bought regular Japanese ramen; it was not as cheap as it often was in the U.S.

Urr...anyway...is there any sign of ramen existing in the Mistborn world?

[Elmandr]

When I was in Japan I ate ramen with egg almost every morning (since I couldn't get decent sugar-free cereal there). A previous English teacher had left a huge pack of Thai (?) ramen in the apartment. It was hot stuff. After I finished it I just bought regular Japanese ramen; it was not as cheap as it often was in the U.S.

Urr...anyway...is there any sign of ramen existing in the Mistborn world?

closest thing i could find were the mistcloaks...

ooh, scratch that. There was the soup the Skaa were eating at the very beginning--Lord Tresting's slaves...

[SarahG]

Ramen mistcloaks!  Now that's an amusing idea!

I think the skaa soup had mostly vegetables, not pasta, though.

Maybe book 3 will show huge stockpiles of ramen in TLR's storehouses, and the skaa will all subsist on them and cook them over the Ashmounts.

[WriterDan]

So I've been wondering for the past few days just how long it's going to be until Elend's allomantic powers run out.  I mean, the fifteenth metal (or whichever one it was that he ate to become a mistborn) is just another metal, right?  Won't it run out eventually?  It's just been burning slowly ever since it dropped into his belly, started burning by itself, and giving him allomantic powers.  So, is he going to be in the middle of a huge fight, saving Vin or some such, and his powers will disappear, leaving him with jack squat just before he's crushed or made into mincemeat pie?  I mean, come on!  It's a metal.  All metal burns and runs out.  Vin burns flakes and they last a long time.  The stuff that got put into Elend was a pretty big bead of metal.  That'd last a long time.  So the year interim anything to worry about.  Especially if the stuff burns slowly.  Anyone else care to comment?

[SarahG]

Well, atium comes in beads too, but it burns faster than anything else.  So I'm not sure the amount of metal tells us much about how long it's going to last.  Your theory is fascinating, but it seems to me that the metal has caused a permanent change, because I can't imagine even a large bead of the slowest-burning metal still continually burning after a year - which we already know is true.  I guess we'll see, though!

I was complaining about characters whose main point of interest is their immense powers (in the context of Vin being stronger than Kelsier, then Elend being stronger than Vin), and Ookla has assured me that the third book won't disappoint me in this regard.  Elend losing his powers would be one way for this to happen.  So it's certainly possible, but at this point I'm leaning towards the bead granting permanent Allomancy.  I wouldn't be too surprised if Elend and/or Vin and/or all the Allomancers in the world lose their powers in some other fashion, though.

[Chaos]

I'm fairly certain the bead would grant permanent Allomancy somehow. Both Vin at the end of MB2 and in MB3 sample chapter 3 said that they believed they had found the source of Allomancy. It's too bad they aren't specific about the process... but if it was indeed the Source, then it would have a permanent effect.

[Andrew the Great]

In regard to the power running out, I agree with Chaos. I think it's more likely that it's a permanent change.

However, I seem to remember Brandon saying somewhere that the magic systems will be pretty messed up at the end of the third book. Possibly because of the mists. So if that's true, then it makes sense that there would be no more allomancy at that time.