"Magic is what makes fantasy fantastic," someone says, "you can't apply rules to them or else it loses wonder!" I respond, "Sure, but if you want to write them you will certainly want to know how they work." Writing is all about execution, and I find applying some basic laws of physics to magic systems make them more understandable and realistic. Here, I'm going to outline my basic method for developing a magic system.
Column by Chaos2651
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Question 4 clarification: When Raoden was in Elantris, Ien would insist on hovering near him, even coming to Raoden when he extended his hand.
The only explanation I could think of (that could be arrived at with knowledge at hand) was that this is how all Mad Seons act whose Bondeds are still relatively sane. The others don't act that way simply because (1) Seons are rare and (2) those few that are now in Elantris have Hoed Bondeds. I was just looking for other possible explanations.
One huge problem with that theory is that she has family and memories that place her growing up in Baerlon. So that's not possible. I think we have to just accept that no character in play, except some of the darkspawn have any possibility of being finns. It's remotely possible that Shaidar Haran is made from a finn instead of a Trolloc.
The concept of an atium misting doesn't make a lot of sense to me.
If your ability to be an allomancer comes from the amount of preservation you have letting you tap into its power, and the burning of atium is fueling allomancy through concentrated ruin; does it seem logical that the power of preservation would produce something that doesn't actually tap into preservation's power at all, but, instead, ruin's?
I'm pretty sure that's not a run-on sentence.
Suffice it to say that there are people who have Snapped because of intense joy or other emotions. It just doesn't happen as frequently and is more difficult to control.
While we're talking about this, what happens if an allomancer burns an imbued spike? Say, if Vin swallowed her earing and burned its bronze?
Also, I have a question. Since there is a balance, and there is never more Ruin than Preservation in total, does it mean that if atium comes back to earth after it's used, would Larasium do so as well? It takes hundred years for atium, and if larasium would, I think we have a storyline for the next possible book in Mistborn world, where there are only Mistings, and suddenly, the possibility of becoming a Mistborn reappears. How much chaos would that make and how people would react to it, it's a perfect background for a story of Mr. Sanderson.
