Ruin and Preservation

[Shost]

Could the mists be Gaseous Metal???

thats a good idea but i doubt it. the mists would be extremely hot if they were full of tin and pewter and the like in gas form. it takes a lot of heat to get them to that point. however, i like the idea that they could be some kind of fourth magic system. although i think its definatley somehow connected to allomancy. i mean vin can sense the mist spirit with bronze as if its burning metals and she draws upon the mists to enhance her own allomancy. maybe its repelled by hemallurgy simply because its not allomancy. but then we don't know much about hemallurgy. it could be some kind of bastardization of allomancy and thats why it repels the mists and feruchemy doesn't. who knows, i'm just kinda thinking aloud.

[Chaos]

The mists are magical water vapor, lol. Elend does mention it is water vapor, but obviously, it has mystical properties to it that we have yet to comprehend.

I think the kandra and koloss were created when the Ascension took place. Rashek had the power for himself, but that means he burned it away like Allomancy, all in an instant. He probably created them all from that burst of creation.

[Shost]

hmmm...you mentioned that Rashek burned the power away like allomancy. i wonder if the mist is the gaseous form of whatever liquid was in the well. it obviously wasn't water in there.

[Chaos]

I think it was actually liquid metal. I don't have my WoA copy with me at the moment, but I'm almost absolutely certain it was metal.

The mists could very well have something to do with the Well, though. We have to remember that the Well existed before the Ascension, and for all we know, there could have been Heroes before even Alendi came into the picture. A gigantic cycle of Ruin trying to free itself... and the mists existed before the Ascension, too.

[Shost]

ya i think your correct in that it is some type of metal. but if its at liquid form at room temperature like water is then i would figure it could be vapor like water could and possibly be the mists. just a theory but i figured i'd put it out there.

but i'm still wondering how Ruin got trapped in the well in the first place. it seems to be a pretty powerful being but we don't know its nature well enough to know its limitations. but i got the impression from the books that Ruin may have been what 'summoned' the mists.

[darxbane]

Are the mists actually of a substance?  Does it mention in the books that people who walk through the mists actually get wet?  What if it is ethereal?  It feels cool on skin and obscures vision, and in many ways behave like fog, but what if it is not actually made of any physical material?  The mists were there before Rashek ascended, as Alendi encounters the Mist Spirit during his travels. 

[Shost]

actually i think there are a few rare parts in the books that mention the mist condensating into liquid. i can't find a concrete example at the moment though. 

[Comatose]

It doesn't have to be a conventional metal, it could be that this metal has a very high boiling point, and that could be why it's not so hot.  I'm not sure if I agree with this theory, but since all the magic systems we know of so far seem to be based on metal, and Vin says she burned the mist like metal, it was just a hypothesis.  I just reread the part in WoA, and yes, it does say for sure that the Kandra and Koloss were created by the lord ruler, sorry about that.  Anyway, if we do go with this metal mist hypothesis, then could we assume it's an alloy tothe metal in the lake near the original position of the well of ascension or the metal elend ate (which could be the same metal).  I'm not sure I even believe the mist theory it's just a hypothesis.  It might make sense though.  One metal gives a person allomancy, the other strengthens it, they would be the same pair.  I know most of the pairings do opposite things, but some of them do the similiar.  For example: duralumin and aluminum both take metals away, they jsut do it in different ways, so they're not really exact opposites.  Anyway, remember, all of this is purely theoreticalm I actually think the mists are probably water vapour of some supernatural nature like the characters in the book believe, but this is just something that came to mind.

[Shost]

you know you keep mentioning the black lake with the silvery sheen which was originally near the well of ascension. so i looked at the map in the front of the books. number 18 is the black lake and its right near luthadel. i figure thats the same lake. what are the odds that statlin city is on the shore of the black lake?

[darxbane]

I don't think anything is a coincidence anymore.  Whose to say that there isn't naturally occurring fog mixed in with the Mists.  Statlin City, that's the name I forgot yesterday.  that's gotta be where the Atium cache is located.  I wonder what other clues will be found there?  Not to nitpick, Comatose but I think you mean a very low boiling point.  My only issue with this is that the mists appear no matter what the temperature is outside, and now come out even during the day, and even stay in one spot for days at a time.  This is not a weather related thing.  It is a supernatural phenomenon.  Maybe a residue of the power TLR used to change the world?  One can only guess.

[Chaos]

I'm fairly certain the mists existed before the Lord Ruler. Since, essentially, the killing mists is the Deepness, then it obviously existed before the Ascension. Perhaps the mists just lingered after the Lord Ruler, existing, but not defeated.

[Comatose]

Your right sorry , gosh I'm saying emabarassing things, sorry.  I also said somewhere that pewter was external which it isn't so, that was a goof too.

[darxbane]

You're right about that, Chaos.  Alendi talked about the Mist Spirit, but didn't seem too concerned about the mists themselves, if I remember correctly.  Maybe they just didn't exist to such an extent.  I'm not too sure about the ambigram quest.  I have to reread them.

[Comatose]

I think the mists might be another magic system all together, one both Ruin and Preservation can manipulate, Ruin to destroy, and Preservation to manifest itself, or it's messenger- the mist spirit.  We know that Ruin can change anything that is written (except if it is  set in metal), can change the contents of metal minds, control inquisitors, and we can be farely certin that it's Ruin making the msits come during the day and killing people.  We know the Mist Spirit (possibily Preservation or a different entity) can take form in the mist, use emotional allomancy, or something like it, numb things or make poeple faint with a touch (Vin's arm), and can stab people with some sort of knife.

[darxbane]

The Annotations Brandon made for book 1 mention only 3 magic systems, but you never know what surprises await inside EUOL's worlds.