The Comprehensive Hemalurgy Thread

[Comatose]

That's what I thought too, he had Elend's firs Skaa mistress killed, and someone said something about Straff always cleaning up his messes didn't they?  I'm pretty sure Amantra and the others aren't Skaa.

[Seraf]

Ookla, I would like to ask if your opinion about the mothers in the breeding program is colored by how you've been one of the people involved in the pre-reading of these books from the start, or if I'm mistaken and you weren't one of the early [pre-publishing]readers. I always thought that the women were skaa; in fact, I thought that Straff says that in the book... anyways, on a side-note, Hema means blood, it's not just the suffix to Hematology.
      On another note, I've been wondering about how there are only 12 spikes. Wouldn't this mean that they don't have the High Allomantic metal powers?...

[Chaos]

My rereading of MB1 has told me some things about the Steel Inquisitors. One thing is that Inquisitors sleep a lot. This hasn't been talking about in this topic, so I'm bringing it up now. I would suspect that this is partially where they get their healing powers--by sleeping a lot. Or, it could be that those spikes really hurt and they need to sleep to get over the pain.

Maybe, also, we should discuss why separating the spikes on an Inquisitor kills them. It could lead to some Hemalurgical revelations.

I am also now thinking that Vin's mom's "blood sacrifice" to make Vin a supposed Hemalurgist is fairly... mundane. Inquisitors require a lot of blood and lots of victims to create--but then again, their Hemalurgy is no doubt far more powerful than Vin's. But still. More blood and more sacrifice means more Hemalurgical abilities.

Hemalurgy by being a skaa power is interesting... and I love it so much .

I had discussed this previously, but it didn't take off, probably because I suggested that the Inquisitors may not actually use Hemalurgy. I have my arguments, but I don't want to get into that. Anyway, here is one of my quotes relating to Inquisitors resting and being killed by pulling a spike.

Hemalurgy is used to create Inquisitors, but does that mean that the Inquisitors use Hemalurgy? If they do, then it appears Hemalurgy is a cross between Feruchemy and Allomancy. They can push pull metals and maybe burn atium, but they appear also able to store health like a feruchemist. I believe (I'll have to check when I get home) that it mentions somewhere that the Inquisitors need to rest for long periods of time, presumably to store up health. The rod that is pulled from their backs that kills them probably stores this health. I can't wait for HoA, this speculating is killing me.

I apologize. Usually I'm pretty good at catching posts like that. Though, I looked in this topic, and it wasn't posted there. If you could point me to the topic where your post was, I would appreciate it.

Hmm. You do have a good point, VegasDev. Brandon has only confirmed that the Inquisitors were created with Hemalurgy (by the way, VegasDev, that's how we know the Lord Ruler uses Hemalurgy, because he created the Inquisitors).

It's possible that they don't actually use Hemalurgy. Their powers, instead, could be the result of the Lord Ruler's Hemalurgical process it took to create Inquisitors, rather than being because they consciously use Hemalurgy. Which, coincidentally, matches up with what the Lord Ruler said about Inquisitors.

"What do you think, child?" the Lord Ruler asked quietly. "To defeat me? Am I some common Inquisitor, my powers endowed fabrications?"

Fabrications. That's important.

Oh, and there seems to be a bit of confusion about that spike in Inquisitors' backs, that they seem to be different metals. Sorry to disappoint:

"Inquisitors!" the Lord Ruler yelled. "Come to--"
The Lord Ruler froze, noticing something sitting just outside the door. A small group of steel spikes, just like the one Marsh had pulled from Kar's back, lay piled on the floor. There looked to be about seven of them.

Steel, then, are what the spikes are made of. "Steel" ministry, "Steel" Inquisitors. We already know that the spikes in the Inquisitors' heads are made of steel, so, I think with the obsession of naming everything "Steel" whatever, that every spike in an Inquisitor is steel, not other metals.

Which, by the way, ruins your theory of Inquisitors storing health with Feruchemy. In Feruchemy, Steel stores Speed (Gold is the metal that stores health).

A good, valiant effort, VegasDev, but it seems we are all on the wrong path.

Moving onto the next post I should talk about:

Third, Kar implied that only a relatively pure bloodline would lead to a Skaa Mistborn who was this powerful.  It does not mean that it is impossible for other nobles to bear Skaa Mistborn.  Straff proves that with Zane.  In fact, all of Straff's mistings are also born of Skaa mothers.  The lord ruler didn't want Skaa to become Mistborn because he didn't want his gift given to those who opposed him.

Fourth,  if the Lord Ruler had enough of these allomancy beads to give to  all the noble ancestors and continue to make Inquisitors (they do die after a while), then why all the spikes?  If he wanted a way to control them, why not just the one in the back?  Has anyone thought about the fact that in order to see, an SI would need to burn Iron or steel at all times?

Yeah, I probably should have looked closer at the Kar passage when I posted that up.

Aha, about the burning steel all the time. I think, if all the spikes are made of steel, then there is plenty of steel to go around. That is probably one of the reasons for the spikes. If the spikes are the things that give Inquisitors their "fabricated" powers, however, then there is more to them than meets the eye.

On another note, I've been wondering about how there are only 12 spikes. Wouldn't this mean that they don't have the High Allomantic metal powers?...

There are eleven, actually.

"Does that... hurt, Marsh?" she asked. "The spikes, I mean."

He paused. "Yes. All eleven of them... throb. The pain reacts to my emotions somehow."

I suggest we all start citing sources from the books so we don't get off on tangents... we seem to be doing a very good job at that.


EDIT:

I would like to slightly revise my Inquisitor-Allomancy theory, or at least poke holes in it. If the 15th metal gave them Allomancy, then why does their Allomancy repel the mists? Think about it ;P

[VegasDev]

Hemalurgy is used to create Inquisitors, but does that mean that the Inquisitors use Hemalurgy? If they do, then it appears Hemalurgy is a cross between Feruchemy and Allomancy. They can push pull metals and maybe burn atium, but they appear also able to store health like a feruchemist. I believe (I'll have to check when I get home) that it mentions somewhere that the Inquisitors need to rest for long periods of time, presumably to store up health. The rod that is pulled from their backs that kills them probably stores this health. I can't wait for HoA, this speculating is killing me.

Oh, and there seems to be a bit of confusion about that spike in Inquisitors' backs, that they seem to be different metals. Sorry to disappoint:

"Inquisitors!" the Lord Ruler yelled. "Come to--"
The Lord Ruler froze, noticing something sitting just outside the door. A small group of steel spikes, just like the one Marsh had pulled from Kar's back, lay piled on the floor. There looked to be about seven of them.

Steel, then, are what the spikes are made of. "Steel" ministry, "Steel" Inquisitors. We already know that the spikes in the Inquisitors' heads are made of steel, so, I think with the obsession of naming everything "Steel" whatever, that every spike in an Inquisitor is steel, not other metals.

Which, by the way, ruins your theory of Inquisitors storing health with Feruchemy. In Feruchemy, Steel stores Speed (Gold is the metal that stores health).

A good, valiant effort, VegasDev, but it seems we are all on the wrong path

I didn't say that the Steel Inquisitors used Feruchemy, I said that if they use Hemalurgy, it may be a cross between Feruchemy and Allomancy. The SI seem to recruit from mistings, so maybe the process perverts both Feruchemy and Allomancy inside the individual.

[Chaos]

I don't know... Brandon seems fairly insistent that Hemalurgy is its own magic system.

[Comatose]

Like I said, my theory is that Allomancy attracts the mists, Skaa have some power involving the mists, and the combination of bloodlines creates Skaa Mistborn who can draw on the mists to strengthen allomancy.  The lord Ruler notices this, uses a processs called Hemalurgy to sacrifice Skaa and use their blood to pass their allomancy enhancing powers on to the inquisitors, but since hemalurgy is a perverted twisted form of the origninal skaa mist magic the mists pulls away.  He knew that only a mistborn who had this new amplified allomancy could draw on the mists and challeng him, so he created law which said skaa and noblemen were not to have children, and although he made the inquisitors powerful, he built them with a weakness- the back spike.  He also spread rumours about the mists being dangersous amoung the skaa, so they wouldn't venture out and discover their powers.

Maybe, like you say, the Skaa aren't a race at all, maybe the lord ruler just made all the people that could use the mists peasants because he feared them, just like he enslaved his own people the terrismen.

And also, this is why the Lord Ruler called the inquisitors power fabricated because it isn't the true form of allomancy enhancing, the mists are.

I'm beginning to like this theory more and more as time goes on

[Comatose]

Ok, I was just looking over the ruin and preservation thread, and here is a quote from darxbane

Something is definitely missing here.  The most confusing thing about the alleged mist killings is how random and arbitrary the victims seem to be.  Right behind that is how it only seems to happen away from Luthadel, except at the very end of the book.  Finally, not everyone who is attacked dies.  You would think that if Ruin was using the mists to kill It wouldn't screw it up so often.  What if the deaths from the mists are not related to Ruin itself?  Maybe (and this is a WILD theory) the people who die can unknowingly draw on the power of the mists.  When they do, they can't control it and it kills them.  Crazy, huh?  Must be Monday! 

What if these random people are people with skaa blood who can channel the mists?  They are the people who can unknowingly draw on the mist.   I can't believe I missed this, you basically stated my whole theory before I thought it up.   

[darxbane]

There is an annotation for Mistborn 1 that alludes to the Lord Ruler's armbands having Hemallurgic powers.  Also, I am sure he would have added the Piercings of the Hero to his body.  The Inquisitor's power being fabricated blows a big hole in the theory that they get the Allomancy bead when they become inquisitors.  Also, if you re-read Sazed's fight with Marsh, there is mention to the fact that the two metal spikes in his head look different, like they are made of different metals.  However, now it makes sense to me why they are called Steel Inquisitors.  It is not because all of the spikes are steel, it is because the most important one, the one that will kill them if removed, is steel.

[Comatose]

I think that that is probably as well, the inquisitor metals thing, but I don't think they get theiir powers from the metals, for one, they don't have enought to cover all the allomatic powers, unless, they have to be msitings to start, and then they don't need a spike for their own power.  I'll ahve to read that annotation, do you know which one it is?  Probably one near the end.  Which of the lord ruler's piercings do  you think wer the hero piercings, the armbands?  Did he have earrings, ro any other metal piercing his body, I can't remember?

[dawncawley]

Ookla is an Alpha reader, at least I think that is what they are called, but I am not sure if that has colored his opinion. Yes, he has pre-knowledge, no, he usually will not tell us too much. I appreciate that fact really.

As for the rest of this thread, it is a lot to take in and a lot of interesting, if not necessarily something that rings with me, ideas. I might something I like yet. Very active in here too.

[Peter Ahlstrom]

If I know the answers, I can't really speculate. It's been a lot of fun to read these threads though.

[Chaos]

If I know the answers, I can't really speculate. It's been a lot of fun to read these threads though.

I'm sure it amuses you endlessly, lol.

[Peter Ahlstrom]

Not in the way I think you're implying. There's been a lot of good stuff dredged up in these threads, and people have made connections I hadn't noticed before. Brandon always has scattered clues in his books, so discussions of previous books are very interesting even though I've read the third one.

[darxbane]

I don't think the Lord Ruler would have given them Electrum, Malatium, or Alumin.  What would be the point of that?  Besides, could they even see the apparitions?  That would leave the base 8 with Atium, Duralumin, and Gold.  Gold gives Feruchemists health, maybe it increases healing abilities in Hemallurgy as well?

[Hero of Ages]

So OOkla how do you become an Alpha reader.  I so want to be one too.  Of course if you tell me then everyone will know and then you will have to kill us all.