The Comprehensive Hemalurgy Thread

[Comatose]

Perhaps inquisitors can store metals for longer than normal people, maybe their bodies are so stretched and integrated with metal, that they don't have to worry about keeping metals in their stomachs.

Oh, and does anyone know when I'll be able to find those sample chapters on the net?  I don't think I'll be in a book store for  a while.

[Reaves]

Ah ! I had some nice catching to do ! Fun ! But this time, I cannot add significantly to this thread. Only this quote :

The Inquisitor paused, and she was rewarded by what seemed to be a look of confusion on its twisted face. Then a hundred shadow images shot from his body.

Lord Ruler ! Vin thought. He had atium too.

So, Inquisitors can "use" atium and it seems available upon simple request. Somehow, I just can't imagine an Inquisitor saying to himself  "I will get my atium dose just in case I meet a silly mistborn that will want to fight me today"... Because, really, does atium have any other influence on an Inquisitor other than give him allomantic powers ? And atium being so rare to start with, would Mistborns (or a potential atium misting) really risk to fight an Inquisitor ? I doubt that very much.

yes, i don't quite understand the theory that they always swallow atium in the morning. OK, the Lord Ruler has about ten times as much as anyone else. If we assume he gave it all to the Inquisitors and is not using it to make malatium or simply hoarding it, there still isnt enough for them to have a dose every single day.

[SarahG]

yes, i don't quite understand the theory that they always swallow atium in the morning. OK, the Lord Ruler has about ten times as much as anyone else. If we assume he gave it all to the Inquisitors and is not using it to make malatium or simply hoarding it, there still isnt enough for them to have a dose every single day.

Unless they vomited it up again each night they didn't use it (as Vin does with the bead Zane gave her, when she doesn't end up needing it in the attack on Cett's keep).

[Andrew the Great]

I don't know that the Inquisitors would use atium often enough in order to want to vomit metal up every night. Think about how often they're going to get attacked by a mistborn. Approximately....3 times in their lives? Maybe more now, but before...It doesn't really make sense. Also, if you swallowed atium in the morning, much of it would have digested by the time you vomited it up at the end of the day. Apparently it is vulnerable to dissolution, so stomach acid would make get rid of most of it in that amount of time.

[Chaos]

I don't know that the Inquisitors would use atium often enough in order to want to vomit metal up every night. Think about how often they're going to get attacked by a mistborn. Approximately....3 times in their lives? Maybe more now, but before...It doesn't really make sense. Also, if you swallowed atium in the morning, much of it would have digested by the time you vomited it up at the end of the day. Apparently it is vulnerable to dissolution, so stomach acid would make get rid of most of it in that amount of time.

But wouldn't the spikes in the body pierce the stomach lining, letting the atium-dissolving acids in said stomach drain away?

...Ew. That's disgusting...

[SarahG]

...Ew. That's disgusting...

I'm not sure it's possible to discuss Inquisitors in a non-gruesome way.   

[Andrew the Great]

Chaos, I seem to remember reading somewhere that all of the inquisitor's spikes (with the exception of their lynch pin and their eye spikes) are in their chest. However, I'm having trouble remembering where exactly it was that I read that, so I could be (and probably am) totally wrong. However, it would not be a good idea to pierce the stomach enough that the acid could drain away. Stomach acid is potent stuff. If I remember correctly, it's a type of hydrochloric acid, which puts its pH at 1. Having that stuff swishing around loose in your body...not good. Although I guess that could be (yet) another explanation for why inquisitors need to rest often. 

Anyway, back on track....

I personally believe that the inquisitors do not ingest atium every morning, as it seems impractical. However, that requires that they have some way of getting it fast and before they should technically know they are going to need it, or that they have some other ability (*cough*hemalurgy*cough*) that produces the same effect as atium.

As a side note, atium would probably be completely useless to inquisitors. The only thing that might happen is that they see where the metal lines would be in a few moments, which would be REALLY confusing. So, wouldn't that mean that the only reason an inquisitor burns atium is to confuse the mistborn he's fighting?

My head hurts when I think about only being able to see via metal lines. When I factor in being able to see the equivalent of 20 or so extra people...ouch.

[Comatose]

Or maybe the inquisitors bodies have been changed so much, that one bead of atium will not dissolve after a day in their stomachs.  That's what I'm trying to say, They jsut swallow a bead of atium, keepp it within themselves, unti lthe need it, and then when they use it up, they swallow another  bead.  Is that clear??

[Andrew the Great]

So basically, Inquisitors have the ability to store metals forever until they need them. I like that, it actually makes a lot of sense. Not sure how it would work, but it does make sense. Still, they must go through a lot of steel and iron.

[SarahG]

So basically, Inquisitors have the ability to store metals forever until they need them. I like that, it actually makes a lot of sense. Not sure how it would work, but it does make sense. Still, they must go through a lot of steel and iron.

Yes, I like that concept too.  We know that Inquisitors' physical bodies have been changed in some pretty dramatic ways.  If they can survive having spikes pounded through their heads and chests, then their systems (at least circulatory and nervous) must work in radically different ways than ours.  Why not their digestive systems too?  Do we ever hear of Inquisitors eating?

[Andrew the Great]

Not that i can remember. The only thing we do know about them in that regard is that they need lots of rest. I don't know, though. If they don't get energy from food, they'd have to get it from somewhere else entirely. I don't think you could survive through pewter dragging for forever. So, the question would be, if Inquisitors don't eat, how do they survive?

[Reaves]

very good points raised. It could be they simply need to rest often, it could be they actually live off of metal (no evidence for this at all that i know of) they could live off something related to Hemalurgy.

[SarahG]

So, the question would be, if Inquisitors don't eat, how do they survive?

Good question, but one I don't think we can answer yet.  You might as well ask how they survive without blood circulating or without brain function.  The trouble is, their blood DOES circulate somehow (at least I'm pretty sure they bleed in several of the fight scenes) and their brains DO work (at least, they give every appearance of sentience, thought and reason).  It's just that there must be some change to their bodies to allow them to do these things.  Similarly, there might be some change to their digestive systems to allow them to consume and absorb nutrients in a way that normal people don't.  This might be something different about what they eat or how they eat it.

Of course, this is all wildly speculative, a way to explain Comatose's idea about the atium beads not dissolving in their stomachs.  I'm starting to think it's getting too complicated to be plausible, but who knows?

[Andrew the Great]

I think that most of our theories are too complicated to be plausible. That's what makes them so fun!!!

[JCHancey]

I love how much you guys went into on the acidity of stomach acid and saliva I recall reading that 8 of their spikes are in their chest too, could the location of them be important?  As for the misting blood sacrifice for the the "allomantic" powers, that gets shot down by atium. Just one question, does it say anywhere that TLR uses allomancy? I don't seem to recall this.. but I need to do a re-read.