Theoryland of the Wheel of Time

Hero of Ages Q&A - TWG (Verbatim)

Also, you should tell us what the last two metals are.

The last two metals are Chromium and Nicrosil. We'll reveal what they do on the Allomancy poster. Suffice it to say that in the next trilogy, the main protagonist would be a Nicrosil Misting. And, to make a Robert Jordan-type comment, what those two metals do should become obvious to the serious student of Allomancy... (It has to do with the nature of the metal groupings.)

HAPPYMAN

If I read the poster correctly, and have the correlations down, these metals are the external enhancement metals.

The simplest idea is that they do to another person what Aluminum and Duralumin do to the Allomancer burning them. If this is true, then Chromium would destroy another Allomancer's metals (useful skill, that, especially in a group of Mistings fighting a Mistborn) while Nicrosil would cause the target's metals that are currently burning to be burned in a brief, intense flash. This could be used either to enhance a group of Mistings or to seriously mess up an enemy Allomancer.

PETER AHLSTROM

The other metals do not have exact one-to-one power correlations like that, so it seems more likely to me that they would work differently. It could be like an area effect weakening or enhancing spell. You would want an enhancer in your party, and you wouldn't want to go up against a weakener.

Nicrosil is a rather more complicated alloy than the others. It's an interesting one to pick, rather than something simpler like nichrome (though I guess that's actually a brand name).

BRANDON SANDERSON

Nicely done.

Ookla is right, the others don't have 1/1 correlations. But I liked this concept far too much not to use it.

In a future book series, Mistborn will also have become things of legend. The bloodlines will have become diluted to the point that there are no Mistborn, only Mistings—however, the latter are far more common. In this environment, a Nicrosil Misting could be invaluable both as an enhancer to your own team or a weapon to use against unsuspecting other Mistings.

DOUGLAS (17 OCTOBER)

I take it either Spook did not have children or Sazed made him a reduced-strength Mistborn rather than giving him the full potency of the 9 originals and Elend?

BRANDON SANDERSON

Spook is a reduced power Mistborn.

CHAOS (16 OCTOBER)

Very interesting about the Nicrosil.

So, if there is no more atium, then that would mean in any future trilogy, there would only be 14 metals, right? Somehow, that doesn't seem right, but maybe that is because it irks me that one quartet to be left incomplete with the absence of atium.

Would it be possible for Sazed to create a replacement metal, by chance, or will the temporal quartet remain inherently empty? It doesn't seem like it's too far of a stretch for Sazed to make more metals: after all, the metal Elend ate was a fragment of Preservation, and now Sazed holds Preservation.

BRANDON SANDERSON

That's a RAFO, I'm afraid. Suffice it to say that what the characters think they understand about the metals, they don't QUITE get right. If you study the interaction between the temporal metals, you might notice an inconsistency in the way they work...

PETER AHLSTROM

Uh-huh. That was already noticed by theorizers in the forums here. Gold works like Malatium and Electrum works like Atium. Yet they're on opposite corners of the metal square.

BRANDON SANDERSON

Ah. I wondered if that had been noticed.

This future book series is the second Mistborn Trilogy, not Alloy of Law. It seems that at the time of Alloy of Law, the people don't have a knowledge of nicrosil and chromium.

mistborn, allomancy, alloy of law, nicrosil, lerasium, preservation, sazed, spook, peter, future books,

Hero of Ages Q&A - TWG (Verbatim)

Are there any Allomantic metals we have not seen yet, besides Chromium and Nicrosil?

RAFO. (Sorry.) Let's just say that when Sazed said there are two metals you haven't found, he MIGHT not have been referring to a metal and its alloy, but two base metals. Who knows. Gods can be frustratingly ambiguous in times like that.

mistborn, first mistborn trilogy, hero of ages, sazed, metallic arts, allomancy, feruchemy, hemalurgy, future books, nicrosil,

Shadows of Self-Oak Brook, IL

A nicrosil Ferring stores Investiture. Would a Nicrosil Compounder be able to gain Investiture up to the power of a Shard by infinitely compounding?

I talk a lot about that in an upcoming Mistborn book. So that’s a RAFO. The reading is coming. I will explain what it does.

Nicrosil, compounding,

MiniCon 2015

Does Hoid have a Hemalurgically charged Nicrosil spike?

It's... unlikely. Hoid would not want to open himself to the influence of Shards so using Hemalurgy on himself is unlikely. Although Hemalurgy is the easiest way to get other powers, he'd more likely do things the hard way.

Tags

Calamity-Seattle

So nicrosil. Wax couldn’t use a blank gold metalmind because he’s not a gold ferring, why can he use a blank nicrosil metalmind?

So this will all come out eventually but the idea is there are certain ways to connect yourself to the magic, to hack the magic and make it think you have the Spiritual DNA that you don’t actually have. And this is one of the ways.

Tags

Brandon Sanderson RAFOlympics at JordanCon 8 (Verbatim)

In the original Mistborn series, where Leras plans the 1/16 Snapping, was he not aware of chromium and nicrosil?

He was aware that they were not aware of it. He was using the kind of vague ability in some of the Cosmere magics to read possibilities on the future. He was also already not completely there when he was building this.

Leras, snapping, nicrosil, chromium,

Shadows of Self - Lansing, MI (Paraphrased)

Are you ever going to show us nicrosil and chromium?

Yes I will.

The kid who asked this question was, at most, 11 years old. Brandon employed him to run prizes around during the General Q&A to those who asked questions, which got the kid super excited

nicrosil, chromium,

DragonCon 2016

Could feruchemical Nicrosil be used to store other invested abilities, such as a Returned breath or the abilities of the Knights Radiant?

Yes, that's possible

nicrosil, investiture,

Borderlands SF-AU Tour (Paraphrased)

Could a double-nicrosil Twinborn compound Breath or Stormlight?

Uh, you’re getting a RAFO card on _that_. You’re getting SUCH a RAFO card on that!

nicrosil, compounding, twinborn,

Little City Books-AU Tour (Paraphrased)

How much compounding would a nicrosil twinborn would need to do to get a metalmind that is as Invested as Nightblood?

Wow so much.

Question

A thousand breaths doesn't seem to be that much - the God King has tens of thousands - would a piece of stone or wood or cloth or plain metal that has a thousand breaths be as Invested as Nightblood, or is there something more?

Brandon Sanderson

needs more

nicrosil, twinborn, compounding, investiture, nightblood,