Mist

Mist
by Jan Sidoryk
Related to	Preservation
Type	Investiture
World of Origin	Scadrial
Universe	Cosmere

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Mist is a term used to refer to a phenomenon in the world of Scadrial. While it does resemble ordinary mist, it exhibits many unusual properties.

Composition

The mist is a gaseous manifestation of Preservation's power similar to both the liquid in the Well of Ascension and the beads of lerasium. The mist is far less dense than Preservation's liquid form, and as such is more limited in what can be done with it. Where Preservation's liquid form can be used to do great things, from moving planets to changing or creating living creatures, the mist seems to only be able to function incidentally as fuel for Allomancy, albeit unusually powerful fuel.

Characteristics & Attributes

Pre-Catacendre

The mists were originally set up as a method to create Mistings by Leras via the mist spirit. This spirit takes people that fall well below the level needed for the physical or emotional pain to be able to Snap them, and then creates a trauma while raising their level of Preservation in their body. This process could be fatal to the person snapped depending on many factors, one of which is what type of Allomancy the person is getting. Some have only a little trauma, and others have debilitating trauma inflicted on them that requires weeks of bed rest. The elderly and young are more susceptible to death during this process.

The mist reacts to any Allomancer by swirling around them so long as they are not pierced by a Hemalurgic spike. Any Allomancer with a spike will slightly repulse the mists as if they were pushing it away from them.

Ruin's power is sometimes seen as a black mist where Preservation's is a white mist. This manifestation of Ruin's power is only seen at the Well of Ascension and after Ati's death before Sazed picked up both shards.

After the Catacendre

After Harmony's Ascension, more than one type of mist began appearing: a darker mist representing Ruin and a lighter mist representing Preservation. They are capable of powering both Allomancy and Feruchemy. Additionally, they stopped pulling away from Hemalurgy until sometime between 341 and 348 PC. They will also stay far away from an avatar of Autonomy.

The mist that obscures the night can be partially pierced by an Allomancer burning tin to reveal the stars above. A tin savant can even pierce them to the point that they are virtually gone to their sight. The mists can also distort sounds. The mists will not enter any building and even a simple tent is enough to keep them out.

In special circumstances some Allomancers can and have drawn on the mists for power, using them as fuel for Allomancy even after their ingested metals have all been burned. This use of the mists allows for greater power when using Allomancy to the point that a person can even push on metals piercing someone's skin. Harmony can also use the mists to give a greater effect than they might otherwise have. This can even be used to give boost of strength and calmness.

The Mists can be captured in a polestone. The mist would push away from Nightblood.

History

Classical Scadrial

by clarinking

Vin floating above the mists

The mists are the basis for the phenomenon known as the Deepness during Pre-Ascension times that The Lord Ruler defeated. Before the events that led to Alendi heading to the Well of Ascension, the mist via the mist spirit Snapped people to create Mistings. At this time no Mistborn existed as the level of Preservation in each person was too low.

The Final Empire

The mists during the Lord Ruler's reign appeared every night, providing a dense fog that obscured everything. They acted in a different fashion than normal fog and never appeared during the daytime. The mists would disperse soon after entering a structure or tent wafting in with misty tendrils then dissipating. The skaa, fearing the mists and the mistwraiths, stayed indoors at night time and only went out into the mist when absolutely necessary. Nobles, however, did not have the same pathological fear of the mists and even named their most powerful warriors after it, although the title Mistborn may be something The Lord Ruler gave them because he knew the true nature of the mist and lerasium.

The mists during this time did not seem to Snap people; however, most noblemen would have been Snapped as a child and skaa always hid from the mists. Skaa that did go out in the mist and were Snapped could have very easily justified skaa fears of the mist, preventing more Snapping from occurring. Additionally, a skaa Misting may have never known of his powers, or if he did find out, he may have chosen to hide the fact, since being a Misting meant death for skaa in the Final Empire. The mists changed the moment the full power of the Well returned to be drawn again and started to Snap people.

After the Final Ascension

After Sazed picked up both Shards, becoming Harmony, more than one type of mist began appearing, and the mists no longer obscured the land every night. There are now two types of mists: a darker mist representing Ruin and a lighter mist representing Preservation. The mists appear to have become a more localized phenomenon, only covering a section of land each night instead of the whole land. The mists no longer Snap people as they once did, and it is unknown how this is done now. Due to the fact that Harmony disliked how Snapping worked before, it now functions differently.

Coinshots have started calling the nightscape above the mists the Ascendant's Fields. It is only accessible to Coinshots as they can push themselves into the sky.

Notes

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