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Difference between revisions of "Compounding"
→Limitations and Dangers
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According to rumor, Miles Dagouter would constantly tap his metalminds for healing. Waxillium took this to confirm his suspicions that Compounding could be dangerous to stop once started--presumably because the Compounder's body comes to rely on the stores provided.{{book ref|mb4|13}} This suggests that Compounding often leads to [[savant|savanthood]].
Any metal which can affect the world around the user has the potential for catastrophes of global significance when compounded:
A [[brass]] compounder has a theoretical heat limit{{wob ref|5025}}, but unless that limit is substantially lower than the books (and Brandon Sanderson himself when asked) have indicated, a Brass Compounder with a mind to do so could get hot enough to end all life on their planet (being as hot as even a relatively cold star would suffice).▼
*Physical: [[Iron]], [[pewter]], and [[steel]] can produce arbitrary amounts of physical force (which equals mass times acceleration) because [[iron]] allows arbitrarily high amounts of mass, [[steel]] allows arbitrarily high amounts of acceleration, and [[pewter]] directly allows arbitrarily high amounts of force. [[Iron]] could also be used to induce gravitational forces.
▲*Cognitive: A [[brass]] compounder has a theoretical heat limit{{wob ref|5025}}, but unless that limit is substantially lower than the books (and Brandon Sanderson himself when asked) have indicated, a
*Spiritual: While it is not entirely clear how [[chromium]] feruchemy works, truly infinite luck for the user would cause potentially severe problems for anyone and everyone, ''including the user'', as the user's luck might disagree with the user over which benefits to prefer over others, as the luck will functionally have access to more information than the user does in making these choices; some benefits will necessitate hurting others. The problems inherent in infinite luck are potentially identical to summoning an omnipotent, omniscient genie and wishing that it do what is best for you and you alone.
By contrast, the following compounders should be relatively safe:
*[[Tin]], [[Zinc]], [[Bronze]], ''probably'' [[Copper]], [[Bendalloy]], [[Cadmium]], [[Electrum]], [[Gold]], [[Aluminum]], and [[Nicrosil]] only really affect the user and hence should be relatively safe.
**The primary significant danger across them is that compounding them with ''other'' forms of [[Investiture]] that are limited by something the compounding "fixes" might result in infinite power loops with that other power. For example, [[Bendalloy]] compounding would allow infinite use of [[Aether]] and [[sand mastery|Sand Mastery]], while [[Nicrosil]] compounding would allow infinite [[BioChromatic Breath]] and [[Surgebinding]].
*[[Duralumin]] compounding fundamentally does affect others, but generally not in a way that is immediately dangerous; for example, such a compounder could also use [[Hemalurgy]] to create an army of slaves incapable of disobeying them, or they could use [[AonDor]] at infinite distance from the [[Dor]],
== Notable Compunders ==
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