Hemalurgy

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Hemalurgy
by Isaac Stewart
Related to	Ruin
Prerequisites	None
Type	End-Negative
World of Origin	Scadrial
Universe	Cosmere

“Hemalurgy is a power about which I wish I knew far less. ”

—The Hero of Ages

Hemalurgy is one of the three prime manifestations of Investiture on Scadrial. The natives of that world consider it one of the three Metallic Arts. People who use Hemalurgic abilities are called Hemalurgists.

Mechanics

Hemalurgy is the transfer of attributes, such as Allomancy, Feruchemy, or innate human strength via spiritweb theft and splicing. Hemalurgy can transfer almost any type of Investiture. In the Physical Realm, a metallic spike is inserted into a bind point, such as the heart, in order to Hemalurgically charge it. The spike, now containing a fragment of stolen spiritweb, is then ripped out and embedded in the recipient, stapling the ability directly into their spiritual DNA (sDNA). This causes wear and tear on the spiritweb, creating "holes" through which Shards or a sufficiently powerful Rioter or Soother can whisper to or even control a Hemalurgical subject.

Hemalurgy is named for a quirk in bind point placement: due to the interaction between the Spiritual and Physical Realms, the spike must come in contact with moving blood in order to remove or add an attribute. A spike can be charged if the Hemalurgist stabs the donor with the spike or if it is thrown at them, as long as there is Intent and it hits the right bind point. Because of this, spike darts or spike guns would be Hemalurgically viable.

Hemalurgy can be used anywhere in the cosmere, as long as there is an Intent to create a Hemalurgic spike, and it has indeed shown up at least once on a different planet, though in a subtle way. Hemalurgy can also steal attributes from other forms of Investiture. Hemalurgy can be used on animals but not on plants.

For some reason, Hemalurgic spikes don't cause infections.

Stealing of Attributes

Since Hemalurgy involves the transfer of Investiture from one person to another, if the donor is killed, they will enter the Cognitive Realm in a damaged state and be pulled to the Beyond faster. Likewise, if a recipient dies, they will take longer to leave, since they are more Invested.

Creating a Hemalurgic charge requires physical injury, and generally results in the death of the victim. It is possible, however, to charge a spike without killing the target, in which case they would be left in a similar spiritual condition to a Drab, but in a worse condition. In order to charge a spike without killing the victim, one must have the proper Intent, a very thin spike, and to speak a Command (although this step is not strictly necessary). It apparently requires the needle be threaded carefully through the flesh, as to not strike organs. Doing this leaves the victim with a small portion of their spiritweb torn off, but leaves them alive. This also allows one to collect Investiture from non-Allomancers.

It is not thought to be possible for multiple attributes to be stolen from the same person. However, a single spike can take the same attribute from multiple people.

Receiving of Attributes

There is a maximum number of spikes a person can have before causing issues of mental and/or physical limitations. The number of spikes a person can take has been reduced since Ruin was merged with Preservation. If too many spikes are added, the soul stops gaining powers. Compounding is also inaccessible, under normal methods, to any Hemalurgist made after the Shards merged. There are ways to bypass this limitation, but said ways are currently unknown. This relates to the nature of Ruin's subservience to Preservation in the current dual vessel of Harmony and something known as "Identity contamination".

This was likely done without a conscious decision by Harmony, and more of a byproduct of Ruin no longer pushing on the fabric of Scadrial.

Law of Hemalurgic Decay

After the spike pierces through the initial person and is Hemalurgically charged, the Law of Hemalurgic Decay states that the spike loses some of its potency. The longer a spike is outside a body, the weaker it becomes, and a spike will lose most of the power it can lose on the first day outside of a body. Thus, when the Steel Ministry created an Inquisitor, the spikes were driven directly through a victim into the bindpoint of the Inquisitor below to minimize the spike's time spent outside of a person. Additionally, spikes which are physically broken into several pieces will split the charge into the broken pieces, and more Hemalurgic power will be lost when spikes are split.

Despite the decay, a spike will never completely lose its charge. As a spike loses its charge, the stolen soul will move on to the Beyond.

Reduction of Hemalurgic Decay

Coating a spike with blood can reduce the Hemalurgic decay significantly. It is unknown how much blood is necessary to make that effect happen; however, the blood does not need to be fresh nor separated from a body, with cuts of meat large enough to contain the spike also sufficing to reduce decay. This works by 'tricking' the spike into believing that it is buried in a body. It is possible that encasing spikes in aluminum may prevent decay.

Eventually, Arcanists discovered a way to completely avoid Hemalurgic decay outside of the body. However, there is still an amount of Investiture lost during the creation of the spike. The exact method behind this is unknown.

Side Effects of Hemalurgy

When an Allomancer can sense Allomantic pulses through a coppercloud (known as piercing a coppercloud), it is most often due to a Hemalurgic spike. It's simply a matter of Allomantic strength to pierce copperclouds, so if a Seeker has a spike charged with Allomantic bronze, that essentially makes them twice as powerful, allowing them to overpower a coppercloud.

Hemalurgy is a destructive art that twists the body into something almost inhuman (particularly if the spike stole an attribute which is neither Allomantic nor Feruchemical). This twisting is how Inquisitors survive with spikes through their eyes and other vital places, and explains the physical deformation of the koloss. In the case of Inquisitors, it is known that their heart is in a different place and their brain is shaped around their eye-spikes. Extracting the spikes of an Inquisitor at such important places inverts the transformation, causing their death. The more spikes a person has, the higher the chance that there could be issues of mental or physical limitations, and the greater the degree of strain upon the body and soul. Additionally, any children produced by someone with a large number of Hemalurgic spikes, such as an Inquisitor, are likely to encounter complications, although they will also have a higher chance of being an Allomancer.

Hemalurgy was not specifically created by Ruin but rather arose from the interactions between Preservation, Ruin, and Scadrial itself. This Metallic Art has an inherent flaw: each spike creates holes in the mind, making individuals who have received spikes easier to manipulate. This damage to the soul also repulses Radiant spren. The influence of Ruin and presumably emotional Allomancers can be reduced by aluminum.

Damage done to a person's spiritweb by Hemalurgy will have implications for said person during the transition period between physical death and passing into the Beyond. These effects are lessened after they pass to the Beyond.

Some binding oaths and vows will be stolen as well.

Hemalurgic Control

Due to the tear on the spiritweb creating "holes" in the recipient, they are left vulnerable to being manipulated by others. This includes Shards, a sufficiently powerful Rioter or Soother, or a Connector Compounder.

The level of control can range from whispers to full control. The control is exerted in the form of mental pressure, which changes the way the mind thinks, tricking the creature into doing exactly what they want. Those in control are able to sense where the creature is, and must concentrate for direct orders. Otherwise, they will follow general orders. Multiple Hemalurgic creatures can be controlled at once.

The more spikes a creature has, the easier it is to take control. At least four spikes are needed before Harmony can take control of humans, but there are ways around this. A kandra with one spike cannot be controlled by Ruin or Harmony. Harmony can theoretically influence off-planet Hemalurgists, but Shards on those planets and other forms of interference can muddy this.

Hemalurgic creatures can fight the control with mental fortitude. They are easier to subdue when they are feeling strong emotions. Slivers are more resistant to being controlled. The control of Hemalurgic creatures can be stolen by others, particularly if they are stronger. When stolen, those in control will feel a powerful ripping sensation.

For emotional Allomancy, once controlled, the Soothing or Rioting is no longer required. The control will last even while the Allomancer is sleeping or out of metals. This can be achieved by a single Mistborn or Hemalurgist burning duralumin and brass/zinc together, a combination of a Nicroburst and a Soother/Rioter, or a group of Soothers and/or Rioters working together, though in the early days of Final Empire, when Allomancy was much more powerful, a single Soother or Rioter was able to do it.

Hemalurgic Constructs

by Ben McSweeney

Two koloss, one of the types of Hemalurgic constructs

“

I guess what I’m saying is that you shouldn’t experiment too much with this aspect of Hemalurgy. It’s basically useless; there are a million ways to mess up for every one way there is to get a good result. Stick to transferring powers and you’ll be better off. Trust me.

”

— Spook

Any Hemalurgy warps the spiritweb, but physical change is required for a subject to be classified as a Hemalurgic Construct. Four types of Hemalugic Construct are known on Scadrial:

• Steel Inquisitors are former humans with nine to eleven spikes, each charged with an Allomantic or Feruchemical power. Their characteristic eye-spikes grant them Allomantic iron and steel to "see" in lieu of eyes. A linchpin spike, placed in the upper back between the shoulder blades, holds their fraying spiritwebs together; removal results in death. Mistborn and Seekers are preferred candidates to become Inquisitors, due to their ability stacking with spikes granting Allomantic bronze, allowing Inquisitors to pierce Copperclouds.

• Koloss are brutish, monstrous beings created with four iron spikes, each charged with human strength. They lose their intelligence, but gain immense strength. They continue to grow until they die. After the Final Ascension Harmony changed them into a breeding race.

• Kandra are former Mistwraiths given sapience by two spikes, both charged with the same human attribute. To the Kandra this is known as a Blessing. It is possible for a Kandra to have sapience with only one spike, although their behavior will be more erratic as a result.

• Chimeras are former humans, and are created with a single Trellium spike, charged with an unknown attribute. Their single spike makes them invulnerable to Harmony's control, which requires two. They are quadrupedal, and their features have been twisted in such a way that they now more closely resemble canines, in addition to having thicker skulls to resist modern firearms. The Set has developed a strain of Chimera with two spikes rather than one. This strain is informally known as "Metal Mutants".

Hemalurgic Properties of Metals

For a table of all magical properties of the metals, see Metallic Arts.

Table of Hemalurgic Metals
PHYSICAL						COGNITIVE
	Iron Steals strength	Steel Steals Physical Allomantic powers		Zinc Steals emotional fortitude	Brass Steals Cognitive Feruchemical powers
	Tin Steals Senses	Pewter Steals Physical Feruchemical powers		Copper Steals mental fortitude, memory, and intelligence	Bronze Steals Mental Allomantic powers
	Chromium Might steal destiny	Nicrosil Steals Investiture	Cadmium Steals Temporal Allomantic powers	Bendalloy Steals Spiritual Feruchemical powers
	Aluminum Removes all powers	Duralumin Steals Connection/Identity	Gold Steals Hybrid Feruchemical powers	Electrum Steals Enhancement Allomantic powers
SPIRITUAL					TEMPORAL

God Metals
Metal	Shard	Effect
Atium	Ruin	Steals any power. Must be refined.
Malatium	Ruin	Unknown
Lerasium	Preservation	Steals all abilities
Harmonium	Harmony	Unknown
Trellium	Autonomy	Unknown
Raysium	Odium	Unknown

Bind Points

This page or section deals with theories or speculation.

Please read carefully and note that this is not necessarily canonical.

“ For all that it disgusts me, I cannot help but be impressed by Hemalurgy as an art. In Allomancy and Feruchemy, skill and subtlety come through the application of one's powers. The best Allomancer might not be the most powerful, but instead the one who can best manipulate the Pushes and Pulls of metals. The best Feruchemist is the one who is most capable of sorting the information in his copperminds, or best able to manipulate his weight with iron.

The art that is unique to Hemalurgy, however, is the knowledge of where to place the spikes.

”

— The Hero of Ages

The points which can be used for Hemalurgy are known as "bind points" and there are between 200 and 300 in the human body with different points being useful for distinct sets of effects. Seeing into the Spiritual Realm, perhaps by burning atium, helps with placing spikes.

Another important aspect of Hemalurgy is spike location. The spike must be placed in certain locations on the human body in order to steal a power or attribute, and then placed in another point on the recipient to tap into their spiritweb. Most common attributes are stolen through the heart. If a spike is placed in the wrong location it can have unforeseen effects, such as killing the recipient, granting the wrong power, or possibly not granting any power at all. Beyond that, bind points may function differently if the victim has a sufficiently altered spiritweb.

There are other ways to use spikes than to place them in bind points.

Bind Point	Spike Material	Hemalurgic Effect	Seen in
Interscapular Space	Varies. Also known as a linchpin spike.	Unknown; binds other spikes together to keep the receiver alive	Normal Inquisitors
Left Eyesocket	Steel	Unconfirmed, likely Allomantic Steel and/or Iron	Normal Inquisitors
Right Eyesocket	Steel	Unconfirmed, likely Allomantic Steel and/or Iron	Normal Inquisitors, Kelsier
Between Ribs	Steel	Unconfirmed, likely Allomantic Pewter and/or Tin	Normal Inquisitors
Between Ribs	Bronze	Allomantic Brass, Zinc, Copper, and Bronze	Normal Inquisitors
Between Ribs	Electrum	Allomantic Duralumin	Wax
Between Ribs	Gold	Feruchemical Gold	Normal Inquisitors
Chest	Atium	Allomantic Atium	Normal Inquisitors
Heart	Pewter	Feruchemical Steel	The Inquisitor at Vetitan
Heart	Bronze	Allomantic Copper	Penrod
Sternum	Steel	Allomantic Steel	Zane
Earlobe	Bronze	Allomantic Bronze	Vin
Upper Arm	Bronze	Allomantic Bronze	Quellion
Shoulders	Steel	Allomantic Pewter	Spook
Shoulders	Iron	Blessing of Potency	Kandra (Note, however, that Kandra do not consistently have shoulders)
Shoulders	Tin	Blessing of Awareness	Kandra (Note, however, that Kandra do not consistently have shoulders)
Shoulders	Zinc	Blessing of Presence	Kandra (Note, however, that Kandra do not consistently have shoulders)
Shoulders	Copper	Blessing of Stability	Kandra (Note, however, that Kandra do not consistently have shoulders)

Other Uses

“ I maintain, however, that the one of these with the largest potential impact on the cosmere is Hemalurgy. Usable by anyone with the right knowledge, this dangerous creation has proven able to warp souls regardless of planet or Investiture, creating false Connections that no Shard designed or intended. ”

— Khriss discussing Hemalurgy

Allomancy and Feruchemy

Allomantic and Feruchemical abilities granted with Hemalurgy cannot be inherited.

If an Allomancer attempted to burn a Hemalurgic spike, the Allomancer's spiritual DNA would be spliced to that of the person's contained in the spike. The consequences of this are as of yet unknown.

Allomancers cannot burn Hemalurgic spikes that have extracted powers from others; they would only be able to burn a spike that was used to steal power from them.

An atium spike granting Allomantic atium could be briefly burned by the recipient.

The same piece of metal can be Hemalurgically and Feruchemically charged at the same time.

When a Feruchemical ability is stolen, the spike's recipient is able to access any metalminds created by the donor. If that spike was split into two pieces and given to two different people, they would both be able to access their donor's metalminds but not those made by the other person, due to the recipients' own identities "muddying" the metalminds' keying.

Cognitive Shadows

Hemalurgy is able to hold a Cognitive Shadow to a body in the Physical Realm by spiking them through the right eye socket. This also grants iron/steel sight for the spiked eye.

Elantrians

More could be taken from an Elantrian than most other beings. Reod Elantrians can also be spiked. Two spikes would be required to steal an Elantrian's powers, with one spike stealing the powers and the other spike stealing the Elantrian's Connection to Sel.

Forgery

It is possible to steal Investiture a Forger has given someone (e.g. if a Forger made someone an Allomancer, a Hemalurgist could steal that ability and become an Allomancer without needing the soulstamp).

Awakening

It is possible for a spike to be Awakened, but it would be more difficult than Awakening metal without a Hemalurgic charge. It is theoretically possible to spike a Lifeless, if "there was enough of the soul left for the spike to take". Hemalurgy can also be used to spike a Divine Breath from a Returned, and the recipient would not need to consume a Breath a week. Normal Breaths can be stolen using a nicrosil spike.

Surgebinding

It is possible to steal Surgebinding, but it is more difficult compared to other Investitures due to the Nahel bond. Since a spren still has autonomy over the bond, they can break the bond and the Hemalurgist could immediately lose the power. A Hemalurgist can also spike spren and spike the Nahel bond from the spren. Doing so would have weird ramifications. In order to effectively steal Surgebinding, the Hemalurgist would need to spike both the Surgebinder and the spren.

Shardblades

It is possible to steal a dead Shardblade, although Hemalurgic decay would lengthen the summoning time.

Old Magic

It is possible to remove a boon and curse granted to someone else from the Old Magic. It is also possible, though much more difficult, to separate the boon and curse.

Singers

Hemalurgy can be used to replicate the transformation of a singers Forms. It can also be used to spike the ability to grow a gemheart.

Dawnshards

Dawnshards, even Dawnshards without any other Invesiture, protect themselves, so a Hemalurgist attempting to steal a Dawnshard would have "a very bad time."

Resonances and Savantism

Hemalurgically granted abilities will not create resonances most of the time, though a person can still become a savant with them. The extra abilities gained by a savant cannot be transferred through Hemalurgy.

Notable Hemalurgists

For a full list, see here.

• Marsh
• Kelsier
• Spook
• Paalm
• Miles Dagouter
• Vin
• Zane Venture
• Telsin Ladrian
• Edwarn Ladrian
• Waxillium Ladrian
• Wayne

Trivia

• People using Hemalurgy have been to Roshar and have likely been seen "on screen" in The Stormlight Archive. However, their identities have not been revealed.
• The early editions of The Hero of Ages said Feruchemical healing was granted by pewter spikes, even though the Hemalurgy table says pewter spikes only give Physical Feruchemical abilities. Brandon indicated that pewter spikes could steal from the hybrid quadrant as well. However, later editions of the book changed the pewter spike mentioned to a gold spike and added an additional mention to a gold health spike in chapter 5.

Notes

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