Metals and Investiture
Marked for spoilers just in case.
I’ve been thinking about the relationship between metals and magic in the Cosmere, and I’m curious what people think about the implications.
In the Metallic Arts, the powers associated with metals seem deeply tied to the metals themselves and not just to Preservation.
For example:
- Pewter in Allomancy enhances physical strength, durability, and endurance.
- Tin enhances sensory perception.
- Iron and Steel manipulate physical forces through pushing and pulling.
But we also see these same metals expressing very similar properties elsewhere in the Cosmere outside of Allomancy.
On Roshar, fabrials use metals to direct or shape the effects of trapped spren:
- Pewter-related fabrials can enhance physical exertion.
- Tin-related fabrials interact with the senses.
- Iron and Steel are involved in attraction/repulsion mechanics.
Likewise, in Tress of the Emerald Sea, steel and iron have pushing/pulling interactions through spore-based tools.
This raises a huge question from me:
Did these metals inherently possess these magical associations before the Shattering of Adonalsium, with Preservation merely allowing Allomancers to access them?
Or did Preservation itself define these properties cosmere-wide through the creation of Allomancy?
Because i think the implications are massive either way.
If the metals already had these intrinsic magical properties before Preservation existed, then:
- The number 16 may have always been cosmically significant, which I find likely.
- The Metallic Arts may simply be tapping into pre-existing universal laws.
- The Shattering splitting Adonalsium into 16 Shards may not have been an arbitrary value at all.
But if Preservation is what imposed these effects onto the metals across the Cosmere, then:
- Shards may be capable of rewriting or defining universal magical constants on a cosmere-wide scale.
- The metals themselves may not have been inherently magical beforehand.
- The repeated cross-system behavior of metals would actually be Preservation’s influence propagating universally.
Basically, I’m wondering whether Allomancy reflects a deeper pre-Shattering truth about the Cosmere OR whether Preservation retroactively made these metals spiritually significant everywhere.
Curious what lore people think supports either side.