Could a metalmind store colour?

[KelsierFortnite he/him]

If someone was both an Awakener and a Feruchemist, would it be possible to use a metalmind to store colour to use in Awakening? If so, what metal would be used?

[alder24]

3 minutes ago, KelsierFortnite said:

If someone was both an Awakener and a Feruchemist, would it be possible to use a metalmind to store colour to use in Awakening? If so, what metal would be used?

No. Firstly there is no known metal that would allow you to store color, secondly you would have to store your body color and only it. That can be problematic. Color isn't really a problem when Awakening, I don't think there is a need for a Metalmind like this. The draining of color is actually changing something in the soul of an object and you can't drain a color from something that's alive (with very few Commands being an exception) - that means even if there was a metal like this, you might not be able to utilize stored color, because you would have to tap it, which would affect only your body, from which you can't drain colors.

But there are something like 10^19000 possible god metal combinations, so who knows, maybe one of them allows you to store the color of your body.

[Treamayne]

2 hours ago, alder24 said:

But there are something like 10^19000 possible god metal combinations, so who knows, maybe one of them allows you to store the color of your body.

Calling it now - Feruchemical Edglium leeches color from an object and stores it. If you tap while awakening, it provides the color to the BioBreath. . . 

[Quantus he/him]

I have a very random theory:  I think Color, or perhaps cognitive Vibrance,  is a form of minute Investiture granted to objects that have been Observed.  I believe that a specific example of this is seen in how most Shadesmar crystal plants are black but the occasional one comes in vibrant colors, I think those are the ones that have been Observed, and (just like spren) transformed in part by it. I think that same basic Vibrance Investiture is what Heightenings augment in an aura affect and what Awakening uses to initiate the movement of Investiture without depleting the Breaths themselves.  

If that theory has any validity, then the closest Feruchemical storage route would be Nicrosil for a form of raw Investiture.  

[Duxredux he/him]

8 hours ago, KelsierFortnite said:

If someone was both an Awakener and a Feruchemist, would it be possible to use a metalmind to store colour to use in Awakening? If so, what metal would be used?

Well... Bloodmaker lets you store a bright color source. We have a case of Vasher Awakening using blood flowing from a chest wound and it drips colorless. In an emergency you can cut yourself, use blood for Awakening then heal up. Expensive use case for Health though, particularly compared to a bottle of dye. It would work in an emergency, like say if you had been shoved out a window and were falling to your death, but then any sufficiently experienced Awakener could do that.

Yeah... you don't need a metal bracer for this, even if there was an ability that let you do this. If there was a metal that let you store personal color, then I'm more interested in looking at selective Feruchemical camouflage or invisibility depending on the mechanism, not Awakening.

Edited February 23 by Duxredux

[alder24]

14 hours ago, Duxredux said:

Well... Bloodmaker lets you store a bright color source. We have a case of Vasher Awakening using blood flowing from a chest wound and it drips colorless. In an emergency you can cut yourself, use blood for Awakening then heal up. Expensive use case for Health though, particularly compared to a bottle of dye. It would work in an emergency, like say if you had been shoved out a window and were falling to your death, but then any sufficiently experienced Awakener could do that.

I think you can't drain color from a fresh, running blood, it has to be dried and clotted blood. It wasn't specifically said in Warbreaker, but in my mind it makes sense. Fresh blood that is just leaving your body might still be considered to be alive. Vasher was being tortured for hours, there was a lot of time for the blood to clot and dry, becoming viable for Awakening. But again, it wasn't specifically said in Warbreaker. If that's the case you can't use that tactic, you need to wait which is just more inconvenient than a bag of colorful handkerchiefs. Warbreaker ch 56:

Quote

“Grab things,” he Commanded, whipping the rope out, drawing color from his bloodstained shorts. They bled to grey...
[...]
“Become as my leg and give it strength!” he Commanded, drawing color from the blood on his chest.

 

15 hours ago, Duxredux said:

Yeah... you don't need a metal bracer for this, even if there was an ability that let you do this. If there was a metal that let you store personal color, then I'm more interested in looking at selective Feruchemical camouflage or invisibility depending on the mechanism, not Awakening.

True, becoming an octopus would be fun.

[Duxredux he/him]

1 hour ago, alder24 said:

I think you can't drain color from a fresh, running blood, it has to be dried and clotted blood. It wasn't specifically said in Warbreaker, but in my mind it makes sense. Fresh blood that is just leaving your body might still be considered to be alive. Vasher was being tortured for hours, there was a lot of time for the blood to clot and dry, becoming viable for Awakening. But again, it wasn't specifically said in Warbreaker. If that's the case you can't use that tactic, you need to wait which is just more inconvenient than a bag of colorful handkerchiefs. Warbreaker ch 56:

Yup, you were thinking of the exact scene I was thinking of, but you stopped a couple of paragraphs early.

Quote

Vasher barreled toward them, colorless translucent blood dropping from his skin as he drew his Breath back from the rope.

It's still not fully conclusive, but this blood is liquid enough to shake off. Didn't think this detail would be particularly relevant, but Vivenna notices that Vasher has a rather hairy torso, and I'm pretty confident that dried blood with plenty of hair to adhere to won't just shake off from someone running. There's some degree of Intent involved with choosing what color source to use when Awakening, since it seems like Vasher can choose to use a handkerchief instead of risking draining the color from his cloak (particularly when it's not Awakened already), so blood as a color source might not be something that most are aware is even possible. Vasher certainly seems to think about what he uses as a source.

The main situation that I can think of where you would even need an emergency color source is if an Awakener was captured and held against their will, Vasher demonstrating one of those when he had all of his colored items confiscated and was tortured. The other we've seen is in the prison setup they had for Vahr, for forcing an Awakener to give up their Breaths. Now if I was Vasher and hung up like that, first I'd try to get the gag out by altering my shape a bit (I'm guessing growing closer to full Returned size would stretch the gag enough that I could get it out when shrinking back down to normal size, but hurt me more than it would the manacles). Next, I'd pull bits of my beard or shoulder-length hair out with my teeth, and do my best to tie a little hair man in my mouth (not easy by any means, but doable with hours or centuries of practice). Then, I'd rub my arms against the manacles until they were raw and bleeding or bite the inside of my mouth to get some accessible blood as color. Finally Command the hair man to pick the manacle locks or fetch the key. And that's a hypothetical method to break out of an Awakener's prison specifically designed to deprive you of voice, color, and objects to Awaken. If they want you alive to get your Breath, they'd have to put in a lot more precautions in place to prevent you from using your own blood as a color source.

Edited February 24 by Duxredux