Magic Systems

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There are three systems of magic. Each of them uses metals, and each type of metal has a different effect. There are sixteen known metals that produce effects.

Allomancy
Allomancy draws power from the metals themselves. By "burning" metals in a person's stomach, it gives the user certain abilities. There are four types of allomatic metals: Physical, mental, temporal, and enhancement. Within each category, there are two internal metals and two external metals. For example, zinc and copper are both mental metals. Zinc, an external metal, allows the allomancer to riot others' emotions, while copper, its external counterpart, allows the user to hide their alomancy (which can be sensed by using bronze). The internal and external metals come in pairs. Zinc and brass (external) allows the manipulation of emotions. Pewter and tin (internal) enhance a person's body. Each compliments the other, and one is always an alloy of the other. You can see more examples of this in the chart below. Allomancy is hereditary, so the only people who have it are those with noble blood. A person can either burn one of the sixteen metals or all of them. A person who can burn one is known as a "misting," while those who can use all of them is called "Mistborn." In current times, Mistborn are rare.

Feruchemy
In feruchemy, instead of drawing power from the metals, a person uses them to store attributes from their own body. If they want to store eyesight, they have to spend a period of time with poor eyesight. If they want to store health, they have to spend time in a sickly state. Like alomancy, feruchemy is hereditary. The only people known to possess it are the Terrismen, a people that live in the Northern Dominance. The Terrismen have been severely oppressed by the Lord Ruler. They are controlled by a breeding program, the Lord Ruler's method to attempt to exterminate feruchemy. However, a group of feruchemists have created a society known as the "Keepers," who store knowledge, especially of times before the Lord Ruler's reign.

Hemalurgy
Hemalurgy steals power from other people by killing them with a spike and then driving that spike into the body another person. The type of spike used and placement of it determines the type of power it grants. Unknown to the general population, the Steel Inquisitors are users of hemalurgy.

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Allomancy

Physical Metals
External
Iron (Pulls) and Steel (Pushes)- Known as an Ironpull, iron allows users to pull on any source of metal. Likewise, a steel allows users to push on sources of metal. The size and distance of the metal source determines whether it can be affected. Burning iron or steel causes blue lines to appear from an Allomancer's chest to any nearby sources of metal. They can then "tug" or "push" on that line. Metal can only be pulled or pushed in a direct line toward or from the body. Ironpulls (and Steelpushes) are dependent on weight. Pulling on a metal heavier than the person (or anchored to something heavier) will cause the person to be pulled toward that source. Pulling on something lighter, therefore, will pull the object toward the Allomancer. Pushing on something heavier will throw a person backward, while pushing on something lighter will shoot the object away. It's very difficult to vary the force of pulls and pushes, so pulling and pushing on metals tends to be very dramatic, depending on the strength of the person.

Internal
Tin (Pulls)- Burning tin increases the five senses, giving a person enhanced hearing, sight, touch, scent, and taste. Like pewter, tin has obvious advantages and disadvantages. Enhanced senses allows a person to see and hear things no one else can, but loud noises are jarring, bright light is blinding, and even pain becomes more extreme. Along with allowing an Allomancer to see farther, tin enhances night vision and gives the ability to pierce the mists. One of the wonders of tin is the ability to see stars, which are hidden from normal people by the mists that cloak the night. A tin Misting is called a Tineye.

Pewter (Pushes)- Pewter enhances the body, increasing muscle strength, reflexes, speed, and endurance. A person burning pewter will be more resistant to pain and exhaustion and will heal much faster than a normal person. Burning pewter can allow a person to keep fighting when they should collapse, and to survive wounds that would be fatal to others. Pewter also strengthens a person's bones, making them less susceptible to blows. Burning pewter for an extended amount of time is called a "pewter drag." A person on a pewter drag can fight or run at full speed for hours, but it leaves the body drained and takes several days to recover from. Running out of pewter in the middle of a pewter drag can be deadly. A Misting that can burn pewter is called a Thug or a Pewterarm.

Mental Metals
External
Zinc (Pulls) and Brass (Pushes)- Zinc and brass give the ability to affect another person's emotions. Zinc enflames emotions and brass dampens them. While these metals let the Allomancer manipulate emotions, knowing what a person is already feeling is an important part of being a Rioter or a Soother. It can be a delicate art, and the best of them know how to be subtle enough that the person has no clue their emotions are being affected. Most Rioters and Soothers can only direct their abilities at so many people at once. Affecting a whole crowd of people is difficult, and most can only manage general emotions. Pushing and pulling in more specific ways requires being able to focus on one person or a small group.

Internal
Copper (Pulls)- Burning copper creates a "coppercloud" around the user. Anyone burning metals inside the cloud will be hidden from another Allomancer using bronze. A copper user, called a Smoker, is also immune to emotional Allomancy while burning their metal.

Bronze (Pushes)- Sometimes considered the least useful of the Allomantic metals, bronze allows a person to sense people using Allomancy nearby. A person burning bronze can "hear" pulses that indicate someone burning metals. Talented Seekers, as they are called, are able to distinguish one metal from another based on the rhythm and speed of the pulses. However, any group of Allomancers that has a Smoker among them are effectively hidden from a Seeker, rending the power somewhat useless.

Temporal Metals
External
Unknown

Internal
Gold- Gold is believed to be one of the most useless Allomantic metals. It grants the ability to see what a person might have been had they made different choices in the past. It's described as a surreal experience, as the person essentially becomes two people at once. It has a tendency to inflict emotional trauma, so it is rarely used.

Electrum- This metal is a carefully guarded secret, unknown but to a select few, the Lord Ruler being one of them. It lets a person see their own future, effectively disabling the effects of another person burning atium.

Enhancement Metals
External
Unknown

Internal
Aluminum- Aluminum destroys a person's metal reserves, basically leaving them powerless. Another closely guarded secret by the Lord Ruler, only he and his Inquisitors know about it. As an aluminum Misting wouldn't be able to burn any other metals, burning aluminum would do absolutely nothing for them, making it a useless power.

Duralumin- This metal gives a Mistborn the ability to burn their metals in a single burst of power. The Mistborn must be burning the second metal before burning duralumin, which will burn up the reserves of that metal very quickly. Burning duralumin and pewter can give a must-needed extra burst of strength, and using it with iron or steel will create an extremely powerful pull or push. It also gives the Allomancer the ability to completely deaden a person's emotions with brass or effect a large group of people with brass or zinc. Like aluminum, a duralumin Misting is useless. Even the Inquisitors don't know of its existence.

God Metals
Atium- An extremely rare, extremely valuable metal, atium allows someone to see into the immediate future. Burning atium creates a 'shadow' that reveals events a few seconds into the future. In a fight, this lets them see exactly what their opponent will do, effectively making them invincible. It also enhances the mind, letting them process the new information quickly and react to it. The only known way to beat a Mistborn burning atium is to burn it yourself, which creates a chain effect that causes an infinite number of atium shadows to appear to both Allomancers. However, burning electrum will also create this effect, but no one knows about it. Only a small amount of atium is sold to the nobles by the Lord Ruler, and at ridiculously high prices. Atium can only be mined in one place: the Pits of Hathsin. Only the Lord Ruler and House Venture (who oversees the mines) know this. Atium Misting exist, though they are very rare and few know about them. They're called Seers.