Er quick question, but how is nuclear fission even supposed to produce material? All it does is convert one element into another (+- a fuckton of energy), so you would need some very high up elements if you want to produce something like gold via fission. Wich I don't think she put in, as Snorri said that the rune didn't meed extra materials.
It can't be providing energy either, because again, we would need extra materials.
I just jumped to nuclear fission because that was the connection I made when i read "fission". And i said in my post that it was very unlikely that it was that.
We know what happens when you move the order of doing things in making a rune
As a rule you generally get an inferior version of the rune thats tied more heavily to a specific type of the concept. This loses power by being tied to a specific concept reduces its metaphysical weight and it also loses connections to more useful sub versions of the concept like going from Fire to Green Fire could lose connotations of Dragon Fire.
Not only has nothing Valaya done demonstrate the thought process that you say she's trying to teach us, your conclusion is massively at odds with the WoG statement about how runes work.
E: At least thats how I interpreted your statement, as I said at the top, I'm not sure I followed your chain of thought.
E:E: Also the Rune of Annealing and the Chain stuff came literal centuries after Valaya gave us the basket so it feels like a very tenuous link. Really don't get what you're driving at there.
I'm just extrapolating from Snorri's experiments.
We've seen Snorri do trial and error experiments with both the Master Rune of Purification and using subtle variations to improve the Prosthetics.
We've seen the result of a failed experiment with the Master Rune of Forgeflame which Snorri derived from the Master Rune of Conduction, presumably by making small modifications to the inscription process. Small, subtle alterations that hopefully lead in the right direction.
Powering Barak Azamar with a Troll heart instead of the Stonehorn's horn is another example of Snorri straying from the established pronunciation of a rune. A troll heart is not an obvious direct upgrade the Stonehorn's horns (Eg using Adamant instead of Gromril, or Dragon brain instead of Griffon Brain). It has a different metaphysical weight to it, and Snorri understands enough about that part to use it.
Yes, the standard chants are precise ways to reproduce a Rune consistently, and most of the time changing the chant doesn't get you anywhere. But there is some space to play. It's not always useful to do so, because most of the concepts have long since been fully optimized.
What I think Valaya did with the Rune of Cleaving was take the process used to make it and tinker with it to the point of inversion.
The rune of Cleaving was originally made for Miner's picks to break stone more easily.
Inverted, it is a pretty useless rune, and not one any conventional dwarf would get to normally. Snorri describing the elements that look to be derived from the rune of Cleaving as "roundabout and obtuse". But when combined with elements from Healing runes, the inverted components from the rune of Cleaving lets Healing work on inorganic objects.
But that's just theorycrafting on my end.
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I don't see 180 years as a grand obstacle for Valaya. If we were talking about anyone else, it might be reaching. But Valaya is a goddess, and has nurturing in her portfolio. The Ancestors have demonstrated the ability to reach through space, so I don't see it as that much of a stretch to attribute borderline prophetic foresight to Valaya when it comes to her portfolio.
I don't think it's a stretch for Valaya to know what Snorri's strengths are and give him a challenge that will improve those strengths once he unravels it.
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Anyway. this effort post has gotten long enough.
