So I remember when Hoid was talking with Kelsier in the well he discussed how he had ruined interplanetary trade or something along those lines, because he has destroyed the atium geodes. We understand later on that the lord Ruler had completely pooled all known and available that he could via the ministry and Kandra assassination/espionage. We know interplanetary trade exists to some degree, with Nalthalis and Sel seeming to have to most abundant amount of “normal” people traveling via perpendicularities.

So as we approach the lost metal it makes me curious as to what kind of answers we are getting for pure atium. Because this erstwhile trade with Scadrial doesn’t make much sense, as while allomancy is powerful aside from kidnapping and taking the set approach to acquiring it there would be no use for the impure atium we see used in the trilogy. So that brings up the questions of:

-was there some way of distilling this impure metal to gain the antithesis of Lerasium?

-would this metal act like a hemalurgic spike to the extreme when ingested? Taking everything from someone’s spirit web even their identity?

-was silverlight the ones who received this metal as they seemed to have had the most notable foothold on the planet

My next line of thought towards atium is that the reason the crystals were being produced was because Ruin’s perpendicularlity was there, so while we don’t know where it is, we do know that if atium is indeed the lost metal that perpendicularlity still exists and whatever this trade was before could have reasserted itself, and we know that there is one used perpendicularlity in the mountains near Elendel. So it leaves my curious as:

-Harmony has tried to stay away from ruin related arts so would he be sending Marsh to guard there, (and perhaps the reasons why he’s seen at all and might be associated as death is because he’s killed off worlders for getting close and people see the aftermath)

-would the fact that by now, removing identity from investiture would be a known consideration (given the placement of era 2 in relation to stormlight) would that effect a god metal like Atium