Greetings, and happy belated New Years! It's been... Wow. It has been too long since my last post. How typical. I say I'll read more often, and then hardly get to read at all. Oh well, I'm sure you all don't mind. Right?

Right?

Part Three

Chapter 36

This one's a Sazed chapter. He and Breeze are visiting with the Skaa refugees from one of Jastes's Koloss raids. These skaa are being housed in a large warehouse. It's the very building that armed the first successful Skaa rebellion. I would've thought that the Survivorists would have turned this in to some sort of religious building or something, but I suppose they don't have enough influence to pull something like that off yet.

Ss Sazed is comforting a woman who has lost her entire family to Jastes's ruthless Koloss, Tyndwyl comes in. She suddenly, for whatever reason, asks him to show her his discoveries. What's this? Tindwyl the skeptic wants to learn about the deepness? Sazed's whole day brightens. Her exasperated expression of interest seems to shine a vibrant light into his soul, and they leave the warehouse together, his fatigue a distant memory. Good for him.

Here it switches to Breeze's perspective as he watches the two Terrispeople leave the room. Making use if his keen observational skills, he is able to see right through Sazed and Tindwyl; He knows that they don't hate each other, not truly. In fact, their feelings towards one another are quite the opposite...

Breeze, as expected, has been soothing Sazed and Tyndwyl this whole time. Tindwyl's sudden reasonableness is partially thanks to him. He's not intruding though. No, what he does is not invasive at all; he doesn't interfere, per say; he simply...nudges things along their natural course. That's what he tells himself, anyway. I still say he has no business tampering with people's emotions without their express consent, even if he does think it's for their own good.

Anyway, Breeze is pretending to reed a book, but he is actually tending to the refugees in his own way, soothing them all into more comfortable states of mind. Breeze is a quite proficient soother, and he possesses some masterful observational skills. Which, according to him, the expert, is the most important part of being a skilled soother.

Breeze's work on the skaa is interrupted when Elend and Ham enter the room. Breeze begins soothing the two of them practically the moment they step through the door. Vin said that he soothes subconsciously, but this all seems quite deliberate to me. Sneaky bastard.

Elend was looking for Sazed, but he gets a bit distracted by the abject state of the skaa living here. Two hundred people, all crammed into one giant room; and, thanks to the merchants' high clothing prices, they don't even have proper clothing. He tells Ham to find the merchants and bring them to this room to observe the effects of their raised prices. Does he honestly think that he can guilt trip the merchants into charging less for their products? Perhaps he hasn't noticed, but the merchants in this city aren't exactly well developed in the conscience department.

Breeze opens his mouth for the very first time in this chapter to address the two newcomers. It's pretty amusing how far removed his words and mannerisms are from his thoughts. It must suck, having to keep his true self bottled up inside like this. Sooner or later he's gotta burst; then his inner goodness will be open for everyone to see.

After Elend and Ham take their leave, Breeze returns to the palace, lending a helpful soothing hand to everyone he comes across. This is priceless, it is. I normally dislike--no, despise-- characters who mess with people's heads, but I cant bring myself to hate Breeze. Especially now that I see what a goody two shoes he actually is.

He makes his way through the palace, eventually meeting up with Clubs for a drink. They apparently drink together quite often. What an unlikely friendship. I guess opposites really do attract.

Their chatter is a bit one sided, to be honest. Breeze talks to clubs about himself, and he's truthful, for a change. He's having a splendid time, opening up, being himself, so Allrianne chooses this moment to show up--the vile temptress. He just can't seem to control himself around her, she's just too...seductive. It's pretty obvious that she's using allomancy on him. How can he be so damnation blind?

Ah, what a surprise. Vin has been eavesdropping on Breeze and Clubs private conversation this whole time. She confirms that Allrianne has been rioting Breeze. In fact, she even suspects that Allriane is Mistborn. I do too. Didn't she (possibly)burn tin in one of the previous chapters? Why else would Cett allow his precious daughter to stay with the enemy? It's hard to accept that he cares so little about her. There has to be more to this.

seems to

Anyway. Vin actually has an decent excuse for snooping around, for once. She's listening in to ensure that Clubs isn't the kandra. He isn't; she feels him burning copper, as he always does around Breeze. She just wanted to make sure before she did anything ...drastic to Demoux.

Now that she's eliminated pretty much every crew member, she and Oreseur rise to find and imprison the captain of the guard. Anyone else see the irony in that?

When Vin reaches Demoux's apartments, the serving woman she'd hired to watch him informs her that he's out on patrol. Just her luck, eh? Vin takes off after Demoux. She finds him and tails him as he goes to the city square. He meets up with a couple hundred skaa huddled around a bonfire...in the mists. Surprise! Demoux is actually a Survivorist. A preacher, no less. This is what he's been hiding. This is why he's been so sneaky. What if she had attacked him earlier, as she was planning to? She might have imprisoned--possibly murdered--an innocent man! Imagine what wonders that would have done for Elend's already damaged reputation.

Pastor Demoux preaches to the skaa about green plants, blue skies, and a yellow sun. A colorful world. A hopeful one. A world more like our own. He speaks to them of Vin as well. He tells the people that the Heir will put an end to this dreary world; that she'll somehow bring back the Sun. He tells his fellow survivorists that Elend was chosen by the Heir and the Survivor, and that they must lend him their support. Great.

Vin questions Oreseur about what he preached during his time as the Survivor, and, sure enough, he made no mention of blue skies or green plants. If that is the case, where did Demoux get the idea from? Every single person who's heard those ideas before now has scoffed, so why does he believe in them? Kelsier never talked to him about this, did he? So many questions!

Vin thinks that what Demoux preaches is unlike the Terris teachings, but is it really? as Oreseur said, the Terris prophecies may just have been the Terris peoples profession of hope. That actually doesn't even necessarily mean they weren't true. Who knows? There could be a higher power up there somewhere, causing all their wishes to come true. Or maybe, in this world, if enough people believe something strongly it becomes true. I don't know, but I doubt it's either of the things that I just mentioned. Why'd I bother writing them, you ask? Because I like guessing, even when I have no bloody clue what the real answer might be.

Anyway, the gathering comes to an end, and Vin follows and intercepts Demoux on his way back to the palace to ask him a few questions. Where did he get them from? The green plants? The yellow sun? Vin the Saviour. He says It just seems to fit, and he didn't get it from anyone. He just made all of that up? But...that's impossible.

She says she'll have to tell Elend about all...this, even though he doesn't want her to. She says that this is something that Elend should know about. Really? Kind of like how he should know that there's a dangerous mist creature that roams his city at night, and that the entire population might be in danger? Maybe it's more like how he should know that the love of his life been hanging out with a half mad Mistborn, or, perhaps, how he should know that Straff has ordered this very Mistborn to assassinate Vin, and that the only thing keeping him from doing so is his misguided feelings for her?

The chapter ends as Vin leaves to tattle on Demoux, convinced that he's not the imposter after all. Good grief.

End of Chapter Thirty-Six

Kwaan says that he is finally going to get to the point of his vague, mad rambling. Heh, I wish.