Elend's Near Death Experience

[BennParr]

I'm rereading Mistborn: The Final Empire and I came across a passage that I hadn't taken note of before between Kelsier and Vin:

K: I've started being more careful since you trailed me last week- at first I assumed you were a Venture Mistborn

V: They have some?

K: I'm sure they do. Most of the Great Houses do- but you friend Elend isn't one of them. He's not even a Misting.

V: How do you know? He could be hiding it.

K: He nearly died in a raid a couple of years ago- if there was ever a time to show your powers, it would have been then.

-Mistborn: The Final Empire chapter 13

So, Elend almost died in this raid. Do.we know what the raid was? Was it as minor as skaa rushing the keep, or another House?

What I want it to be is a skaa raid, that most definitely ended in the skaa's death. Because I think that answers one huge question:

Why did Elend start to study about the treatment of Skaa?

Imagine this raid. A group of Skaa men and women, let's say 40 or so want to get into keep Venture because of some grudge with Straff. Maybe he was careless at a brothel with skaa girls, and he had the place destroyed with everyone inside, or maybe he's just the most accessible nobleman to them, and they want to take someone down. So they rush Keep Venture, or maybe they sneak in, maybe even with help from the inside (after all, guards for the Keeps are many times also Skaa looking for money)

Now, thier goal is Straff, but they don't get him. Maybe Straff escaped, or has a safe room that he can hide in, but Elend was not so lucky. Elend is the only Venture there facing the ire of these skaa, and he's terrified, and his father has left him behind. What if this neat death experience with a group of Skaa instead of spurring him towards hatred of them like his father and the majority of noble society, jolts his curious mind to wonder what happened to make these Skaa hate him, when he had done nothing to harm them. It also illustrates an earlier example of Strafford treatment towards Elend.

Anyway, I wanted to share that because I think it's an interesting little hole in Elend's story. What do you think? Am I missing something? Has Brandon already spoken about this?

-Benn

[Stark he/him]

I was always under the impression that the 'raid' was something carefully orchestrated by Straff to make sure his son got soundly beaten, to see if he would Snap in a controlled setting.  Straff was pragmatic and vicious enough to have his son(s) ambushed to see if they could become advantageous to him.  I'd have to hunt around, but I think either Zane or Straff mention something to that effect in WoA.  

[BennParr]

I remember this! I know that Straff had a snapping "event" with Elend, but I don't remember it like a "raid". Also, I'm not sure if the timing matches. I thought Elend was very young when he got that beat down, and according to Kelsier this "raid" was only a couple of years ago, when Elend would have been 18ish.

[Oversleep]

1 hour ago, Stark said:

I was always under the impression that the 'raid' was something carefully orchestrated by Straff to make sure his son got soundly beaten, to see if he would Snap in a controlled setting.  Straff was pragmatic and vicious enough to have his son(s) ambushed to see if they could become advantageous to him.  I'd have to hunt around, but I think either Zane or Straff mention something to that effect in WoA.  

Noble children were ritually beaten in attempt to Snap. Elend was no exception; he didn't Snap then so what's the point in Straff orchestrating all of that?

[Dunkum he/him]

24 minutes ago, Oversleep said:

Noble children were ritually beaten in attempt to Snap. Elend was no exception; he didn't Snap then so what's the point in Straff orchestrating all of that?

Pride and Desperation?  if Zane hadn't snapped yet at the time, Straff could have been desperate for a mistborn in the family, and proud enough to want/assume that his legitimate son would be it.  that said, it does seem more likely to be something else

[Jondesu he/him]

My guess is that the raid was actually something done by a rival house.  Likely with care taken not to reveal who it was so they didn't face reprisal, but probably either in retaliation for something or to steal something like Atium or other valuables.  I got the impression that was done, maybe not regularly, but commonly enough that they employed the Hazekillers precisely for that type of situation, primarily.