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Child Bahkbar

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  1. Child Bahkbar
    I have finished the book. The mystery has been solved. Holy hamburgers. I am totally speechless.
    Part Six
    Chapter 57
    The chapter starts off showing Sazed. It's been a week since Vin single-handedly spared Luthadel from a brutal Death by Koloss, and she's been sleeping the entire time, so it falls upon him to serve as acting Emperor until Elend gets back.
    He's currently sitting in on a meeting between the three kings. Things are going about as smoothly as one could expect, considering that these men were enemies barely a week ago.
    Cett wants to get straight to business and reclaim his lost country, but Penrod and Janarle disagree. They say they they should wait until the empress or emperor returns. and that they should be concerning themselves with securing Luthadel before expanding their reach. It's common sense, but it seems that Cett lacks the mental capacity to comprehend even the simplest of principles. How he's managed to survive as long as he has is a complete mystery to me.
    Anyway, Sazed permits Cett to send scouts back to his homeland, but all they're allowed to do is look. Cett isn't happy with the verdict, but Sazed shuts him up with mentions of Vin's power, which is something he apparently does quite often these days.
    Sazed thinks himself inadequate for the task Vin has placed upon him, but he's been finding it difficult to care. Tindwyl is dead, so what's the point? With that attitude, I dread to think of what will happen to his people if they come to him for leadership.
    As it turns out, Janarle's city has also fallen into unfriendly hands, but, as Penrod the mediator so kindly points out, they still can't make any moves without leadership. Honestly, I don't see why they're all in such a rush to move. They wasted months just sitting outside Luthadel's walls; They can wait a few more hours.
    Ashfalls have been occurring more and more often recently. I wonder. Does the frequency of the ashfalls have any in-world significance, or is it just a literary device used to signify the world's steady deterioration?
    Elend and Lestibournes have finally arrived at Luthadel. Though the koloss are still camped outside the gates, there are bodies being buried, and Elend's flag is being flown. All seems relatively safe, so they enter, blending in with the normal civilians returning to their homes in Luthadel.
    Sazed returned to his room after that dreadful meeting was ended. He, in his anguished state, returns to his and Tindwyl's manuscript, crying once more as he remembers their time together, wondering what the point of it all was. He must know, though.
    He starts reading a random paragraph, which just so happens to be the section where Tindwyl pointed out several of the biggest contradictions they uncovered during their research.
    One thing I find particularly interesting is that one passage says that the that the Hero would be a short man, but another passage states that he would be tall. Apparently Kwaan actually wrote that Alendi was short. I thought that he was supposed to have physically "towered over others", but it seems that he was just referring to his "presence," so to speak. How did I manage to misread that? I guess it's kinda like how I read Kwaan's name as "Kwaam" at first, and thought that Tindwyl's name was spelled Tyndwyl. Eh.
    Kwaan also wrote that he thought himself to be the Holy First Witness. Is it a coincidence that that's what the Survivorists call Sazed in the present? Sazed feels that something's not quite right about this. Indeed. I couldn't agree more. There's something fishy going on here, but I can't quite place my finger on it. All I know is that the title "Holy First Witness" did not ring a bell when I first heard it.
    Vin shows up, interrupting Sazed when he's on the brink of a what may be a world bending revelation. She tells him that she should not have been allowed to sleep for so long. When he informs her that she's been in a coma all this time, she's actually shocked. What? Does she think ordinary people just sleep for 168 hours straight? Besides, with the way she's been abusing her body, she should be thankful that she woke up at all.
    Sazed tells her that its alright for her to rest now that this is all over, but she disagrees. She still feels the Well calling her. Beckoning to her. She says that it's in the city. :In the city...: What if it is the city. Yup, that's my crackpot theory for today. The Well is Luthadel.
    Vin asks Sazed if he believes that she is the Hero of Ages. A week ago he would have said "yes" without hesitation, but he's beginning to have doubts once more, as the prophecies are so contradictory and confusing. Vin is unperturbed. She just tells him that it isn't about prophecies; its about "what needs to be done." If that's how she thinks, why did she bother asking him the damnation question in the first place?
    Vin goes on to tell Sazed about how she drew on the mists against Lord Ruler. She says that the Well is in Luthadel, explaining that if Rashek was able to create the Ashmounts, he could very well have placed and Well wherever he want. Indeed. He could even, perhaps, have transformed the Well into a city. Actually, if Rashek truly had a hand in influencing the legends, then who's to say that the Well was ever in the mountains of Terris do begin with?
    Anyway, Sazed detects voices. Upon tapping his hearing reserves, he hears that Elend has returned, and Vin leaps out of the window without saying another word. How rude.
    Ham is filling Elend in on the events of the past week when Vin arrives. She and Elend embrace, and she tells him what she did. He isn't at all displeased with her, though. He chooses to accept the role of emperor, because, as he puts it, his views were too simplistic anyway. What's this? Compromise? Why, I never thought I'd see the day.
    Elend, noticing how exhausted Vin looks, asks if she's still pewter dragging. Of course she isn't. Is it even possible to pewter drag for an entire week? She tells him that there's something else, and asks him to come someplace with her. He doesn't even stop to greet Sazed before waltzing off with her. How rude.
    Sazed watches them from his window. At first he feels a great weight off his chest, but then he notices a piece of paper. On it is the rewriting of that passage containing the line that was torn out of the rubbing all those chapters ago. The line has been torn here as well, and the tear is―Surprise!―completely identical to all of the others.
    Alendi must not take the power for himself. Is it some sort of code? Something was definitely wrong with Alendi specifically grasping the power for even an instant. Whatever it is, Sazed should probably keep Vin away from the Well until he can get to the bottom of this. What was it that he told Cett? Ah, yes. Not to be hasty.
    Vin leads Elend, Ham, and Spook to Kredik Shaw. The thumping has grown so intense that she is now able to discern exactly where in the city it's coming from.
    Elend tells Vin that the mists are behaving in an unnatural manner. Vin says that they are guiding her, but he says that the mist actually seem to be pulling away from her. Almost as if it fears her, which is odd, because it allowed her to draw upon it's power to defeat the Lord Ruler. Vin doesn't care, though. She feels right about what she's doing, and her feelings usually lead her to the right decision. Excluding the whole Cett debacle, of course. She "felt" that he was a Mistborn, and we all know how that turned out.
    Anyway, the group enters Kredik Shaw. Vin leads them through it's halls, searching with steel as she walks to the Lord Ruler's secret chamber, eventually finding something. Using Duralumin, she uncovers a hidden stairwell, and after replenishing her metals, Vin and the others make their way down..
    Sazed once again returns to read Kwaan's writing. This has all been stated before earlier in the book, but it somehow feels more eery this time around. Sazed is bothered by the whole "Holy First Witness" thing, but he doesn't know why. Perhaps it's the striking parallels between Kwaan, Sazed, Alendi, and Vin. Their roles seem to all but completely identical. If Alendi wasn't the Hero, and he circumstances were the same as Vin's, what are the chances that she is?
    As Sazed tries to make sense of all this, he notices someone standing next to his chair. He turns to see the mist spirit staring at the torn sheet of paper on his desk. He falls over in horror, asking what it wants. The spirit points incessantly towards the center of the city, Where Vin is currently breaking into the Lord Ruler's hidden, hidden chamber.
    It then occurs to Sazed that, if the mist spirit was the one who tore out that line from the manuscript, then it must have been trying to get something across to him. Perhaps, the power of the Well corrupts even the best of people. Perhaps, regardless of a person's heart, they have no choice but to use the power to destroy.
    Or maybe it corrupts only the pure hearted. That would almost explain why Kwaan did not want Alendi to reach the Well, but was perfectly fine with Rashek doing so. The only problem is that Rashek was already no good, so, although he stopped the deepness, he still caused a great deal of harm to the world. Am I to believe that Alendi would have caused even more harm had he lived to take the power, regardless of whether or not he released it?
    There's no more time for thinking. Vin is just moments away from finding the Well. Suddenly, Sazed hears an agonised scream, and the entire city joins in cacophony shortly thereafter. Sazed rushes out of his room, but it's already too late.
    Vin and the rest of the group walk down the stairwell into a vast chamber, where they find vast stores of canned goods. They also find a map of the Final Empire engraved into a metal slab. Luthadel is at the very center of it, but another city is circled as well. Statlin City. If they don't find the Atium down here, it would probably be in their best interest to search there.
    Vin is uninterested in any of their minor discoveries. She is committed to her purpose and will not be so easily dissuaded. Pointing down a pathway, she urges Elend to come along.
    Sazed dashes down the streets amidst the screams, following the Mist spirit's lead. He feels an inexplicable trust for the entity. It would seem that it's soothing him as well. Can it use other forms of Allomancy as well, or is it only capable of soothing? Perhaps this creature could hold the answer to the question of Allomancy's origins.
    On his way to Kredik Shaw, Sazed comes across a corpse. The man did not die easy, but appears to have been "shaken" like poor Jed, the farmer. The mists have once again begun to kill in force. He asks the mist spirit if it is the cause of this, but it denies the accusation vehemently, and once again points towards Kredik Shaw. So I am to believe that the Mist spirit is not related to the deepness in any way?
    Sazed finally decides that Vin must be stopped, so he runs into Kredik Shaw. The mist spirit does not follow. He rushes through the building and finds the opening that Vin uncovered. He also finds Marsh standing in the doorway. Marsh tells him that he should not have come here. When Sazed asks for a explanation, Marsh says that he doesn't understand why, but he has to kill him. He then apologises, and promptly throws Sazed into a wall. Hah? What in the world is going on?
    End of Chapter 57
    Alendi must not reach the Well of Ascension. Yet, it seems that whatever commands the Inquisitors―whatever it was that spoke to Zane― desperately wants her to find it.
    Everything seems to have been flipped on it's head. The "Misty Death", which seemed like such a terrible menace for the entire book, suddenly doesn't seem all that bad. This "third party" seems to be a much bigger threat. This creature, "Zod", also wants the Keepers out of the way for some reason. Why could that be?
    Chapter 58
    Elend and Vin walk down the passage until they run into another, smaller, cavern clouded with some sort of dark smoke... or mist, perhaps? This stuff, whatever it is, bears a close resemblance to the depictions of the deepness in the illustrations. It also seems to be contained inside the cavern by an invisible barrier of some kind. Curious, that.
    Vin steps into the dark cavern, urging Elend to follow. It's pitch black, but Vin can see a light ahead.
    As Sazed slides to the ground, Marsh once again asks him why he came. He says that everything was going well before Sazed showed up. What was going well? What has he been doing here all this time? Has he been into the hidden chamber? Has he been to the Well?
    Marsh apologises once again, and, assuming that there are coins inside, he shoots Sazed with his bag of metalminds. The metals tear into Sazed's flesh. It almost looks like the time has come for Sazed to say goodbye to this cruel world, but before his wounds kill him, he's is able to draw health from his gold ring inside the bag, closing his wounds and sealing the metals inside his gut. Hot damnation! With feruchemy being capable of feats like this, it's no wonder that Rashek was able to make himself seem invincible.
    Elend and Vin walk through the dark cavern. Vin exudes a firm sense of determination, but Elend finds his present circumstances to be rather...daunting. The thought of the Well's immense, impossible power terrifies him, as it should; The thing is supposed to hold enough power to crush very world he lives in like a soft, mushy grape... gross. At any rate, it isn't the kind of thing that one takes lightly.
    Vin and Elend reach the end of the tunnel, and find another chamber, this one seemingly man-made. There is light here coming from a pool of some sort. Upon seeing what can only be the Well of Ascension, Vin's confidence seems to evaporate. She fears that she won't know what to do when the time comes, but Elend reassures her, which just so happens to be what he's best at.
    Vin, having recovered some of her earlier confidence, notices some broken pottery in a ledge at the back of the room. Upon closer inspection, Elend finds a plate that has not yet been shattered. At its center is a bead of some new metal. Neither of them have ever seen it's like before, but, as Elend says, the answer may lie closer to the Well. I don't see how he figures that, but it doesn't really matter now. They abandon the shattered pottery and approach their destination.
    Meanwhile, Sazed battles against Marsh. The ultimate showdown between allomancy and feruchemy! Thanks to Marsh's earlier attack, Sazed's metals are trapped firmly inside his own flesh, safe from Marsh's foul allomantic touch. With iron on his side, Sazed also has the oh-so essential weight advantage, and with Zinc enhancing his mind, he has an advantage similar to that which Atium affords.
    Which brings to mind the question: Why isn't Marsh in possession of Atium? The Inquisitors must have had some with them in the Conventical of Seran. Then again, they probably wouldn't have left any behind for him, or anyone else to take. Could Atium have been what he was looking for in the Inquisitors' chambers?
    Anyway, the two of get into a "pushing match" of sorts, and Sazed once again asks Marsh why? Marsh apparently doesn't know, but that doesn't make any sense. Has he lost control of his own limbs? Zod was never able to physically take control of Zane's body, so why should Marsh be any different?
    The battle runs it's course, and Sazed finds an opening. He moves in for the kill, but just before he's able to strike the killing blow, his metalminds run dry. Is it bad that I'm just a little bit relieved by this? I have so many questions. It would suck if Marsh were to get himself wasted before any of them could be answered.
    Marsh, having lucked out, disarms Sazed, but just before he can finish Sazed off, he takes a dueling cane to the head. Ham has come to the rescue―just in the nick of time, too. His blow knocks Marsh out cold. Sazed still needs to stop Vin, though, so he doesn't have time to chat. He takes off down the stairway without saying a word.
    Elend and Vin approach the Well of Ascension. It's a pool filled with some sort of mesmerizingly beautiful Liquid Metal. If it is metal, then I'm guessing that only Mistborn are able to tap into it's power. Does that mean that Alendi and Rashek were both Allomancers?
    Vin notices the mist spirit standing directly in front of them. She reaches for her daggers, but before she can draw them, Elend stops her. He says that he doesn't think it's dangerous, telling her about his previous encounter with it. He then approaches the spirit, and inquires as to it's purpose here. It responds by slashing his gut open. Ah.
    Elend falls over, bleeding profusely. When Vin sees that his would is most definitely fatal, she begins to panic. I knew it! I knew it!
    As Elend dies in her arms, he looks at her and smiles. Or at least he tries to. I imagine it's kinda difficult to do anything when you're as close to the Other Side as he is now. Vin sees she can still save him. She need only take the power of the Well for herself.
    Vin walks into the pool, absorbing the awesome power of the Well. She turns to Elend, somehow knowing exactly what she must do to fix him, but a voice stops her. Vin, with the power surging through her, is able to see exactly what happened when Rashek took the power for herself, and she sees that the deepness has returned in full force. The voice tells her that if she tries to stop it on her own, she will destroy the world, just as Rashek did.
    Vin looks to Elend. He's weeping now from a pain that Vin believes to be completely unrelated to the gaping wound in his gut. Knowing that he wouldn't want her to save him at the expense of the entire world, she releases the power go. At that very moment she hears an exultant voice scream "I'm free!"
    Ah. What just happened?
    End of Chapter 58
    Kwaan's last written words were "For he must not be allowed to release the thing that is imprisoned there." Woah! I'm a little confused here. That is not what I recall being written there before. What's up with that?
    Regardless, Could that thing that she just released have been Zod. That would mean that, from the very beginning, Vin, Sazed... everyone has just been a pawn in his bid to gain freedom. What is Zod, really? Who imprisoned him? How did they accomplish such a feat? Also, where the hell do they go from here? Agh! So many questions.
    Chapter 59
    Not only is she about to lose her husband, but she may also have just ushered in the apocalypse. I was about to ask what Vin has done to deserve this, but then it hit me. It's so obvious! How could I not have seen it before? Vin killed Straff. It was after her marriage to Elend, so he was her father; which made him kin. This is yet another tragic example of the kinslayer being cursed by gods and men!
    Anyway, untimely jokes aside, Vin is going through hell right now. She weeps with Elend in her arms, knowing that she's made a catastrophic mistake. She cries out for help, but no one can save him now. I feel like I've read, or perhaps written, this very scenario before. It looks like I was right. Elend really is a dead man.
    The mist spirit stands above her, once again pointing at something. Vin, somehow able to think clearly with her husband dying in right before her eyes, realises that the creature only stabbed Elend to get her to use the Well's power to save him. Ah, of course. It should have worked, but Vin was just too selfless, in the end.
    The spirit points at the broken pottery that they stumbled upon earlier. Specifically at the piece of metal embedded into the plate that Elend found. The creature instructs her to feed the metal to Elend. Could it be?
    Vin washes the bead down Elends throat with her remaining vial, and as he fades into unconsciousness, something totally awesome happens. He begins burning pewter. Elend, who always wished for allomantic abilities, has become a bonafide Mistborn.
    I guess I was wrong. It looks like Elend is going to survive after all.
    Epilogue.
    Sazed left Luthadel after the events of the past weeks. I wonder if he managed to get those metals out of his gut. I can't even imagine the hellish suffering he must have gone through to pull that off. He would've had to spend weeks storing health to prepare himself for what would otherwise have been a fatal operation. Even then, the removal of those metals must have laid him at the very doorstep of death itself.
    Anyway, the deepness has returned to blight the land. It kills seemingly at random. It's as if the whole world has transformed into that village that Sazed came across way back in chapter fifteen.
    Tyndwyl's death, and the events that followed have transformed the once optimistic Terrisman into a bit of a cynic. Vin told him about the Thing she released, but instead of staying to record her testimony, he just walked away.
    Sazed has returned to Kwaan's steel plate in Conventical of Sarand. When he places his rubbing up against the original texts, he finds that they do not match. The text was modified by the very entity that Vin released from the Well. The Terris prophecies, the Hero of Ages, even the deepness, has all been a cunning deception.
    This must be why Marsh did not allow Sazed to read the text on the slab when they first came here. He must have known that Sazed would find something that he shouldn't have. Well, he reads it now. All questions are answered, and Sazed's already shaky beliefs are shattered and ground to dust
    The being that I called "Zod" has the power to alter anything not written in steel. Even the memories in a Feruchemist's metalmind. He modified the prophecies to get a selfless "Hero" to free him of his bonds. This explains why Kwaan chose Rashek, whom he knew would, without a doubt, take the power for himself.
    Elend has finally awoken from his slumber. He, as I had assumed, is a full blown Mistborn. As Vin says, this answers the question of where the first Allomancers came from. It also reveals why only someone with noble blood can be born an allomancer, and, more importantly, how Rashek must have defeated Alendi.
    Anyway, Vin explains to Elend what happened at the Well. Elend, though he appears hardened, is just as supportive as before. When Vin asks him what they're to do now, his reply is just about the only thing they can do at this point. "Survive."
    End of Part Six
    There it is, folks. I must say, it never once occurred to me that the text in Sazed's rubbing might have actually been changing, so I chalked all of the discrepancies in the text up to my own crappy observational skills. Well, I'm glad to be able to say that I don't totally suck after all.
    I'm still kind of in shock after that ending. Never before have I read a book where the author mislead the reader in such a way. I originally came to this series looking for some light reading, but what I've gotten has been two of the most enjoyable and fascinating fantasy books I've read in years.
    This book easily topped The Final Empire in practically every way. I actually find it hard to imagine how the third book can possibly be better than this one. I guess I'll find out next year in "First Time Reading the Well of Ascension: Season 2 - First Time Reading the Hero of Ages!"
  2. Child Bahkbar
    The epic and not so dissatisfying conclusion to the fifth Part.
    Part Five
    Chapter 54
    Vin battles with the blue beasts. Okay, "battle" isn't exactly the right word for it. The koloss are hardly a match for her allomantic sorceries. She basically just slaughters the cute'n cuddly red eyed killing machines, and feels great about it, too.
    Vin has made a resolution. She will never kill for "shock or retribution" again. Good grief, and good riddance. Too bad there's no way shell hold to that resolution. I give her about two chapters to break it.
    Anyway, Vin is indeed powerful, but the koloss are persistent, and persistence always pays off in the end. Vin is running low on just about everything. She's killed a great many koloss, but before long Vin has no choice but to retreat from their relentless fury.
    Sazed has managed to gather together thousands of survivors, and they've made it all the way to keep Hasting safely. Unfortunately, Penrod is being big doodoo head. He refuses to heed Sazed's pleas for him to flee the city, open his gates, or even show his face at all.
    Dockson's messenger has somehow managed to survive amidst all the chaos, and he brings news of Dockson death to those standing outside the Hasting walls. The koloss have apparently finished making corpses out of the soldiers, but the real fun is only just beginning. There are hundreds of thousands of civilians in Luthadel, and they're next on the koloss' dinner menu. It's high time that Sazed and his followers got out of this place once and for all.
    After that timely announcement, Penrod finally shows. He refuses to go with Sazed, though, because it's to late. From the top of the keep, his Tin eye has been able to see what the koloss have done to all who tried to flee through the north gate, which just so happens to be where Sazed was headed. What's worse is that the beasts are on their way here, now.
    With that little bit of knowledge, Sazed decides to forget escape, and turns around and begs Penrod to be let them inside the keep. Penrod, dejected, just replies that there's no room, and walks back into the safety of his keep. Great. Now what?
    Vin runs, fights, and runs some more. She flies all the way to Kredik Shaw, which remains eerily untouched in a sea of fire, death, and koloss. It's here, at the Lord Rulers former capital, that her pewter finally runs out. Still she somehow manages kill a koloss and rescue a little girl, despite the fact that she's been pewter dragging for at least a day, and has been relying at least partially on pewter for the past several months. She shouldn't even be able to stand, much less run around a koloss infested city carrying a child.
    Anyway in a fit of desperation Vin hits a group of koloss with a blast of duralumin enhanced brass. The koloss, who were just about to lay waste to several skaa, stop dead in their tracks. Ah, so they are the same as the Kandra. I don't know how I didn't see this from a mile away. It seems so obvious now.
    Sazed stands, facing a large group of koloss that should be the death of him, but for some reason they do not attack. Vin walks out from the midst of the hideous creatures...
    Wait a second. Vin had two, maybe three vials worth of brass her stomach, right? The duralumin she used on the smaller group should have used up one of those, and the koloss that she's controlling now are much more numerous than the group she halted earlier. Also, I'm gonna assume that maintaining control of the koloss continually drains from her reserves, so...Shouldn't she have run out by now?
    Anyway, having two of her newfound koloss henchmen lift her up to the window. Vin addresses Penrod in his keep. She convinces him to have his men go back into the city to take care of the people. She, on the other hand, will take care of the rest of the koloss. The city's all but saved already.
    After Penrod leaves to prepare, she enquires as to everyone's well being, and asks Ham for some pewter. She does not, however, ask for brass. does this mean that she still has enough to stop the rest of the koloss? How? Does she not have to use duralumin to reverse their enraged state?
    Anyway, Vin and her koloss cronies return into the fray, and Sazed asks to be excused. Now that the situation seems to be under control, he goes to search for Tindwyl. It takes him all night, but he eventually finds her the next day. She didn't make it. As he weeps, holding her lifeless form, Sazed comes to a distressing realisation. His entire life is a sham.
    Great. Just great. Kill off the most smartest, prettiest, amazingest Terriswoman to ever live, and crush the spirit of the most influential Terrisman in generations. My world! My world has been shattered!
    End of chapter 54
    Kwaan intended for Rashek to attempt to mislead alendi or to foil his plans in any way possible, because, as he puts it, they had all been deceived. Interesting word, that. "Deceived." It implies that an actua being, capable of deceit, was misleading them all along.
    Chapter 55
    Straff's final day in this world starts off as a joyous one. He awakens to the sight of what seems to be a dead Luthadel, and it looks as if his dreams are finally going to come true. The happiness does not last long, though.
    Straff sees that the Koloss have arrayed themselves outside of the city, prepared for battle. What's worse, though, is that the Luthadel soldiers are on their side.
    As Straff turns his horse to move to a less precarious position for the oncoming battle, he sees something flying from the koloss army at perilous speeds. Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No! It's Vin Venture, come to bequeath unto him a one way ticket straight to hell. She descends from the sky, striking with lethal accuracy. Death literally comes swirling down.
    After severing Straff and his horse in half with her giant sword, Vin "smiles grimly". It's pretty messed up that she can smile at all after doing such gruesome deed, but I'll let that one slide, for now. Straff is dead! He's finally dead! Hallelujah!
    With Straff out of the picture, Vin moves on to his officers. Utilising duralumin and downing countless vials of metals, she fulfils Elend's promise to his father, laying waste to his commanding officers and all who happen to be near them.
    Cett watches the whole exchange from a safe distance. He apparently thinks that Straff still stands a chance, so when Allrianne comes, demanding that he assist Breezy, he tells her that he'll wait to see how it turns out, and then take Luthadel from the winning army. Heh, funny joke, that. He can't possibly be that stupid.
    Anyway. Allrianne suffers some sort of mad lapse in judgement, and she charges her horse towards the battlefield. Cett thinks about it for a while, and he eventually realises just how moronic his plan is. If he couldn't even hold on to his own kingdom, what in the name of all that is good and expedient makes him think that he could possibly hold Luthadel?
    Sazed rides, only half watching the battle. It seems that no amount of violence can take his mind from his recent loss. The thoughts of Tindwyl draw his mind to their studies together, and as he watches the battle unfold, and Cett join the Luthadel troops, all of the pieces begin to fall into place...
    The battle is over after barely an hour. Straff's army was utterly crushed. Of all of his generals, only Janarle was left alive.
    With the battle ended, Sazed approaches Vin, where he bears witness as she forces oaths of allegiance out of Penrod, Cett, and Janarle, on pain of death. Of course she has them swear to Elend, not herself, but still, what would Elend himself think of this? What Vin has done goes against everything he stands for, does it not?
    When she sees Sazed, Vin requests that he take care of whatever needs taking care of in her place, and she orders the three kings to follow Sazed's commands as if they were her own. She then sails off back on her enormous koloss sword to get some much needed rest back in the city.
    After the events that he's seen, Sazed seems to be fully convinced that Vin is the Hero, but what about the rubbing? Is he just going to ignore it? Does he not see the eery parallels between himself and Kwaan?
    End of Chapter 55
    I worry that Vin may be gaining almost too much power. With duralumin and the koloss on her side, no one can stand against her. She could take over the entire world, if she wants to. Of course, Elend would have to hop the twig first, but there are a good five more chapters in this book for him to do that.
    What else...Ah! Yes. Vin's koloss sword. I forgot to address the sword. It sounds cool and all, but it just doesn't seem all that practical. It, more or less, negates her training in ordinary, pewterless combat; If she were too ever run out of pewter in a fight, she'd have to drop the sword and draw her daggers--an action that would, more than likely, get her killed. I'm curious to see if she continues to fight with the thing in the third book.
    That's a ways away, though, because the final, most enticing, chapters of this book are still ahead. For all I know, Vin may be turned into some sort of demigoddess, negating her need for ordinary weaponry. Or she might find herself maimed, ultimately resulting in the same thing. Anything could happen.
    End of Part Five
  3. Child Bahkbar
    At long last, I have reached the sixth and final Part of the book, and I'm still at a loss as to what the end might have in store.
    Part Six: Words In Steel
    Kwaan instructed Rashek slay Alendi if he failed to mislead him. Clearly his attempts were unsuccessful, as Alendi could feel the Well thumping. Which also means that he must have know all along that Rashek was trying to mislead him...
    Chapter 56
    It feels like it's been forever since Elend's last PoV, so I suppose it's only fair that he gets to start off the end of the book. He's still travelling with Lestibournes on the way to Luthadel. At night, because Vin told them to. It also doesn't hurt that they'll avoid running into strangers this way.
    Spook is out scouting ahead, so Elend is completely alone in the thick mists. Even he has begun to notice that the mists are lingering in the daytime, so he feels more than a little uncomfortable being out in them right now. It doesn't help that he can't see a thing either. All those sounds that would seem perfectly ordinary in the day suddenly become extremely disconcerting, or just downright frightening, when darkness falls.
    Elend thinks about what it must be like to be able to see through the mists the way Spook and Vin do. He also often wonders what it would be like to have any allomantic ability. Yes, he still seems to wish that he was born a Misting, but who, besides a Feruchemist, wouldn't? Even without allomancy, Elend has made a great many accomplishments in his short life, though, so he probably doesn't feel the lack as keenly as some others might.
    Spook returns, asking Elend if he's seen anything. When Elend replies that he heard something, Spook slips away again to check it out. He returns shortly, saying that it's just a mist wraith. Elend has the same slightly irrational fear of the things as Vin did. Of course, that's completely understandable, as he's actually never laid eyes on one before. I doubt most noblemen have seen the things, though.
    Spook also says that there's a light ahead. He believes it may be a village, or maybe an army, so he tells Elend to stay behind while he checks it out.
    After Spook leaves, Elend is alone once again. Or is he? There's a Mist wraith out there, somewhere, and his growing discomfort serves as great company. The prospect of the mists lingering in the daylight--killing in the daylight, has him plenty on edge. Plus he's starting to see the logic in Vin's theory that the mists and the deepness are one and the same, and that frightens him even more. In the Mists, no one can hear you scream.
    As Elend stares into the foggy abyss, the misty Death appears before him. The ethereal being takes a couple steps towards him, scaring him half to death, then points north. Elend actually turns to look, but he sees nothing. He beseeches the thing to tell him what it wants of him, but it simply points northward again.
    There's something different about the creature this time. Unlike Vin, who experienced a terrifying sensation when she encountered it, Elend feels peace emanating from it. It's soothing him. I didn't even know it could use allomancy. It must have been soothing Vin as well, then, which begs the question: Why make Vin feel fearful, yet cause Elend to feel peaceful?
    Also, as I recall, the creature tried to kill Vin, yet it hasn't made a move against Elend. It actually seems to be trying help him. Now that I think back, when Vin found it standing over his bed a few chapters back, it didn't draw it's blade until after she arrived. Clearly it has some beef with Vin, but, if that's the case, why is it still here in the first place? If Vin is who it's truly after, why did it not follow her when she went ahead to Luthadel?
    Actually, now that I think about it, the mist spirit has never appeared when Elend isn't around. Is it possible that he is it's true target, and that it has only been trying to get Vin out of it's way all this time? What on earth would it want with Elend, though? Why direct him to go North?
    Anyway, I suppose that's enough speculating for now. Back to the events at hand. The spectre dissolves into the mists when Spook returns. He asks Elend who he's been talking to, but Elend isn't entirely convinced that he isn't hallucinating, so he keeps his mouth shut.
    Spook has news, though. The lights he went to check out weren't coming from an army or a village, but a refugee camp, and he wants Elend to come and check it out.
    The refugees turn out to be from Terris. Ththingdwen, to be exact. I'm not even going to comment on how odd and unpronounceable that name is. In all, there are around a thousand men, women, and children in the camp. Elend is currently drinking tea with one of the older terrismen, who explains to him their current situation.
    Shortly after the Synod came out into the open, Terris was attacked by Steel Inquisitors. The Inquisitors used koloss to attack the homeland and dealt with the Keepers themselves. The Terris people didn't stand a chance against them. Most, if not all, of the Keepers have been either slain or taken captive. With their home in ruins, the survivors had no choice but to flee to the South.
    So that's where the Inquisition has been all this time. Why attack Terris, though? If they're just trying to act out the Lord Ruler's will, why did they bother taking the Keepers captive instead of just killing them? I suppose that's a question for another time. Or, more accurately, another book.
    The old man asks Elend if he knows King Venture, and if he thinks he will take them in. It falls on Elend to deliver the grim news of Luthadel's likely fall. He doesn't tell the man who he is, though. Better safe than sorry, I guess. There's also the fact that telling the man would spur all kinds of difficult and embarrassing questions.
    The old man also asks Elend if he knows Tindwyl. When Elend tells him where she was when he left, the old man gains some hope. Her survival would mean much to his people, as, with the rest of the Synod presumably dead, it would fall on her to be their leader. damnation. At least Sazed still lives, but who's to say he's even capable of leading anyone after all he's been through. The whole world is falling apart, and the deepness hasn't even fully manifested itself yet. What a mess.
    Anyway, the old man grants Elend and Lestibournes permission to stay with them. Elend returns to Spook, who is currently sitting on a log, complaining about how the camp's bright fires are hurting his eyes and wasting wood. Holy crap! Really? Then why doesn't he turn off his tin, instead of squandering it like a freaking imbecile.
    Spook, seeing the poor condition of the people in this camp, says that the world is starting to fall apart. They have no where to go, and the whole world seems to become more hostile each day. He's losing hope, but Elend firmly asserts that Luthadel has not fallen, and that they will rebuild.
    Elend's confidence seems to cheer Spook up a bit, but Elend himself isn't even convinced by his own statement. He's ignored the ghosts, the deepness, and the even the Steel Inquisitors. What else? Well, he did completely miss the existence of his bastard misting siblings, but I suppose he wasn't to fault for that.
    End of Chapter 56
    Kwaan wrote that he hoped that, by some miracle, Rashek might succeed. It's apparent that he did, but how did he pull it off? Alendi had to have known not to trust him, and from the sound of things, the supposed Hero of Ages had survived much bigger threats than jumped up, envious packmen. What exactly did Rashek do? How did he succeed in doing what so many others failed to accomplish?
  4. Child Bahkbar
    Part Five
    Chapter 52
    The seething tempest that is KOLOSS batters at the Luthadel gates as Breeze, becoming more and more resigned to his fate, works on soothing the ill-trained Luthadel warriors' emotions. He comforts himself with the knowledge that Allrianne and Vin have escaped this carnage. I guess he'll be a bit disappointed when he finds that they're coming back, then. That is, if he lives that long.
    Clubs comes along, and, completely contradicting the thoughts in Breeze's mind--and mine as well-- says that the troops are actually doing well. He's been in several battles back in the day, and he's lost not a one of them, so his word is pretty reliable. Of course, he was always on the side of the koloss back then, so they're still totally screwed. Unless Vin can find a way to stop the Koloss, that is.
    Speaking of Vin, she's currently running desperately towards Luthadel, feeling hurt and betrayed by her friends' sacrifice. She pushes herself to absurd lengths, but still has no plan in mind for when she gets there. What does she hope to achieve if she does make it in time? There's no way she can possibly fight off so many Koloss with just her abilities alone. The way I see it, the best she can hope for is to rescue as many people as she can. This being a book, she'll most likely make it in time to save her friends. Most of them, anyway.
    Breeze and clubs share a few moving last words, in the end blaming Kelsier for their current predicament. Ah, yeah, there's always someone to blame for everything, isn't there? Shortly after this, heralded by masculine screams, the gates burst open.
    A messenger arrives and informs Sazed that the Zinc gate has been breached. Before the messenger leaves, Sazed tells him to relay to Dockson, basically, that he has no faith in himself, and that he wishes to be replaced. I don't see why he bothers. It's not like anyone else is any better off.
    The Penrod-appointed leader of this unit comes to Sazed shortly after, inquiring as to what the messenger had to say. What? Why didn't he listen in while the messenger was talking to Sazed? He is supposed to be in charge, after all.
    Anyway, Sazed tells him, and he doesn't take it too well. The poor guy is in distress-- absolutely petrified. Sazed, seeing that the young man is in way over his head--even more so than himself--gives the best advice he has to offer. He tells the man to give orders--any orders--just to let the men know he's in charge, give them someone to look to.
    The advice seems to help the young commander somewhat, but then they notice a group of skaa gathering behind them, watching. Waiting. Seizing the opportunity to distance himself from his responsibility, Sazed goes to convince them to return to hiding.
    When he speaks to the skaa, though, they refuse to leave their places, despite the fact that their "Holy First Witness" urges them to do so. That's right. These are Survivorists, and because he was the witness to Vins greatest triumph, in other words her, "coming of sanctity", they revere him as well. These people still cling to the hope that Vin will return to save them, and if she does come, they believe that she will first manifest herself to the holy witness. Heh, fair enough.
    Sazed tries to deny his sanctity, but disaster strikes first. The tempest crashes over the walls. The poor young inexperienced commander is the first to be dragged screaming into the depths of the afterlife by the bestial tsunami. Giant blue waves, each nearly ten feet in height, descend on the defenders, and the men scatter beneath their ferocious might.
    It looks as if the battle might already be lost, but Sazed steps up to the occasion and takes control of the rapidly deteriorating situation. Tapping enormous amounts of strength, he unleashes the beast within, super sizing feeble muscles, and transforming once bony fists into weapons of mass destruction. Not even the largest of the koloss is a match for his fearsome prowess.
    He gives his men words of encouragement, giving them the courage to face their monstrous adversaries with some degree of stability, but the koloss are relentless, and seemingly without number. The Luthadel defenders are still fighting a losing battle.
    Vin finally collapses from exhaustion. She's out of pewter dust, and just about out of hope as well. In order to keep on going, she has no choice but to begin using her vials of combined metals. Even then, she doesn't have enough pewter to take her all the way to Luthadel.
    She rises, and sees smoke in the distance. A city? No, a small skaa village. Upon making her way to the abode, Vin hears joyous sounds emanating from the occupied hovels. How can they be feeling any degree of happiness when there is a koloss army not five days from them?
    The sounds of happiness revitalise Vin's failing hopes. She then approaches one of the hovels and pounds on the door, asking for pewter. A woman and her husband open the door, and they, thinking that she's just a small child, ask her what happened to her parents. This might have been amusing at any other time, but Vin doesn't have time for their crap right now, so she soothes the couple into compliance.
    They tell her that they have silverware, but Vin doesn't have time to mix metals, so their forks and spoons won't do her much good. That's when it hits her. What she needs it's a spike way, which she doesn't have, but she could make her own. She asks the married couple for horse shoes, and the husband takes her to the stable, where they have a barrel-ful of the rusty things, which is apparently exactly what she needed.
    By this time, more of the village folk have come out to see whats going on. She takes a few of the horseshoes, and before she goes, the villagers ask her if she's...her. She replies with a simple "yes", and flies off. Great, now these people will have a nice tale to tell their children. That is, if they live that long.
    Using horse shoes like coins, Vin... Well, its hard to describe what Vin does. She sort of juggles herself, using the horseshoes as hands. I picture it as looking some sort of weird science fiction Rayman anomaly.
    Anyway, Juggling herself through the air, Vin continues her trek to Luthadel. Unlike with the Cett incident, this time her goal is strictly to save. although she will have to slaughter many to do so. It sort of helps that her victims won't be actual people, though.
    Then again, who's to say that Koloss aren't people? They're sentient, and have displayed rudimentary levels of intelligence on multiple occasions. Perhaps the wanton massacre of the beasts isn't quite so justifiable as I thought...
    Heh, what am I saying? They're just savages. It's an "us or them" situation, right?
    Right?
    End of Chapter 52
    Chapter 53
    Straff crests the hilltop overlooking Luthadel. He's on top of the world right now; He's managed to sniff out the drug that holds him, and he feels absolutely fantastic. He's starting to get on my nerves, now. I await justice.
    Gazing down at Luthadel, he sees that the koloss have broken through four of the gates. The gates were only breached one hour ago, though, which apparently isn't long enough for his plans, so he instructs his generals to wait a few hours before attacking. I see where this is going, now. I should never have believed that anything was too evil for this guy. If only he'd gone ahead and kicked the bucket earlier.
    Meanwhile, in Luthadel, the sea rages. Sazed, tapping daunting amounts of strength, weathers the storm with fierce perseverance, but he's consuming strength at an alarming rate, and his men are beginning to falter under the weight of the koloss' unfaltering rage. Still, the beasts have suffered severe losses. If the defenders are able to hold out until Vin arrives, there may yet be hope for them.
    As I said, the koloss have suffered some seriously hefty losses. Their sense of self preservation starts to kick in, and they begin to gather outside of the gate, creating an opening for Sazed. He seizes the opportunity, and, drawing even more strength and iron, is able to force the gates shut and singlehandedly hold them shut thanks to his outrageous weight.
    Unfortunately, he hasn't stored nearly as much weight as he has other attributes, so he's unable to hold the gates closed for long. The surviving human soldiers manage to slay the koloss inside the walls and, just before Sazed's weight runs out, bar the gate, granting themselves a moments respite.
    One of Docksons messengers shows up shortly after, bearing news of the Tin gate's--Tindwyl's gate's--fall more than an hour ago. Sazed is a bit preoccupied, though. Those gates won't hold for long, so all he can do now is stay put and hope for her safety.
    The koloss pound against the gates, Sazed taps strength in anticipation, the gates splinter, and their respite is ended.
    Breeze and Clubs fall back from the Zinc gate with their surviving men. The sea of red, blue, and steel is at their heels, its tide washing away all who are too weak to escape it's wrath. Basically, they're all knee deep in...dirt... at this point. I'm beginning to have doubts as to how many of them will survive this ordeal.
    Their plan was to fall back to keep Lekal, but on their way there they are sandwiched between two koloss forces. Clubs is the first to die in the ensuing skirmish. Faced with the towering koloss, his own feeble mortality, and the sight of his friend's lifeless body, Breeze's courage falters, and he flees into a building to hide. I guess as he's not quite as ready to die as he supposed.
    We get to see from Dockson's perspective for once. Correct me if I'm wrong, but this is the first time, right? Anyway, he talks to himself, trying to see what they could have done differently. Like everyone else, He blames Kelsier for the mess he's in, but unlike many, he actually seems more angry than frightened.
    There is a bit of happy news to be had here. Apparently Ham managed to survive the breach of his gate, and he's made it to Keep Lekal. Dockson isn't quite so lucky, though.
    The koloss finally break into Venture keep, bringing with them death and chaos in great abundance. Dockson meets his end with sword in hand. damnation. First clubs, and now Dox. Who's next?
    I've always found it kind of weird reading a characters death from their own point of view. I kind of liked Dockson. It sucks that he had to die, but I guess, in order to give some sort of significant meaning, or impact, to the event, some protagonist, or someone the protagonist deeply care about, had to go. Otherwise we might have something akin to that dreadful Amayar incident on our hands.
    Anyway, King Venture of the rotten heart watches from his hilltop as the koloss spread their chaos through Luthadel like a ravenous plague. The way he sees it. They actually deserve this, so when Janarle insists that he strike now before there's nothing left to save, Straff tells him to Let it burn. Let it all go up in flames.
    Janarle is taken aback by the statement, but that's no matter to Straff. Once all of this is over, he plans take care of Janarle, and all those who even slightly oppose him. He'll build a new, Straff centered city. No. Not city--universe!
    Allrianne begs her father to give aide to Breezy's city, but, as far as he can see, it's too late. He has no choice but to assist Straff, and pray to God that the evil bastard doesn't screw him over in the end. Which is great, because when he does betray him, Staff will be able to use that oh-so-popular evil line. That's right, you know the one.
    Allrianne doesn't take her fathers rejection all too well. She tells Cett that she misjudged him. That she thought he was a good man deep, deep, deep down on the inside. Ha, I wonder how she figured that. She need only look to Luthadel to see what happens to good men in a world without empathy. As her father so kindly points out. The good men are all dead. Oh, I don't know about that. Elend is still very much alive, and he's the goodliest of goodly men. Even if he did kill Jastes bloody Lekal.
    Anyway, I don't even see how this is an argument. Cett isn't exactly my definition of smart, wise, or even competent, but even he can see that they if his army were to attack now, they'd end up having to face down both Straff and the koloss. With the odds stacked so heavily against him, it's no wonder he's not willing to make a move.
    Sazed fights on, one beacon of defiance in a sea of rage, but his luck finally seems to run out. He runs out of strength. Decades worth, gone in a day.
    Sazed collapses, finally resigned to his fate. It almost looks like Sazed is going to go the way of Dickson and Clubs, but of course Vin arrives in the very knick of time to save him. Had she been even five seconds slower, he would just be another red stain on the already soot-stained snow.
    Vin sets to clearing the square with impressive displays of allomantic might, buying precious time for Sazed and his fellow surviving defenders. Sazed makes use of that time to get the now chanting Survivorist's organised and prepared to get out of this place. Things are starting too look slightly more positive.
    Breeze hides in a building, paralysed with fear as he listens to the sounds of the battle raging just outside his walls. Breeze thinks himself a coward, but a true coward would have fled this city months ago. He broke only when faced with absolutely certain death. Had he stood and faced that koloss, he would have died. As it is, he's just lucky that he somehow managed to get away.
    As Breeze wallows in abject guilt, reaching his absolute lowest point in the entire series, Ham, of all people, shows up. He's been injured, but he has Sazed and few soldiers with him. One of which says that it was Breeze's touch on their emotions that gave them strength to persevere. Really? I never would've guessed it from the way Breeze was thinking.
    Ham asks for Breeze's help, Why look to him? Can they not see that he is no longer himself? Clubs's death, and his own supposed cowardice, have left him a broken man.
    Sazed says that the soldiers can carry the wounded, but they can't keep staying here. Hopefully he counts the mentally damaged among the injured, because Breeze isn't going anywhere otherwise.
    End of Chapter 54
    Kwaan had his spiteful nephew ensure to get himself chosen as Alendi's escort. As we already know. Wasn't this all mentioned before? I wonder why Sanderson chose to write this twice...
  5. Child Bahkbar
    Ah, after refreshing my memory in a few areas, I can finally return to reading the book and writing this blog. The end is in sight, and it's about time I finished this book already.
    Part Five
    Chapter 51
    The father they get from Luthadel, the further into the day mists linger. Vin notices this, thinking that they shouldn't be able to withstand the heat of the Sun. That... That's it! I get it now! I've finally uncovered the grand mystery. The mists are not, and never have been, the issue. It's the Sun. The Sun is dying. The freezing weather. The early/late mists. It all makes sense now!
    The farther they get from Luthadel, the weaker the thumping becomes. Vin has noticed this as well, and she fears that something has happened to weaken the Well. She still seems to believe that the pulsing--though weakening--continues to lead her in the right direction. Odd, that.
    Unlike Alendi, Vin is firm in her resolve. She doesn't question her calling, instead holding to more of an "It is what it is" stance. Is this a good or a bad thing? I suppose time will tell.
    Vin is dragged from her thoughts when she feels the mist spirit's malicious presence emanating from Elend's tent. She rushes to the tent to find the creature hovering over her husbands sleeping form in room. The Death draws it's incorporeal blade, and Vin brandishes her own obsidian daggers, somehow clashing with the incorporeal spirit's very corporeal blade. Apparently thinking better of the encounter, the mist spirit flees, taking the cold mists with it.
    Elend awakens shortly afterwards, asking Vin if anything is wrong. Vin tells him that she's just being jumpy again, but he should know that she's lying; she never says such things about herself. He doesn't, though, for whatever reason.
    Anyway, Vin exits their tent, leaving Elend to get some more shut eye. They're not in any hurry, after all. Upon returning to the outdoors, she finds that Spook has returned from his scouting, and he tells her that there are five men following them. Real men. Not made up mist ghosts.
    Vin tells him that she'll let Elend decide how to deal with them, but she thinks that they're just Straff scouts. Doubtful, that. They've been travelling for a while now, what reason would Straff's men have to follow them all this way?
    Vin and Spooks proceed to chat for a little while. Lestibournes says that Vin has changed, and she explains that she's finally made up her mind about where she's going in life. I can't help but comment on how she still thinks of him as a kid when he's less than two years younger than her. Why? Is it because he's never killed before? Or perhaps because he's not quite as uptight as the rest of them? Whatever it is, I do hope that he'll eventually manage to earn some respect from Vin and the Crew.
    Anyway, Spooks goes on to tell Vin that he wants to be needed. He wishes that he was Mistborn. He says that he's weak and cowardly, but if he were powerful, like Vin, he'd be able to make a difference--to save people. Vin doesn't have any words of encouragement to offer him. She doesn't even get where he's coming from. Clearly he's lost someone--or, more accurately, several people.
    The perspective shifts to Sazed here, which is where it should've started, in my humble opinion. Picking up right where his last chapter left off, he runs to the top of the wall, where he meets with Ham, Clubs, and the rest.
    There is a massive brawl going down in the koloss ranks. It looks like a hopeful sign at first, but, like everything that's happened recently, it turns out to be a sign of impending doom. According to Tindwyl, The koloss always begin their battles by fighting amongst themselves and enraging their ranks. Hmm. I wonder if Jastes is still alive down there.
    Dockson and Clubs immediately begin dispersing troops as the koloss begin charging towards Luthadel's ill defended walls, and ash begins to fall from the sky. How fitting.
    Straff, still weak from his earlier brush with death, is riding away from the city when a messenger arrives with the good news. He immediately orders his men to turn around and return to city-- but to take their time doing so. He's a conniving, pox ridden, bastard, but it looks like he actually will be going back to save the Luthadel. I guess not even Straff is evil enough to let an entire city be slaughtered.
    Sazed stands atop his watchtower, watching the koloss--the raging doom--unfurl themselves. Luthadel was not prepared for this. They never could be prepared. The creatures they face are much more than a simple army. These are koloss! A force of nature! Easier to cool the burning fire than to escape their wrath. Easier to halt the wind. Easier to move the ash mounts! Easier to calm the raging tempest! Waaagh!
    Erm. With their uprooted trees and vicious snarls, the Koloss reach the walls. They batter the gates, and men begin to die. They choose to spread out and strike at several gates at once, and the end grows nearer still. I guess the koloss aren't all that stupid after all. I mean, they're smart enough to use battering rams.
    Meanwhile, away from Luthadel, Vin attacks the camp of the men following them. This time, not taking any lives unnecessarily.
    A man steps out of one of the tents, and, Lo and behold! It's
    none other than Jastes Lekal himself. Ha! When he sees his imbecilic former friend, Elend steps out of the bushes he was hiding behind during the skirmish.
    Jastes, upon seeing Elend, requests to travel with them. Elend, of course, just wants to know what Jastes did with his Koloss, so Jastes explains in detail exactly how it all went down. Assuming that he isn't lying, he actually took Elend advice and tried to get the koloss to pull back, but they refused, becoming even more unruly. Things quickly began to fall apart from there, culminating with his coins somehow being set ablaze. Seeing the serious peril they were in, Jastes and his few surviving men skedaddled. Can you really blame him for that, though?
    Elend can, apparently. He is outraged, to say the least. Jastes brought that army of savages to his city, and now has the audacity to come to Elend, begging to ride with him? When Jastes steps forward, begging forgiveness, Elend, shooting some self righteous one liner, draws his blade and cleaves his former friends head from his shoulders.
    Woah.
    This took me entirely by surprise, and not in a very good way. Did Jastes deserve to die? Absolutely. Did Elend have the right to be the one to dispense justice? It's hard to say. Was there any real need for him to do this? No. He could have just sent Jastes away; it would have amounted to the same thing in the end, but at least then Elend's hands would be clean. Now they are stained with the blood of a man he once named friend. Who knows how this will haunt him in the days to come?
    After ordering Lekal's men to bury him, Elend walks off into the trees. Vin follows him and comforts him as he spills his insides to her.
    He hopes that the koloss will at least attack Straff's army instead of the city, but Lestibournes comes along and spoils that hope. See, it turns out that Spooks actually knew all along about Sazed plan, and he tells Vin and Elend all about it now. He says that he's a coward, and that he went along because didn't want to die, which is understandable. It's not like he could have made any difference by sticking around in that doomed city. Running away was probably one of the wiser decisions he's made in his life.
    Elend is shocked, and takes a few steps toward Spook, but when he realises what he's doing--or what it looks like he's about to do, anyway--he tells "the boy" that he isn't angry at him. Only ashamed. Ha! Says the man who just slew an unarmed man. Why should Spooks feel ashamed? All he did was spare himself from a, more or less, completely meaningless death.
    Vin begins to panic, realising why the thumping has been growing weaker. They're going the wrong way. She then tells Elend that the Well must be in Luthadel, and she fears that Sazed may have doomed them all with his good intentions. Wouldn't that be just like him?
    Elend, selfless man that he is, tells Vin to pewter drag back to the city ahead of him and Spook, but One Mistborn isn't going to make a hell of a lot of a difference against twenty thousand koloss. Especially one that's already been worn half to death by pewter dragging.
    End of chapter 51
    Alendi continued to ignore Kwaan's objections in favour of his new counsellors. I'm pretty sure there's a name for situations like this, but it eludes me presently.
  6. Child Bahkbar
    I'm back with the beginning of Part Five! Snow and Ash is the title, which Seems pretty fitting to me.
    Part Five
    Chapter 49
    Its the beginning of a new day, and hopefully the dawn of a new saga in Elend and Vin's relationship. They're just about ready to be on their way, but Elend and Tindwyl are having a bit of a disagreement. She's really ripping on him for abandoning the city in its most dire time of need. She says that Vin's reasons for wanting to go north are insane―and they would be, were this not a fantasy book series. Elend knows that what they're doing seems a bit crazy, but he'll go along with it because he wants to support Vin's choice. He's well and truly besotted, the poor fool.
    Since Elend refuses to see reason, Tindwyl gets a bit testy. Again. Prompting Elend to rudely command her to leave, prompting her to storm off in rage. That seemed a little uncalled for. Besides, he's no longer king, and she's no longer in his house, so he doesn't really have any right to speak to her this way any more.
    Vin is grateful to Elend for defending her honour, and, as if to give truth to Tindwyl's claims, she confesses to him that she continues to see the mist spirit. She also tells him about the thumping, which she apparently doesn't even need bronze to hear any more. Elend finds it difficult to believe her, but he's trying to. Good for him.
    While they wait for Lestibournes to arrive, they check Sazed's false map, choose a false route, and grab the books that Tindwyl left with them before she stormed off.
    When Spooks arrives, bearing with him a large sack of pewter, Allrianne also shows up with her pack horses. Did she not come to the city with absolutely nothing? Where did she get enough belongings to burden two horses with?
    Anyway, Vin tries to blow her off, telling her that they don't need, want, or even like her. Elend calls that being blunt; I simply call that being rude. Or is that what blunt" means these days? What did Allrianne do to deserve such treatment, anyway? I know she's annoying, but that doesn't warrant such cruel words. Can't Vin be diplomatic for a change?
    Anyway, If that was an attempt to get her to back off, it was a failure. Vin's words side off Allrianne like water off a ducks back. Vin, of all people, should know that Allrianne is more than she lets on. Besides, Vin's probably the only one who can get out of this city without being caught by Straff or Jastes. How else, besides going with her, is Allriane supposed to escape the oncoming massacre? Oh, that's right. Vin doesn't yet know that the inhabitants of Luthadel are about to experience Death by Koloss on a scale never before witnessed in this world.
    They really have no way of stopping Allriane from tagging along, so Elend, ever the voice of reason, permits her to come with them. They get going, and Elend takes note of how skilled a rider Allrianne is. Now, why would a spoiled, prissy little princess like her need to be such a proficient rider?
    The doomed citizens of Luthadel watch their group as they make their way to the gate, and Elend feels a deep mortification for abandoning them. When they reach the city gate, though, Vin turns to addresses the people. She tells them that they aren't being abandoned. That she and Elend will return with help. If only she knew.
    Shortly after leaving the city, the group is intercepted by a platoon of Straff's men. Using the pewter in Lestibourne's sack, Vin creates a dust storm and confronts the soldiers, giving the rest of the group an opportunity to get away. She's getting even more skilled with her use of duralumin, and it takes her no time at all to dispatch with her outmatched assailants and catch up with Elend and the rest.
    As soon as they're out of harms way, Allrianne thanks the coterie for their assistance and rides off without another word, no doubt causing Vin a great deal of relief. Going off like that all on her own, though? Seems a bit risky, even for an allomancer. Unless she's Mistborn, of course, but considering what Cett said, that's pretty unlikely.
    Breeze stands with the rest if the group, watching their only Mistborn―their only hope―leave the premises, sealing their fates even more tightly. It's okay, though, because even though every single one of them is going to die, at least Vin and Elend got away safely.
    Sazed and Clubs end up getting into an argument about Demoux's Survivorism, and Sazed's seeming lack of any true belief system. Sazed is confronted with how ridiculous his religious beliefs appear to normal people.
    They then notice a large smoke cloud billowing up from koloss camp. No one knows what it is, but is too big to be coming from the tents. Breeze thinks it doesn't matter now, bit it may just spell their salvation! The smoke must somehow be a message from Marsh! "On the dawn of the third day, look to the East." The Inquisitors will come to save them, falling upon the koloss in a blaze of fire and death! The bloody destruction! It will be glorious! Almost as glorious as it is implausible...
    Straff is sick, and I don't just mean that he's a sick, despicable human being. No, he's actually really sick. Deathly ill, in fact. He can hardly even stand.
    A messenger comes to him bearing news of the riders who fled the city. Upon being informed of their escape, he collapses from extreme dizziness and rage. The messenger calls for the healer, but Straff believes that this is Zane's doing, so he demands that Amaranta be brought to him instead. She is quick to arrive and begin fixing his antidote, but Straff notices something wrong this time. She's brewing the wrong brew. He demands to know what she's doing. Yes, what is she doing?
    A mad series of revelations follow this inquiry, starting with Zane and Amaranta being "pillow friends", and ending with Amaranta getting Straff hooked on some unknown drug. So addicted to it that he literally cannot live without it. Without her. All this time, what he thought was poison was simply his addiction rearing its needy head.
    In a fit of mad delirium, Straff strangles the life out of his former mistress, effectively ending his own as well. With his only hope of survival dead at his feet, he has no choice but to try to find this mystery drug by himself. He desperately begins brewing on his own, throwing in herbs practically at random, hoping that one of them is the weed that he's addicted to. He downs the emergency compound and drifts into sweet unconsciousness. His fate remains unknown.
    I feel like I should have foreseen something like this happening. Unlike with Oreseur, there were a few hints at this. Is Straff finally done for, or does he yet cling to the land of the living? While this would be a fittingly dramatic death for him, it feels a bit too soon.
    End of Chapter 49
    Kwaam says that he has no doubt that if Alendi gets to the Well, he will willingly give up it's power. What? Then why the hell...? Could it be that the Well itself, not Alendi, is the problem? Why have him killed, then? Was giving up the power the issue? Was it that so much power could not be allowed to be completely unchained? Or does it have something to do with the the misty death? Or Zod, maybe?
    Chapter 50
    This chapter begins with a brand new perspective: Allrianne. I'd say that it's a bit late for new PoV, but Elend's first chapter was pretty deep into book one.
    During her travels, Allriane stumbled upon a group of "base men"―in other words, "Bandits." She, using promises of untold wealth and her formidable rioting talents, latched on to them and got them to escort her to her father's camp. My question is: If she wanted to go back home with Ashweather(Yes, I still remember his first name), then why in the blazes did she not she leave with him in the first place?
    Allrianne enters the command tent, and Cett actually seems to have been genuinely worried about her. It doesn't even seem to be a result of her rioting, either. Yes, she uses emotional allomancy on her own father as well, because no one is off limits. Allrianne is a lot like a much prettier, much younger, "Breezy". It's almost as if the two of them were made for eachother. Albeit several decades apart...
    Anyway there's apparently a rebellion back in the Cett's homeland. It's being led by a former obligator, from the sounds of things. Cett can't hold onto homeland. That's why he seemed so desperate to get the city. With no mistings and no allies, he has no where to go. Seriously? If I recall correctly, he had around seven mistings before he made the thoughtless decision to besiege Luthadel. He should've spent more time trying to train his one living mistborn, then, instead of squandering him in a failed attempt to get rid of Vin. What a dumbass.
    Allrianne doesn't seem all that sympathetic. She told him before to seek an alliance, and she now advises that he stick around to assist one of the kings in the upcoming battle. From the beginning, their only chances were to return home with friends or money, and since the money thing didn't pan out, they must acquire friends. He won't be assisting Jastes, so the chances are he'll end up siding with Straff. Then again, no one with half a brain would trust Straff. It isn't much, but it's the most Allrianne can do... for Breezy.
    It's Elend's third day away from Luthadel, and the last two nights have been two very good nights indeed for the former king. He looks down at Vin, and realizes as he kisses her forehead that he doesn't care if he doesn't know everything about her, he loves her anyway. Meanwhile, back in Luthadel, Breeze and Co. partake in their last meals as they, sick with fear, prepare to say goodbye to this cruel world.
    Vin, aka the woman who finally has a damnation surname(Vin Venture? Try saying that three times fast), awakens, and they engage in light banter as she gets dressed. Woah! Deja vu...
    They've been taking the trip slowly because, well, what's the rush? It's not like the fate of an entire city, not to mention the world, rests upon their shoulders.
    I almost forgot that Lestibournes is with them. He's basically their packman/guide. Heh, he must be seething with envy right now. Woah... deja vu.
    Anyway, Vin seems to be being bothered by something. As she easily hacks down a tree for firewood, Spook tells Elend that he feels useless when she's around; She does everything better than him. He's telling this to the wrong person. Elend doesn't even have an allomantic ability, imagine what it feels like for him. Elend says as much, to which Lestibournes replies that people at least respect Elend, but they always look down on him. Eh. The grass is always greener and all that jazz.
    Elend tries to cheer Spook up, telling him that they brought him along for his talents. He then asks him if he's seen anything. Spook tells him that Straff's soldieres quit following them a while back, but he catches glimpses of someone else from time. Not someone, something. That's at least what Vin seems to think. She finished chopping that firewood in record time,(Who does she think she is? Abraham Lincoln?) and she shares her wacknut theories with them. Spook and Elend share a look. Lestibournes clearly thinks she's a total nutjob, but Elend just tells her that it should be okay as long as it stays out of there way.
    Straff wakes up. Holy guacamole! He's alive! He...aches, though. One of the healers is with him. Says he's been out for three days, and that he should by rights be a dead man. One of the generals, a man named Janarle, is currently in charge of the army, but he hasn't dared to have Straff killed for fear of retribution from Zane. Straff laughs, and asks the guards what happened to Vin. They tell him that she fled with Elend, but Straff thinks that it was Zane who got rid of her. Which actually isn't all that far from the truth.
    With all of his fears out of the way, Straff finally asks of the koloss. Upon hearing that they've become restless, he immediately orders his troops to pull back. I guess that's it, then.
    I think this chapter has set a record for perspective shifts. The fourth PoV is Sazed. He sits at a table. For the past couple of days, he's been filling several small rings with physical and mental attributes. He's storing everything that can be stored, even health, and brain cells. Evidently, he's in pretty nasty shape right now.
    Clubs pops in with the nasty news. Straff has finally left. Penrod sent messengers to him, but Straff either refused to heed them or simply had them executed. Penrod tried slipping a few nobles out of the city, but Straff killed them too. Penrod even tried sending a messenger to Jastes, but that man did not return.
    After sharing the surety of their imminent demise, Clubs gets himself some soup, and Sazed, despite their earlier disagreement, takes this opportunity to suggest a religion for Clubs. Dadradah, the artist's religion. I had forgotten that Clubs was a carpenter. Sazed remmebered, though, and he hands him a wooden symbol of their faith. Clubs stares at the thing for While, then tells Sazed that "his woman" is looking for him, and Sazed promptly goes to meet with her.
    Sazed finds Tindwyl with Dockson and a few others in the keep ballroom, gathered around Marsh's old map of Luthadel. When Sazed see the map, he finally remembers his old friend and wonders where he is now. He's in the city I'm sure. Still have no idea what he's doing, though.
    Anyway, Tindwyl waves Sazed over, and he joins the group. Penrod has put noblemen in command of all twenty military regiments, and Dockson, unsurprisingly, is not happy with this arrangement. He wants someone competent near each gate, just in case things get nasty. He obviously doesn't think highly of nobles, but that's nothing new.
    With Elend out of the way, Dox has full control of the crew, which, to be honest, should have been the case to begin with. Any messengers Sazed and the rest need to send must return to the Venture ball room, where Dockson himself will be stationed. Sazed he appoints to the Steel gate. The Terrisman is fine with the arrangement as long as Dockson has his men respect the chain of command.
    With their last plans out of the way, Sazed requests that Tindwyl speak with him in private. When they go off alone, he tells her that there's nothing here for her, and asks why she chose to stay. She retorts that there isn't anything here for him either. She also disagrees with his decision to send away their leaders, as survival is not befit a leader. In other words, she believes that a captain should go down with his ship. I've never really understood that sentiment, to be honest. If the captain survives, he may be able go on to command larger, greater ships, but if he's dead, he's just mud. I guess that's besides the point, though.
    Tindwyl goes on to say that the Luthadelians, even Dockson and the Crew, still cling to the hope that Vin might save them. She says that he sent away their hope, and they should not die feeling betrayed. Oh, I imagine betrayal will be the last thing on their minds as those koloss blades bite into their soft, vulnerable flesh...
    Erm, anyway. Sazed asks her if that's the reason for her staying, then: stubbornness and hope? She replies that it is neither, and they embrace. As they hold eachother, the warning drums begin to beat. The final countdown has begun at last. Luthadel's final hour approaches.
    End of Chapter 50
    "I took a leap of Faith. Made one final gamble.", Kwaan wrote. The gamble, I'm sure, was sending Rashek out to do the nasty job of slaying the world's only hope.
  7. Child Bahkbar
    I have, at long last, reached the conclusion to the fourth Part, and I have even more questions than when I started it.
    Part Four
    Chapter 47
    Vin stands on her balcony, disturbed by how un-bothered she sometimes is by all the lives she's taken. Bemoaning how complicated everything has become. She's stretched herself too thin, so she's had trouble succeeding in anything she's set out to accomplish recently. She doesn't even know what's right any more, and the Well is still out there, pulsing ever more intensely. Waiting for someone to come and free it's power. Her thoughts are a real mess.
    Oreseur pads out to check up in her. When he inquires what she's thinking about, she replies "The end." No matter what decision she makes it'll be an end. Oreseur doesn't have any sage like wisdom for her. All he tells her that she's being excessively dramatic, and to just get on with it and make the decision. Excessively dramatic? How about the fact that if Vin isn't able to get her head on straight, the entire world may be doomed. That's excessively dramatic.
    When she mentions that Sazed would have had more to say, Oreseur reveals that he doesn't much like Terrismen; They are pretentious, and their muscles are far too stringy. Its a testament to how far their relationship has come that Vin doesn't even flinch at his comment. I suppose she's finally come to accept her place in the food chain.
    Vin returns to her room, and Zane arrives on her balcony shortly after, echoing Zod's words at the end of the previous chapter, he tells her that it's "Time to go."
    He proceeds to bombard her with all his arguments from the past several weeks, but she's unwilling to abandon the city in its time of need. So Zane tries something new. He he tells her that she'll actually doing the city b favour by getting rid of Straff's one and only Mistborn. As if that weren't enough, He lies that Straff will think she's still in the city.
    Vin seems to be convinced at first, and she reluctantly allows him to draw her away. When she draws her metals, though, Zane spins in alarm. This act if distrust alerts her to the fact that she's making a terrible mistake.
    She changes her mind at the last minute, and telling Zane that she can't go. Zane for the very first time shows some emotion, demanding to know why. She replies with Trust.. Zane does not―and probably never will―trust her, but Elend loves and trusts her wholly and completely. Indeed, she'd have to be a cruel piece of work to betray that trust, and a complete and total moron to give up a relationship like that in exchange for this.
    Zane confesses his love for her, but still she rejects him. He becomes desperately enraged. Zane has apparently never been rejected before, and seeing his failure―seeing that all his work on her was wasted―causes him to snap. He attacks her, complaining about how she was supposed to save him, and moaning that she has now forced him to continue on as Straff's tool. It's not all that bad, right? I thought he said he loved his father!
    Vin has no way of fighting back against an atium burner, so she tries to get to Oreseur. When she reaches him, he, in seeming infraction of his contract, refuses to open his shoulder. That's when Zane reveals the big mystery. Oreseur is actually his kandra. Oreseur has been the impostor al along! His real name is Tensoon, and he's been with her ever since she fetched that dog's body. In other
    Tensoon walks over to stand by his true master, his expression exuding shame. A kandra, kandra. Brilliant. Not once did that thought even occur to me. How did they kill the real Oreseur, though? I'm guessing that either Zane knows how to do it, or Kandra aren't forbidden from killing one another, so he just ordered Tensoon to do it.
    Anyway, Vin tries everything, duralumin included, but Tensoon knew too much. He told Zane about the eleventh metal, and Zane managed to make some for himself.
    Since he's going to kill her anyway, Zane spills everything he's done, all his lies and manipulations. All this time he's been telling her that Elend was using her when he's been trying to use her to save himself. She never should have trusted him. Then again, I've been saying that for pretty much the entire book.
    Zane proceeds to give Vin a fairly well earned beating. He then throws her to the ground, kisses her, and stabs her in the side. damnation, the bastard's really gone off the deep end...oh wait.
    Tensoon takes action, betraying his master and saving Vin's life by alerting Zane to Vin's knowledge of the kandra's secret. The warning functions as an extremely thinly veiled hint to Vin.
    Vin reaches out, soothing tensoon with duralumin. She doesnt let up when he howls this time, and somehow takes control of him, using him to knock over Zane and get to the atium in his shoulder. She appears to have finally evened the odds, but it turns out that Zane's gift was mostly lead. He wasn't taking any chances.
    It looks like this is the end for Vin, but then she sees it. The atium burner's weakness. Using atium, Zane is able to accurately predict the future, and moves in advance to intercept attacks that have yet to strike. Through Zane's premature movements, Vin is able to see what she is about to do and alter her attack at the last moment, taking Zane by surprise and stabbing him in the throat.
    It switches to Zanes perspective as he lies dying at Vin's feet. He thought she could save him. She was the only person who Zod never gave him the urge to kill. To that thought, Zod replies that he wouldn't tell him to kill her. What does that mean? Why the hell not?
    As Zane his last breath, Zod tells him something that's apparently funny. The "Mad Bastard" isn't actually mad at all, and he never was. The spike. The voice. His inquisitor esque blood thirst. It all must have it's roots in this entity. What are Zod's plans? Why does he want Vin to make it to the Well? What's he planning on doing with the power if he gets his hands on it? So many questions.
    Also, how did Zane become this way? Could the lord ruler have put a part of himself in every inquisitor. Could he still live on in them, influencing their actions? Maybe he needs the power of the Well to fully revive himself? That would be pretty awesome. Although, it smacks of crackpot theorism to me. The Lord Ruler said that by killing him, they doomed the world. Could Zod be the "doom" that he spoke of? If that's the case, though, what about the deepness?
    Anyway, that's enough theorising for now. Back to Vin. She watches Zane as he dies. That's it, then. No miraculous recovery, no dramatic last words. One minute he has the absolute advantage; the next he's mud. It sucks too. I kind of liked Zane in a disdainful way. I still wanted him dead, of course. I can hardly believe I'm actually sorry to see him go now.
    Vin checks up on Tensoon. He's going to be fine. He'll use the old canine bones to repair himself, then return to his people―possibly for execution.
    Vin, on the other hand, is bleeding heavily, and she's losing consciousness. Instead of going to Sazed for treatment, though, she runs to Elend.
    With Vin's bloody choice out of the way, she can finally put this nasty business behind her and get back to what's truly important. Like finding a way to save Luthadel. Humph!
    End of Chapter 47
    Kwaan says Alendi was a good man, despite all the heinous crimes he apparently committed. His deeds apparently hurt him deeply, but he did what he had to. He followed the golden path. Sounds kinda like a certain other hero from a certain other series. His good heartedness did not save him from my all encompassing hatred, though.
    Chapter 48
    Elend is, working on duplicating Jastes's fake wooden coins. If he can manage to fetch more wood than Jastes, he hopes to be able to bribe the Koloss out of their bloodlust. Not bloody likely, but at least he's still trying.
    By the way, Can koloss be soothed? It seems like Elend should be looking into that. Maybe he could have Vin capture one of the koloss from Jastes camp and set her and Breeze to work on figuring out what makes them tick. Then again. being creations of the Lord Ruler, they probably work the same way as the kandra.
    Vin suddenly bursts in, sobbing, and bleeding everywhere, rambling about how she killed his brother. Elend is understandably alarmed, more so by her messed up condition than by what uses saying. Before asking any questions, he takes her to Sazed. He's probably never seen her this way. Nor will he ever again, most likely; the next time she's like this will probably be over his dead or dying body.
    Sazed is sleeping when they come to him, but he's quick to awaken(possibly another awesome perk of being a feruchemist?) and get to work the dying Mistborn ― well, actually as Sazed points out. she's not dying. She isn't even hurt that badly, just a little scratched up, is all.
    As Sazed works on her, Vin tells Elend something about Kelsier. She says that she's been focusing too much on his less admirable traits, but what was truly special about him was his ability to trust―to make good people into better people. That may be so, but he still had that dark hatred inside of him, and I couldn't help but despise a character who killed with such apparent pleasure. It was actually saving Elends life―thereby seemingly turning his back on his "inner Zod"―that redeemed him. In my eyes, anyway.
    Vin goes on to say that Elend is a better man than Kelsier ever was, and that Kelsier could have learned a great deal from him. It's bloody well about time that she realised that.
    She then surprises him by requesting that Sazed perform the shortest marriage ritual he knows, right here, right now. Sazed obliges, and they're wed right in Sazed's bedchamber, using the Larsta love oath, which apparently allows for no possibility of divorce. Not that they'll need one anyway. I must say that I didn't expect them to get married until at least the end of the book. The fact that it's happening now makes me even more sure that Elend isn't gonna make it.
    After the incredibly short and actually-not-quite-so-impulsive-as-it-appears wedding, Sazed finishes treating Vin's wounds, and after an apology and a few kind words are shared, Sazed initiates plan "Save the Hero―I Mean King".
    He claims to have figured out where the Well is, and he tells them that he can craft a map from his metal minds. He's obviously full of it, but Vin has no reason to believe that Sazed would lie, so she promptly announces that she :has. to go, despite the fact that she just got married not five minutes ago.
    Sazed tells Elend that he should go with Vin, and lays out the plan he and the crew made up. Elend will flee, helping Vin to free the power of the Well, which Sazed claims will destroy the koloss, somehow change Vin, and save the entire world. It'll be the best honeymoon ever!
    Meanwhile, back in Luthadel, Straff will take the city peacefully, and, after releasing the power at the Well, Vin and Elend will organise resistance from the outside. Sazed says that if Elend can convince the Synod that an alliance would be mutually beneficiary, they may be willing to offer military aid. I'd be surprised if the Terris even have an army.
    With all the planning out of the way, Elend takes Vin and they leave to get their rest, fully intent on leaving the very next day. Sazed's plan seems to have been a smashing success.
    The book now switches to Sazed's PoV, where it is revealed that―surprise!―everything he told them was a bunch of equine feces. Sazed returns to his room to begin work on the fake map that he promised to have ready for Vin and Elend.
    Maybe this will turn out to be a positive thing? I mean, its pretty obvious that something, or someone, wants Vin to get to the Well. Perhaps leading her astray will give Sazed time to figure out who, what, and why before rushing to this so called Well of Ascension.
    End Of Chapter 48
    Most likely, now that the Zane problem has been dealt with, the book can begin to shift more of it's focus to the great mystery and the siege, which I imagine will be concluded in the next Part. I don't want to believe that Sanderson would simply kill off all of his characters like this, so there's got to be some short if salvation around the bend, right? I can't really see what it is now, though.
    End of Part Four
  8. Child Bahkbar
    Part 4
    Chapter 45
    Sazed and Tindwyl are still at it. They've been at it for weeks now, and Tindwyl has been awake for practically the entire time. Just one more example of the awesome practicality of feruchemy.
    They've made some pretty decent progress. The mention of the names "Rabzeen" and "Anamnesor" in the rubbings have given them a link between Kwaan's inscribings and the histories from their Tinminds. The Rabzeen was apparently fortold to be of Khlennium, and he was supposed to either fight the conqueror, or be the Conqueror. He was also said to be "not of his people, yet fulfilling all of their wishes." Whatever the fudge that means. Yes, I said "fudge". What of it?
    Tindwyl, ever the sceptic, reveals that she does not believe in the prophecies that she's spent all this time studying so fervently. She especially does not believe that Vin is some mystical hero, or that there even is such a thing as the Hero of Ages, as it's just too convenient. She does, however, believe that the deepness is a real, recurring, non supernatural phenomenon, and that the histories may hold the key to repelling it once more.
    Sazed, on the other hand, is kind of obligated to believe the prophecies. He's still not sure weather or not Vin is the Hero, though. Tindwyl kindly reminds him of what happened the last time some smart chull assumed he had found this supposed Hero, but it's pretty clear that they're never going to completely agree on this, so they, as mature adults, agree to disagree.
    Tindywl and Sazed then move on to the subject of Cett's sudden removal from the city. Tindwyl, like Elend, thinks this may be a good thing, but the usually optomistic Sazed, aka "Mr. Maybe the Koloss aren't so bad after all", has dark premonitions. He says that they need to be done with this research as soon as possible.
    When they return to their research, they find a passage ripped out of the corner of one of the pages. Upon further investigation, they find that the exact same passage has been torn from every single written recording of that passage, including the rubbing. What's even more creepy is that the tears are completely identical. Eery.
    Fortunately, Sazed has the passage memorized. It's the one that says Alendi must not be allowed to reach the Well. Why, it's almost as if someone, or something, actually wants Vin to reach the Well, and there's only one creature that could be capable of making tears like this. The Misty Death. But if it truly wants Vin to reach the Well, why did it try to kill her earlier? Also, with it being invisible and all, it's safe to assume that it's been watching the two of them for a while. If that's the case, how is it that it is unaware of their feruchemical abilities?
    Vin shows up with damnation near Zane-level timing. After promptly requesting that Tindwy leave the room, Vin asks Sazed about...love. She thinks she's bad for Elend, and wonders if sure should break it off. Sazed, despite being a complete novice in these matters, manages to give her some decent advice.
    Vin also wants to know how to proceed if she's found someone else who may be more compatible with her. Ha! If Sazed actually knew the bastard, he'd be able to tell her with confidence that Zane isn't "right" for anyone. He doesn't, unfortunately, so he can't really help her in this matter. She's helped him, though; Sazed now knows that there is indeed another mistborn. Will he tell Elend? Hell no!
    After Vin leaves the room, Sazed opens the door to find that Tindwyl was eavesdropping on their entire conversation. She makes some sniding, but true, comment about Vin's stability. Or lack thereof. Sazed defends his young freind, of course, but Tyndwyl points out--rightly so--that she's raised fifteen daughters. How many has Sazed raised? I think I may have forgotten.
    They prepare to return to study, but before they can even start, Elend shows up, excusing Tindwyl from thhe room. He also wants to talk about his relationship. Why the heck do they come to Sazed for relationship advice? Are they not aware of the fact that he's a eunoch, and has never actually been in a long-lasting relationship? I mean, wouldn't someone else be more appropriate. Like Ham; He's actually married, and has been for a while.
    Elend asks the same questions that Vin did, minus the :second option:. Sazed gives Elend a slightly better answer than he gave Vin, using a rather clever, non sexual, analogy regarding locks and keys. Elend complements him greatly, and Sazed becomes the first character besides Vin to flush in embarrassment. I was beginning to think that she was the only one capable of such displays.
    Anyway, Elend allows Tindwyl back into room, and they're finally free to return to their study. Sazed is still destracted by thoughts of the young couple, though. While thinking of them, Sazed suddenly realizes that if Vin really is the Hero, he needs to get her and Elend away from the city. To save them from the grisly demise that surely awaits them here. With that in mind, he abandons his research and begins crafting a few letters...
    End Of Chapter 45
    "The two are not the same." I'm not sure why, but this line sent chills down my spine.
    Chapter 46
    This chapter hits it off... with Breeze, which is nice, because there's always something new to learn about him. Like how he experiences light-headedness sometimes when he gets up, or, like how he's a full blooded noble! I suppose this explains why he wasn't willing to pose as a nobleman way back in "The Final Empire". How he's managed to keep this a secret for so long, I do not know.
    Anyway, he's recieved a letter from Sazed. A letter that smacks of secrecy, treachery, and deceit. So he arises from his comfy abode with Allrianne and makes his way to the meeting place--but not before feeling a twinge of guilt for his forbidden relationship with the teenage girl.
    Anyway, when he finds the room, he finds two guards stationed in front of the door. He suspects a trap at first, but once he's reasonably sure that simply entering the room won't be incriminating, he walks in.
    Once he enters, he promptly asks Sazed if this is some kind of trap. Sazed obviously doesn't understand the grievous errors he's made, so Breeze kindly points out how obviously "hidden" this meeting is, and offers a bit friendly advice on sneaking around properly. Seriously, what's the point of the guards? It's not like they'd dare to stop Elend or Vin from waltzing in, anyway.
    Clubs is the next to arrive, and Ham shows up not long after him. Sazed apparently invited every member of the Crew except for the former king, the Mistborn, and the Spook. If that doesn't spell treachery, then I don't know what does.
    Dockson is the last to show up, and he most certainly has treason on his mind. He's obviously in a rotten mood, too. He says that they should transfer their services to Penrod. To Preserve the city that Kelsier bestowed upon them--to preserve the work that they've put into this city. Funny, because handing the city to Straff would undo just about everything they've done here, and it's the last thing their beloved Survivor would have wanted them to do.
    Dockson's blatant traitorism provokes Ham, and they quickly begin to squable. So much so that Breeze has to step in and give each of them a mental slap before things get too heated. Meanwhile, Sazed, the orchestrator if this meet, watches the exchange between the two "cornered animals" speechlessly.
    Breeze says that Straff isn't going to slaughter them, so Dockson's plan won't save them. He then goes on to explain to the group that death by koloss is what awaits them.
    Dox suggests that they just give the city to Straff to avoid this. Isn't that what he was already advocating with his suggestion to work with Penrod? Besides, as Ham points out, Kelsier would not approve. Not that what he'd think really makes that much of a difference; he's dead, after all. Been dead for over a year, actually. What really matters is that Straff is a heartless, soulless monster, and handing the city to him would be almost as bad as dying by Koloss.
    Breeze makes a slightly less stupid suggestion; Hand the city over to Jastes. Ham doens't like that idea, though, because that would be permitting the Koloss to enter Luthadel, which would be a bad thing as they are apparently ruthless savages, the lot of them.
    Clubs ends the argument by making the "Fight and die!" suggestion. Sazed seems to agree with this course of action, pointing out that their deaths will at least have meanings. Their sacrifices will inspire future Skaa generations in their struggle for freedom. But... they'll all be dead, so how will they know that they even made a difference in the end? How can they ensure that their sacrifices are not in vain? He has a solution to that as well.
    Someone has to survive to "tell their legacy", and to organize further resistance. Ham and Clubs say they won't leave their men, and Dox isn't leaving either, so Breeze steps up and agrees to go. He's not letting honor kill him--Not yet, anyway. Unfortunately for him, though, Sazed was actually referring to Elend and Vin. He basically says "Sorry, buddy, but you're gonna have to die with the rest of us." Now, How is that even remotely fair? They can get themselves killed if they want to, but what right do they have to force Breeze to make a martyr of himself? I say if he wants to be a wimpy, cowardly, yellow-bellied, cravenous, candy-assed, pansy, then so be it!
    Anyway, now that they've apparently decided that death and slavery are the most appealing options they have remaining, they begin to make plans on how to convince Vin and Elend to flee. Also, Sazed wants to send Tindwyl with them, and Breeze wants to send Allrianne. They're still hoping that Straff will save the city at the last moment, but that seems like something Cett would do, but Straff is no Cett. He's much, much worse.
    The perspective now switches to Vin, who is currently standing outside of Kredik Shaw, trying to make up her mind. All the while, that damned thumping continues to intensify.
    As she enters the palace, she wishes that she could be a ruthless, heartless, monster like Kelsier. Wishes that she didn't feel this guilt all the time. I guess she's forgotten that Kelsier wasn't always that way. He had his heart ripped from his chest when he watched his wife beaten to death before his very eyes. Does she wish to enjoy a similar experience? I'm sure she will, before this book is over.
    She ponders which is better: To be like Kelsier, or to be like Elend. She has to make a decision. It's too late for her to be exactly like Elend, as his hands are as-of-yet unbloodied, but that doesn't mean she has to be like Kelsier. Why does she have to be like anyone? Why can't she be her own person?
    As Vin walks through the hallways, she sees footprints. Probably Marsh, doing whatever it is he's been doing here there past several days. He's been here a while, and Inquisitors apparently do have to eat, so I wonder where he gets his food from. Has he been steeling? Get it? Steeling? I'm so funny.
    Anyway, Vin enters the Rashek's hidden abode, still trying to make up her mind on which man to be with. (I'm on team Elend! Squee!) She realizes that Rashek must have faced a similar(not really) difficulty. He had to chose between living the rest of his life as a farmer, or becoming a god and enslaving his own people; Vin has to chose "which man to spend her nights with." Yeah, their choices are both equally burdensome, and totally comparable!
    Vin eventually sees that standing loitering in this room isn't going to magically solve her dilemma, and she leaves, wondering why she even came in the first place.
    The Mad Bastard sleeps with metals in his tummy, because dying someday soon is better than dying today. As it turns out, this inadvisable life choice ends up saving his life. Straff finally makes his move and has some of his men stage an late night attempt on Zane's life, and thanks to his unhealthy practice, they do not succeed.
    Zane has apparently been expecting this for a while. In fact, he actually seems to have been looking forward to this day. He's been having a man keep watch every night for God knows how long. After dispatching with Straff's worthless assassin's, he pays the man a lavish amount of money, then goes to meet with his father for the very last time.
    Zane finds Straff waiting in his tent, prepared to die with dignity, honor, and manliness. Not. Straff begs, offering Atium, and even legitimacy. Zane doesn't care for his promises, but for some reason still rebels against his god's urges. He instead tells Straff how to capture the city, an informs his father that he'll be taking Vin with him tonight. When Straff asks him why he doesn't end his life, Zane replies that a man should not kill his father, and with that, he leaves. I...I don't... huh?
    Zane goes to retrieve his hidden stash of atium and his mist cloak--which was a gift from his beloved father. So he does have one! He doesn't wear it, though, because he doesn't like the way it chafes against the lump in his chest. Actually, it's not a lump. It's a spike. An Inquisitor's spike! What the hell is he doing with one of those!? How did he even get it? Who gave it to him? I thought Rashek was the only one capable of creating Inquisitors. If that's the case, why would he do this to Straff's son? Also, if just one spike is enough to make a man as powerful as Zane, why Inquisitors have three?
    Another problem just occurred to me. Does this mean that all of the Inquisitors here "god's" voice? If that's the case, then the Zane-God is in need of a new title. From here on out, he shall be called "Zod!" Not to be confused with the Kryptonian Super villain, of course.
    "Time to go," Zod says, and for once Zane is swift to follow His orders. Leaving his Mist cloak behind, he flys off to find Vin and begin a new chapter in his life. I smell a conclusion coming up real soon.
    End of chapter 46
    Kwaan wrote that Alendi believed as the other world bringers did. Why wouldn't he? Sure, his old mentor suddenly turning against him should have given him pause, but from what Kwaam has written. It seems like Alendi had gone too far to turn back at this point.
  9. Child Bahkbar
    Ah, the bitter taste of shame, defeat, and betrayal.
    Part Four
    Chapter 43
    Vin stands over Elend's sleeping form with Oreseur at her side. She has been informed of what he did, and she is not pleased, to say the least. In fact, she seems to on the brink of a full on anxiety attack. Her hands shake uncontrolably, and her mind races at the speed of...thought...
    Erm. It has become clear to Vin that she is incapable of protecting Elend from every infinitsimal threat that comes near him. She understands that what he did was somehow the right thing to do (no it wasn't), yet she still feels betrayed. After all she's done to keep him safe... She feels alone and helpless, and nothing frightens Vin like helplessness.
    Zane appears with his rutinely impeccable timing. He somehow knows exactly what she's going through right now, and offers her what I assume he believes to be comforting words.
    He also bears with him dark tidings, i.e. more lies. There is a traitor in their midst, Demoux by name. He claims that the captain, at Cett's behest, tried to convince Straff to attack the city during the voting.
    According to Zane, Cett's master plan was to have Elend and Penrod assassinated, making it appear as if it was Straff's doing; then, in their absence, take command and save the city from the tyranical Lord Venture. A pretty ingenious plan, if I may say so myself. Why didn't Cett actually do that?
    The argument is convincing. Too convincing, actually. If Zane weren't a madman, he'd be brilliant. In spite of the evidence, Vin isn't completely convinced that Demoux is a traitor, but it hardly matters. She's pissed off and more than a little frustrated.
    Zane, taking note of Vin's helpless frustration, makes a most dastardly suggestion. He suggests that they go out right now and kill Cett. Simply killing him won't be enough, though. Zane says they'll have to hit him, and hit him hard. What Zane suggests is no less that licentious massacre, and it spits in the face of all that is honorable. If Vin does this deed, she'll be no better than a foul, stinking, loathsome, good for nothing, Frey.
    The only thing holding Vin back from running out there right now is the fact that Elend would not approve. Shes always asking herself, "What would Elend do?", or "What would Elend think." Zane suggests that she ask herself, "What would Kelsier do?" That pretty much seals Cett's fate.
    They arrive at keep Hasting shortly therafter, entering through the front gate, and cutting down nearly forty guards in the process. Only one fortunate guard named Wellen is left alive.
    They start from the bottom, leaving nothing but corpses behind as they make their way up. Good God! Are they planning on killing everyone in this keep? Zane I can understand, but I cant believe Vin is doing this. I thought she was reasonable, but she doesn't seem to have even considered the consequences of her actions.
    The two Mistborn quickly clear the third and fourth floors, Vin using duralumin, Zane using Atium and madness. Not even the haze killers are able to stand against them. Hundreds are slain, so great is the massacre.
    Vin skips to the fifth story and, experiencing battle fever for the first time, kills every living thing in sight. Once the floor has been cleared, Vin sees a door. Upon entering it, she finds Cett and his son waiting. The boy tries to defend his father, but his efforts are in vain. She makes short work of the boy, but leaves him alive. Cett, on the other hand...
    She throws him into a wall, demanding that he fight her. She came here certain that Cett had at least one Mistborn, but she soon learns that she was terribly mistaken. Cett brings Zane's lies to light when he tells her that the only mistings he had were the ones he sent to assassinate her shortly before he arrived.
    Ah, that's right! How could I not have seen that? Mistborn are incredibly rare. What were the chances that Cett would have two? Especially considerring the fact that the one Mistborn he sent after her was pathetically unskilled, and he had very little atium besides.
    Anyway, Cett goes on to explain that he came to Luthadel out of desperation. Straff was going to come for him eventually, and without Atium he would have no way of standing up to the fellow tyrant. So he did what any incompetent overlord would have done. He decided to attack Luthadel, the city with not only the most powerful Mistborn, but also the largest Atium reserves in the entire known world. Looking at it that way, I can see that he kind of earned this fate. His plan was incredibly retarded--even stupider, in fact, than simply waiting for Straff to put an end to him.
    Zane chooses this moment to make his dramatic entrance. Vin, seeming to have finally come to her senses, pleads with him to spare Cett and his son. Zane, somehow managing to ignore the incessant urging of his god, consents to her pleas. He's disappointed in her, though, as he had hoped that she would start to see things his way once she realized her true potential.
    He then withdraws from the room, and Vin goes with him. I can only hope that she now sees what a manipulative bastard he is, and that she'll keep far away from him from now on.
    End of Chapter 43
    Kwaan says the even a madmen must rely on own experience. Not a smart madman. A smart madman would know that his experiences cannot be trusted, as they've probably been twisted by his failing mind. Of course, Kwaan most likely isn't mad, so my point is pretty much moot anyway.
    Chapter 44
    After his close encounter with death the other night, Cett decided it was probably a good idea to haul chull. This chapter begins with Breeze and Clubs nervously watching Cett's army leave the city.
    With that, according to Clubs, their fate has been sealed. He explains that if Straff pulls back now, the koloss will be free to fall upon the city. With everyone in Luthadel dead, Straff will be able to dispatch the weakened koloss army, enter the city, and search for his precious atium with no distractions. In other words, they're pretty much dead now, and it's all Vin's fault.
    Ham and Elend are discussing current events. Vin hasn't been seen since the previous night, but everyone knows it was she who attacked Cett's keep.
    Three hundred men. Those are the fruits of Vin's vengeful work last night. Three hundred in ten minutes. Ham doesn't get why she did it, Lestibournes thinks she's just loony(can't argue with that), and Elend is just worried out of his mind. Indeed, for all he knows she might be out there right now, bleeding to death in some alley. The way I see it, though, that would be no less than she deserves.
    Ham isn't sure if Vin is completely stable. Not sure? She most certainly is not, and she never really has been. This most recent outburst should be proof enough, but Elend, true to character, is in denial.
    Ham is beginning to question more than just Vin's sanity. Ham knows she's been hiding things from them. Important things. She was somehow able to take a blow head on from a thug during the assassination attempt, and there are also the rumors of her working with another Mistborn during her assault on keep Hasting. What's that I smell? Distrust? I guess what goes around really does come around.
    Everything seems to be falling apart, but Elend insists that they cannot give into dispair. That isn't what the survivor woukd have done, and it isn't what they're going to do. either. Yeah, well, were the survivor in charge, they wouldn't even be in this situation. Truth be told, had he chosen to take the throne, Kelsier would have most likely turned into a tyrant. If he didn't simply waste every single fat,ugly noble in the central dominance, he would have enslaved them like the skaa and called it justice. I seriously doubt that Kelsier would have elected to put himself in command, though; He was changing, near the end.
    They move on to the koloss. They now know that Jastes has been paying them with fake, wooden coin. SO that's how Jastes got the money to pay such large army. I didn't think their position could grow any more precarious, but I guess I was wrong. When the koloss find out about Lekal's deception, it'll be hell to pay.
    The meeting comes to an end, and they all leave the room, feeling a bit down. Except for Elend that is. He hasn't noticKoloss are surprisingly intelligent creatures, so they will ed what Clubs saw, so he actually sees Cett's withdrawl as a hopeful sign. He's in for a nasty surprise.
    Oreseur then shows up--I was wondering where he'd been. He claims to know where Vin is, so Elend, taking a few guards with him, rides with Oreseur to the location. He doesn't tell anyone else because he wants to keep Oreseur's true nature a secret for Vin's sake. He knows that Ham is right about Vin and her secrets, but he remains trusting to a fault.
    Oreseur followed Vin the previous night, and tracked her to Camons hidout. Ah I'd almost forgotten about that guy. He's the one who met his end with a hook through his throat, right? I didn't even feel sorry for him.
    Upon entering the building, Elend finds her in the in a tiny hidden room. The very same room where her very first PoV began, actually. It's pretty amazing how far the characters have come--and this is only the second book.
    Anyway Elend somehow manages to fit inside the cubby, and they have a little heart to heart. Vin is more open with him then she ever has been, I think.
    Vin feels terribly guilty over what she's done(as she should), but Elend remains supporitive to a fault, using Kelsier-like rationale to excuse her deeds. He as much as says that those three hundred men deserved to die. Funny. The way I see it, all the men who Vin slew were merely following orders. They most likely knew little to nothing about what either side even stands for. Those men most likely had nothing agains her or Luthadel personally, and they had no hope of standing against her. It wasn't a battlefield. It wasn't "kill or be killed." Vin simply engaged in wanton brutality. Like a maniacally deranged murderess in a daycare center.
    Plus there's the fact that Cett was actually a potential ally. He most likely could have been convinced to align his army with Luthadel against Straff. No hope of that anymore, though. I mean, he was their freaking guest. Maybe Vin didn't see it that way at the time, but that doesn't make it any less so.
    Vin at least knows that what she did was wrong. She tells Elend that she needs to make some decisions, to which he replies that he'll support her regardless of what she decides, because he trusts her, and he knows that she's ten times as capable as he is. Meh. Were he a Mistborn, I'm sure he'd be ten times more responsible with his powers than she is.
    Anyway, Vin tells him that she needs to go to Terris. Despite the hurt it causes him, he tells her that he can't go with her. He fears that he's losing her, but the truth is he never had her in the first place. Not truly.
    Shortly after, Oreseur shows up, informing them that the guards are growing restless. Vin then offers Zane's atium to Elend. He doesn't take it, though, because it won't do him much good now, so she ends up giving it to Oreseur for safe keeping. They then leave the building together.
    End of Chapter 44
    Kwaan wrote that he knew what he had memorized, and what was then repeated by the World bringers. What is he saying? The other World bringers somehow strayed from the prophecies? Or, perhaps, their interpretations simply differed from his.
    Suddenly his slightly pompous sounding remark about his memory makes sense. With such small excerpts from the larger work, and paragraphs spanning several chapters, it can be bit hard to follow at times. I really should be saving them all to a text file as I read. I'll probably do that with the next book.
  10. Child Bahkbar
    In these next two chapters are completely Elend centered. Resolutions are come to, friendships are broken, and a man is made... sort of.
    Part Four
    Chapter 41
    Sazed's doing what he's been doing all day every day for the past week; Studying with Tindwyl. While reading one of Kwaan's notes, they discover a rather shocking fact. Kwaan was Rashek's uncle. That's right, Kwaan sent his nephew with instructions to mislead and kill the supposed Hero of Ages. He succeeded. Hhe
    It's pretty clear that something here doesn't quite add up. Kwaan feared the deepness, yes? He even wrote earlier that he hoped for Alendi to succeed, and yet he actually sent someone to keep Alendi from accomplishing just that. Kwaan presumably knew Alendi well enough to know that he not type of person to take the power of the Well for himself, and yet sent someone who would take the power for himself to stop him. That's insane. He also wrote that he hopes that Alendi will he "exposed" in the mountains of Terris. Does this mean that he believed that his death would be proof of his inauthenticity? There's a riddle here that the characters cannot decipher. I can't either.
    This also begs the question of why, if he truly thought so highly of Terris, Rashek would subject his people to slavery. You'd think that with his elitist attitude he would have elevated them instead. I don't want to believe his fear of someone else obtaining godlike powers akin to his own was enough to drive him to such lengths.
    Tindwyl says that something dramatic must have happened to turn Kwaan on his friend. No duh, yo. The question is, what? They're obviously missing something. It seems as though Kwaam believed that Alendi in particular getting his hands on the power could possibly be as catastrophic as allowing the deepness to roam free. What was so special about Alendi?
    Sazed suggests they take a brake, but Tindwyl says that they have no time. She's right, too. This city doesn't have much time left, and they need to get as much work done as possible before they're all slaughtered. Sazed understands, for once not even considering some slightly naive and optimistic alternative, so they return to their research. I, for one, hope they get to the bottom of this before Luthadel is attacked. Not that there's any chance of that happening, though.
    Elend is standing on his balcony looking out at the cold buildings, wishing he could do more for his people. Sinking deeper and deeper into the pit of shame and regret. The Koloss are still out there, and he now knows that they have not been given proper attention. True that. Those beasts will most likely be the death of them all.
    Demoux shows up, politely requesting that ELend take shelter inside from the cold winds. Yeah, I'm sure he doesn't want to die before the koloss can get to him.
    Elend has been under constant guard ever since the assassination attempt, so Demoux and another man accompany him when he decides to leave the room. Elend pities himself as he walks down the halls. He's noticed the change in Vin since his deposition, and he thinks it's a reaction to his "colossal failure." He's not king anymore, so why would someone as amazing as Vin want to be with him? Ha! If only he knew.
    Elend, deciding to try and make himself useful instead of wallowing in pity all day, pays Tindwyl and Sazed a little visit. He's come for advice His unwillingness to tell a lie cost him the throne, and he wants to know if telling the truth was really the right choice. Their answers are totally different, but, the way I see it, they're answers both hold some merit.
    Tindwyl says that he must think of the consequences of his actions,regardless of morality. When asked what the kings of old would have done, she says they never would have lost their thrones in the first place, so the question is moot.
    Sazed, on the other hand, believes that he was right to tell the truth, because lying would not have been "cohesive with himself", and that he can trust in providence to "fill the holes caused by the conflict of morality and logic." So he actually does believe in something? I thought he was full of crap when he said he believed in all religions, but he apparently wasn't lying. Doesn't make any sense to me, but whatever.
    Their answers have somehow helped him come to a resolution on how to proceed, and he, thanking Tindwyl, leaves the room. He has decided to keep moving forward, and not to return to the way he was before the Collapse, so he returns to his chambers to adorn his uniform. Good on him.
    End of Chapter 41
    Kwaan had super good memory. So good, if fact, that he didn't even need metal mind to memorize a sheet in an instant. Great. And he felt the need to write this because...?
    Chapter 42
    Penrod has busied himself with the task of convincing the Assembly to hand the city over to Elend's tyrannical father. I guess that means his plans are out in the open now? Why then does Elend seem so unperturbed? I would have expected him to be more concerned, considering that he faces absolutely certain death if Penrod is successful, but no, his thoughts are centered on other matters.
    Elend, driven by his newfound motivation, is working over a map with Demoux. They're making plans to help the skaa stay warm during the surprisingly cold winter. It seems like he's going to be making some serious...renovations in the city, mainly the pillaging of many unoccupied noble keeps for firewood. He's having a number of the idle soldiers help him with the work.
    He also has a scout named Felt investigating the poisoned food and wells. Now, I don't mean to offend anyone in real life who may happen to have been cursed with this name, but... really? Felt? What kind of sadistic parents would name their own child "Felt?" Had they no conscience? No shame?
    Anyway, Felt says that the that the poisoners are not getting into the city through passwalls. Felt has to explain to Elend what a passwall is, and once he understands, he seems slightly displeased at the thought of people fleeing the city despite his orders. Oh come on. Does he seriously expect all the people to sit around waiting to starve, be raped and murdered by Straff's soldiers, or Die by Koloss? Of course they're fleeing. I bet he would do the same, were he not such a prestigious fellow.
    Anyway, Felt says that it's much more likely that the poisoners are infiltrating the city through the canals, so Elend orders his men to take care of this. About damnation time, too. Those poisoners must be caught and put to justice. Once they are caught, I suggest, if I may, Death by Slow Torture, for there is no honor in killing as they do. Not to mention that they have targeted innocents, and that's just not cool.
    Demoux brings another man, Larn by name, who Demoux believes offers a second opinion to how the poisoning is taking place. Larn claims to have spotted an Inquisitor in the city. Apparently he and a few others have seen one hanging around Kredick Shaw. Only one? It might have been Marsh, then! What business does he have at Kredik Shaw, though? Actually, now that I think about it, we still don't even know what he was looking for at the Conventical of Sarand.
    Elend orders a patrol from his own house to keep watch over the area. Won't do much good, but eh.
    Ham finally shows. With an operation this big, he's got to be involved. He thinks it's a bit risky to be keeping so many soldiers out here. If Cett were to chose this moment to stage an attack, these men would be caught with their pants around their ankles.
    Elend suddenly sees what Cett is doing. He's trapped himself inside the city to forcibly align he and Elend's armies in the event of an attack from Straff or Jastes. A clever ploy, but it reeks of desperation. Why is he so desperate? I can think of several reasons, but Death by Koloss seems to be the most likely.
    Elend is finally starting to grasp their situation. He realizes that someone needs to do something drastic tip scales of this three way standoff, and he knows exactly who that "someone" must be. With that, Elend gives Demoux charge of this operation, and turns to Ham, asking him just how crazy he's feeling.
    Next thing you know, He, with Ham's reluctant assistance, is sneaking out of the city through one of the passwalls. Elend, who seems to be experiencing alarmingly rapid metaphorical testicular growth, is going to meet with his old friend Jastes. Alone.
    Elend has a passing familiarity with koloss, so when he arrives at the camp, he knows exactly how to deal with the band of koloss who come to greet him. With a firm hand--er--tone of voice, he gets the twelve foot leader of the band to escort him to the command tent.
    While riding to the tent, he notices that the koloss have more pouches than Sazed described, and, for some mad reason, they're wearing clothes. Which, of I might add, seem to fit them about as well as their skin does...didn't I write earlier that I wouldn't say dwell any more on the koloss' appearance? I'll just picture them as giant pink teddy bears, thank you.
    The lead koloss, shortly before finally hearkening the voice of the Zane-god and getting himself killed in a failed attempt to murder one of his companions, clears up a bit of the confusion by explaining to Elend that they're not koloss at all, but are in fact humans. He also finds the need to point out that that they will take Elend's city and slaughter his people. So they know who he is, or at least where he came from? These creatures never cease to amaze.
    Upon arriving at the command, he is led by human guards into the chamber of the balding ruin that is Jastes Lekal. When Jastes lays eyes on him, the balding, rapidly aging king exclaims, "what in the lord rulers name happened to you?". Funny that he should be the one to utter those words, considering the shape he's currently in.
    Speaking of funny, I can't stop laughing at this guy. I know he must have been through something horrible to get like this, but he just seems so pathetic that I can't help myself.
    Anyway, Jastes offers Elend a drink, but Elend's a bit pre occupied with being a judgmental chull. That's not to say that Lekal isn't deserving of some harsh criticism, because he totally is.
    Elend calls Jastes a tyrant, but Jastes calls himself a realist. Yeah, leading an army of koloss to a crowded city is totally realistic. It sounds to me like he's just in denial of the facts. Foremost of which is that his mind is rapidly fading.
    Through their discourse we learn a bit more about what happened to turn Jastes into...this. I can feel my good amusement rapidly fading into guilt as Jastes explains that he apparently did implement Elend's idea for a free government, as planned, but he didn't fare near so well as his friend. In the course of just one year, he lost everything. Including his entire family.
    Elend makes a rather insensitive remark, prompting Jastes to call for the guards. He was planning on taking him captive, but reveals that he is no longer king, and then he actually has the nerve to compare his deposition to Jastes horrible loss. Always saying the wrong thing, this guy.
    He pleas with Jastes to take his koloss and go, but Jastes remains stubborn. He refuses to allow Straff to get the atium, so he orders his guards to seize Elend. Elend quickly and rather shockingly makes short work of the two guards, and then rams a knife into his old friend's arm. Woah! When did Elend become such a bad chull, and why is he handling this meeting so poorly? I thought he was supposed to be a diplomat!
    Elend warns Jastes once more to take his koloss and go, then, holding Jastes hostage, he backs out of the human camp. Before the koloss come to get him, he sees in Jastes eyes that he probably won't be taking his advice. He realizes that this trip was a total waste, as all he did was antagonize Jastes. You don't say! He honestly could not have handled this meeting more poorly. Had he taken a different, less self righteous stance, perhaps he could have accomplished something here.
    The koloss don't waste any time in coming to escort him out. As he regards them, Elend decides to make this trip useful and find out exactly what they carry in those pouches. So, in a fit of insanely manly madness, he attacks one of the smaller koloss and, with a small dagger, smites his ruin upon the hillside. The beast allegedly ate his horse.
    Upon opening the pouch, Elend discovers that Jastes has been controlling his koloss the old fashioned way. Money. Suddenly their position seems just that much more precarious. There is just no way in hell this will work for long. Eventually something is going to go wrong, and then they'll have twenty thousand raging koloss on their hands.
    What will they do then?
    End of Chapter 42
    Kwaan wrote that many believed him to be mad. I kind of do too. What sane man contradicts himself as often as Kwaan does. Could that be the big secret? Will our "Hero" find an obscenely old immortal madman huddled in some cave where the supposed "Well of Ascension" is hinted at being?
    ...
    Naw.
  11. Child Bahkbar
    Finally starting the fourth Part. It begins with one short chapter, followed by a really long one. I'm not complaining, though.
    Part Four
    Chapter 39
    Tis chapter commences with Straff riding in carriage, and Zane walking alongside him. Straff is not at all pleased with the results of his sons' assassination attempt. Yes, I imagine that he was seething with impotent rage when he heard the news of their colossal failure.
    Apparently those six allomancers were one third of his secret misting progeny. That means he has eighteen misting offspring? Including Elend and his other normal kids, this guy must have a small army of illegitimate children. He has indeed been a busy, busy man.
    He knows that Zane did not participate, but he, as of yet, does not know why. Did Zane betray him? As he watches Zane argue with himself against spontaneous murder, he wonders what he's gotten himself into. What indeed.
    When Straff brings up the fact the Vin will have his head now that she knows that he tried to have Elend assassinated, Zane says she too clever to believe that. It sounds crazy, but he's probably right. Vin must know that if Zane wanted her and Elend dead, they would be.
    Straff's procession reaches their destination. He's come out here, very near to the Luthadel walls, to meet up with his old friend, Lord Penrod. What a shock. Penrod is planning on handing the city to Straff? That's how he got the merchants to vote for him. Straff offered the greedy, power hungry curs an even better offer than Cett did.
    It would seem, from the way he's acting, that Penrod has the city's best interest at heart. I thought he was smart, but apparently I was wrong. He knows that Straff can't be trusted, as they've apparently been "buddies" for a good long time now. Why would he offer the city to Straff, knowing that he'll just be stabbed in the back sooner of later?
    Also, to be honest, this doesn't seem to be much of "friendship" to me. All I see is Straff trying to make Penrod into an obedient mutt. He acts like a complete prick to Penrod, and, from the looks of things, their relationship has always been this way.
    Anyway. To his shame, Straff is too craven to accept Penrod's offer and enter the city. Despite the fact that Vin would never take action against him if he took Luthadel "legally", he refuses to make a move until she is dead, and he must rely on Zane for that, which terrifies him even more.
    Once their revelatory meeting is finished, Straff rudely dismisses Penrod. Shortly afterwards, Zane leaps from the shadows, and shortly after that, he reveals that he has poisoned Straff. Again. He acts like he's awed by how Straff always somehow always seems to catch his little ploys. Little does he know that Straff actually didn't catch the poison this time. As soon as Zane runs off, Straff desperately rushes back to his camp. To Amaranta.
    Straff makes it back in the knick of time, and Amaranta obediently begins brewing her magical cure-all. What hold does he have over her? I mean, she doesn't seem very happy to be here, and she isn't a skaa slave, so why doesn't she just leave? Is the pay that good?
    Anyway, as the antidote begins to take effect, Straff makes a hard decision. Zane must die... Okay... Does he have a plan? How exactly will he go about killing one of the most skilled Mistborn alive? Besides, he needs him. How is he ever going take care of Vin without Zane? He doesn't seem to have thought this whole thing through.
    End of Chapter 39
    Kwaam says that Alendi's appearance just seemed too... convenient. he wrote that it was almost as if they constructed the Hero themselves, instead of allowing him to "arise naturally." Well, that makes about as much sense as anything else he's written. Oh, wait, no it doesn't.
    The Big Four-O
    This chapter starts with Vin's perspective. It turns out her injuries weren't all that grievous, but Elend stayed by her bedside anyway, even though he now sees her for the "monster" she is. Is that really how Vin sees herself? She's no monster. The Inquisitors are monsters; She's just an overly protective mistborn who sometimes uses unnecessarily excessive force...and occasionally explodes heads.
    When Vin takes note of his uniform, or, rather, lack of it, Elend lets her know about the results of the vote. He says that Penrod is a far better choice than he is anyway, that he should have put his support behind Penrod from the start, and that his arrogance could have landed them with Cett. Heh. If only he knew.
    He goes on to say he must either admit that he was wrong to ever believe in the Assembly, or trust in their decision. Or he could, y'know, accept that the Assemblymen are only humans, and that they, imperfect humans that they are, will occasionally make huge mistakes. Such as deposing the only decent king this godforsaken city is ever likely to have.
    Anyway, Elend seems pretty down, but when Vin reaches out to comfort him, he exhibits an infinitesimal flinch. Can you blame him for that? She exploded a mans head not two days ago. Not to mention that he almost died himself. The flinch most likely means nothing. He just needs some time to mentally recover, that's all.
    Vin, as per usual, is reading a bit to much into his uncontrollable negative physical reaction to her touch. She's acting like this is it. It's all over. I suppose this explains why she's always keeping secrets from him. She actually believes that if he gets too close and sees the "real her", he'll leave her. Now he has seen her for what she is, and Miss Insecure has leapt at the first chance to give up all hope.
    Elend sees the sorrow in her eyes, but he seems to think that she's disappointed by his failure. He says that they'll get through this and that she just needs some more rest.
    This somehow brings Oreseur to Vin's mind. When she asks of him, Elend tells her that the kandra is digesting a new body. Ah, that's right! He attacked a human, broke his contract, and got himself brutally mutilated, all for her. If Oreseur can care so much for her, knowing "what she is", then why can't Elend? He's always known about what she does. Does she really think so lowly of him to believe that he'd abandon her after seeing her in action first hand?
    Anyway, the conversation takes a turn, and they begin discussing more important, erm, less personal matters. After the events of the previous days, Cett has locked himself up in Keep Hasting, and now, as he's well and truly trapped, Elend hopes he'll be more willing to negotiate. I honestly don't see why he wouldn't be. He's obviously in no position not to at least consider Elend's first offer.
    Straff, on the other hand, has been oddly silent. The assassins were blatant, which, according to Elend, isn't his style. That, and no one was able to identify the assassin's. Vin actually mentions that she recognized that last guy, but there's no hope of finding out who he was anymore.
    Vin apologies for making him see...that, but Elend says it was nothing. He brings up the fact that he's seen death loads of times, unwisely using the Lord Ruler's executions as an example. He tries to correct himself, but the damage is done, and, unbeknownst to him, his compliments are only making it worse. Wow, this guy never fails to impress. Always opening his mouth and saying the wrong things at the worst possible times, he is.
    Elend then brings her an admittedly drugged bowel of soup, and, after she willingly drinks it, leaves the room.
    Vin awakens a few hours later to find Zane in the room. What a thing to wake up to. I imagine it must be somewhere in between waking up with a snake and waking up with "The King".
    Anyway, Zane starts spouting his usual drivel. He says that the only reason she was injured at all is because she was too busy protecting the nobles. So what? Was she just supposed to let several of those mostly-innocent people be slaughtered? What kind of person would that make her?
    What is this creep's game, anyway? When Vin asks him exactly this, he replies with some impressively smooth lies. He says that Straff fears her way too much to have sent those assassin's. Vin then recalls where she'd seen Mr. No Head before. He was in Cett's entourage--one of the serving men. Ah. That explains the peculiarities surrounding those guys. A clever ploy. A very clever ploy indeed. Zane seems to have really planned ahead.
    Zane goes on to tell Vin of Penrod's plans, adding that oh-so important bit of truth to his fabrications. Vin has fallen for this lies, same as she always does: Hook, line, and sinker. Cett will be chin deep in proverbial excrement if Vin shares this information with anyone. Fortunately she seems to be rather adept at keeping important information from those who need it, so there's the chance that she won't tell a soul.
    Zane says that he has no wish to see her or Elend dead, which is probably only a half lie, but I doubt he gives two big one's about what happens to Elend. He then proceeds to spill his soul to Vin. I'm using figurative speech, of course; Zane doesn't have a soul.
    The madman says that he isn't Elend, but that's okay, because even though he sometimes wishes he were, he can never be like his brother. He says it's better that they never meet, as they don't belong together anyway, and neither does Vin. i.e, he's asking her to "be his woman."
    He then leaves her, but before going, he hands her a gigantic bead of atium, telling her to be prepared for next time. Great...
    The chapter feels like it should be over, but no, there's another short time skip, and we're right back to Vin. Some time has passed, but she is still in recovery. Oreseur comes to visit her today, and--what a surprise! He's still a dog. He gives some nonsense excuse for it, but its pretty clear that he rather enjoys being an animal.
    Vin thanks him for breaking his contract to save her, but he says he didn't break it, he only slightly abused it. The contract never said they couldn't harm humans, only that they mustn't kill. Had he accidentally slain the man he attacked, he would have returned home for execution instead of sticking around here.
    So kandra can die. Just not by any tools they have today, apparently. When Vin asks why they feared the Mistborn if they could not kill them, He says that they should change the topic. Vin expresses some dismay at being left in the dark about this, so, against his better judgment, Oreseur tells her more. Dumbass.
    The Lord Ruler actually created them and the Koloss, and he carefully placed in the kandra a mechanism to keep them under control at all times. This "something" apparently involves Allomancy, and that is why the Kandra feared mankind. Well, info's out now.
    Vin draws from this that the Lord used the power of the Well to create the kandra, and she assumes that the power must have ran out rather quickly, on account of his using armies to conquer instead of pure mystical energy. If that's the case, though, what makes her think that the Well has magically regained it's power all of a sudden? If it continuously regenerates over time, would the Lord Ruler not have been tapping into that power on a regular basis? If her theory is correct, the Well should be all but completely empty if and when she gets her hands on it.
    Anyway, Vin proceeds to take Oreseur's information, his trust, and tries to use it to exploit his weakness.
    What?
    What is this? I thought she was supposed to be his friend. Now she's experimenting on finding a way to control him? I know she's going through a difficult time, but this? This is totally unacceptable.
    Vin gets no results at first, but instead of giving up she tries out her trusty duralumin, causing Oreseur to let out a dog-scream and go into convulsions for a few minutes. Vin immediately apologizes,terrible but it's to late. The damage has been done.
    When he eventually recovers, he says that she is not to blame, that it's his fault for telling her in the first place, and leaves her to wallow in her own guilt and self loathing.
    She does feel terribly guilty--as she should. He saves her life and trusted her with intimate, potentially damning, information about his kind, and she repays him with this? What if she had done something terribly wrong and damaged him beyond repair? What if he'd been exaggerating about not being able to be killed by allomancy, and her curiosity had cost him his life?
    Jeez.
    End of chapter 40
    Kwaan writes that he began to see other issues with Alendi after his previous revelation. Awesome. Will he ever tell us what they were? I doubt it.
  12. Child Bahkbar
    Two more chapters down.
    Part Three
    Chapter 37
    Sazed has been studying all night with Tindwyl, who seems to have become quite dedicated to expanding his research now that she's finally taken a look at it. Good for her.
    They've apparently spent some time studying together before. I guess this is to be expected, with them both being keepers. Sazed actually used to be member of synod before his rebellious phase, so the responsibility fell on him to share with Tindwyl the thirty-or so years worth of knowledge that she'd missed out on during her decades of labor. This comes as a bit of a shock to me. Tindwyl actually had to be...taught...? Well, I mean, of course she did, but still...
    Their study of the deepness has drawn them to the biography of some King named Wednegon, who was one of the last significant people to oppose the Lord Ruler. In his biography, they find a passage that convinces them that the deepness was actually just mist. Demented mists, true, but mists none the less. Okay, awesome. They now know what it is, but they're unfortunately no closer to finding out how to stop it. How does one defeat the mist? How does one even go about trying to fight mist?
    Sazed says that this may very well be the end of them, but Tindwyl insists that they don't have any hard evidence that the mists have become hostile again. Maybe she doesn't, but Sazed has definitely seen enough to be convinced. Despite this, he doesn't bother countering her claim. He's just too meek.
    Tindwyl points out this rather uncommon flaw in Sazed's character. She claims that Sazed was cast from the Synod because he wouldn't argue on his own behalf. He was right to take a stand against the Lord Ruler, and, according to Tindwyl, the Synod would have listened to him had he been a bit more assertive. His reply is self demeaning, as it often is. He says that he's not like the men from her beloved biographies. That he, in fact, isn't really a man at all. Does this mean he was lying to Vin when he told her that he was no longer bothered by his... inadequacy?
    Tyndwyl chooses this moment to announce that she is planning on leaving to tutor the enemy kings. Seriously? After all they've been through together. How could she sort-of betray them like this?
    As it turns out, she doesn't actually want to leave. She's wants an excuse not to go, and she's looking to Sazed to give her one. Shes trying to get him to stand up for what he wants, for a change. Unfortunately, he suffers from an acute case of unmanliness, so she has to make it a bit easier for him, stating exactly why she needs to stay. All she requests is that he tell her that he wants her to remain here with him. He reluctantly obliges, and she consents. Aww, good for them.
    It's time for Elend to spend some more time the book's spotlight. He makes his way to the city wall top, where he beholds that the witless King Jastes Lekal, in a savage attack of witlessness, has brought his savage army of savage savages to increase the over all sense of doom hovering over Luthadel. Yes, King Lekal has joined the siege, and it is a very stupid and unfortunate thing.
    Thankfully, he seems to have enough control over his koloss to keep them from engaging in spontaneous attacks on the enemy camps. Although it's doubtful that he has had any success in keeping the from savaging one another. Elend should be at least a little grateful for that. If they can hold out for long enough, maybe the koloss will just kill each other off eventually. I'm joking, of course. They're all dead.
    Ham joins Elend on the city wall. As they talk, he admits to Ham that he wants to be king. He actually wants to be in charge. He says this desire is arrogant, but what is arrogance, if not self confidence turned on it's head. I'm paraphrasing, of course. There's no way in hell that Elend would be caught using Cett's catch phrase.
    As Elend and Ham the walk along the wall, they notice a group of Straff's and Cett's men skirmishing in the distance, which is apparently not such a rare event these days. Things are growing more and more heated. If only he had more time, maybe he actually could get the two armies to destroy one another. Well, he doesn't, so there's no use crying over spilled blood and lost lives. Oh wait, yes there is.
    The elections are only a day away, and there seems to be nothing more Elend can do to prepare. Tindwyl taught him in their last lesson that there is no single mold for Kingship, so he decides at this moment that he'll win the throne by being himself, by accentuating his strengths, which are his philosophical leaning, and, most importantly, his love for the skaa. Really? That's his master plan? There's no way he's going to win the throne if that's all he has up his sleeve. Didn't the Assembly just depose him? Why would they elect him again if he's just planning on being his same old self?
    Elend continues to walk the wall. Thinking. Always thinking. Then it hits him. A plan arises from the warm, fuzzy heights of his imagination. He knows what must needs do to stand a fighting chance in this race. He announces right away to Ham that he has a plan. Great. Let's hope it's a decent one this time.
    End of Chapter 37
    Bag to Kwaan's writing. He's getting to the point, just as he promised. He says that the problem with Alendi was that he may have fit the signs too well? What? What the hell's that supposed to mean? He's the Hero of Ages! He's supposed to fit the signs perfectly...isn't he?
    Chapter 38
    At last, the day has arrived for the Assembly to chose their new king. Vin and Elend were the first to show up for the meeting, so they engage in a bit of romantic reminiscence while they wait for everyone to enter and be seated. Elend has taken note of the fact that they've been spending less and less time together recently, so he promises to spend more time with her once this is all over. Aww, isn't that sweet? He's completely oblivious to seeds of treachery that she harbors deep within her marred, distrustful soul.
    Elend notices that Vin is a bit jumpy, and he asks her if there's anything he's missing. Missing? He's missing the fact that Straff's kooky bastard has been ordered to kill her, and he still hasn't quite made up his mind weather or not he's going to do it. Vin doesn't tell him this, of course. Instead she just says that she "doesn't know", which, as it turns out, is actually the truth. So, she is not at all bothered by the fact that Zane could be here in this packed room, right now, waiting to carry out his father's orders? That doesn't bother her even a little?
    Apparently not. She just feels that something is...wrong. Just a hunch, then? Unfortunately for her, her hunches are often times spot on. Honestly, is there anyone in the real world whose hunches are even almost always correct? When I have a hunch, if I bother to tell anyone about it, I usually just make a fool of myself.
    Anyway, Elend tells Vin that he's got a little something up his sleeve, and, as it so happens, his plan involves her. Or, more accurately, her reputation. He says it's not a big deal, and that it doesn't change anything between them. He meant to tell her before, but things were just moving to fast. Wait, wait, wait. Let me get this straight. He devised a scheme, one that directly relates to Vin, but didn't bother to consult with her, or even to inform her about it at all? Does he not see anything wrong with that?
    As Vin wrestles with her feelings of confusion and betrayal, Penrod begins with the proceedings. Cett seems to have the edge. He only needs two thirds of vote, and he already has the merchants on his side. Honestly, wouldn't it be a bit more fair for them to need two thirds of the votes plus at least one vote from each group? That way none of them get completely left out of the voting.
    Once Penrod finally finishes his overly long opening speech, he gives the contestants one last chance to have their say before the voting begins. During this time, Vin notices that Ham is off away from his usual seat next to Vin, he's chosen to hang out with Demoux and some Survivorists instead. From this little hint, Vin is able to deduce that Elend joined the Church of the Survivor. Ingenious, but also detrimental to their already shaky relationship. As Elend rises to begin his speach and announce to the world that he is now a Survivorist, Vin realizes that Zane was right. She is just a tool to them.
    While struggling with this rather brash and untrue revelation, Vin notices a few suspicious men edging around the room towards them. Straff's misting bastards? This would be as good a time as any to make their move. Just as Elend finishes his speech, one of the men, a thug, strikes at him, and the chaotic skirmish begins.
    There are six mistings; three of them are thugs. It's doubtful that even Vin can take this many while protecting Elend as well. She tries anyway, of course.
    During the ensuing battle, Vin unwisely burns duralumin and squanders her pewter to take down two of the mistings, screwing herself over in the process. Thanks to her trusty hound Oreseur's timely arival, his selfless sacrifice, and his hidden vial of metals, she's able to put an end to the mistings with very little injury to herself. Or so it seems at first.
    It just so happens that she forgot to finish off one of the thugs. He sneaks up on her, pins her to the ground and begins to choke the life out of her. As Vin's awareness begins to fade, she realizes that she knows this thug from somewhere. Just before everything fades to black, she saves her own life by burning her duralumin and, to Elend's horror, using a super-powered headbutt to pop the man's head like an overgrown zit. So much for identifying the poor bastard later on.
    Elend is having a little trouble coping with what he's just seen. His adorable little girlfriend just slew six men right before his eyes. One of them quite grotesquely. To make matters worse, she collapsed right afterwards. She'll live, but this battle, especially the ending, will most likely stay with him for the rest of his short life.
    The aftermath is brutal. Blood and matter everywhere. Not to mention the six corpses that some poor unfortunate soul is going to have to dispose of. The assassins had targeted Cett and Elend. Vin as well, of course, but no one here knows that.
    Ham didn't even get to join the fray, which stinks because I've been waiting to see him do battle. From he and Elend's discourse, it becomes apparent that Vin has been keeping duralumin a secret from even them. I don't believe it!
    Their chat is interrupted by the arrival of a messenger. He says that the voting will proceed at Penrod Manson. It's a bit cruel to continue right away after all that just happened, but apparently if they don't choose a leader today Elend gets to keep his seat. They really cut it close. Could they not have scheduled it just a few days earlier to make room for surprise events like the one they had today? Lord Ruler! What kind of incompetent fool waits till the very last minute for things like this?
    Elend goes to the meeting, now void of Vin's precious protection. The voting commences with Penrod voting for himself, of course. In a surprise turn of events, the merchants turn cloak and vote for Penrod, leaving Cett with a grand total of two votes. Elend manages to get enough votes to win by default, but the two traitors who voted for Cett decide to change their votes, and Penrod wins.
    The chapter ends as Elend, rejected, takes the walk of shame out of the voting room. What did Penrod promise the merchants in exchange for their votes, what will he do with his new found authority, and what happens to Elend now. This could be either end up being "pretty okay", or "a total fudging disaster" Only time will tell.
    End of part 3
  13. Child Bahkbar
    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.
  14. Child Bahkbar
    Part 3
    Chapter 34
    This chapter starts from Elend's perspective. He is with most of the Crew and Sazed, pointing out to Ham how utterly stupendous his suggestion to vote all of the merchants off of the assembly is. When I was a kid, I used to think "stupendous" meant "really, really stupid".
    Tindwyl is here too, but, as keepers aren't allowed to take sides, she isn't lifting another finger to help Elend regain his throne. Not that she needs to; it's clear as rain on a sunny day what Elend needs to do now. Slander. Slander campaigns are an essential part of politics, especially when it comes to elections; it's about time Elend started looking for some of his opponents "dirty laundry", so to speak.
    A former obligator named Noorden is helping Elend and Crew look for information on Cett. Together, they've found that, contrary to what he would like them to believe, Cett had strong political connections in Luthadel before the Collapse. Not exactly dirty laundry, but it'll have to do for now.
    They have thus far been unable to find any loopholes in the law that would allow them to prevent Cett's coronation if the Assembly chooses him. Elend wont't stand for the manipulative abuse of his own laws, anyway, so they'd better just focus their efforts on keeping Cett from winning at all.
    The way Elend puts it, Cett would make a positively atrocious king. Despite this, he is starting to think that he should have handed the city to Cett a while back; that is what the people want, after all. Sazed disagrees, quoting Tindwyl's words about believing in oneself almost word for word. Heh. It'll take a little more than base flattery to make up for his abject disobedience. "Abject". Such a wonderful word...but that's besides the point!
    Vin enters the room, now, so, as per usual, the book switches to her point-of-view. She informs Elend that she overheard some of the palace workers chatting about some sort of sickness. Apparently he forgot to tell her about the poisoned wells. The old Elend would have taken the information to her the moment he first heard it. Vin doesn't seem very happy about this change in him; she is actually quite troubled by Elend's newfound independence. She should be happy for him. Are once pathetic wanna-be king is becoming a man!
    Anyway, Sazed apparently contributed heavily to the creation and perfecting of Elend's laws. When Tindwyl hears of this, she gets a bit...testy, so Elend has no choice but to command her to apologise to Sazed or get the hell out; She chooses the latter option. Elend is finally beginning to act like a true king. How.. ironic.
    Vin takes note of Elend's new firmness. She's still bothered by his "secrecy" about the wells, and she begins to wonder what else he's kept from her. Ah, so the pot suspects the kettle of being black, does she? How... hypocritical.
    Vin whispers that she wants to tell Elend about some new theory about the deepness or whatnot, but he says he doesn't have time for her right now, which, apparently, means he doesn't need her any more, and he is going to abandon her first chance he gets. Oh the horror! The insecure, secretly needy Vin starts to make a comeback, and she begins to hear "Reen's" voice in her head once more.
    It is now, at her lowest point in years, that she hears a rustling outside. She goes out to investigate it, and finds the Mad Bastard there. Waiting. He's come with near perfect timing. Come to take her away--to take her to the worms. He attacks abruptly, and this time it's for real. It doesn't take Vin long to realize that he is burning atium. She tries to resist, but she soon finds that she's as helpless as a cat in a convectional oven... That thought terrifies her, and she experiences the mind numbing, bowel loosening, petrification that accompanies the sure knowledge of one's imminent demise. It looks like it's all over for her, but, as luck would have it, Zane is insane, and he's just a bit treacherous as well, so he stops just before delivering the killing blow.
    Zane is a little bit shocked at the discovery that Vin doesn't even have any atium at all. He tells her what Straff has ordered him to do, and asks her to run away with him. She rejects him, unsurprisingly, but, if things continue the way they've been going, she will go to him soon enough. I'd make a Twilight joke here, but don't think I want to go down that road.
    Zane chooses this moment to reveal to her who he is, and warn her of some refugees Straff has sent ahead to Luthadel. Survivors from a koloss raid. They are perilously near, and growing nearer each day. Has Jastes lost control of them yet? It'll be quite a sight when he finally does. The scale of the death and destruction will be magnificent atrocious!
    The chapter ends when Zane leaves her, requesting that she consider his offer. Thinking in his twisted little mind that Vin will soon see how Elend truly feels about her. How does he know how Elend feels? Is he a mind reader, now?
    Yay, more Kwaam! He finally, plainly states that he was a fraud. Of that there is no doubt. The question is, what exactly was the ultimate result of his deceptions, and how does it relate to our protagonists?
    Aaaand I just realized that all this was stated a few chapters back. It must be pretty darned important for Sanderson to write it into the book two times.
    Chapter 25
    This chapter begins with a very familiar scene. Vin is busy preparing herself for the meeting with Cett, but this time she's with Tindwyl instead of Oreseur. Where is that adorable little mutt, anyway?
    Tindwyl and Vin seem to be getting along quite nicely. They're having a little chat about Elend. Tindwyl says that Elend has no need of her instruction any more. Anything more he needs to learn about kingship, he must learn for himself--if he ever gets re-instated, that is.
    Over to Elend, now. He definitely isn't planning on taking any insanely precarious risks this time around; he's bringing two hundred soldiers plus Ham to the dinner with Cett. Breeze isn't coming along, so Cett won't have to be offended by his presence, and Vin will be attending the dinner. With all that going for him, Elend should be able to return from this meeting wholly unmolested.
    Elend brings up the fact that he'll still be outnumbered five to one. Sure, in numbers, maybe, but if you bring skill and training into consideration, it's a bit closer to sixteen-to-one.
    Anyway, Vin arrives, last as always, and off they go. Demoux comes with them them; Vin is debating just throwing him inn the dungeon, but fortunately she has the sense to hold back until she is able to procure some hard evidence.
    Once they've entered the Hasting keep and been brought to Cett, they find that he has rudely begun eating without them. He seems to be rather enjoying himself. On the menu tonight are drumsticks and vegetables in gravy. No giant meat pies, though. Rats!
    This meeting apparently is not about his daughter. As a matter of fact, Cett is actually relieved to have her out of the way. Really? Why didn't he just leave her at home, then? Why bring his prissy little daughter with him to a siege, making them both miserable? He's definitely hiding something, and I think I know what.
    Cett claims that Breeze told him a great deal about Elend. He claims to have known who Breeze was from the very beginning, as he can recognize the Survivor's crew members anywhere. Why is that? They were a thieving crew; they were supposed to be low key! Cett also says that Allriane wasn't the reason for him and Breeze's falling out, either. He just thought it would be more prudent for him to kill the soother than to allow him to return to Luthadel. Makes sense.
    Cett goes on to say that the only way Elend will survive his coronation is if he steps out of the race, votes for him, and flees the city. Upon winning the throne, he will dissolve the assembly, reverse the clock, and bring back what was once lost--in this case, the Lord Ruler's oppressive laws. Why would anyone on the Assembly willingly vote for him if that's the case?
    Elend says that the Assembly won't vote for him. Not because Cett's ideals are old fashioned, but because he believes in the honor of his Assembly. Pfah! I hope he's not including Philen in that little statement. Cett makes fun of Elend's undying belief in the respectability of his people. Elend is indignant, but before he's able to storm out of the room, Cett asks him about the Atium. He's willing to trade canned goods for the most dangerous and valuable metal known to man, but Elend tells him that he is, unfortunately, fresh out of Atium. He says that any rumors Cett heard were lies spread by Breeze in his brilliant scheme to save the city from Straff.
    Meanwhile, Vin has stopped paying attention to their chatter, and has instead busied herself with searching-- more like feeling--the room for hidden allomancers. There are two thugs disguised as servants, but no copper cloud, and none of Cett's guards are allomancers. Hmm...
    Cett tries to confirm that they have no atium, and he is apparently satisfied with Elend's answer's, so, seeing the futility of holding them captive, he lets them go.
    End of Chapter 35
  15. Child Bahkbar
    Part 3
    Chapter 31
    Meet Master Philen: Wealthy merchant, respected member of the Luthadel Assembly, former master peddler of illegal goods, and, most importantly, orchestrator of the first deposition in Luthadel's short history. He is, regrettably, still looked down on by the nobles, but he himself does not, and never did, see himself as skaa like the noblemen do. In fact, he looks down on the skaa workers and thinks that they need to be put in their place. He's already coming across as a bit of a traitor, to be honest.
    Philen is currently attending an Assembly gathering, for which he has dark and self serving schemes. The treacherous fiend seems to have hidden someone in the audience. What's his game?
    All of the assemblymen are present, save the one who called this assembly meeting in the first place: Elend Venture. Apparently the Assembly's unanimous vote against their former king wasn't quite so unanimous as their letter made it seem; many of the assemblymen retained some doubts on the matter, Penrod being one of them, and we all know how popular he is.
    Elend is late in arriving, so Philen rises to begin the meeting. Just as he stretches out his pudgy little legs, Elend marches through the doors, the very epitome of the word majestic. The Crew is with him, including the Terrismen and Oreseur.
    The Assemblymen are quite taken aback by how much he's changed since the last time they saw him. What? He hasn't even once appeared before the Assembly since Tyndwyl's arrival? No wonder they deposed him. What was he thinking? He formed the assembly, but he didn't even bother to treat them with their due respect.
    The new, commanding, dare I say kingly, Elend quickly gets them to set up Penrod as Assembly chancellor, the one who will be overseeing the Assembly meetings until they raise a new king. A little surprising, considering that he has no way of knowing that Penrod was on his side during the meeting that saw him deposed.
    Penrod, with his newfound authority, formally opens the meeting and allows Elend to have the first say. Elend proceeds to relate to the Assembly the events that took place during his informal parley with Straff. He leaves out the part where he nearly fouled himself with fear, but that's perfectly understandable.
    He does tell assembly about his threat to Straff. He now knows about Vin's discomfort at being the "knife held to Straff's throat", but she gave him permission to use her in his speech, so use her he does. He tells the people that Vin is one true heir of the Survivor and the "most powerful mistborn alive". He says that Straff will never attack the city with Vin at his throat, and, what's worse, he actually seems to believe the words he's saying, which is odd, because if he knows his father at all he should know that Straff's first move will be an attempt to rid himself of Vins and he knows that Vin currently has no way of defending herself against enemy Mistborn besides, perhaps, Duralumin. Does he not understand how deadly Atium is? If he does, surely he he should be trying to keep Vin in hiding instead of flaunting her as some sort of demigod..
    Speaking of Vin, she is sitting in her usual spot with Ham. She feels uncomfortable with the way Elend is building her and Kesier up, as she should. She, at least, must know just how vulnerable she is right now.
    To make things worse, Zane in the audience. Straff's allomancer, allowed to openly and shamelessly attend their assembly meeting. Utilizing Atium, he could assassinate every single member of the Assembly right now, crumbling the entire city's government in one fell swoop, and no one would be able to stop him. Err, well, perhaps that's a bit of an exaggeration, but he could cause some serious damage nonetheless.
    Vin notices that Elend's speech is practically over. She missed practically the whole thing; she'd been too busy locking eyes with the mad bastard and thinking about her last chat with Sazed. She now seems to be convinced that she isn't the Hero, which, according to "The Thirteen Rules of Generic Fantasy", makes it all the more likely that she is. Although Sanderson has spat in the face of clichés before, so I suppose those rules don't really apply his books anyway.
    Elend finishes speaking without once attempting to defend his right to be king. One of the Skaa bring this up, and he replies that the assembly is "too noble a body for such things". Tindwyl and Elend apparently had rehearsed a defense, but he opted to ignore her tutoring this time. It was probably the right move. His attitude in this gives a better argument for his reinstatement than any words could have, and, well, not even Tindwyl can be right all the time; she's not perfect, although she comes pretty damnation close.
    Once Penrod returns to the stand, Elend suggests that they hold the nominations for the new king right now, so each Assemblyman nominates a person of their choosing. Unsurprisingly, Penrod is the first to be nominated, and he in turn nominates Elend. He didn't have much choice, after all. Elend nominated Penrod for chancellor, so he is honorably obligated to return the favor.
    Philen, rather dramatically, rises to give his nomination, and his dastardly plans are finally manifested. The king apparently does not have to be a member of the Assembly, so Philen has chosen to nominate... Ashweather Cett? As soon as the announcement is made, one of the "skaa" in the crowd removes his hood and, what do ya' know, it's none other than Cett himself. What madness is this? It's ridiculous enough that Philen actually had the nerve to nominate an enemy, but this? Why would Cett take such an insane risk?
    End of chapter 32
    Apparently religion wasn't even Kwaam's forte. He was actually a studier of nature. Pretty pretentious of him to be making such a big deal out of Alendi, then, wasn't it?
    Chapter 32
    "What the hell have you done with my daughter!", are the first words that leave Cett's lips... Oh wait, no they aren't, because nobody gives a flying rats chull about Allrianne, not even her own father.
    It turns out that Cett is a cripple, which makes his presence here doubly risky. He didn't come alone, though. No, he's much too smart for that. He brught around thirty trusty guardsmen with him, and you can bet that they're his very best. He's still taking a huge risk, though. Even Elend's rabble may be able to take Cett's men with...say, three hundred troops? Err, make that four hundred--just to be safe. Sounds perfectly reasonable, plus he's got nothing to lose! Elend should call in his men right now and put an end to the great Ashweather Cett.
    Penrod the Fair allows the crippled(and potentially mental) king to address the assembly. It becomes apparent that Cett is indeed a quite honest man. Without the slightest bit of sugarcoating, he tells the assembly exactly why they should coronate him; He has a huge army, and he isn't Straff. Oh, and there's a gargantuan koloss army marching on the city. Apparently Elend forgot to mention that little detail to the assembly. Well, that little bit of secrecy just cost some significant damage to his chances of being re-elected.
    All in all, Cett makes a rather compelling point. He's also brutally honest, and has an air of...awesomeness about him. If he weren't such a tyrant he would almost be worth considering.
    When Elend finally asks him what's to stop them from siezing him right here, Cett replies that if he does not return to his camp safely tonight, his army will stage a suicidal attack on the city. Really? Is he sure his men are loyal enough to sacrifice themselves to Straff's army like that? He might be bluffing. Elend should still consider having him assassinated if this election thing goes south.
    Cett goes on to promise to hand all of the Assemblymen titles if he wins. That's probably what convinced that power hungry little whore Philen to back him. In addition, if he is elected, Cett promises that he will return the city to the way it was during the Lord Ruler's time. His only request is that he be allowed to move into the city before the elections with five thousand of his troops to more easily bribe the good people of the city. Five thousand? Why, that's enough to take Luthadel entirely from the inside! Way, way too many. He surely knows this, though.
    Philen supports the idea, of course, saying that a monarch inside the city is less dangerous than one outside. That may be so, but not when said monarch has five thousand troops with him! Five thousand? The Assembly would have to be stark raving mad to even consider such a thing. Thankfully, they're only a bit wonky, so they agree to permit Cett to enter city with one thousand fully trained troops.
    Elend is incredulous at this absurd situation. When he confronts Penrod about the absurdity of this debacle,, Penrod shoots him down. He tells Elend that the "Give me liberty or give me death" mentality is honorable, but it's unrealistic for Elend to expect others to follow his idealsto their graves. When the choice comes down to temporary security and slavery, or liberty and certain death, he says slavery wins. With that he walks off. This doesn't look good for Elend and folks.
    Vin shows up, now, making the claim that Cett is definitely Mistborn. Elend, of course, doesn't believe her. Nor do I, but who knows? It would be pretty cool if he were; this series could use a few more Mistborn characters, to be honest.
    The chapter ends as Cett's son approaches them, requesting that Elend meet with his father to discuss his sisters kidnapping, and Elend agrees to have dinner with the new contender for the throne.
    End Of Chapter 32
    The discovery of Alendi saw Kwaam greatly elevated among the Worldbringers. Humph, good for him.
    Chapter 33
    Vin is locked up in her chanbers with Oreseur, studying the logbook again. The Hero Of Ages is just about as generic as they come. He supposed to have hidden royal bloodlines, and humble origins. That could mean anything. The prophecy was make over 1000 years ago; for all we know the skaa today could have been the royalty back then. What would the prophesies mean then?
    She complains to Oreseur about not being able to understand the Terris religion. Why make prophecies that could be interpreted to mean practically anything? Oreseur says they're not truly fortelling the future, but may simply be an expressions of hope during troubling or oppressive times.
    The kandra have prophesies too, apparently. They claim that one day all of mankind will perish from death-by-koloss. Sazed says that the Koloss and his people have much in common, but he stops himself before he can go into much detail about it. He doesn't seem to be very comfortable speaking about these things, and the only reason he even told Vin at all is because she pressured him into talking. Well, Vin is content with what he's told her, so she finally stops asking questions.
    Once she's done chatting with Oreseur, Vin leaves her studies to continue her investigative hunt for the kandra spy. About time. She should have found him by now.
    Elend PoV.
    There is sickness in the city. A malady seemingly brought on by malicious intent. Someone has poisoned one of the cities wells, Several skaa are showing symptoms, and a few have already died. Who did it? Elend thinks Cett has the most to gain from a sick populace, but this feels like Zane's work to me. He may have done it in a fit of mad rage, or perhaps at his father's behest. It hardly makes a difference.
    Back to Vin. She and Oreseur are out searching for Dockson. Of all the crew members, I find him to be the most unlikely suspect. Isn't he just a bit too deeply involved in the going ons around here for a kandra to be able convincingly take his place? The kandra couldn't have arrived at the city until Straff did, so unless he's invisible it's doubtful that he could have gotten enough information to impersonate Dockson in such a short amount of time.
    They find Dox in the library, and Vin asks him about the conversation conversation they had about his past; something that only the two of them could know about--unless, of course, the Kandra possessed a cloaking device. Well, Dox answers Vin's question satisfactorily, so he most likely isn't the impostor.
    Dox misunderstands the intent of her question, though, assuming that Elend is the cause for it, so they end up discussing his views on the nobility at length. It is revealed through their discourse that Kelsier's dreams of toppling the final emperor weren't new to him. He'd always had them, but the Pits of Hathsin were what gave him the incentive to actually make them into a reality. Well, that makes me respect him I wee bit more than I used to. Don't get me wrong, he was still a reprehensible, vicious, hateful man, completely deserving of death, but he just he wasn't quite so selfish as I had assumed. Plus he changed, so that was good.
    ANYway, Dockson has changed. Similarly to Marsh, the joy he once had is gone. He is torn by guilt for the things he had to do to bring this new government, and for the feelings of satisfaction he has for doing them. Guilt? Could that be what's up with Marsh as well? DOes he feel guilty for whatever heinous deeds he was forced to do to become a Steel Inquisitor? That possibly be the mystery behind his change in behavior... Could those deeds also be the mystery behind the Inquisitor's mad bloodlust? Only time will tell...or will it? Some authors seem take pleasure in leaving questions like these unanswered.
    Anyway, Vin walks out of that room convinced that Dockson is not the imposter, but Oreseur warns her that his people are very skilled, and their masters sometimes use...means...to get as much information from their victims as possible before consumption. Vin is really starting to hate this. She doesn't at all enjoy having to distrust her friends.
    Vin is starting to feel down at the thought that one of her friends is most likely resting in a kandra's stomach right now. But then, through the window, she spots a suspicious figure walking in a suspiciously suspicious manner. She sneaks out to get a closer look and finds that it's Demoux returning to the palace...suspiciously. It now dawns on her that Demoux is the perfect person for a kandra to replace. The thought that it was Demoux who was tortured, murdered, and made into longpig pie fills her with delight! How can she be so sure he's the impostor? For all she knows, Demoux may have been coming back from a secret meeting with some anonymous lover. He's young and apparently quite good looking, so it wouldn't be at all surprising if that were the case. Vin definitely shouldn't be jumping to conclusions just yet. Hopefully she doesn't do anything...drastic.
    End of Chapter 33
    Kwaam thought himself to be the Announcer, and he was now accepted be everyone. Renouncing Alendi would be renouncing himself, so he could not bring himself to do it. I guess that's understandable.
  16. Child Bahkbar
    Part 3
    Chapter 28
    After that little shocker at the end of the previous chapter, Elend and the Crew--Tindwyl included--have decided to have a meting. Tindwyl seems to be having a bit of trouble grasping how they've gotten themselves into the position they're in right now. Yes, I know. It's hilarious. The assembly deposed him with the power HE vested in them. Is that ironic, or is there another, more fitting, word for this situation?
    Despite Elend's excellent reasoning behind giving the Assembly such authority, Tindwyl still thinks his laws are exceptionally dim-witted. Eh, she can suit herself. Elend created the first free government since the Lord Ruler's time--if not ever. It is one of the few accomplishments in this world that he can call his own. If she can't see the sense in this governmental system that's her problem, not his.
    Did I mention that this is actually showing from Vin's perspective? No? Well, it is, and Zane's words from the previous night continue to dominate her thoughts. In fact, she's so wonked up in the head that she actually isn't even all that disappointed about Elend's removal from office. She's even entertaining some very un-Vin-like fantasies. Thinking that now that Elend isn't king they can just run off somewhere, leaving all this behind. Ha!
    Anyway, the Crew begins crafting a plan to take the city back by force, but Elend won't stand for it. He says that, even as (former)king, he is still subject to the laws he created. The law states that if they don't chose a new king within a month they'll have to reinstate him, so, instead of making use of his military prowess, he apparently plans on guilt tripping the Assembly into electing someone else. What're the chances that they haven't chosen Penrod already? I mean, it's pretty clear that everyone digs that guy.
    Regardless of how pointless his plan is, Vin seems to be impressed by Elend's willingness to stand by his own law, finally accepting in her mind that Elend makes better king than Kelsier ever could have. Funny that it took him being deposed to get her to see that. Seriously, how was there ever even a question? How could anyone honestly think that Kelsier, a man with no experience or study in ruling a nation, could ever make a better king than Elend?
    Anyway, Elend suspects that one of the enemy kings might have been behind his deposition. Really? How the hell did he come to that conclusion? I suspect that his own negligence is what led the Assembly to this--or at least that was the biggest reason. Perhaps one of the kings gave them a little nudge, but that's probably all.
    Elend says he could use Sazed's help now, but Lestibournes apparently wasn't able wake him, and Tindwyl says that keepers like Sazed aren't supposed to take sides in political affairs anyway. She also tells them that if they were really his friends they wouldn't ask him to break his vows. Fair enough.
    We're back in Vin's head,where she is forcibly reminding herself that Elend continued to love her even back when he was convinced she was a thief. Huh. I was beginning to think she'd forgotten about that whole incident. She'd better be careful with this doubting business; this whole thing is starting to feel tragically familiar.
    Elend and Tyndwyl remain in the room after everyone else leaves. After apologizing for her earlier rude criticism, Tindwyl once again questions how this could have happened. It turns out Elend does see what he did wrong. He knows that ignoring the Parliament the way he did was moronic. He also knows that he offended Vin somehow. Somehow? He, knowing how insecure she already is, referred to her a "valuable resource", not a "respected and valued member of the team", but a resource. How much more thick can he get?
    Erm, anyway, during their discourse, Tyndwyl reveals to Elend exactly why Vin rejected his marriage proposal. She also warns him that his relationship with her may pose a serious problem for him in the future, and that he needs to decide which he values more, his love for Vin, or his love for his country.
    Oh, and Tindwyl apparently has children as well. Why she is playing with Elend and the crew instead of parenting them I can not tell, but I'm sure her reasons for being here are completely logical and acceptable.
    End of Chapter 28
    Kwaam wrote that Alendi "just seemed to fit" the role of the Hero. Oh really? Well, there's no use crying over spilled milk--which, now that I think about it, is exactly what he's been doing this entire time.
    Chapter 29
    This chapter opens with Vin sitting in the mists with Oreseur like she does every single night, and, thankfully, she hasn't met with Zane the Insane since their dinner with his pig father a week ago.
    Oreseur has taken note of the fact that Vin sleeps under four hours a night, which obviously isn't enough for anyone, not even a Mistborn. Vin has too much on her mind to sleep, though. Yeah. There's that mysterious thumping that she hasn't told anyone about, there's also the Misty Death, about which she hasn't breathed a word, and let's not forget her risky and unhealthy relationship with the maniacally insane bastard Zane, which she also hasn't told a soul about.
    Speaking of Zane, Oreseur's not nearly as taken in by him as Vin is. He tells her that her fixation with the man is "disconcerting", and he warns her not to allow herself to be influenced by his lies. Vin considers this, but decides that Oreseur isn't Mistborn, so he just doesn't understand. Good God! She can jump really high and see stars! Big frakking deal! How exactly does that make her so different from everyone else? It's like saying an athlete isn't human because they're in great physical shape!
    Vin is touched by Oreseur's concern, though, and offers to allow him to return to being a man if he wishes. Unsurprisingly, he declines, claiming that it's unpleasant to have to change bodies often. Sure.
    Oreseur brings up the fact that it's about time for him to hit the can, so Vin prepare to leave the roof and get some down time. Before she goes, though, she gazes out into the mists, and suddenly comes to a revelation about what the deepness was!
    I hope she isn't going to say it was simply the mists. Perhaps it had something to do with them, sure, but plain mists, or even malevolent, homicidal mists, would be kind of a letdown. I suppose I'm about to find out, though.
    End of Chapter 29
    Kwaam had apparently already begun to doubt his claims by the time the other Worldbringers came to accept his declaration, but his pride kept him from admitting it. Shame on him!
    Chapter 30
    This one's a Sazed PoV(Yes!!), and He's finally gotten the chance to study the rubbing he made all those chapters back. Unfortunately most of what he reads here has already been stated in Kwaam's post-chapter notes. It is nice to read it all uninterrupted, though, and there is some new stuff.
    Sazed reads that the discovery of Alendi was what elevated Kwaam to the position of World Bringer. He apparently already knew that the World Bringers back then were basically what the Keepers are today.
    Kwaam admitted in his writings that Alendi was not the hero, and that he himself was a fraud. Also, even though he betrayed the man, he still hoped that Alendi , the false hero, would succeed in his quest. Ah, but if he had actually succeeded, would that not have made him a true hero after all? Perhaps not the prophesied Hero of Ages, but I doubt anyone would care at that point. Kwaam even went so far as to say he was going to denounce Alendi, but was too much of a craven to do it. Why!? Tell us why, gorram it!
    Sazed abruptly leaves his work and opens his window to find Vin sitting outside. She enters the room without his express invitation, snoops around, touches his work, makes a general nuisance of herself.
    She eventually gets to the point of her visit and asks him what the deepness was. He he replies with a bunch of speculation by scholars, and other people who've studied these things. They had apparently considered everything, so when Vin tells him it was the mists, Sazed isn't at all taken by surprise. The speculators had considered that as well, and they found plenty of holes in the theory.
    Despite Sazed's perfectly reasonable doubts, Vin still says she thinks the "deepness" was actually the Mist come permanently, and she still forcibly claims that her idea isn't just a theory, but a fact. What's with the cocky attitude? What makes her so sure that she knows better that those who have studied this over the past several hundred years? Sure they didn't have the logbook and it's few mentions of the deepness like she does, but that's not reason enough for her to be going on the way she is.
    Anyway, Sazed is still doubtful of her assumptions, so she whips out her notes and finally brings up the Misty Death. She tells Sazed that she sees it too, just like the man in the logbook. Would you look at that! She's finally told someone! She's been seeing the damned thing for months, but she's just now finally flapped those lips and spilled the beans. Too bad the only reason she did it was to win an argument...
    She thinks that because Rashek killed Alendi before he could fulfill his destiny, the Hero of Ages must have to come again. Sazed sees where she's going with this, and he thinks she's getting a little ahead of herself.(As do I!) With that, Vin drops the matter. She starts to regret even bringing it up, but Sazed says her theories have "great merit".
    I, for one, hope her theories are incorrect, and she isn't some magical hero come and save the world. The whole "main character, driven by thousand year old prophecies, vanquishes evil and saves the day" thing has been done to death already. I'm hoping for something fresh. Something exciting!
    Once that discussion is over, they somehow find themselves on the subject of Tindwyl, and her general disapproval of Sazed's lifestyle. Apparently Tindwyl is a member of a group of Keeper elders who guide the Terris called the Synod. Despite this, Vin, in her youthful ignorance, says he doesn't have to listen to her, and that she's the type of person who acts like she knows more than she does. Kind of like, oh, I dunno, Vin in this whole chapter!
    Sazed replies that Tindwyl is "wise", but Vin just shoots back that she is hard on Elend. As if that somehow proves her point. Everyone and his blind grandpa could see that Tindwyl's harsh lessons have improved Elend's character immensely. She knew exactly which buttons to push to make him excel as a king. How is that not in itself evidence of her genius?
    Sazed tells Vin not to be so judgmental, because Tindwyl lived a very hard life. Harder, even, than Vin herself. Tyndwyl was a "breeder" as they call them. She spent twenty long years as little more than a baby machine, giving birth to twenty children. Twenty potential Feruchemists. A hellish life, but apparently she chose it-- or at least the other keepers chose it for her. The way they saw it, she was privileged to be able to serve the keepers in such way.
    Hearing this, Vin whines that's it's just "another reason for you to feel guilty". She's either saying it's another reason for Sazed to feel guilty for breaking the rules, or that it's another reason for her to feel guilty about judging Tindwyl without knowing anything about her. I hope she meant the latter.
    Now, I know I'm being a little harsh Vin, but...what can I say? I just can't help but jump at the opportunity to hate on a character other than Elend for once. It's in my nature to trash the protagonists in every series I read! I can't help it!
    End of Chapter 30
    Kwaam wrote that his pride may have doomed them all. So, what did Alendi do? I'd say that this "Alendi" he speaks of was actually Rashek, but that would make this book's twist exactly the same as the last one's, and there isn't enough evidence to support that theory anyway. So...
  17. Child Bahkbar
    Part 2
    Chapter 27
    Elend decides not to make a strike, and Straff's having trouble finding any reason not to put him to death right now. The ruler that takes his place will probably be much more accommodating, and he claims that he and Cett have already made a treaty anyway. Elend thinks he's bluffing, but, try as he may, he still cannot get Straff to budge. Why is the being so stubborn? Straff says he won't let Elend have the city because home is where the heart is, and his home is in Luthadel. Oh, and he's an evil bastard who simply cannot stand the idea of his only true born son ruling the city in his stead.
    Elend tries to plead with his father, but Straff has become firm in his resolve. Elend will die, and if the assembly doesn't hand the city over then, he'll just have to take it by force. With that, Elend comes to the realization that his father just sees him as a corpse waiting to happen. I do too.
    Straff says he never intended for Elend to leave this meeting alive, regardless of how it went, but he's grateful to Elend for bringing Vin. He intends to take her for his own shortly after Elend has been done away with... Is he mad? Well, I mean, of course he is, but has he forgotten that she's Mistborn? He'd have a better chance forcing himself upon a Koloss. The very thought of Straff trying to have his way with Vin causes Elend to snap, bursting into a fit of laughter as Straff calls for the guards. Elend takes this final opportunity to tell his father what he really thinks of him. It's then that he sees he sees what he's been doing wrong all this time, and begins threatening his father. Yes, the very man who is about to have him executed.
    Vin is still standing just outside the tent, listening in on the conversation. To be honest, I'm surprised she didn't rush in the moment Straff called for the guards I guess she does possess a bit of self restraint after all.
    Vin hears Elend tell Straff that the actual reason he came here was to get her close to him. To kill him. Straff doesn't buy this, as Vin is just a "wisp of a girl", so that automatically makes her less of a threat. He really is a moron if he thinks size matters when it comes to Mistborn.
    Elend reveals that he and Vin have been manipulating Straff from the very beginning, and he has Vin tamper with his emotions to prove it. Vin, using Duralumin, clears Straff's head of all feeling, leaving him dead inside for just an instant. Elend, once again, claims that she's the most powerful Mistborn ever. He's making her out to seem like some kind of goddess of destruction, and Straff's completely falling for it. Elend says that if he dies, Vin will murder every single person in Straff's command.
    Zane chooses this moment to join Vin outside the tent, recycling his same old talking points. Elend has pretty much proven him right with what he's doing now. Vin told Zane before that Elend would never order her to slaughter anyone, yet here he is, doing exactly that. Vin says he's just bluffing, but if Elend dies tonight, what will she do? Will she do nothing based on the assumption that he didn't man what he said, or will she follow the command and lay waste to Straff's men? Quite the dilemma, isn't it?
    During their conversation--the same one they have every single time they get together--Vin notices that Zane has scars running up his arms, and assumes he earned them in the Pits of Hathsin. I seriously doubt that; not even Straff is wicked enough to put his own !son through something so horrible. No, insane creep that he is, those scars are most definitely self inflicted. Probably from all the times he's cut himself to quell his homicidal urges.
    Zan doesn't deny her claims; he just tells her he "understands her", then runs off. At that same time, inside the dining room, Straff tells Elend that he's free to go. I...do...not...believe it!
    Straff stands watching Elend's carriage pull away. The meeting this night has vexed him deeply. He cant help thinking about Vin's awesome power. Heh. If only he knew it was just duralumin.
    Zane shows up, making some snarky remark, and Straff says that he doesn't believe Elend was telling the getting when said he doesn't have the atium, he's not gonng to take his chances attacking the city while Vin still breathes. When Zane says he may require some assistance in defeating her, Straff tells him to use some of his bastard siblings. Apparently Straff has other misting offspring, and he doesn't mind if a few of them die in achieving his goal.
    What a messed up family.
    Elend is ecstatic, to say the least. He's acting like he's won the freaking war, or something. How pathetic can one man be? If it weren't for his exploitation(and exaggeration) of Vin's prowess he'd be rotting in some ditch right now, so why is he so proud of himself?
    Vin doesn't share any of his excitement, and her doubts and worries continue to stack up. It's only a matter of time before she breaks under to pressure and does something regrettably stupid. Elend notices how down she's feeling. He tries to cheer her up, but most of what he says just makes her feel even worse.
    When arrive back in the city and are greeted by Ham and the rest. They ask him how it went, and he, gesturing towards Vin, tells them they've overlooked one of their "greatest resources". He just choose the worst possible word combination he possibly could at this moment. Sure, he doesn't know any better, but still...
    Everyone complements him on his brilliance, even though it was Vin and her use of duralumin that actually saved the day. When Spooks jokes that he was looking forward to becoming king with Elend gone, Elend replies that he isn't planing on vacating his seat for a good long time, Which is funny because Dockson is right here, and he has brought an...interesting letter from the Assembly for Elend. It reads:
    Dear Former King,
    You sir, are an chull.
    Sincerely,
    The Assembly That Just Deposed You.
    Nah, I kid. The letter was actually worded in a quite polite manner. The gist of it is the same, thougB.C. Elend is no longer king.
    End of Chapter 27
    End of Part 2
    I knew he shouldn't have kept brushing the Assembly off the way he did. Nothing good ever comes of disrespecting important people. They can only hope his deposition isn't final. Maybe this is just a warning, and they're willing to talk this out? It's doubtful, but...maybe?
    Looks like exciting times added coming up. Hopefully I'll be able to read more often during the next couple of weeks, because I'm really looking forward to seeing what new twists this book has in store.
  18. Child Bahkbar
    Three more chapters into my leisurely read through of the book.
    Part 2
    Chapter 24
    The chapter opens with Vin sitting atop keep venture, pondering the relationship between the Misty Doom and the deaths Sazed spoke of. Pondering alone what they all should have pondered together. If any lives are lost thanks to her bloody secrecy... Was there any good reason not to bring it up back then? Goodness, man!
    She can still hear can also hear that thumping coming from the mountains. I'm guessing this is supposed to that Vin may be the "Hero reborn", but it seems too obvious. There's got to be more to this. At least, I hope there is. Didn't Kwaam imply that there may be more than one Hero? Hopefully he wasn't simply referring to Vin being the second one.
    It switches to the mad bastard's point of view here. He and Vin have apparently been having these nightly sparring sessions for months now! After all the time they've spent sparring together, Zane isn't sure if he'll be able to dispose of her when he's ordered to. I'm sure he father wouldn't be pleased to hear him say that... Hey! I've got an idea! What if Zane is the second Hero? What if he and Vin are destined to hook up and, hand in hand, vanquish the forces of darkness! Whooping chull and chewing this century's version of Winterfresh!
    Anyway, Vin apparently hasn't met up with him in a while, so Zane sets out to find her. It doesn't take him long, as she's still sitting on keep Venture doing absolutely nothing. He's unable to successfully sneak up on her, but he shouldn't feel too bad about that. Vin probably has better tin-ears than your average allomancer.
    Now that Vin's back on the page, the book immediately returns to her perspective. Zane wants to "spar" some more, but Vin just isn't in the mood for it right now. Or ever again, I hope. Can't she see that he's bad news? It seems like Oreseur's the only one who can see this guy for what he truly is.
    Vin and Zane proceed to have some friendly discourse, mere meters away from where Elend sits, completely oblivious to the danger lurking out his window. Zane could assassinate him right now if he wanted to, but fortunately for Vin(and Elend), all he ever wants to do his blather on and on about his usual talking points, this time using a rather clever analogy about Mistborn, coins, and devaluation. It looks like his constant repetition is finally starting to pay off; Vin seems to be becoming quite taken by him. She even begins to take notice of how manly and confident Zane is compared to Elend. Indeed he is, of course. There are many manly traits, but madness is the most manly of them all.
    The chapter ends when, despite her steadily growing desire to keep him around, Vin let's Zane leap off into the night. This is getting out of hand. She claimed she wanted to turn him to her side, but it seems to me like he's the one turning her.
    Chapter 25
    Vin is awakened from her peaceful slumber by a redneck house alarm. Moments later Tindwyl struts in, announcing that they need find a gown to adorn her in for the meeting with Straff. Yes, Vin's wardrobe is dreadfully dull. It would be a crime to have an informal meeting with her future father in law in those shabby trousers that she so unfashionably refers to as clothes. Vin is defiant at first, but, of course, in the end she agrees to get dressed and go shopping with Tindwyl for some proper clothing. We all know that deep down inside she adores those fancy dresses.
    Haunted by Zane's cogent words from the previous night, Vin walks down the hallways in search of Tindwyl. She finds her with Alrianne and Lestibournes, who are apparently coming along for the ride. Lestibournes gets to be the poor, underfed packman, while Allriane is the mentally handicapped noblewoman from the West.
    Vin confirms that Spooks isn't the impostor, they enter the carriage, and off they go. Oreseur gets to come along too, and Vin actually treats him like a human being for once. Yes, the first time anyone treats him with any true respect is when he's in the body of a dog. I sense the irony, and it's as sharp as the stench of fresh dung... That's disgusting. I shouldn't have used that analogy. I apologies.
    During their short and wonderfully interesting carriage ride, Allriane asks beautifully awkward questions and makes outrageously uncomfortable statements. They chat, they laugh, and just have an altogether delightful time. In fact, Vin has so much fun that she decides she has to go shopping with Allriane on a weekly basis from now on...
    As soon as they arrive at the Market district, Allriane excitedly flutters away, taking Spooks with her. Vin makes a disparaging remark about her once she's out of hearing range, but Tindwyl tells her not to be so mean, as the silly little noblewoman is simply a byproduct of her pampered upbringing. Aren't we all? Especially Vin, with her inbred insecurities and malignant secrecy. Not to mention the nosiness. That said, Allriane is a little on the stupid side.
    They proceed to enter the dress shop, where Mamma Tindwyl educates Vin on the concept of self acceptance, and teaches her to Dig A Little Deeper, 'cause her views on life are a bit...shallow, to be honest. We also find out why Vin refused Elend's hand in marriage. It all comes down to low self esteem. Although, if she truly believes she's not right for Elend, she should just dump him. Leading him on like this when she doesn't see a future together seems just a wee bit selfish to me. Kind of cruel, too.
    Anyway, once their little chat is through, Tindwyl gives the dressmaker some specifications for a dress suitable for a Mistborn, and Vin tries on one of the dresses already available. She's apparently "the most graceful thing" the dressmaker has ever seen, and Tindwyl thinks so too. Vin then questions Tindwyl's "niceness facade". Yes, she's mean to Elend, so that means she must be a nasty old hag on the inside. Tindwyl replies that she's just giving the pampered little bastard what he deserves, but Vin's in need of...softer treatment. Sounds perfectly fair to me. Progressive views or not, Elend is still a noble.
    Lestibournes alerts the group of a crowd gathering outside. The Suvivorists must've somehow found out she was here. God and Brandon Sanderson know how they pulled that off. What, do they have people watching each and every carriage in the city to see if she's in it? Vin takes cover initially, but Tindwyl―and Allriane, shockingly, point out that hiding is not only silly, but counterproductive as well. So she―and Allriane, shockingly, go out to confront the crowd.
    Vin exits the building, and seeing the people's helpless uncertainty, she can't help but speak words of comfort to the restless crowd. She claims that everything is under control, and that she and Elend will protect them. Please. Elend's hardly capable of protecting the hairs on his own head, and Vin isn't much better off without Atium. The crowd knows this, and they get a bit rowdy, but Vin shuts everyone up with an epic display of Metal Bending, then rushes back inside before she can be pressured into blessing any more babies. That's when she hears the warning bells. One of the other armies has chosen this exact moment to strike! Oh, the irony!
    Here it switches to Elend's viewpoint. Straff's army has attacked, and the Luthadel garrison is pathetically unprepared. Clubs must have been seriously stretching the truth when he made the claim that this army would be capable of fending off a horde of rabid old women, because it's pretty clear now that they wouldn't be able to handle even that much.
    The "battle", if you can call it that, is so embarrassingly one sided that I actually feel kind of bad for reading it. Straff's allomancers are easily able to bring a battering ram to the gate, get hooks up onto the wall, and kill several of Elend's men; all with very few casualties of their own. If it weren't for Vin's timely arrival, they probably could've taken the whole wall. Luckily for the Luthadelans(Can I call them that?), this was just a test. The purpose of this attack was only to feel out the cities defenses, and the army retreats just as all hope seems lost. I'm sure Lord Venture will be quite pleased to hear how this little experiment went down.
    The message is pretty damnation clear. Straff can take the city whenever he wants, and with how pathetic Elend's army is, he could most likely do it and still have enough men to fend off Cett's army as well.
    Yup, looks like they're royally screwed... get it?
    Chapter 26
    The day of the meet has finally arrived, and Vin is busy preparing for their dinner with the pervert of perverts. Oreseur thinks this whole thing is terribly unwise, and I agree wholeheartedly. I know they want Straff to think they're desperate, but this is not the way to go about it. If there's such a thing as an evil man, Straff is it. They must know this. They must know that he'll have them executed without batting an eye if it pleases him.
    Once Vin adorns her specially tailored Mistborn dress, she chats with Oreseur for a little while. During their banter, he makes the claim that he's a kandra, not a man. That's funny; I distinctly recall him saying that he was a man back when Vin commanded him to take on his current form. What changed? Is he only a "man" when he feels like it?
    Over to Elend's perspective now. Yay!
    He's in the process of denying Ham's request to tag along when Dox arrives with news from the Assembly. They are apparently pretty pissed at him for missing their meeting tonight. Um, couldn't he request that they, perhaps, postpone the meeting until he gets back? Does he just not care about what goes on at those gatherings? I mean, can't they do things to him if he annoys them too much?
    Shortly after this, Vin arrives in her brand new dress and they head off. Elend's finally going to meet his maker. I didn't think the day would come so soon, but he's going to die now. I can just... I know it!
    The next couple pages during their trip show what will most likely be Elend and Vin's last pleasant words with each other, and what'd'ya know? Vin seems to have learned absolutely nothing from her time with Tindwyl. She still sees the dress―and all the mannerisms that come with it―as a facade. Elend is completely supportive of her regardless, though. She should be wallowing in guilt for ever doubting him.
    Once they enter Straff's camp, it becomes apparent that he's been using Obligators to administer his army. Of course! No matter how much Elend builds him up in his mind, in the end, the father is just as inexperienced as the son is. Except that he's less stupid.
    The carriage stops in front in a huge tent, and there he is. The object of Elends hatred. the great and magnificent Lord Straff Venture! Manliest of manly-men, and winner of the "Worst Father of the Year" award thirteen consecutive times. He's more than a little surprised that his son actually showed up. To be honest, I'm more than a little surprised that Elend is still breathing.
    After a brief and heated exchange, Straff leads them into the dining hall. He knows Vin's an allomancer, he knows she's soothing his emotions, and he knows she tickles his fancy too. She's acting really strange, pretending to be fazed by the sight of Straffs shabby skaa servants, and acting like she's actually bothered by Straff's belittling racist remarks.
    The feast is prepared shortly after they arrive, and Straff gets right down to business. He allows Elend to give his reason for this little visit. Elend seems to have thought this part out quite well. He makes himself seem like a pathetic poser, desperate for power, fame, and, most importantly, a way out. He tells Straff that they need to join forces to vanquish Cett. That together they could pulverize the Western dog! Straff refuses the offer, of course. Atium. Its all about the atium, and Elend hasn't even mentioned it, yet. Elend says he hasn't spent he atium because he doesn't want to "attract sharks". A lame excuse, if I've ever heard one. The sharks are here and he still hasn't pulled out his stash.
    Its around this this time that Straff has a small teenage girl join him at the dinner table. Once again, the message is quite clear, and I can't help but cringe.
    Straff tells Elend that if he gives him the atium―all of it―he'll agree to the alliance. Elend obviously can't do that, so Vin speaks up and admits that they don't have any, and they never did. She apparently spilled the beans to give Straff less of a reason to attack the city. Makes sense, I guess. There's no way Elend could have convinced Straff that he was going to hand over that atium.
    Elend tries to explain to Straff that he's be very secretive about the location of the stash. So secretive, in fact, that not even Vin knows about it. It's a pathetic ruse, but that's probably what he's going for. Straff doesn't buy it, of course, and he orders everyone besides Elend out of the room, seeming quite amused as he does it.
    The chapter ends when the flap is closed and Elend and Straff are left alone at the dining table. Ah well. That's it, I suppose. They tried, but this obviously isn't working. Elend might as well just make a desperate attempt on Straff's life right now, because, let's face it, he's Pretty Much Dead Already. At least that way he might be able to deny his father the pleasure of outliving him.
    End of Chapter 26
    Alendi was married to a princess, but fathered no children. He went into war, but not of his choosing. Oh, and he was apparently Ta'veren as well. I never would've guessed he was such a great man based on his attitude in that journal he wrote. Honestly, it's hard to believe he was the one who wrote it.
  19. Child Bahkbar
    Y'know, I just now realized I've been spelling the Terris woman's name wrong all this time. It's "Tindwyl," not "Tyndwyl." My eyes have been lowered by this shameful error.
    Part 2
    Chapter 20
    Elend is having another gathering with the Crew(and Tindwyl). He has decided on a course of action that is mindbogglingly moronic. In spite of the Crew's opposition to the idea, he's actually planning on accepting Straff's terms for the meet. I know Elend wants Straff to think he's desperate, but this is just pure, unadulterated madness! Didn't Vin tell him about his father's previous attempt on his life? What makes him think Straff isn't just itching to finish the job now?
    Elend isn't going to the meeting alone, though. No, he has to take this madness just one step further. He's going to be bring Vin along with him. Why? So she can die too? Has he forgotten the fact that Vin is out of atium? She'd be all but completely useless in a battle against another Mistborn, and they all know for a fact that Straff has a Mistborn with him! I can already tell this will all end in disaster.
    Upon hearing this, Breeze seems to actually relax a bit, and remarks that Vin is the most dangerous Mistborn in the central dominance. If only that were true. Then this whole plan wouldn't seem quite so retarded. Unfortunately for them, I'm afraid the Mad Bastard holds title now. He at least has atium.
    Dockson brings up the fact that meeting with Straff will remove has hold over the Parliament. Yes, an excellent point! A perfect excuse to forget the foolishness. Does Elend listen? Of course not. He just brushes it off, saying that it isn't an official parlay, so it doesn't count. Wow. I can't wait to see how that goes down with the assembly.[/i] Dockson seems thinks what he's doing is unwise also--at least he's got some sense. I can smell the disaster in the air now, and the stench is growing stronger with every page.
    Vin chooses this moment to start thinking. I'd almost forgotten this was her PoV. She's noticed the changes in Elend, and seeing those changes has once again sparked the insecurities she continues to harbor inside, and an envy of Tyndwyl as well.
    She begins to think about how the Impostor could be almost any one of the people in this room. She has apparently put off testing, her friends all this time because she's afraid of what she might find. I'm not sure the Kandra spy is a member of the Crew any more. If Straff was just having the kandra search for hints on the location of the Atium, it could very well simply be one of the serving women.
    In the end Vin decides to stop being a pansy and begins to burn bronze. She immediately notices Breeze burning metal, but he was never a suspect in the first place. He's using his allomancy on Elend. That in itself is suspicious, so Vin burns tries to use duralumin to figure out exactly what he's doing to the king. Surprisingly, it works, and she discovers that he's the one who's been making Elend more confident. Vin thinks this somehow makes him a good man. I think this makes him a traitor! He's intentionally encouraging Elend to stick with his suicidal decision to go to this meeting. If he dies, Breeze will harbor much of the blame... I still like him, though.
    Their discussion moves on to other matters, and Breeze informs Elend that the Assembly wants to speak with him about some counterfeit coins in the city. Elend decides to ignore them, and asks breeze to apologize to them for him. I think it stinks that Elend's Crew seems to have more say in what goes on in the city than the Assembly does. I'm sure it burns them, to have so much authority yet be spurned this way.
    With that last dumb decision, this little meeting is brought to an end. Everyone starts to walk out, Vin leering at Tindwyl before she leaves. Why exactly does she dislike her again? I'd have thought she'd be Tindwyl's biggest fan, considering that everything Tindwyl done has been for Elend's own good. I don't even see any reason for her to distrust the Terris woman, She owes her freedom to Vin and the crew. It is quite doubtful that she'd turn on them after all they've done for her people.
    Anyway, once everyone is out of the room, Elend asks Tindwyl how he did today. That's all it takes to get her started. She grills him on everything wrong about his mannerisms in the meeting, and from the way she puts it he didn't to very well at all. She tells him to stop letting his friends call him "El". She says they should call him "Your Majesty" instead, even in private. I don't know about that. I mean, what's the harm in letting them call him simply "Elend" in private? I do agree with the "El" thing, though. I can't believe he didn't stop them from using that name a long time ago. It's demeaning.
    As soon as she's done putting the king in his place(ironic, innit?), Tindwyl moves on to the subject of Vin. She goes a bit far this time, suggesting that perhaps Vin isn't the right woman for him at all. Elend gets a little pissed at her, but she backs off rather quickly. Actually, she's surprisingly accommodating in his area. Does she have a spouse back at home, perhaps? When she remarks that Elend indeed does love Vin, he replies, in direct contradiction to what Zane told Vin, that he does love her even though he doesn't understand her all the time. Tyndwyl warns Elend that his relationship with Vin will be troublesome for him, and drops to subject. She probably shouldn't have brought it up at all in the first place.
    Just before Elend gets the chance to tell Tyndwyl how his training sessions have been going, one of Clubs' soldiers arrives. He informs Elend that a "sort-of" messenger has arrived, claiming to be Cett's daughter. Is he sure it isn't just a beggar pretending to be Cett's daughter? I hope Clubs properly taught his men how to spot the differences between beggars and messengers! If Elend goes into that room to find a beggar there, he'll have no choice but to do something drastic to this guard.
    Something drastic indeed.
    End of Chapter 20
    Kwaam drops a bomb in the post-chapter notes this time around. Apparently Alendi married a princess. Strange that he did not make even one mention of her in his logbook...
    Chapter 21
    Luckily for that strapping young soldier. the "messenger" really turned out to be Cett's daughter, Allriane! Breeze is in the meeting room with the rest of the crewmembers(minus Vin), and the moment she lays eyes on him she runs over and embraces him. So Ham was actually spot on when he jested that Straff threw Breeze out for getting his freak on with his daughter? Ha!
    When Elend gets a good look at her he supposes that she may possibly be eighteen years old.I get the feeling that's just hopeful optimism on his part though, as she seems a bit younger than that... Elend introduces himself, then asks her if her father sent her---more optimism. She replies with a "not really", which roughly translates to, "I ran away from home to be with Breeze. We love each other, and there's nothing you can do to tear us apart!!". This definitely explains why Cett wants to see Breeze dead so badly. If I was in his position, I'd tear down the whole bloody western dominance to avenge my daughter's honor! ...and purity...
    Elend has Allriane take a seat and elucidate. Sure enough, her story confirms my earlier translation. You see, prissy little noblewoman she is, she could not stand living in her father's war camp. The way she puts it, life was a living hell for her during those weeks of traveling. Not to mention dreadfully boring. That is, until Breeze came along. Yeah, I bet they did all sorts of fun things together then... So, yes, when Breeze was chased off, she, naturally followed him. She has now betrayed her own father and gone over to the enemy asking for asylum. I'm going to assume that when she says "asylum", what she actually means is mental asylum, and she needs to go to one because she's FREAKING INSANE!
    Anyway, after their little chat, Elend decides to allow her to abide in the city. At least until they can figure out what to do with her. (A terrible decision, if I might add) She then hugs "Breezy" again, and allows the servants to lead her away to her chambers.
    They sit in silence for a moment. then, starting with Ham, they all finally realize the horrific hilarity of the situation. Sure, there's no way in hell Cett's gonna agree to an alliance after this fiasco, but hey! At least they got a good laugh out of it. This may have just completely ruined Elends plan and doomed them all to slavery and death, and they're sitting here laughing about it.
    M-maybe it isn't so bad? I mean, maybe Cett will be grateful that they didn't simply execute the girl. Who knows, might he actually even see this as a good thing? At the very least they could use her as a bargaining(read:bribing) tool. Elend could go up to Cett and be all like, "Look here. See how we didn't torture and execute your lovely daughter? See how she's still breathing? If you want her to stay that way you'll do everything I say." Yeah, that'll definitely work.
    Anyway, Vin finally shows up, asking what the hell is going on. When they bring Vin up to speed on Breeze's association with the young lass, she is quite disturbed. Her exact words are, "That's disgusting, Breeze, you're old, she's young." Poetry. I couldn't have put it better myself.
    Breeze continues to deny that there was anything between them, but I think it's a little late for denials. He and Vin begin to squabble, but Elend swiftly puts an end to that using his newly accuired kingship skills. The time has come to decide what to do about this...situation. Surprisingly enough, everyone looks to HIM for instruction. Looks like Tindwyl's training is already starting to pay off.
    Breeze wants to let her stay. Not at all surprising considering that she's probably the only woman in the whole world who's willing to give him the time of day. The others, Elend included, think it might be best to give her back to Cett eventually, but Elend decides he's going to do what he thinks is right, which apparently means letting her stay.
    End of chapter 21
    Kwaam is starting to make Alendi sound like a mixture of Rand al'Thor and Anasurimbor Kellus--if that's even possible.
  20. Child Bahkbar
    To more chapters into the book. Thanks to my laptop's treachery and my own incompetence, I was forced to write this blog twice, so I'm sorry if this one's even more poorly written that usual. Heh.
    Part 2
    Chapter 22
    It is a dark and misty night. Ham finds himself leaving the the Venture keep. Walking out into the darkness without so much as a torch to light his way. His duty this evening is to check up on the guard towers surrounding the keep. Mere moments after he leaves the protective illumination of the lamps surrounding the building, a blood curdling, inhuman howling resounds in his ears. He spins, gasping in terror and alarm as Oreseur and Vin leap howling from the mists, Teeth bared. Daggers gleaming. Ham burns pewter, but is no match for their mad intensity. Inescapable ferocious canine teeth sink deep into flesh. Glittering glass knives cleave flesh from bone. Death comes swirling down.
    Well, that's what might've happened had this not all been an elaborate scheme by Vin to figure out if Ham is the Kandra spy. In actuality, Oreseur lands harmlessly in the mists near Ham, and Vin waits to reveal herself until after she feels the allomactic pulsing reverberating from him. I guess I was wrong; Ham isn't the impostor after all. I'm not complaining, though. I like ham.
    When he sees Vin, Ham asks her if she's seen unusual activity this night. She tells him she hasn't, and claims she'd let him know if there was. Really? Kind of like she informed him about the mist spirit that nearly killed her a while back? Or perhaps the mad bastard she's been sparring with every damnation night?
    Now that she knows he's himself, Vin lets Ham know she's out of atium, and asks him if there's any way survive against a Mistborn who's burning atium. He tells her the only way he knows is to either kill them before hey get the chance to start burning, or to get them into an inescapable trap. She could also, y'know, use duralumin to rip the metals straight from their stomachs. Or is that too dishonorable?
    After that enlightening exchange, Vin runs off with Oreseur. Once they're out of hearing range, She explains to Oreseur what the point of that ambush was. You mean she didn't tell him beforehand? Why the hell not?
    Once they're safely on the rooftop, she asks Oreseur if her scheme to uncover the impostor will even work. He replies that if she senses allomancy coming from someone, that person is not a kandra. That doesn't necessarily mean kandra can't use allomancy, though, only that she wouldn't be able sense them if they did.
    Oreseur then brings up the question I've been asking for a while, "why do you hate me?". It turns out his consumption of Kelsier isn't her true reason. No, the actual reason she hates him is because he knew all along what Kelsier had been planning, yet told no one. Does she honestly think he'd break his precious Contract for a bunch of rebellious skaa who see him as a "thing" and treat him like trash?
    Vin asks Oreseur if he ever even cared for kelsier at all--why should he have? Kelsier was just another master to him, and Oreseur resented all of his masters. Vin tries to defend Kelsier's honor, but she soon realizes how unfair she, and all of the crew, have been to Oreseur since the moment they met him. Oreseur played what was possibly the most vital role in the rebellion, yet he got absolutely nothing for it. Instead he was given to Vin, who despised him and placed him in this ridiculous dog body.
    Vin now begins to see how much the two of them have in common. Like Vin, all of Oreseurs previous masters feared, loathed, and abused him. He actually had it even worse than she did, though, because his masters didn't have to worry about killing him if they got a little carried away with the beatings. Sounds like he had it really rough. I can understand why he's so cynical after all he's been through.
    Vin tries to tell Oreseur he doesn't have to hide any more; that he doesn't have to hate all humans for what his evil masters did to him, but she's not doing as good of a job as Kelsier would have. He tells her that she was able to fit in because she's human, but kandra are different. He goes on to explain that Kandra used to secretly dwell with humanity, but the Mistborn back then somehow found a way to uncover them. Once the humans learned of their existence, they began the extermination process. That's why the Kandra devised the Contract. By becoming completely subservient, they were able to convince the humans to cease hunting them.
    I was quite is quite disturbed upon hearing this, and so was Vin. She offers to free Oreseur of his contract, but unfortunately that wouldn't do him much good, as according to kandra law he would just have to go find another master. So Vin just apologizes for her resentful attitude towards him. Good riddance. Maybe now he'll finally get the respect he deserves.
    Now that the nastiness between them has finally been put to rest, Vin's mind begins to wander onto different matters. She thinks she could solve this whole siege problem by simply assassinating the two enemy kings.. Of course, there's no knowing what kind of chaos that might cause. Some even worse tyrants would probably rise in their places. Not to mention that without atium there's no way she'd ever get to Straff. Not while his crazy son is still breathing, anyway.
    After a good deal of pondering, Vin begins to burn bronze. She hears a pulsing in the distance similar to that of the Misty Death, except more powerful and much farther away. It's actually kind of like the thumping Alendi heard...
    Oreseur interrupts her thoughts to alert her to the sound of footsteps coming down the street. When Vin goes down to investigate, she finds a tall dark stranger. When she sneaks up behind the man, she finds that he actually isn't a stranger at all. Sazed has finally returned, and he bears dark tidings.
    size="4"]Chapter 23[/size]
    Elend had been up working on a proposal to present to the parliament explaining his "informal" meeting with Straff when they brought Sazed to him. So he's seriously going through with that? The Assembly won't take kindly to this at all.
    Sazed is having a late dinner with the Crew, telling them all about his travels. When he alerts them to the approach of the Mad King and his formidable koloss army, he also mentions that twenty thousand koloss is apparently worth more than 50,000 ordinary men. Sounds about right to me; those things are freaking huge!
    Unfortunately, no one has any idea how Jastes is controlling them. The Lord Ruler's hold over the creatures was probably somewhat supernatural, as Ham says that shortly after his death the koloss in the south went berserk, slaughtering without mercy or discrimination. Breeze backs this up, telling them about how Cett's koloss garrison went mad as well, and managed to kill four times their number before they were subdued.
    Oddly enough, Sazed doesn't even mention the inquisitors who are traveling in this direction. Did he forget? Did the fact that several of the most dangerous beings on the planet are headed this way slip his mind?
    Breeze thinks they should just wait for him to arrive, as the koloss might lose control and attack one of the other armies. If Jastes does come and they end up fighting each other, the battle would be brutal. Who knows, it might even weaken their armies enough for the Luthadel garrison to stand a chance.
    Dockson says they should worry About what's happening now, and continue with the plan. Who knows, maybe the imminent threat of Jastes's koloss army will make them more willing to accept an alliance.
    Sazed moves on to his darker premonitions. When he informs the group of his investigation into the mist-related deaths, Elend notices Vin listening intently. While the others are skeptical of Sazed's claims, she doesn't say anything at all. Wouldn't this be a pretty good time to tell them about her encounters with the Misty Death?
    Allriane chooses this time to show up. She claims she heard voices, although she shouldn't have been ably to hear anything from where she was sleeping. Plus they're having a pretty small dinner so they probably made even less noise preparing it than usual.
    When she asks what's going on, Breeze just tells her to go to bed and not to disturb the king. Elend notices that she was obviously eavesdropping. Here's a crackpot theory. What if she's actually a tin eye, or worse, Mistborn. Wouldn't it be something if this whole thing with Breeze, and her running off to be with him, was all just some elaborate scheme by Cett to get her into the cty? Doubtful, I know. But still...
    After those rather discomforting words, Sazed proceeds to eat his meal, and most of the group separates. Elend notes that Vin brought Oreseur to the meeting this time. I notice that even he refers to the kandra as "it". Pity. Elend then asks Vin what she thought of Sazed's stories. She simply replies with, "I'll tell you later", which means "I'll tell you when I feel like it", which actually means "You'll never get a word out of me!"
    Vin basically tells him the night is dark, and full of terrors, and returns to her night vigil. As Elend watches her go, he wonders why Vin was so interested in Sazed's stories. Wonders what she's hiding from him. If only he knew. If she would only tell him. If only he didn't brush off everything says him when she does talk to him of these things! What a mess.
    Here it switches to Sazed's PoV as he's led to his rooms. He's starting to regret mentioning the mists, as he may have troubled Elend over a mere delusion. Of course, he wouldn't be doubting himself if Vin had just told him about the bloody mistwraith she's been seeing!
    When he enters his rooms, he finds Tyndwyl waiting for him inside. She mentions that he ignored her request. Others consider her hard, When he sees her, he wonders how she can be so confident after all she's been through. What does this mean? Is he implying that she's suffered even more that the other Terris people have?
    She asks him why he came back here instead of obeying the Synod and teaching the peasants. What's the Synod? Are they like, the rulers of the Terris people? She makes it sound like they've been around for a while, though.
    She knows about his study of the mists. too, so he must have been doing this for a while. Did he get any real teaching done in the past year? She thinks he can't be content with mundane work after all he's done, and Sazed doesn't deny it. Is it possible? Could Sazed be developing an...ego? Impossible!
    He tells her he thinks there is something up with the mists, and he will investigate it until he is convinced it isn't a threat. He reminds her that his last disobedient phase resulted in the collapse of the Final Empire. He apparently worked ten years on that. Ten years of disobedience, and they couldn't even punish him for it! Brilliant!
    After telling Sazed how he could be so much more than he is, Tyndwyl rises to take her leave. Before she walks out the door, though, she takes his hand and gazes into his eyes. What was that? Was there something between these two? I mean, of course there wasn't! What with him being...because he's...you know. Agh!
    End of Chapter 23
  21. Child Bahkbar
    Part 2
    Chapter 18
    This chapter starts with a...Zane PoV? Well. Didn't see that coming. I get to see into the soul of the Creepiest of Creepies? I'm not sure I know how to feel about this...
    At the very start of the chapter it's revealed that Zane is in fact Elend's bastard brother! He's is hanging in the mists, watching Elend through opened balcony doors. God is speaking to him; commanding him to put an end to his half brother once and for all. Yes, he hears the voice of god. Does this make him, some sort of prophet? This is quite fascinating. Quite fascinating indeed.
    He's using some metal bars to keep himself in the air. In The Final Empire, Kelsier and Vin used a "Mistborn Road" someone had made between Luthadel and that other city. Could it have been Zane who put all those bars up? I wonder what he'd been up to back then...
    Zane leaves his study of his brother receives a message from the Kandra informant in the Venture keep. He then returns to Straff's camp to present it to him. So it WAS Straff who sent that Kandra. Zane must have done the killing himself. I'd be willing to bet that it was Zane who left those bones in Vin's closet as well.
    He walks through his father's camp, the god in his mind telling him to kill every single person he sees. I must say, the diety of this world is a lot more...blood thirsty than expected him to be. As a matter of fact, all he seems to talk about is killing. I'm starting to think this "god" Zane's hearing is just a figment of his troubled and oh-so-violent mind. In other words: He's mad...and arogant too, from the looks of things.
    Zane's life has apparently been a difficult one. So difficult, in fact, that's it has literally driven him insane. I'd actually feel sorry for the poor bastard if it weren't for the fact that he's a total prick...and arrogant, too. He has the nerve to order one of the guards to SUMMON his father, the king. Straff doesn't come to him, of course, so he has no choice but to go to the command tent himself. Which is what he should've done from the start.
    The moment Zane enters Straff's tent and lays eyes on his father, god starts urging him to KILL. His own father!? Now I know for certain that this isn't the voice of god! A real god would never tell Zane to murder his own father, because everyone knows the kinslayer is cursed in the eyes of gods and men!
    Anyway, now that the sarcasm and not-so-vague references are out of the way, I'll move on. Straff asks Zane about the Atium. Apparently Straff sent Zane into the city to befriend Vin and find out if she has any. Sneaky bastard! Vin should have stayed away from him--or better yet, she should've killed him when she had the chance.
    The voice in Zane's head continues to prod him. So much so that he has to cut a gash in his arm to keep from climbing over the table and wasting Lord Venture right here and now. He even burns tin, the crazy bastard! Apparently the only person he doesn't feel the URGE around is Vin. He thinks she might be able to "save him", whatever that means. Pity he's gonna be asked to kill her eventually and he'll probably die that day. Maybe that's what he means.
    Zane has a serving woman bring them tea. It only takes one sniff of the drink for Straff to tell that it's poisoned, and exactly what kind of poison it is. Straff immediately has the guards slaughter the serving woman, but he knows Zane was behind it.
    Straff tells Zane that he's mad, and that he doesn't know jack. He then proceeds to drink his poisoned tea. Wait, what? Am I missing something? Because it looks to me like Lord Venture just committed suicide!
    After finishing his tea--must've been really tasty--he asks Zane about their spy in the Venture keep. Zane's still a bit rattled, of course, but he delivers the message to Straff. Apparently the Kandra believes himself to be suspected. Really? He left a freshly shat skeleton in a lady's closet. What the hell does he expect?
    After Zane is dismissed from the tent, it switches to Straff's viewpoint, and we learn about some of his, um, interesting personality traits. You see, Straff is a very respectable man, with quite...refined tastes. So of course it just makes sense that he keeps at least fifteen mistresses with him at all times, and of course those mistresses must all be under 27 years old, because of course that's when all women begin to grow old and unattractive. How old is this guy again? I could've sworn he was at least in his forties!
    Anyway, Straff calls for a woman named Amaranta shortly after Zane leaves the tent. Apparently he hasn't built up an immunity to that poison, but he does have a mistress who is quite skilled in the art of making antidotes. Amaranta arrives and fixes an antidote for him. The moment he drinks the concoction he starts to feel more healthy. He went through all this just to stay one step ahead of a man who doesn't even actually want to get ahead of him. I take back what I said about not feeling pity for Zane. With a father like him, it's no wonder he is the way he is.
    What a messed up family.
    Chapter 19
    Sazed, thanks to excessive use of his steelmind, manages to traverse in three days what should have taken him 7 weeks. It took him five long, hellish, months to store all that speed, and now it's all gone. Not to mention he'll still have to travel another week at normal speeds to reach Luthadel. Was it worth it?
    Sazed notices smoke rising in the distance somewhere between the hill he's standing on and Luthadel, so he climbs a nearby tree to get a view of whatever's causing it. The sight he sees when he reaches the top would be enough to make any ordinary man soil himself. It's an army; a large blue army made up entirely of koloss. And from the looks of things it's headed straight for Luthadel. Great.
    I'm not entirely sure what the koloss are, but they're supposed to be really dangerous. They apparently aren't human, either. This must be where the inquisitors went, then. I'm guessing they're with this army right now. Who else would be able to keep these creatures under control.
    Sazed draws on the information about the koloss from his copper mind. There isn't very much, but that's probably because the few people who did study them most likely died horrific deaths. He's able to gather from the coppermind that the koloss are very similar to humans in appearance... except that they aren't. The koloss, for one, never stop growing, and simply grow until their growth kills them. Which apparently doesn't take long, as the maximum life span for a koloss is barely more twenty years. Of course, savage creatures they are, the average koloss life span is considerably less than that.
    Wow, these things sound pretty bad chull! Even Sazed seems to think so. As he uses his tinmind to get a closer look, we're presented a detailed description of these magnificently majestic creatures, and--they're...hideous. When I say "hideous", I don't mean slightly discomforting to think about, like trollocs, or Orcs. I mean these are the most repulsive appearing creatures I've ever read described on the written page. So disgusting, in fact, that I'm not even going to bother writing anything more about their appearance in this blog.
    Once Sazed has had his fill of studying these atrociously hideous beings, he disables his tinmind and finds a koloss patrol standing around his tree. The koloss order him to come down from the tree--they can talk? Surprisingly, they don't make a corpse of him when he complies. Instead their leader just takes his bag and commands him to follow. I still can't believe they can actually talk!
    While following the koloss back to their camp, Sazed flares is optimism. He starts wondering if maybe, just maybe, all the stories he heard about koloss brutality were just propaganda. Practically the moment he completes this thought, one of the koloss randomly and brutally murders one of its fellow soldiers. As I said, Sazed is always wrong about these things. When he asks the beast why it did this, it tells him it hated the creature, and then proceeds to take the dead koloss's sword, plus a little pouch it wore with it. How's that for propaganda?
    Once they reach the camp, it gives it's free sword to a few of the smaller koloss and points back the way they came. Sazed, naive optimist that he is, wonders if they're on burial duty. Burial duty!? You have got to be kidding me! It's more likely that they're going to bring that body back to feed on!
    Anyway, as they walk through the camp, Sazed notices just how violent the koloss are. They'll go from mellow to enraged and back again in the blink of an eye--It's almost as if they hear the voice of Zane's god. There are several unburied flayed corpses lining the camp. Perhaps those little ones weren't going back to eat that body, but to flay it. Maybe the koloss hand that skin on to their descendants or something. That would explain why their skin fits so poorly for the majority of their lives.
    The koloss lead Sazed to a command tent. Luckily for him, it seems like the inquisitors aren't here after all. There are actually humans here! Sazed politely requests that they return his bags, but they say he'll have to ask the king. Ask the king? I wonder who this is? Who could have the power to command the KOLOSS! The most feared of all creatures. It must be some great and powerful lord, right?
    No, it's Jastes bloody Lekal, Elend's old friend. This took me entirely by surprise. How in the hell did he get the koloss to follow him? Does it have something to do with those pouches they carry? Whatever it is he did, his hold over them apparently isn't strong enough to give him any peace of mind. He's obviously very uncomfortable with his current position. As he keeps pacing while he speaks with Sazed, and he's really fidgety.
    Through this conversation, Sazed discovers that Luthadel is under siege. At first I thought Jastes was coming to rescue Elend, But no, he's actually planning on taking the city for himself! He claims Elend wouldn't make a good ruler. Wow, and he would? Elend's a pretty weak ruler, but he's definitely better than this buffoon. He's planing on bringing twenty thousand koloss to a crowded city for Pete's sake! Not even the Lord Ruler dared to do something like that!
    The chapter ends when Sazed agrees to take a message to Elend in exchange for the return of his belongings, and leaves in one piece. The message probably goes something like this:
    Dearest Elend,
    I have somehow managed to gain control of an army of the most ferocious warriors in all the world. Unfortunately, I have also managed to lose most of my hair and my wits, so I am bringing them to Luthadel at once. This action will most likely result in the DEATH OF US ALL, but you need not fear, for I will be merciful, and if you surrender peacefully you will be treated with kindness.
    Your friend,
    King Jastes Lekal
    End of Chapter 19
  22. Child Bahkbar
    I'm back with three more chapters of my Well of Ascension readthrough. Yay!
    Part 2
    Chapter 15
    This one's another Sazed chapter, which basically means it's gonna be either really short or really awesome.
    It begins with Sazed awakening from slumber to find himself completely alone. He and Marsh have apparently been traveling for eight days so far. I wonder what would cause Marsh to just up and leave after more than a week of traveling. I mean, if he had a different destination from Sazed, why not just split up the first day instead? He left his blankets behind too. It's almost as if he just got up in the middle of the night and walked off. Sazed follows his tracks for a little while, then returns to the camp to wait for him. He washes his robes, eats a measly breakfast, walks the dog, shaves his head...wait. Shaves his head? Sazed is bald!? The way it's written here makes it seem like shaving is something he does regularly. How in the world did I miss that. I suppose descriptions of the characters aren't given very often, but still...
    Anyway, Marsh doesn't return, so Sazed decides to continue on his way to Luthadel, thinking Marsh will be able to catch up. Oh, come on, Sazed. Don't be stupid. It's pretty obvious that he's abandoned you and moved on to something more important. Now you need to do the same.
    After walking for a while, Sazed finds a city. He draws some information from his coppermind to figure out where exactly he is. Apparently when he puts information into a coppermind, he is literally putting it in the coppermind, so he immediately forgets it. Also, the more he draws from a coppermind, the more muddled the information becomes, so he has re-memorize certain portions occasionally to keep the information fresh. Makes sense, I guess. Seems like kind of a pain, though.
    The index from his metalmind describes the city as "picturesque", which we all know actually means "horribly precipitous", or simply "troublesome". As he nears the city, he notices that there are goats and other cattle roaming around freely. Sazed tries to be optimistic, considering that perhaps the skaa here are so prosperous that they can allow their animals to roam around like this. Of course, I know by now that he's almost always wrong about these things. The reason the animals are all out here is because the people in the city are all dead. That's just the way these things work.
    As he draws closer and closer to the city, he smells something...odd. He uses his tinmind to enhance his sense of smell, and, sure enough, it is the stench of rotting corpses. The skaa here are all, in fact, dead. My first guess is that the Inquisitors came here and slaughtered everyone, but it turns out that wasn't the case. Upon studying the bodies, Sazed is unable to find any specific cause of death on any of the bodies. These people have been dead for a while as well. Several days, at least. I guess the mists must have done them in/ Kind of like Jed.
    Sazed enters one of the hovels to find it filled with dead bodies. He observes that these people died from starvation and dehydration. How could they have starved to death with so much cattle just outside the city? There definitely is something seriously wrong here. Or was, anyway.
    After studying the bodies, Sazed leaves the hovel and, using his tinmind to weaken his sense of smell, checks out the other buildings as well. They're all the same as the first one, littered with corpses. In some he found gnawed human remains. These people had even begun to eat themselves before the end? What could have driven them to something so extreme?
    While inspecting one of the hovels, Sazed finds a single survivor. The man is still strong enough to speak, but he is obviously not in his right mind any more. He has apparently been feeding on the rotted corpses of the other skaa to survive, though he denies this fervently. Sazed questions the man, and he explains what happened here. The mists appeared in the city one day, and remained for several weeks, day and night. Apparently some of the skaa found the courage to step out into the mists after a while. The mists took some of them--shook them like Jed, but others it allowed to go free. I'll bet that all of the survivors were mistings. It never has been explained what allomancy has to do with the mists, but the names imply that there is some sort of connection.
    Anyway, the man rises from his resting place and prepares to...feed. Sazed offers him some of his own food, but it seems the man would rather eat rotting bodies. Sazed doesn't allow him to, though, and uses his pewtermind to forcibly draw the man outside. The moment he sees the sun, the mad man just runs off, and Sazed lets him go. there's not much he could have dome for the poor guy anyway.
    The chapter ends when, realizing that there is definitely something horribly wrong happening to the world, Sazed draws speed from his steel mind and hurries to Luthadel.
    Well, that was a pretty awesome chapter, just as I expected. Now on to the next one!
    Chapter 16
    This chapter starts with Vin, and what'd'ya know, she's actually doing some research for once. She's studying Alendi's logbook. Or, well, I'm pretty sure it's his, anyway. Oreseur is with her, although he's not providing much help--most likely because she didn't ask. Vin is just too secretive sometimes...all the time.
    She's searching the logbook for mentions of the Mistwraith, or, as I like to call it, "The Terrifying Misty Death"(TMD for short), in the journal. She has actually found a few occurrences. The Alendi wrote about a dark mist creature that followed him the same way it follows her. He was also the only one who could see it--possibly the same as her. Eh, I see the connection, and I'm not sure I like it.
    Anyway, Vin still actually thinks this might be an illusion, but she reads in the logbook that Alendi was also beginning to doubt his sanity. The Mist-spirit stabbed a man named Fedik, though, so he decided it had to be real, because if it wasn't, that would mean it was he who attacked his companion, and he didn't want to believe that he'd do such a thing. Following his example, Vin decides to believe in the monster as well. Indeed, she'd have to be quite mad indeed to have completely fabricated her encounters with the creature.
    It's written that Fedik was stabbed in the chest. Uh.. am I... missing something? I was under the impression that chest wounds were generally, y'know... fatal. Especially when you're traveling up a mountain at the chull-end of no where with no doctors or magical beings capable of healing such things. Although, Rashek was a keeper, so perhaps he was able to mend Fedik's chest wound. Doubtful, though.
    Anyway, Alendi wrote that the TMD could not harm him, for some reason. Well, it could definitely harm Vin, I think. Rashek, of course, believed that Alendi tried to kill Fedik. Yeah, an invisible creature that can harm everyone but yourself sounds like a pretty flimsy defense. Somehow I don't think that excuse would hold up in court. Yet another reason for Rashek to want to make a corpse of Alendi, I guess.
    Here it switches to Elend's PoV. He's standing atop the Luthadel walls, watching to two armies lead by the two kings who have come to remove him as head of the city, and remove his actual head as well. They're doing exactly what he expected them to; trying to use the canals to resupply their armies. What he didn't expect, though, was for Cett to be serving his armies canned goods. I didn't even know they had invented the cannery in this world yet. I guess this means Cett probably wont be having much trouble keeping his men fed, now, will he?
    Clubs walks up onto the roof with Elend, and remarks that they've got a real siege on their hands now. Yeah, thanks for the input, Einstein. That totally isn't something your average retard could tell at this point. He states the obvious again, telling Elend that he's the "focal point", and that if he's not up to the task they're all dead. Really? I had no idea! This somehow brings the Terris woman to Elends mind, so he asks Clubs if he thinks he's a good king. Clubs just replies that he's "Not the worst". Seriously? Elend is just getting crapped on by everyone these days. Next thing you know, Vin's gonna show up and tell him she's tired of him, and she's leaving him to be with Spooks. Then this cycle of shame will have finally completed itself.
    Clubs tells Elend that the Pits of Hathsin were what made Kelsier into the man he was. "Will this be your pits of Hatsin?", he asks. What does he mean by that? Is he asking if Elend will be put through twelve months of hell, lose everything dear to him, and watch his own wife beaten to death in front of his very eyes? I certainly hope not.
    Anyway, Clubs tells him that the REAL reason he came up here was to inform Elend that it's time for his lessons with Tyndwyl. Yay, more humiliating degradation. Sounds like so much fun.
    When Elend meets up with Tyndwyl, she immediately begins grilling him on pretty much the same things she corrected him about before--I'd have thought he'd have at least learned to stand up straight by now. She tells him his clothes are slovenly. She seems to quite enjoy using that word, "Slovenly". I can understand why; it has quite a nice ring to it. Yes.
    Tyndwyl proceeds to force him to change from his clothing into a brand new uniform she's had prepared for him. A kingly uniform, complete with a cape and crown. She claims she also intends to have him taught how to fight and command armies. Both very kingly, and, more importantly, manly skills. It is indeed very important that he become a manly-man that all the other manly-men in the kingdom can look up to. That's, like, the first and most important rule of being a king.
    Tyndwyl has his hair cut as well. Elend checks himself in the mirror afterward and, instead of the weakling he saw before, he sees a king. He thanks Tyndwyl for her help, thinking this is the end of his training, but she assures him that his transformation from slovenly pig to dignified king has only just begun. Sweet.
    Tyndwyl is starting to give me some small measure of hope for Elend. Thanks to her teaching, he might not end up dying after all. Either that, or her training will directly result on him finding to bravery to die an honorable death on the battlefield!
    Once the king's transformation is complete, captain Demoux arrives--I just now remembered who he is! He's the young captain from the first book! The one who stoop up to that dissident in The Final Empire. Golly, I have no idea how I could have forgotten him so entirely.
    Anyway, Demoux says a messenger has arrived from Elend's father, so Elend says he'll go find Vin. Why does he need her with him? It's not like he'll be in any real danger. He's just going to meet with a messenger, and he'll have plenty of other guards around anyway.
    Before he leaves, he asks Tyndwyl what she believes makes a good king. Her answer is "trust". She says a kign that is deserving of the trust of his people is a good king indeed. Elend thinks this is the proper answer--not that his opinion means much.
    The chapter ends as Elend rushes out to find Vin and meet with Straff's messenger.
    Chapter 17
    We're back to Vin now, and she's still studying that logbook. She has progressed from simply reading to taking notes as well. Elend arrives shortly after she begins painstakingly writing her notes on a sheet of paper...on the floor. She doesn't recognize him when she first sees him, and the change in his appearance shocks her so much that, before she can stop herself, she flares pewter and throws her pen straight through his eye, killing him instantly. Once she realizes what she's done she rushes over and cries out for help as she holds his lifeless body in her arms... Yeah, that's not what happened. She's surprised, but she, once again, does not harm him. It seems that Elend will live to see another day. His time is coming, though. I can smell it.
    Anyway, she studies his new appearance, and is quite impressed. The outfit is practically perfect. It doesn't have any metal on it, and the cape comes off easily. Yes, Tyndwyl did an admirable job fixing up his outward appearance. Too bad he's the same little bi--uh, wuss on the inside.
    Elend tells Vin about the messenger, so she abandons her notes and goes with him, taking Oreseur with her. Vin enters the meeting room and--what the devil?! It's him! The messenger is the bloody Watcher! He wasn't lying when he told her he was the enemy. He's been working for Straff Venture all along! Vin warns Elend that the messenger is Mistborn, but she doesn't mention that she knows him. For once, Elend takes her warning seriously and keeps his distance.
    The Watcher introduces himself. Assuming he's not lying, his name is Zane. He says Straff has replied to Elend's offer for an alliance, and that he would very much like to meet with him. There's a catch, though. He claims Straff fears assassination attempts if they meet in a neutral tent, so Elend will have to meet him in his own camp. Is he serious? This is almost as ridiculous as the message he sent to Elend when he first arrived. Elend tells the messenger that he'll "think about it". Which, I hope, actually means "no way in hell, you ugly, ugly man.". Elend, the king of a besieged city, wouldn't honestly consider going straight into the midst of an enemy camp, would he? Even with guards it would just be be too risky.
    Also, what's up with this Zane guy? Why would Straff use a Mistborn to deliver a simple message? He's acting kind of weird, too. I mean, he was constantly shooting glances at Vin during the conversation. And he comments that he's heard reports of the "Beautiful Mistborn who accompanies the Venture heir." What does that have to do with the matter at hand? She's taken, by the way, so he should keep his nasty opinions to himself. Creepy bastard.
    Anyways, once the message has been delivered, Zane bows, meeting Vin's eyes one more time, and walks away.
    The book skips forward a few hours to Vin's nightly vigil. She's sitting on the Venture rooftop with Oreseur like she does every night--it's got to be getting old by now, right? She's thinking about Zane, of course; wondering if he'll show up again now that she knows who he is. The way her thoughts are going it almost seems like she's been sparring with him regularly. Say it isn't so!
    Oreseur asks her why she's just sitting around, and she replies that she's just watching for assassins and spies like she always does. This obvious lie doesn't fool him, though, and he asks her why she hasn't told Elend about her meetings with the Watcher. Why hasn't she told her boyfriend that she's been having "sparring sessions" with a strange man in the dead of night? It is indeed a mystery. She says she hasn't told Elend because she just doesn't want to worry him. Another blatantly obvious lie.
    Vin burns her bronze--feeling for the watcher, I bet. She feels the pulsing coming from the Misty Death, but she doesn't even go near it. Heh, I guess she learned her lesson last time. She also feels the Watcher burning metals out there. He must not care much that she now knows his identity. She leaves Oreseur and runs out to find the man. This can only end in disaster. Telling lies...meeting with strange men in the night.
    She finds Zane on an abandoned street, and they begin there sparring match right away. They have a relatively lengthy(and epic) fight. It's really close, but the Watcher manages to best her thanks to his brilliant ingenuity. Could he be even better than Vin? That's a troubling thought.
    After Vin's loss, they speak to each other. He asks her why she allows herself to be used. He says Elend has made her a slave. He tells her that she doesn't belong with her friends, but out here with the mists....with him? Yeah, I see his game--sleazy bastard. She's all denial, of course, saying she belongs with those who love her. Indeed, she does. But how does she know they even love her in the first place? He asks if they understand her--how can they love what they don't understand. Wow. He knows a lot about her and her buddies for a complete stranger. How in the hell could he know how they feel towards her? He's coming off as kind of a cocky bastard, I think. She should tell him to piss off. She doesn't, though. In fact, she seems to even be taking his words into consideration. Come on, Vin, don't you already have enough trust issues to begin with?
    Zane leaves her with those words, and Vin starts wondering if she can maybe turn him against Straff. Either way, she says she'll definitely have to continue sparring with him.
    Yup. This can only end in disaster.
    End of Chapter 17
    In the post-chapter note entries from these chapters, Kwaam says Alendi convinced the whole word that he was the hero, despite any doubts he himself may have had. Why did he find the need to do this? The deepness wasn't around at this point, was it? Because he doesn't mention the deepness until the chapter 17 notes, saying it was what truly drove the people to rally behind Alendi. hmm, fascinating, truly.
    Kwaam also wishes that the belief in Terris prophecies hadn't spread beyond their people. Why not? Unless he was also convinced that the whole Terris religion was a lie.
    I still have no idea what the revelation from the notes in this book will be, but I'm sure it'll be huge.
    Out of curiosity, I just put this post through a word counter and found that it's over 3000 words! Woah! If anyone had told me just 2 months ago that I'd ever be writing that much simply for fun I'd have said they were crazy, but here we are. I do think I should probably try to cut the length a bit, though.
  23. Child Bahkbar
    I'm back again, with a couple more of my increasingly infrequent chapters of of Mistborn book Two! I haven't been reading very much recently because I've been, uh, busy. Yeah, busy. That's it...
    On to the book!
    Part 2
    Chapter 13
    This one starts with a Vin PoV. She's having a "conversation" with Oreseur. Pfah! More like an interrogation! Vin's trying to find a way to discover who the Kandra impostor may be, so she's asking Oreseur a few quite personal questions. His answers prove pretty intriguing.
    Apparently the Kandra are not allowed to enter human society without a contract, and not a single one of them breaks this rule. Kandra also aren't allowed to kill humans. I thought that was just a limitation Kelsier placed on Oreseur himself, but apparently it's in their holy contract. This means that this mystery Kandra couldn't have killed that person in Vin's chambers himself. Someone else had to have sneaked into the keep to do the deed... Perhaps he left some evidence behind, then? Vin should hire someone to look into that if she can.
    Upon further questioning, Oreseur reveals that Kandra cannot be affected by mental allomancy. So Vin could just try to sooth someone to see their reaction, right? If they're unaffected, that means they can at least be suspected. Sure, it's not foolproof, but it should narrow down the list of possible candidates quite a bit. Apparently Kandra can't use allomancy either, so if she catches Ham burning pewter my fears will be put to rest. She should go and demand that he burn his metals right now!
    Vin also remembers what Kelsier said about keeping the Kandra away from the Lord Ruler and the Inquisitors. (I think it has something to do with the way Inquisitors perceive the world. Maybe they can see straight through a Kandra's disguise) When she questions him about this--actually orders him to tell her--, he says "no". He just flat out refuses. Apparently the contract states that Kandra cannot be forced to reveal secrets about their nature. Okay, now I'm curious. What is the contract, and why do they take it so seriously? He says they're nothing without the contract. What does this mean? Does it have something to do with how they become the way they are, instead of remaining like all the other Mistwraiths? Could it be that someone turned them into Kandra in exchange for them accepting the contract, or is it something more simple than that? I wanna know, but I get the feeling I'll have to wait several hundred pages to find out, if ever.
    Anyway, Vin begins to feel for any allomancers who may be sneaking about in the city. While searching with bronze, she asks Oreseur what he cares about; his hates, his loves. He doesn't want to answer, and she realizes that he resents her(with good reason, by the way), so she doesn't force him. At this point, she feels a familiar allomantic pulse. It's that mist creature she saw the other night. She tells Oreseur what she hates; she hates being afraid. She then leaves him behind and runs off to confront the creature. I can already tell this won't end well. Why doesn't she bring him with her? He might be able to help.
    She traces the pulsing to the 3rd story of a building on an abandoned street. She launches herself up into the window and looks inside, and there it is. It's standing right in the middle of the room. The creature seems to be formed entirely from the mists. The name "Mistwraith" seems to fit this thing a whole lot better than it does the Kandra's cousins. As a matter of fact, the writer of journal in the first book claimed that one of his companions was attacked by a Mistwraith. Could he have actually been talking about one of these things? It makes more sense, especially considering what Kelsier said about the other mistwraiths being fairly docile.
    When Vin lays eyes on this Mistwraith, she feels something she apparently hasn't felt in a long. She feels the mind-killer. The little death. Even though she stated earlier that she was done with it, she feels fear. She swallows her terror, though, and demands that the creature tell her why it's been following her. It doesn't answer, of course. It just takes a step towards her and disappears, just like last time. Something suddenly grabs her arm, something cold; cold as hell. A pain shoots through her head and when she tries to scream her voice fails her. She falls backwards out of the window, but fortunately she's still lucid enough to burn her metals, so she manages to save herself from what might have been a fatal fall.
    What exactly was that? It seems like it's probably the same thing that killed that poor farmer, Jed, when he danced his last. Why didn't it kill Vin, though? Was it even trying to? One thing I'm relatively sure about is that this is not the deepness. I doubt it even has anything to do with the deepness. Wasn't the deepness supposed to have an oppressive feel kinda like what the Lord Ruler was always giving off when he was around? This is different. And...cold... Creepy. Cool, but creepy.
    Anyway, as Vin walks away from the building, Oreseur shows up--a little late, don't you think? She almost freaking died! Although, I suppose she should've known better than to confront it alone. He asks her if she's in need of any assistance, but Vin just tells him she's alright. Interestingly enough, she doesn't even mention her encounter with the creature. Why not? Shouldn't she be warning everyone she knows about this very dangerous; very real threat? Don't tell me she still believes she's only seeing things.
    It switches to Elend's PoV at this point. I guess this confirms that he isn't the Kandra--not that I suspected him anyway.
    Elend is in a room with the remaining members of Kelsier's crew. They're having a meeting to figure out what exactly to do with the time Breeze has bought them. Most of them seem to think that surrendering is their only choice, and handing the city over to Cett is better idea than giving it to Straff, because Cett will at least (possibly)allow Elend to remain as the provisional ruler. Of course, that would mean screwing over pretty much all of the skaa living in the city, as Cett is not kind to the Skaa in his kingdom. Yeeaah. That's not much of an option for them, is it?
    Elend suggests not bending over for Straff or Cett, but choosing a third, more risky, option. They can't survive an extended siege, as the city's already in pretty bad shape when it comes to supplies, so he wants to see if they can even the odds a little bit. First, they'll need to hire some bandit guilds to keep the two kings from using the canals to resupply their armies. Then, he intends to--using his formidable skills at deception--pit the two armies against each other by convincing both of them that he's on their side... Umm, it's a pretty decent plan, I suppose, but this is Elend we're talking about. He couldn't manipulate a 5 year old into eating his vegetables!. How in the name of all that is good and holy is he supposed to pull this off? Even though they know this, the others agree to follow this plan anyway, but they do have doubts. It's better than just curling up in a ball and waiting to be invaded, I guess. The Parliament can't really stop them, thanks to that proposal Elend so brilliantly convinced them to sign. Perhaps there's hope, if Elend can find himself a tutor, or something.
    Once Elend and the rest have agreed on their next course of action, someone knocks on their door. It's captain Demoux, and he has a captive with him. He says she was listening in on their conversation. It's that Terris woman who was watching Elend during the Assembly meeting. She announces to everyone that she is a keeper, and she knows that Vin is apparently hiding just outside of their window. So this stuff is happening before she even went out and had her encounter with the Mist-ghost? Why wasn't Elend's PoV before hers, then?
    Anyway, the woman basically demands that everyone else leave the room; she wants to speak to Elend alone. Truth be told, if she actually wanted to kill him, she probably could have overpowered them all using her feruchemy--or maybe not, since Ham's here. Either way, Elend, doesn't think she's going to hurt him, so he tells everyone to do as she commanded.
    End of Chapter 13
    Kwaam's notes at the end of the chapter seem to be of very little consequence, so...on to the next chapter!
    Chapter 14
    This chapter starts from right where the last one left off. Has that ever happened before so far in this series? I can't remember.
    Anyway, As soon as the door is shut, the Terris woman breaks her bonds. Elend, manly-man that he is chooses to stand his ground and face her. Ha, no, what am I saying? He calls for his girlfriend to come save him the moment he feels he may be in some danger. Unfortunately for him, the woman was lying when she said Vin was outside the window. No, in fact, she waited to reveal herself until Vin left. Elend, brave warrior he is, says he's going to call the guards, but the Terris woman tells him not to be a moron--too late for that. She claims that if she wanted to kill him, he'd be dead before the guards ever got through the door. Indeed.
    The woman then begins to --quite rudely-- lecture Elend on his posture and attitude. When I say "lecture", that's kind of an understatement. I mean, she puts him down. She informs him that his behavior is not befit a king, that he's a slovenly pig, and that no one respects him. It's true, every word. We all saw what happened at that assembly meeting. They showed that Penrod guy more deference than they did Elend. He doesn't know how to assert himself. I mentioned that he needed to do something drastic about that. Perhaps this lady can show him how.
    Elend finally gets over his shock and asks her what the hell is going on. She tells him that her name is Tyndwyl, and that, unlike Sazed who specializes in religions, she specializes in the study of biographies. Speaking of Sazed, he's the one who told her about Elend, and he's apparently the one who inspired her to come here in the first place. She tells him that she has come to transform him from the walking joke he is today into a proper king. Amazing. She's exactly what he needs.
    It's at this moment that Vin finally returns, all hostility. So, she's just now had the encounter with that Mist spirit, right? I guess Sanderson placed the PoVs the way he did to avoid interrupting the flow of the story. Anyway, Vin places herself between Elend and the Terris woman. Tyndwyl is completely unperturbed, though, and just mentions how forceful Vin is compared to Elend, therefore shaming him once more before taking her leave. Ham enters the room after she exits, and Elend, apparently happy to have someone to humiliate him on a regular basis, tells the thug to prepare rooms for her in the palace.
    I like Tyndwyl already! She kind of reminds me of Cadsuane. Perhaps with her guidance, Elend won't end up getting himself killed after all. Either that, or her teaching will give him the confidence to at least die an honorable death in battle, or some such. Of course, either way, once she's done training him, he's going to have to do something about the disrespect she showed him this night.
    Something...drastic.
    Here it switches to Vin's PoV. It seems like whenever Vin and Elend are together it always shows from Vin's PoV. Probably just because she's the main character, but still... eh, whatever.
    Vin doesn't trust Tyndwyl, and seems to have taken an instant dislike to the Terriswoman. This must be hate at first sight. I've heard of it, but I didn't believe it truly existed until now. When she mentions her dislike to Elend, he just, once again, brushes off her warning, remarking that she doesn't like anyone when she first meets them. That attitude is going to get him killed some day, I just know it.
    Elend talks to Vin about how he's starting to doubt himself. That's understandable. I would too, if I were in his position. If his plan doesn't work out, the entire city is screwed--not to mention he's a dead man. Although, that would have happened regardless. Vin, of course, like any good partner, comforts him.
    Once Elend is done talking about himself, he asks Vin how her patrol went. She tells him it was uneventful...uneventful? Yeah, that sounds about right. I'd describe running into The Terrifying Misty Doom and nearly falling to my death as "uneventful" as well. Seriously, I know she thinks he'd just brush it off like he did the last time, but who cares? This thing is too big of a deal for her to be keeping it to herself. She should not only tell Elend, but ALL of the crew members...AND the guards. Come on, Vin! I thought you were sensible.
    Vin goes on to talk to Elend about how she's worried. She says the Lord Ruler's last words are still bothering her, and she asks him what he knows about the deepness. She's apparently afraid that it might actually come back, but she doesn't actually know anything about it because it's considered part of the Lord Ruler's religion, and apparently religion was reserved for the noblemen; skaa were prohibited from even thinking about it. Wow. Y'know, it still surprises me how poorly the Skaa were treated under the Lord Ruler. We never did get a proper explanation for that, did we?
    Anyway, Elend basically says she's a worry wart, and just chalks her fears up to paranoia...again! Why the heck does she put up with this guy? Of course, perhaps if she'd told him about the freaking encounter she had with that thing tonight, he'd take her questions more f-fu-flipping seriously! Jeez, Vin. Just...darn it. Darn it all to heck!
    ANYhow, Vin shares with Elend the little bit of information she was able to get out of Oreseur. He it's great, but he obviously doesn't think any of the other crew members could possibly be the Kandra. As well he should! True friends trust each other. That said, I still think it's Ham. Ha!
    The chapter ends when Elend tells Vin he needs to go "check on a few things", and walks away, leaving Vin alone with the mist churning in through the open window. Vin gazes at it and whispers, "I will not fear you". Suuure.
    In the end-chapter notes, Kwaam is still busy regretting not listening to the other Worldbringers, and following Alendi on his journeys. With how regretful this guy is, you'd think Alendi turned out to be some kind of monster, or something. Wait... Didn't he write that Alendi towered over others? Kwaam was a Terrisman, and, assuming that they were still tall back then, Alendi would have to be pretty darn tall to be looking down on most of them. Which is strange, because I could've sworn that in the journal from "The Final Empire" he wrote that he wasn't a pure Terrisman. What're the chances he'd be THAT tall if he wasn't Terris born? Am I over thinking things?
    Yep, only one chapter today as well. Sucks, cause I was hoping to finish the book in a little over a month, but that's probably not gonna happen now. I've just been too busy. Ah, well. You guys don't mind do you? Yeah, I didn't think so. heh
    Oh, and no, I've never read Dune.
  24. Child Bahkbar
    Salutations. I've completed Part 1, it's time to move on to Part 2! It looks like this is the longest Part in the book, so hopefully that means it's the best too...wait! Actually, scratch that. I hope Part 6 is the best part.
    Part 2 : Ghosts in the Mists
    Chapter 12
    This one's another Sazed chapter, and I'll just say right now that it is definitely my favorite chapter so far.
    Sazed and Marsh have finally made it to the Conventical of Sarand. Now that I think about it, the book doesn't really mention how long they had to travel to get here. For all I know it might have been three days, or 3 months.
    The Conventical is a fairly large fortress, and it rests inside of a giant crater. Using his epic feruchemy vision, Sazed takes a closer look at the fort, and he discovers that, as Inquisitor Marsh stated, it is indeed empty. He tells Sazed that they're headed North. It seems like Marsh can sense where the other Inquisitors are. Don't tell me they're going to Luthadel. Could that be what he was talking about when he said something huge is going to happen down there? If so, they should probably, like, warn someone about this, right? Although, I suppose they probably wouldn't be able to make it to Luthadel before the Inquisitors, anyway. That means there's no point in even trying, eh?
    Anyway, Marsh and Sazed approach the fort. They have to enter from the top using a pulley, but since there's no one down there to operate it, Marsh just cuts it down, and climbs down the rope. Sazed, on the other hand, takes out an Iron metalmind. Iron contains weight. He doesn't take weight out of the metalmind, though, as that would just make him heavier. Instead, he reverses the metalmind, thereby dramatically decreasing his weight, so much so that he's able to just practically float to the bottom of the shaft.
    Now, I'm just gonna pause right here and gush about how FREAKING cool that is! I mean, come on! I hadn't even considered that something like this was possible. Technically, he should also be able to jump super high while he's like this, right? It doesn't decrease his physical strength, does it? I wonder what other awesome abilities Feruchemy allows him access to. Feruchemy totally blows Allomancy out of the water, in my opinion. Even if it's not quite as useful for combat, it completely makes up for it by it's usefulness for everyday activities. Did I ever say that I'd want to be a Thug if I was in this world? Well, I changed my mind. Feruchemy all the way!
    Well, now that that's out of the way, let's get back to the story. Once Marsh and Sazed reach the bottom of the chamber, they notice that there are shackles discarded around the fort. The Inquisitors must have had slaves, and Sazed wonders if they ran from the place or something. Come on, Sazed, don't be naive. I think we all know what actually happened to those servants--these are Inquisitors we're talking about here.
    They approach a dark hallway. Sazed can't use feruchemy to see in the dark, so Marsh fetches a lantern for him. They then enter the darkness together. Sazed begins audibly describing everything he lays his eyes on. When Marsh asks him what in God's name he's doing, Sazed explains that he has to store this into his copper mind, and speaking helps him to record the information more accurately. Well, that explains why he has to do it, but it doesn't change the fact that it creeps me the heck out.
    From the hallway, they enter a room filled with corpses. Well, I guess this explains what happened to all the slaves. They were massacred every one of them. They were completely helpless, but the Insuisitors killed them all anyway. I just don't get it. Why is it that all of these sick bastards seem to take so much pleasure in causing pain and suffering? Does the transformation process do this to them? If that's the case, does that mean Marsh has the same...desires as the rest of them, and he just holds it in? That would explain the changes in his personality.
    There are two stairways in the room, one leading up, and the other down. Marsh tells Sazed not to follow him, and goes up the stairs, which apparently lead to the Inquisitor's chambers. He says he doesn't mind Sazed seeing the Inquisitor atrocities, but he just doesn't want to be with him when he does...what does this mean? Does this mean there's even worse crap going on up those steps? Sazed complies, and goes on to describe the slaughter that took place in the room. Once hes done recording all the minute details about the room, Sazed notices the second stairway. This one leading lower into the fortress. I'm sure he's heard the saying, "curiosity killed the cat", but he's a Terrisman, so that saying apparently doesn't apply to him. He walks down the steps.
    Once down the steps, he finds several rooms, including a room covered in blood. All of the descriptions here are spoken aloud by Sazed, giving the whole thing an eerie sort of "first person" feel. He enters the room, describing everything he sees, and finds several silver spikes lying around--all bloody. Could this be where new inquisitors were made? My God, what in the name of all that is holy does the process of becoming an Inquisitor entail? I'm actually a little bit curious. Can they even make new ones without the Lord Ruler, though?
    After inspecting one of the--less bloodied--spikes, Sazed notices another doorway at the end of the room. This one, like all the others, has no door. His curiosity hasn't gotten him in any trouble so far, so he just walks right in. Inside the doorway, he finds a wall containing a slab of metal with some text written on it. It's not just any text, though, this is written in the Terris language. Sazed immediately begins to read it.
    The writing is by Kwaam, he was apparently a Terris Philosopher(Sazed describes him as a holy man). This must be what those excerpts at the end of every chapter are from. It is engraved in steel because, "anything not written in metal cannot be trusted",--a belief of the Terris religion, perhaps? Kwaam felt that he was the only person in the world who was still sane, he said that, even though he was the one who proclaimed the man in the first place, Alendi had to be stopped from completing his quest. Hmm, he keeps talking about this betrayal. Is it possible that Rashek was not working alone when he murdered Alendi? What if it was actually Kwaam who told him to do it? That would explain his previously inexplicable hatred of Alendi, and why he would risk dooming the world by slaying the Hero of Ages prematurely. He must have been truly positive that Alendi was NOT the hero, and that him gaining access to the power at the well would be even worse than allowing the deepness to continue ravaging the land. Who would be able to convince him of such a thing other than a holy Terris Philosopher? What if Kwaam was behind everything?
    Sazed is super excited about this new discovery, but he hardly even gets the chance to read the introduction before Marsh shows up. Marsh says the Inquisitor quarters were completely empty, that this whole trip was a complete waste, and that they need to get out ASAP. Sazed disagrees, and tells Marsh about the inscriptions he just found. Marsh says they have no time for him to write it all down--why is he in such a hurry to get out if he didn't find anything?--, so Sazed quickly takes a rubbing of the text. This new discovery gives Sazed a perfect excuse to leave his work with the Skaa and go back to Luthadel.
    End of Chapter 12
    At the end of the Chapter, Kwaam states that he wishes he had listened to the "Worldbringers" when they didn't accept Alendi as the Hero. What could Alendi do that was so terrible, and what suddenly made Kwaam so positive that he wasn't the Hero of Ages? Did a savage from the grassy steppe tell him that the man was actually a being bred for the art of deception from birth, and that everything he says--even if it seems true-- is a lie used to ensnare and enslave?
    I guess I'll just have to RAFO.
  25. Child Bahkbar
    I've just now noticed that, unlike in the Wheel of Time, the chapters are unnamed.
    Part 1
    Chapter 8
    Vin is flying around in the mists like she does every night. The only difference is that Oreseur's with her this time, and she's deliberately trying to make it difficult for him to keep up time. Thanks in part to his new canine senses, the kandra able to follow her with very little difficulty.
    I'm still not entirely clear on what exactly Vin does when she's out here. Does she just run around the city looking for suspicious behavior? If that's the whole purpose of these nighttime adventures, then she definitely shouldn't be disappointed tonight. The most suspicious man in all of Luthadel, the Watcher, makes an appearance. When she notices him, Vin tosses off the belt containing her extra metals and runs off after him--I get the feeling this might come back to bite her.
    Vin chases the watcher to the fountain in the middle of the city, where they (almost) clash blades. He's good. Really good, actually. If he seriously wanted to kill her, I'm not sure if she'd be able to fend him off. The Watcher flees and hides in some abandoned building the first chance he gets, using copper to mask his allomancy--bloody craven. Vin can still tell where he is, of course, but she can't attack him now because she doesn't want to give away her copper-piercing ability. So, what does she do? Well, she burns duralumin, of course. Burning this almost completely untested and possibly dangerous metal will surely lure this sneaky bastard out of his hiding place.
    The duralumin does affect the burning of other metals after all. It drastically amplifies her allomantic abilities, but also burns her metals incredibly quickly. In just a few seconds, her Pewter, tin, and brass reserves are completely exhausted, and she's left stunned on the ground from the ultra sensitive senses her "duralumined" tin gave her. She's completely defenseless now! If the Watcher or Oreseur really wanted her dead, this would have been the perfect opportunity to take her out. Fortunately for her, though, neither of them do. When Oreseur catches up, he gives her the belt containing her allomantic potions instead of a knife in the back, but while Vin's attention is on Oreseur, the Watcher leaves his hiding place and manages to sneak up on her. I suppose Vin's brilliant plan worked after all, Burning the duralumin did lure him out. Instead of putting her in the ground, though, he just stands there watching her. Vin asks him who the hell he is, and he replies that he's "an enemy". He also claims that he assisted her against the assassins because he is quite mad. That makes sense to me. I imagine most stalkers aren't quite right in the head, anyway.
    After making sure she's perfectly alright, the Watcher drops a coin and leaps off into the night, and Vin just lets him go. She got really freaking lucky tonight. If she'd been up against another, more sane, allomancer, she would be dead right now.
    Vin tells Oreseur she's going to have to make a harness for him to store her metals in. He says that won't be necessary, and makes a flesh-compartment to keep the vials in his shoulder instead. That's...cool, I guess. Gross, but cool.
    Once again, he has proven himself to be a quite adept servant. He apparently lives only to serve, so why does Vin still disdain him so much?
    End of Chapter 8
    It's revealed in the post-chapter journal entry that Alendi was just a wee lad when Kwaam first met him, so they must have known each other for a while before he came to the conclusion that Alendi was the Hero. They must have grown quite close during this time. I imagine it was no easy thing for him to betray the man after such a long friendship.
    Chapter 9
    This one's another Sazed chapter, and he's still traveling with Marsh to the Inquisitor stronghold. Marsh tells him that he should go back to Luthadel once they're done with the conventical. That something very important is going to take place there. Something that will never, ever be forgotten...
    How the heck does he know this? Did the "inquisitorization" process somehow give him prophetic abilities, or is there something else going on here? Now that I think about it, we don't even know what Marsh has been up to for the past year. Who knows what discoveries he might've made during that time.
    Sazed reluctantly agrees to go to Luthadel, and the chapter ends.
    I'm starting to see a pattern with Sazed's chapters so far. They're all really short. Especially this one. Hopefully they'll arrive at the Conventical in the next chapter, and it'll be at least 5 times as long as this one.
    Kwaam's notes at the end of the chapter say that Alendi towered over everyone else, and that something about him demanded respect. Probably that Terrisman blood he had running through his veins.
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