Mistborn: The Final Empire

In this chapter’s epigraph, a thumping sound from a location far into the Terris mountains continues to draw the Hero of Ages closer to his destination, the Well of Ascension.

Vin attends a ball at Keep Hasting. Violence and tension between the noble houses have increased dramatically, and the nobility begin to plan for a House War. Vin has found a renowned gossip, Lady Kliss, to befriend for information. Shan Elariel demands that Vin report to her the substance of the books that Elend reads. However, Vin is distracted with worry that Elend is another nobleman that takes advantage of skaa women. She approaches him but begins crying, so the pair move to a private balcony to talk.

Elend confesses that his father forced him to sleep with a skaa woman when he was thirteen; she was executed afterward. Elend hates his father and the other noblemen who do such things. Vin is surprised that she believes him completely and comforts him. Vin begins to talk of the skaa, that they are no different from the nobility and are angry with their treatment. Speaking with Elend convinces Vin that she must stop Kelsier from executing all the nobility if their plan succeeds. Before leaving to meet with his friends, Elend gives Vin his handkerchief.

Vin uses Allomancy to sneak outside the Keep and find the room where Elend meets with his friends to eavesdrop. Elend and his friends are all heirs to their respective houses and debate the politics they wish to change when they assume power. Elend proposes including Vin in the meetings, but his friends object.

Kelsier surprises Vin and joins her at the window. He warns her against believing that Elend and his friends want to overthrow the empire; they merely debate philosophy. They leave to meet with the crew at Clubs’s shop. 

The crew, except for Yeden, meet at Clubs’s shop. The crew banters with each other; Vin reflects on how much she has come to care for these people and how much better her life is with a sense of family in it. She wishes Reen could have experienced such a feeling, too.

The next day, Vin dresses as a skaa and accompanies Ham to the Luthadel Garrison to learn more about burning pewter. She reflects how her skaa clothing is now another layer of disguise. Underneath her personas, Vin is unsure of who she is. Ham often spars with the skaa soldiers of the garrison and will instruct Vin in pewter burning through demonstration. He explains that the garrison soldiers are merely mercenaries that need to support their families. Unlike Kelsier, Ham believes that skaa soldiers are not evil for agreeing to work for the Lord Ruler. He himself has a secret family he hopes to move to a remote part of Scadrial when he can save enough money. Ham and the other crewmembers plan to confront Kelsier about his growing reputation, as all of them are uneasy about the “holy man” persona that Kelsier perpetuates among the skaa.

Ham is told that the garrison is preparing to leave the city to quell a sudden skaa rebellion at the city of Holstep, close to the caves where the soldiers trained. Ham and Vin are stunned and quickly return to Clubs’s shop to relay the news.

In this chapter’s epigraph, the Hero of Ages accepts that he must kill many men to unite the nations of Scadrial and defeat the Deepness; however, he wishes for a more peaceful solution.

The crew believes the location of Clubs’s shop to be secure. Ham will join the garrison as it leaves for Holstep to gather information but warns Kelsier that his loyalty is always with the men he is fighting alongside; he will not betray them. Kelsier packs water and pewter, then announces he will run the two-week journey to the caves to discover what really happened with their rebel soldiers. Vin will accompany him. With a constant supply of pewter, Kelsier and Vin run out of the city and into the countryside. Kelsier keeps them in constant motion; if Vin were to stop, her body’s sudden adjustment out of pewter-enhanced running could result in serious fatigue, if not death. They arrive the next day near Holstep and hear the sound of battle coming from the city. Kelsier leads them to the caves, where they find Captain Demoux and about two-thousand skaa soldiers. Demoux stayed behind after Yeden proposed attaching Holstep, more loyal to Kelsier’s plan than he was to Yeden’s leadership. Kelsier is distraught as he realizes that Yeden’s actions were inspired by his demonstration in the caves, in which he convinced the skaa that magic and miracles were on their side. Yeden died in battle.