Kelsier

Kelsier
Family Spouse Mare Parents Mother Siblings Marsh
Born	c. 984 FE
Died	1022 FE
Abilities	Mistborn, Sliver
Titles	Survivor of Hathsin
Residence	[[Luthadel]][[Category:Residents of Luthadel]]
Ethnicity	Skaa
Homeworld	Scadrial

“There's always another secret”

—Kelsier's mantra

Kelsier is a half-skaa Mistborn from Scadrial. He is stern and intense but always smiling; another act of rebellion against the Lord Ruler's oppression. He hates injustice and takes this hatred to the extreme, which results in him being unable to see good in any of the nobility. His wife Mare collected pre-Ascension memorabilia, he keeps one piece, a flower, to inspire his crew. Kelsier is the younger brother of Marsh, who is disappointed at Kelsier's apparent lack of direction or purpose until Kelsier begins the skaa rebellion. He always keeps a smile on his face, believing that is the best way to fight.

Appearance and Personality

Kelsier is tall and hawk-faced and has light-blonde hair; he has a multitude of large scars crossing both arms from his time in the Pits. He usually wears a nobleman's suit (A colored vest with dark trousers and a coat) and for night time activities his mistcloak.

He is almost always late to any gatherings, which he attributes to always having somewhere better to be. He always smiles and projects an excited and positive attitude, which is particularly unusual in the skaa underground. He does this in order to fight the Lord Ruler's oppression of all the skaa, he wants to have one thing which cannot be taken away from him. He hates all of the nobility and tends to believe that all of them are to blame for the plight of the skaa, although near the end of his life this attitude changes due to Vin's insistence that Elend is different and that not all the nobles should be fought. He has an imposing presence and is a natural leader, easily taking charge and swaying even the downtrodden skaa of Luthadel into joining the rebellion with his charming personality.

History

Early Life

Born to a noble father and skaa mother, his mother kept both Kelsier and Marsh alive by pretending that she was a noble to their father so that their children would be considered merely illegitimate noblemen instead of half-breeds; however, their father eventually found out. Kelsier then made his living as a thief, becoming famous throughout Luthadel. However, after a failed attempt at stealing from the Lord Ruler himself in his secret room inside Kredik Shaw, he was sent to the atium mines in the Pits of Hathsin. There, the night of the death of his wife, he "Snapped", becoming a Mistborn. Using Allomancy he was able to escape the Pits. Kelsier was then trained by a mistborn named Gemmel and they travelled to the far north of the Western Dominance to a city called Mantiz where Kelsier heard rumours of the Eleventh metal from the skaa in Keep Shezler. Kelsier sought and eventually found the Eleventh metal as he believed it would help him to defeat the Lord Ruler.

The Skaa Rebellion

After discovering the Eleventh metal Kelsier travels back to Luthadel and takes a job from the skaa rebellion to bring down the final empire. After gathering a team of some of the best (and Kelsier believed, the kindest) thieves in the city, including skilled mistings, he sets in motion a plan to destroy the Final Empire and kill the Lord Ruler. After saving her and her former crew, he takes on Vin as a student after confirming his suspicions about her being a Mistborn and saving her from Camon. While pulling off the plan Kelsier himself takes on many roles, acting as a beacon to the repressed skaa he assists in recruitment, he attacks many Noblemen to increase the tensions between the Great Houses, he collects information by purchasing it from informants and also poses as an informant himself in order to provide misinformation to Noblemen. Though they suffer many setback, Kelsiers leadership allows the rebellion to attain an army of sufficient size to hold Luthadel.

Death

When several skaa from the rebellion are about to be executed, Kelsier attempts to save them. He is confronted by a Steel Inquisitor which he eventually manages to defeat. However, Kelsier is then confronted by the Lord Ruler, who stabs him in the chest with a spear, killing him. Kelsier later reveals in his letter to Vin that he had intended to use the Eleventh Metal to destroy the Lord Ruler but could not discover how to use it in his fight. His death results in the founding of the Church of the Survivor, who call him "Lord of the Mists". As a result of this Vin also becomes a major religious figure.

Appearances After Death

Kelsiers body is used by the Kandra OreSeur and later by TenSoon after his death to make appearances to and inspire his followers.

An apparition with Kelsier's features appears to Spook, giving him the ability to burn pewter, but this is later revealed to be Ruin, who is using Kelsier as a guise.

Kelsier 'looked after' Preservation between Leras's death and Vin's ascension.

“From the Well of Ascension, of course. It's the same power, after all. Solid in the metal you fed to Elend. Liquid in the pool you burned. And vapor in the air, confined to night. Hiding you. Protecting you.
Giving you power!”

—Kelsier speaks to Vin before she ascends?

After the Final Ascension Kelsier is with Harmony having not "gone towards the light" and is still hanging around causing trouble.

Attributes and Abilities

Allomancy

Kelsier is a Mistborn, and so he can burn every Allomantic metal, although he is particularly proficient with the external physical metals; iron and steel, he is capable of using them with a high degree of precision to control the momentum and rotation of dozens of pieces of metal simultaneously. He lacks finesse in the external mental abilities of zinc and brass as he tends to create large changes in emotional states as opposed to the more subtle Soothing abilities of Breeze. He is quite proficient at pewter dragging and has enough practice to maintain it for hours and still maintain a fair amount of clarity afterwards.

Quotes

“I decided that I’d see her dream fulfilled. I’d make a world where flowers returned, a world with green plants, a world where no soot fell from the sky...." He trailed off, then sighed. "I know. I’m insane.”

—Kelsier to Vin, after showing her the picture of a Marewill flower.

“If you’re always on time, it implies that you never have anything better you should be doing.”

—Kelsier to Dox on his constant tardiness.

“But you can't kill me, Lord Tyrant. I represent that one thing you've never been able to kill, no matter how hard you try. I am hope.”

—Kelsier to Lord Ruler, last words before death.