Vin

Vin
by Reiyeka
Family Spouse Elend Venture Parents Tevidian Tekiel, mother Siblings Reen, sister
Born	1005 FE
Died	1025 FE
Abilities	Mistborn, Shard
Titles	Heir to the Survivor, Ascendant Warrior
Aliases	Valette Renoux
Groups	Camon's crew (former) Kelsier's crew (former) House Venture
Birthplace	Luthadel
Ethnicity	Skaa
Homeworld	Scadrial

Vin is a half-skaa Mistborn from the Final Empire on Scadrial. She later becomes known as Heir to the Survivor and the Ascendant Warrior, as well as taking on the alias Valette Renoux. She was born to Tevidian Tekiel's skaa mistress in year 1005 FE in Luthadel, raised by her half brother Reen after he discovered that their sister had been murdered by their mother. The two lived on the streets and worked in the underground, until eventually coming to work in Camon's crew.

Vin trains in and works with Kelsier's crew after he prevents Camon from beating her to death, infiltrating the nobility under the guise of Valette Renoux, eventually helping to save the survivors of the skaa rebellion's army and killing Shan Elariel before fighting the Lord Ruler and killing him. After the Collapse, she marries Elend Venture and sets him up as emperor during the Siege of Luthadel, wherein she killed Zane and Straff Venture, saved the city from rampaging koloss and forcing Lord Cett to swear his allegiance to them. In the aftermath of the siege, she inadvertently frees Ruin from it's prison at the Well of Ascension.

Following Ruin's release, Vin helps to secure her and Elend's empire; locating the Lord Ruler's storage caverns, participating in the Siege of Fadrex City, and takes up the Shard Preservation shortly prior to the Battle of Hathsin, wherein she gives her life to kill Ruin. In the years following the Final Ascension, she becomes a mythical figure to the descendants of the survivors, known as the Ascendant Warrior.

Appearance and Personality

Due to a life spent on the streets and in the skaa underground as an urchin, Vin is relatively small and thinks of herself as scrawny.

She is naturally suspicious of others due to the circumstances of her upbringing, and slow to trust people. She initially tends to attempt to make herself seem irrelevant or hide when she is uncomfortable or anxious, and prefers solitude to the company of others.

History

Early Life

Childhood

Vin was born of Tevidian Tekiel, lord prelan of the Steel Ministry to a skaa prostitute, as well as an unnamed infant sister. They also had an older half brother on their mother's side, Reen. Vin and her sister inherited Allomantic powers from their father, the latter being born a Seeker. Her mother was insane and was driven by Ruin to kill Vin's baby sister with a metal pin that became a Hemalurgic spike, which the mother then pierced the infant Vin's ear with, giving Ruin access to her mind and influence her. Because of the earring's Hemalurgy, Ruin was able to use Vin as an unwitting pawn and get himself released from the Well of Ascension. Vin's Bronze Seeking ability became twice as strong as other Mistborn or Seekers, enabling her to pierce Allomantic copperclouds and locate the hidden Well of Ascension.

Her half-brother Reen saved Vin from her mother and after the death of her mother and sister, she lived on the road with him. Reen's attempts to strengthen her and teach her to survive the skaa underground were abusive, but successful in instilling the lessons she apparently needed to survive and work the thieving crews in Luthadel until he apparently deserted her. As she later discovers, however, Reen never betrayed her, and was captured by Inquisitors and tortured. Despite this, he never gave her up, swearing that she had died.

The Skaa Rebellion

Camon's Crew

Vin continues to work the thieving crews until Camon's crew finishes their latest scam; against the Canton of Finance. Though the crew seem to pull of the scam and get the three thousand boxings without a hitch, unbeknownst to them, Vin's Allomancy alerts the obligators to her abilities, and a Steel Inquisitor is put on Vin's trail. Kelsier notices this as he is following Vin and Camon, and steps in to distract the Inquisitor, making them lose Vin's trail for the time being. During her time working in the crew, Vin grew to somewhat trust Ulef, another member of the crew. Though she did not think of him as a friend, believing that friendship was a gateway to betrayal, he is the closest thing to a friend she has at the time. As Vin gets a foreboding feeling and prepares to leave the crew's lair, she tells Ulef that she's leaving, and asks him to join her. However, Ulef betrays her to Camon, who is at the time drunk and believes that Vin planned to sell him out to the Steel Ministry. Camon flies into a drunken rage, intending to beat her to death, before Kelsier enters the lair and intervenes, saving Vin's life. Kelsier has Milev replace Camon, and has the latter put out on the streets.

Kelsier's Crew

Vin joins Kelsier's crew and begins her Mistborn training with him. While he teaches her the basics, it is decided that she would benefit more from learning from each of the crew's mistings; Breeze, Ham and Marsh, all of whom are masters of their own abilities, and are thus better suited to instruct her in their respective metals. Spook also teaches her a little bit about using tin, while Kelsier goes on to instruct her in iron and steel.

In her first practical lesson with Kelsier, they venture outside the city walls and are picked up in a carriage by Sazed, who takes them to Fellise, where Vin is tutored by him as it is decided that she will infiltrate the noble court on their behalf.

The House War

Vin spies on the noble houses by disguising herself as a noble, Valette Renoux, an identity created as a cover, who was a distant cousin of Lord Renoux, and became aquainted with Elend Venture, the heir to House Venture. She discovered her father's identity and killed Shan Elariel, who was going to kill Elend.

In her time spying, she participated in a raid on the Lord Ruler's palace, Kredik Shaw, where she obtained Alendi's journal, and was mortally injured by Steel Inquisitors before being rescued and administered to by Sazed.

Death of the Lord Ruler

She was imprisoned in Kredik Shaw after Kelsier's death at the hands of the Lord Ruler, and was forced to burn aluminum to destroy her metals. She was taken to be questioned by the Lord Ruler, and has her earring ripped out while battling him, allowing the mists to invest their power in her, restoring all her Allomantic abilities. Vin killed him by pulling out his metalminds and fatally stabbing him.

The Siege of Luthadel

After the fall of the Final Empire, she helped Elend establish his ideas for fair and free governance. Whilst the Siege of Luthadel progressed, she practiced her Allomancy, courted Zane, discovered duralumin, befriended the kandra TenSoon, and successfully intimidated the two besiegers: Straff Venture and Ashweather Cett.

Attack on Keep Hasting

She forces Cett to withdraw from the city after a brutal, all out attack with Zane on his appropriated keep in the city, where she slaughters three hundred of his soldiers in minutes.

The Battle of Luthadel

Eventually she and Elend are convinced to escape, and head towards the Terris Dominance in hope of finding the Well of Ascension. At this point, the koloss army attacks Luthadel. Vin realises that the Well is located under Kredik Shaw, and returns to find the Battle of Luthadel under way. She utilises a duralumin-enhanced steel jump to kill Straff Venture via bisection with a koloss sword, and stops the koloss attack by controlling them through emotional Allomancy.

The Well of Ascension

She found the Well and refused to take power for herself, believing it to be the correct choice, thus releasing Ruin from his prison. The mist spirit hoped she would use the power to save Elend's life. Instead, it showed her the last lerasium bead at the Well in order to let her save him, which turned him into a full Mistborn.

The New Empire

Vin travelled with Elend and helped conquer bands of marauding koloss under control of the Inquisitors and Ruin. They searched for the atium cache and the storage caverns, discovering more about the history of the world. They also read about the metal electrum, which helped to protect them from atium attacks.

The Siege of Fadrex

They besieged Fadrex City, in hope of locating the atium, and the last of the Lord Ruler's plates. Instead Vin was captured and imprisoned by Aradan Yomen. While imprisoned, Vin was visited by an apparition of Reen, who was later revealed to be Ruin. After learning about Ruin, she fought Marsh, and escaped back to Luthadel where she fought the other Inquisitors and destroyed the palace in a mist-powered push, finally able to use the mists after her earring was removed, which was acting as a Hemalurgic spike.

The Battle of Hathsin & The Final Ascension

When Vin absorbed the mists in the fight against the Inquisitors her body was eventually vaporised by the power and she took up the Shard Preservation and attempted to right the world in similar ways to the inexperienced Rashek, and failed in the same way, and also due to Ruin's interference. She watched the final fight between Elend and Marsh, fueling Elend's allomancy with mist-power. After Elend's death she succeeded in killing both herself and Ati, leaving both Shards to be taken by Sazed.

In his letter to Spook, Sazed revealed that he had spoken with Vin and she was happy where she was, Sazed also tried to bring her back to life but revealed that merely healing a body didn't return souls.

Quotes

“Anonymity. Hiding, even when you’re with others. Being quiet, unobtrusive. Forcing yourself to stay apart—emotionally, at least. It’s a way of life. A protection.”

—Vin to TenSoon

“I’m particularly tired, [...] I’m tired of the games. I’m tired of people dying because of arguments between their leaders. I’m tired of good men being taken advantage of.”

—Vin to Lord Penrod

“You brought armies to attack my city. You threatened my people. I won’t slaughter your soldiers, make them pay for what you did, but I will kill you, Cett.”

—Vin to Lord Cett