Editing Straff Venture

|image=House War - Straff Venture.png

|titles=King of the [[Northern Dominance]]

|family=[[House Venture]]

|spouse=[[Elend's mother|Wife]]

|children=[[Elend]], [[Zane]]

|first appeared=[[Mistborn: The Final Empire]]

'''Straff Venture''' is a [[noble]] on [[Scadrial]] during the [[Final Empire]]. He is the head of [[House Venture]], the most powerful great house of the high nobility. He is the father of [[Elend]] and [[Zane]].

Straff is a very skilled and experienced [[tin]] [[Misting]] (aka a [[Tineye]]), able to smell even an almost odorless poison in a aromatic tea. He is able to replicate [[Amaranta]]'s drug cocktail based on the smell of the ingredients. Unlike most other Allomancers, Straff doesn’t keep his abilities secret, in order to show off his superiority and fearlessness.{{book ref|mb1|19}}

{{image|House War - Siege of Luthadel - Straff Venture.jpg|side=left|width=150px|Straff during the [[Siege of Luthadel]]}}

He invited Elend over to his warcamp for a meeting, and the situation escalates until Straff sends his guards to kill Elend. However, Elend uses [[Vin]] to threaten Straff and manipulate Straff's emotions. Straff succumbs to his fear and lets Elend and Vin leave unharmed. After this encounter, Straff becomes terrified of Vin, commanding Zane to kill her.

One of his spurned mistress, [[Amaranta]], poisoned him with an addictive drug, [[Black Frayn]]. Working with Zane, she caused Straff to believe that Zane is poisoning him, while Amaranta "cures" him with the addictive drug. When Zane disappeared from Straff's camp, Amaranta attempted to kill Straff with a poison. Straff realizes her betrayal, and in a fit of rage, strangles Amaranta to death. Straff nearly died but survived with a random antidote he made himself.{{book ref|mb2|49}}{{book ref|mb2|53}}

== Relationships ==

=== Elend ===

[[Elend]] is Straff's only known legitimate child. Straff is constantly disappointed in Elend, and constantly belittles him. His abuse includes forcing Elend to sleep with a skaa prostitute when he was just thirteen, saying it was about time he became a man.{{book ref|mb1|23}} In the aftermath of the Lord Ruler's death, Straff flees from Luthadel, abandoning Elend to fend for himself.{{book ref|mb1|36}} Elend not only survives, but makes a deal with the rioting skaa, and reigns briefly as king of the Central Dominance.{{book ref|mb2|1}} Straff amasses his own force in his home dominance, and marches them to Luthadel to attempt to take the city from Elend, who he sees as weak.{{book ref|mb1|1}}

=== Zane ===

Straff's relationship with [[Zane]] is arguably even more strained. Straff bribes Zane with [[atium]] to keep him in line, since he fears what Zane might do to him in his insanity.{{book ref|mb2|18}} However, Straff is unaware that Zane has his own atium stash, and the two maintain an uneasy truce, while repeatedly trying to kill each other.{{book ref|mb2|18}}{{book ref|mb2|39}}{{book ref|mb2|49}}

=== Mistresses ===

Straff has many mistresses and sires many illegitimate children in an attempt to acquire more [[Allomancy|Mistborn]] and Mistings.{{book ref|mb2|49}} His attempts are successful, and though among his many children [[Zane]] is his only Mistborn,{{book ref|mb2|49}} his Misting children number around eighteen.{{book ref|mb2|39}}

Straff's proclivities regarding his mistresses are depraved, even for a Luthadel nobleman. He is fond of skaa brothels and goes to them regularly.{{book ref|mb2|26}} He describes [[Amaranta]], who is in her late twenties at the time, as having been quite attractive a decade before and says she is now too old to be attractive. He usually gets rid of his mistresses long before they reach her age.{{book ref|mb2|18}} He parades a mistress who bears a resemblance to Vin, who is perhaps fifteen years old before Elend and Vin, in an effort to induce a reaction and intimidate them with this display of casual cruelty.{{book ref|mb2|27}}

Several of these mistresses, including Amaranta, serve a purpose other than pleasure and attempting to have Allomantically gifted children. Amaranta acts as Straff’s chief herbalist, which is why he keeps her with him even after he no longer finds her attractive.

* Although Brandon does not speak German, he researched Germanic morphemes to come up with several character names on Scadrial. Straff's name sounds like a German word for punishment (''strafe''), but this is just a coincidence.{{wob ref|265}}

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|title=King of the [[Northern Dominance]]

|prev=''Title established''

|this={{date|1021|fe}} to {{date|1023|fe}}

|next=[[Janarle]]

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[[es:Straff Venture]]