Editing Vin's earring

|type=Jewelry

|function=[[Hemalurgy|Hemalurgic]] spike <small>([[Allomancy|Allomantic]] [[bronze#Allomantic Use|bronze]])</small>{{epigraph ref|mb3|73}}

|creators=[[Vin's mother]], [[Vin's sister]]

|owner=Vin

|universe=[[Cosmere]]

|books=[[Mistborn Era 1]]

{{quote

|Reen said that he came home one day and found my mother covered in blood. She'd killed my baby sister. Messily. Me, however, she hadn’t touched&mdash;except to give me an earring.

|[[Vin]] explaining how she got the earring to [[Marsh]]{{book ref|mb1|20}}

}}

'''Vin's earring''' is a simple piece, a small, silver-plated bronze stud.{{book ref|mb3|54}}{{article ref|Hemalurgy|post=&nbsp;- The earring has a Hemalurgic charge of Allomantic bronze, and [[bronze#Hemalurgic Use|bronze]] is the metal that steals mental Allomancy}} [[Vin]] wears it from [[Vin's sister|her sister's]] death until [[Marsh]] rips it out just prior to her Ascension.{{book ref|mb3|72}} It is also a [[Hemalurgy|Hemalurgic]] spike that enhances Vin's [[bronze#Allomantic Use|Allomantic bronze]].{{epigraph ref|mb3|73}}

== Hemalurgic properties ==

In the [[Words of Founding]], [[Sazed]] explained that [[Vin's sister]] was a [[bronze#Allomantic Use|Seeker]], that her death had turned the earring into a Hemalurgic spike, and that the earring was why Vin was able to pierce [[copper#Allomantic User|copperclouds]].{{epigraph ref|mb3|73}} He also noted that the foothold the earring gave Ruin in Vin's mind allowed him to subtly encourage her to continue wearing it.{{epigraph ref|mb3|75}} By the time she joined [[Kelsier's crew]], [[Preservation]] had nearly gotten her to stop wearing the earring. She put it in before starting her Allomantic training with Kelsier, however, and then continued to wear after he suggested she keep it as a back-up weapon.{{epigraph ref|mb3|epilogue}}{{book ref|mb1|8}} Sazed also wrote that her skill with Allomancy likely came from drawing in some of the [[mist]]s as a child, when she wasn't wearing the earring.{{epigraph ref|mb3|epilogue}}

== History ==

=== Gaining the earring ===

Vin does not remember when she got the earring, but [[Reen]] told her the story. [[Vin's mother|Their mother]] was [[wikipedia:schizophrenia|schizophrenic]], allowing [[Ruin]] to speak to her. Ruin made her love Vin but hate her sister,{{wob ref|8031}} leading her to kill Vin's sister with the earring, then put the earring in Vin's ear. Since Vin's sister was a [[bronze#Allomantic Use|Seeker]], this turned the earring into a Hemalurgic spike. When Reen returned home, he found Vin in her mother's lap, who was proclaiming Vin a queen, with the body of Vin's sister at her mother's feet. Reen then took Vin, and the two fled, leaving their mother behind.{{book ref|mb1|20}}{{book ref|mb2|44}}

=== Overthrowing the Final Empire ===

When Vin begins learning [[Allomancy]], she asks [[Kelsier]] if she will have to get rid of her earring, as Allomancers try to limit the amount of metal they carry on their persons. He tells her it is fine to keep it, as Allomancers cannot affect metal that pierces the skin and it could be a useful back-up weapon.{{book ref|mb1|8}} When training in the use of [[bronze#Allomantic Use|Allomantic bronze]] with Marsh, she tells him the story of how she got the earring.{{book ref|mb1|20}}

When Vin confronts the [[Rashek|Lord Ruler]] during the [[Collapse]], he rips the earring out of her ear with a [[Steel#Allomantic use|Steelpush]]. Vin then draws on the [[mist]]s to fuel her Allomancy, and is able to kill the Lord Ruler.{{book ref|mb1|38}} Vin recovers the earring after the fight is over.{{book ref|mb1|epilogue}}

=== Finding the Well of Ascension ===

After Vin attacked [[Ashweather Cett|Cett's]] forces in [[Luthadel]], she hid in [[Camon's safe house]], where [[TenSoon]] eventually found her. [[Elend Venture|Elend]] then came to comfort her, and she told him the story of how she got the earring.

When Vin takes the power of [[Preservation]] in [[The Well of Ascension]], her earring pains her. At the time, she does not realize that it is because her earring is a Hemalurgic spike reacting against Preservation's power, but instead assumes it is because the earring is made of metal. She then proceeds to remove all other sources of metal from her body.{{book ref|mb2|58}}

=== After Ruin's release ===

Once Ruin was free, he was able to use its nature as a Hemalurgic spike to speak with her directly.{{wob ref|5957}}

After [[Aradan Yomen]] captures Vin in [[Fadrex City]], he takes the earring, but then returns it to her in a controlled environment. He expressed surprise at the fact that it is made of [[bronze]] and silver, as other metals are far more useful in Allomancy, and was further surprised when Vin didn't attack after receiving the earring.{{book ref|mb3|54}}{{wob ref|5957}}

=== Ascension ===

When [[Marsh]] arrives in [[Fadrex City]], Vin used a [[duralumin#Allomantic Use|duralumin-enhanced]] [[steel#Allomantic Use|Steelpush]] on the earring, pushing it straight through his head.{{book ref|mb3|65}} When they again fought in [[Luthadel]], Marsh realized that earring was a Hemalurgic spike and managed to resist Ruin's control long enough to rip it from her ear. With the earring removed, Vin was at last able to draw upon the mists and defeat the [[Steel Inquisitor]]s who were attacking her, before Ascending as [[Preservation]].{{book ref|mb3|72}}{{book ref|mb3|73}}

* Vin wore the earring in her left ear.{{wob ref|11451}}

[[Category:Possessive articles]]