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<noinclude>{{literature
|type=Message
|author=[[Kwaan]]
|era=Classical Scadrial
|language=[[Terris]] (old dialect)
|world=Scadrial
|universe=[[Cosmere]]
|books=[[Mistborn Era 1]]
}}
'''Kwaan's inscription''' is a message written in [[steel]] by [[Kwaan]], warning about [[Ruin]]'s corruption of the [[Terris prophecies]] and denouncing [[Alendi]].
== Full Text ==
|-
|{{copyright}}
The full text of Kwaan's inscription was found by Sazed in the Conventical of Seran. The full, uncorrected inscription is revealed in ''[[The Well of Ascension]]'' [[The Well of Ascension/Epigraphs|epigraphs]]. Expand on the right to display the full text of Kwaan's inscription:
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|
{{quote|</noinclude>
I write these words in steel, for anything not set in metal cannot be trusted. I have begun to wonder if I am the only sane man remaining. Can the others not see? They have been waiting so long for their hero to come— the one spoken of in Terris prophecies— that they quickly jump between conclusions, presuming that each story and legend applies to this one man. My brethren ignore the other facts. They cannot connect the other strange things that are happening. They are deaf to my objections and blind to my discoveries. Perhaps they are right. Perhaps I am mad, or jealous, or simply daft. My name is Kwaan. Philosopher, scholar, traitor. I am the one who discovered Alendi, and I am the one who first proclaimed him to be the Hero of Ages. I am the one who started this all. And I am the one who betrayed him, for I now know that he must never be allowed to complete his quest.
<br />
I write this record now, pounding it into a metal slab, because I am afraid. Afraid for myself, yes—I admit to being human. If Alendi does return from the Well of Ascension, I am certain that my death will be one of his first objectives. He is not an evil man, but he is a ruthless one. That is, I think, a product of what he has been through.
<br />
I am also afraid, however, that all I have known—that my story—will be forgotten. I am afraid for the world that is to come. Afraid that my plans will fail.
<br />
Afraid of a doom worse, even, than the Deepness.
<br />
It all comes back to poor Alendi. I feel bad for him, and for all the things he has been forced to endure. For what he has been forced to become.
<br />
But, let me begin at the beginning. I met Alendi first in Khlennium; he was a young lad then, and had not yet been warped by a decade spent leading armies. Alendi's height struck me the first time I saw him. Here was a man who towered over others, a man who—despite his youth and his humble clothing—demanded respect. Oddly, it was Alendi's simple ingenuousness that first led me to befriend him. I employed him as an assistant during his first months in the grand city. It wasn't until years later that I became convinced that Alendi was the Hero of Ages. Hero of Ages: the one called Rabzeen in Khlennium, the Anamnesor.
<br />
Savior.
<br />
When I finally had the realization—finally connected all of the signs of the Anticipation to Alendi—I was so excited. Yet, when I announced my discovery to the other Worldbringers, I was met with scorn.
<br />
Oh, how I wish that I had listened to them.
<br />
And yet, any who know me will realize that there was no chance I would give up so easily. Once I find something to investigate, I become dogged in my pursuit. I had determined that Alendi was the Hero of Ages, and I intended to prove it. I should have bowed before the will of the others; I shouldn't have insisted on traveling with Alendi to witness his journeys.
<br />
It was inevitable that Alendi himself would find out what I believed him to be.
<br />
Yes, he was the one who fueled the rumors after that. I could never have done what he himself did, convincing and persuading the world that he was indeed the Hero. I don't know if he himself believed it, but he made others think that he must be the one.
<br />
If only the Terris religion, and belief in the Anticipation, hadn't spread beyond our people. If only the Deepness hadn't come when it did, providing a threat that drove men to desperation both in action and belief. If only I had passed over Alendi when looking for an assistant, all those years ago.
<br />
It wasn't until a few years later that I began to notice the signs. I knew the prophecies—I am a Terris Worldbringer, after all. And yet, not all of us are religious men; some, such as myself, are more interested in other topics. However, during my time with Alendi, I could not help but become more interested in the Anticipation. He seemed to fit the signs so well.
<br />
He was born of a humble family, yet married the daughter of a king. He could trade words with the finest of philosophers, and had an impressive memory. Nearly as good, even, as my own. Yet, he was not argumentative. The Terris rejected him, but he came to lead them. He commanded kings, and though he sought no empire, he became greater than all who had come before. He fathered no children, yet all of the land became his progeny. He was forced into war by a misunderstanding—and always claimed he was no warrior—yet he came to fight as well as any man. He was no simple soldier. He was a force of leadership—a man that fate itself seemed to support. He left ruin in his wake, but it was forgotten. He created kingdoms, and then destroyed them as he made the world anew.
<br />
There were other proofs to connect Alendi to the Hero of Ages. Smaller things, things that only one trained in the lore of the Anticipation would have noticed. The birthmark on his arm. The way his hair turned gray when he was barely twenty and five years of age. The way he spoke, the way he treated people, the way he ruled.
<br />
He simply seemed to fit.
<br />
But, I must continue with the sparsest of detail. Space is limited. The other Worldbringers must have thought themselves humble when they came to me, admitting that they had been wrong. Even then, I was beginning to doubt my original declaration.
<br />
But, I was prideful. In the end, my pride may have doomed us all.
<br />
I had never received much attention from my brethren; they thought that my work and my interests were unsuitable to a Worldbringer. The couldn't see how my work, studying nature instead of religion, benefited the people of the fourteen lands. As the one who found Alendi, however, I became someone important. Foremost among the Worldbringers. There was a place for me, in the lore of the Anticipation—I thought myself the Announcer, the prophet foretold to discover the Hero of Ages. Renouncing Alendi then would have been to renounce my new position, my acceptance, by the others.
<br />
And so I did not.
<br />
But I do so now. Let it be known that I, Kwaan, Worldbringer of Terris, am a fraud. Alendi was never the Hero of Ages. At best, I have amplified his virtues, creating a Hero where there was none. At worst, I fear that all we believe may have been corrupted.
<br />
And so I come to the focus of my argument. I apologize. Even forcing my words into steel, sitting and scratching in this frozen cave, I am prone to ramble.
|}
== Ruin's Corruption ==
Ruin altered specific portions of Sazed's copies of Kwaan's inscription in order to misdirect Vin into releasing him from his prison.
{| class=infobox width=100%
|- class=title
! width=10% | Version !! Text
|-
! Original Text
| "I am afraid, however, that all I have known - that my story - will be forgotten. I am afraid for the world that is to come. Afraid that '''my plans''' will fail. Afraid of a doom '''worse than''' the Deepness." {{epigraph ref|mb2|7}}
|-
! rowspan=2 | Corrupted Text
|"I am afraid, however, that all I have known - that my story - will be forgotten. I am afraid for the world that is to come. Afraid that '''Alendi''' will fail. Afraid of a doom '''brought by''' the Deepness." {{book ref|mb2|30}}
|-
|"I am also afraid, however, that all I have known - that my story - will be forgotten. I am afraid for the world that may come. Afraid '''because my plans failed'''. Afraid of a doom '''brought by''' the Deepness." {{book ref|mb2|41}}
|-
|}
Here Ruin obscures the revelation that Kwaan is concerned about a threat greater than the Deepness--Ruin himself.
{| class=infobox width=100%
|- class=title
! width=10% | Version !! Text
|-
!Original Text
|"Alendi's height struck me the first time I saw him. Here was a man who '''towered over others''', a man who''' - despite his youth and clothing - '''demanded respect." {{epigraph ref|mb2|10}}
|-
!Corrupted Text
|"Alendi's height struck me the first time I saw him. Here was a man who '''was small of stature, but who seemed to tower over others''', a man who demanded respect." {{book ref|mb2|30}}
|-
|}
Here Kwaan describes Alendi's physical appearance as it pertains to the prophecies of the Hero of Ages. Ruin's changes allow for the misinterpretation that Kwaan was mistaken and Vin is the prophesied hero.
{| class=infobox width=100%
|- class=title
! width=10% | Version !! Text
|-
! Original Text
| "When I finally had the realization - finally connected all of the signs of the Anticipation to '''Alendi''' - I was so excited." {{epigraph ref|mb2|13}}
|-
! Corrupted Text
| "When I finally had the realization - finally connected all of the signs of the Anticipation to '''him''' - I was so excited." {{book ref|mb2|30}}
|-
|}
Ruin replaces "Alendi" with a gender neutral pronoun (translated here to "him") in order to encourage the idea that the prophesied hero isn't necessarily male.
{| class=infobox width=100%
|- class=title
! width=10% | Version !! Text
|-
! Original Text
| "If only the Deepness hadn't come '''when it did''', providing a threat that drove men to desperation both in action and belief." {{epigraph ref|mb2|18}}
|-
! Corrupted Text
| "If only the Deepness hadn't come, providing a threat that drove men to desperation both in action and belief." {{book ref|mb2|30}}
|-
|}
Ruin removes the phrase "when it did," emphasizing the threat of the Deepness.
{| class=infobox width=100%
|- class=title
! width=10% | Version !! Text
|-
! Original Text
| "There was a place for me, in the lore of the Anticipation—I thought myself the '''Announcer''', the prophet foretold to discover the Hero of Ages." {{epigraph ref|mb2|34}}
|-
! Corrupted Text
| "There was a place for me, in the lore of the Anticipation—I thought myself the '''Holy First Witness''', the prophet foretold to discover the Hero of Ages." {{book ref|mb2|57}}
|-
|}
Here, Ruin replaces the title Kwaan earned among the [[Worldbringers]] with the title that the [[Church of the Survivor]] chose for Sazed himself, to encourage Sazed to believe the prophecies, and to think himself and Vin part of them.
{| class=infobox width=100%
|- class=title
! width=10% | Version !! Text
|-
! Original Text
| "Alendi was never the Hero of Ages. At best, I have amplified his virtues, creating a Hero where there was none. At worst, I fear that '''all we believe may have been corrupted'''." {{epigraph ref|mb2|36}}
|-
! Corrupted Text
| "Alendi was never the Hero of Ages. At best, I have amplified his virtues, creating a Hero where there was none. At worst, I fear that '''I have corrupted all we believe'''." {{book ref|mb2|57}}
|-
|}
Here, Ruin erases a reference to Kwaan's realization that the prophecies have been edited, rewording the phrase to suggest that Kwaan blames himself entirely for Alendi's rise to power.
{| class=infobox width=100%
|- class=title
! width=10% | Version !! Text
|-
! Original Text
| "I '''have no''' doubt that if Alendi reaches the Well of Ascension, he will take the power and then - in the name of the presumed greater good - give it up." {{epigraph ref|mb2|50}}
|-
! Corrupted Text
| "I doubt that if Alendi reaches the Well of Ascension, he will take the power and then - in the name of the greater good - give it up." {{book ref|mb2|41}}
|-
|}
Ruin obscures Kwaan's realization that giving up the power of the Well would do more harm than good.
{| class=infobox width=100%
|- class=title
! width=10% | Version !! Text
|-
! Original Text
| "Rashek is to try and lead Alendi in the wrong direction, to discourage him or otherwise foil his quest. Alendi won't know that he has been deceived, '''that we've all been deceived, and he won't listen to me'''." {{epigraph ref|mb2|55}}<!--epilogue adds "dissuade him" before "discourage him"-->
|-
! Corrupted Text
| "Rashek is to try and lead Alendi in the wrong direction, to discourage him or otherwise foil his quest. Alendi won't know that he has been deceived." {{book ref|mb2|41}}
|-
|}
Here Ruin directly removes a portion of the text to hide the realization of some greater deception that is occurring.
{| class=infobox width=100%
|- class=title
! width=10% | Version !! Text
|-
! Original Text
| "If Rashek fails to lead Alendi astray, then I have instructed the lad to kill '''Alendi'''." {{epigraph ref|mb2|56}}<!--epilogue says "lead the trek astray" instead-->
|-
! Corrupted Text
| "If Rashek fails to lead Alendi astray, then I have instructed the lad to kill '''my former friend'''." {{book ref|mb2|41}}
|-
|}
This change leads Sazed and [[Tindwyl]] to be confused about Kwaan's insistence that Alendi cannot be trusted. Sazed assumes that it emphasizes the greatness of the threat posed by the Deepness.
{| class=infobox width=100%
|- class=title
! width=10% | Version !! Text
|-
! Original Text
| "Alendi must not reach the Well of Ascension''', for he must not be allowed to release the thing that is imprisoned there'''." {{epigraph ref|mb2|59}}
|-
! Corrupted Text
| "Alendi must not reach the Well of Ascension'''. He must not take the power for himself'''." {{book ref|mb2|41}}
|-
|}
With this change, Ruin both hides Kwaan's limited knowledge of his existence and tricks Sazed and Vin into believing that the power at the Well of Ascension must be released.
== Notes ==
<references />
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{{Mistborn|
[[Category: Objects and Materials]]
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