Pits of Hathsin
| Pits of Hathsin | |
|---|---|
| |
| Related to | Ruin |
| Use | Produce atium, Realmatic Transition |
| Region | Central Dominance |
| World | Scadrial |
| Universe | Cosmere |
The Pits of Hathsin are a system of caves near Luthadel on Scadrial at the time of the Final Empire in which atium geodes grow.
Geography
The Pits are known to the people of the Final Empire only as a deadly skaa labor camp the Lord Ruler set up, but it actually also produces atium crystals. It serves the dual purpose of punishing skaa criminals and concealing the location of the atium mines, as the prisoners cannot leave. During the events of the Final Empire, the Pits of Hathsin are the only known place where atium can be mined. Imprisoned skaa are required to climb down a suffocatingly narrow gorge and reach into crystal-lined niches to find the geodes that contain the atium. Each skaa has to find an atium geode every week; if they fail, they are savagely beaten to death.[1]
The Pits are also the location of a Perpendicularity that is the liquid form of Ruin, as the Well of Ascension is to Preservation.[2] The Pits of Hathsin were used for interplanetary trade by worldhoppers, which Rashek was aware of.[3]
History
Kelsier is the first known person to survive imprisonment in the Pits. This feat gains him the title, "The Survivor of Hathsin". He is forced into labor there along with his wife Mare as punishment for attempting to infiltrate and rob the Lord Ruler's palace, Kredik Shaw. After Mare dies in the Pits, Kelsier Snaps and escapes using his newfound abilities as a Mistborn.[4]
Several days before the fall of the Final Empire, Kelsier returns to the Pits. There, he sets free the enslaved skaa prisoners and proceeds to destroy the majority of Hathsin's atium-producing crystals using allomancy. His iron is enough to detect trace amounts of atium in the crystals, and Pulling on them shatters the crystals with kinetic force. Afterwards, he remarks that his actions will likely end atium production in the Final Empire for the next three hundred years, as the crystals will need time to regrow before any more atium can be mined.[5][6]
After the Collapse of the Final Empire and the end of the atium mining, the Pits in the Central Dominance become the new home of the Terris people, as the remaining infrastructure from the old mining camp have buildings, shelters, and most importantly, fresh water along with farm crops of resilient hardy plants adapted to ash that need little water. Once settled, the Terris people improve the valley, building more structures, brushing ash from the plant foliage to provide grazing for the adapted short-legged sheep that roamed the hills, and returning to their heritage of herding, before the Lord Ruler's Ascension. The Terris people's lives become easier than most on Scadrial, living in pastoral villages that replace the once brutal prison camps.
After the events of the Final Ascension, atium is no longer formed within the crystals of the Pits; the atium may or may not regrow in the future.[7] The atium does not grow at Wax's time.[8] However, it is possible that Harmony is doing something to reduce Ruin's power to balance out the extra power that Preservation Invested in humankind.[9] By this time, the Pits are also sometimes known as the Survivor's Cradle for its role in Kelsier's Snapping.[10]
Notes
- ↑ The Final Empire chapter 21#
- ↑ Ancient 17S Q&A
— Arcanum - 2010-05-01# - ↑ General Signed Books 2018
— Arcanum - 2018-02-12# - ↑ The Final Empire chapter 4#
- ↑ The Final Empire chapter 32#
- ↑ The Final Empire chapter 33#
- ↑ Hero of Ages Q&A - Time Waster's Guide
— Arcanum - 2008-10-15# - ↑ Shadows of Self chapter 21#
- ↑ 17th Shard Forum Q&A
— Arcanum - 2012-09-26# - ↑ The Lost Metal chapter 3#