Square of the Survivor
| Square of the Survivor | |
|---|---|
| City | Luthadel |
| World | Scadrial |
| Universe | Cosmere |
The Square of the Survivor,[1] formerly known simply as the Fountain Square,[2][fn 1] is a prominent location in Luthadel on Scadrial. The Lord Ruler used it to showcase executions in order to inspire fear in the skaa population.[2]
Description
The square is "enormous". It has a central patio raised five feet above the ground that contains four bowl-style fountains.[4]
Location
The square is located in central Luthadel, on the road from the Steel Gate to Kredik Shaw. It is near Clubs's shop and the Kenton Street shopping district.[3]
![[3]](#cite_note-Luthadel.png-3){kind=link}
History
During the Final Empire, the Fountain Square was commonly used by the Lord Ruler to perform public executions.[4] All men in Luthadel were required to attend the executions, and would be released from work to do so. Despite the square's size, it did not have enough room to contain all of the attendees, even if people watched from nearby rooftops, although bleachers were set up for the nobility.[4] Steel Inquisitors would behead prisoners and direct the blood into the fountain basins, making them run red.[4]
Kelsier made his final stand against the Lord Ruler at a small courtyard square near the Fountain Square.[5] The Inquisitors set a trap for Kelsier, imprisoning people from the false House Renoux as well as Spook.[5] They led the prisoners towards the Fountain Square, presumably for an execution ceremony that would serve as retribution for Kelsier's destruction of the Pits of Hathsin.[5] Kelsier attacked, freeing the prisoners while killing Bendal and many of the Lord Ruler's soldiers in the courtyard. A large number of skaa arrived on the scene quickly since they were already at the Fountain Square for the planned executions; the Lord Ruler and many of his soldiers, Obligators, and Inquisitors soon followed.[6] A riot began, and the Lord Ruler ultimately killed Kelsier in the smaller square.[6][7]
The Fountain Square became known as the Square of the Survivor in Kelsier's honor, and rebel skaa assembled there after his death.[1][fn 2]
Notes
- Footnotes
- ↑ "Fountain Square" is not capitalized in the text of The Final Empire, but Nazh capitalizes it in his map notes.[3]
- ↑ An in-world character refers to the Square of the Survivor as "the place where the Survivor of Hathsin was killed",[1] which was actually the smaller courtyard nearby.[6] However, maps of Luthadel in different editions of the Mistborn books show the Square of the Survivor in the exact same location as the Fountain Square, implying that they are one and the same.
- References
