Difference between revisions of "Summary:Shadows of Self"

[[Winsting Innate]] prepares to auction off his senate vote to various crime lords and nobles in [[Elendel]]. The ostensible item for sale is his latest painting. After an introductory speech, he begins to mingle. His bodyguard [[Flog]] follows nearby. Winsting is quite disappointed that [[Edwarn Ladrian]] is not there. He is approached first by a smuggler named [[Dowser]], who is accompanied by a tall, slender [[Paalm|woman]] with short golden hair. After the conversation, Winsting identifies the woman as a spy -- possibly from the constabulary -- to his bodyguard Flog and orders her watched. He continues to mingle for the next hour, but then a gunshot rings out, with several more quickly following from different parts of the room. Flog drags him out and takes him to his saferoom. No one is certain who started the gunfight, but Flog decides to go back up to the room to investigate. Winsting locks the door from the inside after he leaves. Eventually Flog returns, and Winsting lets him in. He tells them that everyone upstairs is dead. As Winsting considers what to do, someone grabs his hair and slits his throat.

[[Steris]] and Wax discuss wedding invitations, with Steris trying to work out which of Wax's enemies to invite so that she can properly plan for the wedding to be interrupted. Wax suggests that she invite members of his family, but they want him dead too. He tells her to invite the leaders among the seamstresses and forgeworkers of his house and the constable-general of each of the city octants. Their discussion is interrupted by Wayne bursting in to tell Wax that the [[Marksman]] has made his move. With some hurried apologies and an awkward farewell, he races out, but is surprised by the sight of a motorcar, with [[Marasi]] at the wheel. After protesting that a carriage with horses would be better, he gets in and they drive off, Marasi and Wayne filling Wax in on the details. They quickly find Marks, who is bounding through the streets using Steelpushes. Wax jumps out of the car and propels himself onto the roof of Marasi's car before Pushing off and chasing the man. Marks enters a building, and Wax busts through a different window on the same floor. He bluffs Marks into giving away his position, and Wax shoots from a neighboring room, using a [[hazekiller]] round and a Push to get the bullet through the wall. Marks is hit and jumps out of the building, Wax giving chase. Wax is distracted by one of the bystanders, bearing the face of [[Bloody Tan]]. Marks momentarily forgotten, he pushes through the crowd, trying to find the man he had seen, calling out to see if anyone had seen him. Wayne and Marasi catch up and ask him what happened. Wax has lost Marks for the moment, but he is leaving trail of blood and bank notes.

Marasi gets permission from Reddi to report to Constable-General [[Claude Aradel|Aradel]]. She follows Wax and Wayne in the motorcar and arrives at Winsting Innate's mansion. Wax recognizes a number of the corpses as being notable criminals, and Aradel verifies the fact, adding that there are nearly thirty dead criminals of some significance. Discussion leads to the conclusion that it would make the most sense for someone outside the existing criminal structure to have made the attack, and Wax realizes from examining the bodies that the melee was started from the middle, with different groups killing each other, rather than another group bursting in. Wax then asks to see the body of Lord Winsting. Examining the scene, he concludes that it was the work of a Feruchemist, specifically a [[Steelrunner]]. They were known to Lord Winsting, and were allowed into the saferoom. They then killed Lord Winsting and executed the guards outside on their way out.

Marasi buys the afternoon edition of the ''[[The Elendel Daily]]'' to monitor the Winsting story. She notices a number of unemployed men loitering, their life-long jobs gone due to technological progress. The governor seems unresponsive to the ills of the city, vetoing a workers' rights bill. Now the populace will wonder if he is as corrupt as his brother. Marasi fears that the city is reaching a breaking point.

Wax enters the Village and runs into three [[Terris]] guards ("[[brute]]s," or pewter ferrings). They tell him to get lost, but [[Vwafendal]], his grandmother, intervenes.

Wax soars over Elendel musing to himself about the weight of his responsibility to the thousands of workers that [[House Ladrian|depend]] on him. He finds Wayne, who asks him why Wax didn't shoot him when he found Wayne. Wax tells Wayne that he would have if he'd caught Wayne in the act, which cheers Wayne up.

No one hears Marasi's scream, and she doesn't have enough time to get her gun, so instead she runs forward, grabbing the man and slowing time, having downed some [[Cadmiumcadmium]] earlier. The man fires a shot, but it goes wild. Another one of the guards caught in the bubble knocks the man out, and Marasi drops the bubble, with the governor having been rushed away.

Wax and Wayne return to the mansion. [[Darriance]] informs Wax that [[Ranette]] hadhas been by and had left some equipment for him to test. Wax briefly talks to Steris, who reminds him about [[Lady ZoBell's party]]. She informs him that someone tried to kill the governor, but she has it on good authority that he's still going to attend. Wax decides he will need to talk to the man who tried to shoot him. They head out in a carriage driven by the new coachman, [[Hoid]]. Wax puts in his [[Wax's earring|earring]], wondering if it had been made by killing someone, to which a distinct voice replies, startling Wax. [[Harmony]] talks to him, telling him that a [[kandra]] (which he calls a Faceless Immortal) named [[Bleeder]] is wearing the body of Bloody Tan and is the culprit behind the murders. He tells Wax that he can't stop her because she is only using one Blessing at a time, meaning she's going mad but is unable to be controlled by Harmony. Wax discovers Harmony can read his thoughts, and Harmony explains that he can while the earring is in. [[Preservation]] enables him to hear Wax; [[Ruin]] enables him to speak to him. Harmony also explains that his hands are tied, and he's not able to track Paalm down himself. Hence his plea for Wax's help, though Harmony promises to send help. During this talk, Harmony also tells Wax that he might have made life too easy for the people. He mentions some technological advancements, like radio and aviation, that they haven't needed to discover. Harmony tells Wax to be less harsh with Marasi, who is also Harmony's agent on [[Scadrial]].

Wax is twelve years old, riding in his [[Edwarn Ladrian|uncle's]] carriage. He is trying to see the defect in a mis-struck coin. His uncle is taking him to the bank to encourage him to be a banker, but Wax insists he is going to be a "hero." Edwarn is disdainful, saying that the days of heroes are past. He shows Wax two loan applicants, one [[Jendel|poor]], trying to get his family out of the slums, the other [[Nikolin|rich]], buying another boat. Unlike other banks, who only make safe loans, they will lend money to the poor man and charge a high rate of interest, thus creating value from something that has no value, like the defective coin. He gives the coin to Wax as a remembrance. Wax snatches it and takes it to the poor man, telling him what it's worth and to not sign the loan.

Wax and Steris walk by a display of Allomantic metals, including one for [[atium]], the lost metal. Steris disapproves of Wax wearing his mistcoat, but she does let him decide what to do in order to find Bleeder rather than simply chatting with various nobles. Wax turns on his protective steelpushSteelpush bubble and colors his water to make it look like alcohol. Steris is impressed with Wax's tactics, while Wax is enchanted with Steris' preparation, even down to what witty things to say. They get in line to talk to the governor. A tall woman who introduces herself as [[MeLaan|Milan]] starts flirting with Wax, and he stares her down. She retreats.

Wayne is acting the part of Professor [[Hanlanaze]], a mathematics professor, with Marasi as his assistant. A [[Rame Maldor|colleague]] recognizes him, and he throws up a speed bubble while Marasi figures out how to respond to him. Wayne bluffs the man into a hasty retreat and concentrates on eating again.

Wayne reaches for another sausage and gets slapped in the face. A teenage [[Sophi Tarcsel|girl]] yells at him about stealing her [[Remmingtel Tarcsel|father]]'s invention and leaving him destitute. The situation reminds him too much of his own (with Allriandre's father), and his mood is dampened. He goes to look for Wax.

Wax leaps out into the [[mist]]s. Once on the ground, he hears a car start up and speed away. He decides to chase it, hoping it's Bleeder. He lands on it and pops the tires with enhanced weight, but only finds a cab driver trapped inside; Bleeder had already jumped out of the car on Tage Street. He goes there and searches but finds nothing. Suddenly, the door to a warehouse opens up, revealing a dozen men with guns blazing. Wax's steel bubble protects him from all bullets but one, which gets him in the arm. He desperately retreats and is pinned down by gunfire. He sees more guys on his flank; he shoots a couple of them, and a couple of them are attacked by [[MeLaan]], who was sent by Harmony to help Wax. Wax figures his uncle is behind this because of all the [[aluminum]] bullets, and he fears that Bleeder and the Set may be working together. They split up to attack two different groups. Wax kills several with his guns. Then, when he runs out of ammo, he uses Ranette's hook device to kill the rest with some help from MeLaan. He sends MeLaan to a [[Counselor's Cup|tavern]] while he goes to check on Lord [[Jackstom Harms|Harms]], thinking that Bleeder's threat might have been referring to Wax's "father". He Pushes past the remaining snipers and into the canal, then Pushes on the mooring rings to quickly swim away from danger.

Wax stows Harms on the top of a [[Feder Tower|tower]] chosen at random, figuring that a random location is the best approach to outsmarting Bleeder. He goes searching for the governor. He figures that he'll be back at his mansion, so he waits in the vicinity. When he sees his carriage, he lands on top of it and asks [[Drim]] to let him in. Innate doesn't want to deal with him, so Wax threatens to just leave him alone without help. He tells them that a kandra is after the governor, but they are incredulous and want to see proof. They eventually agree to let Wax help protect the governor. Wax suggests that he leave the city, but he refuses. They exchange passphrases. There is commotion outside the mansion, and a servant reports that [[Father Bin]] has been murdered.

Marasi looks up at Father Bin's corpse, nailed to the wall by two spikes, one in each eye. The conventicalists (workers at the church) are not talking, so Aradel has Marasi interrogate them instead of Reddi. She empathizes with them and gets them to reveal what happened. A [[The Path|Pathian]] priest named [[Larskpur]] had started preaching to the congregation, gathered for the mistdawn, and then lowered a drape, revealing Father Bin nailed to the wall. Speaking with Aradel, Marasi suggests that the murders and the unrest in the city are all related--all the work of Bleeder trying to make the city fall. Even the flood, causing the food shortage, might be attributable to sabotage. She also tells Aradel of her secret file on Governor Innate. Wax shows up and demands to see the body himself. Marasi discovers that Aradel resents Wax because he can do whatever he wants has someone else to clean up his messes. Wax doesn't think the spikes are [[Hemalurgy|Hemalurgic]] but asks for a sample anyway. He invites Marasi to his meeting with MeLaan so they can figure out Bleeder's abilities and motives.

Wayne enters the Counselor's Cup, describing it as the temple of the common man. As the "deity" there is [[Breeze]], the worship ritual revolves around drinking and people offer up prayers by grousing to friends. Normally, the people there are drinking and happy, but now they are morose and desperate. Wayne goes around changing everyone's drink to cheer them up, adding soda water, sugar, lime, etc., and he happens upon MeLaan.

Wax arrives at a Pathian church with a mob outside. He shows himself with [[Vindication]] drawn, and the group scatters, although one person stays hidden nearby. He tells the Pathian missionary what happened to Father Bin. He suggests she flee to the Village and get her colleagues to go with her. He then seeks out person hiding, who reveals that the trouble started when two people dressed in Pathian robes came into a pub and started cursing the Survivor. Wax next goes to [[Ashweather Carriage and Coach]] because some silver paint scraped off on the bricks in the alleyway behind the [[Church of the Survivor|Survivorist]] church looks like it came from one of their carriages. He asks the proprietor who has retained a carriage that night, and he seems to eager to please, raising Wax's suspicions. He narrows it down to coach sixteen as the one Bleeder might have used to make her getaway. Cett's Coinshot employee shows up to report on the drivers, and she lets slip that they also employ a [[zinc|Rioter]] to drum up business, a serious crime.

Marasi and MeLaan arrive at the precinct where rifles are laid out. Extra constables are being called in. MeLaan notices all the women in the station, and they start to discuss religion. MeLaan thinks it's silly to worship the [[Survivor]] instead of [[Harmony]] because the Survivor died, but Marasi explains that he did survive and even held Preservation before [[Vin]] took it up. Marasi gets the file on the [[Corbeau|dam]] investigation, and MeLaan notices a lot of hostility toward her from her colleagues. The file explains that a [[Johnst|farmer]] had blown up the dam to ruin a neighbor's harvest, but he put too much dynamite in. He was acting insane and couldn't remember his children's names, and the grave was "desecrated" two days after his execution and burial. The desecration of the grave indicates to MeLaan that the farmer was actually Bleeder.

Marasi finds Aradel on the roof taking reports from a couple of Coinshot contractors. He's decided to ask the governor to declare martial law and close down the pubs. Marasi shares the information about the dam destruction, but he still wants proof that a kandra is involved. Marasi invites him to talk to MeLaan. She turns translucent and confirms that there is a crazy kandra on the loose. After MeLaan's demonstration, Aradel asks Marasi to give him reports on what Wax is doing. Marasi agrees, but she says she will tell Wax that she's doing so. Marasi wonders if that's the only reason that she got the job as his assistant -- so he could have access to Wax. She rejoins MeLaan, and they head to the governor's mansion.

Wax has found his uncle by leaving a message in one his safe deposit boxes listed in the notebook he stole. Wax enters the carriage, and they start moving. Edwarn compares what he's doing with the Set to [[Kelsier's crew]] and posits that Wax would have been on the [[Lord Ruler]]'s side. Wax puts this aside and asks for help against a common enemy--his uncle wants to rule, but Paalm wants everything destroyed. Edwarn would like Paalm taken down, but he's choosing to wait and see and says that he will not help Wax. He insists that the [[Set]] will be hailed as heroes against oppression and promises that Wax's sister will die if Wax kills him. Before leaving, Wax promises to take care of Bleeder and then someday come after him.

Wayne listens to someone whip up a mob, railing against the abuse at the hands of the aristocracy. He agrees with their sentiment and shouts along with them. A Survivorist priest then speaks, telling the crowd that the Survivor would not encourage them to loot and destroy. The crowd starts to calm down, but Wayne sees the first guy sneak up behind the priest with a syringe. He injects its contents into the priest, revealing that he is a kandra in disguise. Someone in the crowd recognizes Wayne as the conner from the [[Roughs]], and they all turn to look at him.

The arcanum displays a detailed chart of the metals (Metals Quick Reference Chart), a ''List of Metals'' with properties explained and a short essay, ''On The Three [[Metallic Arts]]''. The last compares Allomancy with [[Investiture]]s from [[Sel]], as well as a mention that the [[Cosmerecosmere]] is greatly interested in [[Hemalurgy]]. The first parts are the same as ''[[The Alloy of Law]]'' arcanum. A further section discussing the twinborn combinations of powers is additional to this.

{{summaries|partialcomplete}}