Summary:Shadows of Self

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This page contains a chapter by chapter summary of Shadows of Self We hope this summary will make it easier to find specific areas of the book, as well as providing a quick plot refresher for anyone who doesn't want to take the time to reread the entire book.

Prologue

Waxillium gets off his horse, getting the kid who'd been following him to stay with the horses, and enters a saloon. He asks the barkeep about 'Granite Joe', the outlaw he has been tracking. The barkeep tells him that if he'll pay, he might know someone who knows Granite Joe. Once Wax says he will pay, the barkeep leads him to a small room near the stairs, telling him to wait. While waiting, a woman breaks in carefully through the window, but is surprised to see someone else in the room. After a standoff, they work out they are both after the same quarry, and resolve to work together and split the reward. When Wax tells her that he asked the barkeep about Joe, she's incredulous, telling him everyone in the saloon belongs to Joe. They realize it is a trap, but when they try and escape back through the window, they are stopped by a sharpshooter. They decide to make for the next floor and escape through a window on the other side of the building. They make it, and find a window. Wax whistles for his horse, but eventually the kid walks around, and tells him that Destroyer (the horse) is just drinking still. As they consider just jumping, Wax trusting in his coinshot abilities to land safely, he notices the sun glint off something, and immediately pulls the woman (who he's found out is called Lessie) to the ground as a shot is fired. The sharpshooter had shifted around. Wax realizes that Granite Joe is likely in the basement, and so grabs Lessie while rolling to the ground, and then uses his feruchemical ability to tap and store weight along with his allomantic ability to push on metal to crash down through the floor to the basement. The pair crash down onto a dining table, interrupting Granite Joe's meal. After a short verbal exchange, a quicker gunfight ensues. Both of Granite Joe's guards are dropped, though Wax loses his weapon in the process. He starts moving to attack the man when he hears a weapon click behind him, and stops to see Lessie pointing a crossbow at him. He realizes that Lessie had been bought out by Joe too, and that the whole situation had been a set up. But then Lessie surprises both men by shooting Granite Joe. As reinforcements scramble down to the basement, Wax strikes a dramatic pose next to the body of Granite Joe. The sight intimidates the thugs who had just come down, who then immediately return the way they came. Wax uses his abilities to take them back up through the hole they had made.

• Prologue Excerpt

Part 1

Chapter 1

17 years later, the chapter opens with Winsting Innate preparing to open an auction of his services to the biggest criminals in Elendel. After an introductory speech, he begins to mingle. He is approached first by a smuggler named Dowser, who is accompanied by a tall, slender woman with short golden hair. After the conversation, Winsting identifies the woman as a spy, possibly a constabularly plant, to his bodyguard Flog, and orders her watched. He continues to mingle for the next hour, but then a gunshot rings out, with more quickly following. 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 the the room to investigate after locking Winsting in. Eventually Flog returns, and Winsting lets him in. He tells them that everyone upstairs was dead. As Winsting considers what to do, someone grabs his hair and slits his throat.

• Chapter 1 Excerpt

Chapter 2

Sterris and Wax discuss wedding invitations, with Sterris trying to work out which of Wax's enemies to invite so that she can properly plan for the wedding to be interrupted. In response to Sterris wanting Wax to invite more of his family, he suggests inviting the leaders among the seamstresses and forgeworkers of his house, and the constable-general of each of the city octants. Their discussions are interrupted by Wayne bursting in to tell Wax that the Marksman has made his move. With some hurried apologies, 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. He eventually catches up to him, and engages him in conversation, but is distracted by one of the bystanders, bearing the facy 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, if Marks got away. Wax points out that Marks is bleeding so will have left a trail.

• Chapter 2 Excerpt

Chapter 3

The trio head further into the slums. Wayne lags behind, and finds an older man sitting next to a doorway, coughing. Wayne mimics the man, learning the accent, as he talks to him, having a mouthful of whisky before trading the flask for the man's hat. He then joins a group of men, fitting right in with his accent and his new hat. He comments about Wax and Marasi, who are trying (in vain) to get information from people around the place. Wayne mentions that there's a thousand notes on Marks' head. The men tell him off, warning him not to be a rat. Eventually the group dissipates, and Wayne trails the man who had lectured him. Eventually the man enters a building, and Wayne overhears him talking to Marks. Slipping on his sets of wooden knuckle-bones, Wayne charges into the building, throwing up a speed bubble and knocking out Marks. Looking around, he sees he place the bubble perfectly, with the other half dozen individuals in the room outside of the bubble. Wayne throws Marks out the window, and then follows him. The speed bubble collapsing after Wayne leaves it, he throws Marks over his shoulder and strolls away, eating an apple.

Meanwhile, Marasi and Wax try to find out where Marks went, still with no luck. Wayne eventually turns up, and Marasi asks where he's been. He tells her that he took care of her problem, at which point she realizes there's a person at his feet. When the go to leave the slums, they get attack, with Marks being killed by a crossbow bolt. Wax shoots off to pursue the assailant. Marasi checks Marks' corpse, but when she realizes that the assassin would double back to check they made the kill properly, the assassin appears, and manages to take her hostage, as Wax appears. As she reminds herself of her hostage training, she instead instinctively takes a small pistol out of her purse and shoots her captor through the head.

• Chapter 3 Excerpt

Chapter 4

Marasi cleans up after being covered with blood. Constable Reddi turns up on the scene, and he and some other constables secure the scene. Reddi pulls Wax aside to tell him about the death of the Governor's brother. The trio go investigate. Constable-General Aradel is inside. Wax recognises a number of the corpses as being notable criminals, and Aradel verifies the fact, adding that there are nearly 30 dead criminals of some significance. Disucssion leads to the conclusion that it'd 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's body. 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.

• Chapter 4 Excerpt

Part 2

Chapter 5

Wayne stops by Wax's room to 'trade' for some rum, and helps Wax by pointing out that the directions from which the first 4 shots at the auction were chosen to cause chaos. As it's the first day of the month, he has to go through his Trials - delivering money to the daughter of the man he had killed before Wax had found him. His 'trial' is made up of three parts - entering the university (done with the help of a contact), convincing the 'Tyrant of Pashadon' to allow him to see the young woman (achieved by giving her a ticket to a high-profile party, 'borrowed' from Wax), and then giving the money to the young woman, while seeing a picture of the man he murdered and reconfessing to the crime he had committed.

Meanwhile, Wax goes to visit the Village, a street home to the Terris people, to see Elder Vwafendal. He's blocked by some Terrisman, before Vwafendal lets him through, revealing that Wax is her grandson. Wax asks her for information about the Steelrunner murder. She gives him the name of a Terriswoman who has not been seen for awhile

Marasi heads to the precinct offices to report in to Aradel. In conversation, she realizes the reason for the resentment from the others in the office is due to her getting the position of Aradel's assistant of Reddi, one of their own. Aradel assigns Marasi to a street detail sent to help out the Second Octant manage crowds for the governors immanent address.

• Chapter 5 Excerpt

Chapter 6

Wax soars over Elendel musing to himself. 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.

Marasi overhears someone selling apples at a high price, and asks them about it. They tell her that floods meant that there'd be grain shortages soon, and that the city was a single shipment away from starvation. She moves on to where the governor is about to hold a press conference. Meeting up with some of the other constables, she decides to work her way through the crowd to the front.

Wax thinks he sees Bloody Tan, but can't find him when he looks for the man. In the mean time, Wayne has found the address to where Idashwy, the steelrunner, was staying. They arrive, and when no one answers the door, they kick open the door, and enter carefully. They find a corpse, with a large hole in its chest, in the kitchen.

Marasi makes it through to the crowd. The governor appears, and begins talking about his brother, and then aid for those affected by the floods, with Marasi noting to herself that none of this is what the people want to hear. As this is going on, she notices a guardsman, who had been blocking her view, turns, whispering to no one, before pulling out a revolver. Marasi screams.

Wax and Wayne discuss the murder, and why Idashwy left the Village. Wax finds a copy of the book that Death had given him.

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 Cadmium 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 discuss Hemalurgy, determining that the killer had stolen Idashwy's fSteel, and used it to kill Winsting and those at his auction. Wayne finds a piece of paper in the woman's pockets: "Someone else moves us, lawman." The same words as Bloody Tan had said before Lessie had been killed.

• Chapter 6 Excerpt

Chapter 7

Wax and Wayne return home. Darriance informs Wax that Ranette had been by and had left some equipment for him to test. Wax briefly talks to Sterris, who reminds him about Lady ZoBell's party. She informs him that someone tried to kill the governor, so may not be attending. Wax decides he will need to talk to the suspect. Wax puts in his earing, wondering if it had been made by killing someone, to which a voice replies, startling Wax. Harmony talks to him, telling him that a kandra (now known as the Faceless Immortals) 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 mad, but unable to be controlled by Harmony. Wax discovers Harmony can read his thoughts, and Harmony explains that he can while the earring is in, noting that Preservation lets him hear Wax, and Ruin lets him speak to him. (Page 132)

Ars Arcanum

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 Investitures from Sel, as well as a mention that the Cosmere 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.