Summary:Shadows of Self

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 and tells the teenage kid who'd been following him to stay with the horses. He enters a grungy saloon and 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 carefully breaks in through the window, an unlit cigar in her mouth. When she realizes that someone else is in the room with her, she swears and points her rifle at Wax. 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 to escape back through the window, they are stopped by a sharpshooter. They peek out the door and see that the thugs in the saloon are obviously reluctant to face Wax. They decide to make for the next floor and escape through a window on the other side of the building. They run up the stairs, Wax firing and missing everything but the piano, and make it up to the second floor. Wax remembers seeing her before as a dancing girl. Wax whistles a couple of times for his horse so they can jump into the saddle and ride off, but he doesn't show up. Eventually the kid walks up and tells him that Destroyer (the horse) is still drinking. As they consider jumping anyway, Wax trusting in his coinshot abilities to land safely, he notices a moving blue line from across the street and the sun glinting off something, so he immediately pulls himself and Lessie to the ground as a shot is fired. The sharpshooter had shifted around. Wax realizes that Granite Joe is likely in the basement, so he 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. Granite Joe has two bodyguards -- armed with non-metallic weapons -- so Wax is caught in a standoff. He talks to Wax, stalling for reinforcements. Joe stands up and draws, and Wax Pushes himself to the side, just avoiding a crossbow bolt. He shoots the female guard and Pushes on the male guard's gun, ruining his shot. His Push also sends his own gun into the face of the bodyguard, dropping him. He starts moving to attack Joe when he hears a weapon click behind him. He stops and sees 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. Wax desperately tells her that he likes her legs, and she sighs and shoots Joe in the neck. 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 and Lessie firt for a bit, then he holds onto her and Pushes themselves back up to Wayne and his waiting horse.

• Prologue Excerpt

Part 1

Chapter 1

17 years later, 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 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.

• Chapter 1 Excerpt

Chapter 2

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.

• 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 that he placed the bubble perfectly, with the other half dozen individuals in the room outside of the bubble. Wayne throws Marks out the window, then follows him out. The speed bubble collapses after Wayne leaves it, and 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 attacked, 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 that they made the kill properly, the assassin appears and takes her hostage, holding a glass knife to her throat. Wax comes back from chasing after the assassin and brandishes a coin. Marasi reminds herself of her hostage training: talk him down, speak comforting words. 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 shows up, 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 recognizes 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. 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.

• Chapter 4 Excerpt

Part 2

Chapter 5

Wayne is residing in Wax's mansion. He has a minor illness because he is filling his goldmind -- with all the dead people at Winsting's place, he's bound to be needing healing soon. Wax has been up all night analyzing the crime scene. He's convinced that a Steelrunner is involved. Wayne studies the picture and points out that the first four shots came from the direction of the enemies of those being shot, sowing even more chaos. Wax wants Wayne to go to the Village to investigate, but he has another task that he must do since it's the first day of the month.

Marasi buys the afternoon edition of the paper to monitor the Winsting story. She notices a number of unemployed men, 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 ("brutes," or pewter ferrings). They tell him to get lost, but Vwafendal, his grandmother, intervenes.

Wayne arrives at Elendel University for his three tests. He sees two guards, apparently watching for him, and he sees that his other ways in have been foiled. He talks to Dims, a leader of a street gang, and tries some gum for the first time. Wayne bribes him into wearing his clothes and trying to get through the gate. When he does, Wayne saunters in with no problem. He heads to the girls' dormitory and faces his second test: a large woman he calls the "Tyrant of Pashadon." He bribes her with a ticket to the governor's spring dinner he has obtained in a "trade" with Wax. She leads him into the visiting room and sends for Allriandre. He offers her the usual monthly stipend, and she shows him the picture of her father, forcing him to repeat his crime. She looks at him without emotion and makes sure he knows that he is not forgiven for killing him. Wayne humbly accepts her treatment.

Wax enters his grandmother's log hut, appointed with reminders of Terris past. Vwafendal worries about the mixing of Feruchemy and Allomancy -- she fears another tyrant will come. He asks for the names of known Steelrunners. They rehash old arguments about Wax's chosen way of life as a lawkeeper. She finally reveals the name of Idashwy as the only one who could be involved. She left the Village after behaving strangely. Wax recognizes the name, and she reminds him that she was with him "that night." She asks him to bring her back instead of killing her.

Marasi enters 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 instead of Reddi, one of their own. Marasi suggests that the governor is corrupt; she has a secret file on him. Aradel orders Marasi to go with a street detail assigned to help out the Second Octant constables manage crowds for the governor's address. She is to report back on how the people react to the speech.

• 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 Steel 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 Steris, 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. 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 is promising to send help. During this talk Harmony also tells Wax that he might have made life too easy for the people of the basing, that they don't explore, didn't yet figure the radio nor did show interest in aviation. Wax agrees to stop Paalm and the talk ends with Harmony telling Wax he shall be less harsh with Marasi who's also Harmony's agent on Scadrial.

Aradel and the other constables are interrogating the assassin who tried to murder the governor. This assassin, who's name is Rian, held bracers, so they muse if he is a metalborn. The interrogation shows that he is not at his full mind. When Wax joins them he figures the bracers aren't metalminds at all. Wax goes to talk to Rian himself, taking Marasi and telling her about his experience with Harmony. Rian tells them they won't save the governor and that he has something for Wax in his arm. It turns to be a special old coin, a message to Wax.

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.