Difference between revisions of "Summary:The Hero of Ages"

{{epigraph|I am, unfortunately, the Hero of Ages.}}

 

;Summary

The book opens several months since [[Vin]] released Ruin from his prison within the [[Well of Ascension|Well]]. [[Fatren]] and his town are one of many that have been devastated by Ruin's malevolent horde of [[koloss]] and the [[Mist|killer mists]]. As they prepare for death having reports of an approaching koloss army they are greeted by a lone rider. This rider proves to be an [[Allomancy|Allomancer]] identifying himself as their emperor: [[Elend Venture]].

Yet, this knowledge was different from experience, or even ability to use that power. For instance, I knew how to move a planet in the sky. Yet, I didn't know where to place it so that it wouldn't be too close, or too far, from the sun.}}

 

 

TenSoon moves about his prison cell in the kandra Homeland, awaiting his sentence. His form lacks bones and sensory organs but he can feel the vibrations of his cell being opened, the pain of being lifted out by hooks. By the First Contract he should have a chance to state his defense: the guards give him a skull but begin to dissolve him with acid, twisting the words of the law.

 

{{epigraph|In some ways, having such power was too overwhelming, I think. This was a power that would take millennia to understand. Remaking the world would have been easy, had one been familiar with the power. Yet, I realized the danger inherent in my ignorance. Like a child suddenly given awesome strength, I could have pushed too hard, and left the world a broken toy I could never repair.}}

 

 

Leading the charge, Elend muses how Allomancy has given him the abilities to be in this position. His assumption about the koloss proves true as they're startled about the initial attack. This gives the assailants enough time to take down several hundred koloss before the blood frenzy kicks in. As the sounds of it alert Elend to its start he calls for the men to form up, simultaneously Soothing away their fear and Pushing on their emotions as he emboldens them. The battle drags on and Fatren loses his confidence, screaming about Elend leading them to die before Elend points at a speck in the sky.

 

The ashmounts were his solution to this. He had learned that shoving a planet around required too much precision, so instead he caused the mountains to erupt, spewing ash and smoke into the air. The thicker atmosphere made the world cooler, and turned the sun red.}}

 

 

Sazed reviews the tenets of the [[Canzi]] religion, but rejects them as self-contradictory. As Breeze and Sazed await the signing of a treaty by King [[Audil Lekal]] to submit to Elend's rule, Breeze asks Sazed to preach of one of the religions in the Keeper's copperminds, but Sazed declines, stating his faith is shaken by the recent world events. An aide to the king delivers the signed treaty to Sazed and Breeze.

 

{{epigraph|Each time Rashek tried to fix things, he made them worse. He had to change the world's plants to make them able to survive in the new, harsh environment. Yet, that change left the plants less nutritious to mankind. Indeed, the falling ash would make men sick, causing them to cough like those who spent too long mining beneath the earth. And so Rashek changed mankind itself as well, altering them so that they could survive.}}

 

 

Elend has mental control of the koloss army, with the steel inquisitor now deceased. Vin realizes this inquisitor had a non-allomantic speed enhancement, and after investigation, finds and removes a pewter spike from its heart. Elend ponders if there is a third power besides allomancy and feruchemy. Elend and Vin discuss their losing battle against their [[Ruin|nebulous foe]].

 

 

=== Chapter 6 ===

Either way, we had him to thank for a world without flowers, where plants grew brown rather than green, and where people could survive in an environment where ash fell from the sky on a regular basis.}}

 

;Summary

Marsh regains lucidity as Ruin lessens his control over the inquisitor. He is in a large koloss camp, and is accompanied by several inquisitors, many of whom have new hemalurgic spikes charged by Terris keepers. He ponders that he will never get enough control to kill himself, and that he wishes Ruin would keep control over him permanently to let him see the beauty in the destruction of the world.

We were one. That didn't stop the world from ending, but that's not necessarily a bad thing.}}

 

;Summary

TenSoon consumes a new body. Four kandra of the Fifth Generation, including [[VarSell]], escort TenSoon to trial in the [[Trustwarren]].

Ruin could plan and carefully plot, knowing if he built one thing up, he could use it to knock down two others. The nature of the world is that when we create something, we often destroy something else in the process.}}

 

 

Vin watches as the mists attack the refugees from Vetitan, causing sickness and killing a nearly predictable number of them. Fatren is disbelieving about exposing his townsfolk to the mists, but Elend counters that it is necessary and that the survivors are now inoculated and will suffer no further.

 

One of these was an understanding of the Three Metallic Arts. He knew, for instance, that the nuggets of metal in the Chamber of Ascension would make those who ingested them into Mistborn. These were, after all, fractions of the very power in the Well itself.}}

 

 

[[KanPaar]] of the Second Generation asks if TenSoon insists upon being tried, and TenSoon replies in the affirmative. Hundreds of kandra arrive at the Trustwarren to watch the proceedings, including [[MeLaan]], a close friend of TenSoon's. TenSoon believes that he is a proxy for a contest between KanPaar's and TenSoon's entire Generations.

 

Perhaps he feared that someday, he would lose his powers, and would need that nugget to grant him Allomancy. Either way, I bless Rashek for his oversight, for without that nugget, Elend would have died that day at the Well.}}

 

Sazed pontificates on the religion of [[Larstaism]], which revolved around financial donations to create art that increased mankind's understanding of divinity. Sazed and Breeze debate on the existance of a supernatural force and whether said force is the cause of the increased volcanic activity and killer mists. Sazed rejects Larstaism as not viable due to the ongoing massive natural disasters affecting the lands.

 

Most disturbingly, the First Contract contained a provision which, if invoked, would require the mass suicide of the entire kandra people.}}

 

 

KanPaar interrogates TenSoon on why he killed [[OreSeur|a fellow kandra]], and TenSoon replies that he was compelled by his Contract to obey. The issue of kandra killing kandra leading to their extermination is raised to weaken TenSoon's trustworthiness as a witness, but he counters with an argument that Kelsier, the man who planned to kill their [[Lord Ruler|Father]] was allowed a Contract, a treacherous act in itself. KanPaar then asks why TenSoon broke Contract with Zane, to which TenSoon replies that he upheld a greater Contract, the First Contract with the Lord Ruler, by upholding Vin, who he labels as Mother, since she killed Father and replaced him in the sense of being the prime oppostion to Ruin. TenSoon states that he revealed their secret weakness to emotional allomancy to Vin and that they should pledge service to Vin in the same way they served the Lord Ruler, but KanPaar shouts down his arguments, and informs him that he will receive his punishment in one month's time.

 

{{epigraph|Rashek moved the Well of Ascension, obviously.

It was very clever of him—perhaps the cleverest thing he did. He knew that the power would one day return to the Well, for power such as this—the fundamental power by which the world itself was formed—does not simply run out. It can be used, and therefore diffused, but it will always be renewed.

He constructed his palace around that room at its heart, the room where he would meditate, the room that was a replica of his old hovel in Terris. A refuge created during the last moments before his power ran out.}}

 

 

Elend and Vin discuss how the members of Kelsier's crew are losing hope and what they can do about it.

 

{{epigraph|Hemalurgy, it is called, because of the connection to blood. It is not a coincidence, I believe, that death is always involved in the transfer of powers via Hemalurgy. Marsh once described it as a "messy" process. Not the adjective I would have chosen. It's not disturbing enough.}}

 

 

Marsh sits unmoving in the koloss camp, deliberating about Kelsier, Mare, his leadership role in the skaa rebellion, and his role in Ruin's plans. He decides that he will cease his futile struggles against Ruin and feign compliance so that he can lull his master into a false sense of security and foil his plans at a critical moment when Ruin is least expecting it.