Difference between revisions of "Summary:The Well of Ascension"

 

{{anchor|Part 1}}

 

== The Well of Ascension ==

{{epigraph|It wasn't until years later that I became convinced that Alendi was the Hero of Ages. Hero of Ages: the one called Rabzeen in Khlennium, the Anamnesor.<br>Savior}}

 

 

Sazed and Marsh arrive at the Conventical of Seran. They explore the building, and Sazed stores his observations in a coppermind. They find the remnants of a massacre.

 

{{epigraph|When I finally had the realization - finally connected all the signs of the Anticipation to Alendi - I was so excited. Yet, when I announced my discovery to the other Worldbringers, I was met with scorn.<br>Oh, how I wish that I had listened to them.}}

 

 

 

Vin burns [[bronze]]. She feels the same odd pulsing that she felt in Chapter 3. She decides to face her fear of the [[Preservation|mist spirit]]. She finds the spirit on the third floor of an apartment block, with prime vantage point to overlook Vin and OreSeur's prior conversation. Vin yells at the mist spirit, but it merely steps forwards and dissipates. She feels cold grab her arm and a pain pierces Vin, running from her ear (presumably the one with the earring) to her mind, causing her to fall from the window. She flares [[tin]] and [[pewter]] to ease her fall. Vin begins to fear the mists.

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{{epigraph|And yet, any who know me will realize that there was no chance I would give up so easily. Once I find something to investigate, I become dogged in my pursuit.}}

The Terriswoman's name is [[Tindwyl]], an acquaintance of [[Sazed]]. Her [[coppermind]] specialty is biographies - she has studied the lives of great men. She has come to (forcibly) tutor [[Elend]] in the arts of being regal. [[Vin]] immediately distrusts her.

 

===Chapter 15===

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{{epigraph|I had determined that Alendi was the Hero of Ages, and I intended to prove it. I should have bowed before the will of the others; I shouldn't have insisted on traveling with Alendi to witness his journeys.<br>It was inevitable that Alendi himself would find out what I believed him to be.}}

Eight days after leaving the [[Conventical of Seran|Conventical]], [[Sazed]] finds himself alone. At the village of [[Urbene]], Sazed finds the bodies of the [[skaa]] villagers. They had died from starvation and dehydration. Sazed finds a man still alive, though close to the brink of death. The man is too scared to go outside as there is mist appearing during the day. Some who tried to leave ended up dead from violent shakes (almost like an epileptic fit). Others survived, either untouched by the mists, or had a seizure, but were still alive. The man walks over to a corpse and starts eating it. Sazed uses a [[pewtermind]] to pick up the man and take him outside. Once outside the man runs away. Sazed retrieves his bag, pulling out a [[steelmind]], using the stored speed to get to [[Luthadel]] faster.

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{{epigraph|Yes, he was the one who fueled the rumors after that. I could never have done what he himself did, convincing and persuading the world that he was indeed the Hero. I don’t know if he himself believed it, but he made others think that he must be the one.}}

 

 

 

===Chapter 17===

{{epigraph|If only the Terris religion, and belief in the Anticipation, hadn't spread beyond our people.}}

 

 

Vin starts taking notes on the logbook but she is interrupted by Elend, who says there is a messenger from Straff Venture. Vin, Elend and OreSeur go to meet the messenger, who turns out to be the Watcher, and he identifies himself as Zane and states that Straff would be willing to host a meeting in his own camp, to which Elend replies that he will think about it.

 

{{epigraph|If only the Deepness hadn't come when it did, providing a threat that drove men to desperation both in action and belief.}}

 

 

Zane watches Elend secretly, and listens to a voice inside his head saying to kill him, though he is Zane's half-brother. He ignores the voice and returns to his camp after retrieving a message from a spy he employs in Elend's palace.

 

{{epigraph|If only I had passed over Alendi when looking for an assistant, all those years ago.}}

 

 

Sazed gets rid of an empty steel metalmind that he used to travel quickly, and estimates he has one week of normal walking to reach Luthadel, but he encounters an army of [[koloss]]. As he spies on them, he doesn't see a patrol that detects him, and they take him captive. Sazed is taken to the leader of the koloss, [[Jastes Lekal]], who orders Sazed to become his steward. Sazed declines, stating he has urgent business in Luthadel. Jastes allows Sazed to leave, and says to tell Elend that he will ally his army with Elend and that he will help fight off the other two armies, and coexist peacefully in the capital city.

 

{{epigraph|It wasn't until a few years later that I began to notice the signs. I knew the prophecies - I am a Terris Worldbringer, after all. And yet, not all of us are religious men; some, such as myself, are more interested in other topics. However, during my time with Alendi, I could not help but become more interested in the Anticipation. He seemed to fit the signs so well.}}

 

 

Elend, Dockson, Hammond, Clubs and Breeze discuss Elend's plan to parlay with Straff in his military camp as Vin, Tindwyl and OreSeur observe. Elend states his plan is to play Straff and Cett against each other.

 

{{epigraph|He was born of a humble family, yet married the daughter of a king.}}

 

 

Allrianne Cett arrives in the palace, and hugs Breeze, to the surprise of Elend and Hammond. Elend offers her hospitality, and she leaves to wash up.

 

{{epigraph|He could trade words with the finest of philosophers, and had an impressive memory. Nearly as good, even, as my own. Yet, he was not argumentative.}}

 

 

Vin sits in night mists, fretting over her losing control over changing circumstances. She prepares a trick to check if Hammond is an imposter, by having OreSeur startle him while he is on his patrol route while she uses bronze to see if he burns pewter, which he does. Vin tells Hammond that she is out of atium and asks for tips on fighting a mistborn, and he tells her of two possible methods to win, by either surprising the enemy or setting an unavoidable trap.

 

{{epigraph|The Terris rejected him, but he came to lead them.}}

 

 

Sazed tells Elend, Vin, Hammond, Breeze, Dockson, Clubs and Spook about the twenty thousand koloss in Jastes' army. They discuss contingency plans to deal with alternate possibilities when the third invading army shows up at Luthadel. Sazed also states there is something wrong with the mists, and that they may present a great, though undefined danger, and that they are killing people. Sazed reveals that he will be staying in Luthadel to find out more information about this problem.

 

{{epigraph|He commanded kings, and though he sought no empire, he became greater than all who had come before.}}

 

 

Vin stands watch from her guard post outside Elend's balcony. She burns bronze and detects the mist spirit, as well as a distant source of allomantic power, and reads a page from the logbook that describes a similar mysterious source of allomancy in the Terris mountains.

 

{{epigraph|He fathered no children, yet all of the land became his progeny.}}

 

 

Vin is invited by Tindwyl to go shopping for a dress to wear for her meeting with Straff Venture, and they are accompanied by Allrianne, Spook and OreSeur. Tindwyl confronts Vin about her relationship with Elend and her refusal of his marriage proposal. Tindwyl encourages Vin to speak briefly to a crowd of members of the Church of the Survivor who gather outside the dress shop.

 

===Chapter 26===

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Vin and Elend meet with Straff Venture in his military camp to parlay. Elend offers an alliance to Straff to fight off Cett's army before allowing Straff to take Luthadel so that Elend can become heir again, but Straff refuses, until Elend tries to bluff and offer up the supposed atium cache. Straff asks to speak with Elend alone, and everyone else clears out of the dinner tent.

 

{{epigraph|He was no simple soldier. He was a force of leadership - a man that fate itself seemed to support.}}

 

 

Straff and Elend parlay, Elend stating that Straff can't win without his help, but Straff states that he already has a treaty with Cett, and that he would only agree to Elend's demands if Elend accompanies Straff to the city walls and surrenders the city. Elend refuses, and Straff calls for his soldiers to kill Elend. Elend warns Straff that he would not survive if Elend is killed, but Straff counters that he has his own mistborn for protection. As Vin listens to the exchange from outside the tent, Zane appears.

 

{{epigraph|He left ruin in his wake, but it was forgotten. He created kingdoms, and then destroyed them as he made the world anew.}}

 

 

Tindwyl berates Elend for writing the legal code that allows the Assembly to depose the king. Dockson states that Elend should maneuver around the Assembly's vote to retain his throne, and Clubs and Tindwyl urge Elend to use martial law to retain control, but Elend declines to do so. Elend reviews the laws to find a way to regain his throne. Tindwyl advises Elend to not be distracted by Vin.

 

===Chapter 29===

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Vin and OreSeur are at Keep Hasting, and discuss Vin's insomnia and Zane's poor character. OreSeur states he does not want to change bodies too often. Vin has a flash of insight about the [[Deepness]].

{{epigraph|But, I must continue with the sparsest of detail. Space is limited. The other Worldbringers must have thought themselves humble when they came to me, admitting that they had been wrong. Even then, I was beginning to doubt my original declaration.<br>But, I was prideful.}}

 

 

Sazed transcribes the rubbings that he took at the Conventical of Seran. He realizes that he could spend years studying and analyzing this document.

 

{{epigraph|In the end, my pride may have doomed us all.}}

 

 

 

===Chapter 32===

{{epigraph|I had never received much attention from my brethen; they thought that my work and my interests were unsuitable to a Worldbringer. They couldn't see how my work, studying nature instead of religion, benefited the people of the fourteen lands.}}

 

 

Lord Cett addresses the Assembly on why he believes he should be voted into office as king. He argues that his army along with Elend's can hold off the other invaders and that he would rule well and make sure that all the Assembly members were rewarded for supporting him. Cett is allowed to enter the city and take occupancy of one of the abandoned keeps, accompanied by one thousand of his soldiers for protection, and the meeting is adjourned.

 

{{epigraph|As the one who found Alendi, however, I became someone important. Foremost among the Worldbringers.}}

 

 

Vin silently wonders if she is the true Hero of Ages, and expresses frustration over the vagueness of the Terris prophecies to OreSeur.

 

{{epigraph|There was a place for me, in the lore of the Anticipation - I thought myself the Announcer, the prophet foretold to discover the Hero of Ages. Renouncing Alendi then would have been to renounce my new position, my acceptance, by the others.<br>And so I did not.}}

 

 

 

Vin enters the library and mentions the poisoned well, but Elend responds that he is already aware of it. Vin starts feeling insecure about Elend and hears Reen's voice telling her to leave Elend before he does the same to her.

{{epigraph|But I do so now. Let it be known that I, Kwaan, Worldbringer of Terris, am a fraud.}}

 

 

Vin tries on her new custom-fitted mistborn gown. Tindwyl states that Elend must try to stand on his own without assistance.

 

{{epigraph|Alendi was never the Hero of Ages. At best, I have amplified his virtues, creating a Hero where there was none. At worst, I fear that all we believe may have been corrupted.}}

 

 

Sazed offers comfort to a newly arrived group of refugees who are being housed in an arms warehouse. Tindwyl asks Sazed to show her the rubbing that he made at the Conventical of Seran.

 

{{epigraph|And so, I come to the focus of my argument. I apologize. Even forcing my words into steel, sitting and scratching in this frozen cave, I am prone to ramble.}}

 

 

 

Elend and Hammond patrol the city wall and discuss Elend's desire to remain king so that he can protect the people of Luthadel. Elend has an insight on how he can get enough votes to not be deposed by the Assembly.

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{{epigraph|This is the problem. Though I believed in Alendi at first, I later became suspicious. It seemed that he fit the signs, true. But, well, how can I explain this? Could it be that he fit them too well?.}}

 

Vin and Elend attend the Assembly Hall for the election for king. Elend reveals that he has a surprise, but doesn't tell Vin what it is, though she intuits correctly that Elend has joined the Church of the Survivor to try to sway the skaa representatives to vote for him and cause a deadlock which would leave him in power. Vin notices some people acting suspiciously.

Elend states how he didn't know how disturbing seeing Vin fight could be. Elend and Hammond agree that the assassins were sent by Straff. Elend is informed by a messenger that the Assembly reconvened at Penrod's mansion to vote. Elend travels to the mansion along with Hammond.

 

 

{{anchor|Part 4}}

{{epigraph|I know your argument. We speak of the Anticipation, of things foretold, of promises made by our greatest prophets of old. Of course the Hero of Ages will fit the prophecies. He will fit them perfectly. That's the idea.}}

 

 

Straff berates Zane for failing to kill Cett and Elend and for costing the lives of six of his illegitimate allomancer children. Straff is also distraught that Vin survived, and that Zane is a madman.

{{epigraph|And yet ... something about all this seemed so convenient. It felt almost as if we constructed a hero to fit our prophecies, rather than allowing one to arise naturally. This was the worry I had, the thing that should have given me pause when my brethren came to me, finally willing to believe.}}

 

 

Vin wakes up in a hospital bed, and Elend is there. He tells her that Penrod is now king, and flinches unconsciously when Vin touches him, thinking of when she killed the assassins. Vin hears Reen's voice saying that everyone will abandon her. Elend tells Vin that OreSeur lived and is consuming a new host body.

{{epigraph|After that, I began to see other problems.}}

 

 

Sazed and Tindwyl debate about the metal plate at the Conventical of Seran and Alendi's logbook. They are confused as to why Kwaan opposed Alendi taking the power from the Well of Ascension to defeat the dangerous Deepness. Sazed reads the rubbings and Tindwyl says something is wrong though she isn't sure what. They discuss this and ponder why Kwaan sent Rashek to kill or hinder Alendi, since it doesn't make sense based on what they know. They realize that when Luthadel is conquered, many people will be killed, and that further study is needed to determine what Alendi's motives were.

 

{{epigraph|Some of you may know of my fabled memory. It is true; I need not a Feruchemist's metalmind to memorize a sheet of words in an instant.}}

 

 

Elend works on keeping the city residents from freezing, and on discovering who poisoned the city water supply. A skaa named [[Larn (Scadrian)|Larn]] tells Elend that he saw an Inquisitor in Luthadel. [[Felt]] reports his findings on how a spy may be poisoning the city's food and water. Hammond shows up, and Elend tells him that Cett is staying in Luthadel to continue to oppose Straff.

 

{{epigraph|The others call me mad. As I have said, that may be true.}}

 

 

OreSeur tells Vin about Elend's trip to the koloss army. Zane shows up, stating that Demoux is betraying Elend at Cett's behest. Zane suggests that they get revenge on Cett for this, and force his army to withdraw. OreSeur warns Vin to not go, but she ignores the kandra and retrieves the atium bead that he was holding.

 

{{epigraph|But must not even a madman rely on his own mind, his own experience, rather than that of others?}}

 

 

Breeze watches as Cett's army withdraws, and Clubs speculates that Straff can withdraw and let the koloss attack and weaken Luthadel to make his own invasion easier.

 

{{epigraph|I know what I have memorized. I know what is now repeated by the other Worldbringers.}}

 

 

Tindwyl tells Sazed that the hero of ages won't be Terris, and Sazed agrees. Tindwyl and Sazed debate the purpose of religion.

 

{{epigraph|The two are not the same.}}

 

 

Breeze gets a secret request in writing to meet Sazed. Breeze goes to the meeting which is also attended by Clubs, Hammond and Dockson. They discuss the possibility of Straff withdrawing and the koloss attacking. Sazed wants to stay and defend the city but send away Elend and Vin, along with Spook and Tindwyl.

 

{{epigraph|Alendi believes as they do.}}

 

 

Vin broods about her perceived failures and listens to a distant thumping which she realizes is the Well of Ascension being restored to power. OreSeur tells Vin that he doesn't like Terrismen since they are difficult to imitate, but has done so since they are always around powerful people. Vin notices the mists behaving oddly, staying indoors without vanishing for a long period of time. Zane appears and tries to get Vin to leave Luthadel with him. She almost does, but realizes that she values Elend's trust in her, and declines. Zane is angered and attacks Vin. Vin issues a command to OreSeur to give her the atium he was holding for her but he ignores her, and instead obeys Zane who is revealed to be his real master. Zane calls the kandra TenSoon. Vin realizes that TenSoon is the spy. As Zane and Vin fight, TenSoon cries out about how Vin knows about kandra, giving aid to Vin by reminding her of his weakness. She burns duralumin and brass, and is able to use soothing to control TenSoon. She takes the bead of atium from TenSoon though it only had a few seconds worth of atium, and it runs out quickly, as Zane intended. However, she uses Zane's dependance on atium to somehow feint him into revealing where she was going to attack, and diverts her dagger to where Zane didn't anticipate it, stabbing him in the neck and killing him.

 

{{epigraph|He is a good man—despite it all, he is a good man. A sacrificing man. In truth, all of his actions—all of the deaths, destructions and pains he has caused—have hurt him deeply. All of these things were, in truth, a kind of sacrifice for him.}}

 

 

Elend considers his options for dealing with Jastes' koloss army. Vin appears, injured from her fight, and tells Elend that she killed his brother Zane, which shocks him. Elend summons Sazed to provide medical care for Vin. Vin speaks of Elend's and Kelsier's capacity for trust and proposes to Elend and he accepts. Sazed performs a brief [[Larsta]] ceremony and declares them married.

 

{{epigraph|He is accustomed to giving up his own will before the greater good, as he sees it.}}

 

 

Elend prepares to depart for the Well of Ascension, while Tindwyl berates him for abandoning his people. Tindwyl questions Elend's and Vin's belief in the supernatural properties of the Well of Ascension. Elend grows angry and orders Tindwyl to leave, though he agrees to deliver a package to the Synod in [[Tathingdwen]]. Spook arrives, as does Allrianne, and she convinces them to allow her to join their company, stating that Breeze ordered her to leave the city. They leave the city through the Tin Gate, stating to the guards that they are going for help and will return. A group of archers tries to intercept them outside the city but Vin fights them off. Allrianne then parts ways with them.

 

{{epigraph|I have no doubt that if Alendi reaches the Well of Ascension, he will take the power and then—in the name of the presumed greater good—give it up.}}

 

 

Allrianne arrives at her father's army escorted by bandits that she used Rioting and the promise of a reward to manipulate into helping her. She confronts her father and argues that he should turn his army back to Luthadel instead of proceeding to their home dominance to improve their chances of survival.

 

{{epigraph|And so, I have made one final gamble.}}

 

 

Vin sees the mist spirit in her tent, hovering over Elend, and tries to stab it with her dagger and makes contact with something, but the spirit vanishes. Elend wakes up from the disturbance, but Vin tells him that she is just feeling anxious. Spook says that they are being followed by five men. Spook laments that he feels useless with only one allomantic ability, but decides to utilize it as much as possible even when it doesn't seem to be needed at the time.

 

{{epigraph|My pleas, my teachings, my objections, and even my treasons were all ineffectual. Alendi has other counselors now, ones who will tell him what he wants to hear.}}

 

 

Breeze consumes great quantities of brass as he soothes the defending human soldiers who await the koloss attack at the Zinc Gate. Breeze tells Clubs that he has tried to soothe the koloss but was unable. Clubs says that he never lost a battle in twenty years of fighting, but that he always had the koloss on his side in the past.

 

{{epigraph|I have a young nephew, one Rashek. He hates all of Khlennium with the passion of an envious youth. He hates Alendi even more acutely—though the two have never met—for Rashek feels betrayed that one of our oppressors should have been chosen as the Hero of Ages.}}

 

 

Straff and his army are just outside Luthadel, and Straff tells General Janarle that they will let the koloss fight for a few hours and tire themselves out before they invade the city to drive the koloss out.

 

{{epigraph|Alendi will need guides through the Terris Mountains. I have charged Rashek with making certain that he and his trusted friends are chosen as those guides.}}

 

 

Vin battles against the koloss but realizes that she won't be able to defeat all of them by herself.

 

{{epigraph|Rashek is to try and lead Alendi in the wrong direction, to discourage him, or otherwise foil his quest. Alendi doesn't know that he has been deceived, that we've all been deceived, and he will not listen to me now.}}

 

 

Straff wakes up the morning after the koloss attack, and General Janarle reports that the fighting in the city seems to be over. However, they notice that there are koloss lining up outside the city wall, as well as human soldiers, taking Straff off guard. The koloss and humans charge Straff's army, and Straff suddenly notices Vin hurtling through the air toward him.

 

{{epigraph|If Rashek fails to lead Alendi astray, then I have instructed the lad to kill Alendi.}}

 

 

As Elend and Spook travel to Luthadel, Elend encounters the mist spirit. It points north and apparently tries to mentally push Elend, but then vanishes when Spook shows up. They encounter a group of Terris refugees, who were fleeing from Tathingdwen toward Luthadel because a group of Steel Inquisitors appeared there and attacked the Synod, killing them. Elend and Spook decide to accompany the Terrismen on their journey, and Elend states that he believes that Vin has prevailed somehow in Luthadel.

 

{{epigraph|It is a distant hope. Alendi has survived assassins, wars, and catastrophes. And yet, I hope that in the frozen mountains of Terris, he may finally be exposed. I hope for a miracle.}}

 

 

Sazed listens in as Penrod, Cett and Janarle impatiently debate on their future courses of action, while they await Elend's arrival and Vin's return to consciousness.

 

{{epigraph|Alendi must not reach the Well of Ascension....}}

 

 

Vin, Elend, Hammond and Spook find a second, larger cavern, with a lot of smoke, and they go towards a light.

 

{{epigraph|...for he must not be allowed to release the thing that is imprisoned there.}}

 

 

Vin holds Elend as he clings to life, and despairs, as the Well is drained and the thing is gone. The mist spirit urges Vin to pick up the metal bead then leads her back to Elend, and she realizes that she must feed the metal to Elend. She gives him one of her metal vials to wash the bead down with, and watches in shock as Elend burns pewter and returns to full health.

 

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Sazed arrives at the Conventical of Seran, and compares his rubbing to the metal plate and sees that the two don't match. The metal plate states that "Alendi must not reach the Well of Ascension for he must not be allowed to release the thing that is imprisoned there". Sazed reads the final section on the plate, which references prophecies that are altered by a malevolent force to cause

Alendi to release the power of the Well, leading to disaster, and Kwaan's contingency plan of Rashek killing Alendi to prevent this from happening. Sazed loses all faith upon reading these words.