The Eleventh Metal

The Eleventh Metal>
by ?
Mistborn Era 1 Precedes The Final Empire
Setting	Scadrial, Cosmere
Released	December 15, 2011
Publisher	Crafty Games
Word Count	6,713

For the actual metal, see Malatium.

The Eleventh Metal is a short story included in the Mistborn Adventure Game. It was released in full on Brandon's site during the Words of Radiance Steelhunt. It was republished in Arcanum Unbounded. A sample is available on Brandon's website.

Summary

It tells the story of how Gemmel taught Kelsier the art of Allomancy. They travel to Mantiz and attack Keep Shezler. There, Kelsier learns that Antillius Shezler had been searching for half-breed skaa for him to torture, hopefully snap, and then test new metals on in a search for the eleventh metal. ^[expand]

Plot Summary

Kelsier and Gemmel, his mentor, sit on a roof overlooking the city of Mantiz in the Western Dominance. Kelsier attempts to draw a recreation of the picture of Mare’s flower. This is at least his two dozenth time trying to get the drawing right, and Gemmel discourages him from doing this, saying that Kelsier should try to move on from the past. Kelsier focuses on smiling, thinking that he will practice the expression until it feels natural in the hopes that it will help his depression after Mare’s death.

Gemmel directs Kelsier to Keep Shezler, and Kelsier proposes a plan to break in - wearing fine clothing and taking advantage of Lord Shezler’s interest in Luthadel nobles. Gemmel gets angry, accusing Kelsier of not thinking like an Allomancer and telling him to fight instead of talk. This ignites Kelsier’s rage and desire for revenge, but he reflects on the fact that he has no plans, only anger, and that anger isn’t enough to guide him. Gemmel tells Kelsier to burn all eight metals, and they enter the mists and approach the wall of the keep.

Kelsier and Gemmel use Allomancy to Push themselves onto the wall, and Gemmel talks to himself about how Kelsier almost never complains, unlike his past three trainees. Kelsier notices that Gemmel has killed two guards, and also remarks that the mists seem afraid of Gemmel, but dismisses the thought as nonsense. Gemmel lectures him about how he shouldn’t be so focused on saving his metal reserves and tells him that children on the streets are ferocious and will use everything at their disposal to survive. Kelsier asks why they’re infiltrating the keep, to which Gemmel responds cryptically that they’re going to find something important. Kelsier tries to joke with Gemmel about the meaning of life, but Gemmel is pessimistic and leads Kelsier to miss his crew, mentioning Dockson specifically. He thinks that he can’t return to Luthadel until he begins to heal from his trauma and master his Mistborn powers.

Kelsier and Gemmel scale the keep, and when they reach the top, Gemmel knocks Kelsier off. He manages to Push on his metal vials right before he hits the ground, slowing his fall enough to leave him with no broken bones, only bruises. They then kill more guards and enter the basement through a passageway in the garden shed. Kelsier uses coins and steel burning to carefully walk down the dark stairs, and they enter a room used for smelting.

Kelsier finds a narrow room connected, and inside there are six people, beaten up and bound. Kelsier talks to a woman, who begs him to either free or kill them. She says he was testing new metals on the skaa and beating them in an attempt to make them snap. As Kelsier frees the other skaa, Gemmel enters the room but doesn’t pay much attention, instead muttering to himself. He’s followed by a man in a fashionable suit, who Kelsier quickly identifies as Lord Shezler. Kelsier smiles at the man, who tosses a coin and Pushes on it. Kelsier Pushes in retaliation, flinging them both backwards. As Kelsier sees Shezler is a Mistborn, he becomes angry and determined to fight back. Kelsier realizes that he’s wearing metal on his coat buttons and the coins in his pockets and has to Push his coins away and take off his coat so Shezler doesn’t have an advantage. He understands that Gemmel brought him here to give him experience fighting a Mistborn and teach him to think more like an Allomancer.

After a short fight, in which Kelsier breaks some of Shezler’s equipment, Kelsier picks up a shard of glass and stabs it into his opponent’s neck three times, killing him. Gemmel reprimands him, saying that he picked an easy target and that Kelsier needs to practice Pushing and Pulling. Kelsier frees the rest of the imprisoned skaa while Gemmel looks through Shezler’s notes about theories on the “eleventh metal.” Gemmel finds a fork and takes it with him as they leave with the skaa. Kelsier begins to brainstorm a plan to overthrow the Lord Ruler, and decides to find someone who can make him a mistcloak.

Main Characters

• Kelsier, three months after gaining his powers.
• Gemmel, Kelsier's Mistborn tutor.
• Antillius Shezler, a Western Dominance nobleman, obsessed with finding new metals.

Postscript

Note: the Postscript is found in Arcanum Unbounded, a collection of Cosmere stories.

The Eleventh Metal shows how Ruin manipulated Kelsier into obsessing about the eleventh metal, hoping that it was a secret weapon to defeat the Lord Ruler. Since it was written to go with the RPG, where some players may not have read the main novels, there is more exposition than the other auxiliary Mistborn stories.

Statistical Analysis

The Eleventh Metal consists of 6,713 words from the PoV of Kelsier.

Word Count	6,713
PoV Characters	1
PoV Count	1

Notes

This meta article is still missing information. Please help The Coppermind by expanding it.