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Difference between revisions of "Waxillium Ladrian"

Waxillium Ladrian (edit)

Revision as of 16:57, 6 July 2018

66 bytes added ,  5 years ago
m
Why so tense? Also, changed some other straggler typos/awkward word choices.
(→‎Bleeder: Re-arranged some words for clarity, wiped my tears again.)
m (Why so tense? Also, changed some other straggler typos/awkward word choices.)
In his early months in Elendel, Wax earned a reputation for frequently disappearing early from social functions, preferring to steel-push through the mists, in patrol of the city. On one such night, Waxillium paused his patrol and intervened in a shootout. Believing he heard a woman's whimper which reminded him of Lessie, Wax froze during the gunfight. Coming to the conclusion that he was no longer capable of being a lawman, and with the effectiveness of the city constabulary forcing him to face the irrelevance of vigilante justice in general, Wax hung up his guns for good.{{book ref|mb4|1}}
 
Throwing himself into the much more mundane effort of saving his house’s financial future, Waxillium spent half a year working to reverse his late uncle’s squandering of the family funds. Believing there iswas no other choice, he entered into a marriage agreement with [[Lord Harms]]’ daughter, [[Steris]], hopeful that her father’s money would help bring House Ladrian back from the brink of destitution.
 
That same day, Wayne, an old partner from his time in the Roughs, re-entered Wax’s life carrying with him an [[aluminum]] bullet and a tantalizing mystery surrounding a gang of train robbers known as the [[Vanishers]], which threatened to draw Wax away from his house responsibilities and right back into the life of a lawman.{{book ref|mb4|2}}
Against his better judgement, and under the disapproving eye of his butler, Tillaume, Wax began to piece together the history of the Vanishers, hoping to discover the reason for their unorthodox targets as well as the secret behind the way they commit their crimes. Realizing the distraction this has created for his house duties, Waxillium endeavored to put away this new obsession and attended the Yomen-Ostlin wedding dinner with Steris, marking their public debut as a couple.{{book ref|mb4|3}}
 
After the wedding was interrupted by the arrival of bandits from the Vanishers gang, who proceeded to rob the lords and ladies in attendance at gunpoint, Wax initially refused Wayne’s insistence that he take up a pistol, having convincingconvinced himself that the Elendel constabulary would be able to handle the disturbance with far less bloodshed. When the gang went too far, killing a man and taking Steris as a hostage, Wax admitted that he could not stand idly by, and attacked the gang with his backup pistols and the full fury of his steel-pushing.{{book ref|mb4|5}}
 
In the ensuing gunfight, Wax, Wayne, and, surprisingly, Steris’ cousin Marasi worked together to subdue the majority of the attackers, while successfully minimizing civilian casualties. When Marasi was suddenly held at gunpoint by one of the gang, in the same fashion as Lessie a year ago, Wax nearly froze up again. Marasi struggled, successfully stunning the Vanisher holding her, momentarily opening up the shot for Wax and forcing him to make a choice to overcome his fear to pull the trigger and save her. As the robbers retreated, Waxillium was surprised to discover the identity of the Vanishers’ leader, Miles “Hundredlives” Dagouter, another former lawman from the Roughs.{{book ref|mb4|6}}
 
With Steris kidnapped, Wax re-doubled his efforts into his previous investigation. Having obtained one of the Vanishers’ aluminum guns, Wax poured himself into researching its makeup and possible origin as well as workiedworked to uncover the mystery of the Vanishers’sVanishers’ ultimate goal.{{book ref|mb4|7}} In the middle of his investigation, Wax, Wayne, and Marasi were caught up in an explosion in his study, set off by his butler in a botched attempt to assassinate him.{{book ref|mb4|9}}
 
Eventually discovering the location of the Vanishers’ hideout and confirming Hundredlives’ involvement, Wax began forming a plan to take down the unbeatable, former lawman.{{book ref|mb4|10}} Focusing his attention on puzzling out the Vanishers’ peculiar robbery methods, Wax was taken by surprise when the Vanishers attacked his train en route back to Elendel.{{book ref|mb4|12}}
Wounded in the attack and shaken by Hundredlives’ claim that the real evil in the world is the corruption of Elendel itself{{book ref|mb4|13}}, Waxillium escaped to Ranette’s house, where he obtained [[Hazekiller]] bullets and a new prototype revolver, [[Vindication]].{{book ref|mb4|14}}
 
Correctly deducing the Vanishers’ next target, Wax set Wayne and Marasi to work, zeroing in on the protection of Lord Tekiel’s next shipment train, which includesincluded the new, [[Breaknaught]] cargo car. Infiltrating the car just before the predicted robbery takestook place, Wax allowed himself to be taken to the Vanishers’ lair.{{book ref|mb4|16}}
 
Making use of a large amount of dynamite smuggled alongside him in the Breaknaught, Waxillium fought his way through the Vanishers’ hideout, unfortunately losing Vindication in the fray. Successfully springing a trap made specially to capture Hundredlives, Wax was then forced to flee when the outlaw opted to blow himself up with a personal explosive, rather than be captured.
 
Escaping into the mists, Waxillium briefly experienced a conversation with [[Harmony]], culminatingwhich culminated in the realization that Harmony had worked behind the scenes to orchestrate the delivery of Wax’s old, lost weapons to the Vanishers’ hideout, just in time to help.{{book ref|mb4|18}}. Newly re-armed, Wax located and rescued Steris, killingkilled numerous members of the Vanishers gang and destroyingdestroyed their hideout with a tremendous feat of metalborn power.
 
As the building collapsed, several surviving Vanishers, led by the now fully-healed, Miles Hundredlives, held Marasi at gunpoint.
Refusing to freeze up and lose another woman’s life to the same type of standoff, Wax called for Wayne to create a speed bubble. Firing at the Vanisher through the speed bubble, Wax compensated for the unavoidable veering of the time-slowed bullet by firing a second time, in an incredibly aimed shot which struck his first bullet and caused it to ricochet directly into the thug’s head.
 
Miles and an already injured Wax squared off, with Hundredlives beating Wax mercilessly. Waxillium held on, taking the punishment of Miles’ blows as Marasi secretly heldsheld them in a time bubble. Wax successfully distracted the outlaw, laying all of his hopes on the absent Wayne, who finally returned, having surrounded the three of them with Elendel’s constables.{{book ref|mb4|19}}
 
=== Meeting Mister Suit ===
After the surviving Vanishers were taken into custody and interrogated, Waxillium recognized the description of a man working with Miles whom they called "Mister Suit," which led him to believe they were talking about his [supposed] late uncle, [[Edwarn Ladrian]]. Following up on a lead to Suit's current whereabouts, Wax boarded a train at [[Dryport]] and confirmed his suspicions.
 
Confronting his uncle face to face, Waxillium demanded that Edwarn give up the location of the other women the Vanishers had kidnapped. Unthreatened, Edwarn welcomed Wax to attempt to expose his operation, as there was no real proof pointing to the old man's involvement. Wax listened as his uncle chastiseschastised him for his purported self-righteousness, just as he did when Wax was a child. When Wax moved to take matters into his own hands, Edwarn called in his men, who threw Wax off the back of the train.
 
But not before Wax swiped his uncle's appointment book.{{book ref|mb4|epilogue}}
Months later, while steel-pushing through the crowded city streets in hot pursuit of bank robber the [[Marksman]] (an Allomancer connected with the [[Set]] who featured in Edwarn’s appointment book), Wax was stunned and deeply disturbed to recognize the face of an onlooker on the sidewalk below —Bloody Tan, Lessie’s murderer. {{book ref|mb5|2}}
 
Shaken and unable to locate Tan among the crowds, Wax enlisted the help of Wayne and Marasi to continue the chase into the [[Breakouts]]. Eventually catching Marks, Wax was prevented from apprehending and bringing the man in for questioning when Marks was suddenly killed by an assassin’s crossbow.{{book ref|mb5|3}}
 
Approached by a number of constables, who arrived late on the scene, Wax learned that Constable-General [[Claude Aradel]] would like to quietly enlist his assistance in investigating the recent murder of Elendel Governer [[Replar Innate]]’s brother, [[Winsting]], who had been killed among 30 of Elendel’s most notorious criminals. Examining the scene, Wax determined that Winsting was stabbed by someone familiar to the man, citing the location of the killings, the position of the bodies, and the sheer number of victims —details which also dictated that Feruchemically enhanced speed would have been required to perform the grisly feat. Wax steeled himself, knowing he was now on the trail of a [[Steelrunner]].{{book ref|mb5|4}}
Blindsided by another momentary glimpse of Bloody Tan on the crowded streets, Wax began to doubt his own senses. Shaking off the distraction, Wax joined Wayne in discovering Idashwy’s corpse, laying in her kitchen with a large hole bored through her chest.
 
Having spent great amounts of time studying a book gifted to him by [[Ironeyes]] himself{{book ref|mb4|epilogue}}, Wax recognized the likelihood of Idashwy having been the victim of the creation of a Hemalurgic spike. Guessing that the killer used the spike to steal her Feruchemical speed, Wax was surprised to find a note written to himself hidden in the victim’s pocket. On the note were the last words Bloody Tan said to him, back in the Roughs: “Someone else moves us, lawman.”{{book ref|mb5|6}}
 
Needing time to think, Wax rode alone in his carriage, driven by [[Hoid]]. Casually musing upon whether his [[Pathian]] earring may have once been a Hermalurgic spike, Wax placed it into his ear. Immediately, Harmony spoke to Wax directly, careful to reassure him that he had not gone insane. Harmony admitted that the earring was a spike, which was the reason they were able to converse. Additionally, Harmony explained that Wax’s earlier sightings of Bloody Tan were real and not imagined, though the murderer Wax had been chasing all this time was not a man, but actually a [[Faceless Immortal]] using Tan’s bones, named [[Bleeder]].{{book ref|mb5|7}}
 
While attending Lady ZoBell’s party with Steris, Wax met the Faceless Immortal, [[MeLaan]], sent to help in the hunt for Bleeder by Harmony himself. In between chats with various nobility of the city, Wax began to hear a new voice in his head, mocking him and the people of Elendel. Wax soon realized he was hearing the voice of Bleeder, who had somehow usinglearned to use the same Hermalurgic connection to him that Harmony had.{{book ref|mb5|9}}. Using their connection to discover BleederBleeder’s location at the party, Wax attempted to apprehend her, giving chase out a window and through the Mists of the city outside.{{book ref|mb5|10}}
 
His pursuit of Bleeder waylaid by a dozen armed men, Wax was convinced that she must be aligned with the Set. Wax listened as Bleeder spoke in his mind of her plans to kill the governor and free the city from Harmony’s influence, but first she claimed she would need to murder Wax’s father. Guessing that she must have been threatening Lord Harms’ life, Wax raced to get the old man to safety. Finally believing he had arrived one step ahead of Bleeder, Wax then reported to Governor Innate to fill him in on the dire threat to his life, only to discover that during his absence, Bleeder had brutally killed [[Father Bin]], the [[Survivorist]] priest who was to perform his marriage ceremony to Steris.{{book ref|mb5|12}}
 
Tracking Bleeder’s path, Wax located the carriage she had used to escape the scene of the killing. Inside, Wax found traces of [[Perchwither]], a substance only found in the [[Kandra Homeland|Homeland of the Faceless Immortals]].{{book ref|mb5|15}} Puzzled, Wax followed her trail back to the Governor’s mansion. Once close enough to her location, Bleeder’s voice immediately returned to his mind, keen to convince Wax that he must realize how much Harmony hashad been using him. Sowing doubt, Bleeder asked Wax to explain why Harmony failed to step in and save Lessie’s life. Distracted, Wax was unable to prevent Bleeder from using her stolen steelrunner abilities to approach Innate's chambers. Bleeder disappeared, leaving the governor alive, but Wax found a message written in the blood of her latest kill:
 
{{quote
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Seeking more information on Bleeder, Wax entersentered the museum in the [[Field of Rebirth]]. Locating the secret path through the historical [[Atium]] mines, Wax entered the cavern leading to the Homeland, and encountered [[TenSoon]], legendary wolfhound of the [[Ascendant Warrior]]. TenSoon told Wax much of Bleeder’s history and showed him a torn up and desecrated copy of the [[Words of Founding]], the product of one of her last acts before leaving the Homeland and evidence of her descent into madness.{{book ref|mb5|20}}
 
Wax and TenSoon found themselves chased from the Homeland by the sudden appearance of deformed humans under Bleeder’s Hemalurgic control, but not before Wax came to realize the full scope of her plan. She didn't want to simply kill the governor, she wanted to incite a city-wide riot.{{book ref|mb5|21}} Wax immediately returned to Innate’s mansion, intent on saving his life once and for all. After entering the governor’s study, Wax noticed a carefully placed gumball, which he recognized to be a sign of trouble, left for him by Wayne. Immediately figuring out that Bleeder had been impersonating the governor the entire time, Wax pulled his gun on her, but she opened fire on Innate's guards and escaped out the window.{{book ref|mb5|22}}
Steel-pushing through the night after Bleeder, Wax found her, changing bodies once again before she moved to escape. Finally catching her on the [[Eastbridge]], Wax saw that Bleeder had pointed her gun at him, but she did not fire. She begged him to forsake Harmony and be free. Wax ignored the pain he felt, seeing that Bleeder was now wearing the face of his dead wife, Lessie. He did his best not to listen to how well Bleeder could mimic Lessie’s voice and mannerisms.
 
Wax levelled Vindication and shot her in the head with the bullet from the gun’s special chamber. The bullet had been made to his request by RannetteRanette, molded from his Pathian earring. It was designed to give Bleeder a second spike, which in turn allowed Harmony to retake control of the mad immortal.{{book ref|mb5|25}}
 
As she died in his arms, having terminated her own life to prevent herself from being controlled again, Bleeder begged Wax to ask Harmony why he originally sent her to him, back in the Roughs. Telling Wax that she loved him, she demanded that he ask why, if Harmony was such a wonderful, all-knowing god, he would use Wax kill her.
 
Too late, Wax realized that the woman he had shot was not just Bleeder, an insane murderer and Faceless Immortal that looked like Lessie; this ''was'' Lessie.{{book ref|mb5|26}}
 
===Wax and Steris' Wedding===
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