Catacendre

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The Catacendre is a major event on Scadrial and in the Cosmere as a whole. It marked the the merging of Ruin and Preservation into a single Shard, Harmony. It is the first time a new Vessel has ascended to take a Shard.^{[citation needed]}

Lead-up

With Ruin released upon the world and Preservation's Vessel Leras weakening day-by-day, an endless fall of ash, intensifying earthquakes, and erupting ashmounts threatened the very existence of Scadrial and it's people.

After his final conversation with Elend, Leras finally died, leaving Preservation without a Holder. It would have quickly been absorbed by Vin, who was specially attuned to Preservation's power, except for the fact that she was still wearing her earring, which was Hemalurgically charged, acting as a repulsive factor. The cognitive shadow of Kelsier was able to partially absorb the power of Preservation, helping to delay Ruin's destruction of the world, but could not wield its full power.

During Vin's final battle with all of Ruin's Feruchemically enhanced Steel Inquisitors above Kredik Shaw in the abandoned Luthadel, Marsh tore out Vin's earring, with Kelsier using all of his strength to distract Ruin and help push Marsh's last vestige of willpower to rebel. Kelsier was already held under Preservation's Intent, and thus relinquished his hold on the power, knowing Vin would still be able to override the Intent for a time. Her body broken under the assault, Vin finally drew in the full power of Preservation, allowing her to nearly destroy all of the Inquisitors (save Marsh) before fully Ascending.

As Preservation, Ruin initially allowed her to flail about with her newfound power, knowing she will make mistakes. By clearing the air of ash, she allowed the too-near sun to release it's deadly heat across the world. Turning the world to protect people from the sun, she caused a massive tsunami, wiping out the coastline. By the time she realized she must take more subtle action, Ruin stepped in to block her, taunting her. However, the two were at an impasse, as their power was evenly matched. This was because a part of Ruin's "body", in the form of atium, had been hidden away by the Lord Ruler at the Pits of Hathsin, kept secret by the kandra in the Trustwarren. But the two were still able to influence those who wielded their investiture which allowed Ruin to discover this by taking control of KanPaar following his coup of the First Generation.

Ruin sent his massive koloss army to attack the Pits, but Vin was able reach Elend and help him realize the truth behind the Mistfallen battalion: they were seers, mistings able to burn atium. Thus began the Battle of Hathsin, and Vin watched as Elend and most of his men died, holding off the koloss army, as they burned away the remaining atium in their sacrifice. With Elend dead, Vin had nothing left to live for and assaulted Ruin with all of her power, knowing it will kill both of them. She and Ati fell dead by Kelsier, outside the Pits, as Sazed watched, leaving both Ruin and Preservation unheld.

The Final Ascension

After Ati and Vin had perished, both Ruin and Preservation were unheld. Sazed was able to pick up both of the two Shards. The two Shards merged together under a single Vessel and became known as Harmony.

Repercussions

The primary repercussion of the Final Ascension was the reforming of Scadrial. The two Shards, working in harmony together, were able to reform Scadrial back to a nearly identical world as it was like before the Lord Ruler's Ascension. Sazed had the ability to do this better than most, because of his duties as a Keeper and thus the knowledge stored in his metalminds. The religions he'd studied and rejected due to inconsistencies each held some truths about the past world, including cartography, geology, anatomy, zoology, and artwork depicting the world's beauty. The main exception was the region of Elendel Basin, which replaced the area where Hathsin once was and was designed to be a fertile cradle for civilization's renewal.

Trivia

'Cata' is a common latin prefix which roughly translates to 'down' or 'reversal'. 'Cendre' is a French word for cinder or ash. Thus Catacendre can roughly translate both to an ashfall and/or the undoing of ash. Both meanings fit rather well for the events of the Catacendre.

See Also

• Scadrial#History
• Southern Scadrian#History

Notes

Catacendre

Catacendre

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