Difference between revisions of "Cosmere"

Jump to navigation Jump to search
m (Removing content not on updated page; was already on Scadrial#Creation_of_Scadrial)
 
There is not a universal language for all cosmere worlds that these worldhoppers speak.{{wob ref|1136}}
 
=== The Ascension of Harmony ===
 
==== Ruin's Plan for Freedom ====
On Scadrial, the [[Well of Ascension]], that power that came from Preservation, could be utilized by humanity. For much of Classical Scadrian history, a person called the [[Hero of Ages]] by the [[Terris Prophecies]] would take up the power and become a protector of mankind. They would live the rest of their lives blessing people with the power of Preservation, renewing Ruin's prison, and watch over the world.{{wob ref|6070}} The power did not vanish, instead returning every 1024 years.{{wob ref|5511}}
 
Ruin was keenly interested in the Well of Ascension. If he could get a person to hold the power there, but instead of utilize the power, release it, then the prison on Ruin's mind would vanish, and he would then be free to finally destroy the world.{{epigraph ref|mb3|46}} To do this, Ruin manipulated the Terris Prophecies over a long period of time. He made it so the Hero of Ages would include the "sacred piercings," actually [[Hemalurgy|Hemalurgic]] piercings, so he could influence the Hero.{{wob ref|5767}} More importantly, Ruin changed the Prophecies extensively so that the Well and the Hero's purpose was obscured.{{wob ref|6070}} Now the Hero was supposed to take the Well's power and release it.
 
Then, Ruin drove the world into desperate straits so that people would believe in a hero of ancient prophecy. If he fought Preservation, the mists--the Shard of Preservation's direct essence--which still protected the land would oppose him. So, he used Preservation to his advantage: the mists Snapped [[Allomancy|Allomancers]], and people misinterpreted the mists as a negative thing. Instead of fighting against the mists' action, Ruin enhanced them, bringing the death of plants, and causing the threat that became the [[Deepness]].{{epigraph ref|mb3|81}}
 
Thus, when a [[Terris]] [[Worldbringer]], [[Kwaan]], claimed that [[Alendi]] was the Hero of Ages,{{epigraph ref|mb2|13}} Ruin saw an opportunity. He altered the Terris Prophecies to fit Alendi more perfectly.{{epigraph ref|mb2|40}} Alendi came to persuade kings and all the Worldbringers who denied him that he was the Hero, and under the threat of the Deepness, Alendi was their leader.{{epigraph ref|mb2|23}}{{epigraph ref|mb2|24}} So, to defeat the threat of the Deepness, Alendi traveled to the mountains of Terris, where the Well of Ascension lay, to take up the power, and release it to eliminate the Deepness.{{epigraph ref|mb2|50}}
 
{{sidequote
| Alendi must not reach the Well of Ascension, for he must not be allowed to release the thing that is imprisoned there.
| [[Kwaan]]{{epigraph ref|mb2|58}}{{epigraph ref|mb2|59}}
|side=left|size=200px|
}}
Kwaan, however, had a fabled memory, and noticed that the Prophecies had changed.{{epigraph ref|mb2|45}}{{epigraph ref|mb2|46}} But Kwaan was not able to persuade Alendi that he was not, in fact, the Hero after they had argued for so long to prove that he was the hero of legend.{{epigraph ref|mb2|52}} So Kwaan, knowing something was awry with the Well, tasked a nephew, [[Rashek]], who hated Alendi, to be Alendi's guide through the mountains.{{epigraph ref|mb2|53}}{{epigraph ref|mb2|54}} Since Rashek was a [[Feruchemy|Feruchemist]], Rashek and his friends were easy picks for Alendi. If Rashek could not lead Alendi astray, he was to kill him.{{epigraph ref|mb2|56}}
 
And Rashek did murder Alendi. Rashek took the power of the Well himself, and in those few moments of [[Ascension of the Lord Ruler|Ascension]], he tried to stop the Deepness by moving Scadrial itself closer to the sun, to burn the mists. To counteract the heat, he created the Ashmounts.{{epigraph ref|mb3|4}} He also altered humans on Scadrial, creating [[skaa]] and [[noble]]s. He learned of the [[Metallic Arts]], developing Hemalurgic constructs, and with the discovery of [[Allomancy]], he figured out a way to combine Allomancy and his Feruchemy to become immortal (through Compounding).{{epigraph ref|mb3|9}} Rashek would be the Lord Ruler, the Hero of Ages, and protect the world from Ruin.{{book ref|mb3|48}}
 
{{sidequote
| One can see Ruin's craftiness in the meticulousness of his planning. He managed to orchestrate the downfall of the Lord Ruler only a short time before Preservation's power returned to the Well of Ascension. And then, within a few years of that event, he had freed himself. On the time scale of gods and their power, this very tricky timing was as precise as an expert cut performed by the most talented of surgeons.
| [[Harmony]]{{epigraph ref|mb3|50}}
|side=right|size=300px|
}}
Ruin saw the Lord Ruler's poor use of the power and saw that the Lord Ruler would be an agent of spectacular destruction.{{book ref|mb3|63}} So, subtly, Ruin manipulated him to destroy. The Lord Ruler did do things to stymie Ruin, such as hiding [[atium]],{{book ref|mb3|71}} but Ruin's subtle manipulations took a toll on the man, and led to him subjugating his own people, among other atrocities. But as destructive as the Lord Ruler was, a thousand years later, the Well of Ascension was about to refill. The Lord Ruler planned to retake the Well's power,{{annotation ref|mb3|part=2|chapter=63}} and Ruin would not have that happen.
 
So, Ruin plotted the Lord Ruler's downfall. He subtly put in [[Kelsier]]'s mind the idea of an [[malatium|"eleventh metal"]] to the ten known Allomantic metals of the time.{{epigraph ref|mb3|24}}{{book ref|11m}} This, combined with Kelsier's desire to see his [[Mare|dead wife]] avenged and her dreams of a world without ash be a reality, led Kelsier to seek to kill the Lord Ruler. He formed his [[Kelsier's crew|crew]], consisting of many, but including [[Vin]], a skaa Mistborn who Ruin manipulated; [[Marsh]], his brother; and [[Sazed]], a Terris [[Keeper]], who studied the past before the Lord Ruler. In the process of leading the skaa to revolt against the Final Empire, the Lord Ruler killed Kelsier.{{book ref|mb1|34}} Vin confronted the Lord Ruler, and using the power of the [[malatium|"Eleventh metal"]], discovered that the Lord Ruler was a Feruchemist.{{book ref|mb1|38}} She somehow drew upon the mists and pushed the Lord Ruler's metalminds away, leading to his death a mere two years before the Well was replenished.{{book ref|mb1|38}}
 
Ruin now needed a person who could hold the Well's power. The servants he could touch most easily through Hemalurgy, the [[Steel Inquisitor]]s, could not hold Preservation's power,{{epigraph ref|mb3|49}} so Ruin chose Vin to do it. Ruin, early in Vin's life, had influenced her insane mother to kill her sister with an earring. Her sister was a [[Seeker]] and this created a Hemalurgic spike. Vin's brother gave her the earring and when wearing it Ruin could influence her more easily. The spike, through enhanced [[bronze]] Allomancy, allowed Vin to hear the pulses of the Well of Ascension.{{epigraph ref|mb3|74}} Ruin strengthened the mists again to recreate the threat of the Deepness, and influenced events so that Vin seemed like the Hero of Ages.
 
With all this, Ruin led Vin and Sazed to the Well of Ascension for them to "save" the world once again. However, Preservation had a shadow of his mind left, and in the form of a mist spirit, tried to foil Ruin.{{epigraph ref|mb3|56}} Preservation even wounded Vin's husband, [[Elend]], at the Well so Vin would use the power to heal Elend instead of releasing it. But Vin did what the prophecies supposedly asked, releasing the power.{{book ref|mb2|58}}
 
Ruin was free once again.
 
==== Vin and Preservation ====
 
Ruin could now directly affect the world, but the power of Preservation--in the form of the mists--still protected the planet.{{epigraph ref|mb3|58}} Ruin had been weakened since the Lord Ruler hid his essence, [[atium]], and so Ruin and Preservation were balanced again. Ruin could not find the atium personally, as he could not see metal, and the [[Steel Inquisitors]], had spikes in their eyes, and so had this same flaw. So, Ruin continued to use his pawn, Vin, along with Elend, to find the atium for him.{{annotation ref|mb3|part=2|chapter=63}}
 
Ruin did not know that Preservation had actually selected Vin to take up his power,{{epigraph ref|mb3|74}} which enabled Vin to draw upon the mists--Preservation--directly.{{epigraph ref|mb3|79}} Unfortunately, Vin could not use this power with her earring being a Hemalurgic spike, as Hemalurgy, being of Ruin, pushed away Preservation.{{epigraph ref|mb3|77}}
 
In those final days, the shadow of Preservation's mind that remained communicated with Elend, and then passed.{{book ref|mb3|55}} This had the potential to be a catastrophic event: when a Shard lacks a mind controlling it, and the power has no "release," it is incredibly dangerous, as happened on Sel when [[Odium]] destroyed [[Devotion]] and [[Dominion]].{{wob ref|4129}} Fortunately, Kelsier, who had not passed on beyond the [[Realmatic Theory|Three Realms]], held onto Preservation's power for just a little longer, until Vin could take it up.{{wob ref|6077}}
 
Vin eventually caught onto Ruin's ploys, and would not find the atium for him.{{book ref|mb3|67}} Because of this, Ruin sent his Inquisitors, along with Marsh, his main Inquisitor, to kill Vin.{{book ref|mb3|72}} Marsh, though almost entirely under Ruin's direct control, held a small bit of himself back, and he used that shred of humanity to tear the Hemalurgic earring from her.{{book ref|mb3|72}} Vin could now access the mists--Preservation's power--fully, and upon burning it, she ascended, becoming Preservation.{{book ref|mb3|44}}
 
==== The Catacendre ====
{{quote
| Preservation could never destroy you! He could only protect. That's why he needed to create humankind. All along, Ruin, this was part of his plan!
| [[Vin]] to [[Ruin]]{{book ref|mb3|81}}
}}
 
Upon Vin's ascension, she tried to oppose Ruin, but learned that she could not do much, for Ruin would oppose her.{{book ref|mb3|76}} On the ground, Elend and Sazed discovered the atium, and Ruin immediately sent his forces to destroy them.{{book ref|mb3|79}}{{book ref|mb3|80}} Ruin, through Marsh, killed Elend, and Vin realized Preservation's plan. Preservation needed someone who could preserve, but also destroy, and Preservation was too touched by his Shard to destroy Ruin. Vin knew she had little left to live for without Elend, and so, directly attacked Ruin with her power. She pressed in, not shying back, and in the assault, killed Ruin and herself in the process.{{book ref|mb3|81}}
 
Sazed, on the ground at the battle, saw the corpses of Ati and Vin, with the power of their Shards leaking from their bodies, and Sazed took up both Shards together. The power did not vanish as the Well of Ascension's power did; these were the Shards themselves, which, under the control of one mind, could both preserve and destroy, or create. Using the knowledge from his metalminds, he began to remake the world, and undid the damage the Lord Ruler did to Scadrial.{{book ref|mb3|82}} This event will later be known as '''the Catacendre''', meaning "the end of the ash".{{wob ref|1273}} He then created a [[Elendel Basin|paradise]] for them to live in.{{map ref|Elendel Basin}}{{book ref|sos|5}} The conflict on Scadrial had vanished, for now.
 
Now under the control of one mind, Ruin and Preservation's power began to intermingle, and Sazed became known as [[Harmony]].{{wob ref|4115}} It is considered a single Shard, much like a king of two countries is still just one king.{{wob ref|6486}}
 
Odium became aware of Harmony, is scared of him,{{wob ref|1025}} and is making plans regarding him.{{wob ref|7319}}
 
== Development ==
Retrieved from "https://coppermind.net/wiki/Cosmere"