Leras

Leras
by Matthew Johnson
Died	1025 FE
Abilities	Shard of Preservation
Titles	Preservation
Aliases	Mist Spirit, Fuzz, Terr, Frue
Groups	Kelsier's crew
Homeworld	Scadrial
Universe	Cosmere

“Fortunately, before I died, I put a plan into motion. I can't remember it, but I’m certain that it was brilliant. ”

—Leras

Leras is the first Vessel of the Shard Preservation, originally from Yolen. Along with Ati, the Vessel of Ruin, he created Scadrial, although he later betrayed Ati and imprisoned him in the Well of Ascension, at the cost of his own life. He is nicknamed Fuzz by Kelsier.

Appearance and Personality

by zoethatcher_art

Appearance

For more images, see /Gallery.

Leras is a short man with black hair and a prominent nose. In Cognitive Realm, he appears wearing a thin wool coat that reaches almost to his feet, as well as a laced tunic with a conical skirt at the bottom, tied by a belt holding a knife with a handle of bone. As his final death approaches, his form begins to unravel, and parts of him begin to fall apart into mist. At a certain point, half of his face is missing, replaced by fading white smoke, with holes in other parts of his body and clothing. This does not impact his ability to speak or perceive his environment. Occasionally, his silhouette will fully unfold, revealing a skeleton beneath. Looking into this form's eyes while holding any power allows one to perceive the full nature of Preservation -- an expanse of infinity, frozen still in a single moment.

When appearing in the physical realm, Leras takes the form of the mist spirit; a silhouette outlined in Scadrial's omnipresent mists. Though roughly humanoid, he is difficult to distinguish from the fog, at least until he starts moving. He cannot speak in this form, but he can move around and point, as well as interact with objects in a limited capacity.

Personality

“The hearts of men are NOT YOUR TOYS. ”

—Leras to Kelsier

When he is cognizant, Leras is often sarcastic and sardonic. He gets easily excited over things he adores, like the Lord Ruler, and will often pace when thinking, full of energy. He likes people who accomplish the impossible, especially when it involves their own survival. He was once able to be cunning, and even deceitful, when needed, but seems to have lost this capacity over time.

Leras has a strong sense of duty towards Scadrial and its people, and continues to maintain his appointed tasks, such as welcoming the recently-deceased, even as he is dying. He treats his divinity seriously, and attempts to impart this seriousness upon others. The same means he dislikes being mocked, and is highly offended when suggested to act in a way opposing to his intent. He can also get incensed when people do not follow their roles, and gets angry when his function as Scadrial's god is questioned or usurped.

As he is dying, Leras is often unfocused and has difficulties thinking and remembering, or even participating in an ongoing conversation. His abilities in this regard increase somewhat when he starts regularly interacting with Kelsier, and by his death, he is able to communicate coherently, though it's uncertain if his memories ever fully returned to him before his passing.

Abilities and Attributes

by Kyle Pearson

As Preservation

“Yes, there was a plan. I . . . remember I had a plan. When I was smarter . . . ”

—Leras

Leras is a Vessel of a Shard; as such, he is unaging, nigh-omniscient within his sphere of influence, and lacking a form in the Physical Realm -- his actual body is stored somewhere else, and reappears on Scadrial upon his death. He is, however, dead, and has been for centuries, if not millennia; as such, he is slowly unraveling. He lacks significant fragments of his memories, has trouble focusing, and only remains lucid for short periods of time. He has trouble keeping a humanoid appearance even in the Cognitive Realm, and parts of him can only appear as tendrils of mist. He's also technically a Cognitive Shadow; a fading imprint of mind and memory on the power of Preservation.

As the Vessel of Preservation, Leras has some of the best future sight in the cosmere. He is able to accurately predict events for thousands of years in the future, even with interference from Ruin. This allows him to make long-term, large-scale plans and trust them to work out properly, even if he himself forgets what the plan was in the first place.

The form he takes in the Cognitive Realm carries on it a knife with bone handle. He refers to it as his old friend, and his first instinct when threatened is to reach for it, suggesting he was once at least moderately capable with it; however, in the present times he finds actually harming someone else almost impossible.

History

Very little is known about Leras' life as a human. He was born on Yolen. Along with a group of other people, he killed Adonalsium for unknown reasons. This killing split Adonalsium into sixteen parts, and sixteen of Adonalsium's killers took those up, becoming the first Vessels of the Shards. Leras was among them, picking Preservation before departing Yolen along with Ati, the Vessel of Ruin.

For subsequent events, see Preservation#History.

Relationships

Ati

“I know you're listening, changing what I write, what I have written. You make our religion all about you. They hardly remember the truth any longer. Subtle as always, you worm. ”

—Leras to Ruin

Though Leras and Ati knew each other before the Shattering, having killed Adonalsium together, it's unknown what the relationship between them was. Leras seems to know him well, enough so to recognize what parts of Ruin's behavior stem from Ati's own personality, and seems to mourn his change in an understated way. As the Shards, the two are diametrically opposed in both intent and personality. Ati is dismissive and mocking of Leras, while Leras is worried about Ati escaping the Well of Ascension and devises the plan to oppose him. This being said, Leras isn't himself scared of Ati, as he is already dead and thus beyond his reach.

Kelsier

by ShiroXIX

Leras speaking to Kelsier

“You're not only the first to punch me, you’re also the first to try to recruit me. You are a distinctively strange man. ”

—Leras to Kelsier

Leras and Kelsier meet when the latter dies, though Leras himself has been following Kelsier's actions for some time. He dislikes him, and initially wants to push him onward to the Beyond, but Kelsier is able to trick him into explaining how to become a Cognitive Shadow. Kelsier nicknames him Fuzz, due to his fuzzy, half-unraveled appearance, and attempts to recruit him to his schemes, which Leras eventually agrees to go along with, mostly out of curiosity. He is briefly furious when he realizes that Kelsier's actions led to Lord Ruler's death, and often ribs Kelsier over his unwillingness to move on to the Beyond and the way his actions played into Ruin's hand.

As the Well of Ascension fills up, the two eventually do begin to cooperate, with Leras telling Kelsier more and Kelsier being more willing to listen to and respect Leras' divinity. Though still angry about Kelsier and his veneration as "the Survivor", Leras eventually trusts Kelsier enough to point him towards the Ire. As Leras continues to unravel, Kelsier tries to keep up his spirits. At the moment of his death, the two are cordial, with Kelsier comforting Leras and Leras giving Kelsier tacit blessing to use his power and imploring him to keep on surviving.

Senna

“Oh, Senna . . . I'm losing this place. Losing them all . . . ”

—Leras

Leras is familiar with an unknown person or being named Senna. It's unclear who or what they were; however, Leras invokes them during his breakdown when seeing Ruin destroy Scadrial around him, suggesting it was someone highly important to him.

Trivia

• Leras will be one of the major characters in Dragonsteel.
• He is familiar with Vax, and would recognize the name if he was still around when Ati mentioned it.

Notes

Preceded by None

Vessel of Preservation

Succeeded by Kelsier

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