Mistfallen
| Mistfallen | |
|---|---|
| World of Origin | Scadrial |
The mistfallen were a group of Seers, or atium mistings during the last stages of the New Empire on Scadrial.
As Ruin gained control and attempted to destroy all life on Scadrial, Preservation's plan to thwart him was triggered.[1] The Mists (the manifestation of his power) lashed out at seemingly random individuals, causing weaker individuals to die and others to simply fall ill for a short time. Noorden, Elend's scribe, discovers that exactly 16 percent of any group of people that fall to the mists become sick, whether they be villagers, soldiers, etc.[2] Sixteen matched the (known) number of allomantic metals -- the exact percentage was a clue from Preservation that those who were struck (and were thereby snapped) were mistings.
Some of the soldiers "attacked" by the mists in Elend's army were sick for two weeks[3] (sixteen days[4]) rather than a few days. They were also exactly 1/16th of the number of total men in the army that were struck. Others in the army consider them to be cursed because they took longer to recover. Multiple fights break out between them and the mistfallen (a name they presumably took upon themselves). Even General Demoux is struck by a soldier, causing the soldier's execution. Elend finally decides to separate them from the main army, sending them away on the pretext of helping out the apparently dire situation in Luthadel[5]
Later, when Elend meets the mistfallen company in the Pits of Hathsin, where the wealth of atium is hidden away from Ruin, he realizes that they were sick longer because they are the most powerful type of misting: an atium misting. Such a misting was not known to exist until Elend learned that Aradan Yomen is one. Elend commands Demoux and his men to fight the attacking Koloss in order to buy them some time and burn away Ruin's body.[4]