Noble
| Noble | |
|---|---|
| Related to | Final Empire |
| World of Origin | Scadrial |
| Universe | Cosmere |
The nobles are a race of humans on Scadrial.[1]
The nobles were effectively created by the Lord Ruler when he forcibly divided the people of the world. The nobles are descendants of the people who supported the Lord Ruler on his rise to power. When Rashek took up the power at the Well of Ascension, he used it to alter mankind as a whole to be more capable of dealing with ash, but he also made physiological changes between the different groups of people; noblemen and skaa. The nobles are made taller, stronger, less fertile, and more intelligent. These physical differences are small, and have mostly been erased by noble and skaa interbreeding over the thousand years of the Final Empire's history. All Allomancers have a noble ancestor somewhere along their heritage. This is because when the Lord Ruler came to power, he gave his initial supporters beads of lerasium which imparted to them the powers of a Mistborn.
Culture
The life of the nobles is rife with secrecy and plotting. Almost all nobles are driven by gaining money, power, or social prestige.
All nobles are divided among different Houses. Each house has its own agenda and works towards its own betterment. Each house individually has its own political enemies and allies. Generally, leadership of a house is inherited.
Each house has different levels of power, a social hierarchy. They use Obligators as a means to prove they are trustworthy, for even unimportant matters, such as a meeting with friends.
Balls
The inner-city nobility, particularly those in Luthadel, hold a nightly circuit of balls in their Keeps. Vin attends a number of balls under the guise of Valette Renoux in order to spy on the nobility and spread some rumor and intrigue.[2]
Her first ball is at Keep Venture, where she meets Elend Venture.[3] She also spots her father, Lord Prelan Tevidian Tekiel.[4]
About a month later, Keep Elariel holds a ball at which Valette danced for the first time.[5]
Powers
A portion of nobles are Allomancers. Very few, however, are actual Mistborn. This is due to the thinning of Preservation's power through the generations of nobles.