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{{shard info
|image=Ruin.jpg
|vessel={{nosnippet|[[Sazed]]}}
|status=Whole, conjoined with [[Preservation]]
|slivers=[[Ati]]
Ruin is the embodiment of entropy and decay; it seeks change, so that all may age and pass.{{wob ref|4130}} It is not inherently evil, as without change there can be no life, but its destructive actions are often contrary to life existing peacefully.{{wob ref|10203}}{{wob ref|7950}} This approach to Ruin as simply inevitable decay is largely due to [[Ati]]'s original kind nature, as he deliberately channeled Ruin towards a more peacable state. In other hands, the Shard would've been a far more destructive force.{{wob ref|10334}}
It is the polar opposite of [[Preservation]] -- a relation most other Shards don't have.{{wob ref|5518}} Since the [[Final Ascension]], Preservation has tempered Ruin's intent, which also makes it difficult for anyone holding [[Harmony]] to take direct action heavily favoring one side or the other.{{book ref|mb5|7}}
== Associated magic ==
Ruin's prison, the [[Well of Ascension]], had a fatal flaw: every thousand and twenty four years, the [[perpendicularity]] would fill, requiring someone to take up the power. Were that person then to release it, Ruin's prison would vanish, letting him out; only by using the power themselves could that person, dubbed the [[Hero of Ages]], keep Ruin trapped.{{msh ref|2|3}}
Despite being imprisoned in the Well, Ruin could still affect the world in minuscule ways, and thus began to plan for exploiting this fatal flaw to free himself. His initial scheme was to use [[Alendi]], chosen by the power of the Well, and convince him,
==== Kelsier and Vin ====
Undeterred, Ruin began working on another idea, timing it with the Well's next call, a thousand years later. His plan was two-pronged: first, to ensure that Rashek would be killed, thus opening the way to the Well for others; second, to create someone who would enter the Well and release the power. For the first, he manipulated [[Kelsier]], a [[skaa]] [[allomancy|Mistborn]], with fabricated tales of the so-called Eleventh Metal, [[malatium]], convincing him that it would be the key to defeating the Lord Ruler; which, in a way, it turned out to be.{{epigraph ref|mb3|24}}
For the second, Ruin picked a perfect pawn: another skaa Mistborn, a
Eventually, the Well filled again, and Vin entered its chamber. [[Kelsier]], now a [[Cognitive Shadow]] and up to speed on Ruin's plan thanks to [[Leras]], attempted to stop her from releasing the power.{{msh ref|2|3}} To no avail, though -- Vin did so, and freed Ruin.{{book ref|mb2|58}}
=== Achieving Harmony ===
{{for|Sazed#History|the history of Sazed prior to becoming Ruin}}
{{quote
|You think this was your plan? It was [Preservation]'s. His all along. You created the thing that can kill you, Ruin.
This end of Ruin was Preservation's plan all along. Leras had held Preservation for so long that he was bound by its intent, and could not kill or destroy anything, not even Ruin.{{msh ref|2|3}} And so, he arranged to have the Shard pass on to a new Vessel, who would not be so strongly bound by the Shard's intent and thus would have more freedom to use its power.{{book ref|mb3|81}}
However, the planet was still dying, and thus Preservation's plan reached its
{{for|Harmony#History|the subsequent events}}
== Trivia ==
* Ruin originated in the trunked novel ''[[Aether of Night]]'', where he was known as '''Decay'''.{{wob ref|11236}}
* In ''[[wikipedia:Magic: The Gathering|Magic: The Gathering]]'', colors, Ruin would be pure black.{{wob ref|11057}}
* [[Odium]] was convinced that Ruin would implode.{{wob ref|15137}}
== Notes ==
{{Mistborn|Era 1}}
{{cosmere}}
[[es:Ruina]]
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