Scadrial
Scadrial was a planet of the Cosmere and was the setting of the Mistborn series. It contains several other planets in its system. Scadrial has no moons, but there is an extremely bright patch of stars visible in the night sky.
Geography and Ecology
Classical Scadrial
Scadrial before the Lord Ruler took the power at the Well of Ascension was extremely Earth-like. It had a blue sky, with clouds, a yellow sun, flowers, green plants, and animals, like horses.
The World of Ash
At the time of the Final Empire, the planet was characterised by its ashfalls and nightly mists. When Scadrial was moved closer to the sun by Rashek, the temperature on Scadrial increased dramatically. To counter this Rashek created the ashmounts in the northern hemisphere nearby the pole, to pump ferromagnetic ash and gas into the sky to reflect some of the heat back into space. This decreased heat near the north pole but unfortunately, the thicker atmosphere raised the temperature of the rest of Scadrial, turning it into an uninhabitable desert, known as the burnlands. Rashek also radically altered the geography of Scadrial, rotating the crust of the planet further south, and flattening mountain ranges, and creating new ones elsewhere, all to hide the location of the Well of Ascension. The magnetic and geographic poles of Scadrial used to be the same, but when Rashek moved the Well south from the north pole, the magnetic pole followed it.[Falta cita]
The Final Empire existed in the northern hemisphere, but life managed to survive elsewhere as well. When Rashek altered the humans of the north pole to make them able to survive in a world so full of ash, he worried that the changes he made to their physiology would kill them. He left some of the humans on Scadrial unaltered, as a control, and moved them to the southern hemisphere, in the other cooler area near the south pole. He gave them an unknown method to survive there.
Few plants and animals survived from the world before, except horses, and some dogs. Rashek also created some entirely new animals. He designed new plants that could break down the falling ash, and microbes that broke it down as part of their biological processes.
The most notable new animal however was the mistwraith, a creature that was made mostly of muscle, and used the bones of other deceased animals to create unique skeletal structures for itself. They were created from all the living Feruchemists at the time of the Lord Ruler's Ascension. When the correct Hemalurgic spikes are placed in mistwraiths, the turn into the sentient kandra. Rashek also used Hemalurgy to design koloss, made from humans, and Inquisitors.
Post-Final Ascension Scadrial
When Sazed took both Ruin and Preservation, he remade the planet and moves it back from the sun, removing the need for the ashmounts. He returned the world to the way it was before Rashek took the power at the Well of Ascension. He used the knowledge of his copperminds to return the geography to its original form, and restored all the animals that were extinct. However there was one difference, the Elendel Basin.
The Elendel Basin
In the northern hemisphere of Scadrial, Sazed created an basin of fertile lands, that could never be over-farmed, and ringed it with Seran, Faleast, and Channeral mountain ranges. The Originators named it the Elendel Basin, and built the city of Elendel in the center, on the coast of the Sea of Yomend. Most of the population of the northern hemisphere live within the Elendel Basin. Around the edges of the Basin many people farmed the land. The cities in the Elendel Basin include:
The Roughs
The regular lands around the Elendel Basin were known as the Roughs. Due to the bountiful nature of the basin, there were few reasons to live in the Roughs. The cities in the Roughs include:
- Callingfale
- Covingtar
- Faradana
- Far Dorest
- Feltrel (now a ghost town)
- Isauec's Bend
- True Madil
- Weathering
History & Mythology
Creation of Scadrial
Millenia ago, the Shards Ruin and Preservation arrived on Scadrial. Since they were paired Shards with opposite intents, nothing could be created or destroyed, as they wished it could be. They were locked in an eternal conflict. But then a pact was struck. Preservation offered Ruin a bargain. If Ruin would help him create life on Scadrial, to make plants and animals, Preservation would allow him to destroy the whole planet. In addition to his word, Preservation offered him proof that Ruin could destroy everything. Preservation's greatest wish was to create sentient life, humans pattered after the other humans Ati and Leras had once known. In order to create humans with the spark of intelligence required a small amount more of Preservation's power then Ruin's. This made Preservation slightly weaker, meaning Ruin would eventually overcome his opposite, and destroy Scadrial. However, Preservation decided to break the agreement, in order to save the world. He couldn't overcome Ruin with his power, he was too weak. So Preservation decided to trap Ruin's mind in a prison, where Ruin would be practically powerless. In order to trap Ruin's mind Preservation used his own mind to forge the prison, sacrificing his cognition for the greater good.
Preservation did not leave the humans without hope to defend themselves if Ruin managed to break free. He left the people of Scadrial with the Terris Prophecies. They spoke of a series of heroes who would come to take the power of Preservation at the Well of Ascension every thousand years to become a protector of humanity. Eventually, a final hero would come, known as the Hero of Ages, a person who would carry the fate of the world on his arms. This person would take up the power of Preservation, to save the world.
Classical Scadrial
In the Era of Classical Scadrial the religion of Terris had spread all over Scadrial. The people had turned to this religion because of a new threat, the Deepness. The nightly mists of Scadrial had grown stronger, and began to stay during the day. This was because from inside his prison Ruin was supplementing their strength. He hoped to create a threat to the world by going with Preservation's wishes, instead of against them. The world was dying, all the plants and animals couldn't survive and the people were starving. At this time, a man named Alendi came to power. A Worldbringer, Kwaan, had discovered Alendi and believed him to be this final Hero of Ages, who would save the world. Alendi became convinced he was the Hero, and began a military campaign to unite the world against the Deepness, doing his best to fulfill the prophecies. Unfortunately those prophecies were no longer the same as they once were. Ruin had used his tiny bit of power to alter the words of the prophecies that were inside of the Worldbringers' metalminds. They now stated that the Hero should give up the power at the Well of Ascension, an action which would free Ruin from his prison. He also tailored the prophecies to fit Alendi more perfectly, so ther would be no doubt in peoples' minds that he was the Hero. Kwaan, the man who discovered Alendi noticed this alteration because of his prodigious memory. He attempted to convince the Conclave of Worldbringers of his mistake, but they would not listen to him, much as they didn't listen to him when he first brought the possibility of Alendi being the Hero of Ages to their attention. He turned on Alendi, and did his best to undermine Alendi's rule. By this point Alendi was in control of most if not all of Scadrial. He was also no longer entirely his own master. Alendi had the prophesied "piercings of the hero" which were actually Hemalurgic spikes, which allowed Ruin to subtly influence him.
The Ascension of the Lord Ruler
However, Alendi had still failed to stop the Deepness, and there was only one hope, the Well of Ascension. As the power returned to the Well Alendi could hear the pulses because he was a Seeker. He hoped that giving up the power would stop the Deepness. Kwaan knew that Alendi mustn't be allowed to reach the Well, for he knew that giving up the power was just what Ruin wanted. Kwaan's only hope to stop Alendi was his nephew Rashek, a Feruchemist who hated Alendi, and the nation of Khlennium from which he hailed. The reason for Rashek's hatred was because he believed that the Terrisman should be dominant because of their Feruchemical abilities. Also, as just a poor herder, he was also jealous of the Khlenni sophistication and culture. Kwaan commanded his nephew to become Alendi's pack man, and to attempt to mislead on his way to the Well. If Rashek failed at that, Kwaan asked him to kill Alendi. The last remnant of Leras's mind was also doing it's best to stop Alendi. In the form of the mist spirit it followed Alendi, and knifed his companion Fedik when he became too interested in Ruin's Shardpool, the Black Lake, which the party encountered on their journey to the Well. Ultimately Rashek failed to lead Alendi astray and killed him. At that point Rashek himself took the power at the Well of Ascension and refused to give it up, denying Ruin his chance at freedom.
While holding the power Rashek's mind was expanded, but he wasn't accustomed to such great power, he had no practice. Rashek attempted to destroy the Deepness by moving Scadrial closer to the star in Scadrial's system, to burn away the mists. Unfortunately Scadrial's new location was too hot for life, so Rashek moved it further away from it's parent star, which left the planet too cold. Rashek then moved it closer to the star again, but it was still too hot. Rashek had no point of reference for where the planet should go, so he just decided to leave it too close to the star. He began working retroactively to fix problems he had created himself, because the intent of Preservation, who's power made up the Well, was affecting him. To counter the increased heat he made the Ashmounts, volcanoes who pumped gas and ferromagnetic ash into the air, to shadow the land near the north pole, which was one of the coolest places on Scadrial. This gas made the atmosphere thicker too, which raised temperatures in the rest of the world, turning it even hotter, resulting in the a massive dessert called the Burnlands, which covered most of the planet. Rashek realized that the ash from the Ashmounts would eventually bury the whole land. He created plants and microbes that broke down the ash. Rashek also realized that this ash would make it hard for humans to survive, and the new plants that could survive the ash would be difficult for them to live off of. So he altered the physiology of humanity, changing them so that they were more capable of living in this new world. He also created the Balance; he made the noblemen taller, stronger, and less fertile, and change everyone else, except the Terrismen, into the race that would be known as the skaa. They were shorter, hardier, and had many children. Rashek was worried that his changes to humanity would result in some unseen complication that would cause humans to become extinct. He decided to move a portion of the population to the south pole, and leave them unchanged, giving them some other unknown method of survival. Rashek also wished to disguise the location of the Well so he flattened the Terris mountains, moved them south from the pole, and raised new one in the north to disguise what had happened.
Rashek also was granted an understanding of the Metallic Arts. Ruin whispered to Rashek the secrets of how to make koloss and Inquisitors, servants that Ruin hoped to control himself later. Rashek realized that the Feruchemists of his homeland would be difficult to control, because of the knowledge of their copperminds, and that they wouldn't accept him as their leader, because he had murdered their Hero, Alendi. So Rashek offered a bargain to his fellow pack men and his uncle Kwaan. He would grant them immortality, in exchange for their Feruchemy and humanity. Rashek's packmen accepted his proposal, but Kwaan refused saying it was a betrayal of who the Terris were as a people. Using the power of Preservation Rashek changed his friends and every other living Feruchemist into a mistwraith, but he attempted to destroy Kwaan, which he couldn't do with the power of Preservation, so Kwaan remained the same. Using the secrets of Hemalurgy, Rashek returned his companions to sentience, using spikes to change them from mistwraiths into kandra. After this, the last of Rashek's power faded, and he returned to his regular state of existence, although he was now a Sliver of Preservation. Rashek was then granted the powers of a Mistborn, although it is unknown if this was a side affect of holding the Well's power or if he burned a piece of Lerasium. Rashek began calling himself the Lord Ruler, and began his quest to reconquer what was left of Scadrial.
The Final Empire
The Lord Ruler began his conquest by finding leaders who were amicable to making him Emperor of the world. He bribed their support by using the nuggets of Lerasium to give them the power of Allomancy. He gave away nine beads of Lerasium. These men became the Nine Original Allomancers. He also used the koloss as unstoppable monsters destroying cities weakened by the Deepness. It took him around two centuries to conquer the whole world, although some religions, such as Jaism, resisted him until five centuries after his Ascension. Rashek established his capital at the city of Luthadel, built over the Well of Ascension. Since he was both a Feruchemist and an Allomancer Rashek was able to burn his metalminds in a process known as Compounding, which uses Preservation's power to fuel an attribute of Feruchemy. The Lord Ruler was able to atium Compound, giving him a near limitless source of youth. The Lord Ruler ruled the Final Empire for around 1000 years waiting for the Well to refill, so he coud take the power again. During this time Ruin began to talk to the Lord Ruler through his Hemalurgic spikes, manipulating the Lord Ruler and playing off his insecurities. The Lord Ruler decided to begin measures that would protect humanity somewhat, should Ruin ever break free. He started by hiding as much atium as he could, weakening Ruin as much as possible. Rashek had the Obligators secretly remove atium from most of the geodes. A little atium was shipped to Luthadel to be held by the Lord Ruler or sold to the noblemen. All the rest was sent to the kandra Homeland, a metal rich area, which was near the Pits of Hathsin. Whenever the Lord Ruler returned some atium to the Homeland it was hidden in canal boats, and caravans with gold, so Ruin could not see it. Rashek also began digging storage caverns beneath several cities in the Final Empire, containing food water, and other basic survival needs, and also acting as a shelter for humanity. He also put metal plates in the caverns, giving clues to the next cavern's location, along with his musings about Ruin, and the formulas for new Allomantic metals that the Lord Ruler had kept a secret.
The Fall of the Final Empire
In the Final Empire, a man named Kelsier was born, half noble, half skaa. Kelsier's mother a skaa, was found out by the Steel Ministry, and was executed. Kelsier, and his older brother Marsh barely escaped with their lives. Marsh went to devote his life to the skaa rebellion against the Lord Ruler. Kelsier went with a more selfish route, becoming an expert thief, getting revenge on noble culture by stealing from them. Kelsier also married a woman during this time, a Tineye named Mare. Together they began a heist plan more daring then any they had attempted before; they decided to steal the Lord Ruler's atium cache, which they didn't know was actually in the kandra homeland. The heist went sour, because the Lord Ruler pierced their coppercloud, and detected Mare's Allomancy. He and his Inquisitors captured the two of them and sent them both to the Pits of Hathsin, to mine atium for him. When Kelsier failed to find the required atium geode for the week, Mare gave him one, saying she had found two that week. Mare had lied, and Kelsier watched as the guards beat her to death right in front of him. The rage and sorrow he felt caused Kelsier to snap, unlocking his Allomantic potential as a Mistborn. Kelsier slaughtered the garrison at the Pits, and escaped swearing revenge on the Lord Ruler for the pain he had caused him. Kelsier returned to the city of Luthadel, and got himself hired by Yeden, the new head of the skaa rebellion after Marsh. His job was to overthrow the Lord Ruler, and give Yeden control of Luthadel. Kelsier then got back in contact with a few of his old thieving allies, Ham Dockson and Breeze. He also discovered a young thief named Vin among a group of thieves that he was considering forming a contract with. Vin was a Mistborn, so Kelsier took her under his wing to train her with her Allomantic abilities. Kelsier also recruited the Keeper Sazed, Marsh, a new Smoker, Clubs, and his Tineye nephew, Spook, to form his core team. Kelsier decided to break down this rebellion like a thieving job. He decided first that they needed an army, to both distract the garrison, and to take control of Luthadel. They would be recruited by Breeze and his team of emotional Allomancers, and lead and trained by Ham and his thugs. Kelsier also decided to start a House War, getting the Great Houses to go to war within the city of Luthadel to create a feeling of confusion. He preformed this job himself, getting allied houses to turn on each other with murder and rumors. Vin would act as a spy on the nobles, portraying herself as Valette Renoux, relative to Lord Renoux, played by OreSeur the kandra. Marsh would spy on the obligators, as a new acolyte. Marsh also discovered the locations of Soothing stations, designed to keep the skaa complacent and miserable. Kelsier hoped that their army could take control of the city while the garrison was away, and then bribe them from attacking by stealing the Lord Ruler's atium cache, which they still didn't know wasn't in Luthadel. They would then defeat the Lord Ruler either using the mysterious Eleventh Metal, or by simply capturing him. Kelsier's plan had a few setbacks. The first was when he and Vin decided on an impromptu attack on Kredik Shaw, to discover what the Lord Ruler kept in his inner room. They were discovered by Inquisitors and Vin was badly wounded but was rescued by Sazed, thanks to his Feruchemistry. They got stole Alendi's journal during this attack, which they incorrectly believed to have been written by the Lord Ruler. Vin also falls in love with a nobleman during her work as a spy, the young Elend Venture, heir to the most powerful Great House. This makes her doubt that all nobles are evil, and that their way of life should be destroyed. The majority of Kelsier's rebel army is also killed, when a misguided Yeden sends them to attack to test their abilities. Yeden also dies in that battle. The biggest problem occurs when the Steel Ministry discovers that House Renooux is supporting the rebellion, and raids their manor in Felise. Kelsier attacks the convoy in the streets of Luthadel, along with the remnants of his army. He frees the majority of his captured friends, but gets locked in a duel with the Inquistor Bendal. He uses his superior Allomantic skill to behead Bendal, but then the Lord Ruler himself arrives. Kelsier tells him that he is hope, and that the Lord Ruler will never be able to kill that. The Lord Ruler responds with a backhand to Kelsier's head, removing half his face, and then stabbing him with a spear, killing Kelsier instantly. The city is in chaos, and the skaa begin to rebel, killing noblemen and running rampant. The crew go to one of Kelsier's warehouses, and discover OreSeur there, wearing Kelsier's bones. Renoux reveals that Kelsier planned to die, to give the skaa a new god, and he has been going around wearing Kelsier's bones and showing that Kelsier is still alive to give the skaa hope. The crew distributes weapons stored at the warehouse, and Vin goes to kill the Lord Ruler, bringing with her some of the Eleventh Metal. She attacks the Lord Ruler and burns the metal, malatium, which shows what the Lord Ruler could have been if he had made different choices.
Cosmere
Scadrial was home two Shards, Ruin, and Preservation. The physical forms of Preservation could be found in the beads of lerasium, and the white mists. Ruin's physical forms were the beads of atium, which formed in crystals in the Pits of Hathsin and the black mists.[Falta cita] Prior to Sazed's ascension both Shards had shardpools, though it is unclear if they were changed or removed by Sazed. Preservation's shardpool was the Well of Ascension, previously located at the north pole of Scadrial, but moved to under Kredik Shaw in Luthadel. Ruin's shardpool is the black lake, beneath the Pits of Hathsin.