Usuario:Thurin/Luthadel
{!{settlement |image=Luthadel by GuiFerr.jpg |ruler=The Lord Ruler |dominance=Central |nation=Final Empire |world=Scadrial |universe=Cosmere |books=Mistborn Era 1 }}
“There weren't any other cities like Luthadel.”
—Luthadel[1]
Luthadel was the capital city of the Final Empire on Scadrial. It was governed by the Lord Ruler for over a thousand years. After the Collapse, Luthadel became the capital city of the New Empire.
Geography
Topography
//central dominance
Luthadel lies in the middle of the Central Dominance, therefore being in the center of the Final Empire.[2]
A week journey to Arguois Caverns, and Arguois Caverns closer to Luthadel than Pits of Hathsin.[3]
Imperial highroad: flat and packed earth, leading to Fellise.[4]
Allomantic road between Luthadel and Fellise. Consisted of bars of metal (bronze) that were stuck in the ground, Mistborn could use them to Push and Pull in the air. Made the trip twice as fast as a man on horseback. Fellise a short distance south of Luthadel.[5]
In six months one could travel from one border of the Final Empire to the other. Because Luthadel lies in the middle of the Final Empire, each place in the empire can be reached within three months.[6]
At least two days riding to Valtroux. Two week trip to Arguois caverns/Holstep by canal, sixteen hours running with pewter. To the north.[7]
![[2]](#cite_note-Final_Empire.png-2){kind=link}
TO DO: include information form TFE map.
Climate
Luthadel is located relatively close to most of the Ashmounts.[2] Luthadel's soil contains lots of minerals and metal traces that can be burned when ingested via ground water.[8]([9])
Normal plants were brown.[10]
Landscape around Luthadel: barren save for scrub and weeds, reasonably flat with small hills. Mistwraiths outside the city, are relatively harmless, just scavengers.[4]
Poisonous red (afternoon) sun.[11]
Luthadel could have heavy rainfalls.[12]
Flora in Central Dominance: usually brown or white, but when cultivated also red, orange and yellow. Wilderness outside the city. "The dry plants, the angry sun, the smoky-black sky".[13]
Landscape: brown hills, scraggly trees and rug of weedy underbrush.[14]
Snow fell some winters, but not each year.[15]
Birch forests could grow in the Central Dominance. Ground below consisted (partly) of granite.[16]
Mist-grown lichen on stones.[17]
"Outside, the sun was setting in a fiery blaze of frustration."[18]
Snow wasn't common around Luthadel before the Deepness, or else it was just an icy slush.[19]
Mist
Even noblemen and thieves reluctant about entering Mists. Ambient starlight diffused by Mists was enough to see most times.[10]
Mist.([expandir]with[9])
At night, soft rain made no difference because of mist, as mist is wet.[5]
Rain makes the mist pull away.[20]
"The sun sank beneath the horizon, and while its light was still a flare in the west, the mists began to appear. They didn’t come from one specific place, they just sort of… grew. They extended like translucent, twisting vines in the sky—curling back and forth, lengthening, dancing, melding."[13]
Contradictory to earlier: noblemen considered fear of mist to be a foolish skaa superstition.[21]
"Outside, the sunlight was nearly gone, and diaphanous patches of mist were beginning to form in the air. They hung like ghosts, slowly growing larger, extending their influence as night approached."[18]
Ash
To prevent the city being buried, skaa workers gather the ash and throw it in the River Channerel.[8]
Sometimes ash from the city was carted and piled out of the city, instead of thrown in the river.[4]
Aftermath of ash rain was visible by small drifts and flurries of black blowing across the streets. Ash was surprisingly easy to wash out of clothes.[15]
"A light ashfall had begun, and careless flakes floated down from the sky, like leaves dropped from some unseen tree."[22]
"Ash fell from the sky, floating in lazily flakes."[23]
Layout
The River Channerel runs straight through Luthadel.[24]
Fellise acted as a small suburb-style city an hour outside of Luthadel.[3]
Luthadel had a city wall (was the only city in the Final Empire[Falta cita]). Even more suburb-style cities than only Fellise.[4]
The Cracks: one of many skaa slums.[11]
Commercial district was for fortunate skaa and less fortunate nobles, tried to ignore each other. Luthadel had a lot of squares, and the larger ones often had fountains.[25]
A lot of shops at Kenton Street, also/especially for Nobles.[13]
Sootwarrens slum. Every few decades or so, new sections were added, and the city wall expanded due to the effort of skaa labor, thanks to canals stone was cheap.[14]
Steel gate is main city gate (actually multiple gates).[17]
The Twists is one of the most impoverished skaa slums. A certain part of it was almost completely deserted.[18])
Separate sections for industry and living, even in slums.[26]
![[24]](#cite_note-Luthadel.png-24){kind=link}
Architecture
Most buildings are constructed of stone blocks, with peaked wooden roofs or tile roofs for the rich, and are packed closely together, generally being three stories high.[8] Only a few buildings have a flat roof, because this means needing to shovel ash off occasionally.[11] Many skaa live in large packed tenements, in exceptional cases these could get six stories high.[27] Contradictory to noblemen's stone houses with a lot of small rooms, wooden skaa tenements consist of large rooms with a central hearth because this is the most efficient way to look after a large population with limited resources.[28] From the outside houses and shops looked the same.[8]
The grounds of Luthadel are reasonably flat with small hills.[29] The streets are paved.[30] Notably, Luthadel has some kind of sewer system (probably leading sewage to the river), indicated by sewer grates in the streets,[5] and buildings have rain gutters[23] and metal chimneys.[10] It is a dark city, covered and stained by ash, all buildings are darkest at the top but rainfall carries stains down.[30] During the day it looks scorched by soot and oppressive by red sunlight, but at night the mist makes everything obscure.[10]
Landmarks
Kredik Shaw
By far the largest building in Luthadel, near the center, looms like a massive, multi-spined insect.[8]
Is Lord Ruler's palace.[11]
"The name was Terris; it meant “The Hill of a Thousand Spires.” Appropriate, since the imperial palace resembled a patch of enormous black spears thrust into the ground. Some of the spires twisted, others were straight. Some were thick towers, other were thin and needle-like. They varied in height, but each one was tall. And each one ended in a point."[11]
"Kredik Shaw lay before them. The peaked spires and sheer towers rose like dark talons in the night. They varied greatly in thickness—some were wide enough to house stairwells and large rooms, but others were simply thin rods of steel jutting up into the sky. The variety gave the mass a twisted, off-center symmetry—an almost-balance.
The spikes and towers had a foreboding cast in the damp, misty night—like the ash-blackened bones of a long-weathered carcass. Looking at them, Vin thought she felt something…a depression, as if simply being close to the building was enough to suck away her hope."[20]
"Oddly, the grounds had no outer wall. Of course they don’t. Who would dare attack the Lord Ruler?
Flat space, covered in cobblestones, was all that surrounded the Hill of a Thousand Spires. No tree, foliage, or structure stood to distract one’s eye from the disturbing, asymmetric collection of wings, towers, and spires that was Kredik Shaw."[20]
( Kelsier and Vin infiltrated Kredik Shaw via an ornate, gatelike door to a squat, bunkerlike section of the palace. The Lord Ruler's soothing inside pierced even through copperclouds.[20] RELEVANT ...? )
Keeps
Spread throughout Luthadel are about a dozen monolithic keeps, built with spearlike spires and deep archways, and most open grounds in the city belonged to these keeps. A noble family that could afford to own a keep in Luthadel was considered a Great House.[8]
Keeps look like ghostly, looming silhouettes at night with bronze or copper sheetings on their roofs, and have a defensive wall with normal armed guards around them, but this is often more artistic than actual fortification.[10] Prominent in especially the ballrooms are intricate stained-glass windows, often showing mythology dedicated to the Lord Ruler and the Deepness plus a dark lake, portraits of famous noblemen, or depictions of exotic animals and distant landscapes. Each of these was an extravagant, detailed marvel of resplendent color, sparkling light across the floor.[31] During balls some keeps were illuminated from the outside, using limelights (quicklime stones that can be heated to brilliance without melting them) and mirrors to deflect their radiated light toward the building.[32]
Without doubt, Keep Venture was the finest of all keeps in Luthadel.[33] However, Keep Elariel had a ballroom separate from the main hall with a ceiling of stained-glass windows,[6] or Keep Lekal was shaped like a pyramid from the inside with four tiers of balconies and its stained-glass windows were smaller but by far more intricate.[31] Keep Hasting consists of a tall round central keep, surrounded by six auxiliary towers, each set off from the main building a short distance and connected to it by walltop walkways, and the ballroom at the top of the central tower could be reached by a skaa-powered pulley platform system.[21]
Squares
//Fourwell Crossroads, Ahlstrom Square Square of the Survivor:
Massive square, large enough for tens of thousands of people. Had a platform and four bowl-like fountains[expandir]. Executions took place here.[22]
Storage cavern and the Well of Ascension
History
Creation and Early History (0-1022 FE)
Skaa rebellion (1022 FE)
//Notes:
As tension between Great Houses grew, Inquisitors hit more skaa thieving crews than usual, and killed more often instead of capturing them and executing them later.[21]
State of upcoming house war. Skaa army attacked. Luthadel Garrison left the city.[17]
Only two thousand of seven thousand skaa soldiers left.[7]
The majority of the Luthadel garrison stayed out of the city to hunt for rebels. As a result, Luthadel's walls and gates were less guarded.[22]
Skaa soldiers who survived were led to Luthadel in smaller groups, and stayed in hiding there.[22]
Update on rebellion. With the Garrison gone, nobility became the main focus.[18]
More and more noble families were leaving Luthadel.[19]
House Venture hosted the last ball before the Collapse, at which all nobles were securing bonds with their faction. The house war officially started when House Elariel attacked House Venture at this evening.[33]
The Lord Ruler did nothing to stop the house war, as if he wanted it to happen. "Like a wildfire, left to blaze and renew a field."[27]
Kelsier destroyed the Pits of Hathsin. Last executions.[23]
Collapse (1022 FE)
When the garrison was out to hunt rebels, Luthadel's walls and gates were understaffed because only ten percent of the garrison stayed behind, which wasn't enough to prevent the Collapse from happening.[22]
Church of the Survivor was born / Kelsier's plan.[26]
Siege of Luthadel (1022-1024 FE)
Battle of Luthadel (1024 FE)
Capital of the New Empire (1024-1026 FE)
Culture
Legend: Lord Ruler was believed to be the creator, protector and punisher of mankind. He'd saved humanity from the Deepness, and brought ash and mist as punishment for lack of faith.[3]
Skaa are shorter than nobles. Nobles could get allomantic powers, skaa only if they had a noble ancestor somewhere in the last five generations.[16]
"Technically, the Lord Ruler owns the skaa, but the noblemen rent them, and are allowed to kill as many as they want." Skaa aren't people to nobles.[34]
Nobility
Each family that could afford a keep in Luthadel was considered a Great House.[8]
High Nobles, contradictory to everyone else, could afford candles and lamp oil, therefore stay up late at night. Most Great Houses held hazekillers. Some nobles cultivated plants indoors, those were white or ruddy or even slightly yellow instead of usual brown.[10]
A major house war happens every couple of centuries, hadn't been one for a long time before the Collapse. Nobles have an unspoken rule: won't use Mistborn to assassinate each other.[3]
Mistborn were so rare that nobles couldn't afford gender prejudices to them.[9]
Great Houses often had another residence, besides keep in Luthadel, in a suburb-style city like Fellise, having a keep to count as great house doesn't mean having to live there constantly.[4]
During the last days of the Final Empire there were ten Great Houses in Luthadel, in order of importance[35]:
- House Venture
- House Hasting
- House Elariel
- House Tekiel
- House Lekal
- House Erikeller
- House Erikell
- House Haught
- House Urbain
- House Buvidas
Terris stewards/servants.[11]([36])[expandir]
Noblemen considered it an insult to use (emotional) Allomancy in formal settings.[25]
"hasn’t been an all-out war among the Great Houses for over a century, but the last one was devastating."[32]
When Great Houses grew nervous, more Allomancers held watch, but noblemen Mistings wouldn't like being forced to guard duty. Many nobility blatantly wore metal, a foolish form of bravado. High taxes for Great Houses. Lord Ruler sees nobles as "the children of his long-dead friends and allies, the men who supposedly helped him defeat the Deepness".[14]
Major noble families generally never had more than three children because they had trouble reproducing. When two noblemen had a dispute, they'd settle it with a duel, not clear if that was a duel to the death though.[16]
When a young nobleman seriously wishes to court a certain lady, he gives her a handkerchief. Nobles wear metal as a symbol of power and pride, but because that makes them vulnerable to Allomancy they often wear wood painted like metal instead. Plantation lords often spent their winters in Luthadel, during the time in between the planting seasons. The Steel Ministry allows nobles to bed any skaa woman they want, but they have to kill her shortly afterwards to prevent the birth of half-breeds, according to Dox this isn't considered as cheating.[34]
Shan Elariel was considered to be the perfect noblewoman. Young nobles often started forming alliances before they succeeded their fathers.[21]
House wars are mainly political, and balls are the political battlefields.[17]
From time to time, the Lord Ruler just let house wars happen.[22]
The aristocracy is primarily a financial institution, and lack of funds will bring any house down.[18]
Straff Venture was considered to be the perfect imperial nobleman, being tall, firm-shouldered and always dressed in a tailored vest and suit. House Hasting was a strong mercantile house, but also dependent upon their contracts; having one main source of income makes a house vulnerable too. House Tekiel left Luthadel and was killed in their canal boats, likely by other nobles. Nobles are willing to kill rivals when it benefits them. "Kind of like thieving crews, she thought. The nobility really aren’t that different from the people I grew up around." Nobility mimicked the Lord Ruler; they wear metal rings because he does, even though it makes them vulnerable to Allomancers and Inquisitors.[31]
Open execution of a nobleman could happen as punishment for reading forbidden books for example, but was infrequent.[33]
Noblemen weren't supposed to be afraid of the mist, but it still makes them feel uncomfortable.[37]
//middle class, lesser nobles
Most nobles weren't rich enough to be considered part of a Great House. Being noble is about lineage, not money.[8]
Lesser nobles could be guard at a noble keep.[10]
Some brothels use women of very poor — but noble — birth.[34]
Straff Venture wasn't allowed to execute his lesser noble guards, but he still punished them with brutal disciplinary forms.[37]
Balls:
Almost every evening one of the noble houses held a ball. At these balls, they don't hide their flaws, but make a statement by displaying them. At these balls dinner was accounted for, also for (Terris) stewards (separately) who came with visiting nobles. String orchestras provided music for dancing couples. Obligators frequently visited these balls too, and officially witnessed agreements (had to pay them[21]). Invitation was needed, but seemingly not hard to get.[32]
"Most of the other women wore colorful dresses; muted colors seemed reserved for men’s suits."[13]
Ladies' food: buttered vegetables, cake. Lords asking a lady to accompany them on a future ball was not uncommon. People only interacted with others of their social standing. More absences on balls as tensions grew, nobles wouldn't visit balls held by their rivals. Also many non-Great Houses visited balls.[6]
Luncheons, sitting parties and other forms of daily entertainment were just as popular as balls.[15]
"The parties now served the additional purpose of warning and showing strength."[31]
Most balls were in the weekends.[19]
Great Houses hosted a ball roughly once a month. Balls were hosted by different houses in turns. Some nobles acted as informants on balls.[33]
Skaa
Urban skaa seemed to work less hard than plantation skaa.[38]
Skaa often worked in forges or mills.[8]
Most skaa barely knew anything about Allomancy.[39]
Lots of superstitions about people who walk in Mists, but less worse than plantation skaa. Some knowledge about mistwraiths though.[40]
Only a few most talented skaa were allowed to practice a profession, like Clubs being a carpenter. Clean face on street drew attention. About one million skaa workers in and around Luthadel (also at economy section?).[3]
Most skaa died before Vin's age (16 years[Falta cita]).[4]
Skaa also worked in mines, had twelve-hour work days.[11]
Begging was only allowed if one had severe disfigurements.[25]
Tobacco was an expensive luxury.[14]
Skaa could work as ash cleaners.[15]
Many skaa had heard of Allomancy, but only a few knew what it could do, because noble Mistings rarely showed their powers, and skaa halfbreed had to be even more careful.[16]
Most skaa lived in packed tenements.[17]
Underground
“You don’t have any friends in the underworld. You’ll never have any friends in the underworld!”
—Vin's memory of Reen[39]
As the place closest to the Lord Ruler, and thus the most riches, Luthadel has more corruption among the skaa population than any other city in the Final Empire.[6] The larger portion of the underground consists of thieves, crews, whores and beggars, but fewer in number are the skaa rebels whose goal was not personal gain but to resist the Final Empire.[40] However, life is hard for these people. Most brothels kill their skaa whores periodically to keep the Inquisitors placated.[34] Scavenging is difficult in Luthadel,[39] and only skaa with severe disfigurements are allowed to beg.[25] Men in the underground often spent months without their family to protect them,[34] as they would be safe and hidden when the man got caught, especially if he was a Misting because then the Inquisitors would wipe out his entire bloodline at all costs.[17]
There are two types of crews in Luthadel, the regular ones like Camon's crew and the special crews that used Allomancers, the former often called "crumbs" by the latter.[40] Life in regular crews is harsh, as thieves have to get back to work when they get wounded or else are abandoned for dead by their crew leader.[36] On the other hand, a successful crewleader gains wealth for the entire crew, but sometimes it got tempting to kill the crewleader and take his money nonetheless.[39] Stealing from the Steel Ministry was only done when desperate.[8] Their lairs weren't supposed to exist, often being situated in a secret basement beneath the cover of a shop or warehouse.[30]
The other type, known as Misting crews, are smaller and more specialized with crewmembers who trust each other, they are said to be extremely skillful, foolhardy and talented.[40] Their rewards are great, but so are the risks, so it pays for them to be very discerning in the jobs they take.[23] On average, one in ten thousand mixed-breed skaa are Mistings, depending on ancestry.[39] Nearly all Mistborn are members of Great Houses, or else minor nobles, but only very few half-skaa.[9] Most Mistborn wear a Mistcloak as warning so city guards and other Allomancers won't bother them,[10] and practically all of them have atium but are reluctant to actually use it because it's incredibly expensive.[5]
Occasionally a Misting crew hired regular crews for more mundane work.[40]
One of the most dangerous professions in the underground was that of informant, as even members of Great Houses met them personally to find out more about their rivals.[14] However, it's better to not use them too much, as every question asked will be sold as information to other clients.[32] Their other and main sources of news are servants.[32]
Hoid spent some time in Luthadel, where he acted as an informant. He had been around for a long time, and was considered one of the best, but most informants didn't live as long.[14]
Skaa in the Final Empire aren't allowed to travel on their own,[3] and even a lot of thieves never left their plantation or town.[4] However, there are illegal ways for skaa to travel in the Central Dominance. There is an underground movement network to help runaways travel the canals from plantation to plantation, which isn't noticed because noblemen don't pay attention to skaa faces.[21]
Getting in and out of Luthadel is more difficult, as all city gates are guarded and both skaa and nobles need permission to pass through them[17] after interview and interrogation.[28] Ways to get around this were the so called passwalls, most of which were in the form of tunnels with fake walls or ropes that were thrown over the city walls.[28]
Politics
Final Empire
“ The Lord Ruler makes dictates, and the Ministry polices his followers, but the nobility are the ones who actually force the skaa to work. ”
— Luthadel's political structure during the Final Empire[18]
The Lord Ruler
Attended executions in black carriage drawn by a pair of massive white stallions.[22]
His Soothing is strong enough to influence someone burning copper.[18]
"Then it hit. Like a cloud moving before the sun, like a sudden storm on a quiet night, like a pair of fingers snuffing a candle. An oppressive hand stifled the budding skaa emotions." Description of Lord Ruler in public.[29]
Steel Ministry
//soothing stations, Cantons
Canton of inquisition has the most threatening reputation, followed by Canton of Orthodoxy, then Canton of Finance and Canton of Resource. Acolytes trained in the north, and got final instructions in Luthadel, secretly taking atium with them[expandir][Falta cita]. Obligators are trained to recognize emotional allomancy.[8]
Cantons have their headquarters in Luthadel.[3]/[24]
Usually when the Ministry discovered a thieving crew, obligators with their troops went to capture the thieves and made a good show of them on an execution day, only in special cases (often involving Allomancy) Inquisitors went to kill the entire crew direct and left the massacre to be discovered. There were about 20 inquisitors in the Final Empire, half of them in Luthadel. Hanging people with a hook through the head was a ritual killing "reserved for the most reprehensible of sinners: people who misuse Allomancy".[25]
"The Garrison watches the skaa, Vin thought. Apparently, the obligators perform a similar function for the nobility." Obligators, even the lord prelan Tevidian, visited forges to inspect them and their workers.[32]
Obligators seem to be only nobles.[15]
The Canton of Orthodoxy formed the main bureaucratic arm of the Misitry. (Sidenote: obligators had tattoos around their eyes, the higher their rank the more intricate their tattoos) Obligators had to witness every event, written document or agreement, otherwise it wouldn't have happened formally. This was a smart way for the Ministry to know everything about the nobility.[21]
When the Inquisitors kill a Misting, they make certain to wipe out his children too.[17]
Obligators were robed in gray, Inquisitors in black. The higher an obligator's position, the finer their robes. The Lord Prelan was higher ranked than the Inquisitors.[22]
Acolytes trained for five years before finishing their training in Luthadel, and most were younger than Marsh at that time. Particularly the Canton of Inquisition recruits nobleman Seekers diligently. The Ministry was far more competent than they showed the world. There are political tensions between Inquisitors and obligators, the lord prelan leads the church but Inquisitors think that should be their responsibility. Obligators lead a busy life, and most higher-ranked ones are Mistings. Canton of Inquisition tattoos.[18]
Inquisitors are far more loyal to the Lord Ruler than regular obligators, and that's were there is tension between these groups.[27]
When Tevidian's half-breed child was discovered, organizational dominance was granted to the Canton of Inquisition instead of the Canton of Orthodoxy.[41]
‘Sit down to dine with evil, and you will ingest it with your meal.’[42]
“You make a mistake, young Venture,” the obligator said, tapping the table idly with his fork. “The sixth-century stewardship program was not even devised by the Lord Ruler. The newly formed Canton of Inquisition proposed it as a means of population control for the Terris, and the Lord Ruler agreed to it provisionally.”
“That provision turned into a means of subjugating an entire race of people,” Elend said.
“That subjugation started far earlier,” Yomen said. “Everyone knows the history of this, Venture. The Terris were a people who absolutely refused to submit to imperial rule, and they had to be strictly reined in. However, can you honestly say that Terris stewards were treated poorly? They’re the most honored servants in all of the empire!”[43]
Canton of Resources also had information like maps showing mineral deposits.[44]
Soothing stations: The Ministry has dozens of soothing stations spread throughout Luthadel. Each one contains a couple of skilled Ministry Soothers who's only task is to depress the emotions of everyone near, to prevent rebellious thoughts. Each team also has a Smoker to keep them hidden and a Seeker to watch for passing Allomancers. They do personnel changes at night.[18]
There were thirty-four soothing stations spread throughout Luthadel. Most were in the slums, and none close to Clubs's shop. At least three Soothers per post.[19]
Nobility
//Controlling the skaa
House Venture was responsible for mining the Lord Ruler's atium. This made them the richest noble house, but they were vulnerable too in case they couldn't meet the Lord Ruler's quotas.[31]
Luthadel Assembly
New Empire
Economy
Trade and transport to and from Luthadel often happened using canal boats.[30]
Main export product is metal, hundreds of forges and refineries in Luthadel, even though the River Channerel provides excellent opportunity to mills for grinding grains and making textiles. Bells chime when skaa must get to work in the morning.[8]
Money currency: boxings[39] (, clip smallest coin[9].)
Lord Ruler is dependent upon atium sale for keeping up his army.[40]
Many canal routes in the Final Empire. Narrowboats and barges that needed to get pulled were used. Most noblemen used skaa workers instead of horses for this.[4]
1/10th of all atium mined at Pits of Hathsin was sold to nobles, at exorbitant prices.[11]
One bead of atium is worth more than three thousand boxings.[5]
These canals had towpaths besides them.[16]
Boxings are made of gold. In each city, including Luthadel, is a small group of merchants who provide powdered metals to Allomancers, these metals can be considered pure because these merchants have a vested interest in keeping their (dangerous) customers satisfied.[18]
"The Lord Ruler depends on that atium, Valette—it’s one of the prime ways he controls the nobility. A house without atium is a house that can’t defend itself from Mistborn. By keeping a large reserve, the Lord Ruler controls the market, making himself extremely wealthy. He funds his armies by making atium scarce, then selling extra bits for lavish amounts."[31]
Pits of Hathsin is the only place in the Final Empire where atium was mined, so the Lord Ruler depended on it. "Atium is the foundation of the imperial economy—controlling it is one of the main ways that the Lord Ruler maintains his hold over the nobility."[23]
Organization
In Luthadel, especially in the slums, there were many soup kitchens. Local skaa earned meal tokens for the time they worked, and in their short break at midday they could spend these tokens for a meal. Local lords/nobles, owners of a local forge or mill, paid these kitchens to avoid the costs of providing on-site meals. The kitchen owners was paid directly, so he saved as much as possible on ingredients, resulting in food as tasty as ashwater.[11]
Luthadel had skaa corpse crews that took care of the disposal of dead bodies.[25]
//ash cleaning should probably be moved here
Condemned men (and women) were sent to the Pits of Hathsin, not clear what the criteria were though.[16]
People, both skaa and nobles, needed permission to pass through Luthadel's gates.[17]
Occasionally, executions took place, often when a thieving crew was captured, or just random skaa (even just women and children) as examples for the entire population. The ringing of bells announced this, and all men in the city, both skaa and noble, were required to attend them, or else the punishment would be death. These took place at the Square of the Survivor, but a lot of skaa stood further away in other streets. Bleachers were set up for the nobility.[22]
Executions could go on for hours. Normally there would be any kind of denunciations or explanations, but not always. The Ministry just left the corpses and bloodied water in fountains right there.[18]
Military
City Defenses
"The Lord Ruler and the Steel Ministry could marshal literally millions of troops if the need arose."[14]
No one has ever attacked Luthadel.[22]
Ministry had hazekillers.[23]
Ministry had archers in their armies, on special occasions even with obsidian-tipped arrows.[29]
Luthadel had a massive wall, but that was unnecessary since the Lord Ruler controlled everything and no army would attack during his reign.[14] It was the only city in the Final Empire that was allowed to have a city wall.[45] Luthadel's gates weren't meant to withhold a large scale attack.[Falta cita]
Luthadel Garrison
The Luthadel Garrison was a standing force of twenty thousand well-armed, well-trained troops.[3] Its primary duty is to maintain order in Luthadel. Soldiers in the Garrison are mainly skaa who sold out to the Lord Ruler in exchange for a better life, and like all mercenaries they would fight whomever they got payed for.[17] One of their responsibilities was to guard Luthadel's walls and gates, and question both skaa and lesser nobles about their motives to leave the city to prevent too much travel in the Final Empire. Another of their tasks was to do (nighttime[9]) patrols on the streets and keep up an intimidating face while wearing full armor, especially in skaa slums, which made them not very well liked. They also had to stop rebels when needed, but hired extra part-time soldiers if such a situation would occur.[17] Like the Steel Ministry watched the nobility, the Garrison watched the skaa.[32]
Their fortifications are close to the Steel Gate. The complex had a defensive appearance and was guarded by hostile looking soldiers at the gates. Large spikes were mounted on the wall that ran around it, and the buildings within were bulky and fortified.[17]
Inquisitors
The Inquisitors are the Lord Ruler's most dedicated and powerful servants.[27] They are Hemalurgic creatures with spikes drives through their eyes and body, granting them the powers of a Mistborn. Nine of them used to be in Luthadel before the Collapse,[46] though there were around twenty Inquisitors in the entire Final Empire,[47] and they were in charge of the Canton of Inquisition. Their main duty is to find half-breeds and kill them,[9] and tracking down their children as well,[17] to prevent skaa getting access to Allomancy because of their noble ancestry.
Most Inquisitors have access to all known Allomantic metals,[18] but this depends on the Hemalurgic spikes they are given, and some also had a Feruchemical healing spike.[48] Preferably, Inquisitors were made from Seekers or Mistborn, giving them the ability to pierce through copperclouds,[37] which is useful to discover and hunt down skaa Mistings.[9] When they found a thieving band, one of them could single-handedly kill an entire crew in a matter of seconds, but they only did this when a skaa Allomancer was involved.[25]
Every citizen of Luthadel was afraid of the Inquisitors, because of their intimidating posture and eerie nature.[22] They where believed to be immortal, until one was killed by beheading him.[29] Inquisitors eventually die of old age as well.[18]
Koloss army
Stationed at a moderate distance from Luthadel. Lord Ruler could send for them, but have to be kept away from cities.[3]
“Yes, the Lord Ruler created the koloss,” he said. “It was his prerogative to determine how they were used. Besides, he kept them far away from civilized cities—yet you march them right up to our doorstep.”[49]
Notable Citizens
Quotes
“Luthadel is the dirtiest, most crowded city in the Final Empire. ”
—Ham[17]
“Luthadel wasn't like most other cities; its population was enormous. ”
—Luthadel[22]
“Luthadel might be exposed, but no one ever attacks Luthadel. No one ever has. ”
—Kelsier[22]
Trivia
- Scadrial's magnetic North Pole follows the Well of Ascension. Because Luthadel is built on top of the Well, all compasses point to Luthadel.[50]
- Luthadel, like Elendel, is named after a person. This person's story will possibly be revealed in an upcoming book.[51]
- Luthadel has roughly two million citizens.[52]
- Isaac Stewart devised Luthadel's eight gates, and named them after the basic metals.[53]
- Nazh has been to Luthadel more than once, he made a map of the city and went back to update it.[24]
See also
Notes
- ↑ El undécimo metal#
- ↑ a b Mapa de Final Empire
- ↑ a b c d e f g h i El Imperio Final (libro) capítulo 6#
- ↑ a b c d e f g h El Imperio Final (libro) capítulo 8#
- ↑ a b c d e El Imperio Final (libro) capítulo 13#
- ↑ a b c d El Imperio Final (libro) capítulo 18#
- ↑ a b El Imperio Final (libro) capítulo 25#
- ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k l El Imperio Final (libro) capítulo 2#
- ↑ a b c d e f g h El Imperio Final (libro) capítulo 7#
- ↑ a b c d e f g h El Imperio Final (libro) capítulo 5#
- ↑ a b c d e f g h i El Imperio Final (libro) capítulo 10#
- ↑ El Imperio Final (libro) capítulo 15#
- ↑ a b c d El Imperio Final (libro) capítulo 17#
- ↑ a b c d e f g h El Imperio Final (libro) capítulo 19#
- ↑ a b c d e El Imperio Final (libro) capítulo 20#
- ↑ a b c d e f El Imperio Final (libro) capítulo 21#
- ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n El Imperio Final (libro) capítulo 24#
- ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k l m El Imperio Final (libro) capítulo 27#
- ↑ a b c d El Imperio Final (libro) capítulo 29#
- ↑ a b c d El Imperio Final (libro) capítulo 14#
- ↑ a b c d e f g El Imperio Final (libro) capítulo 23#
- ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k l m El Imperio Final (libro) capítulo 26#
- ↑ a b c d e f El Imperio Final (libro) capítulo 33#
- ↑ a b c Mapa de Luthadel
- ↑ a b c d e f g El Imperio Final (libro) capítulo 11#
- ↑ a b El Imperio Final (libro) capítulo 35#
- ↑ a b c d El Imperio Final (libro) capítulo 32#
- ↑ a b c El Pozo de la Ascensión (libro) capítulo 42#
- ↑ a b c d El Imperio Final (libro) capítulo 34#
- ↑ a b c d El Imperio Final (libro) capítulo 1#
- ↑ a b c d e f El Imperio Final (libro) capítulo 28#
- ↑ a b c d e f g El Imperio Final (libro) capítulo 12#
- ↑ a b c d El Imperio Final (libro) capítulo 30#
- ↑ a b c d e El Imperio Final (libro) capítulo 22#
- ↑ El Imperio Final (libro) capítulo 9#
- ↑ a b El Imperio Final (libro) capítulo 16#
- ↑ a b c El Imperio Final (libro) capítulo 31#
- ↑ El Imperio Final (libro) prólogo#
- ↑ a b c d e f El Imperio Final (libro) capítulo 3#
- ↑ a b c d e f El Imperio Final (libro) capítulo 4#
- ↑ El Imperio Final (libro) capítulo 38#
- ↑ El Héroe de las Eras capítulo 32#
- ↑ El Héroe de las Eras capítulo 44#
- ↑ El Héroe de las Eras capítulo 63#
- ↑ El Héroe de las Eras capítulo 25#
- ↑ El Imperio Final (libro) capítulo 36#
- ↑ El Imperio Final (libro) epílogo#
- ↑ 17th Shard Interview
— Arcanum - 2010-10-03# - ↑ El Héroe de las Eras capítulo 43#
- ↑ The Hero of Ages Annotations
— Arcanum - 2010-05-04# - ↑ Firefight signing San Francisco
— Arcanum - 2015-01-17# - ↑ Email to Nepene - Re: Population of the Final Empire
— Arcanum - 2013-02-19# - ↑ Mistborn: The Final Empire Annotations
— Arcanum - 2006-08-18#
{!{partial}} {!{Mistborn|Era 1}} [![category: notable articles]] [![category: list articles]]