Difference between revisions of "Ruin"

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}}

Ruin fuels [[Hemalurgy]] -- one of the three Metallic Arts on [[Scadrial]], and a unique one among them in that it can be used by anyone anywhere, provided they have the appropriate tools and [[intention|Intent]].{{wob ref|6312}} It allows for removing a portion of a person's [[spiritweb]] and grafting it onto someone else with a metal spike, essentially stealing an attribute or power and giving it to another. Various attributes can be stolen, from physical qualities such as strength or senses to magical powers, like [[Allomancy|Allomantic]] abilities, and even foreign magic systems like [[Surgebinding]].{{wob ref|12018}} What attribute is stolen depends on the metal used and the placement of the spike.{{file ref|Hemalurgy table.jpg|text=Hemalurgy Table}} By transplanting powers and qualities, Hemalurgy can be used to effectively create new species; examples of such creatures are [[kandra]], [[koloss]] and the [[Steel Inquisitor]]s.

[[Feruchemy]] is a [[Metallic Arts|Metallic Art]] created by both Ruin and [[Preservation]]. Unlike Hemalurgy, it is inheritable; a person has to be born with the ability to use it.{{wob ref|5269}} Like Preservation's own magic, [[Allomancy]], Feruchemy grants sixteen separate powers for each of the base metals, as well as additional abilities for every [[God Metal|god metal]].{{file ref|Feruchemical table.jpg|text=Feruchemical Table}} A person can store an attribute of themselves in a piece of metal called a metalmind, diminishing it in themselves, and tap the stored attribute, increasing it in themselves -- for example, store strength to become weaker, then tap it to become stronger.{{book ref|mb4|part=ars}}

Which attribute can be stored depends on the metal used. A person can be born a Full Feruchemist, allowing them to use all powers, or a Ferring, letting them use only one metal. The base sixteen metals are divided into four categories: physical, which store attributes of the body, cognitive, which store attributes of the mind, spiritual, which store attributes of the soul, and hybrid, which store attributes related to bodily processes, like health or energy.{{file ref|Feruchemical table.jpg|text=Feruchemical Table}}

In solid form, Ruin's power appears as the metal [[atium]], named after the original Vessel. Like all godGod metalsMetals, atium has its uses in the [[Metallic Arts]]. In [[Allomancy]], it allows the user to see a few seconds into the future; in [[Feruchemy]], it can be used to store youth, and through [[compounding]], it permits near-agelessness. As a [[Hemalurgic]] spike, atium can steal any power, including those of other magic systems, though it must first be refined.{{file ref|Hemalurgy table.jpg|text=Hemalurgy Table}}

However, Preservation broke the terms of the deal by sacrificing his mind to create a prison for Ruin, preventing him from doing wreckingdestroying the planet. Furthermore, in an attempt to balance the two Shards, he sequestered away a portion of Ruin's power by condensing it into the metal [[atium]].{{epigraph ref|mb3|55}}

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, thorughthrough altering the [[Terris Prophecies]], to free him. However, a [[Terrisman]] named [[Kwaan]] realized Ruin's alterations. He sent his nephew, [[Rashek]], to try and stop Alendi from reaching the Well.{{epigraph ref|mb2|55}} Rashek eventually killed Alendi and took the power for himself, becoming [[the Lord Ruler]] and perpetuating Ruin's imprisonment.

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 baby girl named [[Vin]] with an insane mother and an infant [[Allomancer]] sister. Speaking to the mother, Ruin caused her to kill the olderyounger daughter and fashion a Hemalurgic spike out of her, then pierce Vin with the spike.{{epigraph ref|mb3|74}} Vin, unaware of this, eventually started wearing the spike as an earring and refused to give it up due to Ruin's influence, thus letting him subtly manipulate her.{{epigraph ref|mb3|75}} He did so mostly through the voice of her deceased brother, [[Reen]].{{book ref|mb3|54}}

|Ruin{{book ref|mb3|57}}

However, the planet was still dying, and thus Preservation's plan reached its conlcusionconclusion. [[Sazed]], present at the battle though not directly participating, saw the two powers and took up both of them, mixing them together into [[Harmony]]. With them, reconstructedSazed reconstituted the [[Scadrial]] backthat intohad aexisted livablebefore placethe Lord Ruler’s Ascension. {{book ref|mb3|83}}

Unsurprisingly, Ruin features in a number of Scadrian religions. The cult of the [[Lord Ruler]] feared the [[Deepness]], an ancient enemy that Rashek defeated at the Well -- though that was a misinterpretation of [[Preservation]]'s snapping [[mist]]s.{{epigraph ref|mb3|81}} The religion of [[Trelagism]], from Scadrial's [[Classical Scadrial|Classical]] period, spoke of two gods, Trell and Nalt, who were each other's brothers and enemies.{{book ref|mb1|2}} The Terris religion likewise preaches about Ruin and Preservation.{{book ref|mb3|75}} In the present times, the [[Southern Scadrian]]s worship the Jaggenmire, a combination of Ruin and Preservation; within the Jaggenmire, Ruin is known as '''Herr''', and is described as both the brother and the husband to the other half, Frue -- he puts things into motion, while she makes them stop, and the two must work together to create life.{{book ref|mb6|22}}