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Kindle Notes & Highlights
Each story is prefaced by an annotation from Khriss, the woman who has been writing the Ars Arcanum appendixes at the ends of the novels.
Sel is notable for being dishardic, one of few planets in the cosmere to attract two separate Shards of Adonalsium: Dominion and Devotion.
Devotion and Dominion were destroyed. Their Investiture—their power—was Splintered, their minds ripped away, their souls sent into the Beyond.
the bulk of the Investiture that made up the powers of Dominion and Devotion is trapped on the Cognitive Realm. Collectively, these powers—which have a polarized relationship—are called the Dor.
seons and the skaze, Splinters of self-aware Investiture who have developed humanlike mannerisms. I believe there is a link between them and the puzzle of Sel’s nature.
THE EMPEROR’S SOUL
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“If you were the wall, what would you rather be? Dreary and dull, or alive with paint?” “Walls can’t think!” “That doesn’t stop them from caring.”
“But what of this?” Gaotona said. “A beggar? Why would you want to be emaciated, and … is this showing that most of your hair would fall out, that your skin would become scarred?”
“I did manipulate you, Gaotona,” she admitted. “But I had to do it in the most difficult way possible.” “Which was?” “By being genuine,” she replied. “You can’t manipulate people by being genuine.” “You can’t?”
Live well, Ashravan, she thought. And make me proud.
THE HOPE OF ELANTRIS
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Scadrial, another dishardic planet, is characterized by a host of unique features. It is one of only two places in the cosmere where humankind does not predate the arrival of Shards.
I maintain, however, that the one of these with the largest potential impact on the cosmere is Hemalurgy. Usable by anyone with the right knowledge, this dangerous creation has proven able to warp souls regardless of planet or Investiture, creating false Connections that no Shard designed or intended.
THE ELEVENTH METAL
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MISTBORN: SECRET HISTORY
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Kelsier died. It turned out to be far more painful a process than he had anticipated.
He was alive. Kind of.
HUH
Metal and souls are the same thing, he observed. Who would have thought?
“Ah, child,” Kelsier said. “I’m sorry.” He reached out and cupped Vin’s face as she wept over him, and found he could feel her.
“Oh, hell,” Kelsier said. “There’s actually a God?” “Yes.” Kelsier decked him.
Kelsier made fists. God stepped back and—amusingly—reached for the knife at his belt.
God has a knife
“Sorry, kid,” Kelsier said. Kelsier grabbed Preservation’s shimmering arm and slashed it across the Venture boy’s stomach.
Bet like listen I thought the mist following Vin was Kelsier half the time and legit I was right
He felt as if he were stabbing his own flesh. Not because of Venture, but because he knew what it would do to Vin. His heart lurched as she rushed to Venture’s side, weeping.
That was the last bit of metal from the other side of the room, the twin of the one the Drifter had stolen.
Kelsier settled down on the steps beside Vin. He clasped his hands before himself. “So … that went well.” Vin, of course, didn’t reply. “I mean,” Kelsier continued, “yes, we ended up releasing a world-ending force of destruction and chaos, but at least the Lord Ruler is dead. Mission accomplished. Plus you still have your nobleman boyfriend, so there’s that. Don’t worry about the scar on his stomach. It’ll make him look more rugged. Mists know, the little bookworker could use some toughening up.”
“The Shards,” Khriss said, drawing Kelsier’s attention, “are not God, but they are pieces of God. Ruin, Preservation, Autonomy, Cultivation, Devotion … There are sixteen of them.”
There is an original, shrouded and hidden somewhere in the cosmere. I’ve yet to find it, but I have found stories.
“Anyway, there was a God. Adonalsium. I don’t know if it was a force or a being, though I suspect the latter. Sixteen people, together, killed Adonalsium, ripping it apart and dividing its essence between them, becoming the first who Ascended.”
“Yes,” Preservation said, very softly. “He could go then. But Kelsier, you can’t abandon me. We … we’re a team, right?”
:(
But he was so lonely.
“I will kill Vin while you’re gone,” Ruin whispered.
What had that been? And how had the white-haired Drifter managed to affect him in this Realm?
And Kelsier, the Survivor of Death, Ascended.
His essence meeting Ruin’s caused shocks through the land, trembles. An earthquake.
The letter—delivered by Goradel not to Vin, but to Marsh—did its job. Marsh ripped free Vin’s earring.
Marsh slammed an axe into Elend’s chest. “No!” Kelsier screamed. “No!” He stumbled down the hillside, running for Venture. He climbed over corpses, shadowy on this side, and scrambled toward where Elend had died. He hadn’t reached the position yet when Marsh took off Elend’s head. Oh, Vin. I’m sorry.
“You need to pay better attention, kid,” Kelsier said, looking him over. “Nice uniform. Did you ask them to make you look like a cheap knockoff of the Lord Ruler, or was it more an accident?” Elend blinked. “Wow. I hate you already.”
“It’s him,” Kelsier whispered. “He’s the Hero.”
Vin glanced at Kelsier and smiled. A welcoming, warm smile. A smile of joy and acceptance, which filled him with pride. How he wished he’d been able to find her earlier, when Mare was still alive. When she’d needed parents. She went to Elend first, and seized him in a long embrace.
stepped closer to Vin. “I…” What did he say? Hell, he didn’t know. For once, he didn’t know. She embraced him, and he found himself weeping. The daughter he’d never had, the little child of the streets. Though she was still small, she’d outgrown him. And she loved him anyway. He held his daughter close against his own broken soul.
Ati ran his hand through his red hair, then looked about. “Vax?” he said, sounding confused.
She turned, took Elend’s hand, and began to stretch toward that unseen, distant point.
“Please,” Kelsier said. “Don’t go. Stay. With me.” “Ah, Kelsier,” she said. “You have a lot to learn about love, don’t you?”
Then she let go of his hand and followed Elend into the Beyond.
They sat there together. Two friends at the edge of the world, at the end and start of time. Eventually, Sazed stood and bowed to Kelsier. A reverent motion for one who was himself divine.
“Oh hell,” Spook said. “Now, don’t be like that,” Kelsier said. “Our work is important. Vital. We’re going to unravel the mysteries of the universe. The cosmere, as it is called.”
“Nothing big,” Kelsier said. “Just a little thing. Someone once explained my problem. My string has been cut, the thing holding me to the physical world.” His smile broadened. “Well, we’re just going to have to find me a new string.”
Hey Kelsier man what the fuck you doing man
WHITE SAND
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THE THRENODITE SYSTEM
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Odium. Be aware that this system is the current habitation of the Shard of Odium on the Physical and Cognitive Realms. This Shard undoubtedly caused the Splintering of Devotion, Dominion, Honor, and perhaps others throughout the cosmere.
