Chapter 36

An epigraph outlines Hemalurgy: steel spikes grant physical Allomancy by placement, while other metals, like pewter taken from a slain Feruchemist, grant Feruchemical abilities. Original Inquisitors used pewter spikes to store health, explaining their famed but limited healing and need for rest.

At Elend Venture’s camp outside Fadrex, Lord Cett warns that Elend’s visit inside the city has softened him toward the enemy. Pressed to act, Elend compromises: he orders Vin to poison the city’s wells but leave warnings, aiming to pressure Yomen through public unrest rather than mass casualties. He also authorizes Cett to field a 10,000-strong force to harass surrounding villages without killing, to strain Yomen’s rule.

A sudden earthquake rattles the camp, underscoring rising natural disasters and the lack of news or supplies from Luthadel. Elend weighs a direct assault—likely winnable with koloss and veteran troops—against the human cost and his fear of becoming a conqueror. He resolves to continue siege pressure and exploit the upcoming ball to slip Vin into the guarded storage cavern, seeking the Lord Ruler’s final message without bloodshed.

After routine reports from Ham and a recovering Demoux, camp rumors surface: soldiers claim mist-sick men were punished for lack of faith. Demoux, among the last to recover, asks to resign, believing the Survivor cursed him. He cites eerie statistics: sixteen percent fell ill; one-sixteenth of those remained sick; they stayed sick sixteen days, to the hour. Elend challenges the conclusion, Soothes Demoux’s emotions, and reframes Demoux’s devotion as proof the sickness isn’t a judgment of faith, even as the recurring number unsettles him.

As Elend considers whether the prolonged cases share intense faith like Demoux’s, shouting erupts outside, cutting the conversation short and hinting at immediate trouble in the camp.