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[Cantos Orlan]

Some hours later, Cantos began to stir. His head was sore, his body was sore, and his stomach was a pool of acid. However. He was alive... and not in chains. He was confused and looked about. There was his opponent, sitting, and strumming on his loot. Confused, he said "Who are you?!"

[Valkyn Venture]

The Inquisitor looked up from his lute, apparently surprised. He recovered quickly from his shock. "I am no one to be trifled with. That is all you need know."

He leaned forward and replaced his lute on his back.

"You, however, are another matter entirely. You would attack an Obligator, one of your own priests. You speak harshly against your church, and through extension, your God. You are hotheaded, prideful, and foolish. An untrained Allomancer."

Valkyn's voice betrayed no emotion except irritation. His face betrayed nothing.

"I would know your grievance against the Steel Ministry and the Lord Ruler. You may have heard that Steel Inquisitors can see into a man's mind. I tell you, I will know if you lie."

He would, too. From this close, his Steel and Iron could see every beat of his heart. He would be able to tell if blood rose to the man's face or his pulse increased. He would be able to tell if his breathing accelerated.

It wasn't definitive, but it would be enough to catch the first lie. The first lie would mean pain. The second, depending on the lie, would mean death.

"Speak, fool. Start with your birth, and speak of your wife, the Steel Ministry, and the skaa. You may ask questions, but do not expect an answer. Now, speak."

At some point, the man would need encouragement. Only time would tell when.

[Cantos Orlan]

Cantos pauses, considering his options, and decides that if he must die, then he shall do so honestly and with pride. "You ask after my story?" He pauses. "Then you shall have it."

He settles against the wall, well aware of the pain his body was in. "I was born in the Southern Dominance. Against the coast itself, my birth was marked by celebration in my family, for births among the nobles are rare as you know. I grew up with a Skaa nurse, and my first friends were the Skaa servants. We were not wealthy, nor powerful. Our family were minor supporters of the Lord Ruler at the time of the Ascension, and were never given more then a cursory nod of membership to the nobility." He pauses for breath, his side and head aching.

"By the time I was 12, I understood the deadly truth about noble politics, and the troubles of the Skaa. I never understood why the Skaa feared going to market on behalf of the family, or why they lived on the grounds in poor mud huts. Even our fisherman, once the source of our family income, seemed to not benefit greatly from their presence on our staff."

He pauses again, his face troubled by what comes next. "My father never sought to beat the Skaa, or trample them. Some used to sign quietly at night, which I later learned were songs of worship for ancient Gods. I had met a noblewoman by this point, a young lass named Maria. She would become my wife. We listened to the music, and she learned to play it. When we were married at 18, the Skaa celebrated, and gifted her with a necklace of sea shells, a traditional wedding gift in their long lost religion. The singing would be what caused the trouble.

One day, in the markets of town, one of the Skaa was caught whistling the tune. She was a simple girl, more then other Skaa, and was a true innocent. An Obligator Coinshot was dispatched to the hovels, and began to kill Skaa indiscriminately. My father protested, demanding to know for what reason this was occurring, and the man turned and killed him without any remorse. I, and my wife, witnessed the entire event."

He sighs, closing his eyes, the anger evident in his body, pulse racing, breath hard and fast, face pale and white. Pure adrenaline rushes through his veins, erasing the pain in his head and body. If he had the means he might even attack. Instead he speaks, his voice quiets, his once overt anger replaced by a quieter burning pain, covering a determination of steel. "With no Skaa, and no fish, I had nothing. I sold off the home to another Noble, and moved into the city proper, and began training in earnest. I sold my skills in dueling and warfare to other Nobles, friends at first, then more. I trained in the skills of the bodyguard: staff and dueling cane, sword and shield. Then I sought out Haze Killers, and trained with them. Then I turned around and brought Skaa soldiers into my simple home, and turned them into teams of haze killers. By training these men, I sought to create the weapons that would kill the very power that stole my father's life."

He stared directly at the Inquisitor. "Powers such as you have."

Leaning his back against the wall, Cantos continued his story. "I can skip most of the jobs if you don't mind. The one that concerns you is the last one I was on. The one that brought me here. A man without a name, a Noble in disguise." He taps the floor lightly, "A Noble in trouble.

"I never learned his name, despite employing a small spy network. It is a necessary thing, information. Very helpful. However, we were leaving immediately. He wanted protection for the trip to Luthadel, and was planning on traveling by canal. I ended that thought and moved us overland, using a route that was designed to confuse and loose any assassin teams. They found us anyway.

"During the fighting, he ran, and I was severely injured. My wife, traveling as an advisor to the Noble, was also badly injured, a Coinshot managed to maneuver around us, and a coin slashed through her stomach. She was to die the next day, curled up and unconscious in a Skaa hovel. I Snapped at the point, somehow able to burn pewter that was in my blood, and managed to survive the Thug's blow to my face. My Skaa cared for me, and when I was again alive. I knew I must come to Luthadel, and find the man that betrayed me and left me to die."

He stops for a moment, his eyes hard and angry, "And the Obligator that fled with him."

His eyes lift to meet the steel spikes of the Inquisitor, and for a moment, the hardness of his soul matches the hardness of the steel "So you ask what my grievances are with you? My 'god,' my Church, and my new found powers have taken everything of worth from me. The so called pathetic Skaa have sought to help me. So ask yourself, in that situation, which would you choose? To believe in something that seeks to attack you, or to believe in something that seeks to help you? I have sided with the Skaa, and if that means my life, so be it." His mouth closes, but his eyes still burn hard.

[Ignas]

With all the rebellion cells he had to organize, the debts he needed to repay, the skaa to recruit, and the blood he spilled, Ignas enjoyed listening. He especially enjoyed listening to this man Valkyn brought in. Ignas heard every word. Despite the rebellion's doubt about the Inquisitor, he was the rebellion's most powerful ally. The most dangerous, too, but that gamble paid off tenfold at the moment.

This man was Mistborn.

Ignas opened the door, and began clapping. "Ah, good, good my new friend. If you have anger towards the Steel Ministry, you shall be of use to me. Welcome, my friend, to the skaa rebellion!

"Simply because we both wear Ministry tattoos does not mean we are your enemy--that is merely odd happenstance. Valkyn here is an agent of mine, working with this rebellion cell. I, however, am also disillusioned about the Lord Ruler. So what did I do? I began organizing a rebellion. You probably did not hear down in the Southern Dominance, but a little over a year and a half ago, the entire governing body of the Farmost Dominance--the Canton of Orthodoxy there, the nobility--all went down in a blaze of fire. The Lord Ruler obfuscated this fact.

"You call me Ignas, though that is not my given name. I am the bane of the Steel Ministry, the Destroyer of Farmost. For most of my life, I thought I was a nobleman... but eventually, my father told me I was half-skaa. Had the Ministry caught wind of this, I would be dead. But I am more... proactive, shall we say.

"I have come to Luthadel, my new friend, to finish the job that I have started. The Lord Ruler and his Church, all of the oppression he has created, they will burn for all eternity." Ignas grinned in satisfaction. "I believe you can help me with this goal."

[Valkyn Venture]

Valkyn said nothing, but his lips tightened every time Ignas spoke of The Lord Ruler.

It was the ministry officials and the nobles who were responsible for the treatment of the Skaa. The Lord Ruler had no direct interaction. The skaa were his people, bought and paid for for a thousand years and for all eternity.

The Lord Ruler had no enmity for the skaa, In fact, Valkyn was convinced he pitied them. He had never said so. In fact, the Lord Ruler hardly spoke of anything at all, but He was not a villian.

He was God. God didn't make mistakes. It was God's hands at fault, those who did his bidding.

Valkyn knew Ignas believed otherwise, but he had learned from previous indiscretions to not give dangerous opinions voice.

[Cantos Orlan]

((OOC: I wasn't sure how to respond to this for a bit :) ))

Cantos stared at the new comer, obvious shock and confusion on his face. He seems confused, and a little lost. Obviously, with the blow to his head, the introduction of TWO rebels from the Lord Ruler's own ministry, and word of a powerful Skaa Rebellion, he just does not know what to say or do.

In a soft whisper, his body deflated of anger and resentment, even the courage he had, his voice barely is able to come out: "Who are you?!"

Cantos knows what was said to him must be true. He is still alive, he is still breathing, and even though he gave a damning speech, an Inquisitor sits and says nothing. But, his mind cannot grasp what has happened to him. Even thoughts of revenge are no longer in his head.

[Ignas]

Ah, Ignas thought. What a fresh recruit. The rebellion seemed to get many like that these days. Sometimes, in the earlier days, they would have slightly more trained Allomancers, with harder edges, who knew how to fight.

"I am the one who shall overthrow the Final Empire," Ignas said. "We shall tear this unjust world asunder and band together, forming a new beautiful era. I certainly hope you share this hope, for it is possible, and I want you to help my friends and I. Can I count upon you?"

[Cantos Orlan]

Cantos pauses for a moment before responding. "I have no idea if you want me. I'm hot headed, and though well trained as a Haze Killer, I have no training as an Allomancer."

He struggled to his feet, his shield and dueling cane were held limply as he considers. "I am willing to pledge my skills to the rebellion, but I believe I would be better able to assist if I had more training. I have burned iron, some pewter, and some tin. Though I have only used iron in real amounts."

[Valkyn Venture]

Valkyn's lips constricted. This mistborn hazekiller was a fool, but he needed to be trained if he was going to be a useful tool. His temper could be tempered, his anger directed, his ignorance educated. He needed a trainer.

And the Abomination would not do as a mentor.

He turned to Ignas, and when no reply was given he turned back to the mistkiller. He tossed a vial at the mistkiller and told him to drink.

[Ignas]

"First of all, a Mistborn is not something I would throw away casually," Ignas said. "Especially a Mistborn sympathetic to the rebellion! Do not worry. We shall train you. This cell already has a Mistborn, and he will help you train."

Ignas smiled. "Though, it looks like Valkyn here wishes to start you a bit early on that matter."

[Cantos Orlan]

((OOC: First, my appologies. I've been out of it on meds for my back! Drunk as crazy).

Cantos catches the vial and stares at it, then at the Inquisitor. He is concerned, but alive. He knows he shouldn't be alive, and knows that he could have been easily killed while unconcious. He hesitated long enough, concern warring with desire. Desire won.

With one swift motion, Cantos lifted the vial to his lips and downed the scratchy liquid, feeling fires burn to life in his stomach, more then he ever knew existed.

"What now?" he whispers, overwhelmed with the feeling.

[Valkyn Venture]

Valkyn crossed his arms. "Stop. Extinguish them all." His disapproval radiated through the cramped room.

He fidgeted with the lute surreptitiously. The corner of his mouth twitched. Something about the Hazekiller irritated him. He was too eager. Too little restraint.

"Your first lesson is one of attitude. Burn one. You will learn them one at a time. You will take what you are given, you will learn what you are taught.

"You must learn patience if you are to make a difference. Common animals are controlled by their impulses. You must master yours.

"The rebellion has no need and no use of animals who cannot control themselves."

[Cantos Orlan]

Immediately stopped.

"Your first lesson is one of attitude. Burn one. You will learn them one at a time. You will take what you are given, you will learn what you are taught.

"You must learn patience if you are to make a difference. Common animals are controlled by their impulses. You must master yours.

"The rebellion has no need and no use of animals who cannot control themselves."

Cantos nodded at these words, but did not burn any metals. "Which metal should I burn? I await your instructions."

He holds himself perfectly still, waiting with patience for instruction from the steel inquisitor. He would learn his first lesson well, it wasn't that different from being a haze killer. As one, he had to be patient, and wait carefully as Mistings played a careful game of give and take.

Cantos stood on his toes, his posture loose, yet ready. He burned no metals, but he felt them inside, power sources radiating warmth and comfort.

He breathed in, and waited.

[Valkyn Venture]

The Inquisitor's frown neither deepened or lightened. He watched the Shield-bearer with disapproval. He said nothing for several minutes, testing the limits of the shield-bearer's patience.

Eventually, he spoke.

"You are too unfamiliar yet to allomancy. We must start with those you have limited experience with. Iron, Tin, possibly Pewter. Reach inside yourself and find the one that feels most familiar. Burn that one."

[Cantos Orlan]

Cantos nodded and concentrated. He noticed that their was a difference in the sensations, as if each was an individual fire at an individual temperature. He noted one that seemed most familiar and lightly touched it, sending blue lines radiating out from him. Each seemed to connect to some kind of metal source. He nodded. "Iron." He murmured, "I am burning iron."

[Valkyn Venture]

"This will work best if I can dispel any misconceptions you have from the beginning. Tell me everything you know of how iron works."

[Cantos Orlan]

Cantos nodded and began, "Iron pulls. It is why Iron burning Mistings are called Lurchers, as they can grab Pushed coins and Pull them towards themselves. Lurchers usually use heavy wooden shields to protect Pewterarms and others in a Misting team." He pauses. "Iron can be used to propel oneself as well, such as when I used my iron to pull myself along the floor.

"When I fought an Obligator using Iron, he was able to Pull armored soldiers in front of himself. It seemed to connect them as a weight and counterweight on a rope."

[Valkyn Venture]

"Weight. Everything with Iron, and with steel is based on weight. If you pull something metal that weighs more than you, or cannot move, you are pulled toward it. If it weighs less, or you can't move it is pulled toward you. If your weights are similar, you are both pulled together.

"Always, you pull straight toward your chest. Therefore, subtlety with iron comes when you can move while pulling. As you step to the side, you can pull things past you, grab them as they pass, use the soldier as a counterweight on the rope. Practice is requisite. You will not become a master in a day, nor will you learn iron without grave danger to yourself.

"But, for now, the time is short. After Ball Casuana, I may be able to teach you the practical application of iron, but not today.

"Now, there is a metal paired with Iron. Extinguish the Iron, and burn Steel."


The Inquisitor seemed to become less disapproving as he grew less taciturn. His fingers still twitched, reaching for the lute.

[Cantos Orlan]

Cantos nodded as he listened to the Inquisitor's words. He extinguished the iron and searched inside of him. Eight metals were there, each a distinct power source. Each had its own pulse and four seemed to be paired with another four. He identified the one similar to Iron, and began to burn Steel. Again, blue lines filled the room. "I am now burning Steel, and blue lines are again filling the room. Is this the power that grants Coinshots their name?"

[Valkyn Venture]

"Yes. Steel is the Physical External Pushing Metal; Iron the Physical External Pulling Metal. As with Iron, the key to subtlety in Steel is a deep understanding of weight. Practice is essential and dangerous.

"When you push, for instance, a coin, it is intuitive that it will be pushed away. When that coin strikes a wall, however, The push is on you. Care must be taken, or death may be the result of carelessness. Iron and steel are the most dangerous metals to yourself and others.

"Months of practice will likely be needed before you are proficient with either.

"When you have enough metals, you should burn steel and iron at all times. With them, you will see things you miss otherwise. Only practice will increase your skill, but an innate understanding of forces and trickery are the key to using steel and iron in battle."

The inquisitor finally pulled the lute off his back and began to strum, soon lines of tension melted from his face. As the tightness passed, he burned Zinc and Brass. What he did with them felt instinctive and natural. It was part of the music.

"Extinguish your steel for now, and pick a different metal. It does not matter which. In time, you may come to recognize groupings within the metals, groups of four, and pairs of two."