Your city was on fire and you were dying.
But that wasn't important.
What was important was the sky. A shade so different from the deep red you were used to. A light blue the color of the sea in ancient paintings that had hung in your father's manor, well your manor now. But none of those faded brushstrokes could compare to the canvas of blue and white above.
No ash rained from it. No red sun glared at you with hate. A light breeze meet your bearded face as your advisor and friend, Sazed, stitched your wound. The breeze even smelled sweeter in a way without ash going to your lungs with every breath. Not that breaths were easy as each one yanked at your wound with the grace of a pewter Thug.
The man's face was clouded as he worked. None of the usual words of knowledge or lore he knew moved from his still lips. He had lost people during the siege. You had a feeling you knew who. You hadn't seen Tindwyl at all from when Vin half carried you back, the pewter you burned all that was keeping you alive.
Lifting your head from your resting place on your bed you could see the city of Luthadel in flames.
Your heart ached at the sight. Months spent trying to find any other way than war, three armies ready to claim the city to raise themselves from king to emperor and claim the near mythical treasury of the Lord Ruler. Filled with a unique metal that when used by a mistborn could see the future and used as a premium currency by the nobles.
A treasury that you had seen neither hide nor hair of which had made paying for near anything difficult to say the least.
Selling all your heirlooms had done little to buy reprieve.
The armies that had gathered were now in your city. One whose's leader bowed to you out of fear. And the other, your bastard father, dead by your wife's hand may he rot. Another, your old friend gone mad, had been executed by you.
You'd need to raid the armies supplies soon you expected. The city was drained from the siege and food was incredibly limited.
The fires had been mostly put out but the ashes left behind would leave long scars. The koloss, massive beings that grew until their hearts burst, stayed still outside the city, even from here you could make out some of them. The larger wore their skin like cloaks as it was ripped off them by their growing size, while the smaller at only six feet looked as though they were being swallowed in flesh.
You hated the sight of them. Wished you could burn them all for what the beasts had done. But you needed an army and vin had brought them to heel. The secret to control the koloss was known to her and your inner circle alone.
The walls of the city were almost torn down. At twelve feet high they had been mostly to say they were there. A sign that the city had been the home of the lord ruler, god king and the final emperor of the final empire who has reigned for one thousand years.
Until your wife killed him.
She solved a lot of problems that way.
You grunt as Sazed finishes stitching your wounds. Standing, much to his disapproval, you went to the terrace and looked out, your hands shaking as the ground swings and sways as you walk. You shouldn't be alive. The gut wound should have killed you in the chambers that housed a god's power.
Instead Vin found another way and now you had the same powers as her. A full mistborn, with all the powers of the allomantic metals at your fingertips. If only you knew how to use any or had any training at all. You bite down bile coming up in your throat and place both hands on the balcony.
You stare past the blue nightmares in their camps. Past the grey and brown grass of your home. To the distant land you had found yourself in.
You had tried so hard to live to your ideals. To be just and limit your own power as king. Your friends had candidly offered to stage a coup when you were deposed legally during the siege. At the time you had refused despising the idea of being a tyrant.
But your own morals weren't worth the lives of others. You took the crown back with force. And the nobles bowed. It hurt to see how easily it worked. You ideals trampled and mocked but the moment you showed true strength they rolled over and bared their necks. You didn't blame many of them. The skaa who had been fearful and hoping to be spared if they aided the enemy, the merchants just wanting to do their jobs. But damn the nobles to the deepest hell.
Still they obeyed now.
Vin threatening to kill any who refused and her display of bisecting your father had done a remarkable job in convincing them. Though you expected they wouldn't be cowed for long. Eventually they'd act like snakes and go for power once more. Like they always did.
You didn't know where the god trapped within the well had sent your city. You didn't know where you were, your resources or who else inhabited this stretch of land. But… the sky was blue. A dream to some, pure fantasy and ridiculous to most. You still didn't know what to make of it. The color was so odd after a lifetime of crimson red.
The dream of Kelsier; mistborn, surrogate father of vin and her mentor, thief, and now near deified by the religion that had sprouted the night his blood was spilled onto the ground by the Lord Ruler. Defiance to plant the seed, and blood to water it had left it to grow strong and stout.
A dream that was now reality. Hope built in your chest as you prepared your next plan.
You are Elend Venture. The emperor of the New Empire, the successor of the Lord Ruler, king of Luthadel and all lands surrounding it, husband of the Survivor's heir, commander of 45,000 men and 12,000 koloss. Mistborn.
oOo
After the End of Well of Ascension, Luthadel finds itself burned and sacked. With you as it's leader, Emperor Elend Venture at the head it is up to you to survive this strange land of seemingly myth. Your resources are limited, your funds more so. Your greatest weapons are insane monsters who just burned your city. Your friends all mourn those lost in the siege. Vin struggles with the fact that she unleashed a foul god.
But now with a fresh army, koloss, the deadliest mistborn on the planet(Vin), a shapeshifting spy monster, and your allies, you have a chance to forge a new path. Free of the ash blighted skies of Scadrial. Will you bring your ideals of democracy to the inhabitants here? By blade or olive branch?
A strong hand will be needed for Luthadel to survive the word of Planteos. But will you fall to tyranny or fight for a new dawn of justice?
Time Period: What time period have you arrived in?
[ ] Dance of Dragons: You have arrived days after the death of the King Viserys. Dragons fly to and for from castles and manses. War is in the air and a bitter taste of blood will soon be on many's lips. A massive city with a large army and the koloss could be a game changer in either side. Or you could create a third side.
[ ] War of the Five kings. Days ago Robert Baratheon died. War will come and as a new player the game of thrones will forcibly involve you in weeks. It's just your choice of who to support and who to oppose. Or perhaps after seeing the status of the peasants you could decide to take the iron throne and place it in Kredik Shaw, the Imperial palace.
Location: Where Luthadel arrived is important. It will determine the closest factions to you, the resources surronding you, and your ability to travel. Chose very carefully. With only Luthadel, the drained remains of it's canals, and part of lake Luthadel, you are strained heavily on resources. Given the massive spires of Luthadel and Kredrik shaw you'll be seen fairly soon so who you first meet will be of importance.
[ ] Dorne: A dry land, hot and arid. Not great for growing crops but the land will be defendable and it couldn't be less hospitable as Scardial.
[ ] The North. Cold, frigid, and with people that grunt for talking, really what's not to complain about? Still you'd be able to likely claim far more land than otherwise due to the distance from the nearest settlements. But you'd be limited in mobilizing and how fast news reaches you.
[ ] Westerlands. Rich and fertile. A great land to settle and grow. Assuming you are aren't opposed of course.
[ ] Slaver's Bay. Hellish and enemies surrond all corners. You will not ally with any of these slavers. But do you have the strength to burn them all to ash?
[ ] Write in
oOo
So for this quest it will be mostly mechanicaless. Elend is a very skilled diplomat as he got a city ready to rip him apart to name him king, Vin can and will kill anything you point her at and if you train your skills you likely will as well. The koloss are essentially a super weapon but a dwindling supply as you cannot create more. The nobles on the council Elend set up will initially be fully loyal out of fear but will start looking to spread influence in Westeros. Further you have a kandra and a skilled crew of thieves and con artists. In a fight or battle you'd likely rip everything apart. But you will rise or fall by diplomacy. An army is no good if you can't pay them. The people will forget fear if there is no food, and your walls are currently rubble.
Resources: You have enough to choose one.
[ ] Rebuild your walls. Your city is open to any attacker and the rubble does not send a confident message to anyone who wants to forge an alliance.
[ ] Send out scouts. You need to find where you are, who is near to you, and find out the reputations of the people of importance before you make any deals. What better way than to send out scouts to hide and talk amongst the commoners.
[ ] Gather and forage. Your people are starving. Sending out the army and civilians to gather what they can from the area would assuage the pressing food concerns for now but will likely strip the area bare in the long term.
[ ] Set up farms. It will be slow going but the area seems to be in summer and you will likely be able to get a harvest out if you rush a fast growing crop. Your people will be hungry in the short term but the harvest would last you an extended period or provide more resources for trade.
