Each level of allomancing skill contributes to whether a noble is a misting, one who is only able to burn one type of metal, or a mistborn, one who can burn all metals. As a reward for their support, not only are they a class above the skaa, they are blessed with a magical power known as allomancy, the ability to ingest and transform certain metals within their bodies in order to increase their capacities for mental and physical skill. In contrast, the nobility, or nobles, descend from those who did support the Lord Ruler before his wealth of power.

Essentially, skaa were slaves for the noble class. Even the most skilled of the skaa class were relegated to being poorly paid and even more poorly treated. Typically, skaa were forced to work as farmers, miners and factory workers for nothing other than “food tokens” as compensation. For the most part, skaa are treated as servants and punished for not supporting Lord Ruler before his rise to power. One major point in the Mistborn series is the societal division between those who supported the Lord Ruler prior to his re-creation (nobility) and those who didn’t (skaa). It is this environment that houses the fantasies to which readers are privy.

Before establishment of the Final Empire, Sanderson tells the story of one political leader, the Lord Ruler, acquiring access to a divine power, the Well of Ascension, and using it to re-create the world and everything in it. Mistborn is told in a world known as Scadrial, in a subregion called the Final Empire. Sanderson has since initiated and completed many additional projects, but Mistborn is one of his most popular series’ to date. Mistborn is a series of fantasy novels written by Brandon Sanderson, known for completing Robert Jordans Wheel of Time following Jordans death.

Mistborn by brandon sanderson