Prologue-Chapter 5
In the prologue, a man named Kelsier is at a plantation in an isolated section of the final empire. A young plantation worker is nearly raped and killed by the lord of the manor, but is rescued by Kelsier who kills all the noblemen in the manor and burns it down. This forces the Skaa slaves on the planation to join the rebellion or be put to death for the noblemen's demise. Chapter one focuses on a young girl named Vin who is part of a Skaa thieving crew in the capitol of the final empire, Luthadel. The thieving crew is attempting to scam the ministry into signing a contract with a fake nobleman and is almost caught, but Vin saves them by using her “luck” to influence one of the ministry obligators.
Chapter two is also focused on Vin and the crew, who double-cross the crew who hired them for the scam job in the first place in exchange for a quick payoff; however to do so, Vin must use more of her “luck” and she is then concerned about how easily the job went. Simultaneously, Kelsier arrives in Luthdel and begins a stake out of the city. He discovers Vin has been identified by a Steel Inquisitor and he is on her tail. Kelsier then leads the inquisitor on a chase away from Vin. Chapter three begins with the thieving crew leader adding up the profit from the sabotaged job. Vin has a feeling that she needs to leave the lair of the crew, but before she can, she is caught and beaten by the crew leader. Kelsier is able to intervene before the other thieves kill her.
After saving Vin, Kelsier the old crew leader leave and never return, and hires the remaining crew members for a job. Kelsier discovers that Vin is an allomancer, which is a person who can “burn” metals in their body to give them mystical abilities. Chapter four begins with the remaining crew members speculating on the parameters of the job. He then discusses a job for the rebellion with his old crew, using the lair as the meeting place. In chapter five, Kelsier assaults Keep Venture, stealing a safe that contains attium, an extremely rare and valuable allomantic metal, and several thousand boxings worth of travelers’ checks.
