The Alloy of Law
Chapters - Brandon Sanderson
Prologue
Waxillium Ladrian hunts the outlaw Bloody Tan through the Roughs, demonstrating his Allomantic abilities and partnership with Lessie. The pursuit ends in tragedy when Tan uses Lessie as a human shield and Wax's bullet kills her instead. The prologue establishes the defining trauma that will follow Wax into his new life and the cost of violence even when wielded with skill.
POV: Waxillium Ladrian·On page: Paalm·Mentioned: Harmony, Miles Hundredlives, Wayne, Kelsier, Marsh
Source: Coppermind
Chapter 1
Five months after Lessie's death, Waxillium Ladrian attends an Elendel society party as Lord Ladrian, a role he has inherited after his uncle's death. He escapes across the rooftops and stumbles into a confrontation with criminals but freezes at the sound of a woman's voice, nearly getting himself killed. Shaken by his inability to act, he surrenders his guns to his butler Tillaume and resolves to leave his lawkeeper identity behind.
POV: Waxillium Ladrian·Mentioned: Wayne, Harmony, Paalm, Edwarn Ladrian, Ranette, Kelsier
Source: Coppermind
Chapter 2
Waxillium Ladrian prepares for a meeting with Lord Harms to negotiate a marriage arrangement with his daughter Steris Harms, only to find Wayne waiting in his sitting room instead. Wayne crashes the meeting in disguise, posing as Wax's uncle, while Steris lays out the pragmatic terms of their arrangement - his noble name for her family's money. Wayne slips Wax an aluminum bullet recovered from a robbery, planting the seed of a mystery Wax is not yet ready to pursue.
POV: Waxillium Ladrian·On page: Steris Harms, Wayne, Marasi Colms·Mentioned: Edwarn Ladrian, Telsin Ladrian, Ranette, Paalm, Miles Hundredlives, Harmony
Source: Coppermind
Chapter 3
Waxillium Ladrian tries to occupy himself with house business but is drawn into investigating the Vanishers through old broadsheets, sketching out their pattern of train robberies and kidnappings. Tillaume interrupts to remind him of his duties to House Ladrian. Wax prays to Harmony and accepts that he must be a lord first, setting aside the investigation to work on house ledgers. The chapter traces the tension between obligation and instinct that defines Wax's internal conflict.
POV: Waxillium Ladrian·Mentioned: Edwarn Ladrian, Wayne, Steris Harms, Telsin Ladrian, Harmony
Source: Coppermind
Chapter 4
Waxillium Ladrian escorts Steris Harms to the Yomen-Ostlin wedding dinner, where he meets Marasi Colms for the first time and Wayne appears disguised as their waiter. The social occasion gives way to investigative conversation as Wayne shares what he has learned about the Vanishers. The chapter builds the central trio's dynamic - Wax's reluctant curiosity, Wayne's irrepressible energy, Marasi's quiet intelligence - just before the Vanishers kick the doors open.
POV: Waxillium Ladrian·On page: Steris Harms, Marasi Colms, Wayne·Mentioned: Marsh, Paalm, Harmony
Source: Coppermind
Chapter 5
The Vanishers storm the wedding dinner, ostensibly robbing guests but actually selecting specific women from the crowd. Waxillium Ladrian recognises the kidnapping pattern and watches helplessly as Steris Harms and then Marasi Colms are chosen as hostages. His honour wars with his concern for civilian lives as Wayne urges action. When the bandit leader shoots Lord Peterus and unleashes his men, Wax finally surrenders to his instincts and Wayne throws up a speed bubble.
POV: Waxillium Ladrian·On page: Wayne, Marasi Colms, Miles Hundredlives, Steris Harms·Mentioned: Paalm
Source: Coppermind
Chapter 6
Waxillium Ladrian and Wayne fight their way through the Vanishers in the ballroom, with Wax deducing the identity of the gang's true leader mid-battle. Marasi Colms proves herself by stunning Tarson when the Pewterarm takes her hostage in a deliberate echo of Lessie's death. The duo dispatch most of the bandits but the leader escapes with Steris Harms. Constable Brettin arrives and berates Wax for the chaos, while Wayne quietly lifts an aluminum gun from the evidence pile.
POV: Waxillium Ladrian·On page: Wayne, Miles Hundredlives, Marasi Colms·Mentioned: Steris Harms, Paalm
Source: Coppermind
Chapter 7
Marasi Colms visits Waxillium Ladrian at Ladrian Mansion, where he is analysing the aluminum gun's unusual alloy. She brings news that Lord Harms will fund the rescue effort, and together they work through the Vanishers' motives, arriving at a chilling conclusion: the kidnapped women were selected for their Allomantic bloodlines, taken for the purpose of breeding. Wax sends Wayne to interrogate the arrested Vanishers at the constabulary.
POV: Marasi Colms·On page: Waxillium Ladrian·Mentioned: Kelsier, Wayne, Steris Harms, Miles Hundredlives, Edwarn Ladrian
Source: Coppermind
Chapter 8
Wayne infiltrates the Fourth Octant constabulary disguised as a captain from the Seventh Octant, fast-talking Brettin into granting him access to the imprisoned Vanishers. He plays two roles at once during the interrogation - official constable and street-accented insider - extracting information about the gang's operations without Brettin suspecting a thing. The chapter is a showcase for Wayne's gift for deception and his value as Waxillium Ladrian's intelligence-gathering partner.
POV: Wayne
Source: Coppermind
Chapter 9
Waxillium Ladrian and Marasi Colms debate philosophy while Wayne returns with intelligence from the constabulary. The domestic scene turns violent when Wayne discovers that Tillaume has poisoned the tea, and the butler attempts to assassinate Wax with a gun and a bomb. Wayne's speed bubble and Wax's weight manipulation save them from the explosion, though Wayne is badly burned. Presumed dead by whoever sent Tillaume, they seize the cover to go after the Vanishers directly.
POV: Waxillium Ladrian·On page: Marasi Colms, Wayne·Mentioned: Harmony, Steris Harms, Edwarn Ladrian, Marsh
Source: Coppermind
Chapter 10
Waxillium Ladrian, Wayne, and Marasi Colms sneak out of Ladrian Mansion and locate the Vanishers' hideout near a canal dock in the Fifth Octant. They search the abandoned building for clues to the gang's operation, and Wayne plays a dark prank on Marasi that reveals how little she understands of their world. Wax returns from questioning local beggars and identifies the expensive cigar box Wayne found - it belongs to Miles Hundredlives Dagouter, a former lawkeeper Wax knows by reputation.
POV: Marasi Colms·On page: Waxillium Ladrian, Wayne·Mentioned: Edwarn Ladrian, Telsin Ladrian, Ranette, Paalm, Miles Hundredlives
Source: Coppermind
Chapter 11
Miles Hundredlives debates morality with his lieutenants, arguing that true law means helping the Roughs even if it requires crime in the city. Mister Suit summons him to answer for the botched wedding operation, revealing the power structure behind the Vanishers - Suit funds and directs while Miles provides the muscle and the ideology. In the second half, Waxillium Ladrian explains Miles to Marasi Colms, discovers she is a Pulser, and tries to convince her that even an unglamorous Allomantic ability has tactical value.
POV: Miles Hundredlives, Waxillium Ladrian·On page: Edwarn Ladrian, Wayne, Marasi Colms·Mentioned: Autonomy, Steris Harms, Harmony
Source: Coppermind
Chapter 12
Wayne, Waxillium Ladrian, and Marasi Colms investigate a robbery site in the Outer Estates, piecing together how the Vanishers intercept train shipments along the canal. Wayne privately observes that Marasi changes her speech patterns around Wax, trying to impress him. On the return train, a bullet tears through the carriage - Miles Hundredlives has tracked them down, confirming that they face a hunter, not a fugitive. The chapter pivots from investigation to direct confrontation.
POV: Wayne, Waxillium Ladrian·On page: Marasi Colms, Miles Hundredlives·Mentioned: Paalm
Source: Coppermind
Chapter 13
Waxillium Ladrian and Miles Hundredlives fight atop the moving train in a battle that tests every advantage Wax has against a man who cannot be killed. Miles lectures Wax on his ideology between blows, framing his crimes as justice for the forgotten Roughs. Wax manages to strand Miles on the tracks by Pushing a spent cartridge, but the victory is temporary. Regrouping with Wayne and Marasi Colms, they decide to shelter at Ranette's, the only place Miles might hesitate to attack.
POV: Waxillium Ladrian·On page: Miles Hundredlives, Marasi Colms, Wayne·Mentioned: Harmony, Ranette
Source: Coppermind
Chapter 14
Ranette greets the trio with hostility but accepts the aluminum gun as a bribe and reluctantly arms Waxillium Ladrian with her prototype revolver, Vindication. She also provides Hazekiller ammunition designed specifically to counter Allomancers. Wax wastes no time planning the next move, dispatching Wayne to steal shipping manifests and Marasi Colms to purchase fishing nets - the components of a trap he has not yet explained.
POV: Waxillium Ladrian, Marasi Colms·On page: Wayne, Ranette·Mentioned: Steris Harms, Miles Hundredlives
Source: Coppermind
Chapter 15
Miles Hundredlives clashes with Mister Suit over tactics, and Suit reveals his allegiance to an organisation called the Set, which shares Miles' desire for revolution but operates on a grander scale. In the second thread, Waxillium Ladrian has deduced that Miles will strike the next Tekiel aluminum shipment at Carlo's Bend. He and Marasi Colms discuss her role in the coming operation, and the unspoken tension of her feelings for him surfaces briefly before Wax steers the conversation away.
POV: Miles Hundredlives, Waxillium Ladrian·On page: Edwarn Ladrian, Marasi Colms·Mentioned: Steris Harms, Autonomy, Kelsier, Ranette, Wayne, Paalm
Source: Coppermind
Chapter 16
Wayne executes a brilliantly layered infiltration of the train station, cycling through three disguises in rapid succession to get Waxillium Ladrian aboard the armoured Breaknaught railcar. Marasi Colms provides a gunfire distraction while Wayne fakes a wound to get Wax thrown inside as a casualty. The door locks behind him on a timer and the train departs with Wax sealed inside - exactly as planned. The chapter is pure misdirection, every element of the scheme engineered to look like chaos.
POV: Wayne·On page: Waxillium Ladrian·Mentioned: Marasi Colms
Source: Coppermind
Chapter 17
The Vanishers' method is revealed: a hand-propelled rail wagon disguised as a locomotive, a powerful lamp to mimic a train, and a canal barge with a crane to swap the Breaknaught for a replica. Miles Hundredlives knows Waxillium Ladrian is inside through sheer deductive instinct and orders his men to fire the moment the door opens. Wax answers with dynamite rigged to the door, turning the Vanishers' own trap against them.
POV: Waxillium Ladrian, Marasi Colms, Miles Hundredlives·On page: Wayne·Mentioned: Harmony, Ranette, Edwarn Ladrian, Kelsier
Source: Coppermind
Chapter 18
The warehouse erupts into a multi-front battle as Waxillium Ladrian fights through the Vanishers, Wayne drops through the roof to engage Tarson, and Mister Suit's metalborn agents Push and Pull enter the fight. Wax springs a fishing-net trap on Miles Hundredlives, who blows himself up to escape it. Cornered and outgunned, Wax encounters Harmony in the mists, who tells him that he was the answer to the problem all along - and directs his attention to the trunk containing his old guns. Wax re-emerges in a mistcoat with a pair of revolvers and two shotguns, blasting Miles without a word.
POV: Waxillium Ladrian, Wayne, Marasi Colms·On page: Miles Hundredlives, Harmony·Mentioned: Steris Harms
Source: Coppermind
Chapter 19
Waxillium Ladrian uses Ranette's Hazekiller round to kill Push, rescues Steris Harms from the collapsing building, and shoots Tarson through a speed bubble by firing twice and letting the deflection do the work. The final confrontation with Miles Hundredlives becomes a war of attrition: Wax endures a beating to keep Miles occupied while Marasi Colms burns cadmium, slowing time around them until Wayne can mobilise the constabulary. The arrest depends not on overpowering an immortal but on outlasting him.
POV: Waxillium Ladrian·On page: Miles Hundredlives, Marasi Colms, Wayne, Steris Harms·Mentioned: Ranette, Harmony, Paalm, Kelsier, Edwarn Ladrian
Source: Coppermind