Part of humanizing the nobility was to show Elend being interested in the skaa. I had to walk a line with him. I didn’t want him to be TOO interested, or sympathetic, toward the skaa. He’s a nobleman, not some crusader for the rights of the oppressed. Yet, I wanted to show through his simple interest that he wasn’t cruel. I also wanted to show how little some of the noblemen know about skaa. The things Vin wonders&mdsahif the nobility even know about much of the suffering in their world—are valid. Someone like Elend, who spends most of his time at balls or being waited upon in his keep, wouldn’t really understand the life of a skaa.
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