House Elariel

House Elariel is a Noble Great House of the Final Empire on Scadrial.. At the beginning of the Mistborn series it is the third most powerful Great House. Members include Shan Elariel, a Mistborn from Luthadel and Idkwyl Elariel. Shan was once engaged to Elend Venture. House Elariel also had the services of at least one other Mistborn, who may or may not have been a member of the family.
== Holdings ==
==== Trade and Finances ====
House Elariel was an incredibly rich and powerful House during the Lord Ruler’s reign. As a Great House, the Elariels control a large part of imperial trade. The Elariels were also allowed to buy a stipend of Atium from the Lord Ruler. After the Catacendre, House Elariel was a major player in the fashion industry, and they had multiple shops, with their flagship store in Elendel. House Elariel also hosted the Elariel Yearly Spring Salon.
==== Keep Elariel ====
The Elariels also have a large keep. Keep Elariel is smaller than Keep Venture, but it has a separate party ballroom. The ballroom building is squat, and is one of several lower wings extending from the main keep. Guests are required to climb steps in order to enter the ballroom. The ballroom is only a single story high, and all of the stained glass windows are in the ceiling. The circular rose-window skylights shine from above, lit by small lime-lights on the roof. Each table is set with candles, and despite the light from above, there is a reserved darkness around the room. To Vin, it seems private, despite the numerous people attending the ball. The room is obviously designed to accommodate parties. A sunken dancing floor lies at the center of the ballroom, where the lighting is better. There are two tiers of tables circling the dance floor: the first tier is only a few feet above, while the other is farther back and about twice as high. The deep crystalline colors from above project patterns across tables and people, creating an impressive atmosphere, yet making it difficult to distinguish faces.
== History ==
==== Final Empire ====
House Elariel was founded by an unknown person at an unknown period of time during the Final Empire. It is known however, that by , it had become a great House. Certain houses are mentioned as being "cousins" of House Elariel (including Patresen, Habren, and Seeris). This could indicate that Elariel was once part of a larger family that split apart, that Elariel often recruits allies through marriage, or some combination of the two. House Elariel also took part in the House War of . During this conflict, there was a fire at Keep Elariel, although it didn’t spread beyond the guardhouses. House Elariel was also involved in an assassination attempt on the Venture heir, Elend. This attempt failed, and it left two Elariel Mistborn, as well as a number of Allomancers, dead. One of these Mistborn was lady Shan Elariel. House Elariel also attacked House Hasting, which led to its collapse. During the Collapse, Keep Elariel was one of the fastest keeps to fall to the Skaa Rebellion.
==== Elendel Basin ====
House Elariel, although greatly reduced in power, survived the Catacendre. The surviving members of House Elariel ended up "all over" the Elendel Basin. According to a issue of The Two Seasons, a Bilming broadsheet, Idkwyl Elariel is an up-and-coming designer bringing Terris-inspired designs to Elendel at the Elariel Yearly Spring Salon.
== Trivia ==
* Elariel seems to be a house well accustomed to intrigue. Its ballroom, full of secret alcoves and muted lighting, is well suited for discussing secret alliances and schemes while at balls. Once Elend discovers that Shan Elariel is a Mistborn, he suspects that House Elariel's intention was to have him killed as soon as an Elariel grandson was born. 
* On the night of the Collapse, House Elariel was the second most powerful house in the city. Because Straff Venture fled the city, and Elend defected to the rebellion, shortly before House Elariel was defeated by the skaa rebellion, it had arguably become the most powerful remaining Great House, a notable achievement.
== Notes ==