Josua Getrue

Character Overview
Josua is the third child of Dimitar and Alma Getrue, with two older siblings: Adalaide Getrue and Theodoric Getrue. Getrue is a Klessium-based High House, run by Josua's father. He was snapped a Tineye at 6, and been trained to identify and create poisons and their antidotes. He has followed his siblings to Luthadel to support them as they try to gain Getrue influence in the city for an eventual push for ascension to Great House.

Appearance
Jos has brown, gingerish hair, with blue-grey eyes, and usually prefers to go around clean shaven. He stands at about 5' 9", roughly in middle of two older siblings, and has a confident air to him. He's solid but fairly athletic. He's not overly fond of wearing suits, but is loathe to be seen as sloppy in the way he dresses. He doesn't often wear anything particularly bright, and more often than not will just stick to house colors.

Personality
The most important thing to Josua is family. Specifically, his two siblings, Ada and Theo. While not close to his parents, nor have any close friends, he is very close to his brother and sister. Though Ada is Mistborn, and Theo is basically a master of poisons, Jos still worries about both of them, and would do anything to protect them.

He's had a bad experience with friends. Since he was abandoned by his previous friend group, he's not picked up any new friends, and at this stage, doesn't plan on it. He's not sure it's worth trusting people in case they hurt him again. This doesn't stop him from being pleasant when in conversation, and can still be charming should the need arise.

Killing or inflicting pain gives him no qualms if a situation calls for it, not that he makes a habit of it. He does however look forward for the painful death of what use to be an good friend. He doesn't expect to shed any tears when that day comes.

History
Josua was born on the turn of the century into House Getrue. He was the third child in the family, with a brother Theodoric two years older and a sister, Adalaide, who was six years his elder (hence forth known as Theo and Ada, respectively). He never saw his mother, Alma, much as his father, Dimitar, kept her away from everyone. After the birth of her first child, Ada, something broke in her, and she began suffering delusions, hallucinations, and extreme mood swings. Then she start to make attempts to kill Dimitar. Theo and Jos mostly happened by accident. Because of this, Jos grew up to be very close to both his siblings, but distant from either of his parents.

At the age of 6, Getrue children are snapped. Josua had been only just born when Ada was Snapped a Mistborn, and couldn't really remember when Theo was beaten to try Snap him. Jos' turn came in 906. Afterwards, all he could remember were flashes. Waking to men in his room, obscured by the dark of night. A gag and sack over his head to blind him. Being thrown over someone's shoulder. The fruitless struggling. The temperature dropping, echoing footsteps. The sack and gag removed. The blurry figures as his eyes adjusted to the light. The vile metallic liquid forced down his throat. The sack and gag redone. "Begin." A single word, spoken by his father. Agony as the beating from every direction begun. The approaching darkness. The sudden warmth. An explosion of light, sound, everything. Darkness.

He woke slowly late in the afternoon on the morrow. It was nice and warm. Then he remembered what had happened, and noticed the pain. With a groan, he opened his eyes. "You're awake!" Ada was sitting near the bed.

"Ada? What... what happened?"

She grinned, scooching her chair closer. "You Snapped. I'm sorry. It was terrible. I can't believe father made me watch. He has other Seekers. He didn't need to make me watch them beat you. It's so unfair! She stamped her foot lightly and then took a deep breath. "But, I guess you're a Tineye now. I think you got lucky. It's one of my favorites."

Josua shifted uncomfortably. "It hurts Ada. All over. Is… does this happen to everyone? Did they do this to you? To Theo? Why?" He coughed, then grimaced. Coughing hurt. "Tineye? Is that how you can see in the dark well?"

Ada winced a little as he moved. "Try not to move, Jos." She said, her voice quiet. "Yes, they do this to everyone. It's awful. It's the only way they have of...of knowing, really. I guess they can't just wait for us to Snap from normal traumatic events." She shrugged a little. "I was at Theo's as well, though only as an observer. Apparently father is calling this part of my training…" She smiled. "Yes, it's the one where you can see in the dark well."

Josua tried to ignore the pain. "Can you show me how? I wanna try." He tried to move, to sit up, but gave up quickly. "Is it going to hurt for long? I don't like it, Ada."

"I can't show you right now. It would hurt too much." Ada bit her lip and drew her eyebrows together, her worry obvious. "You'll recover, soon. It might take a while, but it won't be like this forever. I don't think they broke much…"

The pain was still there, constantly throbbing, and he had no energy. He yawned, grimacing yet again. "I'm tired Ada. If I go to sleep, will you be here when I wake up again?"

Ada smiled a little bit and nodded. "Of course I will, Jos. And maybe Theo will join me." She sighed a little then grinned.

Josua smiled back. "Thanks big sis…" Already drowsy, he quickly fell asleep.

The bruising faded after a few weeks, and by a month and a half, the various fractures and breaks had also healed. He'd not been able to move much at all for the first week or so, and only a bit with assistance for the weeks after. After this, having taken some painkillers to suppress residual pain, he was finally given some tin to burn. His father had organized for a trainer, and so Jos had gone to the room set aside for them. Waiting outside was Ada. As he approached, she smiled. "Looking forward to this, Jos?"

He nodded. "Yes, though slightly nervous. What's it like? To burn tin?"

Her smile grew to a grin. "That's what you're here to find out. Best not to keep the trainer waiting."

With that, Ada opened the door, stepping aside so Jos could enter, before entering in after, closing the door and standing to the side.

Standing on the other side of the room, looking out a window, was an older man, with thinning grey hair.

"Punctual. Good." The man turned around. "I will be training you to be a tineye." He held up a small glass vial. "This vial contains tin. When you Snapped, you gained the ability to burn tin to enhance your senses. All of them. That's what knocked you out when you were Snapped. It's also why you've not been allowed to use any till now. It will amplify any pain you have. I want you to drink this, and try to burn it. Slowly."

Josua took the vial. Ada stood nearby, smiling encouragingly. Josua unstopped the vial, and downed the liquid. He pulled a face as the liquid, obviously containing the tang of tin, went down his throat. "What ne…" Something changed. He could feel something, a warmth in his stomach. He cocked his head to the side. "I think I feel it. How do I burn it?" He tentatively tried to 'use it'. It made it feel different slightly. He tried a bit harder. With a flash, everything got stronger, brighter, louder. He stopped immediately. "Ahh…" His head was ringing, and he shielded his eyes. Shaking his head to clear it. "Everything… exploded."

Ada moved closer, taking his hand and giving it a gentle squeeze. "It does that the first few times. You'll get used to it." She whispered, smiling a little bit at him.

Jos smiled back, returning the gentle squeeze. "Okay."

"Looks like you flared tin." The instructor commented. "Flaring it burns it quicker but enhances the effect, something you'll take a bit of getting used to. You need to get used to regulating how much you burn it. Try it again, and slowly warm into it this time."

This time Josua closed his eyes. He reached out to the tin he could feel in his stomach, gently burning it, and as slowly as he could, increase the burn rate. As it did, he could feel the world come alive. The small sounds of Ada and the instructor as they waited, the texture of his clothing. The unique smell of the room and its inhabitants. While it'd had been there before, it felt so much clearer. He slowly opened his eyes. Everything was so crisp and detailed. Looking around, his eyes picked out details in the furniture he'd never seen before. He looked at Ada, her red hair looking much more vibrant. He moved to the window, looking out on the courtyard beyond. He could see much farther in greater detail, picking up on details in the armor of the guard patrolling on the opposite side of the courtyard. Then the warmth in his stomach faded, and abruptly everything disappeared. The tin had run out. The trainer didn't do much else with him that day, just letting burn some tin. Lessons started the next day. His education took off at this point. He started to learn how to use tin, how to focus on one thing, but also normal lessons in reading and numbers and suchlike.

The next few years were punctuated by a few events. Ada training increased meaning Jos couldn't spend as much time with her as he had. Their mother Alma suddenly left for the Terris Domain for 'medical' reasons. A month later Dimitar told Ada, Theo and Jos that she'd left him, not giving them any more details than that. In 909, Ada had her court debut, making her life busier.

At the age of 11, Jos was taken to and shown around the House plantations and factories to give him an appreciation of the House business, before his training to become an important part of it began in ernest. This ended up being a multi-week roundtrip. While he was gone, Ada tried to kill Dimitar, and then herself.

When he arrived home, neither Ada nor Theo was around. He was directed to find his father, who he found in his office. Jos could tell he was in pain. "Father, what happened?"

"Your sister happened, that's what. Tried to kill me. Failed obviously."

"Ada wouldn't do something like that. I don't believe you."

"Then go ask her yourself. You should find her confined in her room."

Jos didn't want to believe Ada would have tried to do that, so he immediately left to go find her, going to her room. There was a big muscly man guarding her door. Ignoring him, Jos knocked quietly on the door. "Ada, are you there?"

He heard some movement in the room. "Who is it?" Ada called out.

"It's Jos... May I come in?"

"Jos? Of course!" He opened the door. "I didn't know you were back!" she continued.

Entering the room, he saw Ada was sitting on her bed. He ran over and gave her a hug. "I just got back. It's good to see you big sis."

She returned the hug. "I'm so glad your back, Jos." She said softly.

He smiled. "I'm happy to be home. I've missed you and Theo." Then his smiled faded. "Ada… Dimitar….he… he said you tried to kill him…"

Her face darkened as she nodded. "I did. I was tired, Jos. I was tired of him controlling me. I wanted it to stop."

What? She did try to kill him? But…. But… Jos didn't want to believe that his sister had tried to kill someone. "Couldn't you just tell him to stop? Or… or… run away?"

She looked at him. "Run away? And do what, Jos? I can't leave you and Theo, and he wasn't going to stop. Not unless I had some kind of leverage against him."

"I…" Jos gave her another hug. "I guess I wouldn't have liked it if you had run away."

"I would have always come back." She said. "I doubt I would have gotten very far before realizing how much I didn't want to leave you two."

Jos smiled, still giving Ada a hug. He noticed the man outside the door shift around. "Ada, why is that guy outside your door?

Ada's face went blank. "Father thinks I might try to kill myself."

Jos was confused. She couldn't… she wouldn't have… would… would she? But… But.. Jos pulled backed. He was worried. "But you wouldn't try and kill yourself! Would you?"

Ada hesitated. "Well, I did fail…But yes, I tried."

This is not what Jos wanted to hear. He started to tear up a little. "But why!?"

Ada looked sad. "I wanted it to stop. I'm sorry Jos." She pulled him into a hug. "I didn't want to leave you and Theo alone, in the end."

Jos hugged her tight. "Don't every leave, Ada. Not ever."

Ada smiled. "I won't"

Content that he didn't have to worry about losing his sister, he sat in silence, still hugging Ada, resting his head on her arm. I'm happy I'm home. I've missed Ada and Theo. Theo! He brightened up. "Is Theo around? I've not seen him yet."

Ada nodded. "I don't know where he is, though." She said with a shrug.

Jos jumped up. It'll be good to see Theo! He was excited again. "Can we go find him?"

"Of course we can, Jos" Ada said with a slight smile as she stood up to follow him. He shot her a grin as they left the room, ignoring the guard who now started to follow them.

Life got busier after this. Jos' training started to get more. Theo debuted the next year, before starting to receive more advanced training at the House factories the year after, with a particular focus on Getrue's side business of creating poisons and their antidotes. In 915, it was time Josua's debut.

Though he had been nervous leading up to the event, his first ball went wonderfully. He quickly made a bunch of friends that he could hang out with. The group even formed a dueling club, where they regularly practiced their fencing skills against one another. While not the best of the group, Josua would often rank highly in any formal 2 on 2 tournaments they'd run in the group. Those where the matches he enjoyed the most. When dueling alongside Duryk, the best of his friends, they were almost unbeaten, though neither were the top duelists of their group.

The next year, Jos, like Theo before him, was to begin more advanced training at the House factories. During the week, he'd learn and train at the factories, becoming adept at identifying, creating, and using a large variety of medicines, poisons and antidotes. Training in the ways of politics, as well as knowledge of history, mathematics and art also continued, at the factories now, as did combat training. He and Theo would return at the end of each week, so that they could continue to make regular appearances at the weekly balls. They then usually returned to the factories the next day, but sometimes got a day or two's break, to socialize more than just at balls. These were the only times that Jos could get the time to spend with Ada or his friends. It was on one of these days that Jos lost his friends.

It was the day following the week's ball. Duryk and a few other of his group of friends had been absent, while the rest had all had dates they'd spent the whole evening with. Jos had found people to talk to, and had danced with a few people, but otherwise the night had been quite dull. They had organized one of their now semi-regular dueling afternoons the morning after. Jos had been a little bit grumpy, and had hoped that a catching up with his friends and have a few friendly duels might improve his mood, but after a few of his friends turned, his mood just soured more. Dueling 1 on 1, Jos and Duryk ended up being opponents for the final match, as Armen, the current reigning champion of their little club, had sat out this little tournament with a sprained ankle.

The duel started. They slowly circled, stepping carefully. Duryk made the first move, making a few probing jabs to test Jos' defense. Step, step, step, step, step. Jos lunged. Duryk parried, but didn't press the attack. Step. Jos leapt into a flurry of attacks. High, high, a feint to the right, high, then a low sweep up from the left. Each attack was blocked, so Jos disengaged. He would wait for Duryk to engage, and then attempt a counter attack. They resumed their circling. Step, step, step, step.

"We figured it out you know. I figured it out." Duryk's voice broke the silence. Rather than say anything, Jos let his face convey his confusion. Step, step. "Your ploy, the reason for all this."

Jos shook his head. "What are you talking about?" He was already grumpy, and now he was just getting more annoyed. Step, step. Duryk attacked, leading with an over head swing, letting it bounce off Jos' dueling cane, and smoothly bringing it around right, sweeping in from the side at Jos' ribs. Jos stepped to the right and backwards, letting the tip of his opponents fly past his midsection. Jos brought his raised fist down as he did this, incase Duryk quickly swept back. When he just continued the follow through on his way back to a guarded position, Jos lunged, his right foot going forward as he extended his arm to its fullest and driving the point of his cane in to his opponents right shoulder.

"Touche." Duryk acknowledged Jos had scored the first point. They disengaged. Duryk held his shoulder as he rotated his arm. Jos had landed a pretty solid blow, but Duryk indicated it was fine, so they began anew. Step, step, step.

"You've only ever had anything to do with any of us because you want us to support House Getrue." He jabbed at Jos. With a small wrist motion, Jos spun is cane around Duryk's, and pushed it to the side. "Not that that is surprising. Why does anyone do anything, other than for personal gain?" Step. Step. Duryk feinted, following up with a series of powerful blows, hammering twice from the right, grabbing the tip of his own cane, holding it from both ends, pushing Jos back with it, following up with a jab to the ribs, which connected as Jos stumbled back. They both now had 1 point. "But you don't really care, do you. And you know what? You failed." Step, step, step, step. They had reset, returning to circling each other. "My House has now signed contracts with members of the Sureau Coalition, and your 'friends' seem to be following suite." Duryk made an overhead swing, letting it bounce, before swinging it around and sweeping from left. "You don't care about us – you tried to use us. So we're not going to care about you."

Jos couldn't believe what he was hearing. "That's a load of rubbish. You're just having me on."

"I don't lie. You should know that." Why was Duryk doing this? Jos looked around at the rest of his on looking friends. "You don't seriously believe all this, do you?" He asked. No one replied. "You see? Everyone can see right through. Really, we should have seen this coming earlier."

Jos had been grumpy when they started, and had been growing more and more irate as the day had gone. At that point, a fury bubbled up within him. He yelled and leapt for Duryk, attacking wildly, somehow managing to break through his defense and knocking him over and making him drop his dueling cane. He hit Duryk, and then hit him again, just wanting to inflict pain. Then he was been wrestled back as his 'friends' dragged him away from Duryk. Duryk winced as he climbed to his feet. "And so you prove me correct. Have fun making new 'friends'. With that, he turned and left the room. All the rest stood and one by one left without a second glance. Finally, only Armen was left. No one had helped him up with his sprained ankle. He smiled at Jos, and waved goodbye. Then he stood up, and walked away, with no sign of a sprained ankle. He paused at the door, and looked back at Jos. All of the fury and irritation that Jos had felt since arriving vanished, leaving an empty void. Armen's smile widened to a grin, and then he turned, and left without a word.

The next few months were very rough for Jos. He'd trusted his friends, and then they all, every single one of them, burnt him for his trouble. He didn't know if Duryk had always thought that, or if he had made it all up recently – what he'd said about the House allegiances had been true, and it could have just been his way of breaking ties. Not that Jos would ever find out. They all refused to have anything to do with him. Rather than trying to seek out new friends, Jos started trying to avoid balls full stop. He didn't want to see the people who'd abandoned him, and he didn't want to make new friends in case they hurt him as well. All this achieved was Ada organizing a whole string of dates with various girls to try and distract him. He managed to enjoy himself on most of these, but nothing came of it – his heart wasn't truly in it.

His training this year had begun to include working with poisons. This included familiarizing himself with the various ingredients so that he could identify them, gaining familiarity with the poisons themselves, learning how to identify them with tin enhanced senses, as well as how to concoct and administer them, should the need arise. Still stewing over it months later, in an attempt to put it behind them, he tried to metaphorically bottle his feelings up. He concocted a particularly nasty poison, with the help of his brother Theo, labelling with Duryk's name. If he ever got the chance, he was going to use this.

However, Getrue was hoping to push to ascend to the position of a Great House in the relative near future, and so it needed to increase its presence in Luthadel. Thus in 917, Ada and Theo moved to Luthadel. Jos still needed a few months to finish off his training, but would then follow them to Luthadel. As weeks flew by, he searched for an opportunity to use this poison. But none came, and so off to Luthadel he went. He would be back, one day. The poison would keep.

It was quite different in Luthadel. Back in Klessium, Getrue was a High House, and in a position to push for ascension. However, Luthadel contained ten Great Houses, so each currently more powerful than Getrue, in addition to the other Houses vying for influence in Luthadel as well. Rather than being near the top, the power to topple, here they were just a part of the crowd, another rival looking for an opportunity to rise higher, and to make their fellows fall. If Getrue was going to make a push for ascension, they were going to have to work for it.

Threads Involved In
None

Notable Quotes
None