Ok this thought is something I've been thinking about since the Gemmel thread popped up, I think it's on page 4 or 5 of the Brandon Boards.
Gemmel knew about Feruchemists, when Kelsier is remembering his training he quotes Gemmel saying something about how he can't change his WEIGHT because he's an Allomancer, not a NORTHERN MYSTIC. Gemmel seems to be involved in the resistance in some way, he probably knew Sazed, and this led to Kelsier's escape, as said before, Gemmel was also crazy, does this mean he heard voices?
What I'm trying to get at is perhaps Ruin and/or Preservation manipulations may be going way back: giving Kelsier the knowledge he needs to train Vin, and succeed in his quest, in order to give Vin an opportunity to do, what she did at the end of book 2, and or whatever else these dieties have planned for her.
And Andrew, what I'm trying to say with all this is if Ruin was trapped, I think Preservation was trapped as well. Since humans are of Ruin, I was thinking that maybe Ruin trapped PReservation in the body of human, and Preservation has been passed through the generations. Sorry, it's kind of complicated. Ruin was imprisoned by his opposite: the power of creation, and since there are only TWO powers, it's safe to assume that it was Preservation who trapped him there, but I was thinking that Ruin and PReservation trapped EACHOTHER, and that the human, a chaotic entity who is of Ruin, would be a good PRison for Preservation. I originally thought the mists, but they are of both Ruin and PReservation, so, ya. I'm not sure if that's very clear, but I hope it helps.