EP49: Silk

Silk Grip and Beloved Trisli, spiritual head of the Death Tamers, at last have time and and space for a long, uninterrupted conversation.

Silk Grip and Beloved Trisli, spiritual head of the Death Tamers, at last have time and and space for a long, uninterrupted conversation. Although they cover many topics, perhaps the most important is that they now are somehow sharing chosen essence with one another in an ongoing dynamic. Said differently, their souls are literally touching one another, and in the act of intertwining, Grip benefits from this by becoming tougher, mentally tapping into Trisli's enormous well of inner strength. Tris in turn feels Grip's physical prowess, prowess and resilience within them, granting a measure of peace and sense of safety heretofore unknown. During the all night encounter, Triss introduces Grip to Mohinder, a baby green dragon. Through his presence, Grip calms Mohinder enough that the hatchling isn't hostile. This surprises Trisli, as the tiny dragon doesn't like men. Eventually, Grip and Triss enter into a shared trance, opening themselves mentally and emotionally to the other via a profound kind of mindspeak. Come dawn, Grip witnesses the daily ritual of the Death Tamers. He struggles to keep himself in check as Trisy is flogged with an enchanted flaming whip. At the climax of the ritual, Triss beseeches Grip to finish it by taking up the scourge himself nearly in an altar. Altered state of consciousness, Grip does as his twined soul asks, whipping Trisli. In that moment, the Beloved cries out, their own chosen essence quickening, just as Grip's did the day before. Upon lying eyes on them, Mithra reveals another facet of herself. During the dawn ritual, she both attends the Beloved, as well as carrying one of the Death Tamer's artifacts. Afterward, she uses this artifact, an orb named Abeyance, to heal Trisli nigh completely. Titus arrives with the rest of the Fellowship, and the mutual defense pact between the Defenders of the Dream and the Death Tamers is sealed. Trisli then asks Titus if their faction might use the raw material of the city's fallen to add to their undead army. The Lord of Juramentum refuses, calmly yet firmly. Before his party leaves, Grip receives a final image from the Beloved, a thick thread of interwoven silk, impossible to pull apart, yet effortlessly folded from the sides. On the way back to the city, the Fellowship pauses to investigate the spot at which Devran was very nearly murdered. They discern several clues confirming that his attacker was both physically small and and enormously strong. They finish the discussion inside Figulus Gnaeus hut at Titus direction as he doesn't want the group to be overheard by whomever or whatever assaulted Devran the night before. Weisa then floats the idea of the young lord acting as bait to draw Megara out from the shadows. The Fellowship must reckon with the fact that this determined, demented, chosen woman and would be priestess of a new God isn't going anywhere anytime soon.