EP5: Tributary

Raff — a primordial divine entity older than language — appears to him in a near-death vision, and for the first time in forty-eight winters, his faith wavers.

Tributary. In the space between life and death, the Mistress of the Bloody Soil visits the centurion Merick. Roff — a primordial divine entity older than language — appears to him in a near-death vision, and for the first time in forty-eight winters, his faith wavers. 'She challenged me and she told me truths,' Merick confides. He weeps at bonfire remnants until dawn, shaken to his foundations. The Fellowship passes through Juramentum's Western Gate into the oath city. For Marcus and the refugees of Pulex, this is their first sight of a freehold where slavery is forbidden and literacy is legal. Weisa journals her return: 'Home at last. It feels quite nice to be back in Juramentum. I missed my stall and the smell of fresh Arpo pies.' She reflects on Publia's mentorship and the refugees who mirror her own escape three winters prior. Titus takes the Fellowship to the family crypt, revealing that his grandfather Lord Titus built it as a message of love to his beloved wife — a great lady of the old empire who would not be buried in a pinewood coffin. The crypt holds family members and history, and the weight of patrician legacy settles upon the young lord's shoulders. Marcus, the celebrant of life, begins to find his place in a city that will either embrace or consume him.