For many of us, gloomy medieval legends are firmly associated with such cities as Prague, Paris and others, where the history and big politics of still young Europe were made. At the same time, if you go to Estonia, which has recently become a full member of the European Union, you will find there a lot of things that tourists love old European cities. Castles, narrow city streets, gothic cathedrals and, of course, dark legends and stories. You can get acquainted with the latter in the 40-minute horror show "Tallinn Legends", which is the subject of today's article. So welcome to dark side Tallinn.
Instead of an introduction
For those who have not been to Estonia, this small Baltic state is rightly associated with our common Soviet past, as well as with the trademark slowness of the locals, which has become the basis for numerous jokes. At the same time, if you look at the history of the Estonian land, it becomes clear that it was created, by and large, not by the peace-loving Estonians themselves, but by ambitious Europeans: first the Danes, then the German knights and Hanseatic merchants, a little later - the Swedes and, finally, Russians. It is thanks to this cultural stratification that the Estonian capital, the city of Tallinn, is, in fact, a no less striking monument. medieval architecture than the picturesque towns of Germany or France.
By and large, there are no really gloomy and frightening places in Tallinn, which is more like a fairy-tale town with neat multi-colored houses and no less neat fortress towers. But this is only at first glance. Take at least the recently opened dungeons of the fortress bastions - no, there are no ancient burial places a la the Parisian catacombs, but there are mannequins depicting people hiding from the bombings during World War II. Believe me, these people were not laughing just like the homeless, for whom the gloomy casemates became home already in the early dashing 90s. The catacombs, by the way, regularly lead tours in Russian.
In addition, it is in Tallinn that you can see one of the darkest plots with your own eyes. medieval painting- the so-called Dance of death. The canvas, painted at the end of the 15th century by the German master Berndt Notke, unequivocally hints to us that in the face of death everyone is equal, regardless of age and social status. Plague epidemics in the Middle Ages were commonplace in Europe and claimed the lives of not only the poor and commoners. The only thing left for a person is to relax and have fun, leading a cheerful round dance with skeletons. Today you can see the original Notke in the museum of the Niguliste church.
Well, the majestic spire of St. Olaf's Cathedral or Oleviste in Estonian is not only an opportunity to enjoy the views of the old city, but also a chance to tickle your nerves. The fact is that the site is a thin metal structure encircling a sloping spire, and you will have to walk on battered boards. As a result, on the observation deck you will not feel protected - on the contrary, many will be terrified that the flimsy structure is about to collapse or rotten boards that still remember the Estonian SSR will fall apart under their feet. Against this background, the fact that lightning struck the spire several times somehow fades, although the cathedral is still the tallest building in the historical part of the city.
Tallinn Legends Theater
The theater that we invite you to visit is also located in the old town - very close to the Town Hall Square, at the address. Kullassepa, 7. Above the entrance hang characteristic yellow flags depicting the black silhouette of the so-called "plague doctor" with a characteristic beak mask stuffed with garlic and medicinal herbs, which were believed to prevent infection. In addition, young people dressed in medieval costumes actively invite the audience. They do it so emotionally and persistently that you involuntarily wonder if they themselves are subjected to medieval torture if there are few spectators.
By the way, before going to the theater, we recommend visiting the official website of the Legends of Tallinn, since there are periodically provided opportunities to purchase a ticket at a discount. Initially, the cost of visiting the theater is from 16 to 20 euros, depending on the season.
The specificity of the performance is such that, unlike a classical performance, where the actors and scenery are on a separate stage, here the action will unfold directly around you. And do not hope that if some object is in your immediate vicinity, this means that it is completely harmless. In addition, although the involvement of the audience in the process is minimal, but this does not mean that it does not exist at all. The stories will be told sequentially and each in a separate room, starting with the first room - the introductory one. There are eight main halls.
Well, now, actually, about the presentation. The show "Tallinn Legends" combined, perhaps, all the main dark genres, one way or another embodied in cinema.
Oleviste Cathedral Tower - Disaster Movie
This is today the observation deck of the cathedral - a great opportunity to tickle the nerves for those who are afraid of heights. In the Middle Ages, being the tallest building in the city, the bell tower took on a lightning strike more than once, in fact, playing the role of a lightning rod. The tower itself, however, for the same reason, repeatedly burned and collapsed.
Agree, the abstract fear of heights is nothing compared to the fact that the building in which you are in this moment are, may suddenly be hit by a heavenly element. Today, theater goers have the opportunity to experience the same sensations as people who were on the tower during a thunderstorm. In this they will be helped by a specially equipped cabin that transmits lightning strikes at the physical level.
The legend of the Maiden's Tower - a gothic tragedy
Here the effect is created due to the gloomy lighting and the play of the actress, on whose behalf the narration is being conducted. Meticulous historians can say as much as they like that the name of the tower came as a result of a distortion of the name of one of its captains, Hins Meghe ( Madchenthurm- it. Maiden's Tower), but we know that in the Middle Ages, when a fortress or a castle was being built, a living person was often walled up in the wall, so why should medieval Tallinn be an exception? At the same time, no one was bricked up - as a rule, it had to be a girl, and preferably from a good family and ... stop, she will tell about this herself.
Plague - historical thriller
The Black Death is another hallmark of the Middle Ages, and Tallinn is no exception. Interspersing the narrative with each time shuddering gong strikes, the narrator consistently debunks the attempts of the city's inhabitants to resist the infection. Here, neither a mask stuffed with garlic - the same "plague doctor" - nor flight, nor prayer, nor "a feast during the plague" will help. Here it is time to recall the above-mentioned canvas “Dance of Death”, since in the face of the Plague everyone is equal. And at the climax, you really see the dance of Death, but not in the form of a still picture.
Inquisition - classic screamer
This is another one of the "dark" calling cards of the Middle Ages. Today, the monastery of the Dominicans, who were expelled from the city in 1525 by the Lutherans, hardly deserves the title of the visiting card of the old city, but once it was the Dominican monks who ruled the court of the Inquisition, often sending the innocent to the stake. The name of the order is consonant with the Latin phrase Domini canes, which in translation means “Dogs of the Lord” - this is the nickname that was assigned to the order. The Dominicans themselves, however, had nothing against such a comparison, placing a dog with a burning torch on their coat of arms.
It is the dogs that play a key role in the part of the performance that takes place in the room of the Inquisition. Do you think that they will continue to sit quietly and motionless? Oh well…
War is a black comedy
In fact, Tallinn was originally conceived as a trading port, but the proximity to the border with the Russian kingdom periodically made itself felt. A striking example - Livonian War 1558-1583, during which the Swedish troops in the Baltics were commanded by Pontus Delagardie. It came from the old French noble family, managed to prove himself both as a talented commander and as a diplomat, and there were also rumors that he ordered to skin dead enemies to make, so to speak, clothes and accessories. In the Tallinn Legends Theatre, his story will be told not only by people, but also by… severed heads impaled on a stake, and not just tell, but sing merrily and provocatively.
Alchemist - wyrd, surrealism
Estonia is one of five countries claiming the invention of marzipan. It would seem that there is a horror theater here, but, as it turns out, even the story of the appearance of a now popular delicacy can be told and arranged so that the narrative looks, if not frightening, then at least strange.
The story of an alchemist who worked all night long on the creation of a philosopher's stone in order to disappear without a trace the next morning is perceived as something absolutely illogical, especially since you will not hear any mention that the maestro received a large deposit before disappearing. Adding to the strangeness is the installation accompanying the story with the participation of a living person and a bicycle hanging in the air.
Mermaid - gothic, dark fantasy
The Tallinn well, which has been perfectly preserved to this day, is covered with many legends. This is both the entrance to the dwelling of the merman and the abode of the mermaid, who demanded live cats as a sacrifice, which the inhabitants threw into the well - but as part of the Tallinn Legends show, a different story is told - at first glance, strange and gloomy, but in fact tragic . This is a story about a girl found at the bottom of a well and who conquered the locals with her singing. No matter how hard the townspeople tried to make her live among people, every time she returned to the well. Finally, they decided to marry her ...
In terms of atmosphere, this part of the performance resembles the story of the origin of the name of the Maiden's Tower of the Tallinn fortifications.
Baron Johann von Uexkul - thriller, drama
The story that the last room tells is the logical conclusion of medieval horror. Despite the widespread lawlessness of those in power, in the Middle Ages there was a rule according to which a fugitive peasant who had lived in the city for more than a year was officially recognized as free. Probably, not only Baron Johann von Uexkul disagreed with this statement, but in his case, neither high birth nor large bribes helped to avoid punishment. As a result, because the cruel nobleman ordered his fugitive peasant to be beaten to death, who managed to gain freedom in the way described above, the baron himself was beheaded. However, after the beheading, his head remained just as vicious and bilious, as you can see when you hear the story from her lips. We can say that this episode of the triumph of justice marked the beginning of the end of the dark Middle Ages.
Afterword
Traveling around Estonia, it’s hard not to notice how actively real attractions for tourists are being created from local attractions, whether it’s complex interactive stands in museums or castle ruins turned into thematic entertainment centers(a striking example is Wesenberg Castle in Rakvere). This should also include the Tallinn Legends Theatre, through the efforts of the creators of which urban legends, and simply phenomena characteristic of medieval Europe in general, they received an original and very effective incarnation - sometimes cheerful, but mostly atmospheric, gloomy and frightening.
ROBIN HOBB
Fate Killer
The translation was carried out by the team https://vk.com/robin_hobb (entirely and completely on a disinterested basis)
Prologue
Chapter one. The bee stings.
Chapter two. A Touch of Silver
Chapter three. In the mountains.
Chapter Four. Kalsida.
Chapter five. Deal.
Chapter six. Revelations.
Chapter seven. Beggar woman.
Chapter eight. Tintaglia.
Chapter nine. Smolyanoy.
Chapter ten. Diary of a bee.
Chapter Eleven. On my way.
Chapter twelve. Living ship Perfect.
Chapter thirteen. On all sails.
Chapter fourteen. Deal with Paragon
Chapter fifteen. Merchant Akriel.
Chapter sixteen. Pirate Islands.
Chapter seventeen. Saliva of a snake.
Chapter eighteen. Silver ships and dragons.
Chapter nineteen. New ship, new voyage
Chapter Twenty. Faith.
Chapter twenty one. Under sail.
Chapter twenty two. Cloak-butterfly.
Chapter twenty three. Clerres.
Chapter twenty-four. Arm and leg
Chapter twenty five. Bribe.
Chapter twenty-six. Silver Secrets.
Chapter twenty seven. Feather and blade.
Chapter twenty eight. Unsafe harbor.
Chapter twenty nine. Accusations.
Chapter Thirty. Barrier and black banner.
Chapter thirty one. Butterfly Man.
Chapter thirty two. Way inside.
Chapter thirty three. Candles.
Chapter thirty-four. Smoke.
Chapter thirty-five. Confrontation.
Chapter thirty-six. Surprises.
Chapter thirty seven. Touch.
Chapter thirty eight. dragon ship
Chapter thirty nine. Retribution.
Chapter forty. Warm water.
Chapter forty one. Journey of the Prankster.
Chapter forty two. Farnich.
Chapter forty three. Bingtown
Chapter forty-four. Up the river
Chapter forty five. Seer Princess.
Chapter forty six. Quarry.
Chapter forty seven. Wolf heart.
Chapter forty eight. Time
Chapter forty nine. Lies and truth.
Chapter fifty. The mountains.
Prologue
The children held hands, forming a circle. In the center stood a girl with a bandage over her face, on the fabric of which were drawn black eyes with a gaze, bordered in red. Stretching her arms out in front of her, the girl turned around. Children in a circle danced and sang a song:
While a strong circle is unshakable -
You see everything at a glance.
But make an effort of will
And the world will change around.
It all seemed like a fun game. The children in the circle shouted out phrases or whole sentences. I could not hear them, but deprived of sight I could make out the words. She screamed back, her voice broken by the rising wind: “Burn them all,” “Dragons will fall,” “The sea will rise,” “Jeweled skies.” “One will come for two”, “Four will regret”, “Two will come as one”, “Your reign is over!”, “Everyone will pay with their lives”, “No one will survive!”
At the last exclamation, a storm broke out of the girl standing in the center. The gusts of the hurricane beat in all directions, the wind picked up the screaming children and scattered them far from each other. Everything plunged into darkness, only a white circle survived. In its center there remained a blind woman, black, painted eyes of which all looked intently.
Dream Journal of the Seeing Bee.
Chapter one. The bee stings.
The map room on Aslevjal depicted territories that included most of the Six Duchies, part of the Mountain Kingdom, the main part of Calcida, and lands along both banks of the Rainforest River. I believe that this allows us to delineate the boundaries of the territories of the ancient Elderlings at the time of the map's creation. I haven't had a chance to personally view the map room in the abandoned city of the Elderlings now known as Kelsingra, but I'm sure they will be very similar.
There are now 5 cycles in the Elderling Saga in total. Three of them are dedicated to the Killer and the Jester (or Fitz and the Beloved). The Fate of an Assassin is the last book in the final trilogy.
Since in this book the Killer and the Fool finally died, one can hope that the Elderling Saga has come to an end, although one cannot be completely sure of anything.
The first trilogy, and especially the first book, The Assassin's Apprentice was good, but each subsequent book was weaker than the previous one. True, I liked the cycle about Living Ships. But on the other hand, the 4th books, and in particular the last two of them, about the Rainy Thickets were terrible.
The first two books of the last cycle are also uninteresting. However, I will briefly describe them.
In the final book of the Jester and the Killer trilogy, the Jester returns to the island of the White Prophets to continue his training interrupted in adolescence. Once the Jester, whom the parents called the Beloved, as they were sure that everyone should simply adore their child, sent the boy to the school of the White Prophets. They did so because the boy was clearly of that breed. On the distant southern islands, unusual children were born from time to time in the most ordinary families. Unlike dark-skinned parents, they had very white skin and hair, grew slowly, learned to read and write early, had strange dreams, which they wrote down in separate notebooks.
It was clear to everyone that this was the future White Prophet. Such people lived on a separate island in the fortress. There, children studied under the guidance of adult Belykhs. Their dreams were recorded, analyzed, systematized. If one of the dreams was repeated several times by one person, and especially if such a dream was dreamed of by several Prophets, then the probability of its implementation was high. The leaders of the community (and there were always four of them: two men and two women) used this knowledge for their own purposes. For example, they learned from dreams that there was a high probability of drought in some region and they bought wheat in advance in order to sell it at a higher price later. The situation was similar with the change of power, the sudden death of important people, natural actions.
In addition, each Prophet was able to see the many possibilities emanating from each phenomenon.
The leaders chose one or one of the White Prophets and explained what needed to be done. Such a person was called the White Prophet of his generation. He had to find his Corrector and direct the threads of fate in the right direction for the leaders.
The student Prophets lived in pretty houses, they were well fed, but if they were guilty of something, they were punished very severely. At the fortress there was a prison, torture was practiced. They could be punished, for example, for the fact that during the correspondence of a book (we do not forget that this is the Middle Ages, and there are no printed books yet) they put an inkblot.
Beloved first lived in good conditions and was close to one of the leaders. But he did not want to obey and claimed to be the White Prophet of his generation. And the leaders had already prepared their own candidacy for this position.
He was being punished. Then, he refused to participate in the breeding program. The fact is that the leaders tried to improve the quality of the White Prophets by crossing male and female individuals with each other, but mutants were often born.
Having sex with women was, apparently, disgusting to Beloved from his youth. In addition, one of the leaders was a homosexual and a pedophile. It seems that he showed an increased interest in the Beloved. Perhaps all this forever turned him away from sex.
The main point of disagreement between the Beloved and the leaders was that they did not want the revival of Elderlings and dragons, and he saw such an opportunity.
At one time, it was the White Prophets who destroyed the Elderlings and dragons. They learned in advance through the analysis of their dreams about the coming catastrophe - an earthquake, volcanic eruption, tsunami, etc. But they did not warn the Elderlings. When the cataclysm began, many Erlings and dragons died immediately, but the surviving Elderlings rushed to the skill columns (portals that transport people to other places). However, near the exit from the skill columns, the White Prophets with swords were waiting for them. There were never many Elderlings - they were successfully killed. The dragons were also killed, their cocoons were destroyed. Only one dragon survived, which took refuge in the ice. It was the rescue of this dragon that became the plot of the second trilogy about the Killer and the Jester. Also, a certain number of dragon cocoons remained, from which people began to make Living Ships, and from one cocoon the dragon Tantalya managed to hatch. This event is described in the Living Ships trilogy.
The White Prophets saw no benefit to themselves in the existence of dragons and Elderlings. They sought to slay the last dragon and destroy the line of Seers who were somehow connected to the Elderlings and dragons. Beloved, on the contrary, wanted to save the Seers and the dragon in the ice.
At the end of the second trilogy, he achieves his goal with the help of his Changer - Fitz. He himself was sure that he would not survive these events - so his dreams said. But Fitz revived the Beloved. At that moment, he entered into a very close contact with him. Probably, this could have ended in a new happy same-sex family, but the Jester did not want this. He left the Assassin and returned to the island of the White Prophets. He himself explained this by saying that he and Fitz were no match. Then he said that he did not want to interfere with the happiness of Fitzs Molly, whom Fitz loved in his youth and from whom he had already an adult daughter: Molly had just been widowed. Once Fitz could not marry her, he had to go into hiding long years but now it was all over.
Fitz married Molly. They were then 35 years old. They lived happily. The eldest daughter became the Master of Skill and lived at the court, the sons of Molly from her first husband lived with their families.
But when Molly turned 50, she announced that she was pregnant. Nobody believed her. Both the daughter and Fitz thought she was a little out of her mind. Molly slept almost all the time, and it lasted almost 2 years, but then, to the embarrassment of her husband and daughter, she gave birth to a tiny girl with very white skin. This girl was named Bee. She did not speak for a long time and grew very slowly. Fitz thought she was a fool, but in fact, Bee already knew how to write and wrote down her dreams. It is obvious that the Bee turned out to be the White Prophet - it was the Fool's genes that somehow worked.
Then Molly died: she was struck by a stroke. Fitz himself began to raise his daughter. I must say that thanks to the repeated healing of wounds with the help of the skill, he looked 40 years old, although he was already 64 years old.
Like the eldest daughter, Fitz was accepted at court. He was finally recognized as a prince. But Fitz rarely visited the capital, and preferred to live in his estate.
To live and not grieve, but not with his happiness.
Little did Fitz know that his Bee was of great interest to the White Prophets. They dreamed of some Unexpected Son and the Destroyer. In their dreams, these two were destroying the island of the White Prophets - they had to be found and neutralized.
Jester admitted big mistake back to alma mater. There he was quickly twisted and placed in a dungeon. What makes him think that he will be forgiven for the revival of dragons? And he thought everyone would admit he was right.
Among the White Prophets was a very ambitious woman Dvaliya. She was employed in the Prophets' breeding program, sorting the offspring. Once she saved the mutant twins, although she should have killed them. The boy's name was Windelier. He had the ability to take control of other people's minds. True, he could do this only by taking a special drug from the poisonous saliva of sea serpents (a transitional form to dragons). The White Prophets kept several sea serpents captive and "milked" them.
Dvaliya believed that the Unexpected Son was the son of the Beloved: the dreams of her ward twins spoke of this. She tortured him for a long time, terribly mutilated, blinded and achieved the name of his Changer - Fitz. Some Prophets thought that the Unexpected Son of the prophecies was him. But Dvaliya believed that we are talking about the Jester's child.
Further, Dvaliya secured the consent of one of the leaders for the expedition. She made it possible for Beloved to escape. Her spies tracked where he would go. Beloved led them to Fitz's house. He looked terrible: a dirty, crippled beggar. The bee wanted to give him alms. At that moment, Beloved grabbed her hand. He knew it was Fitz's child, and she sensed many possibilities that looked like open doors. The bee was frightened and screamed. Fitz thought the beggar was threatening his daughter and stabbed him. But then he recognized the Beloved.
Fitz immediately decided to take the Jester to the capital, together with other people who own the skill, to try to heal him. And he left his daughter to his manager and faithful servants.
When Fitz left, the Dvalian expedition kidnapped the bee.
Further, the narration is conducted on behalf of the Bee and on behalf of Fitz. The little bee tells how Dvaliya was taking her to the island of the White Prophets, and she tried to escape. She escaped several times, but was caught. The girl was beaten, but she did not remain in debt either - she harmed as best she could. So she bit Dvaliya's cheek, leaving her with an ugly scar. Vindeliar played a big role in this journey - he masked the expedition, and no one noticed them, or he suggested that they need help, take them on a ship, etc.
At this time, in the royal palace, Fitz partially healed the Jester, but the blindness could not be removed. Upon learning of what had happened, the friends went together in search of the Bee. The jester also considered the Bee his daughter. On this basis, the Killer and the Beloved even sometimes quarreled. But in general they got along well with each other.
During this search, friends visited the Rainforests, talked with the new Elderlings and dragons. There, Fitz, with the help of a skill, managed to cure several children born of new Elderlings from malformations (this is how the influence of dragons affected).
Friends managed to tell the dragons that the White Prophets were trying to destroy them. The dragons were very indignant and promised to wipe the island of the Prophets off the face of the earth, but not now, but a little later. Now it was already necessary to have time to save the Bee before the punitive operation of the dragons.
Fitz and Beloved sailed to the island on the living ship "Perfect", which was one of the heroes of the Living Ships trilogy. This ship had the problem that it was made not from one dragon cocoon, but from 2. From this, the ship suffered from something like schizophrenia. The jester figured out how to turn a living ship into dragons, which made the owners of the ship very unhappy.
When the bee was nevertheless brought to the island of the Prophets, she was put in a cell. She managed to escape and kill Dvalia and one of the leaders. She also set fire to the library where the records of dreams were kept. Dvaliya made a mistake: she brought the Destroyer to the island.
At that moment, Fitz, the Jester and their assistants entered the fortress. Fire, panic, fights and all that. Nevertheless, the rescuers managed to find the Bee and take it out of the fortress through an underground passage before the avenging dragons arrived. But Fitz was buried under the roof of the tunnel. He asked the Fool to take care of Bee. In the end, he managed to cure the Fool of blindness: he no longer saved his strength. Everyone thought the killer was dead.
The dragons destroyed the island and the nearby city. The ship "Perfect" turned into 2 dragons. But Bee and her rescuers managed to get to the Six Duchies.
The jester tried to study with the Bee, to teach her how to interpret her dreams correctly, but she could not stand him. The girl, not without reason, believed that without this creature, she would have lived with her father in complete peace.
That's why Fitz faded away. When he realized what was the matter, he decided to return to the place where the ancient Elderlings kept their tombstones. It was a quarry with skill stones. Elderlings carved a dragon and turned into stone - so they could sleep forever in stone, which partially ensured their immortality. Once so did King Believe from the first trilogy, to which Fitz was a witness.
Instead of a dragon, Fitz decided to carve his Nightwolf - the one with which he was associated in the first trilogy. By this time, his presence was discovered by Pchelka, the eldest daughter, and friends. They all came to say goodbye to him. They camped near the working Fitz, tried to help him with something. So several weeks passed. There was almost nothing left of Fitz, but there was no way he could transform into the Wolf.
Then Bee told the Fool that his father would not leave without him. Fitz would really like that. But he himself did not ask the Beloved to stay with him, but, on the contrary, persuaded him to live and raise the Bee. Bee said that the Jester always used Fitz, and he loved him. After these words, the Jester approached the Wolf and they, together with the Killer, passed into stone.
The figure came to life. The Nightwolf's eyes lit up, he ran into the forest. Now Nightwolf will be active for a while, and then fall asleep, but if there is a need for him, he will wake up.
The killer, his Nightwolf and the Jester are now together forever.
The jester has given his life to resurrect the dragons. What's good about them? They fly, shit, eat everything, people are not respected.
True, the Elderlings, with the help of dragons, managed to learn how to make all sorts of useful things: clothes that do not tear, do not wrinkle and are trimmed to the size of the one who wears them; eternal lanterns, beautiful luminous crystals; invisibility cloaks. These items appear in every book and always cause a stormy delight of the heroes. Maybe for this?
But the Elderlings had big problems with their offspring: in most cases, children were born sick and suffered greatly. True, this time there is hope that they will be treated with the help of a skill. But it's all so shaky...
ROBIN HOBB
Fate Killer
The translation was carried out by the team https://vk.com/robin_hobb (entirely and completely on a disinterested basis)
Prologue
Chapter one. The bee stings.
Chapter two. A Touch of Silver
Chapter three. In the mountains.
Chapter Four. Kalsida.
Chapter five. Deal.
Chapter six. Revelations.
Chapter seven. Beggar woman.
Chapter eight. Tintaglia.
Chapter nine. Smolyanoy.
Chapter ten. Diary of a bee.
Chapter Eleven. On my way.
Chapter twelve. Living ship Perfect.
Chapter thirteen. On all sails.
Chapter fourteen. Deal with Paragon
Chapter fifteen. Merchant Akriel.
Chapter sixteen. Pirate Islands.
Chapter seventeen. Saliva of a snake.
Chapter eighteen. Silver ships and dragons.
Chapter nineteen. New ship, new voyage
Chapter Twenty. Faith.
Chapter twenty one. Under sail.
Chapter twenty two. Cloak-butterfly.
Chapter twenty three. Clerres.
Chapter twenty-four. Arm and leg
Chapter twenty five. Bribe.
Chapter twenty-six. Silver Secrets.
Chapter twenty seven. Feather and blade.
Chapter twenty eight. Unsafe harbor.
Chapter twenty nine. Accusations.
Chapter Thirty. Barrier and black banner.
Chapter thirty one. Butterfly Man.
Chapter thirty two. Way inside.
Chapter thirty three. Candles.
Chapter thirty-four. Smoke.
Chapter thirty-five. Confrontation.
Chapter thirty-six. Surprises.
Chapter thirty seven. Touch.
Chapter thirty eight. dragon ship
Chapter thirty nine. Retribution.
Chapter forty. Warm water.
Chapter forty one. Journey of the Prankster.
Chapter forty two. Farnich.
Chapter forty three. Bingtown
Chapter forty-four. Up the river
Chapter forty five. Seer Princess.
Chapter forty six. Quarry.
Chapter forty seven. Wolf heart.
Chapter forty eight. Time
Chapter forty nine. Lies and truth.
Chapter fifty. The mountains.
Prologue
The children held hands, forming a circle. In the center stood a girl with a bandage over her face, on the fabric of which were drawn black eyes with a gaze, bordered in red. Stretching her arms out in front of her, the girl turned around. Children in a circle danced and sang a song:
While a strong circle is unshakable -
You see everything at a glance.
But make an effort of will
And the world will change around.
It all seemed like a fun game. The children in the circle shouted out phrases or whole sentences. I could not hear them, but deprived of sight I could make out the words. She screamed back, her voice broken by the rising wind: “Burn them all,” “Dragons will fall,” “The sea will rise,” “Jeweled skies.” “One will come for two”, “Four will regret”, “Two will come as one”, “Your reign is over!”, “Everyone will pay with their lives”, “No one will survive!”
At the last exclamation, a storm broke out of the girl standing in the center. The gusts of the hurricane beat in all directions, the wind picked up the screaming children and scattered them far from each other. Everything plunged into darkness, only a white circle survived. In its center there remained a blind woman, black, painted eyes of which all looked intently.
Dream Journal of the Seeing Bee.
Chapter one. The bee stings.
The map room on Aslevjal depicted territories that included most of the Six Duchies, part of the Mountain Kingdom, the main part of Calcida, and lands along both banks of the Rainforest River. I believe that this allows us to delineate the boundaries of the territories of the ancient Elderlings at the time of the map's creation. I haven't had a chance to personally view the map room in the abandoned city of the Elderlings now known as Kelsingra, but I'm sure they will be very similar.
Points were marked on the map of Aslevjal, corresponding to the location of the stones in the Six Duchies. I think it's fair to assume that the identical markings in the Mountain Kingdom, Rainforest, and even Calcida indicate the location of the Skill Portal Stones. What state these foreign portals are in now is mostly unknown, and some Skill users warn against trying to use them until we go there and see that they are in excellent condition. For the Skill Pillars in the Six Duchies and the Mountain Kingdom, it seems reasonable not only to send Skill-wielding messengers to every point, but also to require all dukes to ensure that each such stone is kept upright. Messengers who visit these stones must also document the content and condition of the runes on each side of the stone.
In some cases, we found standing stones that were not marked on the map of Aslevjal. We do not know if they were created later than the map, or if these stones were no longer functioning at the time of the map's creation. We must treat them with care, as we all use Elderling magic. We cannot consider ourselves masters of their magic until we can duplicate their artifacts.
Skill columns, Chade Fullstar.
I ran. I picked up a heavy white raincoat, in which she was wrapped up, and ran. It was very hot, the raincoat trailed behind me, clinging to every branch. Behind him came the cries of Dvalia:
Catch her! Catch her!
I heard the noisy lowing of a Calcidian. He jumped wildly, one time galloping so close that I had to dodge to the side.
Thoughts raced faster than my feet. I remembered how the kidnappers dragged me into the Skill Column. She also remembered biting the Calcidian, hoping to force him to let Shun go. And he let go, but he held on to me and followed us into the darkness of the Skill Column. I didn't see Shun or Lurik closing our chain. Probably both she and Shun were left behind. I hope Shun runs away from her. Or maybe she will run away from Shun? I remembered the cold of the winter Bakk that bound us when we fled. But now we were somewhere else, and instead of the penetrating cold, I felt only chills. The snow receded, becoming narrow, dirty-white fingers in the depths of the tree shadows. The forest smelled in early spring, but not a single branch had yet had time to leaf out. How to jump from winter in one place to spring in another? Something was very wrong, but there was no time to think about it. I had a more pressing problem. How to hide in the forest without a single leaf? I knew I couldn't outrun them. I needed to hide.
I hated the cape with all my heart. I couldn't stop to roll it up, and my hands felt clumsy like fish fins, but it's impossible to hide from pursuers in a huge white cloak. So I ran, knowing I couldn't escape, but too scared to let them catch me.