Chapter Fifteen: Bishop's Parlay[edit | edit source]

Ivin and Meliu, posing as a merchant’s daughter fluent in Hidreng, meet Bishop Ulmeen of Sin Medor under tense circumstances, escorted by Overseer Iro Adinfin. The bishop, a commanding figure with a deep-seated grudge against the Silone for their gods’ historical atrocities, interrogates Ivin about recent murders of Hokandite priests in the refugee camp, hinting at a female assassin possibly linked to the Thonian White Rose sect. She presses Ivin on the Slavers of Sol—Maimers and Mercies—whose soul-stealing legacy fuels her disdain, and demands he publicly read a scroll fragment of the Mercies’ ritual to prove Silone contrition, threatening annihilation if he fails within five days. The scroll, glowing with diamond-like script, alarms Ivin and Meliu, who suspect its partial text could still sunder souls from their gods. Back at camp, Meliu confirms the scroll’s authenticity but proposes sabotaging its reading by teaching Ivin mispronunciations, banking on its incompleteness and their lack of priestly skill to render it harmless, thus buying time. Facing clan outrage, particularly from Polus, Meliu argues the gamble preserves lives against certain death, though Tedeu questions relying on ineptitude. Tasked with crafting copper blanks for an unclear purpose, Meliu shares one with Kinesee, probing her about Solineus’s mystically infused pearl, uncovering his unexplained powers. As ships dwindle and the Hidreng deadline looms, Meliu grows wary of both Ulrikt’s potential omnipresence and Solineus’s hidden depths, preparing for a precarious future.

ToP Chapter 14 — Snores are Life
ToP Chapter 16 — Oaken Splendor
Trail of Pyres - Main Chapter Listing