Chapter 28

Din Kol joins Tauri and four Orbiis officers to enter the forest seams in single file behind a thurible. The dense, violet wood unsettles them; peripheral glimpses show impossible teknasma statues that seem to mimic motion, stressing minds and senses. Tauri cautions against looking away from the path.

They reach the Hand of Gaddar, a colossal stone hand cradling a human figure marked with an old Tala inscription Din translates as “Let the wayward mind bloom,” possibly also “skull.” The wording echoes Daljeni tales of fates sung into minds, alarming Tauri, who halts such talk inside the forest.

Deeper in, they discover a seam section deliberately defoliated long ago, leading into ruins Tauri identifies as Naos‑Minra, the “little temple,” and its surrounding city. Following Burilis Burav’s cleared route, they arrive at a dry fountain basin.

At the fountain’s edge sits Jalin Burav, burned and in medikker robes, still and unresponsive. Din approaches and finds expertly cut wrists draining into the basin. Testing parchment confirms Jalin is free of the web, indicating deliberate suicide rather than compulsion or struggle.

Searching the perimeter, they find a small, decayed cabin—an Apoth workspace stocked with reagents, tools, and vials. Inside is a wrapped leather journal: Burilis Burav’s 1099 “Accounts of the nature and modifications of the qaytatin tuman,” with detailed notes on web behavior and alterations.

Tauri infers Burilis isolated the web here and later refined it at home; Jalin likely retrieved the journal and returned to brew more for his crimes. Yet the dry fountain and lack of water suggest the web was not sourced from the basin, leaving the origin within Naos‑Minra unknown.