Contents
CHAPTER 19
Overview
Johanna, sick with a cold, consults with Woodcarver on gunpowder and a covert route to Hidden Island found by Vendacious. A maimed fragment of Scriber, Ja, arrives and cannot communicate clearly. Despite efforts, Ja dies after the rest of Scriber is found murdered. Grieving, Johanna decides to trust Woodcarver’s people.
Summary
Johanna, suffering from a cold, meets privately with Woodcarver. They review early gunpowder success and failed wooden cannon tests, then focus on how artillery might help reach Johanna’s starship. Woodcarver cites Vendacious’s discovery of safe trails that could enable a covert approach to Hidden Island.
The meeting is interrupted by scratching at the door. A lone Tine collapses inside; Woodcarver identifies it as a fragment of Jaqueramaphan (Scriber). Guards and Johanna’s servant secure the area while Johanna and Woodcarver tend the wounded fragment, whose spine appears broken.
Peregrine (Scarbutt) arrives to “listen” for mind-sense but cannot match the fragment; Ja is not a talker and offers only jumbled impressions. Woodcarver orders staff confined so that, once calmer, Ja can view all packs; recognizing a killer might trigger a reaction that reveals the culprits.
Searchers soon find the rest of Scriber dead atop an old wall turret, seemingly ambushed by intruders from the forest. Vendacious reports it looks like an inept probe; Scriber surprised them and was cut down. Ja, the last member, broke his back in the fall.
Despite protection and care, Ja dies during the night. Johanna, furious at the limits of local medicine and wracked with regret over rebuffing Scriber’s friendship, mourns. After days of grief, she quietly resolves to trust Woodcarver’s people and continue the plan, honoring Scriber’s belief in them.
Who Appears
- Johanna OlsndotIll with a cold; helps tend Scriber’s fragment; grieves his death; decides to trust Woodcarver’s people.
- WoodcarverLeader and physician; advances gunpowder plans; proposes parading packs before Ja to spot the killers.
- Peregrine Wickwrackrum (Scarbutt)Tries to match Ja’s mind-sense; pledges to help or adopt the fragment; explains repacking difficulties.
- Jaqueramaphan (Ja)Scriber’s surviving fragment; arrives gravely injured, non-talker; dies despite care, spurring the investigation.
- VendaciousSecurity chief; reports the scene of Scriber’s murder; confines staff; claims intruders made an inept probe.
- ScrupiloArtificer who makes early gunpowder; fails with wooden cannon, prompting revised plans.