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Emroth, whose name meant 'Fanged Skeleton', was one of a group of seven broken T'lan Imass known as The Unbound. She was one of the Teblor's gods known as "The Seven Faces in the Rock". The Teblor called her 'Imroth the Cruel'.[1] The Rathyd clan of the Teblor worshipped her as their patron goddess and her followers set curses upon their enemies by burning blood on the stone lips of her effigy.[2] She was described alternately as having a voice like silk[1] or speaking with a ravaged voice.[3] One side of her face had been brutally smashed so that her heavy jaw hung lopsided from her skull.[3]

Emroth was a Soletaken of unknown form.[4]

She carried a flint weapon that was more cutlass than sword with a strangely hooked end. Its hilt and shallow bell-guard were fashioned from the palmate portion of an antler and polished brown with age.[5]

Emroth was once of the Eptr Phinana clan of the Kron T'lan Imass, was born in the Season of Blood-from-the-Mountain, and had lived on the shores of the Jhagra Til.[5]

In House of Chains[]

Emroth and the other Unbound swore fealty to the Crippled God in return for breaking their Vow and gaining limited freedom.[6] She and the others cultivated young Teblor warriors, like Karsa Orlong, to serve their agenda and retrieve their lost weapons, which would sever Tellann and grant them their full freedom.[7][8][9]

Emroth was enraged by the Teblors' long life spans, which meant that every failure meant a wait of another century as their next candidate matured. She distrusted Bairoth Gild as a potential replacement for Karsa because Bairoth was too clever. Hence, she perverted Bairoth's girl-child as it grew in Dayliss' womb, saying that the result would be "neither a girl, nor a child."[10]

Urual blamed the woman's Soletaken proclivities and its hunger for their failure so many years before.[10]

When Karsa raped the wife of the Rathyd chief, the woman said he invited the chief's curse through Imroth.[2]

Once Karsa found and returned their weapons, Emroth and the Unbound were freed. But the warrior then cut down Sin'b'alle, claimed her foundlings, and ordered the remaining six to abandon the Teblor.[11] The Unbound departed, determined to help the Tiste Edur and their master claim the First Throne and control of the T'lan Imass.[12]

In Reaper's Gale[]

Hedge's ghost followed a trail of footprints for leagues through the sands of Hood's Realm that eventually brought him to Emroth. The annoyed T'lan Imass tried to send him away, but Hedge continued to walk with her, attempting to draw her out in conversation. Unable to turn to dust in this realm, she was forced to keep Hedge's company as they passed into the ice of Omtose Phellack.[13] The frozen landscape showed signs that Jaghut had been slaughtered there, but no bodies. They eventually reached the Throne of Ice where sat a mummified figure surrounded by the gathered corpses of the missing dead. Emroth told Hedge the mummy's spirit had fled its body and the Throne was dying as there was nothing left to rule.[14]

Continuing their travel, patches of trees and grass began to appear as they approached the edge of the Refugium, a realm where mortal Imass existed beyond the reach of the Ritual of Tellann. Hedge needled Emroth about her destination, but the T'lan Imass refused to answer, noting only that Hedge's ethereal nature prevented her from killing him. The sapper withdrew a cusser from his raincape and made clear that the conversation would determine her fate. Emroth admitted to seeking out the mortal Imass and Hedge pondered the possibility that she had come to claim them as allies for the Crippled God. But ultimately, he realised she had come for the Refugium's gate to Starvald Demelain, where anything was possible including the destruction of the warrens. Hedge destroyed Emroth in a massive explosion that scattered her remains and a tear came to his eye when he spotted where her left leg had been thrown across the border into the Refugium. It was the leg of a shapely mortal woman. After hundreds of thousands of years as a broken undead, Emroth had perished thirty paces from a return to life.[15]

Notes and references[]

  1. 1.0 1.1 House of Chains, Chapter 1, UK MMPB p.35-39
  2. 2.0 2.1 House of Chains, Chapter 1, US SFBC p.57
  3. 3.0 3.1 Reaper's Gale, Chapter 12, US HC p.308
  4. House of Chains, Chapter 1, UK MMPB p.38
  5. 5.0 5.1 Reaper's Gale, Chapter 12, US HC p.308
  6. House of Chains, Chapter 1, US SFBC p.34
  7. House of Chains, Chapter 1, US SFBC p.34
  8. House of Chains, Chapter 16, US SFBC p.566
  9. House of Chains, Chapter 17, US SFBC p.571
  10. 10.0 10.1 House of Chains, Chapter 1, US SFBC p.35
  11. House of Chains, Chapter 17, US SFBC p.571-575
  12. House of Chains, Chapter 20, US SFBC p.658
  13. Reaper's Gale, Chapter 12, US HC p.307-310
  14. Reaper's Gale, Chapter 14, US HC p.375-378
  15. Reaper's Gale, Chapter 17, US HC p.503-508
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