T'riss

"One of the greatest powers presently at play here in this world...Many name her a goddess but to me she is more, and I suppose less, than that. Not like Burn or Fanderay or Togg. Not some ancient entity or force that has come to represent what we choose to cast upon it. She remains a real living person whose influence transcends others' because she is here, now, and can intervene directly as she sees fit."

―Agayla

T'riss was a goddess also known as the Queen of Dreams and the Enchantress. She was the Queen of High House Life, the Mistress of Thyr, and the greatest magus.

T'riss sometimes appeared as a slim and diminutive raven-haired beauty with motes of gold in her eyes. At other times she seemed to be a heavy-set, short, middle-aged woman with unruly mousy hair, facial moles, and a dark dusting of a moustache.

The symbol of the Queen of Dreams was an open hand.

In The Bonehunters

T'riss helped Leoman and Dunsparrow escape the city of Y'Ghatan before the Bonehunters laid siege to it.

In Return of the Crimson Guard

T'riss was the patron goddess of the Thel Akai, Ereko. When he was a prisoner on the Stormwall she informed him that a fellow prisoner, the Malazan Traveller, was his destiny. Ereko escaped and took the man with him, setting him on a path that brought him to face Kallor.

She also appeared in the dreams of the Crimson Guardsman Kyle and interfered with the attempts of the Crippled God to seize the tulwar bearing Osserc's essence.

In Stonewielder

T'riss responded to the call of her follower Agayla who claimed to "have an answer to that problem we have spoken of." T'riss appeared before Agayla and her niece Kiska amidst a circle of standing stones outside Malaz City. She helped Kiska in the latter's search for Tayschrenn by assigning Jheval to accompany the young woman and opening the way to Shadow.

In Blood and Bone

T'riss travelled to Jacuruku to confer with Ardata.

In Forge of Darkness

T'riss mysteriously emerged from the Vitr. She was an Azathanai with no memory of her past, nor even her name. "T'riss" simply meant "from the Vitr" in the language of the Azathanai and was the name given to her by Faror Hend. Faror offered to escort T'riss to Mother Dark in Kharkanas. A chance meeting with Caplo Dreem and Warlock Resh of the Shake led to an audience with Mother Sheccanto Derran. In the Shake Monastery, T'riss chided the faith that had bound and murdered its god, Dorssan Ryl, before she resurrected the river god.

T'riss arrived at Kharkanas as the newly revived river god flooded the city along the river banks. She was ushered into Mother Dark's presence where she bestowed a gift of Vitr to sanctify the temple and change the goddess queen's power. Now those worshippers of Mother Dark who exposed themselves to her presence where transformed into dark skinned Tiste Andii. At the same time T'riss spoke harshly to high priestess Syntara, bestowing upon her a gift that transformed her into the first Tiste Liosan. Afterwards T'riss vanished.

In the land of the Azathanai, Old Man warned Draconus that his usage of Night was without precedent, infuriating the "believers", like Ardata and the Sister of Dreams, who sought redress and healing in the Vitr. The Azathanai Grizzin Farl, known as the Protector, came to Mother Dark and told her that T'riss was unknown to him and he warned that her actions were uncommonly careless and violated proscriptions against blatant Azathani interference. When Draconus opened the Gate of Kurald Galain Grizzin Farl left Mother Dark explaining there was no longer anything for him to protect.

Notes and References

List of abbreviations • Paginations • How to reference an article