The Whirlwind Goddess was the title given to the goddess inhabiting Raraku on the Seven Cities continent that inspired the Apocalypse and the rebellion known as the Whirlwind. She was worshipped fervently by the people of Seven Cities. Her high priestess was Sha'ik.
In Deadhouse Gates[]
Deadhouse Gates.
In House of Chains[]
House of Chains.
Heboric believed the Whirlwind Goddess to once have been the minor deity of a desert tribe, such as the spirit of a summer wind or protector of a whirlpool. Somehow, the spirit was able to make a piece of the fragmented Warren, Kurald Emurlahn, her own and gain real power over the Holy Desert. Then the cult of Dryjhna had co-opted her faith for their own ends.[2]
Sha'ik Reborn came to believe that the warren formed by the Whirlwind was growing and no longer a fragment, and through the spilled blood of an army, would soon demand its own place in the Deck of Dragons.[3] High Mage Febryl became disillusioned by the Goddess, claiming she devoured the life force and ferocious will to survive from her misguided servants. Her presence deadened the souls of those near her.[4] Sha'ik Reborn found that her obsession with the sister who wronged her increased while under the Goddess' influence, and her concerns for adopted daughter's well-being disappeared.[5]
High Mage Bidithal thought to steal the Goddess' warren for the Crippled God to become the heart of the new House of Chains.[6] But Korbolo Dom and his fellow conspirators acted first in their plot to bring down both the Whirlwind and the 14th Army. Febryl opened a passage to the Whirlwind Goddess' warren for Kamist Reloe and Korbolo Dom's assassins.[7]
On the day of the Battle of Raraku, L'oric was present when the assassins struck the Whirlwind Goddess. He described her as an Imass aflame, swarming with accumulated twisted spirits, and trailing the shattered chains of the Ritual of Tellann. Her limbs were blackened by mould and marsh water, and her torso was covered in fur-like moss. Tangled, grey hair hung from her head and her scorched eye sockets licked with fire. Her toothless jaw was barely held in place by rotted tendon and muscle.[8] She was butchered by Dom's assassins and consumed by forces of High House Chains, just as Sha'ik Reborn faced Adjunct Tavore in single combat. As the Goddess died, she screamed, "My--my--my child! Mine! I stole her from the bitch! Mine!" Without the Goddess' strength, Sha'ik was no match for Adjunct Tavore and died on the end of her sword.[9]
It was later revealed that the Whirlwind Goddess had once been the Imass mate of Onrack, shortly before the Ritual of Tellann. She had become so enraged by his adultery with Kilava Onass that she carried her rage even unto undeath as a T'lan Imass. Her madness eventually defeated the Vow, forcing the other T'lan Imass of her tribe to shatter her body and imprison her in darkness within Raraku. There, she fed on the spirits drawn to her cries by foolish sympathy, adding their power to her own. Her purpose became to cleanse the world of the swarming Humans who were the beget of Onrack and Kilava. She had planned to one day rise again, clothing herself in one child's skin, and then kill the world.[10][11]
Author comments
Steven Erikson has clarified that the Whirlwind Goddess' vow to seek vengeance against the human children who were Kilava and Onrack's beget does not refer specifically to blood relatives but to the younger race that inherited the Imass' world.[12]
Speculations
In an analysis of House of Chains Chapter 16, author Steven Erikson repeatedly refers to the Whirlwind Goddess as "Dryjhna" or "Sha'ik" suggesting that one or both names are her original Imass name.[13] At the same time, the list of Ascendants included in the glossary of The Bonehunters mentions "Sha'ik: The Whirlwind Goddess"[14] suggesting the title of the goddess' chosen one was named for herself.Notes and references[]
- ↑ Deadhouse Gates, Chapter 16, UK MMPB p.677
- ↑ House of Chains, Chapter 7, US SFBC p.283/290
- ↑ House of Chains, Chapter 18, US SFBC p.593-594
- ↑ House of Chains, Chapter 18, US SFBC p.618
- ↑ House of Chains, Chapter 18, US SFBC p.600
- ↑ House of Chains, Chapter 25, US SFBC p.783
- ↑ House of Chains, Chapter 21, US SFBC p.679-680
- ↑ House of Chains, Chapter 26, US SFBC p.824
- ↑ House of Chains, Chapter 26, US SFBC p.825-828
- ↑ House of Chains, Epilogue, US SFBC p.852
- ↑ House of Chains, Chapter 26, US SFBC p.821
- ↑ Critical Conversations 01: House of Chains Chap 26 with Steven Erikson - See 1:03:30
- ↑ Critical Conversations 01: House of Chains Chap 26 with Steven Erikson - See 12:00 and 1:03:45
- ↑ The Bonehunters, Glossary