Reaper's Gale/Chapter 11

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==Near Breeder's Wood==
Old Hunch Arbat, an old mixed-blood Tarthenal, is no longer a popular figure in the small community where he lived near Breeder's Wood. He has retired from his job of collecting excrement to bury the idols of the Tarthenal gods. His neighbours have grown upset with him because they now have to deal with their own waste and have no one to empty their cesspits. Arbat wants to leave the community and start anew, away from the scorn and abuse he has faced his whole life. But in the darkness before dawn, he is shaken by an unexpected dream that leaves him waiting for revelation. He sets fire to his shack and starts to leave with his belongings when he encounters a group of villagers, led by the Village Factor. The Factor and the villagers inform Arbat that a group of Tiste Edur troops are in the area and have heard about the fire, so they came to help. The Factor then informs Arbat that it was probably Vrager, a local troublemaker, who had started the fire. Arbat simply replies that he is leaving. Continuing on, he meets Twilight and her soldiers passing through. Under questioning, he informs her of the Edur in the area and recommends an abandoned homestead to serve as their temporary encampment.
==Letheras, Tehol's residence==
Ten hens roam around in the lower room of Tehol Beddict's house, while Ublala Pung is pacing back and forth. Scholar Janath is sitting against one wall, rolling food for the hens between her hands. Bugg is stirring a pot of chicken soup and humming a toneless tune. The household is blessed with food aplenty due to their good luck, but Ublala is in a state of worry again: lovestruck perhaps, or in fear of love. Bugg asks Ublala to invite Tehol down for dinner; Tehol makes his way down the ladder. Bugg curses at Ublala when he steps on a hen and crushes it. Tehol suggests that they all try to get along.
==Letheras, Adventure Alley==
In their secret headquarters beneath Adventure Alley, Ormly, the former Champion Rat Catcher, and Rucket, the new commander of an insurgent organisation, discuss the situation in the city. Ormly is nervous about Tehol, who has become too successful too fast, and the Patriotists and Liberty Consign, who are stirring up trouble in the Low Markets. Rucket argues that Tehol is not the mystery, but rather his manservant Bugg, who they believe has taken all the tons of coinage they've leveraged into their hands and disappeared with it. They try to figure out where the money has gone but their theories, including it having been dumped into the river, don't pan out.
==Letheras, Settle Lake and the Old Palace==
In the city of Letheras, an enormous core of ice in Settle Lake holds an ancient spirit imprisoned by a powerful alliance between the Ceda Kuru Qan, a Jaghut sorceress, and the Elder God, Mael. The Errant struggles to understand the motivations behind Mael's involvement in the alliance, since Mael usually avoids involvement in the affairs of mortals. The Errant wonders what could have made Mael change his mind, and what he will do about the numerous worshippers who abuse his indifference. The Errant thinks about speaking with another war god, Fener, but realising that he probably wouldn't learn much, decides instead to reach a secret chamber beneath the Old Palace where he believes he will find a mortal's hand that he needs for his plans. When he enters the chamber, the mortal, revealed to be Feather Witch, is alarmed and tries to protect herself, but the Errant reassures her that he means no harm. He explains that the Holds and the Warrens are clashing and that power is now weaker than it was once, and he promises to make her more powerful if she accepts his proposal. The Errant stabs her in the side to use her blood as sacrifice, but she manages to gouge out the god's left eye using the severed finger of Brys Beddict. 
Feather Witch is badly injured and dying after this confrontation. The ghost of Kuru Qan tries to find her a healer, but to no avail. Meanwhile, the Errant stumbles down a bridge and arrives the centre dais of the Cedance where he challenges the Master of the Deck. He throws a knife onto the tiles and the bloody blade sinks into the centre of one of the Tiles of the Holds, causing a burst of power to burgeon within him. Feather Witch swallows the eye of the god, which reaches into the Errant's chest and steals his power. She claims that they are now bound together in mutual hate and demands that the Errant summon a Mortal Sword and a Shield Anvil. She reveals that she has chosen Udinaas, a betrayer, to be their candidate for the priesthood and the Empty Throne. 
==Letheras, Champion's Compound==
In a compound near the Eternal Domicile where various warriors have gathered to challenge the Edur Emperor, one of them, Karsa Orlong, has just thrown Gadalanak across the training ground, injuring his arm. The others are wary of fighting Karsa, as they believe his style of fighting is too wild and untamed. Karsa insults them, calling them cowards. The group's attention turns to the masked woman Gadalanak had called a Seguleh, who has yet to draw her swords. The one named Puddy boasts that he will be the one to take down the Edur Emperor with his short javelin and cutlass.
Samar Dev, observing all this, stops listening to Puddy's boasts and focuses on the Seguleh woman. She is curious about the Seguleh and wonders about her background, but the woman is silent. Gadalanak goes in search of a healer for his injured arm, and Karsa faces Samar Dev. Feeling something strange in the air, Samar Dev quickly goes to her room and seals the door behind her. She is surprised to see the ghost of Kuru Qan appearing in the center of the room. The Ceda begs for Samar Dev's help in healing Feather Witch. The Ceda explains that he fell at the Edur conquest and needs her help. Samar Dev is uninterested in helping and darts forward to capture the Ceda's spirit within her knife.
==A Place of Shadows==
Hannan Mosag, the Warlock King, makes his way across a desolate landscape in a broken and twisted state. He seeks to reclaim this place, Kurald Emurlahn, the Realm of Shadow and his home, and heal it from the chaos that left it so torn and fragmented. He wants to use the chains of the fallen god to draw the fragments together and bind them into one. However, his plans were thwarted by the betrayal of Rhulad Sengar. Now, everything is dying and he feels that he is the only one who can save Kurald Emurlahn. He calls out to Mother Dark and Father Light to guide him to the Throne of Shadow and offers a pledge of an alliance between the Andii, Liosan, and Edur. Believing that he is awaiting their answer and ready to pledge himself to their cause, at dusk he sees a sliver of warmth on his cheek and realizes that the clouds have broken, showing the lurid glow of the sun in the west. He finally gives up and says, "So be it." Later, when approached by Bruthen Trana, Hannan Mosag is moved and speaks of Bruthen's loyalty and honor. He acknowledges Bruthen as a true Tiste Edur and laments his own broken state, brought on by Rhulad's betrayal.
==Letheras, Champion's Compound==
Tehol and Ublala are trying to break into the Champion's Compound. They wait until a squad of guards passes by, and then cross the bridge to reach the other side. Once there, Tehol tries to teach Ublala how to skulk, but Ublala is more interested in finding the champion they are supposed to talk to. They reach the Eternal Domicile and find that it is heavily guarded, so they decide to stay in the shadows. Ublala has a plan for a diversion but Tehol is not interested in it. However, they hear someone coming and decide to run, but they end up splitting up, with Tehol going one way and Ublala going another. Alarms go off, and soldiers pursue them.
==Letheras, Old Palace==
Bruthen Trana is on a mission to save his people from their current state of dissolution. He has received hope from an unlikely source, the Warlock King Hannan Mosag, but still harbours doubts about the authenticity of the source. He is headed to a secret abode beneath the Old Palace where he believes he can find the key to their salvation. He enters a room where Feather Witch is muttering and knows that something has changed with her and the power she possesses. He takes the key from her (a small leather pouch containing a severed finger), and leaves Feather Witch bloodied and in pain. He departs to find the soul of Brys Beddict.
==Letheras, Tehol's residence==
Meanwhile, Tehol stumbles into the room, panting and sweating, and is greeted by Bugg, who is seated and drinking hen tea.
==Letheras, Champion's Compound==
The final scene opens with Samar Dev waking up to a loud noise in the hallway. She goes to the door and finds a giant of a man searching for Karsa Orlong. The giant tells her to take him to Karsa's room, and when they get there, Samar Dev knocks on the door. Karsa Orlong, naked from the waist up, answers the door with a stone sword in hand. He recognizes the giant's Toblakai blood and strikes him for kneeling before him because ‘Toblakai kneel to no-one’. The giant introduces himself as Ublala Pung, of the Tarthenal, a mixed-blood remnant of a local Toblakai population. Samar Dev explains to Ublala that Karsa Orlong can push his way through Letherii sorcery, which has decimated the Tarthenal. Ublala is in awe of Karsa's power and wishes to follow him as a war leader. However, Samar Dev warns Ublala that this Edur Emperor will likely kill Karsa. In response, Karsa tells Ublala that he must leave when it's all over and return to his kin on the islands.
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