The Waxen Scrivener

The Waxen Scrivener (she/her) has an affinity for both the physicality of books and their contents. Though her followers seek knowledge, the Scrivener is also a god of decay. As such little effort is made to preserve what has been recorded, and indeed there is some belief that rotten knowledge holds unique truths. Worms, maggots, and other library pests are associated with the Waxen Scrivener as agents of paper consumption.

Notably, due to its intransience, the Waxen Scrivener does not favour digital information storage. The Scrivener is known to favour places where collections of books and paper can be found, including book shops, libraries, and papermills.

The Church of the Waxen Scrivener is sprawling and loosely connected. Like many illegal faiths, they appear to have felt the pressure of the Peninsula's government and new gods encroach upon their worship. One of her followers, Peterson, considers the Scrivener's Church less violent than other illegal faiths, but Sister Carpenter has heard rumours to the contrary, particularly concerning their production of ink.

***"Upon black ink and rotten parchment, truth shall be revealed!"***

## Description

### Symbols and Prayers

* A circular black maggot, worn by Sister Carpenter as a necklace.
* Peterson repeats the phrase: "Upon black ink and rotten parchment, truth shall be revealed!"

### Known Places of Worship

#### **The Tatty Spine**

The Tatty Spine is a bookshop located on the edge of the White Gull River. It is in notable disrepair and infested by book-eating worms. It is owned and run by Peterson. A saint, Abel, abides on its upper floor.

### Saints

#### Abel

Brother of Peterson. Abel inhabits a padlocked room on the upper floor of the Tatty Spine. Described as a large, white larva with numerous pincer limbs on his front and chitin on his back. He has a long neck and two pale eyes. Like many worms, he has a mouth in the centre of his face. Unlike many worms, it is filled with circular rows of human teeth. Abel's sacred work involves putting ink to paper, but it is uncertain whether his writing is anything more than meaningless scrawl. It is unclear whether he himself or Peterson bestowed sainthood upon him. The authorities are aware of his existence, but appear to tolerate it.

### Prominent Followers

#### Peterson

The owner of the Tatty Spine. He is friendly to other members of the faith. Before the religious wars, he and his brother Abel collected information in his local area, charting the territories of parochial gods. He highlights Penda's Slake as an area of divine interest to Sister Carpenter, claiming that Abel found prayer marks there as well as signs of ritual sacrifice. He is scornful of the new gods, but unconcerned in the long term, as he expects that they too will rot away.

He informs the police of Sister Carpenter and Brother Faulkner's passage.

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 Chapter 2: And Next Of Dark Deceit
2. ↑ Chapter II: *And Next of Dark Deceit.* Peterson, " The great electronic libraries, I fear, tell us nothing in their stagnancy."
3. ↑ *Chapter II:* And of Dark Deceit*.* Carpenter.
4. ↑ Chapter II: *And Next of Darkness Deceit.*
5. ↑ Chapter II: *And Next of Darkness Deceit.* Carpenter, "In that brief glimpse before the Immortal Saint charges us, I can’t remember seeing any kind of meaning in the inky papers that lay at its feet."
6. ↑ Chapter II: *And Next of Dark Deceit.* Carpenter, "Sainthood doesn’t come unbidden. Peterson summoned that change onto his brother. Or perhaps Abel did it to himself."
7. ↑ Chapter IX: *My Song Has Taken Hold of Me.* Daggler, "You still keeping your brother upstairs, Peterson? Has he hatched into a moth yet? Or is he just spewing ink all over your floorboards and eating garbage, your sainted maggot?"