Passage of the Stains

Fá's initiation ritual forces Volga to prove loyalty by taking the hearts of twelve helpless captives, including Lyria and Sigurd.

Story so far

The Passage of the Stains is Fá's doctrine of leadership made into ritual. After the Holy Kill, he gives Volga an old blood-crusted powered talon gauntlet and orders her to pull the hearts from twelve captives, one of every Color except Red and Obsidian, with Lyria and Sigurd added to the line. Fá calls the prisoners by their sins so their deaths can be presented as deserved.

He defines the passage as an honorless but necessary killing: not battlefield combat, but an act carried out against someone at the killer's mercy in order to help the people and blacken the leader's own heart. The ritual is therefore designed to cut Volga loose from compassion, friendship, and any Republic allegiance. It begins at the point of her refusal and fear, with the whole court waiting to see whether she will let Fá remake her.

Appearance

A torchlit execution line before Fá's feast, twelve captive Colors arranged under the gaze of jeweled jarls while a huge powered talon gauntlet ratchets over Volga's hand.

Role

The Passage of the Stains is Fá's coercive initiation, designed to turn a potential queen into a complicit instrument of his rule.

Relationships

Volga — Volga is forced to undertake the Passage as proof that she will sacrifice mercy and personal loyalty to Fá's political order.

Lyria — Lyria is one of the intended victims, making the Passage a direct attack on Volga's surviving friendship.

Sigurd — Sigurd is included as a traitor to be killed, tying the ritual to Fá's punishment of the Volk defection.

Volsung Fá — Volsung Fá creates and presides over the Passage as his lesson that power requires a heart darkened by necessary cruelty.

Sources — 1 recorded facts, by chapter

Chapter 71

Fá's initiation ritual forces Volga to prove loyalty by taking the hearts of twelve helpless captives, including Lyria and Sigurd.