1-7: BAXIL

In this interlude chapter, two hired men, cousins in the palace of a holy figure called, undertake a covert mission to systematically destroy religious artwork throughout the labyrinth of halls. The chapter establishes the mysterious nature of their employer through the eyes of the anxious accomplice.

The chapter opens with a nervous servant named baxil and his more self-confident cousin av walking through the lavish palace of ashno of sages, one of the wealthiest and holiest men in emul. They are accompanied by their mysterious mistress, a woman of unclear heritage with faintly violet eyes, who dresses in trousers and carries a thin-bladed sword. She directs them to the hallowed hall, a sacred space devoted to reverence of the kadasix—divine figures in emuli religion. Rather than stealing valuables, their mistress methodically destroys religious artwork: she slashes a painting of epan, lady of dreams, gouges out the eyes of a bust, shatters a wrapped vase, and pounds apart a statue with a padded mallet. Throughout the mission, baxil grows increasingly anxious about discovery, while av remains calm and unaffected. As they work, baxil and av discuss the old magic and the nightwatcher, a supernatural being who grants boons in exchange for curses. av recounts stories of family members who sought the magic, revealing that boons often come with unexpected or difficult curses—his father saw the world upside down after receiving cloth to survive a famine. baxil considers requesting courage from the nightwatcher to become more useful and impressive to their mistress. The chapter ends with baxil resigned to his role as tool-bearer, watching his employer continue her systematic destruction.