The long-clashing waves at Cape Reinga have pulled apart, opening a path to the seafloor. A small cadre of explorers plan to travel the shrouded passage to see what lies at its end.
’This expedition seems to stem from curiosity alone. What a bizarre motive.'
'I hope to suggest to the organizers that the real advantage here is to be gained in the rich waters above, where reports say many a monster has begun to swarm: have you ever seen a vaspil caught alive, librarian?'
'Perhaps it’s not a vaspil after all. Shattered cartilage, flickering lights, and eight rows of fractured fangs… sounds more like the drift-phalange of the Blackbone to me. Sounds like an even riskier gambit. Let’s see if these explorers are worth their salt.‘
Dr Haig deduced that the monsters lurking around the rift were tied to a Nowhere-Hour.
’I’m off to Cape Reigna, librarian, but first I need to study up. Not going to go in unprepared like Grytviken.'
'I need what you have on sea monsters, and the Dead, and lung capacity…'
'Blackbone-beasts are of a different kind than the usual Lionsmith-things I’m used to. It will be Grail- and Heart-techniques that will lure them away or return them to their colony. Compared to the Growth, this should be nothing. Wish me luck, librarian.‘
Emilia consulted techniques of how to stymie monsters of the Blackbone before joining the expedition in Cape Reinga.
’Competing offers have come in. It’s either join the expedition under the Wave, or kill them all before they can go. The reward is comparable, the question now is of risk.'
'What are the upsides of a journey so far down? What is there to lose in taking a half-dozen lives? These are the agonizing questions of my trade…'
'Ever since I had the dream of Knives, I have known that my only safety lies in being strong. Thank you for reminding me of this, librarian. A prominent Bird in the Capital wants the expedition defeated, and I intend to take his reward.‘
After reviewing my collection, Tte Cruz reaffirmed his personal creed–always be stronger–and took a job to kill the expedition before it enters the rift.
’Competing offers have come in. It’s either join the expedition under the Wave, or kill them all before they can go. The reward is comparable, the question now is of risk.'
'What are the upsides of a journey so far down? What is there to lose in taking a half-dozen lives? These are the agonizing questions of my trade…'
'Ever since I had the dream of the River, I have known that my only safety lies in knowing and using secrets. Thank you for reminding me of this, librarian. I’ll join this expedition and learn some secerets that might keep me around another year longer.‘
After reviewing my collection, Tte Cruz reaffirmed his personal creed–always know more–and agreed to join the expedition.
’The Dead descend at Cape Reinga. The living wish to follow? Absolutely not.'
'We’ll not have a bunch of suicidal loons thinking they’re treasure-hunters when really they’re just marks of some Mansus-prank. I just can’t quite see who is playing the prank.'
'Did you know the Elegiast has a sense of humor, librarian? No? That’s because he doesn’t. But he does like to remind everyone once and a while of what the Tide left. Out of respect for my Order’s safety, I’d best stay out of this one.‘
Sra Silva found traces of the Elegiast’s influence in the creation of the Rift, and deferred to his prerogative.
’Frantic whispers on the wind, stained with salt, and reeking of fear. Those explorers are not heeding any reasonable counsel.'
'I would still like to offer helpful advice. When they pass under the Wave, how might they keep safe in those shadows?'
'The explorers have chosen to drown, and in so doing have begun an enactment of the Sister-and-Witch. I will remind them of an important lesson of the sea: what ebbs will always flow, and what is lost will often return.‘
Bartolina counseled the explorers to remember that eventually, the tide comes back in.
’Too many posterns to Nowhere lie beneath the Wave… vestiges of a time when the Tide chewed its food slowly.'
'Now, Nowhere’s presence spawns incessantly under the Wave. Here in the dry places, the Horned-Axe, Velvet, and Sun-in-Rags hold off against its encroachment wherever possible. But those with dominion over the Sea refuse to hold the boundaries. Stay away from boats, librarian. The Witch-and-Sister care not if a siren lures you to Nowhere or a taniwha takes you as its mate.‘
’Sea Monsters were a fascination of mine at one time. They can live much longer and grow much larger than most things nowadays. But depending on their origin, they can have a great many forms.'
'The monsters of the Blackbone are not created so much as they are shed. They are polyps adrift, discarded spines, segments of severed cartilage. Eventually they die or are returned her miserable corpus, but either way they become food for their mother. The Ligeian Echidna knows certain arts of severing that can create these monsters, but others know the arts of binding that can return them.‘
’There are many old stories about Cape Reinga and its association with Nowhere. This seems to be a new story unfolding.'
'When the Dead depart downward, they generally do not come back. But the door opens both ways. If an Hour can call a Winter-long up from death, could it not do the same for all those other Dead? Not while the White Flower blossoms, I think, yet stories endure in Nowhere, even if they remain unspoken. Or perhaps they endure because they are unspoken.‘
’Upon the cape, upon the cliff, the old roots of the old Wood grew deep into the Wake… and once, its old waters did as well.'
'The acolytes of the new Knot, they teach that the Well in the Wood always existed. I suppose it has, in one sense. But the pail? The cut stones? Those are for beasts who wish for more than is freely given by the streams and the springs. So the Wood runs dry. So the Wake still thirsts.‘