The Tyrant Philosophers/Teerasla
Teerasla is a Tesemer Louse Speaker who maintains the mews at the House of Tranquillity in Alkhalend, a post that grants her a measure of standing within the palace. She is an armless woman who commands deadly Windsaw beasts through a segmented tongue-thing, and whose missing limb still causes phantom pain. She appears briefly as a figure within the palace infrastructure and then re-emerges as a combatant in the assault that overthrows Palleseen control of the city.
Her significance within Days of Shattered Faith lies in her role as one of many small, vivid individuals drawn into the coalition against Palleseen rule. She represents the Tesemer community's participation in the broader rebellion: a keeper of creatures turned frontline fighter, motivated by the same desire to strike back at the occupiers that unites Tesemer, Emorandi, Sand Lanes bravos, and foreign fighters alike. Her brief, strange courtesy toward a boy delivering a philtre underscores the humanity that persists even among those who wield monstrous beasts.
Character
Appearance
Teerasla is missing one arm at the shoulder, and the absent limb still produces phantom pain. She carries a clavar into battle. Most strikingly, she possesses a segmented tongue-thing - an organ that produces "the scrape of segmented legs behind human words" when she speaks, and that she uses to issue commands to the Windsaws in her care - ch 8.
Personality
Despite commanding creatures that launch at intruders "fast as baton-shot," Teerasla is courteous. When Kilbery startles one of her beasts and must wait while she clicks the tongue-thing to subside it, she thanks the boy rather than scolding him - ch 8. In combat she is decisive, leading the first-rank assault at the head of a windsaw-beast and a clavar, fighting throughout the engagement rather than lingering at the rear - ch 48.
Beliefs & Motivations
Teerasla is united with the wider coalition - Tesemer, Emorandi, Sand Lanes bravos, and foreign fighters - in a shared desire to strike back at the Palleseen. Her participation in the battle for Alkhalend flows from this collective grievance rather than from any personal feud - ch 48.
Affiliations
- Tesemer - louse speaker
History
Days of Shattered Faith
The Attack on the House of Hard Angles (ch 6-8)
Teerasla is a Tesemer Louse Speaker who keeps the mews at the House of Tranquillity in Alkhalend - a post of some standing within the palace - and she is missing one arm at the shoulder, a loss that still produces phantom pain in the absent limb - ch 8. She possesses a segmented tongue-thing which she uses to command the Windsaws in her care; when Kilbery arrives to deliver a philtre on Oathan's errand and moves suddenly, one of the beasts launches from her wrist "fast as baton-shot," its killing arms spreading and eye-patterns flaring, before Teerasla's tongue-thing clicks and the creature subsides - ch 8. She thanks the boy with the scrape of segmented legs behind human words, and he takes his payment - ch 8.
The Battle for Alkhalend (ch 48-49)
When Dekamran - now Alkhand - gives the signal to assault the Kakrops Jars transport, Teerasla leads the first-rank assault with a windsaw-beast and a clavar, fighting throughout the engagement as part of his coalition - ch 48. She is described as united with the other Tesemer, Emorandi, Sand Lanes bravos, and foreign fighters in a shared desire to strike back at the Palleseen - ch 48.
Relationships
- Dekamran - Teerasla fights as part of Dekamran's coalition during the assault on the Kakrops Jars transport, leading the first-rank charge when he gives the signal. She is bound to him not by personal loyalty but by the shared cause of striking back at the Palleseen - ch 48.
- Kilbery - A brief but telling encounter: Kilbery arrives at the mews to deliver a philtre on Oathan's errand, startles a Windsaw, and Teerasla thanks him before he takes his payment. The interaction lasts only moments but establishes her temperament - ch 8.
- House of Tranquillity - Teerasla keeps the mews at the House of Tranquillity in Alkhalend, a Louse Speaker's post of some standing within the palace - ch 8.
Tags
- louse-speaker · #tesemer · #mews-keeper · #windsaw-handler