The cord
The cord is a killing instrument wielded by agents of the Halberandi monks, an order characterised as magic-hoarders who deploy the weapon as their sanctioned method of execution against those who wrong them. Its single defining constraint is that it must kill without shedding blood, a requirement inherited from the old Moeribandi wholeness-of-body doctrine that prohibits the rupturing of bodily integrity. The weapon thus embodies the doctrine it enforces: the victim dies, but the body remains unbroken, and the killing stands as a theological act as much as a judicial one.
In the events of the book, the cord surfaces during a confrontation between Gil and Drathel over the stabbing of Loret. Gil names the Halberandi monks and their practice of the cord while pressing Drathel on her involvement, and Drathel acknowledges that she uses the cord in accordance with the Moeribandi prohibition, killing without drawing blood. Her conflict with the monks, she admits, arose not from any political dispute but from an unauthorised act of magical extraction. Gil treats the cord's use as an extenuating circumstance within the Pal institutional framework, assigning Drathel a written report while offering to omit what she took rather than pursuing the matter as an unmitigated offence. The arc of the cord across the available text is thus narrow and specific: it functions as a named instrument of doctrinal violence, a justification invoked by its wielder, and a mitigating fact recognised by institutional authority.
The Object
Description
The cord is a killing instrument - a length of cord or cord-like device designed to kill without drawing blood. The available text specifies its functional constraint and its association with the Halberandi monks and the Moeribandi wholeness-of-body doctrine, but does not describe its material composition, size, markings, or method of carriage. - Days of Shattered Faith, ch 11
What It Does
The cord kills. Its defining operational property is that it must do so without shedding blood, a constraint imposed by the old Moeribandi prohibition against rupturing the body's integrity. The Halberandi monks dispatch killers who wield the cord against individuals who have antagonised the order, and these dispatched agents operate with the monks' institutional backing. The weapon thus serves as both an instrument of lethal judgement and an enforcer of the theological doctrine it names. - Days of Shattered Faith, ch 11
Provenance
The cord is associated with the Halberandi monks, who deploy it as their method of execution. Drathel states that she uses the cord in keeping with the old Moeribandi wholeness-of-body doctrine, indicating its circulation extends beyond the monks' own dispatched agents to practitioners outside the order who nonetheless observe its doctrinal constraints. The text does not specify who originally fashioned the cord, nor where it ultimately rests. - Days of Shattered Faith, ch 11
History
Days of Shattered Faith
The cord is a killing instrument tied to the old Moeribandi wholeness-of-body doctrine and to the Halberandi monks, an order described as "magic-hoarders" who deploy the cord as a method of execution against those who wrong them - ch 11. Its defining property is that it kills without shedding blood, a constraint that maps directly onto the Moeribandi prohibition against rupturing the body's integrity; the weapon thus enforces the doctrine it names while carrying out lethal judgement - ch 11. The Halberandi monks dispatch killers who wield the cord against individuals who have antagonised the order, and these dispatched agents operate with the monks' institutional backing - ch 11.
Within the events of the book, the cord enters the narrative through a confrontation between Gil and Drathel over the stabbing of Loret. Gil names the Halberandi monks and their use of the cord in the course of pressing Drathel on her involvement, and Drathel acknowledges that she uses the cord in keeping with the old Moeribandi wholeness-of-body doctrine, killing "not shedding blood" - ch 11. She further admits she "might have gone to poke Mantekor a bit" for decanting purposes, indicating that her conflict with the monks arose from an unauthorized act of magical extraction rather than from any political dispute - ch 11. Gil responds by assigning Drathel a written report and offering to omit whatever she actually stole, thereby acknowledging the cord's use as an extenuating circumstance within the Pal institutional framework rather than treating it as an unmitigated offense - ch 11.
Relationships
- Drathel - She acknowledges using the cord as a practitioner governed by the Moeribandi doctrine, killing "not shedding blood." Her conflict with the Halberandi monks arose from an unauthorised act of magical extraction ("a bit" of poking of Mantekor for decanting purposes) rather than from any political dispute, suggesting her relationship to the order is that of a practitioner who bends its boundaries rather than a member acting in good standing. - Days of Shattered Faith, ch 11
- Gil - Gil names the Halberandi monks and their use of the cord in the course of pressing Drathel over the stabbing of Loret. Rather than treating the cord's use as an unmitigated offence, Gil assigns Drathel a written report and offers to omit whatever she actually stole, thereby acknowledging the cord's doctrinal context as an extenuating circumstance within the Pal institutional framework. - Days of Shattered Faith, ch 11
- Loret - The stabbing of Loret is the proximate event that brings the cord into the narrative's field of discussion, as Gil uses it to interrogate Drathel's broader pattern of conduct and her relationship to the Halberandi monks. - Days of Shattered Faith, ch 11
Notable Quotes
- "not shedding blood" - Drathel, Days of Shattered Faith, ch 11
- "might have gone to poke Mantekor a bit" - Drathel, Days of Shattered Faith, ch 11
Tags
- weapon · #martial-art · #halberandi