The Tarsier
The Tarsier is a ship that was docked at Peor during the political upheaval described in Days of Shattered Faith. Its departure from the dock overnight, and the angry response of the Alkhand's people the following morning, constitute the ship's entire appearance in the series. It is recorded by Kilbery as one item in a catalogue of overnight developments that together constitute the shape of the crisis in Peor, listed alongside Magister Fallery's flight down the Peor road, the exile of Sier Lioban, the arrival of seven new prisoners at the House of Hard Angles, and the arrests of the Faraslandi priestess and Doctor Grau - ch 17.
The Tarsier's significance to the series is therefore entirely structural and circumstantial: it functions as a data point in a single reported scene rather than as a vessel with a witnessed voyage, a named crew, or a carried cargo. The narrative provides no physical description of the ship, no account of its purpose, and no explanation of why the Alkhand's people were angered by its departure. What it contributes to the reader's understanding is the texture of a city in which, overnight, ships leave, officials flee, prisoners arrive, and arrests are made in quick succession - and in which the absence of explanation is itself part of the disorientation - ch 17.
The Object
Description
No physical description of the Tarsier is given anywhere in the text. It is identified only as a ship ("the vessel") docked at Peor, with no details supplied regarding its size, rigging, hull, markings, or tonnage - ch 17.
What It Does
The Tarsier's only recorded action is departure: it left the Peor dock during the night, an event subsequently reported by Kilbery among other overnight developments. The following morning, the Alkhand's people came angry in response to the ship's exit, though the text does not state what the Alkhand's people sought from the vessel or why its absence provoked them - ch 17.
Provenance
The text does not record who owned, captained, or crewed the Tarsier, where it came from, or where it went after leaving Peor. Its sole provenance note is that it was docked at Peor and was no longer there by morning - ch 17.
History
Days of Shattered Faith
The Tarsier is a ship docked in Peor at the time of the upheaval described in the book. Its departure is reported by Kilbery among a string of overnight developments: the vessel left the dock during the night, and the following morning the Alkhand's people came angry in response - ch 17. The Tarsier's exit is listed alongside Magister Fallery's flight down the Peor road, the exile of Sier Lioban, the arrival of seven new prisoners at the House of Hard Angles, and the arrests of the Faraslandi priestess and Doctor Grau, though the notes do not state whether the ship's departure was causally linked to any of these other events - ch 17. This is the ship's sole appearance in the book, recorded as a reported occurrence rather than a scene witnessed by any character - ch 17.
Relationships
- Kilbery - Kilbery reports the Tarsier's departure as part of a litany of overnight developments the following morning; this is the only narrative access any character has to the ship's movements - ch 17.
- the Alkhand - The Alkhand's people came angry in response to the Tarsier's departure the next morning, implying some expected or claimed connection between the Alkhand and the vessel, though the nature of that connection is never stated - ch 17.
- Magister Fallery, Sier Lioban, Doctor Grau - The Tarsier's exit is listed in the same breath as Fallery's flight, Lioban's exile, and Grau's arrest, but the text does not state whether the ship's departure was causally linked to any of these other events - ch 17.
Tags
- ship · #transport