Lexicon/CourtOfSilkAndSteel

Court of Silk and Steel

Remismund, Marquis of Quills, writes:

Amalion, the Manse of Echoes Ascending, eleventh soul of Malfeas, assembled the Court of Silk and Steel and built the palace bearing its name while she was wed to the Lunar prince, Gentle Rose Spider, to house the famed Blade of the Black Chrysanthemum and other dangerous weapons. The sword came into their hands at the end of the Calin-Sijan War, when immortal Quenzhang surrendered it to them. In the Weaving and Forging Record, he explains his actions thus: "Wielding the blade, I have been a better warrior than I have any right to be; when I am apart from it, the world is darkened and grief fetters my heart. For this reason, I give it up; this is not a thing to be borne by immortals."

It the Court's heyday, Amalion played a major part in the Manse architecture of the age and led the Exalted to many advances in their geomantic technology, but, being a demon, she often hid jokes or even traps in her creations. The Cataclysm at Red Cliff finally destroyed her reputation; in response, Gentle Rose Spider took his own life and Amalion was forced to return to Malfeas, and the Court vanished from sight; some years of magical research revealed that it had mystically tied itself to the location of the Calibration Gate of Yu-Shan, and like the Gate, its location could be plotted by means of gematria and astrology. It is not known why this occurred; before the emptying of the Court, it was located atop Mount Leandros in the southern Blessed Isle, and its towers and banners cast shadows for miles in every direction. The modern Court is said to be haunted by ghosts of all who once lived there, and to be diminished in its glory; it now resembles a wrecked gravedigger's ship more than a garment-dyers' district.

Before his suicide, Gentle Rose Spider was a great weaver and weaponsmith; the unusual design of the Manse-palace was much due to his influence. His greatest work, River-Sundering Pillar, was stolen by Saffron Ruin Moon in the Six Lemurs Caper.

See Also:

• Blade of the Black Chrysanthemum
• Malfeas & His Progeny
• Red Cliff, Cataclysm at
• Saffron Ruin Moon
• Other C Entries

-- willows