Character · from book 4
Emberus
God of Sun and Ash, level 250, youngest brother of Taranis and twin of Hellik: blind since he plucked out his own eyes when his favourite son Geyrun was murdered, 'one of the most unhinged of all the pantheon', a locked god no sponsor may buy this season. He walks through the Lacuna shouting for his dead son's puppy, and becomes, by Carl's choice on a falling biplane, Carl's god.
Race and class, since book 4: Deity
First appears: Book 4
Series arc
As of book 6. God of Sun and Ash, Carl's god since a falling biplane, who Shunned him in book 5 and in book 6 keeps him alive under Ogun by esteem alone. A sacrament and the Martyr's Path from a cleric who may be the AI; Nekhebit's priestess in his church; the rank of Devotee and a tithe of ten per cent; a loan from the church on a disguised ring; and Amayon's price for Geyrun — three brothers — which is Emberus's to pay or not. His quest still wants the Memorial Crystal: Apito.
Open threads
Status is open or resolved; the chapter after it is the last one that moved the thread.
| Thread | Opened | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Emberus's two quests: who killed Geyrun, and kill Hellik | B4 ch. 32 | open · B6 ch. 69 — Amayon was witness to the deal that killed Geyrun and names his price for the story: three brothers. Pater Coal in ch. 18 sends Carl toward Katia's crossbow and Donut's bracelet; the crystal is still on Osvaldo's neck. |
| A memorial crystal for Apito, who is not dead | B5 ch. 77 | open · B6 ch. 18 — Pater Coal: crystals form only when a god dies, yet Apito lives; Katia's crossbow and Donut's oak bracelet are paths, and neither opens without the crystal Osvaldo wears. |
| A million-gold loan from the Temple of Emberus | B6 ch. 56 | open — Interest-free with an asterisk; no renouncing the faith while it stands; the Pauper's Ring disguised as strength, cursed for outsiders, accelerated if lost; Columbia House: 'Maybe there won't be any consequences. Maybe there will.' |
| Amayon witnessed the deal that killed Geyrun | B6 ch. 69 | open — 'If he assists in helping me kill my three brothers, I will tell him.' The message was delivered by being spoken. Nekhebit's priestess is the other lead; Katia's crossbow and Donut's oak bracelet are paths that need the crystal. |
| Shunned by Emberus: penitence, doubled tithes, a smite on the third | B5 ch. 60 | resolved · B6 ch. 16 — Lifted: Emberus's esteem is what keeps Carl alive under Ogun in the Thorn Room, and by ch. 47 he is a Devotee tithing ten per cent. |
All threads: Open threads.
Through book 4
A blind fire god walking the Lacuna for his dead son's puppy, cooking sealed bubbles from outside (B4 ch. 28, B4 ch. 29); level 250, locked, unhinged, Taranis's brother and Hellik's twin (B4 ch. 31). Carl takes him as his god on a falling biplane and summons him with a grenade into Quan Ch's path: 'Orthrus. There you are.' A shrine, two sun tattoos, a tithe, and two quests — who killed Geyrun, and kill Hellik before the twelfth floor (B4 ch. 32).
Through book 5
Through book 6
In the pantheon
Emberus — sun and ash; fire; pantheon. Listed with the rest of the pantheon on the pantheon page.
Family and enemies
| Relation | With | Source |
|---|---|---|
| sibling-of | Taranis | B4 ch. 31 |
| twin-of | Hellik | B4 ch. 31 |
| enemy-of (reversed) | Hellik | B4 ch. 32 |
| child-of (reversed) | Geyrun | B4 ch. 29 |
| chosen-by | Carl | B4 ch. 31 |
| worshipped-by | Carl | B4 ch. 32 |
| sponsored-by | nobody this season (a locked god) | B4 ch. 31 |
| kin-of (reversed) | Psamathe (Samantha) | B4 ch. 28 |
| enemy-of (reversed) | Hellik | B5 ch. 10 |
| worshipped-by | Carl | B5 ch. 60 |
| worshipped-by | the Zockau guards | B5 ch. 10 |
| worshipped-by | hunters, as a shield against Carl | B5 ch. 60 |
| child-of (reversed) | Geyrun | B5 ch. 77 |
| esteems (reversed) | Ogun | B6 ch. 16 |
| enemy-of (reversed) | Amayon | B6 ch. 58 |
| worshipped-by | Carl, a Devotee | B6 ch. 47 |
| served-by | Pater Coal, High Cleric Supreme | B6 ch. 18 |
| child-of (reversed) | Geyrun | B6 ch. 58 |
Where they appear
| Book | Chapters they are in (of the book's) | Where |
|---|---|---|
| 4 — The Gate of the Feral Gods | 6/35 | Ch. 28, Ch. 29, Ch. 30, Ch. 31, Ch. 32, Ch. 34 · the book's own page |
| 5 — The Butcher's Masquerade | 11/78 | 8, 10, 20, 24, 36, 44, 60–62, 75, 77 · the book's own page |
| 6 — The Eye of the Bedlam Bride | 18/74 | 6, 10, 15–18, 20, 26, 33, 38, 46–47, 54, 56, 58, 66, 69, 72 · the book's own page |
By book
Emberus in book 4 — The Gate of the Feral Gods
The blind god
A flaming giant who walks through popped bubbles crushing villages, shouting 'Orthrus', unable, Elle thinks, to see into sealed ones, yet cooking the people inside anyway (ch. 28). His card: Sun and Ash God, level 250, invulnerable, a locked god no sponsor may buy this season; Taranis's youngest brother and half the sun duology with his twin Hellik; 'one of the most unhinged of all the pantheon'; his eyes plucked out in grief for his murdered favourite son (ch. 31) — Geyrun, by Orthrus's card and the quest (ch. 29, ch. 32). Samantha: her great-uncle and cousin, who once buried a country in lava because a drunk urinated on a torch.
Carl's god
On a death-spiralling biplane Carl chooses him over Grull in the god tab and throws the Skull Empire's Celestial Grenade; Emberus appears as a city-sized bleeding head, takes the plane in the nose, where it explodes, and says, 'Orthrus. There you are. I've been looking for you. I was so very worried' (ch. 31). The cost: a shrine in the saferoom, two sun tattoos, a daily drop of blood and a five-percent tithe, and two quests in his own gravelly voice — find who killed Geyrun, and kill Hellik before the twelfth floor, with a bonus if painfully (ch. 32). The benefit: a boon, a burn, and free access to Club Vanquisher, with an asterisk.
Emberus in book 5 — The Butcher's Masquerade
Carl's god passes through the realm for a minute and returns to the Halls of the Ascendency (ch. 10); a note on a knife says the Zockau guards now worship him so Carl cannot kill them (ch. 10). His first boon is a dud — fire damage for a man with no fire spells (ch. 24) — and his shrine's water is napalm to vampires (ch. 44). Carl kills one of his worshippers on a raid and is Shunned: a boon cancelled, penitence, doubled tithes (ch. 60). His voice delivers a quest update at the end: obtain the Memorial Crystal: Apito, and speak to his high cleric in Club Vanquisher (ch. 77).
Emberus in book 6 — The Eye of the Bedlam Bride
'And what about your god? This Emberus' (ch. 6); Emberus-blessed holy grenades (ch. 10); as his worshipper Carl may enter Club Vanquisher, whose entrance is a temple (ch. 15); Ogun's esteem for him is what keeps Carl alive (ch. 16); Eileithyia calls him her good friend, and his messages taught Carl to copy a god's words before they vanish (ch. 17); a cleric of Hellik is hostile to his worshippers and worth a boon, though not in the club (ch. 18); a martyr's sacrament on the sun, and the Martyr's Path (ch. 18); Nekhebit's priestess to question (ch. 38); Devotee, a tithe of ten per cent (ch. 47); a loan through his church (ch. 56); Amayon's price for the truth about Geyrun (ch. 69).