The human town of Melikot is notorious for its annual human sacrifice to Yith, the goddess of nets and lovers. It survives at the end of Geryon’s Finger, a grey stone that emerges from the shore of the Keening Sea and extends a mile into the water, rising gradually until it points at the sky. Sosarian soldiers defend the town by manning Geryon’s Ring, a fort that rises from the base of the Finger. Legally, Melikot is a vassal of Sosaria, but Imorcar the Many has trouble finding it on a map, and the cattle barons only visit the town for its steam baths, which are powered by the nearby leyline of fire. (44.19)

“Queen” Eylo rules the town, and like the queens before her, she upholds a savage custom from the final, decadent years of Bergolast. Every year before the rainfall, she sacrifices her husband to Yith and chooses a new man to become her consort for a year. When his time is finished, he too will be killed to honor the goddess. Kings live like spoiled children until the day they die. They are denied nothing, but are watched carefully in case they attempt to escape their fate.

Hooks

• Hale, a handsome 19-year-old, is Melikot’s current king. He is actually an agent of the Temple Invisible, and is a key player in a plot that would give The Shuttered City control of the town. Ziwel, Geryon’s Ring’s garrison captain, sees through Hale’s naive little brother act, and suspects Shuttered’s involvement. He will reward anyone who manages to expose him.
• What happens when a king is not sacrificed, or he dies before his appointed time?
• Who or what is Geryon? Does Geryon’s Finger have magical or mundane origins? Who built Geryon’s Ring?
• Does Yith have faithful elsewhere?
• Tell me more about Melikot’s bathhouses.
• What do the fishermen catch here?