Wind-Weavers

Overview

The Wind-Weavers are the rare and powerful beings of the Whispering Winds who can shape the wind and the voices in it. They steer it to bring certain voices to a listener and keep others away. Two sorts are named, the Voice-Catchers and the Silence-Bringers.

Appearance

A Wind-Weaver is seen as a tall figure of moving air, outlined by the white dust it carries and the shimmer of the voices around it, which seem to gather and thread through its hands like yarn. Some take a clearer shape, a long-robed, long-armed figure with a face that changes as different voices pass through it. Around one, the chorus of the wind is louder and clearer, or suddenly far away. It smells of dust and high cold air.

Habitat and Range

They range over the whole valley on the wind, and are rare; a valley may hold one.

Behaviour and Temperament

Their purposes are their own. Some seem to tend the wind like the Wind-Listeners tend its archive; others play with it, bringing a grieving visitor the voice they came for and then taking it away. They are aware of visitors and interested in what they want to hear.

Abilities

They shape the wind's direction and its voices: they can draw one voice out of the chorus, hold it, carry it to a listener, or scatter it. They can make the voices louder or quiet them.

Life Cycle

Nothing is known of how they begin. Some believe a Wind-Weaver is a Lost Voice grown strong enough to hold the wind it was caught in.

Uses and Dangers

A Wind-Weaver who favours a visitor can bring them the one voice they came for. One who does not can bring them the wrong one, and a strong voice can take hold of a listener and speak through them.

Lore and Belief

Valley folk make offerings to the wind before going up to listen, and some believe the Wind-Weavers take them. Pilgrims seeking a dead voice say the Wind-Weavers judge who deserves to hear it; nothing shows they judge at all.

Where It Appears

• The Whispering Winds