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Info
Karcist Halyna Ieva
Authors: N_Aepic_Fael does not match any existing user name andTheMightyMcB
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Be sure to check out this GoI Format's accompanying Tale: Another soul joins the halkost
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Karcist Halyna Ieva
The Scourge of Iron, The Mother Who Demands One's Toes12, The Flesh That Ate3, Subversion of Mekhanical Expectations, The Faithful Heretic
Conspectus
Of all the sick playthings of the Archons, perhaps none can compare to the tragedy of Karcist Halyna Ieva, leader of Nälkä who conquered what is now modern-day Iran. Oh Great Jalakåra, how mighty her Halkost was!45 It was said that she herself commanded seventy score twisted creations of vile flesh, loyal only to Ieva and the Grand Karcist himself, as she tore across Asia Minor from Miletus to Troy during the Great War of Flesh and Bronze.
Mentioning Ieva's name is taboo amongst the Devout, who fear she will haunt them afterwards67. Oh Accursed One, why do you walk among us again?
Illustration

A Greek artifact depicting Halyna Ieva. It is believed that they worshipped and feared her as Scylla, one of the two mythical beasts that impeded Brother Odysseus' travels.
Knowledge
Traits: Ieva herself resembles a human woman of Middle Eastern descent, with raven black hair and dark skin. From the waist down, though, Ieva no longer resembles anything human in nature. Where her legs would be instead lies a writhing mass of tumorous blackened tentacles. Like the arms of an octopus, such appendages are both prehensile and dextrous.8
As to be expected of a Karcist, Ieva is capable of powerful lihakut’ak, the art of Sarkic fleshcraft. Using it, she can cause rapid growth of any life she wishes. Her wounds close automatically, her gaze instigates tumorous growth in the flesh of others, her breath spreads infections, and, perhaps most importantly, her voice can control her halkost, an army of mindless fleshbeasts carved from the remains of her fallen enemies. Such a deadly combination of rapid infection and tumor growth in her enemies alongside her swarm of abominations makes survival slim for those who draw Ieva's ire.
Nature: During her infamous deathmarch across Asia Minor, Karcist Ieva proved herself to be a dauntless leader and fierce combatant, as she led her horde from the front lines. She often spared none, taking the soldiers of her conquest into her halkost, after which they must pay a price of flesh. Such payments generally take the form of one's toes — making humans her particular choice of prey.910
History & Associated Parties: Writings and artifacts dating to the Late Bronze Age collapse have indicated that a Nälkä woman led an army of raving fiends, toppling the ancient cities of Miletus and Troy in what is now modern day Turkey. However, the army was stopped while attempting to cross the Dardanelles en route to Gallipoli. Devout followers of Wan ambushed her slow death march, hurling naptha and firing weapons of the gods. In her attempt to press forward, Ieva's halkost was utterly torn apart, her fleets of abominations sunken by war machines larger than the Rhodian Colossus,11 taking their Karcist with them. Ieva was declared lost, another casualty of the ongoing conflict. Witnesses report Ieva weaving a cocoon of flesh around herself, enveloping herself fully before she submerged into the waters. Attempts to prove she had died have proven unfruitful, namely due to the lack of anyone willing to go near her cocoon.12
Ieva's followers have had their feet or legs forcibly removed, typically by the Karcist herself, and were subsequently cursed by flesh magic with suitable replacements. Examples of replacement extremities have included: human hands, large abnormally-shaped tumors, fluid sacks capable of creating pseudopods, club-like osseous protuberances, tentacles, a single large human foot with all toes removed, and long braids of black hair which twist themselves into the shape of a human limb.
Approach: Seeing that Lady Ieva is supremely hostile, conflict is inevitable. We urge any and all fellow beings to seek shelter. Currently Brother Ganymede is advocating for permission to use the Ways as a means to escape, but the current consensus is that it poses too great of a risk to the Library herself.
Understand that we state this with a heavy heart, perhaps hearts, for we hate to lose our fellow booklovers; however, Ieva has not been shown to be of rational thought, and an entity that can force His Holiness Bumaro into retreat cannot be allowed to tarnish these glorious halls. We therefore propose an alternative method of escape: carry with you a small satchel with an assortment of toes1314. Due to Ieva's love for such appendages, it acts as a bait for her abominations to go after while you flee for safety. Out of the several hundred entities that have used this tactic, even the rather sluggish Dawn That Wants Citrus has managed to escape her Halkost.
Other Detail: As of recently, Ieva has returned, bringing pestilence and disgust with every step.1516 Currently, Hand and the Devout are working together to halt, or at least impede, her progress. Representing His Holiness Bumaro, leader of the Broken Church, is Alabaster Stahlsbeird, a thaumaturgist specializing in manipulating metal.1718 Representing the Hand and all her branches is Ganymede, a lich who teaches magic to developing mages. With luck, we hope that we can convince the Jailors and even the Bookburners to set aside their feuds with us to counter this indomitable foe, but only time will tell.
Observations & Stories
Doubt
The question remains: where does the truth end and the legend begin? It is impossible to determine whether her deathmarch was so frightening due to her tactical genius and combative prowess or through sheer luck. She always appeared to strike when the opponents were most lax, causing some to suspect her combat abilities to have been artificially inflated by her Greek foes who were embarrassed by their losses.21
Furthermore, her current halkost is nowhere the size of the one described in legend, which means that she may not be as difficult to manage as the epics indicate. With that said, fighting her is sure to be a suicide mission and as such we still advocate seeking safety until our joint forces can halt her progress.
Finally, Ieva claims that her actions are led on from childhood abuse, but there are no records that show Ieva having ever been severely mistreated in this manner, save the typical slave treatment she endured under the Daeva. Whether this acts as a means to justify her conquest, or was covered up in a Devout smear campaign remains to be seen.2223