Motinos gintaras (Birutė’s pebble)¶

Description¶

A pea-sized lump of cloudy, honey-coloured amber from the Palanga shore, worn smooth by decades of carrying. In Book V it has a hairline crack through the middle, „visible only from one angle“ (V ch. 7). It hangs on a leather thong against the chest.

Motinos gintaras (Birutė’s pebble)


Tipas	artefaktas
Metai	sukurta 1382 m.
Pastaba	Birutė’s amber pebble, personal talisman and spiritual barometer of the realm.

Power¶

An anchor between the bearer and Birutė. Held to the ear it carries the sea and, for those she chooses, her voice (Book III ch. 14, Book V ch. 29). It lets an ungifted bearer use the Five-Voice (Power systems §4) and acts as the reader’s moral barometer: warm when he tells the truth, cold when he lies to himself or the oath is false. Amber from her shore also remembers what it witnessed.

Rule & cost¶

It answers to truth, not belief (Magic rules §5.4). Consecrated stone deafens it, so costs double near Order castles and cathedrals (Book I ch. 19; Book V ch. 20). The bond needs amber, the binder’s blood, the bound person’s true name and a promise exchanged both ways (Book I ch. 3).

Origin¶

Given by Birutė to Vytautas in Trakai with her blood on it, his true name spoken once and the pledge „Jo skola, mano skola“ (Book I ch. 3, 1382).

Arc across the books¶

Vytautas, 1382-1430. Warm (I ch. 3), a faint light in the Krėva cell (I ch. 8), dead after the false baptism at Tepliava, 21 Oct 1383 (I ch. 19), hot at the Marienwerder burning (I ch. 23-24), glowing in 1387 (I ch. 29). Neither warm nor cold at the Black Sea (II ch. 17), cold after the Vorskla, 1399 (II ch. 20), a single tremor in 1405 (III ch. 8), warm at the Grunwald oath (III ch. 17), burning at the lightning (III ch. 20). It cracks „like thin ice“ at his death, 27 Oct 1430 (IV ch. 29).
Pilkoji, 27 Oct-24 Dec 1430. She takes it from his chest, as he wished (IV ch. 28).
The Flame-Keeper (Žiežirba), Kūčios 1430-1450. Handed over cold and cracked. He first looks through the crack at Rasos, June 1432 (V ch. 9). It stays dead on the flame in the crypt (V ch. 20). Birutė’s voice through it ends at his name (V ch. 29). It burns with him at Palanga, March 1450.

Ryšiai

Anchors: Birutė (1382–1384) · Vaiduokliai (apparitions) (1382–1384) — Kęstutis’s apparition at the pyre is carried by Birutė’s amber.

Created by: Birutė

Held by: Pilkoji (the Grey One, Vilkų Motina) (1430–1430) — From Vytautas’s body, 27 Oct - 24 Dec 1430. · Vytautas (1382–1430) · Žiežirba (the Flame-Keeper, Book V POV) (1431–1450) — From Pilkoji, Kūčios 1430; cracked.

Motinos gintaras (Birutė's pebble)

Motinos gintaras · Birutė's pebble, anchor and barometer, singular

Bearing Bound to Vytautas by the Sutartis (amber, the binder's blood, his true name, a promise both ways). An ungifted bearer can use the Five-Voice through it. It asks only truth, not belief

Holders Birutė (maker, 1382) → Vytautas 1382 to 27 Oct 1430 → Pilkoji 27 Oct to 24 Dec 1430 → the Flame-Keeper (Žiežirba) from Kūčios 1430 to March 1450

Power An anchor between bearer and Birutė (1382-84). Carries the sea and, for those she chooses, her voice. Carries the Five-Voice. Moral barometer

Rule & cost Answers to the bearer's truth, not belief. Consecrated stone deafens it, so costs double near Order castles and cathedrals. Silent while Vytautas carries the Order's sword

Properties

Appearance. A pea-sized lump of cloudy, honey-coloured Palanga amber, worn smooth, on a leather thong. By Book V a hairline crack, visible from one angle only.

The barometer, 1382-87. Warm when freely given. A faint light in the Krėva cell. Dead at the false baptism at Tepliava, 21 Oct 1383. Hot at the Marienwerder burning, July 1384. Glowing in 1387.

The barometer, 1399-1410. Cold after Vorskla (1399). A single tremor in 1405. Warm at the Grunwald oath, burning at the lightning (1410). Neither warm nor cold at the Black Sea.

Do not confuse. A second bead from the same shore lies on Vytautas's slab. The first bead of that pair went to Sofija's son in Moscow.

Curse or cost

Surety. Birutė pays part of every price Vytautas incurs until she pays the whole at Palanga in 1384. After that there is no surety.

The bearer's truth. It does not flatter. It goes cold when he lies to himself, and dead when the oath is false.

Fate

Cracked. It cracks like thin ice at his death on 27 Oct 1430. Pilkoji takes it from his chest and gives it to the Flame-Keeper at Kūčios.

Dead on the flame. He first looks through the crack at Rasos, June 1432. It stays dead on the flame in the crypt. Birutė's voice through it ends at his name.

Burned. It burns with him at Palanga, March 1450.

Source: Power systems §5 · Magic rules §5.4, §6

State over time¶

Year	Ch.	State	Why
1382	3	warm
1382	9	faint_light
1383	19	dead
1384	20	burning
1384	23	hot
1387	29	glowing
1399		cold	Vorskla bargain
1410		warm	Oath kept at Grunwald
1430		cracked	Bearer dies

Sąsajos¶

graph LR
  birute["Birutė"]
  flame_keeper["Žiežirba (the Flame-Keeper, Book V POV)"]
  pebble["Motinos gintaras (Birutė's pebble)"]
  pilkoji["Pilkoji (the Grey One, Vilkų Motina)"]
  vaiduokliai["Vaiduokliai (apparitions)"]
  vytautas["Vytautas"]
  pebble -->|Created by| birute
  pebble -->|Anchors| birute
  pebble -->|Anchors| vaiduokliai
  vytautas -->|Holds| pebble
  flame_keeper -->|Holds| pebble
  pilkoji -->|Holds| pebble
  style pebble stroke-width:3px