Mors Mundi

The Mors Mundi prophecy predicts that an outsider will take over as the Clostator, the leader of the Bastion, and will destroy the Bastion organization from the inside. The prophecy is thousands of years old. It originated in the Jorogumo culture.

The prophecy is little known outside of the Bastion. Even within the Bastion, most think of the prophecy as an old wive's tale, a bit of ancient myth that was lost along with the extermination of the Jorogumo race.

(note: I need to decide if people think the race is wiped out, or it is known they are imprisoned below the Bastion -- that is why the Bastion was built in the first place, to sea the Jorogumo in for all time.)

Mors Mundi

The phrase loosely translates to "Death of Worlds."

Mors Mundi will be an individual person, whereas the Mors Mundi Prophecy is the prediction that Mors Mundi will be sworn in as the Clostator of the Bastion. The Clostator is equivalent to the Pope of the Catholic Church.

The History

(Move this to the Jorogumo page) The Jorogumo culture once dominated the Patchwork. Jorogumo wizards have a unique kind of magic known as "serecumesh," also known as "silk magic."

Mentions in SLAY Series

From SLAY Book I:

• “That stupid Jorogumo prophecy destroyed my childhood,” Lincoln said. “My dad was obsessed with it.” “The famous Jacoby Franks knows the truth.” Mercutio drew his sidearm, an FNX-45. “The Mors Mundi prophecy is real.” He pulled a suppressor from his webbing, threaded it onto the sidearm. “Although I can see why it might make a rixator like you feel a tad nervous.” Sigler, Scott; Otto, Rob. SLAY (The Slay Series Book 1) (p. 297). (Function). Kindle Edition.

From SLAY Book 2:

• Her mother, Jessica Franks—Lincoln’s mother, Lukas’s mother, Jacoby’s wife. Rest in peace. Amanda kept that family together when Jacoby had been off on his Mors Mundi prophecy quests.
• “I can’t believe you people voted for Basil,” Lincoln said. “He’s a narcissist and a conspiracy theorist. He believes in that same ridiculous Mors Mundi prophecy my dad does.”

  Juanita sighed. “I didn’t vote for him, you can be sure of that. Yes, Basil believes in the prophecy. I’m afraid that belief is why some voted for him. There are quaestors who believe in it. To them, Basil could be the light that drives away the darkness. The jorogumo are the very reason the Bastion was founded, Lincoln. Do you forget your history?”

• “See, son? Even Fiachna knows it’s real. And no, I’m not spinning Lukas up. Lukas said the clostasecundo talked to him about Mors Mundi, wants him to dedicate his life to finding the Unweaver.”

  He didn’t mention Juanita. Had Sophia and Lukas told Jacoby about her terminal condition? Probably not. Hopefully not. Juanita had been Jacoby’s socius for two decades. He was probably tighter with her than he was with his own children, just as Lincoln was tighter with Magda than anyone else in existence—brother, sister, and father included.

  His brother, little Lukas… was that British douche-nozzle Basil dragging Lukas into that prophecy bullshit?

  Lincoln felt so damn tired. All his life, Jacoby had been obsessed with the Mors Mundi prophecy, obsessed with finding the Unweaver—the mage who would supposedly someday destroy first the Bastion, then release the Jorogumo race. Which would, in turn, destroy all of existence.

  “The Unweaver,” Lincoln said. “And Lukas buys into it? Sophia must love that.”

  Jacoby snorted. “She never believed. I always knew that. Neither did Lincoln. But you believe, Lukas. You can find the Unweaver and bring glory to the family name.”

  The old man’s eyes were half-lidded. He was slipping away again. He thought Lincoln was Lukas.

  It was just so damn sad.

  “I’m Lincoln, Pops.”

• Sophia didn’t have to look at her brother to know how that comment cut him. Young and impressionable, Lukas thought Basil walked on water, because Basil believed in the Unweaver prophecy—just like their father did.

From SLAY B book 3:

• Lukas forced a smile, gave Jacoby’s knee a light squeeze and a quick shake.<p>Basil remembers you, Dad. He believes in the prophecy. He thinks… he thinks I might someday destroy the Unweaver.”

  That brought a bit of light back into Jacoby’s eyes, and also filled Sophia with anger. Not at her little brother, but at Basil Beverly and Rochelle Kolar, for filling Lukas’s head with thoughts of that crazy myth. For fueling Lukas’s sibling rivalry with Lincoln that only Lukas was a part of.

  “Well, how about that?” Jacoby smiled. “My son, fighting the Unweaver? We can only dream of such glory.”

  And anger at her father, too, because he’d been the first to fill Lukas’s head with the Mors Mundi prophecy. And Lincoln’s head. And Sophia’s head.

  The prophecy… Jacoby’s lifelong obsession… the thing that made him perpetually distant from his children, from his wife.

  “I’ll fulfill our family’s promise, Dad,” Lukas said. “Where Lincoln failed you, I will not.”

• (Lincoln POV) Someday he would probably have to tell Billy about the Unweaver prophecy, seeing as Lukas believed it. As did Jacoby. It didn’t matter that the prophecy was a bunch of bullshit—if you hung around the Franks family for long, eventually it would come up.
• (Mercutio speaking) “I’ve got some awesome books, bro. I have stuff that’s not even in the Dex, believe it or not.” He shrugged. “Occult, meshwork, histories, serecumesh.” He looked up, stared Lincoln straight in the eyes. “I’ve got books on the Unweaver prophecy that helped me piece together what your genocidal father did. You should ask him about that.”