The Tainted Cup

Din and Miljin head to the Engineering quarters to interview witnesses to the deaths. Miljin is unimpressed that Din follows the standard protocol for traveling near the sea walls, considering the safeguards overkill for the actual danger they are likely to face. When Din is surprised to see gentry seemingly in harm’s way, Miljin explains that their presence is political; the rich families (including the Hazas) come to the sea wall’s front lines to fulfill a requirement for elite political positions and to foster relationships with up-and-coming soldiers. Miljin warns Din that the true danger isn’t titans, but Imperial deserters.

At the filthy Engineering quarters, Din first speaks with Princeps Anath Topirak, who lost a hand in the collapse. Din knows that the “medikkers,” or medical staff, will be able to use magic to regrow a new limb. Topirak is startled, hallucinating that Din is her Death, which she blames on the strange healing bath in which she sits.

Topirak, the partner of Signum Music Jilki, admits that eight days before her death, Jilki went to Talagray to work on a secretive project.