The Paper-Maker

A dungeon god. For a zine I'm working on.

***

Its shrines are found in rotting libraries
knowledge lost and left to putrefy
a thrumming nest of scrolls
desiccated power
crawling with wasps

To make prayer to It
pacify the nest with torch-smoke
reach in with a hand
and let a gilded wasp
sting sacred ink into the palm
a permanent mark.

A mage could earn Its blessing
by offering her most precious tome
to the nest, and inviting
a gilded wasp to live within her.
In doing so, she transcends the need for
scrolls and grimoires
knowledge kept by the swarm.

THE BLESSED:
you can eat paper
but only paper
the body rejects all else
liquid, liquor, potion
dry flesh, humming with bugs
a book is enough to sate you for a week
and any text you consume is
known to you completely.