The Cairn Maiden

The Cairn Maiden
Sketch of the Cairn Maiden with veiled face, holding a body and laying her hand on its forehead. Art by felidaefatigue
Type of Deity	God of Death
Aliases	Old Soilbreath The Bone Crow
Known Worshippers	Stewardess Acantha Carpenter
Legality	Stray
Story Context
First Mentioned	Chapter 17: If I Could Trace With Bloodless Fingers

The Cairn Maiden is god of death, the journey towards it, and the comfort at the end.

ATTENTION: SPOILERS AHEAD! Beyond this point, major plot spoilers are expected. Continue at your own risk.

Description

The Cairn Maiden is described as smiling from behind a veil, having long clasping fingers and soil pooling through her worm-bitten skin.

She is first seen as an indistinct figure in the distance and leaving cairns for people to find. As people get closer to their death she appears closer and clearer. According to Acantha, she is kind and only wants to meet people at the place that they die to cradle and bury them.

The Cairn Maiden buries everything, eventually - including gods.

Gallery

Sketch of the Cairn Maiden with veiled face, holding a body and laying her hand on its forehead. Art by felidaefatigue

Sketches of the Cairn Maiden, including her veiled visage, worm-bitten hands, and her embracing a body reciting a prayer. Art by new-hyperfixation-every-month

Religion

Origins and Mythos

The origin of the Cairn Maiden is unknown.

Organisations and Locations

It is not known if the Cairn Maiden has any organised following. Its only known follower tends to a graveyard on her own, where she buries the bodies that wash up upon the shore, known as Acantha's Lych-House.

Saints, Angels and Miracles

• The Maiden

Known Followers

• Stewardess Acantha

Rituals and Hymns

Prayer For The Dead

This is the place. This has always been the place. You were always walking towards this moment. We were always waiting for you here. The soil will swallow you. The roots will tear at you. Foxes and flies will bear you away. There’s nothing left to hold on to. There’s nowhere left to go. There’s no need to worry any more.

The Second Hymn

The road ahead is long and aching, Beset by walls and razor wire, But there’s no other road I could be taking, And walls are steep but I’ll climb higher. You and I will meet, With bloodied flesh and ruined feet, For that final, empty sleep, To lay me down in your arms.

Holy Book

The Winding Path In Ruin

Notable Events

• The Cairn Maiden follows Carpenter after the events at Marcel's Crossing, leading her to Acantha.

• Whilst at the Grace, Carpenter begs the Cairn Maiden to let her die useful.

• The Cairn Maiden speaks to Paige through the Maiden.

• Hayward suggests to Carpenter that the Cairn Maiden is following her in order to show her the way to live, not that she or the people around her will die.

Trivia

• Muna Hussen was inspired by her own relationship with Islam in regards to the creation of the Cairn Maiden.

• Jon Ware was inspired by Ancient Egyptian mythology.

• While writing the prayer, Jon was inspired by what he'd want to hear in his own untimely death.

• The Cairn Maiden says she's equally just and unjust.

• When Paige says that life is left behind after death, the Cairn Maiden tells her that nothing is also left.

• The Cairn Maiden tells Paige that there will be no comfort in seeing Hayward and Carpenter again.

• The Maiden sings The Willow Song from Othello.