"Trauma does that," Rhys agreed. "Any extreme emotion, especially suffered over longer periods of time: pain, anger ... fear. Terror especially can leave an indelible mark on the soul. All these things are a kind of crucible, a testing ground, if you will."
He rested his hand on the table, and pulled the book towards himself, flipping through the pages. It wasn't a book he'd read before, but he was sure he would find ... yes. Here. He stopped on a woodcut of a woman whose legs, it seemed, had been transfigured into some kind of metal - it was hard to tell from the illustration, but they were clearly no longer flesh. She was standing in a small fire, and the flames licked up around her thighs. Her face was turned to the sky, and there was an expression of both pain there, but also a kind of beatific ecstasy, as though she saw something beyond just the physical. Smiling to himself, he pushed the book back to Kurloz.
no subject
He rested his hand on the table, and pulled the book towards himself, flipping through the pages. It wasn't a book he'd read before, but he was sure he would find ... yes. Here. He stopped on a woodcut of a woman whose legs, it seemed, had been transfigured into some kind of metal - it was hard to tell from the illustration, but they were clearly no longer flesh. She was standing in a small fire, and the flames licked up around her thighs. Her face was turned to the sky, and there was an expression of both pain there, but also a kind of beatific ecstasy, as though she saw something beyond just the physical. Smiling to himself, he pushed the book back to Kurloz.