Blister was one of the new Taken, which was a group of eight powerful sorcerers enslaved by the Lady. Blister and the rest of the Lady's new Taken dressed identically with the sole exception of Whisper. The Annalist Croaker would come to know that Blister was female during his conversations with the Lady, but, was unable to discriminate her from the others visually. She, and the other new Taken, would become the Lady's Imperial champions against the New White Rose Rebellion during the events of The White Rose.
Blister, alongside another new Taken called Scorn, would eventually prove to be traitorous to their empress.
The White Rose[]
The Lady initially stationed Blister at the massive city of Thud during the imperial encirclement of the Plain of Fear. There, like the other Taken in their respective demesnes, Blister raised her intimidating stela. This was part of the Lady's plan to entrap her enemies Darling and the Black Company, who had been directing Rebel activity from a series of caverns on the Plain called the Hole for two years.
After the encirclement, a pair of the new Taken was knocked out of the sky by both a swarm of mantas and Darling's null as the Plain army marched on Rust. Blister could have been one of these Taken. Croaker surmised that those two Taken had grim odds of survival that night. Later events would prove that these two must have survived, however, as all seven remaining New Taken were mentioned by name to be alive afterward.
Blister's great talent was necromancy, which apparently includes divination; she was able to read the future and realized that the Lady was destined to disappear from the Northern Empire. Thinking she had an opportunity, Blister and fellow Taken Scorn launched a surprise attack on the Lady in the Plain of Fear, knowing she was without magic inside Darling's null. The assassination attempt was foiled by Father Tree, who intercepted their projectiles and blasted Blister and Scorn from their carpets. Both of them dropped into venomous land-coral. Soon after, the Lady – thinking her attackers were the usual suspects Limper and Whisper – was somewhat surprised to find Blister and Scorn instead. She performed the Rite of Naming on them, stripping both of them of their powers, and they were left for dead. Scorn perished. But years later, Otto and Hagop informed Croaker and Murgen that Blister was among the five surviving Taken still living under the Empire's domain, albeit still stripped of their power.
New Taken |
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Whisper Journey • Feather Benefice • Scorn • Blister • The Creeper • Learned Mischievous Rain |