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Symbols
The two celestial jewels and the sword Ascalon symbolize the necessity of global cooperation to solve existential problems. The two jewels—the rising jewel and the waning jewel—came initially from the Long-Haired Star. One rests in the East, while the other rests in the South. Ascalon, meanwhile, is the sword that Kalyba forged for Galian Berethnet out of siden and sterren, marrying the two types of magic into one blade. Together, these objects can be used to slay and bind the Nameless One—though the novel makes it clear that this takes multiple people from various corners of the world to accomplish. The rising jewel, for instance, is loyal to Tané, a Seiikinese woman, while the waning jewel is loyal to Ead, a Southern Red Damsel.
While it’s implied at several points that one of the women could kill the other and assume control over both jewels, Tané and Ead ultimately learn to work together and harness the jewels’ power to bind the Nameless One in the Abyss. Additionally, they use Ascalon to stab the Nameless One’s heart first, causing his fire to go out and effectively killing him. Ascalon comes from Inys, and Ead must dive deep into Inys’s founding history to discover what and where the sword is, highlighting Inys and the West’s important role in destroying the Nameless One—alongside the Southern Ead and Eastern Tané. Ultimately, the fact that it takes three different objects from three different corners of the world and numerous people from around the world to emerge victorious over the Nameless One points to the novel’s insistence that isolationism is a poor tactic if one hopes to solve problems that affect the whole globe—while cooperation, sharing knowledge, and cultural exchange can lead to greater peace and better solutions to existential problems.
The Celestial Jewels and Ascalon Quotes in The Priory of the Orange Tree
The The Priory of the Orange Tree quotes below all refer to the symbol of The Celestial Jewels and Ascalon. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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Chapter 14 Quotes
All sisters knew about the lost years. Not long after vanquishing the Nameless One and founding the Priory, the Mother had left on unknown business and perished before she could make her way home. Her body had been returned to the Priory. No one knew who had sent it.
One small faction of sisters believed that the Mother had gone to join her suitor, Galian Berethnet, and had a child with him, establishing the House of Berethnet. This idea, unpopular in the Priory, was the founding legend of Virtudom—and what had landed Ead in Inys.
[…]
‘Well,’ Chassar said, ‘most sisters believe that the Mother left to protect the Priory from some unnamed threat.’ He pressed his lips together. ‘I will write to the Prioress and tell her what Fýredel said. She may be able to solve this riddle.’
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Chapter 32 Quotes
‘Despite their fear,’ Chassar continued, ‘the Lasian people did not want to convert to this new religion. Cleolind told the knight as much and refused both his terms. Yet Galian was so overcome with greed and lust that he fought the beast nonetheless.’
Loth almost choked. ‘There was no lust in his heart. His love for Princess Cleolind was chaste.’
‘Try not to be irritating, my lord. Galian the Deceiver was a brute. A power-hungry, selfish brute. To him, Lasia was a field from which to reap a bride of royal blood and adoring devotees of a religion he had founded, all for his own gain. He would make himself a god and unite Inysca under his crown.’
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Chapter 43 Quotes
‘There has not been a meteor shower since the end of the Grief of Ages—and understand, Eadaz, that the shower was the end of the Grief of Ages. It was not coincidence that it came when the wyrms fell. The Easterners believe the comet was sent by their dragon god, Kwiriki.’ Kalyba smiled. ‘The shower closed an era when siden was stronger, and forced the wyrms, who are made of it, into their slumber.’
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Chapter 51 Quotes
‘When history fails to shed light on the truth, myth creates its own.’
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Chapter 55 Quotes
‘Birthing my daughter took a great deal of my strength. I lost too much blood. Finally, as I lay racked with childbed fever, close to death, I could keep hold of Galian no longer. Clear-eyed at last, he threw me into the dungeons.’ Her voice darkened. ‘He had the sword. I was weak. A friend helped me escape…but I had to leave my Sabran. My little princess.’
[…]
All the scattered fragments of the truth were aligning, explaining what the Priory had never understood.
The Deceiver had himself been deceived.
‘Galian ripped down every likeness of me that had been painted or carved and forbade any more to be created for the rest of time. Then he went to Nurtha, where I had raised him, and hanged himself from my hawthorn tree. Or what was left of it.’ […] ‘He ensured his shame would go with him to the grave.’
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Chapter 67 Quotes
‘I will have no say in [the choosing of the new Prioress]. The Priory considers me a traitor.’
‘That may be, but it is possible that you are about to face its oldest enemy. And if you could slay the Nameless One…your crimes would surely be forgiven.’ If only that were true. ‘Mita Yedanya, unlike her predecessor, looked inward. Now, a little inwardness is reasonable, even necessary—but if your climb to this position at the Inysh court is anything to go by, Eadaz, you also look outward. A good ruler should know how to do both.’
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The Celestial Jewels and Ascalon Symbol Timeline in The Priory of the Orange Tree
The timeline below shows where the symbol The Celestial Jewels and Ascalon appears in The Priory of the Orange Tree. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 9
...Sanctuary of Virtues. The chapel features a statue of Galian Berethnet and his famed sword, Ascalon. There’s an empty plinth to commemorate Queen Cleolind. No one knows anymore what she looked...
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Chapter 14
...Ead’s childhood friend Jondu has gone missing. Mita Yedanya had sent her to look for Ascalon, the sword, and Jondu sent word she was returning with something else important. With Jondu...
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Chapter 25
...dragons to maintain their power. Long ago, when Kwiriki’s Lantern passed, it left two celestial jewels. However, the jewels have been gone for almost a thousand years. They disappeared after a...
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Chapter 32
...was chosen, Galian Berethnet arrived and promised to kill the Nameless One with his sword, Ascalon, provided Cleolind married him and the Lasians converted to the Virtues of Knighthood, a religion...
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...Galian attempted to fight the Nameless One himself and got hurt immediately. Then, Cleolind took Ascalon and tracked the Nameless One to a valley with a massive orange tree in it....
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Chapter 41
...the sculpture and dais and finds a keyhole. Inside another iron box is a pearly jewel and a small scroll. Ead touches the jewel and screams—it binds to her, like ice....
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Mita enters, noting that the archives contain nothing useful about the jewel or Neporo of Komoridu. Ead suggests that Kalyba would know. She forged Ascalon, after all,...
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Chapter 42
...read as words what Niclays has plotted. To Niclays’s shock, Laya reads about a “rising jewel” planted on Komoridu, and then directions to head south and “look beneath the […] mulberry...
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...should’ve hidden this knowledge from Eastern pirates. The Golden Empress and Ghonra discuss the “rising jewel,” which Laya suggests is probably a seed. Then, the Golden Empress tells Niclays she’s pleased—for...
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...Nayimathun says humans aren’t supposed to live forever. Niclays mentions the mulberry tree and the jewel, and Nayimathun says he’s talking about the “celestial jewels.” She refuses to say more. Niclays...
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Chapter 43
...hawthorn, but she knows Ead is curious about how she uses dreams and illusions—and about Ascalon.
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Kalyba uses a poetic word for Ascalon that translates to “War-star,” and Ead jumps, remembering the text of the Tablet of Rumelabar....
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...this, Kalyba suddenly is wearing an Inysh gown. She explains that years ago, she created Ascalon by using siden to reshape sterren. Ead asks if Kalyba created anything else, wanting to...
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...is a liar—it’s ridiculous to talk about two strands of magic. Ead insists that the jewels must be sterren and asks if Kalyba will come after her if she doesn’t take...
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Chapter 44
...asks for his help getting Loth out of the Priory tonight, and in finding the jewel. He says Mita keeps the jewel on her.
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Chapter 45
...others set buildings on fire. Tané falls to her knees and clutches her side—and a jewel comes out into her hand. Suddenly, she finds herself face to face with a fire-breather,...
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Chapter 46
Inside, Mita is in bed, but she isn’t asleep. Ead finds the jewel pressed into clay. Mita says that Ead is just like Zāla, who also wanted to...
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...which direction to head in if she passes out, and asks that he keep a jewel pressed into clay safe, no matter what. Loth agrees.
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Chapter 47
...the antidote in Nzene. Ead comes to around sundown, and she’s relieved to find the jewel still around her neck. She’s angry that Aralaq stopped, even when he explains why. Aralaq...
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Chapter 48
Tané studies the jewel, remembering what Nayimathun said: that the comet once left behind two celestial jewels. They allowed...
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Chapter 51
...Komoridu and the legendary mulberry tree there. Tané asks for permission to research the celestial jewels in the repository. He agrees to send her to Windward Hall across the island. Bundled...
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...“the sorceress from across the sea,” has died. Neporo and the sorceress used “the waning jewel and the rising jewel” to “cause[] the great chaos” in the Abyss on the third...
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Chapter 52
...of Rumelabar, and her visit to Kalyba, known here as the Lady of the Woods—and Ascalon’s creator. When Ead and Loth are finished, Sabran is offended by Ead’s claims that Galian...
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...records on the East to discover how much time they have left. Ead reveals her jewel—the waning jewel—and says that its pair is likely in the East. Cleolind and Neporo bound...
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Chapter 55
...believes someone in the Beck family, likely Margret and Loth’s father, Clarent Beck, knows about Ascalon. However, Clarent fell from a horse and has suffered from “mind fog” since. The women...
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...Loth is dead (and that she’s heir to Goldenbirch). Clarent says that Margret must take Ascalon in case the Lady of the Woods returns for it. Then, Clarent’s expression changes again,...
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...in and fell into a large, terrifying tunnel. She’s certain, based on Clarent’s riddle, that Ascalon is there. By now, Margret and Ead have reached Galian’s tomb. However, Margret reveals that...
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...and star / What I drink will drown”—Ead and Margret deduce that Galian understood that Ascalon would be drawn to sterren (and to Kalyba), and that burying it underground and keeping...
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Ead and Margret carry Ascalon back to their horses. They hear or see something ahead, and disturbed, they quickly buckle...
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...and he needed to perform “a great deed.” Kalyba became his lover and made him Ascalon, and he ran off to Lasia, hoping to marry Cleolind. Cleolind refused and, after wounding...
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Chapter 56
...they join Ead and Sabran in the Council Chamber. There, Ead explains that they found Ascalon, but Kalyba took it. Sabran vows to call High Princess Ermuna and King Raunus to...
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Chapter 59
...she isn’t tired. For the last few weeks, she’s been learning how to use her jewel, first to create ripples, then to control the tides, and finally, earlier, to guide the...
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...possibly crew the ship on her own. He’s shocked when she shows him the rising jewel, which Feather Island’s archives suggest was on Komoridu. When Tané reveals where she wants to...
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...hits him in the head—and when she turns him onto his back, he sees the jewel in her hand. He asks how she got it. They hear shouts, and Loth passes...
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Chapter 61
...wakes when Tané offers him and Thim water. Thim translates as they discuss the celestial jewels and that the other one is in Inys. Loth begs Tané to give him the...
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Tané navigates, using the jewel to propel the ship forward. This is taxing. It startles her when the Inysh man...
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...Tané and Nayimathun greet each other, both concerned for the other. Tané shows Nayimathun her jewel and says that Loth knows where the other one is. Nayimathun says they can worry...
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Chapter 62
The scholar continues. The Dreadmount erupted, and a dragon gave Neporo two celestial jewels, which the dragon said could be used to imprison the Nameless One. But Neporo could...
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...correct key and taunts Tané about getting back to the ship. Tané reveals the rising jewel, and Niclays laughs while the scholar observes that Tané is Neporo’s descendant. Niclays realizes she...
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Chapter 63
Tané wakes in a warm, luxurious room and finds the rising jewel thankfully at her bedside. Soon after, a woman enters and reveals that Tané is in...
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...that all dragons know the Nameless One is coming. Then, Tané offers Nayimathun the rising jewel and shares that according to a scholar, she may be Neporo’s descendant. Nayimathun is more...
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With Nayimathun’s prodding, Tané approaches Loth and Thim to ask Loth about giving the waning jewel to the Eastern dragons. As expected, Loth refuses. He explains that the jewels choose who...
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...Tané to tell him her story. Sweating, Tané complies, only omitting the part about the jewel in her side. The Unceasing Emperor is impressed with her bravery and tenacity and wants...
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Chapter 65
Tané wakes up, bound and without the rising jewel. A woman asks Tané about the jewel, Queen Sabran’s ring, and why she killed a...
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Chapter 66
...tells Ead everything that’s happened since she was poisoned. Tané, she says, has the rising jewel and is currently resting. Soon after, Sabran arrives, and Margret leaves Ead and Sabran alone....
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...notes that she hates the Nameless One too. However, the women both pull out their jewels and agree to work together to bind the Nameless One. Hopefully, Ead says, they’ll be...
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Chapter 69
...they’ll be fine. She shares her theory that Kalyba will be drawn to the celestial jewels and that they can weaken her if they can get her to change shape and...
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...Ead identifies the blade as made of sterren and reveals that they have the celestial jewels, which intrigues Niclays. Feeling feverish, Niclays reveals that Kalyba promised to resurrect Jannart—but Niclays knows...
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Chapter 70
Tané climbs aboard a Seiikinese ship and pulls out the rising jewel, hoping to attract Kalyba. She uses it to draw water over Fýredel, pushing him into...
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Chapter 71
...and tells her to “beware the sweet water.” But she dies, and Sabran now has Ascalon.
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...rises out of the Abyss. He’s huge, with black teeth and eyes. Ead hands Tané Ascalon and pushes her forward. Tané begins to climb the mast, but from her dragon below,...
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...his mouth, and another dragon’s lightning bolt hits Tané’s arm, sending her falling. Tané loses Ascalon in the fall, but Nayimathun catches her before she hits the water. And, Nayimathun says...
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Ead is fighting a Yscali soldier when Fýredel shouts for his army to find Ascalon. Sensing that the waning jewel is seeking Ascalon, Ead follows its hum and dives into...
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