Abbess Glass

Abbess Glass is the head of Sweet Mercy Convent. While her enemies invariably underestimate her, they respect and fear her. Before becoming a nun, her name was Shella Yammal, from a minor noble family.

Appearance
Abbess Glass is a motherly, shortish, and plumpish old woman with iron grey hair. She wears the long black habit of a nun, and carries a crozier, the mark of her office.

Personality
The Abbess has none of the traits of the four original tribes, and no skill in violence or combat. Nevertheless, she's extraordinarily astute with an innate ability to analyse possible futures, and take small actions to set the domino's tumbling toward a distant and unforeseen objective. She believes in the Ancestor Church, but that doesn't blind her to its flaws, and is more than willing to use her knowledge of Church and court politics to nudge towards a more righteous path. Glass cares above all for the nuns and novices of Sweet Mercy.

History
Abbess Glass was born into a minor noble family as Shella Yammal. It is revealed in Grey Sister that she was once the head of The Inquisition, which is tasked with combating heresy within the Ancestor Church. When her son Able died, she fell into despair and grief. She quit the Inquisition to become a nun, eventually rising to Abbess of the convent of Sweet Mercy.

Red Sister
While in Verity to negotiate the induction of Arabella Jotsis, Abbess Glass hears of Nona Grey, a young Hunska peasant girl working in the Caltess fight-hall, who had almost killed Raymel Tacsis, a famed Gerant ring-figher. For complicated reasons, Glass goes to Harriton Prison where Nona is due to hang for her crime, and tricks the guards into letting her take Nona to the convent, where she is quickly inducted as a novice. Abbess Glass and Nona initially have a difficult relationship, with the novice resentful at the death of her friend Saida. This begins to change when the Abbess protects Nona from being re-arrested by Judge Irvone and Lano Tacsis.

With the common law having failed, High Priest Jacob arrives at the convent with four Archons to bring the full weight of Church law against both Nona and Abbess Glass. The corrupt head of the Ancestor Church is in the pay of the immensely wealthy Tacsis family, and has a personal history with Glass. Jacob tries to rush through the trial and conviction of the pair, but the Abbess puts up a stern defence and convinces the Archons of their innocence.

When the High Priest overrules their verdict, Abbess Glass claims that the novice is the prophesied Shield and insists on taking an archaic test to prove it. The test involves the Abbess placing her hand above a votive candle. When it becomes clear that the High Priest will allow her hand to burn to ruin before backing-down, Nona stops the test by offering to take the Shield Trial herself. Through her Hunska speed, the novice amazingly survives the trial against three projectiles: a spear, a throwing-star, and an arrow. High Priest Jacob accepts defeat with great reluctance, but before he can leave Abbess Glass accuses him of having sold himself entirely to House Tacsis. Jacob tries to brush off the accusation, but the Archons agree. They vote to remove the High Priest from office, with Archon Nevis taking his place. They also propose Glass as the replacement Archon, but the Abbess refuses the role.

While both Nona and the Abbess recuperate from their injuries in the sanatorium, Glass explains that Thuran Tacsis has sworn to Emperor Crucical that he will no longer seek revenge on Nona. She also admits that the prophecy of the Argatha and Shield is fake, created to give the people hope as the ice closes. Nona realises that Abbess Glass had orchestrated the whole trial in order to get rid of the corrupt High Priest.

It is nearly two years later before Sweet Mercy receives another high-ranking visitor, this time the emperor’s sister Sherzal. Sherzal wants her ward Zole enrolled in the convent. While the Abbess tries to refuse, High Priest Nevis insists. The emperor’s sister also asks to see Nona and Zole fight. Both are Hunska primes, and the fight ensues at lightning speed. However, Zole knows moves that Nona doesn’t, beating her and then raining kicks on her prone opponent. With no one seeming keen to end the fight, Arabella steps forward having walked The Path. Ordering Zole to stop, she shows her power by destroying one of the practice dummies. High Priest Nevis is not amused, and orders Arabella punished. However, Sherzal has her own suggestion, that Nona as supposedly the Shield should take the whipping, a practice common among The Sis. Despite her injuries Nona agrees and receives twenty strokes of the wire cane.

Zole joins Sweet Mercy, and her bodyguard Yisht is allowed to stay in the guest-house. Zole is revealed to be a Four-Blood, possessing the traits of all four of the original tribes, something that is virtually unheard of in history. Enrolling the precious young girl in the convent convinces the Abbess of Sherzal’s good faith, and Glass show extraordinary tolerance for Yisht, despite her strange behaviour. It is later revealed that Sherzal’s true aim is to have Yisht steal the convent’s Shipheart, and giving-up Zole is merely a necessary sacrifice.

Grey Sister
After the theft of the Sweet Mercy Shipheart, Abbess Glass forbids any novice from exploring the caves under the convent on pain of expulsion. When Nona joins Mystic Class, she gets embroiled in a feud with the novice Joeli Namsis, and is eventually brought up on charges of attacking her in the Blade Hall. The Abbess clearly wants to defend Nona from the spiteful girl, but won't do so openly. Instead she nudges the proceedings towards her desired outcome, raising suspicion about why Joeli didn't visit the Sanatorium, that eventually leads Sister Apple to figure out that the novice has used Ulhen's Ointment to fake her injuries.

Meanwhile Sherzal formally adopts her ward Zole in an attempt to reclaim her from Sweet Mercy, since according to the Ancestor Church a parents rights is paramount. However, Glass refuses to handover the girl to Judge Irvone, insisting the matter is for Church law to decide. Undeterred, Sherzal uses her role as Prime Instigator to set the Inquisition on Abbess Glass. However, Glass appears remarkably unconcerned about the arrival of Inquisitor Pelter and his watchers, refusing to appeal to High Priest Nevis and seemingly having secret plans of her own. Inquisitor Pelter eventually brings charges against Nona, for writing a report for Spirit Class about a heretical saint and for exploring the caves under the convent with the bitter Joeli as his witness. Abbess Glass tries to defend her, but Pelter insists that convent rules must be enforced. Since Nona is a rare Three Blood who could be use against the Church or the emperor, she cannot be safely expelled, so must be killed. However, Nona disappears from the convent with Sister Kettle before she can be punished.

When Zole also disappears from the convent, Inquisitor Pelter brings Abbess Glass up on charges of heresy. Pelter seems intent on taking the Abbess to Tower of Inquiry, but Glass points on that as a former High Inquisitor that would be illegal. Instead she can only be put on trial at a Lansis palace, such as the emperor’s palace. Sister Tallow wants the convent to fight instead, but the Abbess refuses, fearing the Church would tear itself apart. Glass is taken away by the Inquisition in a carriage, but not to the emperor’s palace. They instead travel east across The Empire to Sherzal’s palace. On the way they must collect three Senior Inquisitors to judge the trial. This delay gives Glass the time to win over to her the two Inquisition guards and a ringfigher called Regol hired as additional protection.

Eventually Abbess Glass, Inquisitor Pelter, and the three Senior Inquisitors (Dimeon, Seldom, and Agika) reach Sherzal's palace where the emperor's sister is throwing a lavish party. Sherzal gleefully watches as the Abbess is brought before her in chains. However Glass points out that an Inquisition trial in her palace is forbidden unless formally invited, and Sherzal heedlessly snaps her invitation. The trial takes place at midnight in the banqueting hall before the assembled Sis, including the novices Arabella, Darla, and Joeli. However the trial doesn't go to plan. The Abbess pleads guilty but with special dispensation, producing document giving her permission to practise heresy from High Priest Nevis. She explains that the intention of this whole charade was to get a full Inquisition trial beneath Sherzal's roof, who is accused of stealing the Church’s only Shipheart. She has even secretly chosen judges who are loyal to her in Seldom and Agika; a well known falling out with the pair was a deception to protect herself after leaving office as High Inquisitor.

Sherzal is outraged to be put on trial. As the Inquisition judges discuss the type of trial, Joeli tries to sway them using Thread-Work, but Arabella and Darla intervene to stop her. However, Sherzal has no intention of facing justice, and her soldiers led by Safira storm the room killing one of the Inquisition guards in the process. She announces to the shock Sis lords, that she has a plan to save Abeth. The Moon can be controlled by the Ark in Verity if powered by four Shiphearts. She admits to stealing the Sweet Mercy Shipheart, and having access to three more through her secret alliances with the Noi-Guin and Scithrowl. The Scithrowl army will be used to pave the way to the capital, doubtless leaving slaughter in their wake. Many of the more disreputable Sis like Thuran Tacsis appear quite keen on the plan. Even Abbess Glass, who is under the influence of a truth pill, can’t help but admit the plan is sound, but goes on to add that without Sherzal the plan would work equally well. Sherzal orders her soldiers to silence the Abbess.

A fight ensues with Ara walking The Path and unleashing her power, while Darla deals with the archers. With Ara's power spent, Abbess Glass urges them to escape through the servants entrance. They eventually reach Sherzal's stables, but the gates are guarded by Sherzal's soldiers. The situation seems hopeless, and they begin to pray, only for Nona and Kettle to suddenly appear. When her friend Darla die in her arms, it fuels the rage that Nona needs to walk The Path for a second time in the same day. Using the Path energy to feed her strength, she pushes a carriage with Abbess Glass and the others inside out of the palace, through the gates, and away down the hillside. However, the carriage eventually crashes, and Sherzal's soldiers converge on them. Suddenly they are saved when the hillside collapses obliterating the soldiers and covering the roadway. From the rubble emerges Zole, who has collapsed the mountain using Rock-Work fueled by a Shipheart stolen for the Noi-Guin.