Liss Rymore is a cartomancer who predicts the future using tarot cards. After being detained in the nineteenth Bone Season, she became an aerialist in the Rephaite city of Oxford, where she later meets and befriends Paige Mahoney.
Biography[]
History[]
Liss was born in the Scion Citadel of Inverness to a voyant father, Arthur Lin, and an amaurotic mother, Imogen Rymore. At some point in her childhood, her parents were caught distributing seditious pamphlets, and her father was arrested. He escaped on his way to the New Tolbooth, but the family had to go into hiding.
Too proud to ask for help from his Edinburgh-based sister, Elspeth Lin, Arthur spent all his savings to get the family to the Scion Citadel of London, hoping they could join the syndicate. One mime-lord refused to accept them with Imogen in tow, since she was amaurotic. When Arthur argued with him, the mime-lord put out word that they were Scion informants, so no one else would accept them. They were forced to try to earn a living without crossing the syndicate, but its couriers would move Arthur on whenever they saw him. Since they never expected a child to be busking, Liss earned most of the money.
When Liss was ten, Arthur and Imogen contracted lung fever (pneumonia) and died, leaving her alone. One night, when she was eleven, a woman asked her for a reading, but it was a sting. Liss was imprisoned in the Tower of London for two years.
At the age of thirteen, she was sent to Oxford as part of the nineteenth Bone Season. Her Rephaite keeper was Gomeisa Sargas, who had never chosen a human before. When she refused to take her first test, Gomeisa personally branded her and threw her into the Rookery, not allowing her a second or third chance. She trained in aerial silks.
The Bone Season[]
Paige meets Liss on her second night in Oxford. Liss immediately takes her under her wing and gives her advice on surviving the city.
When Paige visits Liss after getting her pink-jacket, Liss's face is swollen, her neck is bruised by fingers, and her shoulder is dislocated. Gomeisa didn't like the reading she gave him. Liss treats Paige's brand with a warm poultice. Julian is in Liss's tent as well. Liss tells them what she knows about Bone Season XVIII. She also tells them about her childhood and how she got arrested by the NVD when she was nine.
Gomeisa takes her to the Castle, which is the Detainment Center, and puts her in a cell. While waiting for Gomeisa to be ready for a reading, Liss gets a vision from Nick showing a picture of a phone. Afterwards, Liss tells Paige she thinks her friends are trying to reach her and tells her about the message she got. Liss expresses her feelings of foreboding to Paige and asks if she can do a reading for her, and Paige says yes.
Before Liss can show Paige the last card in her reading, three red-jackets come bursting in. A fight ensues between Liss, Paige, and Julian against the red-jackets, which include a former friend of Liss's, Kathryn.
Kathryn burns Liss's tarot cards, which is her numen. As a result, Liss begins to lose her aura and almost becomes an amaurotic. Warden gives Liss his last dose of amaranth to bring Liss out of spirit shock. Paige steals a Thoth deck of tarot cards for Liss. It's a different design than her old one, but it can still work as her numa.
After surviving spirit shock Liss has a new determination to survive. She is very active in rallying the harlies for the prison break. Paige sees her performing on the silks during the Bicentenary Celebration. Before making her escape for the train, Paige finds Liss's body. Gomeisa killed her so she couldn't escape. Paige speaks the threnody and Liss's spirit is freed.
The Mime Order[]
The authors of The Rephaite Revelation make Liss the main character as a tribute to her.
Physical Description[]
Liss has black hair that falls to the small of her back. While it is naturally straight, she usually curls it. Her eyes are small and very dark. She is a young woman with small, quick features. She wears red lipstick, and her clothes are in better condition than many of the other harlies. Her voice carries a burr. She has callused hands and battered knees from performing and practicing. She also has multiple bruises visible. She has a sylphlike build.
Personality[]
Liss is kind-hearted. She is the best at reading cards in her family. She can see visions, something no one else in her family can do. As a cartomancer, her aura is delicate, she is also full-sighted. Liss is the type of person who puts her friends' welfare above her own. She suffers every wrong against her with dignity.
Appearances[]
- The Bone Season
- The Dawn Chorus (flashbacks only)