Jumäläton (yu-mah-LAY-ton)

"I’m going to kill it, Tamrin."
"You’ll do no such thing."
"Do you notice how it slithers about the campfires?"
"Of course I do…I hate the beast as much as you do."
"Just when you think you’re alone, those yellow eyes burn into the back of your head! Look! There!…I can see it shifting just outside the light."
"Tamrin, don’t. Put the stone down. You need to be careful…McGlynn will know." "How will she…"
"Have you not…for Päjumää’s sake. No one has told you about the cursed beast, or that the Triad forbids us to lay a finger upon it?"
"What? Why would the…"
"Calm yourself and lower your voice. It’s listening."
"…listening."
"It is jumäläton. Impious, corrupt, and an abomination to nature, but it is also intelligent."
"Then why not end it, now?"
"Because its obsession is to do the will of its master. Its link to the owner of Inimitable Essentials allows it to send information back to her even as we speak. The creature is rare, a symbol of power, and McGlynn has paid a great amount to the Triad for this privilege."
"This is wrong, Daemon."
"It is. But we are commanded to refrain. There must be a reason."
"Wherever the beast goes, McGlynn follows…that is what you are saying."
"I am."
"The men feel as I. Marcus, and even Antoni would kill the thing if given the chance."
"I know this, Tamrin. I was unaware you had not been told — but there are benefits to the jumäläton."
"Nothing of evil is beneficial, Daemon."
"Not so. You are a guard of the Black Market — your charge is to watch, monitor and guard those traveling here from the outside, are you not?"
"You know I am."
"…and you have not observed anything new?"
"…."
"Think."
"There…are fewer hands now working for Inimitable Essentials here in the market. McGlynn has sent her guards away."
"Correct. This beast has become her symbol of power to those in the market, sanctioned by the Triad. Those who once watched over her, now move product for her, instead. Do you know what this means?"
"It means we have more eyes than an animal. With her forces sent away, she is relying on this symbol of power to control the perceptions of the Market citizens. The Triad can now observe her more closely, so long as we keep track of the beast."
"Exactly. As I said,…there is always a reason."
"So what do we do now that we have its undivided attention?"
"What any sentry of the Black Market would do with an enemy…"
"Feed it lies."
"Now you’re catching on."