Prim

This name has been taken from U.M. so the surname is written first.

Prim
Debut	KSBD 1:17
Occupation	Housekeeper (former)
Affiliation	House Hansa (former)
Classification	Deity
Gender	Female
Status	Inactive

Ys-Prim, also known as Hansa Primpiyat, is a goddess and the daughter (and sister) of Hansa who served as his loyal housekeeper until his death. Her troubled story is recounted in the Song of Maybe and the Spasms. Prim is regarded as the founder of all mortal fist arts.

History

Prim and the Mendicant Knight

Main article: "Prim and the Mendicant Knight"

Long ago, Prim and her father Hansa lived in a black house of iron nails. She was a faithful servant and it was said there was no finer daughter than Prim, who tended to Hansa whenever she was needed. Then one day a Mendicant Knight appeared and attempted to sway Prim, convincing her to leave the house which she maintained.

Prim Leaves Her Father's House

Main article: "Prim Leaves Her Father's House"

When Hansa caused offense at the expense of Akaroth, Prim's father was killed and her home destroyed. Prim sought a place to bury him and walked for many days along the road, seeking advice from the gods. When she found that no one could help her, Prim hit her lowest point, but came to the realization that the power to free herself lay dormant the whole time.

Prim and the Mendicant Sage

In her travels Prim once encountered a sage and had a dialog with him. The sage asked her, "What makes a man the most powerful ?" Wielder of Names 4-65

Prim Masters the Road

Main article: Prim Masters the Road.

After leaving Hansa's house behind, Prim spends many years walking on the Road of Kings, meeting many people. There are two main excerpts - in the first one, Prim learns a special protective technique, as well as the dangers of closing oneself entirely to the outside world to avoid danger. In the second, a weary Prim looks for an end to the Road, to no avail.

The Comb of Prim

In her travels Prim once found an angel with a flaming spear lashing a man. Interrupting the angel, she asks it to guard an ornate comb. King of Swords 9-121

Later Years

When the Wheel was forged and the four orders of inheritors established, all the gods, including Prim, were self-annihilated and removed from the current plane of existence.

Description

Despite being his daughter, Prim is the literal slave of Hansa. She is not only forced to tend to him, but his guests as well and is said to regularly clean their home of the dust of 20,000 universes. This harsh work rubs her knuckles raw, but she appears to be quite tenacious. The literature claims there is no finer daughter and her face remains "radiant" nonetheless.

In "Prim and the Mendicant Knight", Prim is said to be small, wiry, and pale, being so beautiful that she was briefly stunned by her own reflection. She also possesses enormous willpower. On two separate occasions Prim was assaulted by men, the latter instance after having her home destroyed and her father killed. She later managed to walk alone for several days despite being tired and bleeding, all on behalf of her father.

Personality

Little is known about Prim's true personality, as much of the literature describes her as having an abused or downtrodden state of mind. Still, she appears to possess a fierce sense of determination and loyalty while also being sheltered and somewhat naive about the world.

Prim is shown to be happiest when she is able to escape the house of iron nails. She is overjoyed during her brief encounter with the Mendicant Knight while the laughter she emits is said to be deep and bell-like when she finally puts her fear behind her.

Notably, she seems to have developed a sort of coping mechanism to be able to deal with the manifold trauma heaped upon her. This seems to consist of methodically repairing whatever was damaged during her abuse, and taking scented baths. This behavior features in both stories featuring Prim.

In Prim and the Mendicant Knight: "Prim wiped the tears from her eyes and washed her bloodstained clothes and took up her torn Vela and mended it, and she felt a little better. She buried the greatcloak of that knight and gathered the torn pieces of his body and cremated him properly, and then felt a little better. After that, she indulged in a fragrant bath, and she felt a little better."

In Prim Leaves her Father's House: "She took up her cloak and vela and great knife, and felt a little better, and she smeared the ashes of her father's house on her face and body as was the custom, and she felt a little better, and she wrapped her father's poor body in a linen shroud and she felt a little better still."

Abilities

Prim has a vast array of martial techniques at her disposal, some taught to her by Hansa, while others have been picked up from conversations with his peers. One of her abilities, a single strike of the Pattram Sword Hand, can scatter a target into thirty pieces while removing its vital fluids.

Quotations

“Draw the nonshape,” said Prim. “Imagine that we are kin. The fire in your fingers is the fire of my heart, the secret fire of the God of Gods. My body is the nonshape. Make it so, and dispel yourself of notions of reality.”

– Psalms King of Swords 10-136

Your hand, wrought in killing fire, its fell weight

must be felt by the arm, the strong shoulder,

then in turn the heart, turned inwards quickly

in reflection. Think on its awful weight,

oh beautiful soldier, and tremble rightly.

– Psalm 565, often attributed to the goddess Prim. King of Swords 10-146

“The most magnificent of weapons is one that is offered out of self love. Grasp the nonshape. Make the mirror strike.

Would you take another’s weapon as your own? First answer: would you take another’s heart as your own?

The sword that cleaves the horizon must be swung from the center of your chest.”

-Prim’s Way of Gentleness, scroll 44 King of Swords 10-157

Trivia

• In Broken Worlds, Prim is the patron deity of the Fated character class.