Sankta Anastasia is the patron saint of the sick, famed for curing the wasting plague in Arkesk.
Biography[]
Anastasia lived with her elderly father in Tsemna where her remarkable beauty was the topic of gossip for many of the villagers. She spent her time lighting candles in memory of her mother and tending to her father.
When the wasting plague struck and her father fell ill, Anastasia prayed to the Saints. She cut her arm and filled a dish with her blood, then fed it to her father. One of their servants saw her father instantly recover from the plague, and soon the whole town heard of Anastasia's healing blood. Against her father's will, Anastasia gave her blood to anyone who asked, and everyone who drank from the dishes were healed.
Anastasia was placed in a cart and carried around from village to village, healing those who were so ill they could not come to her. Once she had no more blood left to give, in Arkesk, her body became a husk carried away on the wind.[1]
Legacy[]
Sankta Anastasia is celebrated every year with tiny dishes of red wine.[1] Outside of her hometown Tsemna, there is a statue of Sankta Anastasia. Elizaveta caused the statue to weep tears of blood.[2]
The Hringsa make a farmer in the town of Kjerek, Fjerda believe he had witnessed a vision of Sankta Anastasia hovering above the town well with a wreath of ash leaves in her hair during an outbreak of the deadly firepox. The next morning, the townspeople were cured.[3]
Personality and traits[]
Anastasia was pious and evidently selfless, sacrificing her life to better the health of others when the healing properties of her blood were discovered.
Physical description[]
Anastasia was a beautiful girl with "red hair bright as a field of new poppies and green eyes that shone like polished glass."[1]
Powers and abilities[]
Although it was assumed that Anastasia was a Healer due to the healing powers of her blood, it is confirmed that she was an Alkemi. Furthermore, she never fell ill, which is a trait of Grisha, and her father feared she would be branded a witch.
Appearances[]
- The Lives of Saints
- Ruin and Rising (mentioned only)
- Six of Crows (mentioned only)
- King of Scars (mentioned only)
- Rule of Wolves (mentioned only)
Trivia[]
- Inej Ghafa named one of her knives after Sankta Anastasia.[4]
- In a guest bedroom of the home of the Duke of Grevyakin, there is a "grotesque" painting of Sankta Anastasia curing the wasting plague.[5]
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 The Lives of Saints, Sankta Anastasia
- ↑ King of Scars, chapter 2
- ↑ Rule of Wolves, chapter 2
- ↑ Six of Crows, chapter 10
- ↑ King of Scars, chapter 11