The World Serpents are a species from quigutl myth. They are also called the Most Alone.
Mythology[]
According to myth, there are seven great snakes that created the planet and live under its surface. As quigutl myth goes, if someone finds the serpents, they can trigger the end of the singular-utl. Kikiu interprets this as meaning that the world itself would end; Pathka suggests that the world is not the only possible meaning of singular-utl. In Tess of the Road, Pathka and Tess find one World Serpent, named Anathuthia.
Pathka has told Tess many different iterations of the basic World Serpents myth. In each variation, the serpents represent different things, which Pathka says is the only way to explain how vast and inconceivable they are. Pathka believes that the way to call the serpents, or at least Anathuthia, is by finding a deep cavern and bleeding, triggering a prophetic dream.
Individual Serpents[]
Anathuthia[]
Tess and Pathka find Anathuthia in Tess of the Road. Upon seeing her, Tess and her companion, Frai Moldi, both have a revelatory and existential experience, supposedly understanding themselves and the world completely. However, Anathuthia is killed by people from the Ninysh Academy at the end of Tess of the Road.
Other Serpents[]
At the end of Tess of the Road, Tess, Pathka, Kikiu, and Jacomo are leaving with Countess Margarethe to find the other serpents. There are six more, according to quigutl myth.