The Musubi

Overview

The Musubi, also known as the Bonding Ceremony, is an indissoluble ritual that permanently links the essences of two beings into a single shared consciousness. Exclusively celebrated by the Muna, the ceremony is considered a marriage of souls — one entity divided into two physical receptacles. Through this union, bonded individuals can share their minds, thoughts, senses, emotions, and presence across great distances. When an Alterer bonds with a Chimera through the Musubi, the resulting pair — called an Exalt — develops abilities that make them particularly suited for venturing into The Tumult.

Origin

The Musubi traces its origin to the bond between Niavhe, a young girl, and Kaibara, the Leviathan who claimed the peninsula of Kirighai as its territory. This union caused a discharge in the Mana fabric of The Skein, awakening individuals throughout Asgartha to the network’s existence. Those affected became the first Muna, and the faction itself arose from this foundational bond.

The Muna recognized that the Niavhe-Kaibara bond represented something reproducible, but it took centuries of effort before they succeeded in replicating the phenomenon as a formal ceremony. The Musubi is therefore described as a recent discovery despite its ancient precedent.

Ceremony

Only the Muna can officiate the Musubi. All Alterers and Chimeras who wish to bond are invited to the Bark Refuge at the Spindle on Kirighai, where a Muna priest — called an Ollam — conducts the ritual. The ceremony can be celebrated year-round at the Bark Refuge, as well as throughout the peninsula during the Ryūkkōsai, the spring festival organized by the Muna.

During the ceremony, the Ollam anoints each participant’s forehead with a drop of sap, then weaves and intertwines their spiritual threads through The Skein. The process is described as creating a single tapestry from two distinct balls of wool. As the Ollam works — sewing, stitching, mending, and overlocking — the participants’ Skein filaments entwine until their consciousnesses merge. The bonded pair emerges sharing all senses, thoughts, and emotions while remaining two distinct physical beings.

Effects

The Musubi produces several documented effects. Bonded individuals can know what the other feels and thinks, communicate across distance, perceive each other’s location, see through each other’s eyes, and share all senses. The communion is described as profound and inherently transformative — those who bond become complementary, fitting together as two pieces of the same puzzle.

When an Alterer bonds with a Chimera, the pair develops shared abilities and heightened aptitude for navigating The Tumult. These pairs are designated Exalts. Additionally, the Chimera’s appearance stabilizes after bonding, as the human partner retains a memory of the form the Chimera is meant to assume, preventing constant mutation.

Adaptation to a bonded partner’s cognition can require an adjustment period, particularly when the partner’s mode of thought differs significantly from the human norm. Over time, more complex cognitive faculties may emerge in the bonded Chimera, including attachment, memory, and projection.

Scope

The Musubi is not limited to Alterer-Chimera pairs. Two individuals can unite through the ceremony for reasons including love, friendship, or mutual interest. However, the bond is not to be undertaken lightly, as it is indelible and immutable.

Bond Consequences

The Musubi creates a dependency between bonded partners. If one partner dies, the surviving partner may decline and weaken, potentially fatally. When Bai Shan-shu died, his bonded Chimera Zephyr began wasting away from the broken bond. Even the Muna admitted they did not fully understand the nature of this dependency.

A second Musubi can be performed to save the surviving partner by bonding them with a new individual. However, the Muna warn that this carries risk — if the Chimera were subsequently to disappear, the new partner could be affected at their core. During such a second bonding, memories from the original bond may transfer to the new partner.

Relationships

• Niavhe: Young girl whose bond with Kaibara was the original template the Muna spent centuries reproducing
• Kaibara: Leviathan whose bond with Niavhe created the Muna faction and established the precedent for the Musubi
• Muna: The only faction authorized to officiate the ceremony
• Bark Refuge: Primary location where the Musubi is celebrated, at the Spindle on Kirighai
• The Skein: The Mana network through which the Ollam weaves the bonded pair’s essences
• Exalts: Designation for Alterer-Chimera pairs bonded through the Musubi
• Ryūkkōsai: Spring festival during which the Musubi may also be celebrated
• Ollam: Title of the Muna officiant who conducts the ceremony