Study of Teccla Sweeping Ash from the Shrine Steps, 2025. Sanguine ink on vellum, 4 x 6 in.
Ashes and Dust is set in the Rodinian city-state of Zabool. The settlement is situated near a crater of eternal flame that spews clouds of ash into the air at regular intervals. This “ashfall” is one of the few natural cycles of time present on Neith, and functions as a day/night cycle for the settlement’s residents: people sleep while the ash falls and dig or sweep themselves out after it stops.
The natural rhythm of the ashfall conflicts with the rhythm of time as kept by the Enshrinement of Lucca, which depends on the burning of sacred candles. The priestesses at Zabool’s Shrine of Lucca often perform illuminations and read passages to an empty shrine during ashfall and repeat the readings once everyone else has woken up. One of Teccla’s jobs around the shrine is keeping the front steps clear of fallen ashes.
“Sweeping, sweeping, sweeping!
Sweepy, sweepy, sweep!
Sweep away the ashes before they get too deep!
Line them up like prisoners, back them up against the wall!
Raise your guns and—”