Bena Elder

Bena Elder was the mother of Bena Younger. She was a squall witch who had the "horrid, desiccated visage of an ancient toothless, nearly skinless woman" and had long, wispy hair and sightless eye sockets. She never left the company of her daughter in the Suncurl's crow's nest and when she spoke, it was with a hag's voice that came out of her daughter's mouth. It was unclear whether the consciousness of the likely mummified and long dead woman was a product of her daughter's imagination, but Bena Younger appeared to have an unnaturally mature understanding of events on board the ship.

In The Lees of Laughter's End

Bena Elder warned her daughter of the dread events that were to come as the Suncurl sailed into the blood current of Laughter's End. When Emancipor Reese was forcibly dragged into the crow's nest by the ship's angry crew he made the acquaintance of both Benas. He could not understand why an old woman's voice was coming out of Bena Younger's mouth, and Bena Younger could not understand why Reese ignored her mother's terrible glare. The god-thing's sudden attack on the ship knocked Bena Elder from the crow's nest and she fell onto Gust Hubb, blinding his left eye with her bony finger. Afterwards her voice, coming from her daughter's mouth, claimed she had done what needed doing and that they were now safe.

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