Mardi Volume 2 Chapters I - V

In which a solemn voyage brings us to the veiled isle of Maramma, shadowed beneath the towering, inaccessible Peak of Ofo, where a blind guide named Pani asserts control over pilgrim paths and ancient rites; and through tangled woods and sacred grounds, we encounter the mysterious grandeur and superstitions that cling to the High Pontiff Hivohitee and his hallowed dominion. In this land of shadow and fruitless fertility, pilgrims both meek and willful reveal varied faiths and doubts, whilst the blind guide's own troubled musings expose the delicate veil between belief and scepticism that shrouds the island’s darkling soul.