Scytale (Dune)
From Biocrawler, the free encyclopedia.
Scytale is a fictional character in the Dune universe created by Frank Herbert. He is a face dancer of the Tleilaxu. In the novel Dune Messiah, Scytale participates in the conspiracy to topple the rule of Paul Atreides. He later returns as a ghola in Heretics of Dune and again as a Tleilaxu Master in Chapterhouse Dune.
Scytale
The stage name of Shuurfak rai Shedler, a master face dancer from Tleilax, and the prime mover in the plot in 10209 A.G. to assassinate Paul Muad'Dib. He was recognized as the most skillful and intelligent face dancer the Tleilaxu operated. When Scytale was brought before Paul shortly after Chani died in childbirth, Scytale acted with lightning resolve. In the space of a few moments he learned both that Chani was dead and that the trigger had restored Idaho's memory. In an act of daring or desperation, he repeated the offer while the twins' lives hung in the balance. After the failure of his mission, Scytale's body rapidly disintegrated. Failure of a face dancer's central nervous system released powerful enzymes that broke down the cell walls in order to prevent his body structure from being revealed by dissection. When the Tleilaxu embassy claimed the remains, they were given a container of water from Scytale's tissues, after the Fremen custom. For many years afterward, part of the initiation ritual of the face dancer involved an oath sworn on the container holding Scytale's water, and in the eleventh quadrant the term scytale (Galach skaitell) was long used as the generic for face dancer.
