Gardens of the Moon: Chapter 1

1161st Year of Burn’s Sleep
103rd Year of the Malazan Empire
7th Year of Empress Laseen’s Rule

Setting: Itko Kan

Summary
A fishergirl and an old woman stand by the side of the road as a column of mounted soldiers pass. The woman has lost three husbands and two sons in war; she burns five candles to keep her company. The girl thinks the soldiers wonderful, but the woman tells her of a time when Itko Kan was an independent country free of the Empire. The woman begins to chant and calls herself “Riggalai the Seer”. Through the chant, the woman and girl are linked. The woman alludes to the girl being recruited to fight in the Genabackan Campaign, although a shadow will embrace her soul.

A soldier rides up, and hits Rigga on the head with a gauntleted fist, killing her. The girl cannot remember a word Rigga had said. She wants to return to her father but before she can, two men come across her. The two reveal that Rigga was a necromancer of minor talent, who used candles to harbour the souls of five people. The shorter man somehow summons seven Hounds and sends them down the road after the column of soldiers.

The two men call each other by name, Cotillion and Ammanas (the shorter one), meaning they are Assassin (The Rope) and King (Shadowthrone) of High House Shadow. They resolve to use the girl and also her father for some scheme against the Empress.

—

Adjunct Lorn, Empress Laseen’s personal servant examines the carnage on the coast of Itko Kan. She is a mage-killer. Over four hundred have been killed by an unknown force. She and Lieutenant Paran investigate a small fishing village where there are two empty huts whose occupants have apparently escaped the slaughter. She instructs the Paran’s captain to erase all evidence of the massacre. Lorn concludes that the massacre was a diversion from some great sorcery that took place. She believes a recent recruit may be involved. Paran is instructed that he will now be an officer under the Adjunct.

—

A young girl named Sorry joins the Malazan Marines and requests her assignment to the Genabackan campaign, commanded by High Fist Dujek Onearm.

—

Paran discovers the town of Gerrom deserted and the Imperial Constabulary filled with dead soldiers and a mass of black pigeons. Papyrus sheets are disintegrating – the trail is being eliminated.
Paran meets Topper, the leader of the Claw (after Laseen). He is part Tiste Andii. They eat before travelling via the Imperial Warren to Unta, the capital of the Empire. They exit the Warren directly in to the Hall of the Throne in which the Empress sits. Paran is surprised when Laseen recalls Paran’s brief encounter with the unknown commander (Whiskeyjack) seven years earlier.

The Adjunct and Paran meet briefly before he returns to the Paran estate. His parents are absent but he meets his sister Tavore; his youngest sister Felisin is at her studies.

 Create your own free wiki!HelpPublic, not yet premium Privacy Policy RSS