Races of the Malazan Book of the Fallen
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The Malazan Book of the Fallen fantasy series by Steven Erikson and Ian Cameron Esslemont contains numerous intelligent human, humanoid and non-human races. They are divided into the four founding races (the Forkrul Assail, Jaghut, K'Chain Che'Malle and T'lan Imass) who evolved on the Malazan planet, and the Tiste invader races (the Tiste Andii, Tiste Edur and Tiste Liosan) who immigrated to the Malazan planet from their racial Warren. The origins of the Thelomen Toblakai are unknown.
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[edit] Forkrul Assail
The Forkrul Assail are one of the founding races in the Malazan Book of the Fallen. They exist in isolation, interacting with other races through violent arbitration of conflicts, more accurately the annihilation of the involved parties.
[edit] Physiology
The Forkrul Assail are humanoid, though taller and thinner than humans, posses more joints in their limbs and hands, a jointed sternum, large, solid black eyes and blue rather than red blood. They are physically far more robust than humans, and appear to be virtually unkillable through conventional means, healing from cuts and blows extremely quickly. They also possess incredible strength, speed and agility, and are able to successfully combat several powerful opponents at once while sustaining only minor wounds. In addition, they have prenatural longevity and can live for millennia without food or water.
[edit] Culture
Forkrul Assail seem to lack a collective culture, existing primarily in isolation. Generally the Assail only gather to pass judgement and arbitration when requested by other races, though this arbitration seems to take the form of killing all involved in the conflict. Their names seem to reflect this obsession with arbitration. Their architecture seems mainly to be formed by tunneling into stone forming underground buildings which mimic conventional architecture with pillars and windows to nowhere. The continet referred to as Assail is said to be the most dangerous place on the planet.
[edit] Interactions with the Malazan Empire
To date the Forkrul Assail has not had any interactions with the Malazan Empire.
[edit] Appearances in the Novels
The Forkrul Assail make two major appearances, one in the novel House of Chains and again in Midnight Tides. In the first appearance, the Assail Calm is released by Karsa Orlong and his companions from being pinned for thousands of years beneath an invested block. Subsequently, Calm attacks Orlong and wounds one of his companions, resulting in the companion being reduced to a childlike state. The second appearance finds an Assail, Serenity, released enchanted bindings. Subsequent to this release he encounters a Tiste Edur raiding party whom engage in combat with Serenity. Serenity kills their leader, and is driven off by the remainder. There are no further direct appearances by the Forkrul Assail in the novels, but they are mentioned tangentially in other passages.
[edit] Jaghut
The Jaghut are one of the founding intelligent races of the Malazan planet. They are solitary, powerful beings who once dominated much of the world after the eradication of the K'Chain Che'Malle.
[edit] Anatomy
The Jaghut are taller and broader than humans, with tusked lower jaws. Their skin is grey-green and hair is generally grey. The Jaghut are extremely long-lived (essentially immortal in the sense that they will not die except through violence or accident), and capable of inter-breeding with humans to create living offspring. Whether the offspring are viable as well, or sterile like a mule is unknown. They are adapted to living in a cold climate, and generally prefer an Arctic environment. The Jaghut use the Omtose Phellack Warren, an Elder racial Warren that allows them control over great areas and is generally tuned towards magics of ice and cold, though they are also capable of using other Warrens. The Warren can also produce effects of 'stagnation', isolating whole continents from the rest of the world. In one case, this prevented the magic of an entire contient from evolving for over 300 000 years.
[edit] Culture
The Jaghut do not gather in locations or create communities. Instead, they prefer solitary towers as dwellings, usually living with only their closest family. Despite this tendency towards isolation, their parental instincts are very strong, which has resulted in a scaling up of conflicts with the T'lan Imass - if a parent is attacked, their children and spouse will come to fight with them, and vice versa. This can result in considerable devastation due to the scales of sorceries involved.
The exception to the rules of isolation are the rare Jaghut known as Tyrants, for whom conquest and rule is an unslakable thirst. These individuals will use their powerful magical capabilities to enslave and dominate other races. This most notably occurred with the T'lan Imass, and as a result of the Tyrant Raest's actions in this regard the T'lan underwent the ritual of Tellan and became undead. For the battle between the T'lan and the Jaghut there is never any quarter given - if any trace of the Jaghut is found by the T'lan, a pogrom is raised in which several clans converge on the site until their army is wiped out or any Jaghut are slain.
[edit] Interactions with the Malazan Empire
In the time of Burn's sleep (when the main events of the Malazan Book of the Fallen occur), Jaghut are almost unknown except in myth and legend. The rare individuals who have survived the pogroms of the T'lan Imass exist in solitude and hiding, using magics other than Omtose Phellack, or restricting their activities to other realms where the T'lan can not find them.
The sole interaction with the Malazan Empire to date has been the awakening of a bound Tyrant by the Imperial Adjunct and the First Sword of the T'lan Imass, Onos T'oolan. The pair roused the Tyrant in an effort to produce mutually assured destruction between Raest and the lord of the Tiste Andii, Anomander Rake.
[edit] Appearances in the Novels
The Jaghut have appeared in minor scenes in the other novels, most notably House of Chains and Midnight Tides. From these appearances, it is apparent that the Jaghut are more active than the T'lan Imass would suspect, generally working behind the scenes and in hiding to ensure the continued isolation and binding of dangerous creatures.
A much more notable half-Jaghut is Icarium, who appears in Deadhouse Gates, House of Chains and The Bonehunters. He shares the immortality of his Jaghut father, Gothos, and is an essentially uncontrollable, unstoppable force of death and destruction when roused to anger. Because of this, he is always bound to a companion who works in secret to prevent Icarium from being roused to anger. Currently his companion is Mappo Runt, though events are in flux on this point in The Bonehunters. The source of Icarium's rage is an attempt by Icarium to force an Azath house to release his father, Gothos.
[edit] K'Chain Che'Malle
The K'Chain Che'Malle were one of the founding intelligent races in the Malazan Book of the Fallen, the only race which is non-humanoid.
[edit] Anatomy
The K'Chain Che'Malle were intelligent lizards standing taller than a man, moving bipedally by balancing the weight of their torsos with a tapering tail, and skins pale like the underbelly of a snake. The K'Chain Che'malle came in several breeds, the largest difference being the length of tail. To date they have not attempted to communicate with any other intelligent races found in the Malazan world.
[edit] Culture
The K'Chain Che'Malle were the first race on the Malazan world to evolve intelligence, and developed a culture of technological and magical sophistication hundreds of thousands of years before the evolution of hominids. Most knowledge of the K'Chain Che'Malle is retrospective, developed through inspection of their cultural ruins thousands of years after their extinction - as such it is difficult to state anything definitive about them. It is known that they are ruled in the manner of ants, with a single female queen (the Matron) and thousands of male drones and soldiers. Currently all K'Chain Che'Malle appearing in the novels have been undead, with the exception of a single Matron.
The K'Chain Che'Malle appeared to lack a racial Warren to draw upon, employing gravity-based magic that mixed heavily with their technology. They inhabited gigantic structures known as Skykeeps, buildings so large they seem to be floating mountains. Currently the only Skykeep known to exist in the Malazan world proper is the one used by the Tiste Andii, though others have been seen in the Imperial Warren.
[edit] Interactions with the Malazan Empire
The only interaction between the Malazan Empire and the K'Chain Che'Malle occurred at Coral, in a battle between the T'lan Imass, Malazan forces and the Barghast versus the undead K'Chain Che'Malle and the forces of the Pannion Domin.
[edit] Appearances in the Novels
The K'Chain Che'Malle have appeared in three novels in the series so far, Memories of Ice, Midnight Tides, and The Bonehunters.
[edit] Thelomen Toblakai
The Thelomen Toblakai are a race found in the Malazan Book of the Fallen.
[edit] Physiology
The Thelomen Toblakai are humanoid, though taller and generally more physically robust than humans, with broad, flat faces. Pure-blood Toblakai stand at over seven feet tall, and disproportionately muscled enough to seem wide. They are capable of interbreeding with humans to produce viable half-breeds, but seem to have a different evolutionary descent, as marked by having four lungs rather than two. On the continent of Genabackis (where Karsa Orlong, the most prominent Toblakai comes from) the tribes of the Teblor appear to have several advantages which are wholly contained to their tribe. The Teblor heal much more quickly than humans, to the point where bruises can fade while watching, and they are no longer vulnerable to infectious diseases. They also possess a limited immunity to magic - lower level spells do not seem to effect them and even High spells fail to have their full effects. This may be a natural protection as a result of physiology, or possibly due to their consumption of blood-oil, a compound which may contain the magic-deadening ore, otataral. This consumption of blood-oil may also be the cause of their rapid healing, but this is not explained as of The Bonehunters.
It is known that somehow certain Thelomen Toblakai can become their own Warrens; the exact abilities and circumstances that surround this are unknown. Karsa Orlong appears to be one such, channeling his Warren into the ability to ignore the structures and effects of spells, even Elder such as the T'lan Imass Tellann. In Karsa Orlongs case, however, it seems to be his and his tribes use of Otatarol oil to burnish their swords-- Otatarol is the antithesis of the Warrens. Interesting effects have been noted to occur when an individual is exposed to Otatarol (Adjunct Lorn in Gardens of the Moon and Rallick Nom in Gardens of the Moon) namely the nullification of magical effects upon the individual. Hence, Karsa Orlong's invulnerability to the effects of the Warrens can be linked to his repeated exposure to Otatarol in the first portion of House of Chains.
[edit] Culture
Thelomen Toblakai tribes are scattered across the Malazan world, and appear to exist on all continents under a variety of names - Teblor, Fenn, Tarthenal and Toblakai. They are a fallen people, once possessing high civilization, cities and books, most now live in tribes and eke out a barbaric existence breeding horses and feuding with nearby people. The greatest detail is known about the Teblor on Genabackis, the lineage of Karsa Orlong. At some point long ago the Teblor built cities on the continent, but for unknown reasons their blood became thin and clouded. Icarium, the half-Jaghut wanderer, gave them rules to purify their blood, separating husbands, wives, parents and children into different tribes and giving them laws to live - the raising of horses, hunting, raiding and fishing. Thousands of years later, the Teblor live in their separate tribes, some of which have vanished, some of which have become enslaved by nearby humans.
On the continent of Lether, the Tarthenal have been conquered and enslaved by the Letherii. Their culture is forgotten and one of the few activities they still remember are the rituals of propitiation for their terrifying gods. The gods of the Tarthenal are not worshiped to draw their attention and blessings, but instead sacrifices are performed to turn their gazes away and keep them from manifesting. When the Tarthenal were conquered, their lasts acts were to die defending their shrines, terrified not of the attackers, but of their gods.
[edit] Interactions with the Malazan Empire
The Theloman Toblakai have had various interactions with the Malazan Empire. Karsa Orlong is captured and enslaved by the Malazan Empire, encountering them again in the aftermath of the battle of Raraku.
Bellurdan Skullcrusher is a Thelomen Toblakai mage in the Malazan army. He appears briefly in Gardens of the Moon, and is mentioned in House of Chains as the High Mage who forged the otataral long-knife bought by Kalam. The weapon in question proves that Bellduran uses an Elder Warren, as the knife was invested, an impossible task with human Warrens due to otataral's magic-deadening properties.
[edit] Appearances in the Novels
The tribes of the Teblor and the character Karsa Orlong are the most prominent Thelomen Toblakai in the Malazan series, occupying much of House of Chains and The Bonehunters, and parts of Deadhouse Gates. Karsa is an almost unstoppable killing machine, incredibly swift, decisive and vicious, though he possesses a stereotypic barbaric nobility and a surprising depth of thought. He occupies (unwillingly) the position of Knight of Chains in the Fatid and will probably occupy a significant role in the upcoming battle with the Crippled God.
On the continent of Lether the fallen Tartheno play a role in the events surrounding the conquest of the Edur. A half-Tarthenal criminal is instrumental in preventing the five Tartheno gods from escaping the Azath house and saving the Avowed Crimson Guardsman Iron Bars.
As mentioned above, Bellurdan Skullcrusher appears in Gardens of the Moon, battling Anomander Rake, grieving his slain lover Nightchill and finally dying at the hands of the Cadre Mage Tattersail.
In Memories of Ice it was revealed that the Toblakai travelled with the still-human T'lan Imass who eventually evolved into the Barghast people living on Genabackis.
[edit] Tiste Andii
The Tiste Andii are a race found in the Malazan Book of the Fallen. They are not one of the four founding races but are actually invaders from another world.
[edit] Anatomy
The Tiste Andii are taller than humans, though of similar proportions. Their skin is black (not in the sense of indigenous inhabitants of Africa, Indigenous Australians or inhabitants of Melanesia, but actually black in the true sense of the color), with slanted, epicanthic, almond-shaped eyes that change color with their moods. Hair is silver, white or black, and generally kept long. The Tiste Andii are extremely long-lived (Anomander Rake is at least 300,000 years old), and cease aging once they reach adulthood. Barring accidents or violent death, they may live forever. The Tiste Andii are close kin to the Tiste Edur and Tiste Liosan, though they do not share genetic descent.
With their epicanthic eyes, height, and long lifespans, the Tiste Andii are the closest that the Malazan series comes to involving elves.
[edit] Culture
The Tiste Andii are actually invaders from the Warren of Darkness, and are therefore not native to the Malazan world. Long-lived and slow-breeding, the Tiste Andii as a race tend towards melancholy and apathy. The majority of the Tiste Andii live in Moon's Spawn, an ancient K'Chain Che'Malle Skykeep they have taken over after finding it abandoned in the Arctic of the Malazan world. For years the Andii traveled the world as decided by Anomander Rake, their half-Andii, half draconic soletaken ruler. In much of this time they acted as mercenaries for causes decided upon by Rake. A small portion of the population, led by Rake's brother Andarist, defending the Throne of Shadow on the island of Drift Avalii.
A small portion of the Tiste Andii live in Bluerose, a tiny island city off the coast of Lether. They are the remenants of the original invading population who were mostly wiped out in a war with the K'Chain Che'Malle. They have lived in hiding for thousands of years, ruling the human population from the caverns under the city itself.
[edit] Interactions with the Malazan Empire
The Andii's primary interactions with the Malazan Empire occurred in their role of paid mercenaries opposing the Malazan armies at Pale and Darujhistan, and in cooperation with the exiled Second army against the Pannion domin. After the fall of Coral with the city in sorcerous darkness, the surviving Andii settling in the area exist in a state of political flux - the Malazan empire claimed the area around Black Coral that belonged to the Pannion domin before its fall, while the Andii claim sanctuary and ownership of the permanently shadowed city.
[edit] Appearances in the Novels
The Tiste Andii make major appearances in the novels, most notably in Gardens of the Moon and Memories of Ice, though a minor character appears in The Bonehunters.
[edit] Tiste Edur
The Tiste Edur are a race found in the Malazan Book of the Fallen. They are not one of the four founding races but are actually invaders from another world.
[edit] Anatomy
The Tiste Edur are taller than humans, though of similar proportions. Their skin is a dull grey colour of a hue not found in humans, with slanted, epicanthic, almond-shaped eyes. The Tiste Edur are close kin to the Tiste Liosan and Tiste Andii, though they do not share genetic descent. The Edur are extremely long-lived, if not immortal, and will not die barring accidents or violent death. Female Edur mature more quickly than males.
[edit] Culture
The Tiste Edur originally come from the Shattered Warren, Kurald Emurlahn, the Elder Warren of Shadow. The Edur were originally invaders from the Warren, forming a large part of the army that fought the K'Chain Che'Malle along with the Tiste Andii. After the battle the Edur turned on the Andii and wiped them out. The Edur's leader disappeared shortly after and the Edur decayed from an advanced species into a tribal collective isolated to the northern portion of a single continent and several other minor pockets. All comments that follow refer to the majority of the species located on the continent of Lether. Descent is patrilineal, though the females have a strong influence over the family. The Edur are organized into tribes, but these tribes were united prior to the events in Midnight Tides by Hannan Mosag, the Warlock King. Decisions are made with input from the elders of the tribe, though blooded warriors are allowed to observe events. The Edur also have elaborate funeral rites which are explored at great length in Midnight Tides. After the ascent of the Emperor, Rhulad Sengar, the Edur became far more warlike and dominated by the commands of the Emperor.
[edit] Interactions with the Malazan Empire
The Tiste Edur has one significant interactions with the Malazan empire. During the events of The Bonehunters the main fleet of the Malazan Empire crossed paths with one of the exploratory fleets of the Tiste Edur. The Edur threatened to destroy the Malazan fleet with sorcery, but the Malazan High Mage Quick Ben bluffed his way past, allowing the fleets to pass without sorcerous or conventional combat.
The only other contact with the Malazan Empire proper is during Memories of Ice when the Malazan 2nd army encounters a body of an Edur who has undergone extreme compression.
The other tenuous connection between the Edur and the Malazan empire in the series is the presence of the Avowed Iron Bars and his company on the continent of Lether during the invasion of the Lether empire by the Edur empire.
[edit] Appearances in the Novels
The events of Midnight Tides almost exclusively discuss the interactions between the Edur and the human empire of Lether, from contact to invasion and conquest. There is also the aforementioned contact of the two fleets within The Bonehunters. The events of House of Chains also features the character of Trull Sengar, an outcast of the Tiste Edur, who is freed by a T'lan Imass within one of the fragments of the Shattered Warren. Also stitched throughout the series is the ongoing appearance of the Silanda, an Imperial dromon which features disjointed appearances by the Tiste Edur and the aftermath of their encounter with Karsa Orlong.
[edit] Tiste Liosan
The Tiste Liosan are a race found in the Malazan Book of the Fallen. They are not one of the four founding races and only have contact with the Malazan world in situations where outsiders have breached the barriers surrounding their Warren of Kurald Thyrllan.
[edit] Anatomy
The Tiste Liosan are taller than humans, though of similar proportions. Their skin is pure white, (not in the sense of indigenous inhabitants of Europe and the United Kingdom (caucasians) but actually white in the true sense of the color), with slanted, epicanthic, almond-shaped eyes. Hair is silver and generally kept long. The Tiste Liosan are close kin to the Tiste Edur and Tiste Andii, though they do not share genetic descent. Internal anatomy differs from the human norm; specifically, the heart known to be buried deeper in the torso.
[edit] Culture
The Tiste Liosan source from Kurald Thyrllan, the Elder Warren of Light, and are not native to the Malazan world. In contrast to their apathetic kin, the Tiste Andii, the Liosan are high tempered, arrogant and zealous, dedicated priests of their god of light, Osserc. They are the least well-known of the Tiste races, and have the least contact with the Malazan world. Socially, the Liosan appear to be martially organized and hierarchical, led by warrior-priests.
[edit] Interactions with the Malazan Empire
The Liosan have had no actual contact with the Malazan empire as of The Bonehunters.
[edit] Appearances in the Novels
The Tiste Liosan make the fewest appearances of the Tiste races in the Malazan series. Four Liosan warriors appeared in House of Chains, engaging briefly in combat with Trull Sengar, a Tiste Edur and Onrack, a T'lan Imass. They are then forced to co-operate with Sengar, Onrack and several other Imass in order to escape the shattered Warren they are trapped in. Subsequent to this they escape into the Malazan world, but make no further appearances in the succeeding books.
[edit] T'lan Imass
The T'lan Imass are a race found in the Malazan Book of the Fallen, a fantasy series written by Canadian author Steven Erikson.
[edit] Anatomy
The T'lan Imass are humanoid, though shorter and squatter than humans. Originally living, the entire race underwent the ritual of Tellann hundreds of thousands of years in the past (previous to the founding of the Malazan empire), the single greatest necromantic ritual ever occurring within the world of Malazan. This resulted in the entire race becoming undead, able to dematerialize to dust, transport hundreds of leagues, and re-form their physical bodies. As a result of hundreds of thousands of years of existence, many of the T'lan are desiccated, their skins worn through and many have broken bones and missing body parts. Their eyes are shrivelled in their sockets, and vision has been replaced with the ability to sense the 'flame of life' that surrounds living beings. It allows them direct perception of heat, colour, movement and magic. The physical bodies of the T'lan Imass appear to be based on that of Neanderthals.
[edit] Culture
The T'lan Imass no longer have an appreciable culture that changes or evolves, becoming fixed at the completion of the ritual of Tellann. Originally they existed as a tribe and clan based society of stone-age hunter-gatherers, whose technology had advanced to cold-hammering metals and creating elaborate stone tools (including sword-sized flint blades that would shatter without sorcerous investment), but had not reached the level of forging or casting metals. Nearly the entire population of the Imass underwent the ritual of Tellann, though some individuals chose not to participate and were cast out, while others were unable to arrive in time, eventually evolving into the Barghast. An effect of the ritual (beyond undeath and transformation to dust) was to produce a fixedness of purpose, where the entire race is consumed by the same goal of eliminating their enemies. This focus is removed should they sustain a significant amount of damage without being completely destroyed, at which point the individual must submit themselves for destruction or become hunted outcasts by the rest of the race.
The original reason for undergoing the transformation to undeath was to enable the race to combat the Jaghut, a long-lived companion race who at times enslaved the Imass. The three hundred thousand years of their history has been dominated by the pursuit and elimination of all the living Jaghut, tracking and eliminating them throughout the Warrens and on the Malazan world.
[edit] Interactions with the Malazan Empire
The T'lan Imass' main connection to the Malazan Empire occurred when Kellanved found and sat on the First Throne, essentially becoming the ruler and commander of the entire race. Since then, the Imass have been involved in several military campaigns, most notably on the Seven Cities continent. After Kellanved's death, the Imass have been mostly uninvolved in the actions of the Empire.
[edit] Appearances in the Novels
The T'lan appear in all of the novels except for Midnight Tides. The most significant appearances are in Memories of Ice where the appearance of a mortal Bonecaster (shaman), in connection with Itkovian, the Shield Anvil of Fener, allows the T'lan to be freed from the emotional consequences of the ritual of Tellan, and begin a life ruled by the (their original gods before "the fall") twin wolf gods, Fanderay and Togg.
| The Malazan Book of the Fallen |
| Gardens of the Moon | Deadhouse Gates | Memories of Ice | House of Chains | Midnight Tides | The Bonehunters | Reaper's Gale | Toll the Hounds | Dust of Dreams | The Crippled God | Blood Follows | The Healthy Dead |The Lees of Laughter's End |
| Related Novels |
| Night of Knives | Return of the Crimson Guard |
| Related Pages |
| The Malazan Empire |
