High House Shadow

The High House Shadow is a Realm and House of the Deck of Dragons in Steven Erikson's fantasy series Malazan Book of the Fallen.

Structure

King

Shadowthrone/Ammanas is the ruler of the Shadow Realm. He appears like translucent shadows, vaguely human in form, perching on a silver-tipped cane, hooded, preventing view of his eyes. He was once known as Kellanved, Emperor of the Malazan Empire. His partner is Cotillion, who is the Assassin of the House.

Queen

As of Toll the Hounds, no-one occupies the position of Queen of High House Shadow. Shadowthrone muses about getting a Queen, but has not done so.

Assassin

Also known as the Rope, Cotillion occupies the position of Assassin, and is Patron of Assassins. In the book Memories of Ice, the Bridgeburners squad mage Spindle mentions that the face on the card of Assassin in the Deck of Dragons is changed to that of Kalam Mekhar.

Magi

The Magi is Iskaral Pust, a Dal Honese High Priest of the Tesem Temple of Shadow. Tesem was once a monastery sanctified to the Queen of Dreams. He first appeared on his black mule sitting cross-legged on a high wood saddle, shrouded in a ragged, dirt-stained telaba. He has a large hawk nose, a grey, wiry beard, a tattooed bald pate, and skin the color of rust. And to oppose all other features, a row of perfect white teeth showed in his grimace. He speaks his mind literally, seemingly without realizing it. Is it a ploy? Mogora, a D'ivers who becomes spiders and a Witch, also Dal Honese, is his wife. Despite his peculiar and often harmless personality, his position is not just for show, as he easily fended off the attacks of Dejim Nebrahl in The Bonehunters.

Knight

In The Bonehunters it was revealed that the renegade Tiste Edur Trull Sengar was the Knight of High House Shadow.

Hounds

The seven Hounds of Shadow are gigantic hounds with yellow eyes. They know that the Tiste Edur are their true masters, but do not necessarily fight for or against them. To truly command them, one must sit in the Throne of Shadow.

• Rood: Pack leader with mangy brown, scarred fur.
• Doan: Slain by Anomander Rake and imprisoned in Dragnipur, then released by Ganoes Paran into a fragment of Kurald Emurlahn. First born to the pack’s leader, Rood, and its first mate, Pallick. Dark grey with one blue and one yellow eye.
• Baran: Lean and scarred, with shoulders level to a man's chest, Baran has mottled brown and tan fur.
• Blind: Wide and heavy, with fur and eyes both white, Blind possesses no pupils and can see things the other hounds do not. Blind is the mate of Baran and mother of Gear.
• Gear: Gear is the offspring of Blind and Baran.
• Shan: Long, black and sleek, Shan's eyes glow red.
• Ganrod: Slain by Anomander Rake and imprisoned in Dragnipur, then released by Ganoes Paran into a fragment of Kurald Emurlahn.

Apprentice

As of Reaper's Gale, the position of Apprentice of High House Shadow is empty.

Mistress

As of Reaper's Gale, the Mistress is unknown. It has been claimed by some readers that the Mistress is Vorcan Radok, the Master of Darujhistan's Guild of Assassins.

Realm of Shadow

Meanas is the Warren of Shadow and Illusion, the mortal form of the Elder Warren of Shadow, Kurald Emurlahn. The Realm of Shadow is a confusing place, ever shifting, and the paths within it are littered with various prisoners who beg for mercy from their eternal imprisonment. It is ruled by the Ascendant known as Ammanas or Shadowthrone, and his companion Cotillion, the Patron of Assassins.

Meanas is different from most warrens open to humans in that it was not created from the blood of K'rul. It was formed from a fragment of an Elder Warren prior to K’rul’s sacrifice and originally aspected to the Tiste Edur. It is open to humans only because of the presence of the human king on its throne.

The Throne of Shadow had been unoccupied for millennia after the shattering of Kurald Emurlahn, and the entire Warren is said to now be human-aspected due to the Throne being occupied by Ammanas, who was once the mortal man Kellanved, the Malazan Emperor.

Along with Shadowthrone and Cotillion, there were also seven Hounds of Shadow, though two are believed to have become imprisoned in the sword Dragnipur in Gardens of the Moon.

Cotillion and Shadowthrone and outsiders see the realm as shadows with it being nearly barren. The children, Apt, and the Hounds see a landscape with a variety of flora and fauna.

The Shadow Army

In addition to its rulers, the Shadow Realm contains an army of children saved from crucifixion by Apt, a matron Aptorian demon of Shadow. They were trained by Minala and protected the First Throne from the armies of the Tiste Edur.