Moak

"No wonder the Adjunct's in trouble, what with a whole damn army of cowardly whiners."

―Moak takes offense when Bottle refuses to eat his stew of rotten fish

Sergeant Moak was a medium infantryman in the 11th squad, 9th Company, 8th Legion of the Malaz 14th Army. He was described as a copper-haired and bearded Falari. A lance had opened a wound in his back from his shoulders to his tailbone. Despite the healer's best efforts, he still suffered from badly knitted muscles.

He was known to 'know' things and seemed to be mostly right in his uncanny knowledge. He thought a "real soldier" should be able to handle a bit of spoiled meat in their food.

Moak kept a fish spine in his belt pouch to pick his overlarge teeth.

Moak's squad

• Corporal Stacker
• Burnt
• Guano
• Mud
• Rove

In House of Chains

Moak's squad was part of Adjunct Tavore Paran's punitive expedition against the Army of the Apocalypse. On the road from Aren to Raraku, he, Burnt, and Stacker had done their share of the fighting, and their names were well known amongst the other soldiers in the legion.

In addition to possessing surprisingly incisive knowledge of the Adjunct's plans and strategy, Moak somehow knew that Fiddler was a former member of Onearm's Host and wanted by the Empress. He knew that Gesler and Stormy were Old Guard who had once served as underage Marines under Dassem Ultor, Urko, or Cartheron Crust. He knew that Borduke once threw a noble officer off a cliff near Karashimesh, but they could not prove it. He shared his knowledge only with Tugg and Sobelone, and demanded they keep their mouths shut.

Moak had also heard of a killer Heavy infantry soldier named Nefarias Bredd who had killed eighteen raiders in one night. He was uncertain of Bredd's company or legion.

In The Bonehunters

After the Battle of Raraku, Leoman led the Army of the Apocalypse westward to Y'Ghatan and the 14th Army followed. Upon reaching the outskirts of the city, Moak prepared a stew for his squad using a ripened fish he had carried for weeks. When his squad all "got the squats", he blamed it on their weak stomachs and was perturbed when Bottle chose not to have any of the leftovers. Moak suffered only from belches that smelled of rotting fish guts. He told Bottle to remind Fiddler that their wager still stood, but refused to tell Bottle what the wager was about.

In the hours before the Last Siege of Y'Ghatan, Moak engaged Sergeant Balm in a game of Troughs, but Balm soon became overwhelmed by "the Confusion", a pre-battle condition leaving him unclear who he was and what he was doing. Balm's corporal, Deadsmell, led him to safety from an angry Moak, who claimed Balm had cursed him and his squad since Moak had been winning. Stacker had to calm his sergeant.

Adjunct Tavore launched the attack on Y'Ghatan by sending the army's sappers to breach the city's wall under the cover of night. First into the city were the Malazan marines, followed quickly by the heavy and medium infantry. Barely a street in and fearing an ambush, Sergeant Gesler called up Moak's squad as well as Thom Tissy's sappers and Tugg's heavies to clear the surrounding buildings. In the fighting that followed, the poorly trained sappers misfired their munitions. One shrieking sapper exited the building fully aflame. As Moak's squad went to help him, the sapper's munitions satchel went off killing Moak and his entire squad.

Notes and references

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