Map of Genabackis with sites of battles marked
Detail of northwest Genabackis
The Mott Campaign was a military operation during the conquest of Genabackis by the Malazan Empire. Amongst the Malazan forces involved were the Malazan 2nd, 3rd,[1] and 5th Armies.[2] Their most well-known opponents were the Mott Irregulars, [3] the Crimson Guard, Anomander Rake and his Tiste Andii, and the Eleint, Silanah.[4]
History[]
The campaign began in 1156 BS when the 2nd and 3rd Armies, fresh from the capture of Malyntaeas, made landfall on the southern shore of the Malyn Sea. Two days south of the landing, the Bridgeburners were given their first supplies of Moranth munitions after a successful treaty was concluded with the Moranth.[1] Whiskeyjack ordered his Sappers, Fiddler and Hedge, to begin experimenting with the new devices.[1]
The city of Oraz fell to the Malazans first and the city of Mott quickly surrendered. Then High Fist Dujek Onearm sent the Bridgeburners into Mott Wood to root out the renegades who threatened the supply lines of his armies as they readied to move inland.[3] Thus began the nightmare of Mott Wood.[1]
The native Mott Irregulars ran circles around the Bridgeburners and Malazan troops for over a year and a half. Whenever the Irregulars chose to stand and fight, "it was as if some dark swamp god possessed them" and they bloodied the noses of the imperial soldiers.[3] The Gold Moranth sent to assist the Malazans fared no better.[3] The Malazans faced the Tiste Andii and Crimson Guard as well. Spinnock Durav recalled Silanah sending flames ripping down into the trees with a deafening concussion, killing countless creatures both friend and foe.[4] Just the passage of the ancient dragon over the treetops left her enemies quaking in terror.[5] Caught up in the destruction were a handful of their allies in the Crimson Guard and Mott Irregulars. The attack was halted by Cowl's sorcery, which sent the bleeding dragon back to Moon's Spawn. An enraged Anomander Rake hunted down Cowl and their sorcerous battle filled half the sky with mage-fire. It was not known who blinked first and yielded the field.[4]
Mage cadre commander Nedurian was a casualty of the fighting resulting in Tattersail's elevation.[6]
It was during this time that Fiddler and Hedge built a warped and misshapen table that was the scene of many heated Bridgeburner card games. The table was lost when the Mott Irregulars overran their camp and stole it.[7] It was also the campaign where Storo Matash's squad played games of Stones against the wood's defenders, calling their moves out into the night.[8]
Eventually, Dujek pulled the Bridgeburners out and the enemy warlord, Caladan Brood, brought the Irregulars into his own army.[3] It was likely that the Bridgeburners moved on to the Blackdog Campaign.[1]
At some point during the years-long Siege of Pale, Dujek briefly attached the Bridgeburners to the 5th Army while the Mott Campaign was still ongoing. They took some mercenaries prisoner in Greydog. It was during that time that Sorry joined them from fresh troops newly arrived from Nathilog.[2]
Notes and references[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Reaper's Gale, Chapter 17
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Gardens of the Moon, Chapter 4, UK MMPB p.159
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 Memories of Ice, Chapter 23, US SFBC p.837-838
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Toll the Hounds, Chapter 2, US SFBC p.74-75
- ↑ Toll the Hounds, Chapter 20
- ↑ Gardens of the Moon, Chapter 2, UK MMPB p.60/64
- ↑ Memories of Ice, Chapter 3
- ↑ Return of the Crimson Guard, Book 1 Chapter 3