Torrent was a cocky young Awl warrior who followed Redmask when the latter returned to lead his tribesmen to war against the Letherii. He initially wore red face paint as a sign of solidarity with Redmask,[1] but was forced to give that up as it left him with a rash.[2]
In Reaper's Gale[]
During the Awl's march to meet the Letherii Eastern Army at Bast Fulmar, Torrent rode ahead to the south and discovered a trail left by a dozen or more men on foot. From the footprints left behind, they were tall, heavy, and wore moccasins. The Awl could not identify who walked their lands, but they were not Letherii.[3]
Redmask felt that the young man needed taking down a peg and kept him behind in the Awl camp before the Battle of Bast Fulmar. He assigned the youth, alongside Toc Anaster, to train the children in use of bows and knives to ready for their death nights. Torrent felt slighted and was especially angered to be left with Toc, whose courage he claimed was broken. He commanded Toc to stay out of his way. Toc reminded the youth he had once stood at former Awl war leader Hadralt's as Toc's Grey Swords had been betrayed and left to die. He warned Torrent that his next threat would be his last.[3]
On the night before the battle, Torrent watched in disgust as Toc inspected the stone-tipped arrows given him by Onos T'oolan. He claimed such primitive weapons were proof Toc would be of no use in battle. When the ancient Renfayar Elder visited Toc to accuse him of being a traitor in their midst, Torrent kept quiet watch outside the light of the campfire. The Elder let Toc know that Torrent expected him to break and run, and when he did, Torrent would chase him down and slay him. Toc said Torrent was welcome to try, but it was the Awl who would need the prove their courage at Bast Fulmar.[4] Torrent remained out of the action with Toc for the remainder of the Awl Campaign, embittered that he was not allowed to join the fighting and disparaging Toc's bravery.[5] He sneered at Toc's poetry, calling it "paint[ing]...words, like a woman."[6]
Redmask and his Awl were finally defeated at the Battle of Q'uson Tapi where Redmask was killed and his people essentially annihilated. As the fighting wound down, a large group of Letherii skirmishers descended on Toc, Torrent, and a score of Awl children to finish the massacre. Toc hastily handed over his satchel of poetry to Torrent and ordered him to lead the children to safety while he bought them time to escape. Torrent had not gone far before he noted the arrival of another unknown army approaching on the horizon. Thinking they were dead anyway, he turned to bear witness to Toc's final moments, and realised he had been wrong to doubt the man's courage. He was astonished when the Malazan managed to kill ten or more skirmishers before being cut down and his body mutilated. Onos T'oolan and the newly arrived White Face Barghast found Torrent weeping, and would have slain him and the Awl children but for the revelation that Toc had died to protect them. Torrent was terrified of the fearsome strangers, but joined their company.[7]
In Dust of Dreams[]
After the catastrophic defeat of the Awl, Torrent and the children were the only survivors. Toc sent them away to meet the arriving Barghast forces before his final charge against the Letherii. The children survived in the Barghast camp until Tool's clan of Imass attacked the Senan Barghast clan, while Torrent had accompanied Setoc into the eastern wilderness.
The two joined with Stavi, Storii, and Absi, along with Gruntle, Mappo, and the remaining crew of the Trygalle Trade Guild carriage they had ridden to Kolanse.
In The Crippled God[]
Torrent took upon himself the responsibility of guarding the twins Stavi and Storii, along with their younger brother Absi, from Olar Ethil. During their journey through a Warren, he briefly encountered Kruppe, who gave him a Rhivi bow and arrows with which to protect the children. During the Battle of the Spire, he broke both of his legs sliding down an Omtose Phellack glacier, but was able to trick Olar Ethil into standing on a rise of ice that gave him a clear shot at the Bonecaster. After her death, he slipped into a gaping crevasse and was not heard from again.
Notes and references[]
- ↑ Reaper's Gale, Chapter 10, US HC p.270
- ↑ Reaper's Gale, Chapter 16, US HC p.453
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Reaper's Gale, Chapter 10, US HC p.271
- ↑ Reaper's Gale, Chapter 12, US HC p.305-307
- ↑ Reaper's Gale, Chapter 16, US HC p.453
- ↑ Reaper's Gale, Chapter 22, US HC p.705
- ↑ Reaper's Gale, Chapter 22, US HC p.700-706