Bellam Nom, of House Nom, was described as being fifteen years of age as of Toll the Hounds and still struggling with the awkwardness of his latest growth spurt that left him all elbows and knees.[1] A distant relative of Rallick and Torvald, he was a student of Murillio at the duelling school founded by Stonny Menackis.[1]
Bellam looked much like Rallick.[1] Goruss was his uncle.[2]
He had sharp ears and a natural talent for lip reading. People had a hard time keeping their secrets around him.[3]
In Toll the Hounds[]
Murillio found Bellam to be the only worthy student at the duelling school. Unlike the others, Bellam wanted to be taught and approached his studies with determination. As a result, Murillio gave him a level of instruction beyond the boy's peers. When Stonny balked at the extracurricular training, Bellam assured her his father would pay for the additional expense.[1] Although he did not know Stonny's son, Harllo, had gone missing, Bellam recognised something was terribly wrong at the school. Stonny was obviously broken, leaving Murillio's love for her shattered, and Bellam lingered in the school's shadowed hallways in an attempt to overhear the cause.[4]
Seeing Murillio stalk off from the school as if a decision had been made, Bellam followed him to the house of Bedek and Myrla, Harllo's adopted parents. Bellam overheard Murillio wring a confession out of Snell, regarding the older boy beating Harllo and leaving him for dead in the hills outside the city. As Murillio pondered over where to look for Harllo, Bellam revealed himself, pledging to remain with Snell and his sisters until their parents returned. Murillio thanked him and left, while Bellam allowed Snell to twist in fear over what would happen to him.[5]
As soon as he was able, Snell fled the house, but was quickly caught by Bellam who delivered him to his uncle, Goruss. Snell thought Goruss a child-stealer, and Bellam had the terrified boy thrown into a cage in an unlit cellar. Then he asked Goruss, who was only a recruiter for the shipping industry, to keep Snell just "long enough to shit everything out of him."[6][7]
When their parents did not return, Bellam left Mew and Hinty with Stonny Menackis so he could follow after Murillio. He chastised Stonny for allowing so many people to step in and do what she should have been doing for herself. And he told her she owed Bedek and Myrla the responsibility of looking after their children as they had done for her. The knowledge that Harllo had been found and the blunt and honest words accomplished what Gruntle could not--she finally broke out of her despair.[8]
By then, Murillio was already dead at the hands of Gorlas Vidikas, the mine's co-owner. When Gorlas ordered Harllo brought before him, Bainisk thought the boy would be killed, so he and Harllo tried to escape through the unexplored tunnels. Bainisk perished in the attempt, but Harllo was pursued by Venaz, an older boy who wished to see him dead. Once they were above ground, Bellam came upon Venaz strangling Harllo and tackled him. In the brawl that followed, Venaz got the upper hand on Bellam, breaking his left arm and nearly killing him before Harllo struck his tormenter down with a rock to the head.[9]
Bellam returned Harllo to the care of his mother, Stonny Menackis.[10] Two streets from his own home, Bellam was caught by his uncles, Rallick and Torvald. They chastised the heir to House Nom for disappearing and forsaking his responsibilities to the family. As the two men escorted him home, they could barely keep straight faces when they swore they had never been so wayward in their own youths.[11]
In The God is Not Willing[]
Some ten years after the events of The Crippled God, Bellam Nom was the tall and easily recognised Sergeant of the 23rd Squad of Malazan Marines in the XIVth Legion's Fourth Company. During the Battle of Silver Lake, Battalion Commander Daisy Broke placed him in nominal command of the 8th, 11th, and 23rd Squads as they reinforced Captain Gruff's 2nd Company. As they were without a traditional captain, the three squads were jokingly referred to as "Pirates" by Sergeant Drillbent. Nom personally supervised the 23rd's support of Sergeant Spindle's 4th Squad.[12] His outcome was unknown at the book's end.
Notes and references[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Toll the Hounds, Chapter 15, US SFBC p.623-624
- ↑ Toll the Hounds, Chapter 17, UK HB p.629
- ↑ Toll the Hounds, Chapter 17, US SFBC p.669
- ↑ Toll the Hounds, Chapter 17, US SFBC p.668-669
- ↑ Toll the Hounds, Chapter 17, US SFBC p.669/679-682
- ↑ Toll the Hounds, Chapter 17, US SFBC p.685-689
- ↑ Toll the Hounds, Chapter 19, US SFBC p.789
- ↑ Toll the Hounds, Chapter 19, US SFBC p.788-790
- ↑ Toll the Hounds, Chapter 21, US SFBC p.858-861
- ↑ Toll the Hounds, Chapter 24, US SFBC p.1001-1002
- ↑ Toll the Hounds, Chapter 24, US SFBC p.997-998
- ↑ The God is Not Willing, Chapter 20, US HC p.384-385/388/391