Cord

Cord was sergeant of the 5th squad in the 2nd Company of the Ashok Regiment under Captain Kindly.

He was a Seven Cities native described as being dark-skinned, with a "scarred face beneath a bald, tattoo-stitched pate" and his smile, due to his gold teeth, was "a row of gleaming gold".

In House of Chains

Cord was stationed with the Ashok Regiment in Silver Lake on Genabackis. He and several others in his squad were under house arrest for drunkeness when Karsa Orlong attacked their garrison. The mage, Ebron, released and armed Cord and the other squad members and they were able to capture the rampaging Teblor. Afterwards, Cord had the slaver, Silgar, arrested after he attempted to bribe Cord for his slave's return.

As a response to rumours of rebellion on Seven Cities, Kindly's regiment was recalled back from Genabackis. Cord's squad took charge of bringing the prisoners, Karsa, Silgar, and Torvald Nom to Seven Cities for inprisonment in the Malazan Empire's Otataral mines. But in Tanys they separated to take the voyage in different ships.

Back in their homeland, Cord's company had come under siege in the ancient cliff-side fortress of B'ridys by Irriz and his Seven Cities renegades. After Captain Kindly and Lieutenant Pores disappeared whilst exploring the fortress, Cord, as the only sergeant left, took over command of the remaining fifty-one soldiers. Cord, the mage Ebron and Bell, observed as Kalam Mekhar gave mercy to three of the rebels, who had been poisoned with Tralb, and climbed down by rope to make contact with him. Kalam demanded the mage eliminate the poisoned water and agreed to get them Irriz in exchange. He accomplished that with the help of an Azalan demon who grabed Irriz and killed the rest of the rebels in the space of less than a minute. Afterwards, inside the fortress, Cord put Kalam in charge of his own old squad which consisted of Shard, Bell and Limp. Cord told Kalam to make his report later and not to give him unasked for advice. Kalam retorted that he would only follow Cord's orders to a degree.

Cord showed Kalam the well where Kindly and Pores had disappeared. When Cord again emphasized that he was in charge, Kalam decided he had had enough and pulled rank on him. Not only as a corporal in the Bridgeburner but he resurrected his old status as a Claw leader and took over command from Cord. The sergeants reaction seemed to indicate that he had deliberately goaded Kalam to do just that. Kalam than ordered Cord to go and make everyone ready to leave the fortress. Alerted by noise, the sergeant returned to the well chamber to find Kalam, soaked through, lying on the floor. The Corporal told Cord not to draw from the now blood-red well anymore. Cord left to get blankets and some of the others, amongst them the mage Ebron. Having established that Kalam had almost freed the demon at the bottom of the well and that once completely freed the demon would be pursuing Kalam, Ebron told Cord that they should make haste to get away as far as possible from the corporal. Kalam advised them to join the Malaz 14th Army, which was marching on Raraku, as Adjunct Tavore Paran could do with more veterans like them. As the army would have already left Aren, it would probably take them about a month to catch up with it. Cord wished Kalam luck.

In the aftermath of the Battle of Raraku, the regiment's 16 survivors ambushed and slew the sorceress, Fayelle, and a small band of Dogslayers. Then they fled for their lives from the onrushing waters that flooded Raraku.

In The Bonehunters

After the Battle of Raraku, the Ashok Regiment was incorporated into the 9th Company of the 8th Legion within the 14th Army. Cord's 5th squad remained intact although it was redesignated as the 7th squad. Some members of the new 7th squad still referred to themselves as the Ashok Regiment. Cord may have done the same as he still wore the old regiment's sigil on his battered leather armour.

Cord's 7th squad:

• Shard, Corporal
• Bell
• Ebron, mage
• Crump, Sapper
• Limp
• Sinn, mage

Leoman led the Army of the Apocalypse westward to Y'Ghatan and the 14th Army followed. Adjunct Tavore launched the Last Siege of 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 infantry. Fist Keneb then ordered Cord to lead the 9th Company's seventh through twelfth medium infantry squads into Y'Ghatan. Once inside the city, the Malazans immediately came under heavy attack by hidden swordsmen and archers. Cord's squad linked up with Mosel's heavy infantry following Fiddler's marines. He also sent Sinn back to Keneb to relay Fiddler's advice recommending leading their advance with sappers.

When enough Malazans were engaged in street fighting inside the city, Leoman sprung his trap. The city's olive oil-soaked buildings were set alight and the streets quickly became an inferno. Cord's squad fled the flames along with a mixed group of survivors from Sobelone's, Balm's, Fiddler's, Hellian's, and Gesler's squads. In the fighting that followed, Cord helped free Limp from beneath a collapsed stonework and attended to a wounded Uru Hela alongside Tulip. Bell perished tackling a suicidal fanatic who charged the collected squads while bearing oil and a torch.

He was among the small group of soldiers who survived Y'Ghatan by tunneling their way out from under the city. They spent three days crawling on their hands and knees through the dark led by Bottle and his rat. Unaware that any had survived, the 14th Army made haste for the Kokakal Sea to embark on Admiral Nok's ships and escape the Bluetongue Plague ravaging Seven Cities. Faradan Sort and Sinn remained behind and discovered the survivors as they crawled from the wreckage. Cord and the others made the long march west, finally catching up to the army on the coast.

After the encounter between Nok's Imperial Fleet and the Third Edur Imperial Fleet in the Kokakal Sea, Cord cursed out Crump and struck him in the side of the head for waving at the enemy Tiste Edur. Nok's fleet returned to Malaz City where the Adjunct met with Empress Laseen.

In Reaper's Gale

Adjunct Tavore clashed with Empress Laseen at Malaz City and took the Bonehunters rogue, following the Tiste Edur fleet that had ravaged Sepik back to Lether to invade the Letherii Empire. Cord and Balm's squads took the Silanda to the island of Second Maiden Fort off the coast of Lether to establish a headquarters and resupply base for the Adjunct. They found the island on the verge of being destroyed under a mountain of ice released by the collapse of Gothos' ancient Omtose Phellack ritual, but Sinn was able to hold the ice back with her magic until its force was spent. The island's self-declared ruler, Brullyg, gratefully welcomed the Malazans as royal guests until they placed him under house arrest and secretly took control of the island.

While Balm's squad kept Brullyg under guard and monitored the island from its only town, Cord's squad patrolled the island's coast and interior while awaiting Tavore's arrival. Masan Gilani, on loan from Urb's squad, spent most of her time in town, but sometimes accompanied Cord's squad as needed. Sinn served as a go-between, able to transport herself instantly across the island with her magic. Cord kept Crump busy digging deep holes to keep him out of trouble and with the hopes that one would eventually collapse and bury him alive. When Crump found a hoard of infant skulls that stirred to life, Cord hurriedly ordered him to fill all the holes in.

Meanwhile Tavore sent Fist Keneb's marines to the mainland, spreading them in isolated pairs of squads across thirty leagues of coast and burning their transport vessels behind them. The marines moved forward into the Letherii countryside towards Letheras, the capital, with orders to kill Edur by night and stir the occupied Letherii into rebellion. Each squad had a mage responsible for hiding their presence and confusing their enemies.

Shurq Elalle and her ship, Undying Gratitude, were caught up in the Malazan blockade of Second Maiden Fort's port. When Adjunct Tavore arrived with the rest of the Malazan fleet, she hired the pirate to guide them to the mouth of the Lether River leading to Letheras. Cord and Balm's squads made the journey on the Silanda and Masan Gilani kept Cord company as he manned the ship's steering oar. They noticed Kindly watching them from another ship and Cord claimed the captain was drooling. When Gilani expressed no romantic interest in Cord, he intrigued her by suggesting she take up with Crump. Then he excitedly began plotting a betting pool for how long it would be before she ran away screaming from the sapper.

The Adjunct's fleet made landfall near Letheras and defeated the city's Imperial Brigade. Meanwhile, Keneb's marines secretly entered the city to secure its western gate to allow the rest of the army entrance. Soon the City Garrison surrendered and the city fell.

In Dust of Dreams

(Information needed)

In The Crippled God

(Information needed)

Notes and references

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