Goss was sergeant of the 17th Squad, 4th Company, 2nd Division of the Malazan Fourth Army and veteran of Seven Cities.[1] His nickname was Hunter, which for the old veterans was code for a Claw. Because he had served all his life, was nearing his fiftieth year, and was new to the regulars the rumour was he had been a Claw before his current assignment.[2][3] Even the squad's killer, the scout Faro, deferred to Goss' judgement.[4]
Goss was a burly man with eyes nested in wrinkles and bristly salt and pepper hair.[5][6]
In Stonewielder[]
Goss accompanied the Malazan Expeditionary Force to the Lands of Fist to bring the renegade Malazan 6th Army to heel. During the marine assault on the fortifications of Aamil, Goss coordinated his squad's attack up the Moranth siege tower and into the city's streets. He delivered them from a potentially deadly courtyard ambush by moving everyone into a multi-story residential home and ordering his saboteurs to rain Moranth munitions down onto their attackers. His squad soon joined Adjunct Kyle in an attack on a temple of the Lady. Only the Adjunct's mystic blade saved the squad from a horrible death at the hands of the goddess' priests.[7]
After fighting their way across Skolati, the 17th Squad was one of those chosen to take a key bridge over the Ancy River below the fortress at Three Sisters. Goss and his squad made their way into the bridge's understructure during the night before discovering it had been booby trapped with Moranth munitions. Before the saboteurs could disable the explosives they were spotted by enemy troops and forced to fight. Once atop the bridge Goss' squad joined Adjunct Kyle in the attack. By day's end the bridge was in Malazan hands.[8]
During the long stalemate at the bridge, Goss admitted to his squad that he had once been a member of the Claw but had left because of politics. He joined the regulars "for some honest fighting."[9] Divisional Fist Rillish Jal Keth chose Goss to accompany him to a parley with elements of the Roolian nobility looking to declare their neutrality.[10]
The army eventually made its way across Rool, and the 17th Squad was one of several placed on garrison duty in Banith under Fist Rillish. While the rest of the army pursued Overlord Yeull 'ul Taith to Korel Island, Fist Rillish accompanied the 6th and 17th Squads on a secret mission to Thol. The combined squads invaded a network of caves in search of a fragment of the Lady defended by priests and the Stormguard. The squads were slowly whittled away and separated by cave-ins and ambushes.[11][12]
Goss was present during the final battle against twenty Chosen and two priests. During the battle, he hacked at two of the Stormguard and was so surprised they did not fall he left himself open to be stabbed in the stomach. Goss survived the wound.[13]
Notes and references[]
- ↑ Stonewielder, Chapter 10, US HC p.515
- ↑ Stonewielder, Chapter 2, US HC p.87-88
- ↑ Stonewielder, Chapter 3, US HC p.174
- ↑ Stonewielder, Chapter 3, US HC p.175
- ↑ Stonewielder, Chapter 3, US HC p.174
- ↑ Stonewielder, Chapter 8, US HC p.406
- ↑ Stonewielder, Chapter 4, US HC p.250-261
- ↑ Stonewielder, Chapter 6, US HC p.317-330
- ↑ Stonewielder, Chapter 9, US HC p.462
- ↑ Stonewielder, Chapter 9, US HC p.467-468
- ↑ Stonewielder, Chapter 10, US HC p.526-527
- ↑ Stonewielder, Chapter 11, US HC p.557
- ↑ Stonewielder, Chapter 12, US HC p.610/613