Jaghut

Interpretation of a Jaghut Huntress by Corporal Nobbs

The Jaghut [Jag-goot] were a non-human Elder Race and one of the four founding intelligent races of the Malazan planet.

The term Jaghut had mostly degenerated in human use to Jhag or Shurl according to the scholar Mammot, although the latter term does not appear to have been used again in the books. Dorin Rav described having heard Jaghut referred to as Jag in stories.

The Jaghut were known to humans mostly in legend. Temper recalled tales of Jaghut plying their targets with subtle arguments and poisoned gifts. The phrase "dealing with a Jaghut" connotated deceit and betrayal.

History

Interpretation of a Jaghut by McDev

They were solitary, powerful beings who once dominated much of the world after the eradication of the K'Chain Che'Malle. The younger Jaghut race was said to have once been ruled over by the K'Chain Che'Malle much as the Jaghut Tyrants later had ruled over the Imass.

Mammot informed his nephew Crokus Younghand that three races had struggled for dominion in the early days of the world. The first to bow out and disappear were the Forkrul Assail. The other two races were the Jaghut and the T'lan Imass, who warred endlessly. The Jaghut ultimately failed because they were a race of individuals who fought each other as much as their racial enemies.

Anatomy

The Jaghut were taller and broader than humans, with tusked lower jaws. Their skin was grey-green and hair was generally grey. Their fingers were longer and possessed more joints than a human finger. As confirmed in The Bonehunters, the Jaghut possessed two hearts, and possibly duplicates of other organs, in a manner similar to that of the Thelomen Toblakai. The Jaghut were extremely long-lived (essentially immortal in the sense that they would not die except through violence or accident), and capable of inter-breeding with humans and Thelomen Toblakai. Whether the offspring were viable was unknown. They were adapted to living in a cold climate, and generally preferred an Arctic environment.

Magic

The Jaghut primarily used the Warren of Omtose Phellack, an Elder racial Warren that allowed them control over vast areas and was generally tuned towards the magics of ice, cold, stasis and preservation. The Warren could also produce effects like 'stagnation', isolating whole continents from the rest of the world. In one case, this prevented the magic of the continent of Lether from evolving for over 300,000 years.

Culture

The Jaghut did not gather in locations or create communities. They saw "community" as leading to power over others (by the civic leaders), leading to dominance, hunger for power, slavery and a downward spiral into tyranny over all other living things. Instead, they preferred solitary towers as dwellings, usually living with only their closest family. Despite this tendency towards isolation, their parental instincts were very strong, which resulted in a scaling up of conflicts with the T'lan Imass - if a parent was attacked, their spouse and children would come to fight with them, and vice versa. This could result in considerable devastation due to the scales of sorceries involved.

The exception to the rules of isolation were the rare Jaghut known as Tyrants, for whom conquest and rule was an unslakable thirst. These individuals would use their powerful magical capabilities to enslave and dominate other races. In Toll the Hounds, it was hinted that Jaghut had once had great civilizations. The reasons for their fall and why the Jaghut lived in solitude were voluntary, after discovering the ills of civilization itself.

As a result of the Tyrant Raest's actions in this regard, the Imass underwent the ritual of Tellann and became undead, and were thenceforth known as the T'lan Imass. For the battle between the Imass and the Jaghut, there was never any quarter given - if any trace of the Jaghut was found by the Imass, a pogrom was raised in which several clans converged on the site until their army was wiped out or all of the Jaghut were slain.

Language

For a list of known Jaghut words and phrases as well as translations please visit the Jaghut Language page.

Interactions with the Malazan Army

During the main events of the "Malazan Book of the Fallen", Jaghut were almost unknown except as legends. The rare individuals who had survived the pogroms of the T'lan Imass existed in solitude and hiding, using Warrens other than Omtose Phellack or restricting their activities to other realms where the T'lan Imass could not find them.

In Gardens of the Moon

One of the first interactions with the Malazan Empire came with the awakening of a bound Tyrant by the Imperial Adjunct and the First Sword of the T'lan Imass, Onos T'oolan. The pair roused the Tyrant in an effort to produce mutually assured destruction between Raest and the lord of the Tiste Andii, Anomander Rake.

In Memories of Ice

A psychologically abused Jaghut led the Pannion Domin against the free cities on Genabackis and was contested by Caladan Brood's Host and the outlawed 2nd Army of the Malazan Empire. This conflict devastated most of the 2nd Army. Ganoes Paran and Quick Ben of the Bridgeburners made contact when reuniting this Jaghut with his sister.

In Toll the Hounds

It was revealed that the Lord of Death, Hood, was a Jaghut.

In Dust of Dreams and The Crippled God

An undead army of fourteen Jaghut, noted as the only army of Jaghut ever, travelled east to answer the call of Hood; in battle they were filled with laughter at the grim humor they found in war and death. They killed "over a hundred" Nah'ruk and were present at the Battle of the Spire where they fought alongside Onos T'oolan and the T'lan Imass as allies. Both undead races were rejuvinated by the blood of the war god Fener, allowing them a chance to rebuild their respective civilizations in peace once more in the aftermath of the war.

In Night of Knives

Jhenna, the Jaghut guardian of the Deadhouse, claimed that the Jaghut had raised humans "out of the muck" and served as their teachers. They shielded humanity from the K'Chain Che'Malle and gave them fire.

In Assail

A Jaghut matriarch was discovered to be the distant ancestor to many of the humans on Assail. Their mixed blood made them legitimate targets for extermination in the eyes of the Kerluhm T'lan Imass.

In Forge of Darkness

The ancient Jaghut homeland was the Jaghut Odhan of the Jaghut Realm, an area to the far west of Kurald Galain, the home of the Tiste and of the city of Kharkanas. The Jaghut had once inhabited a grand city, Omtose Phellack (located in the center of the Jaghut Odhan), which had out-shone anything like it in the rest of the existing realms. The Jaghut, however, eventually came to the conclusion that their city and their civilization were a bad mistake. The Jaghut had been led to this "brutal truth" by the Lord of Hate (an influential Jaghut) who had made clear what he felt to be the inevitable societal dead end that the Jaghut faced. This resulted in the Jaghut (except for the Lord of Hate) abandoning the city of Omtose Phellack and to the majority of the Jaghut dispersing far and wide. A number of Jaghut still remained in the Jaghut Odhan, however, residing in their ancestral keeps and holds.

It was said that (up until this point) the Jaghut had never fielded an actual army because they thought armies were "anathema" and they had no "taste for war". When threatened by would-be enemies, the Jaghut temporarily banded together in the number deemed necessary, then dealt with the situation as deemed appropriate. The Jaghut then disbanded when the threat had been removed.

In Fall of Light

Subsequent to the events chronicled in Forge of Darkness, three Jaghut paid a visit to Gothos, the Lord of Hate - the purpose of the meeting being to argue the pros and cons regarding the Jaghut joining the army of Hood, whose aim was to wage war on death. At the end of an extended discussion, the three Jaghut were not only sure that they had successfully met every argument Gothos might have had, but were also sure that Jaghut were the obvious officers to serve in the army under Hood's command.

Returning in triumph to the Jaghut Odhan encampment of Hood's army, the three Jaghut shared with Hood these developments, assuring him that they, themselves, amongst other Jaghut - would march with Hood when the "time" arrived. Hood left to talk with Gothos, leaving the three Jaghut to mind his heatless campfire.

All fourteen Jaghut, plus Hood, were last seen alive in the encampment of Hood's army.

Descendants

• Icebloods – humans with some Jaghut blood living in the continent of Assail.
• Jhag – half-blooded Jaghut living in the Jhag Odhan area of the Seven Cities continent.

Notes and references

List of abbreviations • Paginations • How to reference an article