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"The wise say that as vows are sworn, so are they reaped. I have found this to be true."
―Prince K'azz D'Avore[src]

Prince K'azz D'Avore [KAZ][1] was the commander of the Crimson Guard[2] and one of the great enemies of the Malazan Empire.[3] He was regarded as one of the greatest tacticians in the world and a charismatic leader.[4] He was amongst those commanders who were judged to be 'cold iron'.[5]

In Gardens of the Moon[]

The Crimson Guard under K'azz had allied with the Tiste Andii, the Rhivi, and Caladan Brood with a contingent of Barghast aiding them to repel the Malazan Empire from Genabackis.[6]

Brood arranged a meeting with K'azz to ask him for the services of the Sixth Blade of the Guard.[7] Fingers later told a bewildered Crokus Younghand that he was being protected care of Prince K’azz and Caladan Brood.[8]

In Memories of Ice[]

Brood told High Fist Dujek Onearm that Prince K’azz D'Avore and his forces would not be joining their alliance in the war against the Pannion Seer as the Crimson Guard was attending to internal matters for the time being.[9]

In House of Chains[]

Felisin Paran recalled how her sister Tavore had recreated historical battles with toy soldiers as a child. She specifically remembered Tavore recreating the clash between a Royal Untan army and the rebelling House of K'azz D'Avore. The D'Avore forces led by Kenussen D'Avore had been defeated at Ibilar Gorge.[10]

In Midnight Tides[]

The Crimson Guard mage, Corlo, told the Letherii Acquitor, Seren Pedac, that the cursed Emperor Kellanved had driven their prince, K'azz D'Avore, from his lands. The Guard had vowed to take them back. Pedac replied that the lands of the Emperor must be very far away as she had never heard of him.[11]

In Toll the Hounds[]

During a conversation between Kallor and Nimander Golit, the High King gave his opinion of each of his recent allies in the Genabackis Campaign against the Malazan Empire. When it came to K'azz D'Avore, he could only say, "I'll know more when I finally meet the bastard." Kallor and Prince K'azz had never met.[12]

The Tiste Andii High Priestess of Darkness in Black Coral told the Witch - Priestess of the Redeemer of the time when the delegates of the Free Cities had come to the Tiste Andii to bargain for their aid against the Malazans invading Genabackis. The delegate representing the Crimson Guard was a man pretending to be K'azz D'Avore.[13]

In Return of the Crimson Guard[]

K'azz had been the ruler of House D'Avore on the Quon Tali continent at the time the Malazan Empire invaded their lands on Stratem. K'azz and his retainers swore unrelenting and unending opposition to the Malazan Empire for so long as it should endure, creating what became known as the Crimson Guard. They had been forced to flee Stratem.

Prince k azz d avore by luztheren

K'azz D'Avore by Luztheren

Eventually the Malazans followed the Guard to Stratem,[14] and in the aftermath K'azz had been betrayed by Cowl and Skinner. They left him trapped on the continent of Jacuruku within the Dolmens of Tien. Traveller, Kyle, and Ereko sought to release him, but found only a dessicated corpse. After a distracting appearance by Kallor, K'azz joined them under the name of Jan and, as he looked much older than K'azz should have, he was not immediately recognized. Traveller seemed to have his suspicions about the supposed fisherman from the nearby village, but did not share them with the others.[15]

K'azz travelled with Kyle and the Lost Brothers to Quon Tali, where the rest of the Guard had gathered against the Malazans, via the Shadow Warren.[16][17] During their crossing of Shadow, Jan was prompted by Kyle into admitting that he was K'azz D'Avore although he had not technically lied as 'Jan' was part of his real name.[18]

When K'azz reached Li Heng, he denounced Skinner as 'Disavowed'.[19] The Avowed of the Crimson Guard then split, with just over twenty remaining loyal to K'azz, while forty left with Skinner after seeing that they couldn't defeat the Malazan armies. The remaining Avowed under Shimmer were told by Empress Laseen to leave Quon Tali. They were allowed to go peacefully, but were warned that they would be hunted down and killed should they ever return.[20]

In Blood and Bone[]

K'azz D'Avore by Shadaan

K'azz D'Avore by Shadaan

The Crimson Guard under K'azz were holed up in Haven Province on Stratem when they were offered a contract with Ardata. They travelled to Jacuruku where they encountered Skinner and the other Disavowed Crimson Guard Members. K'azz was told by T'riss that answers awaited him in Assail.

In Assail[]

K'azz travelled to Assail as part of Shimmer's expedition to find Cal-Brinn and the lost Fourth Company. As the Guard neared Cal-Brinn on the high peaks of the Salt Mountains, Iron Bars and other members of the Guard began to succumb to the extreme cold of Omtose Phellack. But K'azz, Shimmer, and Blues were not affected. K'azz asked Iron Bars and the others suffering to go back off the ice for their own safety. At the top of the mountain the remaining Guard learned from Silverfox and Kilava Onass that their vow had made them, in effect, T'lan Imass. Those who had not felt the cold had died sometime in the past and been brought back by the magic of the vow.[21] K'azz had died when Skinner and Cowl buried him alive on Jacuruku. Tolb Bell'al called the Guard the D'Avore T'lan Imass, the Red Clan. With this knowledge, a now united Guard returned to their home on Stratem.[22]

In Dancer's Lament[]

A young K'azz, in the company of his father, the Duke Courian D'Avore, arrived in front of the walls of Li Heng in order to safeguard the Prince of Gris, who had in turn come to hunt and kill the man beast, Ryllandaras.[23]

In Kellanved's Reach[]

(Information needed)

In Forge of the High Mage[]

Seeing the decimated numbers of the assembled Jhek of the Great Fenn Range, Blues could not help but compare them to the state of the Guard: scattered and without a homeland due to the Malazan Empire. His thoughts turned to the missing K'azz, who had promised the Guard they would return one day. Blues considered his commander's words might one day come true, if they could ever find him.[24]

Childhood[]

K'azz had spent his childhood as a hostage at the court of the state of Gris, where he had made good friends with the Prince of Gris, Malkir Herengar.[23]

Speculations[]

During Gardens of the Moon, K'azz is mentioned as physically leading the Crimson Guard as part of the alliance with Caladan Brood against the Malazans during the Genabackis Campaign. But in Return of the Crimson Guard it is revealed that K'azz has been missing for many years. This apparent continuity error is likely the reason the K'azz in Gardens of the Moon was revealed to be an imposter in an offhand remark by the High Priestess of Darkness in Toll the Hounds. In the same book, Kallor notes that he had never met Prince K'azz despite them serving as allies in the same campaign.

Notes and references[]

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