Lutes

Lutes was the squad healer for Borduke's 6th squad marines of the 9th Company, 8th Legion of the Malaz 14th Army.

He was described as "a quiet, small man".

In House of Chains

Lutes was part of Adjunct Tavore Paran's punitive expedition against the Army of the Apocalypse. On the road from Aren to Raraku, he and Balgrid helped Borduke inspect the entrants chosen for the 9th Company Scorpion fights. He was likely either the Holder or Trainer for the 6th squad's entrant, Mangonel.

When Leoman and his two hundred desert warriors launched a surprise pre-dawn attack on the Malazan camp, Borduke's squad grabbed their Crossbows and prepared to fire on the warriors as they rode past their tents. Maybe fired early, spoiling his squad's attack and allowing Corabb to make a spectacular escape. Lutes threw his crossbow to the ground in disgust, earning a rebuke from Borduke.

In The Bonehunters

After the Battle of Raraku, Leoman led the Army of the Apocalypse westward towards Y'Ghatan and the 14th Army followed. On the march, Lutes and Maybe found a huge scorpion of a type unknown to them to replace Mangonel. But before they could place Sparkle into the ring, Bottle informed them to spread the word that the competition was off. New company Captain Faradan Sort had deliberately crushed Joyful Union under her heel. Bottle advised them to get rid of the female scorpion before its distress scent attracted hundreds or thousands of aggressive males.

In the hours before Last Siege of Y'Ghatan, Lutes was unable to eat and felt sick. Maybe's talk of the dangers and bloody effects of misfired Moranth Mountains sent Lutes vomiting and the other members of Borduke's squad experienced "sympathetic heaves". Borduke stormed off in disgust.

Adjunct Tavore launched the attack on 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, with Borduke's squad first into the breach. But just as they cleared the wall's rubble, they were ambushed by archers and swordsmen. Borduke, Ibb, and Hubb were killed immediately. Fiddler launched a cusser from his Crossbow into the windows of the building above them that accidentally killed several members of Mosel's squad and left Balgrid deafened. Lutes was injured as well, although it was unclear whether from the ambush or Fiddler's attack. Lutes was pulled clear, then left to be retrieved by a following squad.

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. A small group of soldiers 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. Captain Sort reorganised the shattered soldiers, placing Lutes into Hellian's squad. On the long trek across the desert, Lutes and Deadsmell did their best to tend to the survivors.

In Reaper's Gale

Lutes was reassigned to Hellian's 8th squad. 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. Tavore invaded the Letherii Empire, burning her transport vessels on the shoreline and spreading the marines in isolated pairs of squads across thirty leagues of coast. The marines moved forward into the Letherii countryside 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.

On the night of the marines' landing on the coast, a drunken Hellian ordered her squad to each pack one of her casks of ale. Lutes noted that she was poisoning her liver and they briefly argued over whether the organ could be physically squeezed out to effect sobriety. Urb's 13th squad found them there and both squads remained together for the march inland. At Boaral Keep they ambushed a troop of unsuspecting Edur with Lutes delivering a spectacular crossbow shot to the chest of Preda Estav Kendar. Hellian told Tavos Pond that Lutes had balanced his weapon on her back as she vomited to make the shot. At Hellian's suggestion they acquired the Edur's mounts and pushed hard inland for the capital, fighting from tavern to tavern.

Contrary to the Adjunct's expectations, the Letherii soldiers did not use the Malazan invasion to turn against their Edur occupiers. As the marines neared Letheras fighting became more desperate, although Hellian earned the support of the Letherii slave and Indebted classes by changing tactics to slay the government officials, lawyers, and debt-holders in each village. Fiddler and Gesler's squads joined them at a tavern a day's travel from the capital just in time for a force of hundreds of Edur to envelop the village the Malazans occupied. Lutes was cut to pieces alongside Tavos Pond as the two soldiers tried to hold a flank in the mouth of an alleyway.

Notes and references

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