Malazan Wiki
Malazan Wiki

Midge Chanter was the brother of Tiny Chanter, captain of the Unreasoning Vengeance. Like all of his family, he was a huge, massively muscled man. The Chanter family appeared to have Tarthenal or Jaghut blood in their family line, and Midge may have had tusks like several of his kin.[1][2] Midge was the twin of Flea Chanter and there were rumors that their sire was a walrus.[3]

Midge wore clothes draped with walrus and seal skins.[4]

In The Lees of Laughter's End[]

Midge was on board the Chanter ship that pursued Captain Sater and her crew of ex-Chanter garrison renegades on board the stolen Suncurl. He and his kin sought the return of the Toll's City treasury as well as bloody revenge. They caught sight of the Suncurl just as its shaken and savaged crew finished dealing with the dual threats of a murderous lich and six demonic statues.[5]

In The Wurms of Blearmouth[]

The Unreasoning Vengeance clashed with the Suncurl in a terrific battle during a rainstorm. The already damaged Suncurl wrecked on a reef near Spendrugle and Midge and the remaining Chanters pursued the few survivors into town. His brother Tiny was ready to kill everyone in Spendrugle in order to sate his vengeance.[6] The Chanters planned to begin their murder spree at the King's Heel tavern, but were convinced to sit down for a meal by proprietor Feloovil Generous.[7] When the tavern was attacked by Red, the D'ivers lizard cat, a wild melee erupted. Flea and Lesser Chanter and many tavern regulars were killed before Tiny beheaded Witch Hurl.[8] The Chanters then made their way to Wurms Keep to murder the town's lord. There Midge's brother Scant spied the deadly demonic cookies baked by the necromancer Bauchelain. They excitedly descended upon the treats, but it was not revealed which Chanters may have eaten them and perished.[9]

In Crack'd Pot Trail[]

Midge, Tiny, Flea, and Relish Chanter joined a caravan travelling along the Cracked Pot Trail in order to pursue Bauchelain and Korbal Broach. When the caravan ran out of food and started killing and butchering their fellow travelers, Midge happily participated. He enjoyed helping Tiny torment the group of artists chosen to be sacrificed for the caravan's meals and making them perform in competition for the right to live another day.[10] Suspecting that the carriage of Dantoc Calmpositis actually contained Bauchelain and Korbal Broach, Midge and his brothers attacked. The carriage went out of control, dragging the brothers over a cliff. Midge and Flea appeared to die on the rocks below, but Tiny's body was not found.[11]

In The Fiends of Nightmaria[]

Midge ultimately survived the dire events of the Cracked Pot Trail and arrived safely at the city of Farrog. He and brothers, Tiny and Flea, were troubled when sister Relish left them behind to travel with the assassin, Avas Didion Flicker.[12] Sometime near the conclusion of the 'Festival of Flowers and Sunny Days', Midge was arrested on the orders of the new King of Farrog, the usurper, regicide, and necromancer, Bauchelain the First. Midge (together with six other Cracked Pot Trail survivors - i.e., Apto Canavalian, Brash Phluster, Flea, Tiny, Steck Marynd, and Tulgord Vise) was taken to a torture chamber in the crypts of the Royal Palace of Farrog. There, the seven survivors were tortured in rotation on the rack by the Royal Torturer, Binfun, in preparation for their execution.[13] Ultimately, the prisoners were able to escape with the aid of Seneschal Shartorial Infelance, who was smitten with Steck Marynd.[14][15] She returned their weapons and they were soon wandering the dungeon tunnels.[16]

At one point, Midge and the others had a mayhem-filled encounter with a group of thieves--the 'Party of Five'--who were searching the tunnels for their imprisoned Guild Mistress, Dam Loudly Heer. Midge lost his right eye in the brawl.[17] The Seneschal brought them to the Royal Apothecary for some badly-needed healing, but they were ambushed there by thirty-two of Bauchelain's demons.[18] Apto fled and did not return.[19] After surviving the melee, Midge attempted to replace his missing eye with one taken from the demons. He insisted the goat-like orb would allow him to see "demon things" once he could get it to work. The group moved on to confront Bauchelain and Korbal Broach in their throne room while Brash Phluster lingered behind to leave the palace on his own.[20]

Bursting into the throne room, they found only Demon Prince Flail Their Limbs. He informed them that Bauchelain and Korbal Broach had already fled before the oncoming Nightmarian army, which planned to sack the city. Before departing the prince warned the group that Bauchelain had left behind a dangerous demonic mouse on the throne as his heir. Determined to destroy any minion of the necromancer, the skeptical Nehemothanai ignored the advice and prepared to rush the mouse. When the doors to the throne room slammed all around them, a startled Steck Marynd accidentally loosed his quarrel at the mouse and unleashed mayhem.[21] From the street outside, Brash saw the Royal Palace collapse.[22] The ultimate fate of Midge and the others was not given.

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