Scara Bandaris or Scabandari Bloodeye [SCAB-an-dair-ee],[3] also known as Father Shadow,[1] was originally a Tiste Edur. He was a Soletaken Eleint.
Scabandari was described, in his Tiste Edur form as having skin the shade of hammered iron, long grey hair, a gaunt, aquiline face with hard, and close-set eyes. He had a broad, downturned mouth with no hint of laugh lines, and a high, unlined brow marked by livid white diagonal scars across his otherwise dusky skin.[4] He was a head or more shorter than the Tiste Andii, Silchas Ruin.[5]
In his Eleint (dragon) form, he was said to have vast, iron-hued wings and ice-blue eyes.[6]
Scabandari wore a leather harness bearing his two-handed sword, a brace of long-knives at his hip, and a sorcerous, shadow-etched dagger concealed in his left boot. Hanging from his shoulders was a scaled cape made from the skin of a K'Chain Che'Malle Matron.[7]
In Midnight Tides[]
Shortly after the sundering of Kurald Emurlahn, Scabandari and Silchas Ruin invaded the Malazan world with an army of two hundred thousand Tiste Edur and four hundred thousand Tiste Andii. They passed through a violent rent into northern Lether where they faced a K'Chain Che'Malle army of sixty thousand K'ell Hunters and four K'Chain Nah'ruk Skykeeps. Scabandari and Silchas used the warrens of Starvald Demelain, Kurald Emurlahn, and Kurald Galain while in their Soletaken forms to knock the skykeeps out of the sky. The Tiste Edur commander held his troops back while Silchas' Andii perished in great numbers before the K'ell Hunters.[8]
After defeating the K'Chain Che'Malle, Ruin bestowed Scabandari with the name 'Bloodeye' for the blood that stained his vision. He also claimed that Scabandari had riven Kurald Emurlahn with his own hand. Scabandari responded by betraying the Andii, stabbing Ruin in the back with a shadow-etched dagger and imprisoning him in an Azath House. The survivors of Ruin's army were slain as Scabandari made plans to conquer the Malazan world.[9]
The Tiste Edur leader thought Ruin the last of Mother Dark's sons. Anomander Rake had cut ties with his kin and vanished while Scabandari claimed to have secretly been the hand that caused Andarist to surrender his power in grief. Unbeknownst to him, Rake had reached the Malazan world before him and was amongst the world's earlier Andii settlers.[10]
Scabandari's arrival and treachery were witnessed by Gothos and Mael. Mael made an alliance with Kilmandaros to slay Scabandari and scatter his army.[11] Kilmandaros eventually tracked down the Tiste Edur commander and shattered his skull.[12] Meanwhile, Menandore and Sukul Ankhadu captured his daughter, Sheltatha Lore, and planned to inter her alongside Ruin.[13]
The true story of Scabandari's treachery was lost or obscured in Tiste Edur tradition. Naming him Father Shadow, his people elevated him to godhood and recast Silchas Ruin as 'the Betrayer' who had "sought to murder Father Shadow at their very moment of triumph."[14] Father Shadow had been able to overcome and bury Brother Dark much as he captured and imprisoned Brother Light on the distant moon.[15]
Father Shadow's true fate was secret knowledge passed down among the Tiste Edur widows. Uruth Sengar revealed the truth to her son, Fear, and sent him to the Kaschan Trench with his brothers, Trull and Rhulad. There, they discovered Scabandari's Eleint skeleton. Fear revealed that Scabandari's defeat of the K'Chain Che'Malle had driven the dying race to seek vengeance on the Tiste, and they sent their Kaschan sorcery into Kurald Galain like an all-consuming plague. The gates between the warren of Darkness and the other realms were sealed while Mother Dark was driven into the Abyss. She would eventually be consumed there along with Light, Dark, and Shadow, leading to the end of existence. The Elder Gods and Eleint were outraged and tracked down Scabandari and murdered his corporeal body. Then his spirit was caged within a prison of eternal pain. The Tiste Edur Warlock King, Hannan Mosag, also knew the truth and sought to avenge his god.[16]
The Warlock King's plans ultimately fell to the wayside as the Crippled God elevated the more pliable Rhulad to Hannan Mosag's place. After the Edur conquered Letheras and Rhulad proclaimed himself emperor of the Letherii Empire, his brother, Fear, left his side to begin his own quest to find Father Shadow and free the Edur from the Crippled God's influence.[17]
In The Bonehunters[]
The imprisoned Eleint, Ampelas, Eloth, and Kalse, discussed the rivalry between their kind and the Soletaken Eleint with Cotillion. When Cotillion brought up Scabandari Bloodeye, the Eleint were surprised he was familiar with the name. Cotillion asked if that was because they had killed him so long ago. Kalse denied Cotillion's theory and revealed that Scabandari's soul remained alive, but in torment. The one who shattered his skull and so destroyed his body had no allegiance to the Eleint or anyone but herself.[18] Eloth went on to reveal that Scabandari had murdered the royal line of the Edur, spilled draconean blood in the heart of Kurald Emurlahn, and opened the first fatal wound that led to the Warren's demise.[19]
Silchas Ruin had betrayed Mother Dark to ally with Scabandari and the two fled the war amongst the Tiste, taking their legions through the gates to the Malazan world. After Scabandari's betrayal, Ruin's surviving Andii fled and found sanctuary in the caves deep below the Bluerose Mountains where they founded the Kingdom of Bluerose.[20]
In Reaper's Gale[]
Shortly after Scabandari's betrayal of Silchas Ruin, Mael had bargained with Gothos to seal the destruction of the battle against the K'Chain Che'Malle beneath a layer of ice. As the ritual took hold, the Jaghut followed the sounds of battle to where Mael and Kilmandaros had defeated and subdued Scabandari Bloodeye. Scabandari's dragon form crouched in agony with splintered ribs, a shattered wing half torn away, and a hind limb clearly broken with bones protruding. Before Kilmandaros could deliver a killing blow to Scabandari, Mael intervened, asking Gothos to place Scabandari's soul in a Finnest. Otherwise, with Gothos' ritual in place, Scabandari's soul would remain after death with nearly as much power as before. Gothos refused the request without first securing a debt from Mael and Kilmandaros, which he immediately invoked to acquire possession of the Finnest once it was occupied. The Jaghut promised to use the Finnest for something "curiously unpleasant".[21] Gothos ultimately brought the Finnest in the form of a stone dagger to Ulshun Pral in the Refugium. He warned the Imass that Silchas Ruin would one day come to claim the dagger--a fact the Jaghut found amusing.[22]
An alternate version of the story of Father Shadow's death was passed down among the women of the Tiste Edur. In that version, Scabandari was overcome with guilt by what he had done and chosen to die. This freed his soul to journey down the Grey Road in search of absolution. Fear Sengar could the tale an allegory for the Tiste Edur's own sense of guilt for the deeds of their god.[23]
Silchas Ruin's own overheard thoughts revealed that he had anticipated Scabandari's betrayal and stood with his back to him to facilitate it. The Tiste Andii knew that their invasion was drawing the world's powers against them, and both he and Scabandari were t0o exhausted by the battle against the K'Chain Che'Malle to defend themselves. Ruin decided millennia trapped within the prison of an Azath House was preferable to the absolute destruction those powers offered. Scabandari would face their judgement alone.[24]
In modern times, multiple groups hunted for the Scabandari's Finnest for their own purposes. Silchas Ruin and Fear Sengar travelled with Udinaas, Seren Pedac, and Kettle to find it. The Tiste Andii ostensibly sought vengeance against his betrayer, while Fear hoped a revived Father Shadow could free his brother, Rhulad, purge Kurald Emurlahn of its poison, and redeem the Edur people.[25][26] Sukul Ankhadu and Sheltatha Lore sought the Finnest to destroy it, making a deal with Hannan Mosag and the Crippled God to stop Ruin and give the power of the Finnest to the Fallen One.[27] Hannan Mosag's own plot was to betray the Crippled God and revive Father Shadow for the purposes of healing Kurald Emurlahn and his own devastated body. Then the Warlock King would once again reunite the three Tiste people as one with Mother Dark, Father Light, and Father Shadow.[28]
The forces seeking the dagger converged on the Refugium. Fear Sengar, Sukul Ankhadu, and Sheltatha Lore were killed, leaving Silchas Ruin to forcibly remove the dagger from Ulshun Pral and stab it into Kettle's chest. It was then revealed that Kettle was the seed of an Azath in the guise of a child, and that Ruin had secured his freedom from the Azath Tower by promising to bring it the power of the Finnest. Kettle's body took root, killing the human aspect of her and anchoring the dying illusion of the Refugium into reality. Scabandari's soul became the new Azath House's first prisoner.[29]
In Toll the Hounds[]
Endest Silann was invited to meet with Anomander Rake in a room of pure darkness within the New Palace of Black Coral. The room reminded the old castellan of Kharkanas as he once knew it--before Mother Dark "embraced Light, before the ones born of ashes lifted themselves up and took swords in hand. Scabandari. Ilgast Rend, Halyd Bahann. Esthala who dreamed of peace. Kagamandra Tulas Shorn, who did not."[30]
He also recalled Silchas Ruin's knowing half-smile on the day he walked to stand by Scabandari as legions of Tiste Liosan marched upon them. It was as if Ruin knew what was to come and undertook it to spare his followers a more immediate death than the one that shortly followed with the Tiste Edur betrayal.[31]
In Dust of Dreams[]
(Information needed)
In The Crippled God[]
(Information needed)
In Forge of Darkness[]
Millennia before the events of the Malazan Book of the Fallen, Scara was a Tiste captain and cohort commander in Urusander's Legion in Kurald Galain and good friend of Silchas Ruin. His detachment escorted twenty-five Jheleck child Hostages to Kharkanas as part of the treaty requirements of the Jheleck War.[32] While he was away from the rest of his command they became involved with Hunn Raal's plans against the Deniers. When Scara returned and discovered his soldiers' involvement in the violence he rebuked them and fellow captains Hallyd Bahann and Tathe Lorat. He resigned his commission and invited any volunteers to accompany him to Sedis Hold.[33]
In Fall of Light[]
(Information needed)
Trivia[]
Author Steven Erikson "really liked the naming constructions of Sanskrit" and used them as the underlying basis for several Tiste names, including Scabandari. "I love the rhythmic elements of those names."[34]
Notes and references[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Midnight Tides, Glossary
- ↑ The Bonehunters, Chapter 21, US SFBC p.816
- ↑ A Conversation with Steven Erikson - Malazan Mid-Series Reflection - Green Team of the Legendarium - As pronounced by Steven Erikson at 39:45
- ↑ Midnight Tides, Prologue, US SFBC p.20
- ↑ Midnight Tides, Prologue, US SFBC p.21
- ↑ Midnight Tides, Prologue, US SFBC p.19
- ↑ Midnight Tides, Prologue, US SFBC p.20-22
- ↑ Midnight Tides, Prologue, US SFBC p.19-20
- ↑ Midnight Tides, Prologue, US SFBC p.21-23
- ↑ Midnight Tides, Prologue, US SFBC p.23
- ↑ Midnight Tides, Prologue, US SFBC p.24-25
- ↑ Midnight Tides, Chapter 3, US SFBC p.118
- ↑ Midnight Tides, Chapter 7, US SFBC p.231
- ↑ Midnight Tides, Chapter 3, US SFBC p.106/118
- ↑ Midnight Tides, Chapter 3, US SFBC p.111
- ↑ Midnight Tides, Chapter 3 US SFBC p.116-119
- ↑ Midnight Tides/Chapter 6, Chapter 25, US SFBC p.762
- ↑ The Bonehunters, Chapter 2, US SFBC p.77-78
- ↑ The Bonehunters, Chapter 2, US SFBC p.78
- ↑ The Bonehunters, Chapter 17, US SFBC p.683-684
- ↑ Reaper's Gale, Prologue, US HC p.20-23
- ↑ Reaper's Gale, Chapter 23, US HC p.726/729/739-740
- ↑ Reaper's Gale, Chapter 8, US HC p.199
- ↑ Reaper's Gale, Chapter 9, US HC p.215-216
- ↑ Reaper's Gale, Chapter 4, US HC p.108
- ↑ Reaper's Gale, Chapter 23, US HC p.723
- ↑ Reaper's Gale, Chapter 5, US HC p.134-136
- ↑ Reaper's Gale, Chapter 11, US HC p.294-295
- ↑ Reaper's Gale, Chapter 23, US HC p.721-725/732-742
- ↑ Toll the Hounds, Chapter 14, US SFBC p.571-572
- ↑ Toll the Hounds, Chapter 16, US SFBC p.634
- ↑ Forge of Darkness, Chapter 6, UK HC p.163
- ↑ Forge of Darkness, Chapter 20, UK HC p.646
- ↑ A Conversation with Steven Erikson - Malazan Mid-Series Reflection - Green Team of the Legendarium - See 39:30