Sha'ik

Sha'ik
Toblakai, Sha'ik, and Leoman by Grimhilde
Biographical information
Pseudonyms	The Chosen One Hand of Dryjhna
Race	Human
Gender	Female
Social information
Affiliation	Army of the Whirlwind
Title(s)	Sha'ik

Sha'ik [shy-EEK] was the title given to 'The Chosen One' of the Whirlwind Goddess. She was also known as the 'Hand of Dryjhna' and the 'Seeress of the Apocalypse'.

In Deadhouse Gates

The original Sha'ik (elder) was a prophetess and leader of the Whirlwind. She was a small black-haired woman whose honey coloured skin was a lighter shade than the average Seven Cities resident. Her face was plain and deeply lined, and her eyes were dark and cruel. She appeared to be around forty, although this was likely due to the harsh life of the desert, and power radiated from her. She wore the jewelry of a poor woman, stained silver rings and bracelets on her left hand and leather straps wound around her right forearm. She also carried a thin-bladed iron Long-knife that was stained black.

She had been anointed seeress shortly after birth, and had been forcibly circumcised by Bidithal, ostensibly to assure that she would not be distracted from her divine path by love or children. As Sha'ik she was granted visions, and she was appalled by what she saw in Toblakai's future.

In her youth, she was a force to be reckoned with, but she was diminished and tired when Kalam Mekhar brought her the Book of Dryjhna to touch off the Whirlwind rebellion. As she opened the book, she was assassinated by the Red Blades despite the presence of her bodyguards, Leoman and Toblakai. Mappo Runt speculated that her role had not been to lead the rebellion, but to prepare the way for the younger prophesied Sha'ik Reborn.

After her death, Leoman and Toblakai remained beside her body for weeks waiting for her to be reborn. When Felisin Paran and Heboric came upon them in the desert, they agreed the girl was Sha'ik's embodiment, named her "Sha'ik Reborn", and brought her to the main camp of the rebellion.

In House of Chains

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The new Sha'ik gathered her forces at the Pan'arak Oasis in Raraku awaiting the Malazan punitive expedition led by Adjunct Tavore Paran. The Adjunct led the Malaz 14th Army all the way from Aren to where the Army of the Whirlwind awaited. Tavore ended the Battle of Raraku when she killed the fully armoured Sha'ik in single combat, not realising that this Sha'ik was her own sister.

In The Bonehunters

The Queen of Dreams hoped to install Felisin Younger, Felisin Paran's adopted daughter, as the new Sha'ik, fearing "something less desirable" might assume the vacant position. She asked High Mage L'oric to find the girl and protect her, but he was too late. The Crippled God's servants, The Unbound, kidnapped and installed the girl as the new Sha'ik Reborn. Cotillion and Shadowthrone had similar plans to install Felisin Younger as Sha'ik, but where the Crippled God sought to control the young girl Cotillion said they would have sought only to guide her.

Among the Ascendants listed in the glossary of The Bonehunters is "Sha'ik: The Whirlwind Goddess", suggesting the title of the goddess' chosen one was named for herself.

Notes and references

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