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Spite, also called Sister Spite, was a sorceress and Soletaken Eleint.[1] She was the daughter of Draconus and sister to Envy.[2]

Spite was described as a stunning, ethereal beauty whose haughtiness and regal bearing nearly verged on caricature.[3] She was tall, with skin the colour of fine ash and long black hair.[4] She had large, black eyes with elongated epicanthic folds tilting upward at the corner, thin perfect brows, full lips, and perfectly manicured fingernails.[5][6][7] She was said to comport herself "with all the airs of a coddled princess",[8] and Envy thought Spite's perennial problem was her lack of forethought.[9]

Spite admitted that millennia of life left her with a sense of weariness.[10]

Spite was described in several different outfits:

  • Chain armour which glinted silver, over a grey, hooded shirt. Her leggings were of pale, supple leather and she wore knee-high black-scaled boots. She carried two basket-hilted rapiers in her belt.[11]
  • A diaphanous blouse of emerald green, tight-fitting tanned leather breeches down to rawhide leggings, and a broad black leather belt in which were thrust three naked-bladed daggers.[12]
  • Loose, flowing robes of black and crimson silks.[13]

In Midnight Tides[]

In a vision, Udinaas witnessed Menandore and Sukul Ankhadu carrying the unconscious body of Sheltatha Lore. Sukul Ankhadu claimed that Sheltatha had taken Draconus as a lover and birthed "two horrid little children" named Envy and Spite. The two sisters planned to bury Spite's mother in the same Azath Tower that held Silchas Ruin, although Osseric warned against it.[14]

In The Bonehunters[]

Spite and Envy - December by Shadaan

Spite and Envy by Shadaan

Spite was one of twelve Nameless Ones who worked a ritual to free Dejim Nebrahl from its ancient prison. During the ceremony, she reached out a slim, rust-red, scaled hand and spoke directly to Dejim's mind with a cold and brutal intelligence that frightened the T'rolbarahl. When Dejim agreed to perform a service in return for its release, Spite placed a geas on it requiring it to attack Mappo Runt and Icarium. She then evoked the ritual of release in the name of the Warren of Starvald Demelain. Afterwards, she escaped to the air in her Soletaken form while the T'rolbarahl slew the others.[15]

Dejim Nebrahl was successful in his task, gravely wounding Mappo and separating him from Icarium as the Nameless Ones had planned. Spite met Mappo after his recovery, when the Trell, accompanied by Iskaral Pust, sought out the missing Icarium. She declared that she was glad that Dejim Nebrahl had not killed him as they had intended and that she was now outlawed from the Nameless Ones. She told Mappo that she wished to travel with him as she would be able to help him find Icarium considering her knowledge of the Nameless Ones.[16] Spite brought Mappo and Pust to her ship manned by Tiste Andii ghosts[17] and sailed for the Otataral Sea. After sensing the far off murder of Ganath by the K'Chain Nah'ruk, she told Mappo that there were "godless ones walking the sands of Seven Cities once again." The two discussed the war between the gods and the ways in which gods and their worshippers were bound to each other.[18]

Mappo later saw Spite engulfed in a mud-brown haze and engaged in a seemingly one-sided conversation while standing on the ship's prow. Pust recognised that Spite was speaking with the Eres'al, although he did not name her. Afterwards, Spite would only say the "she" must leave us for a time, leaving them vulnerable, despite Spite's efforts to dissuade her.[19] She warned Mappo that she could sense a terrible Convergence ahead and each of the three companions would have a role to play in it. Spite's role would put her "face to face with my evil sister at the very end, a meeting from which but one of us will walk away when all is done between us."[20]

Just off the coast of Otataral Island, a dozen suns plummeted from the sky towards the earth. Spite noticed a nearby ship sink under a hail of firestones, and veered into her dragonform to rescue Cutter and Scillara. Barathol Mekhar managed to pull himself and a near drowned Chaur aboard her ship on his own.[21] Spite was injured by the rain of firestones, however in the face of seeing the resuscitated Chaur's joy in Barathol's embrace, she pushed away her own pain.[22]

In Toll the Hounds[]

Spite by Marc Simonetti

Spite by Marc Simonetti (official image)

After a miserable, much-delayed trip that took two whole seasons,[23] Spite's ship brought Barathol, Chaur, Cutter, Scillara, Mappo Runt, Iskaral Pust, and Mogora to Darujhistan.[24] Whilst the others dispersed into the city, Spite remained on board, troubled by her sense of personages within the city "of a nature to alarm even me."[25]

Iskaral Pust entrenched himself at the city's Temple of Shadow where he lusted after High Priestess Sordiko Qualm. When the High Priestess had business at the estate of Lady Envy, Pust tagged along. In Envy's beauty, he recognised the similarities to her sibling and he attempted to ingratiate himself by telling her about the presence of Spite onboard the ship in the harbour. An excited Envy jumped up to say, "I thought so!"[26]

Barathol and Chaur were arrested in Darujhistan for establishing a smithy without the approval of the Guild of Blacksmiths. Misunderstanding their situation, Chaur attacked the guards forcing Barathol to take them on the run. When the guards caught up to them, Barathol battled them alone, telling Chaur to run and hide on Spite's ship. Spite quickly deduced why the crying Chaur had returned and helped him get cleaned up. Examining the simple man, she determined a practitioner of High Denul could reorganise the broken pathways in his brain, but the treatment would likely eliminate his state of gentle happiness. Eventually she was forced to leave him alone while she paid Envy a visit.[27][28]

Spite and Envy by Spindrift

Interpretation of the duel between Spite and Envy by Spindrift

On the last night of the Gedderone Fête, when powerful forces converged on Darujhistan, Spite went to her sister's estate[29] and by means of sorcery, buried it in a giant ball of magma.[30] The magic was more powerful than Spite anticipated and she was forced to run back up the alley to escape. The display was observed by Envy in a state of jealousy. The two sisters then engaged in a sorcerous duel.[31] As Envy's magic engulfed her from twenty paces away, Spite unleashed her full power in a counterattack. Soon, they were both standing in a sagging crater surrounded by buildings whose faces had been melted into glass.[32][33]

The fighting only stopped when the women sensed Anomander Rake draw Dragnipur from its scabbard nearby in the city. A quick truce was called for the women to kill Rake and retrieve the sword they considered their birthright from their father. But both women planned to betray the other as soon as the sword was taken.[34][35]

Spite and Envy turned up together at the scene of the duel between Dassem Ultor and Anomander Rake. With Rake's death at Dassem's hands, Dragnipur lay open for the taking. The two women used their magic to battle and drive off the Hounds of Shadow defending the sword, but before they could claim it Caladan Brood arrived in Baruk's carriage. It took only meeting the deadly regard of Brood's strangely bestial eyes for the two sisters to abandon their plans.[36]

Her ambitions squashed, Spite returned to her ship where she found Cutter waiting to join her on the trip back to Seven Cities. She admitted being upset only in so far as she failed to sink her teeth into her sister's neck. As they followed Lake Azur's western shore they could see Anomander Rake's newly constructed barrow and she told Cutter that Rake's death marked the beginning of the end.[37] Fisher kel Tath found Envy in her newly refreshed garden where she told the bard that her father, Draconus, was back.[38]

In Blood and Bone[]

Sister Spite by Dejan Delic

Sister Spite by Dejan Delic

Spite led a group of renegade Malazan mercenaries to the island of Jacuruku in order to excavate the center of the Dolmens of Tien[39] that held a chained fragment of the Crippled God.[40] After the successful extraction of the shard, Spite found herself entrapped in its place.[41] Her attempts to escape were temporarily thwarted by Skinner and his Crimson Guard Disavowed - earning her ire.[42]

Once Spite had finally freed herself from the Dolmens,[43] she was later able to steal another fragment of the Crippled God which Skinner and his ex-Crimson Guardsmen had retrieved from the Sky Tower of Korel. Spite's intention was to use the power of this shard in her ongoing feud with her sister, Envy.[44]

In the aftermath of Osserc's attempts to minimize the damage of the catastrophic events[45] triggered by the ill-conceived magic spell of the Thaumaturgs,[46] Spite assisted L'oric in taking his unconscious father, Osserc, to "where he belonged" - Kurald Thyrllan.[47]

In Forge of Darkness[]

The Oven by Celtic Botan

Envy, Malice and Spite by Celtic Botan

At the time of Mother Dark's ascension, Envy and her triplet sisters, Spite and Malice, lived with Draconus and their brother Arathan at Dracons Hold in Kurald Galain and appeared to be young girls.[48] It was revealed that the mother of Spite and her sisters might have been Olar Ethil, not Sheltatha Lore as previously thought, however, there was still some ambiguity over that statement.[49]

Their father told them that they would age like normal Tiste until they reached the age of eight or nine. Afterwards they would only mature after experiencing death-like trauma. Envy and Spite convinced Malice that if she died she would return more powerful than her hated older sisters. Malice agreed, so Spite strangled her.[50] When Malice remained dead, the two sisters hid the body and concluded that they needed to murder any who would notice she was missing, so they set about murdering the Dracons household staff.[51] Their murder spree appeared short lived when house surgeon, Atran, overpowered them both. Only the sudden appearance of a reanimated Malice saved them.[52] Afterwards, the girls hid in the walls of the Hold until Malice's deathlike stench became too much and they locked her in a blazing kitchen oven.[53]

In Fall of Light[]

Envy vs Spite by Marc Simonetti

Envy vs Spite by Marc Simonetti (Official Image)

(Information needed)

History[]

An archaic copy of Dillat's Dark and Light from Anomander Rake's personal library described a long ago incident in which Rake and Osseric had been allied against the evil tyrant Draconus, Slayer of Eleint. Rake had struck Draconus unconscious and left Osseric to guard him. But when Rake returned, he found Osseric bloodied and Draconus freed by Sister Spite's hand. Anomander vowed his alliance with Osseric would one day end and he would wage war on him and his kin. Spite and Envy secretly watched this result of their manipulations and were pleased. Rake set out in pursuit of Draconus, while Osseric sought vengeance against Spite. Crone found the account inaccurate, explaining that Osseric and Rake's alliance fell apart because of a growing mutual dislike in which Draconus was merely the death-blow. She found the book's description of Rake's vow against Osseric amusing. But she did scold Osseric for falling for Spite's womanly wiles.[54]

It was said Draconus knew all too well the potential danger posed by a potential alliance between his daughters. So he had shaped them as carefully as he had forged Dragnipur to mitigate the risk.[55]

Trivia[]

Steven Erikson describes Spite and her sisters in Forge of Darkness as "sociopaths". He says "in some ways it's almost that notion of if granted immortality at too young an age, it can twist the individual to complete disregard of the value of life versus death. It's not relevant to them. And hence the world around them. It just becomes something they can manipulate as best they can for their own personal purposes...[T]hey're just absolutely batshit crazy...And that can be fun to write as well, right. It's intended as a kind of a dark comedy...What they do with Malice and all the rest. And Malice's return, and etc. etc. Kind of Blood Simple."[56]

Quotes[]

Spite: "I admit to a certain melancholy when visiting vibrant cities, as is this Darujhistan. A long life teaches one just how ephemeral is such thriving glory. Why, I have come again upon cities I knew well in the age of their greatness, only to find crumbled walls, dust and desolation"
Cutter: "Darujhistan has stood for two thousand years and it will stand for another two thousand – even longer."
Spite: "Precisely."
―Spite and Cutter[src]

Notes and references[]

  1. The Bonehunters, Prologue
  2. Memories of Ice, Chapter 1, US SFBC p.54
  3. Toll the Hounds, Chapter 3, US SFBC p.100
  4. The Bonehunters, Chapter 14
  5. The Bonehunters, Chapter 14
  6. Toll the Hounds, Chapter 3, UK HB p.79
  7. Toll the Hounds, Chapter 19, US SFBC p.785
  8. Toll the Hounds, Chapter 3, US SFBC p.102
  9. Toll the Hounds, Chapter 21
  10. Toll the Hounds, Chapter 3, US SFBC p.104
  11. The Bonehunters, Chapter 14, UK MMPB p.713
  12. Toll the Hounds, Chapter 3, UK HB p.78
  13. Toll the Hounds, Chapter 3, UK HB p.91
  14. Midnight Tides, Chapter 7, US SFBC p.232
  15. The Bonehunters, Prologue, UK MMPB p.31-37
  16. The Bonehunters, Chapter 14, UK MMPB p.713-715
  17. The Bonehunters, Chapter 19, US SFBC p.761
  18. The Bonehunters, Chapter 16, US SFBC p.649-654
  19. The Bonehunters, Chapter 19, US SFBC p.759-761
  20. The Bonehunters, Chapter 19, US SFBC p.762
  21. The Bonehunters, Chapter 20, UK MMPB p.958/959
  22. The Bonehunters, Chapter 20, UK MMPB p.961
  23. Toll the Hounds, Chapter 7, US SFBC p.259
  24. Toll the Hounds, Chapter 3, UK HB p.77/78
  25. Toll the Hounds, Chapter 3, UK HB p.91
  26. Toll the Hounds, Chapter 13, UK HB p.489
  27. Toll the Hounds, Chapter 17, UK HB p.645
  28. Toll the Hounds, Chapter 19, UK HB p.719
  29. Toll the Hounds, Chapter 21, UK HB p.769
  30. Toll the Hounds, Chapter 21, UK HB p.783
  31. Toll the Hounds, Chapter 21, UK HB p.783/784
  32. Toll the Hounds, Chapter 21, US SFBC p.853-854/879
  33. Toll the Hounds, Chapter 23, US SFBC p.930-931
  34. Toll the Hounds, Chapter 23, US SFBC p.931
  35. Toll the Hounds, Chapter 24, US SFBC p.967
  36. Toll the Hounds, Chapter 23, UK HB p.863/865/887/907
  37. Toll the Hounds, Chapter 24, US SFBC p.998-999
  38. Toll the Hounds, Epilogue, US SFBC p.1007
  39. Blood and Bone, Chapter 1, US HC p.40-46
  40. Blood and Bone, Chapter 2, US HC p.94-95
  41. Blood and Bone, Chapter 3, US HC p.113-115
  42. Blood and Bone, Chapter 3, US HC p.118-120
  43. Blood and Bone, Chapter 8, US HC p.331-333
  44. Blood and Bone, Chapter 14, US HC p.517-525
  45. Blood and Bone, Chapter 14, US HC p.541
  46. Blood and Bone, Chapter 15, US HC p.543-545
  47. Blood and Bone, Epilogue, US HC p.576-580
  48. Forge of Darkness, Chapter 1, UK HC p.5
  49. Forge of Darkness, Chapter 11, UK MMPB p.470
  50. Forge of Darkness, Chapter 13, UK HC p.387-8
  51. Forge of Darkness, Chapter 13, UK HC p.390
  52. Forge of Darkness, Chapter 13, UK HC p.398
  53. Forge of Darkness, Chapter 19, UK HC p.604
  54. Toll the Hounds, Chapter 1, US SFBC p.51-54
  55. Toll the Hounds, Chapter 23, US SFBC p.930
  56. Steven Erikson Discussion - Death in Malazan (Spoiler Warning) - Books with Banks - See 48:15
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