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The Unbound were a group of seven fallen Logros T'lan Imass who had broken from their Vow and committed criminal acts. The Logros Bonecasters and their warriors hunted these renegades.[1]

The Unbound[]

In Deadhouse Gates[]

A Logros hunting party led by Hentos Ilm followed the Unbound into the Nascent to the Silanda, a Tiste Edur ship. The abandoned vessel was occupied by Gesler, Stormy, Truth, Felisin Paran, Kulp, Heboric, and Baudin after their own ship sank. The Bonecaster demanded the humans stand aside while they dealt with the renegades. But there were no other T'lan Imass aboard the vessel, and the Logros departed.[2]

In Memories of Ice[]

The search for the Unbound continued at the time of Silverfox's summoning for the Second Gathering. Only two Logros Bonecasters, Olar Ethil and Ay Estos, attended the Gathering as the others continued the search for the renegades.[3]

In House of Chains[]

It was implied that the seven might once have been a scouting party for the Logros T'lan Imass, who had tracked the Jaghut, Aramala, to the tower where she hid in the Jhag Odhan. Aramala broke their bodies, but an eighth T'lan Imass escaped and returned with an army. Many thousands fell, but Aramala was eventually subdued and pinned under a rock.[4]

One of the Unbound, Haran'alle, had a history that did not match Aramala's story. His failure came while assisting the Kron T'lan Imass against the Forkrul Assail in the L'aederon Wars.[5]

Because of their failure, the seven were abandoned by their kin, stripped of their weapons, and their immobile, but still sentient, bodies were sealed within a lightless tomb in the Laederon Plateau.[6][7] The outside of the tomb was decorated with their carved likenesses.[8]

Over centuries these same seven T'lan Imass twisted the minds of the Teblor shamans and became worshipped by the Teblor as gods known as "The Seven Faces in the Rock".[9] Eventually they were approached by the Crippled God who gave them limited mobility and access to the Warren of Chaos in return for breaking the Vow and gaining their fealty.[10][11] This was likely the act that sparked the Logros' hunt for the renegades.

All that remained was a full severing of Tellann from their bodies to achieve their final freedom. The Unbound cultivated Teblor warriors to achieve their goals including the recovery of their lost weapons. The first had been Pahlk, but the Seven had been too confident, not realising how much of their power had been spent sundering their Vow. Later, they chose Karsa Orlong, Pahlk's grandson.[12][13][14][15]

The Unbound followed Karsa in their spiritual forms as he journeyed to Seven Cities. They appeared on the Silanda after the Teblor's departure, but left hurriedly after sensing the approach of their hunters.[16] When Karsa discovered the Logros cache of weapons of the fallen in the Jhag Odhan, the Unbound's physical bodies joined him, driven by their own wills and the aid of the Crippled God.[17] Urual offered to make Karsa the eighth god of the Teblor and Sin'b'alle offered to deliver him the army of Teblor children she had amassed.[17] But Karsa only accepted their offer to invest his sword, Bairoth Delum, with their magic.[18]

Once the Unbound were freed and the sword completed, Karsa cut down Sin'b'alle, claimed her foundlings, and ordered the remaining six to abandon the Teblor.[19] The Unbound departed, determined to help the Tiste Edur and their master claim the First Throne and control of the T'lan Imass.[20] Karsa kept Sin'b'alle's head for a time before tossing it into the newly risen waters of Raraku, giving her the gift of oblivion.[21]

In The Bonehunters[]

Five of the Unbound appeared outside the small village in eastern Seven cities where Barathol Mekhar lived. They seemed to depart without incident after the blacksmith confronted them with his axe and shield.[22][23]

Months later, the Unbound ambushed Heboric, Cutter, Felisin Younger, Scillara, and Greyfrog as the group approached the same village. Heboric, Destriant of Treach, was specially targeted, his body chopped to pieces.[24][25] Once the killing was done, the Unbound carried off Felisin Younger, whom the Queen of Dreams and Shadowthrone and Cotillion had chosen for their own gambits. High Mage L'oric was able to save the lives of Cutter and Scillara, but he noted that the actions of the Crippled God's servants indicated that the gods were at war.[26][27]

The Unbound left Felisin Younger with Kulat in the ancient city of Hanar Ara. There she served as the Sha'ik Reborn in a new version of the Apocalypse cult usurped and repurposed by the Crippled God.[28]

As servants of the Crippled God, the Unbound were represented in High House Chains within the Deck of Dragons by a card known as "The Seven of the Dead Fires".[29]

In Reaper's Gale[]

The ghost of Hedge followed Emroth through Hood's Realm and into Omtose Phellack where the T'lan Imass gazed upon the mummy occupying the Throne of Ice. The Bridgeburner attempted to draw Emroth out in conversation, but the T'lan Imass largely expressed only her annoyance at his presence.[30][31] Finally, upon reaching the edge of the Refugium, home to mortal Imass who lived beyond the reach of the Ritual of Tellann, Hedge demanded answers. He pulled a cusser from his Raincape and explained that their conversation about her planned destination would determine her fate. Emroth admitted to seeking out the mortal Imass and Hedge pondered the possibility that she had come to claim them as allies for the Crippled God. But ultimately, he realised she had come for the Refugium's gate to Starvald Demelain, where anything was possible including the destruction of the warrens. Hedge destroyed Emroth in a massive explosion that scattered her remains and a tear came to his eye when he spotted where her left leg had been thrown across the border into the Refugium. It was the leg of a shapely mortal woman.[32]

In Dust of Dreams[]

(Information needed)

In The Crippled God[]

They were also known as "Seven of the Dying Fires" and "The Seven of the Dead Fires".[33]

The remaining five Unbound were travelling with Masan Gilani who found them in her search for allies. Beroke told Masan that what they aspired to win was their Master's release.

Their number was made up to seven again, when they were joined by Nom Kala and Kalt Urmanal. When the Bonehunters battled the Forkrul Assail army led by Freedom and Aloft, the Unbound protected their flank by keeping Freedom occupied.

Notes and references[]

  1. Memories of Ice, Chapter 19, US SFBC p.674
  2. Deadhouse Gates, Chapter 9, US SFBC p.278-282
  3. Memories of Ice, Chapter 19, US SFBC p.674
  4. House of Chains, Chapter 14, US SFBC p.517-518
  5. House of Chains, Chapter 20, US SFBC p.654/659-660
  6. House of Chains, Chapter 14, US SFBC p.522-523
  7. House of Chains, Chapter 1, US SFBC p.33-34
  8. House of Chains, Chapter 1, US SFBC p.34
  9. House of Chains, Chapter 1, US SFBC p.33
  10. House of Chains, Chapter 1, US SFBC p.34
  11. Memories of Ice, Chapter 19, US SFBC p.675
  12. House of Chains, Chapter 1, US SFBC p.34
  13. House of Chains, Chapter 16, US SFBC p.566
  14. House of Chains, Chapter 17, US SFBC p.571
  15. House of Chains, Chapter 3, US SFBC p.152-153
  16. House of Chains, Chapter 3, US SFBC p.176-177
  17. 17.0 17.1 House of Chains, Chapter 14, US SFBC p.523
  18. House of Chains, Chapter 14, US SFBC p.525
  19. House of Chains, Chapter 17, US SFBC p.571-575
  20. House of Chains, Chapter 20, US SFBC p.658
  21. House of Chains, Chapter 26, US SFBC p.850
  22. The Bonehunters, Prologue, US SFBC p.33-35
  23. The Bonehunters, Chapter 12, US SFBC p.500
  24. The Bonehunters, Chapter 11, US SFBC p.476-480
  25. The Bonehunters, Chapter 12, US SFBC p.494-501
  26. The Bonehunters, Chapter 12, US SFBC p.500-501
  27. The Bonehunters, Chapter 18, US HC p.744
  28. The Bonehunters, Chapter 12, US HC p.503-506
  29. The Bonehunters, Glossary
  30. Reaper's Gale, Chapter 12, US HC p.307-310
  31. Reaper's Gale, Chapter 14, US HC p.375-378
  32. Reaper's Gale, Chapter 17, US HC p.503-508
  33. The Crippled God, Chapter 17
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