The Captain

The Captain was a nomadic tyrant of the Lamatath Plains who lived in an enormous wheeled "palace" that endlessly circled his "kingdom" of Skathandi from Darujhistan in the north to Elingarth in the south.Toll the Hounds, Chapter 8, US SFBC p.286/287 Over seven years, his entourage grew to include over a thousand slaves and a small army of knights and raiders. 
His raiders terrorised the tribes of the plains and looted the caravans of foreign merchants. When merchants tried to defeat him with hired mercenaries, the Captain either bought them out or destroyed them with his own army. To solidify his claim on the Lamatath, he sent envoys to his neighbours in Bastion, Darujhistan, Kurl, New Callows, Saltoan, and Sarn. 
The Captain's hands and feet were ruined, leaving him unable to walk or care for himself.Toll the Hounds, Chapter 8, US TPB p.235 His fingers were curled into knobby hooklike things resembling the foot of a vulture, while the bones of his feet were so misshapen he could not stand without pain.Toll the Hounds, Chapter 8, US SFBC p.286-287/291 
He dressed in fine silks, robes, and furs, and wore soft, padded slippers.Toll the Hounds, Chapter 8, US SFBC p.291/336
==Palace and Entourage==
The Captain's multi-level palace moved on eight impossibly wide studded wheels and was pulled by four or five hundred slaves. His throne was on the palace's forward-facing second tier, surrounded by an ornate, golden-railed balcony with a faded red canvas awning kept out the sun.Toll the Hounds, Chapter 6, US SFBC p.232Toll the Hounds, Chapter 8, US SFBC p.282/287/291 The throne was raised high enough that anyone standing before it stood level with the Captain's knees.Toll the Hounds, Chapter 8, US SFBC p.282/287/291 A servant sat behind him in an upright coffin-shaped box, watching through a slit in the wood. At the Captain's command, the servant pulled a braided rope to sound the horns that signalled a change in the palace's direction.Toll the Hounds, Chapter 8, US SFBC p.290 Two maids stood ready to address any of the Captain's needs.Toll the Hounds, Chapter 8, US SFBC p.292
The Captain's opulent multi-room personal chambers featured woven carpets, heaps of pillows, and a small brazier to heat spiced wine in an iron kettle. Food and drink were served with silver plates and polished goblets.Toll the Hounds, Chapter 8, US SFBC p.335-336
The palace was accompanied by an entourage of wagons which housed a roughly equal number of slaves who assisted the Captain's cooks, weavers, and carpenters while awaiting their turn in the yoke.Toll the Hounds, Chapter 8, US TPB p.235-236
Two wings of cavalry, each one hundred knights strong, rode flanking the palace. They wore full banded armour with helmets and ebony cloaks, and carried barbed lances.Toll the Hounds, Chapter 8, US TPB p.236 A third troop of more than three hundred lightly-armoured horse warriors ranged far and wide on all sides scouting for danger or looking for raiding opportunities.Toll the Hounds, Chapter 8, US SFBC p.287/289 Four or five groups of thirty or more raiders scoured the plains at a time.
To the palace's rear was a mobile kraal holding three hundred horses. They were the main source of the Captain's wealth--besides raiding--and his greatest pride. Their bloodlines of robust destriers made them highly sought after by the gold-paying horse-traders of the south. 
The Captain and his entourage never stopped moving and never made camp as he believed "motion was everything." His slaves included members of the Kindaru and Sinbarl tribes as well as the last of the not quite human Gandaru.Toll the Hounds, Chapter 8, US SFBC p.289Toll the Hounds, Chapter 10, US SFBC p.396 He claimed to love and care for his slaves, even siring children with them, although he acknowledged none of his bastards.Toll the Hounds, Chapter 8, US SFBC p.289-290/335 His slaves continued to have children amongst themselves, ensuring their places would be filled by future generations. The husbands and wives of his soldiers brought all the necessary skills to maintain his court and people. Hunting parties kept the kingdom fed with Bhederin and antelope, while finer foodstuffs were looted from passing caravans. Those who displeased the Captain were trampled to death by his horses.Toll the Hounds, Chapter 8, US SFBC p.288
Wherever the wagon passed, it left behind enormous ruts, worn grass, rubbish, and the occasional corpse. Vultures and crows feasted on the detritus.Toll the Hounds, Chapter 8, US SFBC p.282
==History==
The Captain had once been a prisoner by captors he no longer remembered. When he outlived his usefulness, wooden stakes were driven through his hands and feet to pin him to the ground of the Lamatath Plain. Left to die, he instead worked himself free and crawled half a league on his knees and elbows to a dwindling stream that had once been a mighty river. The river's ancient and forgotten spirits fed him life and slipped inside his soul where they proved to be restless and uncivil guests. 
Eleven years later, he marked that day as the start of his new life and the beginning of his long and miraculous transformation into the tyrant of the plain. His old identity was completely forgotten, although he dreamed of finding his one-time captors. And his constant travel across the land like a meandering river pleased the half-mad spirits who shared his soul.Toll the Hounds, Chapter 8, US SFBC p.286/288
The spirits whispered he would live for centuries.Toll the Hounds, Chapter 8, US SFBC p.290
==In Toll the Hounds==
Troop Commander Uludan sent his ablest Fourth Troop rider to the Captain to report that they had found the bodies of one of his raiding parties slaughtered to a man on the plain. This was the second such incident in days and the Captain was displeased that nearly a fifth of his light cavalry had been eliminated with no word as to who the perpetrators were. He ordered twenty of his knights to join Uludan on his search (or to punish the troop commander if the search failed).Toll the Hounds, Chapter 8, US SFBC p.288-290
But as he issued the commands, Karsa Orlong appeared at the head of the column of slaves pulling the Captain's palace. The ancient river spirits that kept the Captain alive fled his body in terror at the Teblor's approach and his hands and feet began to bleed. He ordered the palace to come to a full stop--the first time in seven years--and collapsed onto his throne. Realising he was dying, the Captain ordered his army to stand down and he attempted to name Karsa his heir to ensure his legacy continued. But Karsa refused, calling slavery an abomination. Despite the Captain's protests, the Teblor assured him his kingdom would soon be destroyed and his works forgotten. The Captain died with the words, "You could have lied."Toll the Hounds, Chapter 8, US SFBC p.290-292/335-336 
Upon the Captain's death, Karsa freed the slaves and burned the palace to the ground. Then he commanded the Captain's soldiers to divide the kingdom's treasure between themselves and the slaves.Toll the Hounds, Chapter 8, US SFBC p.336-338
== See also ==
* Captain, the owner and commander of the trader craft Ragstopper
* The man known only by his rank Captain who was in charge of policing the Itko Kan Massacre
==Notes and references==
Category:Genabackans
Category:Males
Category:Rulers