Dev'ad Anan Tol

Dev'ad Anan Tol was an Imass of the Irynthal Clan, an inventor, and a former slave of the Jaghut Tyrant, Raest. He spent some three hundred thousand years trapped with shattered legs in a crevasse below the Eldra Iron Mongers mine outside Darujhistan. 
He was described as having half-rotted flesh over dark stained bones, and wore battered armour of leather, fur, and bone plates that were covered in clumps of dirt.Orb Sceptre Throne, Chapter 6 His skull had turned brown with age and he had a carious face of dried sinew.Orb Sceptre Throne, Chapter 20 His sonorous voice had a rhythm like waves on a sandy beach. In a bag, he carried two antler picks, a bone punch, and a groundstone mallet.
==History==
Some three hundred thousand years ago, Dev'ad Anan Tol's clan had lived on the shores of the Jhagra Til. His mind bred ideas in such a frenzy that he lived in a fever and was at times half mad causing his clan and their Bonecaster to fear him. Then Raest came to enslave them and brought them near the modern location of Darujhistan to work as miners in the rock. There, Dev'ad Anan Tol contrived new tools to assist him in his work. He also thought of new processing techniques for the skystone that the Jaghut brought forth and shaped with magic. Eventually Raest, too, came to fear him and his ideas and had him thrown to his death below the earth. But Dev'ad Anan Tol had survived with two shattered legs. When the Ritual of Tellann occurred soon after, it transformed him into an eternal T'lan Imass. Thus he sat undead and alone in the mine for thousands of years.Toll the Hounds, Chapter 9, US SFBC p.371-373
==In Toll the Hounds==
While exploring new areas of the Eldra mine, Harllo stumbled upon what he took to be the corpse of a miner. But the boy was shocked when Dev'ad Anan Tol greeted him and the T'lan Imass had to assure him he was not a demon. Explaining how he came to be in the crevasse, he mentioned the Ritual of the T'lan Imass which reminded Harllo of a story told to him by his uncle, Gruntle. Gruntle had witnessed the T'lan Imass give up their pain to Itkovian at Black Coral. Upon hearing the story, Dev'ad Anan Tol gave Harllo the mining tools he had invented. When asked if Raest still ruled, Harllo admitted he had never heard of him. The boy promised to keep the other miners away from the crevasse by telling them the air was bad in the area and offered to return to keep the T'lan Imass company. Dev'ad Anan Tol agreed, but requested he bring splints on his next visit.
Harllo returned to the Bone Miner with two ancient Emlava femur bones pilfered from the many fossils dug out of the mine, along with rope and string to make splints.Toll the Hounds, Chapter 11, US SFBC p.421-424 But Dev'ad was able to fashion new legs out of the old bones as the Ritual caused them to slowly re-knit to his body. As he climbed out of the crevasse, he considered how he had lied to Harllo. His legs had not been destroyed in a fall, but personally crushed by Raest with a mace before he was left to die in the dark for daring to plot the Tyrant's downfall. The T'lan Imass retrieved an iron sword and dagger he had made in the fires of Tellann from their hidden cache, then set off to claim Raest's now-empty Throne.Toll the Hounds, Chapter 13, US SFBC p.550-552
When Dev'ad Anan Tol reached Finnest House, he was captured and pulled down into the ground. Raest had no idea who the angry T'lan Imass with the odd legs was, but noted there would be time for conversation.Toll the Hounds, Chapter 23, US SFBC p.930
== In Orb Sceptre Throne ==
At the time the Legate rose and took power in Darujhistan, a visiting Rallick Nom found Dev'ad playing cards with Raest in Finnest House.Orb Sceptre Throne, Chapter 6 Dev'ad sensed a Jaghut (the Tyrant) in the vicinity and left the Finnest House to go and confront, possibly kill him.Orb Sceptre Throne, Chapter 19 He emerged inside Majesty Hall where the Seguleh were guarding the Legate, and killed Shun, the Eigtheenth. He was then attacked by three of the Seguleh Hundredth and Palla, the Sixth. Dev'ad threw aside the three Seguleh and then engaged in single combat with Palla, eventually stunning her, but in the process taking several blows that would have killed him had he been alive. Bowing out and leaving Palla alive, he went to the Chamber room attacking the Legate, only to find that the crossbow bolts used by Scorch and Leff to hit the Legate had turned him into a human, which no longer made him an Imass enemy. Dev'ad then walked away.Orb Sceptre Throne, Chapter 20
==Dev'ad's sword and knife==
His huge sword had the form of flint with ridges indicating where each flake had been struck from the edge. But the sword was actually made by him of iron tempered in the holy fires of Tellann. It was impervious to rust or decay and its colour was the hue of first night. Twin flutes ran the length to either side of a dorsal spine. The antler base that formed the grip was partly mineralised after millennia without use. His knife was its match and was as hefty as a shortsword.Toll the Hounds, Chapter 13, US SFBC p.552
==Trivia==
Dev'ad is expected to appear again in the Witness Trilogy. When a fan asked Erikson on his Facebook page whatever happened to the character, the author responded by saying, "oh crap, thanks for reminding me! When he appears in the first Karsa novel, you can say to your friends: 'That's because of me!' ".Steven Erikson Facebook post 16 December 2017
==Notes and references==
Category:Males
Category:Soletaken
Category:T'lan Imass