Precious Thimble

Precious Thimble was a swamp witch and a retired member of the Mott Irregulars.Toll the Hounds, Dramatis Personae She was tinyToll the Hounds, Chapter 18, US SFBC p.751 and beautiful, as if the child she had once been had never aged, and was immune to growing old.Toll the Hounds, Chapter 13, US SFBC p.515 As a witch, her soul had the power to wander free in the realm of dreams. She had some healing skills.
She was accompanied everywhere by Amby and Jula Bole, two of the infamous Bole brothers, who were rivals for her affection. Precious Thimble was fully aware of the effect she had on the two men and played them against each other in their attempts to gain her favour.Toll the Hounds, Chapter 7, US SFBC p.277-278
She was illiterate.Toll the Hounds, Chapter 7, US SFBC p.248
==History==
At four years of age, Precious Thimble underwent the traditional swamp witch ritual that gave her the ability to wander dreams. The witches bound her in ropes and buried her for two days and a night beneath the peat with only a breathing tube to keep her alive. She was sure she died, as most candidates did, only to have their souls remain trapped inside them by the sorcerous qualities of the peat so that they could be revived when retrieved. She had few memories of her time underground but for the pressure, the cold, the taste of fetid water, and the terrible sounds of the things approaching her from under the ground. It was said spirits lurking in the peat fought with the witches to claim the bodies of their young charges, pulling their bodies into the foul deep. The burns left on her wrists and neck by the ropes that bound her suggested the witches had struggled against something when it was time to bring her out of the ground.Toll the Hounds, Chapter 13, US SFBC p.514-515 
Her beauty made men desperate to claim her as their possession, and the older the man, the greater the need. She was disgusted that such wrinkled and pathetic creatures desired her self-described "gorgeous body", but found it difficult to defend herself against such pitiable offenders with the traditional witchly methods of curses and fatal poisons. Her solution was engaging the company of the tough but dim-witted Amby and Jula Bole, who had been her comrades against the Malazans in the Genabackis Campaign. Not only could they protect her from physical danger, but they warded off the depredations of old men. And their endless rivalry for her affection meant she never had to choose between them.Toll the Hounds, Chapter 7, US SFBC p.247-248
==In Toll the Hounds==
Precious Thimble, Amby Bole, and Jula Bole found themselves in Darujhistan where Precious decided on a whim to sign up as a shareholder with the Trygalle Trade Guild. The two Bole brothers, vying for her affection, signed up as well in order to stay with her.Toll the Hounds, Chapter 7, US TPB p.203-204Toll the Hounds, Chapter 13, US SFBC p.515 Along with fellow newcomer Gruntle, they were assigned to the crew of Master Quell, who had lost five shareholders in his most recent venture.Toll the Hounds, Chapter 7, US SFBC p.241 Their first job with Master Quell was to transport Mappo Runt from Darujhistan to Lether. Quell brought Precious and Mappo inside the carriage to talk during their journey while the two Boles were assigned to the carriage's exterior stern. Shareholder Faint found the swamp witch's obvious manipulation of her two companions cruel beyond all reason.Toll the Hounds, Chapter 7, US SFBC p.277-278 
The Guild carriage first passed into Hood's realm where they were unexpectedly overwhelmed by a hostile army of the dead. Amby and Jula fought the dead, each hoping their acts of courage would be spotted by Precious and gain an advantage over their rival. Unable to find the exit gate, Quell hastily brought them to a small tropical island (where it was realized their carriage had inadvertently picked up the undead Cartographer in its wake). The mage then returned to Hood's realm with Gruntle as his escort in an attempt to learn what was happening. They learned from the shade of Toc the Younger that Hood's realm was now sealed to the living. An undead dragon burst from the ground as Quell opened a return portal, following them back to the island before flying away.Toll the Hounds, Chapter 13, US TPB p.415-417Toll the Hounds, Chapter 14, US TPB p.455-457 That night, Precious' spirit slipped from her body, which Gruntle and Mappo witnessed as a faintly glowing emanation. The dream wanderer admired herself in slumber and considered her two sleeping "guard dogs". She feared she had gone too far taking them on this dangerous journey. If one of the Boles should die, it would upset the safety of their precarious relationship.Toll the Hounds, Chapter 13, US SFBC p.515-516
Master Quell took them off the island through Mael's realm, riding heaving waves amidst a furious storm.Toll the Hounds, Chapter 13, US SFBC p.513-514Toll the Hounds, Chapter 14, US SFBC p.579-581Toll the Hounds, Chapter 16, US SFBC p.658-659 Arriving at the shores of a southern Genabackis island, the carriage raced to the top of an immense wave to crash into a cliffside village before it could be dashed onto the rocks below. The carriage was shattered, sending driver Glanno Tarp, Cartographer, and the horses careening away. The shareholders found themselves in Reach of Woe, a community of Wreckers plagued by a curse that turned their young women into bloodthirsty Tralka Vonan. Three Tralka Vonan were awakened by the noise of the crash, forcing Mappo and the shareholders to barricade themselves in a tavern, while the villagers locked themselves in the tavern's basement. Gruntle killed two of the creatures, while Reccanto Ilk accidentally killed the other. Afterwards, Precious Thimble was relieved to see Amby and Jula unharmed, but she felt uneasy as they did not seem to pay her as much attention anymore as she was used to. Faint asked for volunteers to seek out Glanno Tarp, although she declined to join them. Gruntle, Amby, and Jula found the driver lying in a corral with his legs broken near Cartographer, who was still tied to a carriage wheel.Toll the Hounds, Chapter 16, US SFBC p.659-664Toll the Hounds, Chapter 18, US SFBC p.740-742
Meanwhile Quell, Precious Thimble, and Mappo went to confer with the village Provost, Bedusk Pall Kovuss Agape, who they soon discovered was a Jaghut and the originator of the curse. After burying his wife years earlier, the Jaghut had been elected Provost by the village to ameliorate his grief. He soon fell in a love with a village girl who spurned his advances. In a rage, he placed a curse on the village that turned any woman of childbearing age who was without children into a Tralka Vonan. Precious Thimble voiced her disgust over Bedusk Agape's actions and recognised the curse placed herself, Faint, and Sweetest Sufferance at risk. Even Quell earned her wrath when it became apparent his first thought to resolve the issue was to have the three women impregnated. Under Precious' glare, he instead sheepishly allowed the female shareholders to leave for the next village while the men repaired the carriage.Toll the Hounds, Chapter 18, US SFBC p.742-749Toll the Hounds, Chapter 20, US SFBC p.820-821
The Provost's wife was not, in fact, dead. He had buried her alive near the cliff and she had been freed from her "grave" when it collapsed into the sea. She emerged from the water determined to destroy the village of wreckers, who preyed on passing ships. Quell saw the opportunity to negotiate an end to the curse which was almost upended when Amby and Jula Bole attacked the woman. Despite her terrifying magic, they brought her down and pinned her until Gruntle bargained for peace. The Jaghut agreed, but the Boles had to be threatened with decapitation by Gruntle's swords. The Jaghut said the curse would end when her husband was dead and she stalked off to confront him.Toll the Hounds, Chapter 18, US SFBC p.750-756Toll the Hounds, Chapter 20, US SFBC p.823
Makeshift repairs completed, the male shareholders retrieved their female colleagues, but the Jaghuts' sorcerous battle soon threatened to engulf the entire island. Cartographer drew a map in the dirt that would serve as a gate to allow them to quickly escape. With misgivings, Quell invested it with his power to activate it.Toll the Hounds, Chapter 20, US SFBC p.820-823 The gate brought them to the Warren inside Dragnipur where the army of Hood's dead fought a war with Chaos. Precious Thimble curled up on the floor of the carriage rocking and moaning. Quell immediately realised they had been duped as Hood chided Cartographer for being late. The god sent the Guild caravan away with Cartographer as their guide and Hood's Herald, Toc the Younger, following in their wake.Toll the Hounds, Chapter 24, US SFBC p.957-959 They were last shown passing through the primeval world where Picker's spirit was lost.Toll the Hounds, Chapter 24, US SFBC p.970
==In Dust of Dreams==
(Information needed)
==In The Crippled God==
Precious Thimble and other surviving members of Master Quell's Trygalle Trade Guild caravan — Gruntle, Faint, Sweetest Sufferance, Mappo Runt, and Amby Bole — were travelling across the 'Letherii Wastes' of Lether along with Setoc, Torrent, and the children Stavi, Storii, and Absi, as well as the undead individual known as Cartographer.The Crippled God, Chapter 2, US HC p.37/39-40/42-48
Olar Ethil appeared and laid claim to Absi, making deals with the adults to prevent opposition. She promised that Precious Thimble would find what she needed (i.e., a way home to Genabackis) to the east. Olar Ethil also told Precious that she had touched her soul and had made it into a Mahybe — a vessel that waits (a statement which Precious found puzzling).The Crippled God, Chapter 2, US HC p.47-48
==Notes and references==
de:Edel Fingerhut
Category:Females
Category:Mott Irregulars
Category:Trygalle Trade Guild