Bult

Bult [BUHLT]Critical Conversations 04: Deadhouse Gates Chapter 19 with Steven Erikson - As pronounced by Steven Erikson at 15:00 was an older Wickan warrior who accompanied Coltaine to Seven Cities before the onset of the Whirlwind rebellion. Coltaine sometimes jokingly referred to the veteran commander as "uncle", although the veracity of this claim was left unclear.Deadhouse Gates, Chapter 3, US HC p.91
He was described as having a wide flat face which seemed to fold in on itself diagonally due to a scar which ran from the right jawline to the left brow.Deadhouse Gates, Chapter 2, UK MMPB p.73 He also had gnarled, bandy legs and jagged teeth.Deadhouse Gates, Chapter 13, US HC p.347Deadhouse Gates, Chapter 2, US HC p.57 Bult claimed in jest that the loss of his youthful beauty had limited him to one blind wife.Deadhouse Gates, Chapter 2, US HC p.53 
Although loyal to the Malazan Empire, he sometimes referred to Empress Laseen as the "short-haired woman".Deadhouse Gates, Chapter 2, US HC p.54/56 He was a man of great humour, often joking and laughing with his commander and fellow staff.Deadhouse Gates, Chapter 3, US HC p.91Deadhouse Gates, Chapter 10, US HC p.251 
==In Deadhouse Gates==
Bult served as Coltaine's second in command when the Wickan Fist took charge of the Malaz 7th Army in Hissar. At the Fist's first command council, Bult often spoke for Coltaine, although as Duiker later commented to Kulp, likely on his instructions. In this meeting Imperial Historian Duiker was added as a member of the Fist's staff, and Bult deliberately insulted and dismissed Mallick Rel, High Fist Pormqual's chief advisor.Deadhouse Gates, Chapter 2, UK MMPB p.73-80/82
With signs of rebellion all around them, Bult assisted Coltaine in training the 7th Army in urban combat and civilian escort missions. When the Whirlwind rebellion finally arrived and drove the Fist out of Hissar, he joined the army in escorting Malazan refugees to Aren on the march that would come to be known as the Chain of Dogs.
During the march Bult served as Coltaine's commander in the fieldDeadhouse Gates, Chapter 10, US HC p.251 and fought valiantly alongside his fellow Crow Clan horsewarriors.Deadhouse Gates, Chapter 13, US HC p.355
He had an intense loathing for the Hengese lapdog Roach, and made many attempts drive it through with his lance.Deadhouse Gates, Chapter 16, US HC p.421-422
When the refugees were finally safely behind the gates of Aren, Bult fell alongside his commander during Coltaine's final stand outside the city's gates. Duiker saw him fighting with a Dhobri tulwar in each hand before falling under a rain of lances.Deadhouse Gates, Chapter 21, US HC p.545-546
==In House of Chains==
After Coltaine's fall, the Aren markets thrived with the sale of relics from the Chain of Dogs. Among them were said to be pieces of Bult's withered flesh.House of Chains, Chapter 11, US SFBC p.413
==In The Bonehunters==
Like Coltaine and the other dead heroes of the Chain of Dogs, shrines were built for Bult by the people of Seven Cities in the wastes along the doomed army's path. The Bonehunters, Book Four, Epigraph It was said some residents of Aren had searched the hill where he had fallen for his and the others' bones without success.The Bonehunters, Chapter 17, US SFBC p.680
Adjunct Tavore Paran's 14th Army followed Leoman and the Army of the Apocalypse westward towards Y'Ghatan after the Battle of Raraku. In the Lato Odhan, Nil and Nether conducted a ritual to travel beyond Hood's Gate seeking Wickans who had died during the Chain of Dogs. There they were approached by the ghost of Bult with a dozen Wickan cattle-dogs. The warrior warned them to heed his words, stating "we don't belong here" before advising Nether to "get married and have babies." Nether was not amused when the two mages returned to the desert.The Bonehunters, Chapter 3, US SFBC p.142-146
==In Toll the Hounds==
Bult appeared among Hood's army of the dead to battle Chaos within Dragnipur. As overall commander, Whiskeyjack placed the Bridgeburners at the head of the spear with Bult's 7th Army and Wickans on his right flank alongside Brukhalian and the Grey Swords. Dujek Onearm and his troops were on the left flank with Skamar Ara's Jacuruku legions.Toll the Hounds, Chapter 22, US SFBC p.912 
==History==
As a young warrior during the Wickan Wars, Bult injured the historian Duiker in a battle, turning his lance at the last moment when he noticed the historian was unarmed. Dujek then attacked the Wickan with his sword, giving Bult a cut to the face which turned into a disfiguring scar. Bult's horse in turn bit Dujek's arm who then lost that arm to the surgeons and became know as 'Dujek Onearm'.Deadhouse Gates, Chapter 2, UK MMPB p.73/74
==Notes and references==
de:Bult
Category:Males
Category:Wickans
Category:Commanders