Balm

Balm was a Medium infantry sergeant in the 9th Squad of the 8th Legion in the Malaz 14th Army. He was described as a tall, young, wide-shouldered Dal Honese, with midnight skin and heavy eyebrows.The Bonehunters, Chapter 7, US SFBC p.323 He had "jutting steering-oar ears", bulging yellowy eyes, and facial features similar go a squashed gourd.Reaper's Gale, Chapter 13, US HC p.345-347 Fiddler had been impressed by Balm's cool indifference to pressure.House of Chains, Chapter 22, UK MMPB p.846 However, Balm, right before battle sometimes suffered a temporary forgetful state of mind known as "the Confusion", which could cause him to "lose track of everything" until fighting actually started.The Bonehunters, Chapter 7, US HC p.226-227/245-246
Unlike most Malazan soldiers who were known by nicknames, Balm was his real name.House of Chains, Chapter 22, US SFBC p.711 He did not think highly of noble born officers.
He spoke badly accented Ehrlii.
==Members of Balm's squad==
*Corporal Deadsmell
*Galt
*Lobe
*Throatslitter
*Widdershins, sapper
==In House of Chains==
Balm was part of Adjunct Tavore Paran's punitive expedition against the Army of the Apocalypse. On the road from Aren to Raraku, his squad had done their share of the fighting, and their names were well known amongst the other soldiers in the legion. When Lieutenant Ranal was briefly made captain of 9th Company, Balm was concerned with the lieutenant's rearranging of the squads and announced it likely the noble born officer was going to get them all killed.House of Chains, Chapter 22, US SFBC p.711-712 
==In The Bonehunters==
After the Battle of Raraku, Leoman led the Army of the Apocalypse westward to Y'Ghatan and the 14th Army followed. Upon reaching the outskirts of the city, Balm went to a nearby cemetery to craft a death-mask — a custom for Dal Honese who thought they were about to die. Bottle found him in a looter's pit wearing gazelle skins, his face streaked with ash, singing a strange and monotonous death dirge, and dancing in tight circles. Frustrated and angered by Bottle's interuption, Balm threatened to curse his bloodline and ran off.The Bonehunters, Chapter 6, US SFBC p.239/242
In the hours before the Last Siege of Y'Ghatan, Balm engaged Moak in a game of Troughs, but soon became overwhelmed by "the Confusion". He knocked over the board, unclear who he was and what he was doing. His corporal, Deadsmell, led him to safety from an angry Moak while congratulating Balm on a clever ruse for ending a losing game. Balm could not respond because he no longer understood what language Deadsmell was speaking.The Bonehunters, Chapter 7, US SFBC p.278-279
Adjunct Tavore launched the attack on Y'Ghatan by sending the army's sappers to breach the city's wall under the cover of night. First into the city were the Malazan marines, followed quickly by the heavy and medium infantry. Once inside the city, the Malazans immediately came under attack from swordsmen on the ground and archers in the buildings above them.The Bonehunters, Chapter 7, US SFBC p.287-295 
Balm's squad pushed forward well beyond the other Malazan troops and took cover in a building filled with bolts of silk. While Galt and Lobe watched the street from the windows, Throatslitter, Deadsmell, and Widdershins went to investigate a noise upstairs. The three soldiers discovered the walls of the entire building had been filled with olive oil. Realising what Leoman meant to do, Balm's squad attempted to report their findings to Fist Keneb. But it was too late. When enough Malazans were engaged in street fighting inside the city, Leoman sprung his trap. The city's olive oil-soaked buildings were set alight and the streets quickly became an inferno.The Bonehunters, Chapter 7, US SFBC p.301-303 
Fleeing from the flames, they soon joined a mixed group of survivors from Hellian's, Fiddler's, Cord's, and Gesler's squads, who made their way to the Temple of the Queen of Dreams. Balm ordered Throatslitter to kill Corabb Bhilan Thenu'alas, who had also taken shelter there, but was stopped by Galt.The Bonehunters, Chapter 7, US SFBC p.307-309/316/322-323
Balm and his squad were among the small group of soldiers who survived Y'Ghatan by tunneling their way out from under the city. They spent three days crawling on their hands and knees through the dark led by Bottle and his rat.The Bonehunters, Chapter 7, US SFBC p.368/370 During the ordeal, Balm quarreled with his soldiers and experienced bouts of heat rash and panic accompanied by screaming.The Bonehunters, Chapter 7, US SFBC p.334/341 When the group found and ingested an ancient cache of Carelbarra, the drug induced slumber prompted each to dream of various gods and goddesses of their people.The Bonehunters, Chapter 7, US HC p.285-289 Balm dreamt of himself meeting a menagerie of disgusting Dal Honese deities.The Bonehunters, Chapter 7, US HC p.285-286
After the survivors rejoined the 14th Army on the coast of the Kokakal Sea, Gesler and Stormy were given back command of the Silanda. They requested that Balm and Fiddler's squads serve as their crew.The Bonehunters, Chapter 18, US SFBC p.716 Balm and the other officers on board argued how the Adjunct's achievements would be negatively misread back home, with Balm being particularly vociferous in Tavore's support.The Bonehunters, Chapter 18, US SFBC p.721
The Adunct's fleet travelled to Malaz City where Empress Laseen awaited Tavore in Mock's Hold. The Silanda joined Tavore's flagship, the Froth Wolf, to moor at the city pier while the rest of the fleet remained anchored in the harbour. The entire city seethed with magically induced anger against the 14th Army and the soldiers of the Silanda prepared to defend their ship from the mob after the Adjunct was escorted away. Fiddler, Gesler, and Stormy quietly slipped into the city on their own business leaving Balm the only officer in charge besides Keneb. The usual pre-battle confusion came upon him, but once the fighting began Balm ably directed the defense of the pier.The Bonehunters, Chapter 22The Bonehunters, Chapter 23, US SFBC p.889-890/911/940
==In Reaper's Gale==
Adjunct Tavore clashed with Empress Laseen at Malaz City and took the Bonehunters rogue, following the Tiste Edur fleet that had ravaged Sepik back to Lether to invade the Letherii Empire.Reaper's Gale, Chapter 13, US HC p.356 Balm and Cord's squads took the Silanda to the island of Second Maiden Fort off the coast of Lether to establish a headquarters and resupply base for the Adjunct.Reaper's Gale, Chapter 13, US HC p.353Reaper's Gale, Chapter 14, US HC p.409 They found the island on the verge of being destroyed under a mountain of ice released by the collapse of Gothos' ancient Omtose Phellack ritual, but Sinn was able to hold the ice back with her magic until its force was spent. The island's self-declared ruler, Brullyg, gratefully welcomed the Malazans as royal guests until they placed him under house arrest and secretly took control of the island.Reaper's Gale, Chapter 13, US HC p.348/369
While Balm's squad kept Brullyg under guard and monitored the island from its only town, Cord's squad patrolled the island's coast and interior while awaiting Tavore's arrival.Reaper's Gale, Chapter 13, US HC p.345-350/358Reaper's Gale, Chapter 16, US HC p.468 Masan Gilani, on loan from Urb's squad, spent most of her time in town, but sometimes accompanied Cord's squad as needed.Reaper's Gale, Chapter 20, US HC p.612 Sinn served as a go-between, able to transport herself instantly across the island with her magic.Reaper's Gale, Chapter 13, US HC p.349-350
While Galt and Lobe guarded Brullyg in his rooms with Masan Gilani, and Widdershins frequently accompanied Cord's squad on patrol, Balm, Deadsmell, and Throatslitter spent their days in Harridict Tavern observing the clientele.Reaper's Gale, Chapter 13, US HC p.345-349/369 The three were free to speak their foreign Malazan tongue and argued frequently. The fires of Y'Ghatan had left Balm's face scarred with piebald patches and his hair a tangled birdnest that shed flakes of skin under his frequent scratching. This did not stop him from mooning over Shurq Elalle, calling her a beautiful woman and wondering why she sat with the maimed Skorgen Kaban rather than with him. Deadsmell mocked him for failing to notice the pirate was undead and Throatslitter found Balm's resulting rage so comical that he silenced the entire tavern with one of his uncanny shrieking laughs.Reaper's Gale, Chapter 13, US HC p.345-348
Meanwhile Tavore sent Fist Keneb's marines to the mainland, spreading them in isolated pairs of squads across thirty leagues of coast and burning their transport vessels behind them. The marines moved forward into the Letherii countryside towards Letheras, the capital, with orders to kill Edur by night and stir the occupied Letherii into rebellion. Each squad had a mage responsible for hiding their presence and confusing their enemies.Reaper's Gale, Chapter 13, US HC p.361-365
When Adjunct Tavore arrived with the rest of the Malazan fleet, she hired Shurq Elalle to guide them to the mouth of the Lether River leading to Letheras.Reaper's Gale, Chapter 20, US HC p.613 Balm and Cord's squads made the journey on the Silanda and Balm spent his time playing Bones on deck with Ebron, Crump, and others.Reaper's Gale, Chapter 20, US HC p.612-613 
The Adjunct's fleet made landfall near Letheras in time to see a massive release of enemy sorcery near Fist Keneb's reported position. Believing the marines had been wiped out, Tavore's forces defeated the city's Imperial Brigade.Reaper's Gale, Chapter 22, US HC p.693-694Reaper's Gale, Chapter 24, US HC p.748-754Reaper's Gale, Chapter 17, US HC p.501 During the fighting some of "the Confusion" came upon Balm, but it receded by the time he and his squad, along with Masan Gilani, secured horses to chase down fleeing Letherii soldiers. They continued further inland towards the city with Balm mesmerized by Gilani's bottom on the horse ahead of him. When they arrived at the field where Beak had saved Keneb's marines, they were mystified to find no bodies.Reaper's Gale, Chapter 24, US HC p.751-754 Approaching the city's western gate, they found it in control of Keneb's troops. By this time, "the Confusion" had come fully upon Balm and he was incapable of communicating with anyone. Deadsmell assured Keneb the sergeant would snap out of it soon, as Masan Gilani raced back to fetch reinforcements from Tavore.Reaper's Gale, Chapter 24, US HC p.790-792 Soon the City Garrison surrendered and the city fell.Reaper's Gale, Chapter 24, US HC p.812
==In Dust of Dreams==
(Information needed)
==In The Crippled God==
After the battle with the K'Chain Nah'ruk, Balm decided not to recruit new members into his decimated squad nor break it up.The Crippled God, Chapter 4, UK HB p.102
==History==
Balm was a lapsed warlock of mediocre talent who ran away from the savannah of Dal Hon to become a soldier and escape a life herding cattle, hunting monstrous beasts, and drinking bull blood and cow milk.The Bonehunters, Chapter 7, US HC p.286
==Speculations==
In one of his fugues, Balm believed himself and his squad to be riding for Aren, and for Fist Blistig to still be the commander of that garrison, a potential implication being that Balm had at one point been a soldier in the 7th Army during the Chain of Dogs.Reaper's Gale, Chapter 24 If so, he would have been one of the wounded evacuated from Vathar crossing to Aren onboard the Silanda, potentially explaining Gesler's selection of his squad to crew that vessel.
==Notes and references==
Category:Bonehunters
Category:Dal Honese
Category:Males
Category:Medium infantry
Category:Sergeants
Category:Y'Ghatan survivor (underground)