Gall (of the Khundryl Burned Tears)

Gall InshikalanThe Crippled God, Chapter 4, UK HB p.94 was the warleader of the Khundryl Burned Tears.House of Chains, Dramatis Personae, UK MMPB He was described as a huge man with black tears tattooed down his broad cheeks that appeared to be gouged into his flesh.House of Chains, Chapter 15, US SFBC p.529 He had the sharp, avid grey eyes of a hunting bird.House of Chains, Chapter 15, US SFBC p.531 He had a mass of curly black hair which was possibly dyed since he looked to be at least fifty years of age to Gamet, and his mustache was large enough for its tips to rest on his chest.House of Chains, Chapter 15, UK MMPB p.631/635/636 Despite being in his sixth decade, he had the physique of a blacksmith.Dust of Dreams, Chapter 14
Gall wore a strange grayish hide armour that appeared almost reptilian, beneath an array of skins, furs, and fetishes.Deadhouse Gates, Chapter 19, US SFBC p.590 Later he added crow wings to his forearms.House of Chains, Chapter 15, US SFBC p.532 He bore two tulwars strapped to the harness crossing his chest, one of which was broken just above the hilt.
His wife was Hanavat.Dust of Dreams, Dramatis Personae Imrahl, an ancient Khundryl, served as his aide.The Bonehunters, Chapter 13, US SFBC p.547
==In Deadhouse Gates==
Gall was the unnamed Khundryl warchief who approached Coltaine and Duiker during the Battle of Sanimon. As spokesman for the other warchiefs, he told Coltaine that the Khundryl had long sought to prove their prowess against the other tribes of the south odhans, the Tregyn and the Bhilard, as well as the Can'eld, Semk, and Tithansi. After the battle, Gall spoke to Coltaine again and claimed it was the Wickans who had proved themselves the most powerful that day.Deadhouse Gates, Chapter 19, US SFBC p.590-591House of Chains, Chapter 15, US SFBC p.530
== In House of Chains ==
After weeks of skirmishes with local tribes, a large number of unknown warriors appeared unexpectedly on the trail of Adjunct Tavore Paran's Malaz 14th Army south of Vathar Crossing. Gall and his tribe of the Khundryl Burned Tears amounted to some three thousand veterans who had fought for Coltaine at Sanimon. The warchief announced his warriors had dealt with the Malazans' Kherahn Dhobri harassers and driven them off.House of Chains, Chapter 15, US SFBC p.527-530
Then he and the Burned Tears joined the 14th Army, partially as a penance to make up for their perceived abandonment of Coltaine and his 7th Army after Sanimon. Gall's three thousand had returned to their homes after the battle while Coltaine and the Chain of Dogs had marched on to annihilation. The Burned Tears' shame made them feel as ghosts in their own land. The faces of their wives, husbands, and children were as strangers. Thus, they sought vengeance against Korbolo Dom and his Dogslayers.House of Chains, Chapter 15, US SFBC p.530
The Burned Tears were incorporated into the cavalry arm of the army by the Adjunct, and were accepted by Temul as a part of the Crow Clan. Gall celebrated their alliance with a feast of Bhederin, boar, and barrels of Urtathan, upon which much of the army became drunk.House of Chains, Chapter 15, US SFBC p.530-533
At Vathar Crossing, Fists Gamet and Tene Baralta sent Gall and his warriors to root out any observers who might object to the army destroying the bridge of blood blocking the army's progress over the river's ford.House of Chains, Chapter 15, US SFBC p.544 The Burned Tears also proved to be able opponents against Leoman's attempts to harass the army with his desert cavalry. The Khundryl butchered their fallen opponents taking body parts as trophies.House of Chains, Chapter 21, US SFBC p.705
At the Battle of Raraku, the Burned Tears were kept in reserve behind the fortified positions of the Malazan infantry.House of Chains, Chapter 24, US SFBC p.752
==In The Bonehunters==
After the Battle of Raraku, Leoman led the Army of the Apocalypse westward to Y'Ghatan and the 14th Army followed. Distrusting Adjunct Tavore's leadership, Fist Baralta and Fist Blistig attempted to unite the other Fists in a plot to corner Tavore and demand answers on strategy. They were particularly concerned when the Adjunct dismissed Quick Ben and Kalam Mekhar on what appeared to be a wild goose chase. While Blistig invited Fist Keneb into their plotting, Baralta met with Warleader Gall.The Bonehunters, Chapter 5, US SFBC p.199
Gall, Keneb, and newly promoted Fist Temul met at Dassem Ultor's barrow a half league south of Y'Ghatan to share intelligence from their mounted scouts and discuss strategy for the coming siege. Gall noted signs of an exodus by the civilian population along the road to Lothal. He argued that Leoman could have easily escaped into the odhan with his army. That Leoman remained in the city suggested he meant to bleed the Malazans while fighting to the bitter end. The army of the Apocalypse had been humiliated at Raraku, and now sought only to bring their enemies pain. Before the meeting broke up, Gall and Temul rekindled an old argument in which Gall claimed the rising young Wickan was becoming more like Coltaine every day.The Bonehunters, Chapter 6, US SFBC p.234-239
Gall remained at the Adjunct's side when the assault on Y'Ghatan began, his horse-warriors not taking part in the assault, but divided into companies and positioned to respond if Leoman surprised them.The Bonehunters, Chapter 6, US SFBC p.234-239The Bonehunters, Chapter 7, US SFBC p.234-292 Once Leoman's forces were defeated and the city destroyed by fire, the the 14th Army made haste for the Kokakal Sea to embark on Admiral Nok's ships and escape the Bluetongue Plague ravaging Seven Cities. While waiting for Nok's ships to arrive Gall and Imrahl became involved in a conversation with Captains Ruthan Gudd and Madan'Tul Rada. Gall found Ruthan Gudd's story of an island sinking into the sea to be nonsensical.The Bonehunters, Chapter 13, US SFBC p.547-548
The two thousand or more Khundryl spent the sea journey back to Quon Tali seasick below decks.The Bonehunters, Chapter 23, US SFBC p.902The Bonehunters, Chapter 20, US SFBC p.797 The Adunct's fleet travelled to Malaz City where Empress Laseen awaited Tavore in Mock's Hold. Tavore's flagship, the Froth Wolf, and the Silanda moored 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. The Empress, allied with Mallick Rel, had settled on making both the Wickans and the foreign Khundryl scapegoats and sacrifices for her own political needs. She ordered them to be disarmed and brought ashore. Tavore refused to participate in the slaughter of her loyal troops and turned renegade. She escaped back to her ships and the fleet fled Malaz Bay.The Bonehunters, Chapter 23, US SFBC p.897-907
==In Dust of Dreams==
Gall's relationship with his wife Hanavat had been long suffering, with both of them engaging in infidelity that was not hidden from the other. As the Bolkando Chancellor and Conquestor began to choke the Khundryl supplies through extortion, Gall led the Khundryl on a bloody and succesful campaign all the way to the gates of Bolkando's capital.
After parleying with Queen Abrastal to receive restitution for the offenses of the byzantine court of Bolkando, Gall was able to return to his wife and repair their relationship in the name of his unborn son, despite the fact that Hanavat was unsure the child was his.
Arriving late to the battle between the Bonehunters and the K'Chain Nah'ruk, the Khundryl rode to the former's relief in a mass cavalry charge. Less than a third of the warriors survived the attack, victims of the Nah'Ruk lightning nodes that destroyed the army before it could close with the lizard troops. While Gall lived through the massacre, all of his sons were killed.
==In The Crippled God==
Gall fell into a catatonic state after the massacre of the Khundryl, taking solace in the arms of his daughter-in-law, Jastara, the widow of his eldest son. As the remaining Khundryl ostracized them both, Hanavat nonetheless begged for them to understand the devastation Gall had suffered as a warleader and a father. Realizing her people needed a leader, she took command of the Khundryl during their march through the Glass Desert.The Crippled God, Chapter 3, UK HB p.86
Midway through their journey, they encountered the children of the Snake who were adopted by the Khundryl. Sensing something special was about to happen, Rutt and Badalle joined Hanavat and Gall the night their child was born. Gall reconciled with Hanavat again, though he still mourned his dead sons.
As the Bonehunters made their final stand against the northern Forkrul Assail army, the Khundryl Burned Tears, led by Gall, made their own final charge to prevent the Malazans from being encircled. While their attack failed to stop the enemy from flanking them, it nonetheless wounded the Kolansii and bought the time necessary for the arrival of Ganoes Paran and his relieving army. Gall was also cut down in the attack, but mortally wounded the Forkrul Assail Pure commander with his last breath, allowing her to be killed. Before he died he could hear the Malazans in the army chanting "Khundryl" again and again, Gall felt he had redeemed himself as a warrior and then joined his sons in death.
==Quotes==
==Notes and references==
Category:Males
Category:Soldiers
Category:Seven Cities natives
Category:Khundryl Burned Tears
Category:Warleaders
de:Gall
es:Hiel (khundryl Lágrimas Quemadas)