Endest Silann

Endest Silann [EN-dest SIH-lan]Spoiler Chat: Toll the Hounds - Part Three with Dr. Philip Chase and Steven Erikson - A Critical Dragon - As pronounced by Steven Erikson at 58:35 was the last aging High Mage serving Anomander Rake on Moon's Spawn. By the time the Tiste Andii relocated to Black Coral, the once formidable sorcerer considered himself to be "a barely competent castellan to the New Andiian Palace". 
He was among the oldest of the Tiste Andii--second only to Rake--and recalled first setting foot in the Malazan world as a youth alongside an enraged Rake during a night ravaged by storms. His lord's anger (at some unrevealed cause) had ebbed even as blood still leaked from a sword wound in Rake's left shoulder.
While he had once been a priest, a man of faith, and a believer in the benign regard of ancestors and spirits, he no longer felt that way. Now he believed mortals were cursed; damned by some innate proclivity to follow the same path, again and again, and betray every gift given them.Toll the Hounds, Chapter 22, US SFBC p.898
Endest was a slim man with skin as black as night and brush-cut black hair shot with grey. His eyes were almond-shaped. He wore long robes of silk and cotton tailored to his formForge of the High Mage, Chapter 10, UK HC p.159 and sandals.Forge of the High Mage, Chapter 17, UK HC p.269
==In Toll the Hounds==
During the Pannion War, Rake had tasked his old friend with keeping Moon's Spawn and the Tiste Andii safely hidden within the depths of Ortnal's Cut prior to the Siege of Coral. The magnitude of this work depleted his powers and left him emotionally broken. He felt both he and the Skykeep had died on the day when it came crashing down on Coral's Old Palace.Toll the Hounds, Chapter 2, US SFBC p.58-61 Other Andii, like Spinnock Durav, thought Endest undeserving of the shame he heaped upon himself for his situation but could think of no way ease the castellan's burden.Toll the Hounds, Chapter 2, US SFBC p.78 
Endest Silann often found his thoughts turning to the days when he had been a simple acolyte in lost Kharkanas, First Born of the Tiste Andii cities. He recalled the days of civil war among the Tiste Andii when the High Priestess of Kharkanas sent him to Suruth Common Forest to witness a meeting between Rake and his brothers, Silchas Ruin and Andarist. His modest rank had been a sign of the High Priestess' contempt for the participants, but the three were among the few not trying to kill each other. The brothers cryptically discussed a strategy for ending the conflict that brought the parties together to form a pact. Andarist, who claimed not to have the same courage or cruel madness to follow his brothers' path, would turn away and do nothing until Ruin one day betrayed him.Toll the Hounds, Chapter 12, US SFBC p.459-462 
The next time Endest saw Rake was at the Citadel of Kharkanas, which was strewn with bodies from the various factions. Endest had guided Rake, now a Soletaken with the blood of T'iam, to the chamber of Mother Dark. Rake reported that he would unite the Tiste Andii and resistance from Andarist, Drethdenan, and Vanut Degalla was ending, while Silchas Ruin, Hish Tulla, and Manalle had fled. The goddess scolded her son for his shortsighted tactic that had ended the war, before forsaking him and turning away from her children. Endest collapsed as hope was torn out of him.Toll the Hounds, Chapter 4, US SFBC p.131-135 Other memories included holding the hand of a dying High Priestess, sharing the knowledge that Mother Dark no longer awaited her beyond death. He also remembered standing over the body of Andarist's wife, Enesdia, with blood-covered hands as Kharkanas burned.Toll the Hounds, Chapter 24, US SFBC p.950
Hearing stories from Spinnock Durav that the River Eryn was comparable to the Dorssan Ryl that encircled Kharkanas, Endest made a pilgrimage to the river's shores.Toll the Hounds, Chapter 8, US SFBC p.298 Reality proved disappointing, but he discovered Caladan Brood's camp and the two old friends sat together eating fish and talkingToll the Hounds, Chapter 10, US SFBC p.389-391 until Rake sent Crone to summon his castellan back to Black Coral.Toll the Hounds, Chapter 12, US SFBC p.462-464
Nimander Golit recalled how he and scores of Rake's other progeny spent their childhoods in a snowswept keep in a remote mountain range. Rake lived among them in godlike indifference, but their daily needs were tended to by Endest Silann. The priest looked upon the children with dismay, knowing what kind of future awaited them. Consequently, he withheld his warmth and treated them like an ogre, although he never did them harm. The children endlessly tormented the old man, mocking and tripping him. When a disapproving Andarist had taken them away to place under his own care at Drift Avalii, Nimander saw Endest weeping.Toll the Hounds, Chapter 8, US SFBC p.311-313
When Anomander Rake left Black Coral to face his destiny in Darujhistan, he placed the burden of defending on Endest Silann. As light from the shattered moon shone down on the city, tearing away its protective cloak of darkness, and Kelyk fell as rain, the Dying God (possessing the body of Clip) came to the New Palace to confront Endest in the Temple of Shadow.Toll the Hounds, Chapter 24, US SFBC p.951/973 The ancient castellan was all that stood against the Dying God's attempt to claim the Tiste Andii and corrupt Kurald Galain.Toll the Hounds, Chapter 24, US SFBC p.976 The High Priestess of Darkness could only observe Endest's failing struggle, concluding Rake had been wrong to put his faith in him.Toll the Hounds, Chapter 24, US SFBC p.952 But Endest drew on the example of the unstoppable force of the Dorssan Ryl, which was defiant of all light, to hold on.Toll the Hounds, Chapter 24, US SFBC p.977
The old mage held the Dying God at bay long enough for Rake to restore the Gate of Darkness to Black Coral, while Mother Dark and the Redeemer destroyed the Dying God. The effort left Endest a dying heap of mangled flesh and bone. With the High Priestess at his side, the smiling mage proudly told her that he had served Rake as Rake had served their people all these years. With the return of Mother Dark, Rake had brought his people home and when Endest died, he heard Mother Dark calling him to her side.Toll the Hounds, Chapter 24, US SFBC p.986
== In Forge of Darkness==
Many thousands of years before the events at Black Coral, Endest Silann had lived as a Tiste in Kurald Galain and was the child of two captains in Urusander's Legion, Esthala and Silann. As a young man he had disappointed their ambitions by joining the priesthood at Kharkanas.Forge of Darkness, Chapter 10, UK HC p.281
He fled Kharkanas after Draconus returned to Mother Dark with the Terondai that opened the Gate of Kurald Galain. He found himself on the road north where he met Anomander Rake and the two continued on to the home of Andarist that was now a barrow for House Enes. There, Endest bled over the grave of Enesdia and revealed that Mother Dark had posthumously named her High Priestess of Dark.Forge of Darkness, Chapter 20, UK HC p.656-660
==In Fall of Light==
(Information needed)
==In Forge of the High Mage==
(Information needed)
==Notes and references==
Category:High Mages
Category:Males
Category:Priests and acolytes
Category:Tiste
Category:Tiste Andii