Crack'd Pot Trail

Crack'd Pot Trail is the fourth published novella in the Bauchelain & Korbal Broach series by Steven Erikson. Chronologically, it is set after The Healthy Dead.
The novella is also included in The Second Collected Tales of Bauchelain and Korbal Broach.
== Publisher's Summary ==
The intrepid necromancers Bauchelain and Korbal Broach, scourges of civilization, raisers of the dead, reapers of the souls of the living, devourers of hope, betrayers of faith, slayers of the innocent and modest personifications of evil, have a lot to answer for and answer they will. Known as the Nehemoth, they are pursued by countless self-professed defenders of decency, sanity and civilization. After all, since when does evil thrive unchallenged? Well, often: but not this time.
Hot on their heels are the Nehemothanai, avowed hunters of Bauchelain and Korbal Broach. In the company of a gaggle of artists and pilgrims, stalwart Mortal Sword Tulgord Vise, pious Well Knight Arpo Relent, stern Huntsman Steck Marynd, and three of the redoubtable Chanter brothers (and their lone sister) find themselves faced with the cruelest of choices. The legendary Crack'd Pot Trail, a stretch of harsh wasteland between the Gates of Nowhere and the Shrine of the Indifferent God, has become a tortured path of deprivation.
Will honour, moral probity and virtue prove champions in the face of brutal necessity? No, of course not. Don't be silly.
== Dramatis Personae ==
A
* Anomander Rake, First Son of Darkness Crack'd Pot Trail, Chapter 4
* Apto Canavalian, judge for The Century's Greatest Artist Crack'd Pot Trail, Chapter 2 
* Arpo Relent, Well Knight, one of the Nehemothanai 
* Aurpan, poet and traveler Crack'd Pot Trail, Chapter 3
* Avas Didion Flicker, poet and adventurerCrack'd Pot Trail, Chapter 1
B
* Bauchelain, necromancer and partner of Korbal Broach, one of the Nehemoth Crack'd Pot Trail, Chapter 6
* Brash Phluster, young poet and singer 
C
* Calap Roud, writer at the end of his career 
* Dantoc Calmpositis, matriarch of Reliant City 
* Draconus, consort of Mother Dark 
E
* Emancipor Reese, manservant to Bauchelain and Korbal Broach
F
* The Fenn, character from an old tale 
* Ferryman, hooded man with an agenda
* Fisher kel Tath, well known bard 
* Flea Chanter, twin Chanter brother 
G
* Gormle Ess of Ivant, poet 
I
* Imass woman, character from an old tale 
K
* Kalam Mekhar, assassin 
* Korbal Broach, necromancer and partner of Bauchelain, one of the Nehemoth 
L
* Laseen, empress of the Malazan Empire 
M
* Mendic Hellup, healer 
* Midge Chanter, twin Chanter brother 
* Mister Must Ambertroshin, manservant to Dantoc Calmpositis 
N
* Nifty Gum, three time winner of the Mantle of The Century's Greatest Artist 
O
* Oggle Gush, member of Nifty Gum's entourage 
* Ordig, poet and traveler 
P
* Pampera, member of Nifty Gum's entourage 
* Purse Snippet, famed dancer 
R
* Relish Chanter, Chanter sister 
S
* Sandroc of Blight, poet 
* Sardic Thew, self proclaimed caravan host 
* Sellup, member of Nifty Gum's entourage 
* Sensible poet, ill-fated caravan member
* Steck Marynd, taciturn woodsman, one of the Nehemothanai 
* Stenla Tebur of Aren, poet 
T
* Tiny Chanter, eldest member of the Chanter family 
* Tulgord Vise, Mortal Sword of the Sisters, one of the Nehemothanai 
== Plot Summary ==
==Trivia==
*Author Steven Erikson cited British explorer Richard Francis Burton as the inspiration for the voice of Crack'd Pot Trail.Steven Erikson Facebook post - 5 May 2020 Specifically, Burton's introduction to his translation of The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night was where Erikson found the voice of Flicker.Novellas (and more) with Steven Erikson - Smiley's Podcast - See 8:40 
*Erikson also found inspiration in Walter Scott's Ivanhoe and Geoffrey Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales.Novellas (and more) with Steven Erikson - Smiley's Podcast - See 10:00 He describes the novella as The Canterbury Tales meets the Donner Party.Not A TSACast: Fireside Conversations with Steven Erikson Ep#3 podcast - See 46:30
*Erikson credits the novella as "possibly the most enjoyable writing experience I've ever had",Steven Erikson Facebook post 25 June 2021 although he says "it's actually not easy to write really bad poetry. It's quite challenging...You've got to deliberately break a whole bunch of rules...[and be] deliberately awkward."A Conversation with Steven Erikson - Malazan Mid-Series Reflection - Green Team of the Legendarium - See 17:25
==External links==
* Critical Conversations 06: Poetry in Malazan with Steven Erikson - A Critical Dragon
==Notes and references==
Category:Bauchelain & Korbal Broach novellas
Category:Crack'd Pot Trail
Category:Dramatis Personae