Reach of Woe

Reach of Woe was the nameToll the Hounds, Chapter 16, US TPB p.543 of a coastal community which was a village (sometimes referred to as being a 'town') situated at the top of a sheer, high cliff on an islandToll the Hounds, Chapter 20, US TPB p.675/676 located somewhere in the southern islands of Genabackis.Toll the Hounds, Chapter 18, US SFBC p.743 At the base of the eroded cliff-face were "jagged spires of black rock, reefs, shoals" and all such things as could easily wreck ships and drown people.Toll the Hounds, Chapter 16, US TPB p.541 Also at the cliff base was a narrow strand of what had once been a white sand beach - above which were weathered steps leading to a cave mouth from which a tunnel rose steeply upwards through the heart of the headland, ending inside a large warehouse in the village. The villagers of 'Reach of Woe' had decided, at some point in the past (perhaps inspired by Gacharge Hadlorn Who Waits, a locally famous personage), to take advantage of the ideal natural "wreckers' coast" that they happened to live on and to become wreckers, rather than to continue trying to fish in the very dangerous waters below the village.Toll the Hounds, Chapter 18, US TPB p.608/614
==In Toll the Hounds==
The Trygalle Trade Guild caravan under the leadership of the sorceror and navigator, Master Quell, made one of the Trygalle Guild's (more than usually) dramatic arrivals in 'Reach of Woe' - an unplanned, intermediate stop in the transporting of the Trell, Mappo Runt, from Darujhistan to Lether. The Trygalle Trade Guild shareholders and Mappo survived the arrival, but the six-wheeled carriage, itself, was very badly damaged as became apparent when the carriage cabin, now wheel-less and horseless, came to rest just outside a tavern of the village.Toll the Hounds, Chapter 16, US TPB p.541-543
The Trygalle Trade Guild personnel and passenger, headquartered in the village tavern, in turn:Toll the Hounds, Chapter 16, US TPB p.543 were embroiled in an attack on them by three Tralka Vonan (aka 'Blood Feeders' - i.e., young village women laboring under an extremely nasty curse);Toll the Hounds, Chapter 18, US TPB p.605-608/612-613 conferred about this curse with the village's only elected official, Provost Bedusk Pall Kovuss Agape, a 'Jaghut Anap', (who lived just outside 'Reach of Woe' in a tower which was situated right on the edge of the cliff);Toll the Hounds, Chapter 18, US TPB p.610-613 avoided getting drawn into a marital argument, involving major destructive sorcery, between the Provost and his newly 're-surfaced' wife;Toll the Hounds, Chapter 18, US TPB p.614/616/619 and, finally after a great deal of 'excitement' of all kinds, left 'Reach of Woe' and the island upon which it stood no longer...the village having been wiped out by the Provost and his wife during their still ongoing fight (thus being responsible for the removal of a dangerous scourge to passing ships and their crew and passengers) to continue the Trygalle Trade Guild's journey to deliver Mappo Runt to Lether.Toll the Hounds, Chapter 20, US TPB p.674-677
==Trivia==
Steven Erikson was asked in a fan Q&A whether Reach of Woe was located on the Wreckers' Coast of Assail. He replied saying, "Yeah, I think I had the Wrecker’s Coast of Northern Assail in mind. But then, with Cam nearing the end of his Assail novel (which I’ve not yet read), why, everything may change! Isn’t life exciting?"Ask Steven Erikson Your Toll the Hounds Questions! - See answer to question 13 This contradicts the novel which implies the village was in Genabackis based on the fact that one of the villagers speaks in a Genabackan dialect with a south islander accent.Toll the Hounds, Chapter 18, US SFBC p.743 
==Notes and references==
Category:Genabackis
Category:Villages
es:Tramo de Congoja