Circle Breaker

Circle Breaker was an agent of The Eel in Darujhistan.Gardens of the Moon, Dramatis Personae, UK MMPB p.xv In his day to day life, he was a member of the City Watch. His uniform consisted of a ringed hauberk, a tabard and a boiled leather cap with the insignia of the Watch. He wore a plain shortsword scabbarded to his belt and carried a pike. Circle Breaker had unmemorable features, an extremely good memory, and his eyes were accustomed to darkness. Off-duty, he carried a leather satchel in which he kept his tabard.Gardens of the Moon, Chapter 6, UK MMPB p.195/196Gardens of the Moon, Chapter 7, UK MMPB p.223 He wore a jerkin.Gardens of the Moon, Chapter 7, UK MMPB p.225
He lived four streets in from the entry to the Scented Wood (a location on Lakefront Street), in a single room on the second floor of a run-down tenement. The door to the room which he kept latched and locked, was thin and warped.Gardens of the Moon, Chapter 7, UK MMPB p.226
Circle Breaker had grown up in Darujhistan and as a child spent a lot of time at the docks. He recollected a lesson learned on the burning deck of a Freemen Privateers corsair, presumably having been one himself.Gardens of the Moon, Chapter 7, UK MMPB p.224
==In Gardens of the Moon==
By the time of events in Gardens of the Moon, Circle Breaker had spent six years on the night shift guarding the Despot's Barbican. For the past year he had been eavesdropping on councilman Turban Orr. After each meeting he would pass on messages to various recipients according to instructions he had been given by his master. At least some of those messages were sent to the High Alchemist Baruk. Circle Breaker's motivation was to prevent the Tyrant Kings of the past from rising again in Darujhistan.Gardens of the Moon, Chapter 6, UK MMPB p.195-197 
Not long after Turban Orr's meetings at the Barbican had stopped, Circle Breaker wrote a plea for help as he feared to match wits with the councilman alone. The note was probably meant for the Eel, however Circle Breaker tore it up. Doing so, he thought he heard the sound of a spinning coin in the back of his mind which seemed a sad sound.Gardens of the Moon, Chapter 7, UK MMPB p.225
During Lady Simtal's Gedderone Fête party, he was finally retired from his duty as a spy and given documents by the Eel to begin a new life in Dhavran with an estate and a title as reward for services rendered.Gardens of the Moon, Chapter 21, US HC p.433
==Trivia==
In a 2020 interview, author Steven Erikson revealed that Circle Breaker served as a meta commentary on his feelings on writing Gardens of the Moon. "Circle Breaker was very much my stand-in, both for the faith in doing what he was doing, but also in the doubts he was experiencing." The final line of the novel belongs to Circle Breaker, who wonders "what it would be like, no longer anonymous to the world", reflecting Erikson's own speculation on the reception of his book. Circle Breaker remained nameless because "he's definitely standing in for the name 'Steven Erikson'...so I didn't want a competing name to be there for my own satisfaction. He had to remain unnamed because there was that meta element to it, in terms of the role he was playing."Gardens of the Moon - Chatting with Steven Erikson, part 1 - See 13:00-17:45 and 27:35
==Notes and references==
Category:Daru
Category:Males
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