Die Gärten des Mondes/Kapitel 7

Ich sehe einen Mann
im Feuer hocken;
er lässt mich kalt,
und ich frage mich,
was macht er hier so kühn
in meinem Scheiterhaufen ...

―Epitaph der Gadrobi

Kapitel 7

Kruppe

In Kruppe’s dream, he speaks to the Elder God K'rul who believes he will lose a battle sometime in the future.

Circle Breaker waits for the Eel’s agent to deliver a personal message, a plea for help. But he changes his mind and tears up the scroll.

Lady Simtal accuses Turban Orr of wanting to become a High Fist of the Empire. They talk about Simtal's ex-husband. She wants Orr to kill him. Murillio convinces Lady Orr to get him two invitations (for himself and Rallick) to Lady Simtal's Fête on Gedderone's Eve.

Outside the Orr estate, Rallick confronts Crokus and tells him not to rob the Orr estate. Crokus leaves and examines Oponn's coin more closely. At the Boar's Tears tavern he speaks with Kruppe and retrieves the D'Arle loot before Kruppe can fence it. Kruppe examines the coin.

Murillio meets with Rallick and they deduce that Crokus is smitten with Challice D'Arle. They decide to try to encourage him away from thieving and for the first time in a long time, they both feel hopeful for their friends, and that things might be taking a turn for the better, despite the specter of a Malazan invasion hanging over them. They both comment on Kruppe's slipperiness.

Outside Baruk’s estate, noisy road workers create havoc and startle the alchemist. Startled, he spills some ink on a map and the stain spreads southwards all the way to Catlin, and with a shudder, Baruk feels it to be a premonition of things to come. Baruk then receives one of his informers, who happens to be Kruppe. Kruppe enters and shows Baruk a wax copy of Oponn’s coin which starts to spin faster and faster while the wax melts. Kruppe, in a veiled fashion, informs him about this coin from Oponn, hinting that things have just gotten far more complicated with the entry of an ascendant into their game. For just a moment, Baruk intuits that Kruppe is far more than just an informer and feels that he is far more knowledgeable and cleverer than Baruk had anticipated him to be. Finally, Baruk instructs Kruppe and his agents to protect the Coinbearer (Crokus).