Annals

Annals by Melysoph.

For the hardcover omnibus see: Annals of the Black Company (1986)

For the Tor ebundle see: Annals of the Black Company (2018)

The Annals are the written history of the Black Company. They are recorded by the Company Annalist, a position considered so important that it carries an officer rank. Croaker once described them as the "soul of the Black Company." Most of the Annals are written in the first-person perspective. The published selections from the Annals, combined with Case's private journal for The Silver Spike, constitute the Black Company series.

Some individual books of the Annals are named after their Annalist, such as the Books of Croaker, Lady, Murgen, and Sleepy. Others take their name from unknown sources, such as the "Book of Set", which was recorded by Annalist Coral; and the "Book of Kette", which recorded by the Annalists Lees, Agrip, Holm, and Straw.

The Annals were also fragmentary and incomplete due to several defeats in battle where records were abandoned or lost. Examples of this include the Battle of Urban and Battle of Queen's Bridge, although in the latter case they were recovered by the Lady and later returned to Croaker.

The known volumes of the Annals are listed below.

The first three Annals

• Book of the Company
  • Describes the time when the Company first emerged from the glittering plain. Was lost by the Company but a copy was made and saved in Taglios. Later translated by Master Santaraksita.
• First Book of Odrick
• Second Book of Odrick

Subsequent Annals

• Book of Te-Lare
  • Describes a fateful battle when the Company was overrun and the early Annals were stolen. The Annalist and his understudy were both killed so the work could not be reconstructed. Lost but later recovered at the Temple of Travellers' Repose.
• Book of Kette
  • Written early in the Company's second century. Recorded by the Annalists Lees, Agrip, Holm, and Straw. One section describes the time when the Company was in service to the Paingod of Cho'n Delor. During Annalist Straw's time, the Company numbered more than 6,000 strong and consisted entirely (or mostly) of black men.
  • in Bleak Seasons, One-Eye confirmed that "Kette" was not the name of an Annalist. But before he could explain who Kette was, he was interrupted by Murgen. It is likely that Kette was either the Captain or the Company's employer at the time.

Annals of unknown chronology

These Annals are of unknown order, but, they all took place before Croaker's time as Annalist.

• Book of Woeg
  • Describes the time when the Company was almost destroyed at the Battle of Bake, in Norssele.
• Book of Skete
  • Lost and forgotten but later rediscovered at the Temple of Travellers' Repose.
• Book of Set
  • Recorded by Annalist Coral. Describes the time when the Company was in service to the Archon of Bone, during the Revolt of the Chiliarchs.
• Book of Cloete
  • Describes the time when the Company was in service to the Syndarchs of Dai Khomena.
• Book of Choe
  • Destroyed 50 years before Croaker enlisted with the Company. Later rediscovered in the Temple of Travellers' Repose.
• 6 other unspecified books
  • All rediscovered at the Temple of Travellers' Repose alongside the Books of Te-Lare, Skete, and Choe.

Annals shortly before Croaker

• The unspecified set of Annals that were lost during the Battle of Urban
  • Accounted for a 70-year stretch of time
  • At some point during this time period, One-Eye and Tom-Tom joined the Black Company
  • It is possible but uncertain that some portion of the Annals that were recovered by Croaker during the Company's second visit to the Temple of Travellers' Repose (in Shadow Games) may have been among those lost at the Battle of Urban. However none of the recovered writings could have included any chronicles that were written after their first departure from the Temple.
• Book(s) of Miller Ladora
  • Considered by Sleepy to be poorly written and containing a disappointing paucity of detail
  • Miller Ladora was one of "Croaker's more immediate predecessors"
• Book(s) of Kanwas Scar
  • Considered by Sleepy to be poorly written and containing a disappointing paucity of detail
  • Kanwas Scar was one of "Croaker's more immediate predecessors"

The Books of Croaker

• First Book(s) of Croaker
  • Prior to and during the Company's service to the Syndic of Beryl (The Black Company ch. 1)
• Books of the North
  • When the Company was in service to the Lady's Empire and then to the New White Rose Rebellion in the northern continent (The Black Company ch. 2–7; Shadows Linger; and The White Rose)
  • A portion of the Books of the North, spanning the latter four years of the period between the Battle of Charm and the Company's deployment to Tally and primarily detailing the Company's time in Aloe, vanish and are forgotten. Fragmentary copies are recovered in Aloe decades later. (Port of Shadows)
• Croaker's Book of the South (Shadow Games)

Subsequent books

• Book of Lady (Dreams of Steel)
• Book(s) of Murgen (Bleak Seasons and She Is the Darkness)
• One-Eye's Notes, integrated into the Book of Murgen (Bleak Seasons ch. 32)
  • One-Eye kept a number of poorly maintained notes of his travels in the south, though they were fragmentary, and made little reference to the major events going on at the time. Primarily they describe One-Eye's drunken exploits through the Shadowlands with a number of Taglian soldiers. This includes the robbery of a minor noble's gin reserves after he offers them hospitality, and as a result Prahbrindrah Drah is required to repay the lord for the damages. One-Eye eventually gives the haggard papers to Murgen upon request, and they are integrated into his own book with amendments.
• Book of Sleepy (Water Sleeps)
• Final Book of Croaker (Soldiers Live)
• Book of Arkana and Shukrat (Soldiers Live ch. 148)