Silent

Silent
Silent by Mikey Patch (Irontree)
Origin & physical description
Birthplace	Southern continent
Sex	Male
Stature	Tall
Skin	"Dusky" white
Affiliations
Allegiances	Black Company New White Rose Rebellion
Occupation	Wizard
Status (! spoilers !)
Status	Deceased
Death	Sacrificed himself to delay the Limper in Oar
Appearances
Appeared in	The Black Company Port of Shadows "Tides Elba" "Smelling Danger" "Bone Candy" Shadows Linger "Shaggy Dog Bridge" "Bone Eaters" The White Rose The Silver Spike

“	Of all the Company he is the least concerned about the image he will present in the annals. He does not care whether people like or hate him, does not care where he has been or where he is going. Sometimes I wonder if he cares whether he lives or dies...	”
–Croaker describing Silent, The Black Company

Silent was a wizard in service to the Black Company. At some point in the past he took a vow of silence, though he never disclosed the reason. He was also known for his friendship with Darling, a companionship that would outlive even his membership in the Company. Silent communicated with sign language that would become indispensable to Darling, and, would later be a mainstay of Black Company training.

Introduction

Personality

Like most of his Company brothers, Silent's life before joining the group is not discussed. When he joined, he had not yet taken his namesake vow of silence. Then, sometime before Croaker was recruited in Padora, Silent swore off all speech. Croaker the Annalist comments that the Captain deferred to another wizard, One-Eye, when it comes sorcery because he (the Captain) "cannot come to grips with Silent's refusal to talk". His lack of verbal communication did not result in him becoming cold or emotionless like Raven; Croaker in The White Rose would write:

“

Whatever vow he had taken, whatever it was that had driven him to abstain from speech, it had put a steel lock on Silent's jaw. I have seen him so pissed he could chew nails, so excited he lost sphincter control, but nothing has shaken his resolution against talking.

”

Enigmatically, and unlike most other Company brothers, Silent did not care about his reputation in the Annals.

Abilities

Silent was a lower-magnitude wizard. But his powers were nevertheless extremely effective against typical Black Company targets. He specialties were distinct from the other Company wizards One-Eye and Goblin, who were primarily illusionists. He demonstrated the ability to control insects when he manipulated hornets to attack only the Blues – and avoid Company soldiers – during Mercy's raid on the Mole Tavern in Beryl. Silent was an expert in infiltration and cloaking magic. During the capture and Taking of Whisper in the Forest of Cloud, he was undetected by both Soulcatcher and the Lady despite close proximity. At Madle's tavern in Tally, Silent produced noxious fumes which caused debilitating agony among Rebel attackers; during that same event, he put out fires with his sorcery alone. At the Battle of Juniper, he was trained well by the new Taken to accurately launch a kind of long-distance, sorcery-based artillery barrage.

The Black Company

Silent is depicted in the background, hooded, with his sack of wasps (left). Mercy confronts Verus in the foreground. Croaker is also visible (bearded, with shield, at right).

Silent was first introduced in Croaker's Annals in Beryl, after he spent half a day in the woods, in order to gather some dangerous wasps. He accompanied a sergeant named Mercy when the Captain ordered them to confront the Blues, political enemies of the Syndic who murdered two Company brothers at a bar called the Mole Tavern. When the Blues fought back, Mercy ordered Silent to intervene, and Silent unleashed the wasps, which stopped their enemies cold. Very soon the political conflicts in Beryl escalated to a civil uprising. In this tense situation, the Company sent a small squad to negotiate with the mysterious legate from the northern empire (Soulcatcher). Silent was part of the squad as a well-respected and important member, even though he did not say a word.

Once they accepted Soulcatcher as their new employer and went north, he and Elmo managed to obtain six head hairs from Raker, who was one of the generals of the Rebel forces seeking to overthrow the the Lady's Empire. The Company's wizards and Soulcatcher used the hairs in am elaborate spell. They set a pile of treasure, which could only be obtained by whomever deposited Raker's severed head. The operation was a success: Raker was hunted, disowned by all the other Rebels, and eventually killed by Raven with help from Croaker.

The next task by Soulcatcher was to capture Limper and Whisper during their secret meeting. Silent served as a backup for Croaker and Raven, while they were ambushing the sorcerers. From cover, he witnessed the Rite of Taking which the Lady performed on Whisper. Having lost several of their most talented leaders, the Rebel was finally defeated during the Battle of Charm.

Raven was the first to suspect that the orphaned civilian Darling was the prophesied White Rose. Silent and Croaker managed to track the escaped Raven, but let him go with Darling. They suspected that the girl would be endangered by the Lady and the better solution was to send her as far as possible.

Shadows Linger

Silent by Mikey Patch (Irontree)

Prior to the Battle of Juniper, Silent was taught by Feather, one of the new Taken, how to accurately launch a special, long-distance, sorcery-based artillery barrage. This allowed him to bombard the Dominator's Black Castle during the battle with fireballs, covering the infantry's advance.

The White Rose

Years later, the Lady and Darling joined forces to defeat the Dominator. Once the Battle of the Barrowland, was over, the Lady betrayed the alliance. She used Darling's true name to permanently strip her of her null. Silent, outraged and torn between his vow and his love for Darling, finally broke his silence and pronounced the Lady's true name, disarming her of her immense sorcery as well. After the battle, Croaker convened an official convocation of all surviving members of the Company at the Blue Willy. The band had been reduced to merely 10 men: Silent, Croaker, One-Eye, Goblin, Otto, Hagop, Murgen, and the three Torque brothers: Stubby, Paddlefoot, and Brother Bear. Silent and the Torque brothers chose not to head for Khatovar with the remainder of the Company, and instead parted ways, to stay with Darling. He had developed some hostility towards Raven, as both were revealed to have a romantic interest in her.

The Silver Spike

Silent by Виталий Стрелец

After the silver spike was stolen, Silent and Darling's group of monsters from the Plain of Fear had several confrontations with the Taken Limper and his loyal pet monster, Toadkiller Dog. On the ramparts of Oar, when Bomanz was unable to stop the Limper from approaching the silver spike, Silent sacrificed himself in order to further weaken the Taken. He transformed his own body into a substance that burned fiercely, and jumped onto the Limper. This heroic suicide partially melted down the Limper's malformed clay shape, buying time for a windwhale to seal the Taken into a boiling trap prepared by Exile. Silent's death immediately devastated Darling, who wept and pounded her fists relentlessly into the nearby rampart wall.