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Of all the Nar, in those days, only Sindawe ever made the effort to be civil.

Murgen, Bleak Seasons

Sindawe was a member of the Nar – the elite military caste of the city of Gea-Xle – who joins the Black Company alongside his leader Mogaba and 31 other Nar in Shadow Games. He is Mogaba's lieutenant and supports him loyally as one of his oldest and best friends since childhood. But at a critical point, Sindawe recognizes Mogaba's evil and parts ways from him. He remains with the Company until the Captivity.

Shadow Games[]

Sindawe and Mogaba were among the 33 Nar to be accepted into the Black Company by Croaker during that band's pilgrimage toward to their fabled roots in Shadow Games. He quickly became conversational in the Company's language, the Jewel Cities dialect.

Sindawe is given command of the third, auxiliary legion of Taglios when the Company enters the Shadowmaster wars. His troops are defeated at the Battle of Dejagore once the relief force of Shadowspinner appears, and Sindawe is driven back behind Dejagore's walls with Mogaba's surviving forces.

Dreams of Steel and Bleak Seasons[]

Sindawe endures the Siege of Dejagore with the rest of the Black Company trapped in the city. When Mogaba causes rifts that splinter Murgen and his Old Crew away from the Nar, Sindawe remains with the Nar faction out of loyalty to Mogaba, serving as his second-in-command. Nevertheless, Murgen in his Annals clearly admires Sindawe above all other Nar: "Of all the Nar, in those days, only Sindawe ever made the effort to be civil." Murgen also admired Sindawe's eagerness to learn the Taglian language and comprehend that culture: "He spoke Taglian. Unlike Mogaba, he made a grand effort to get beyond pidgin. He strove to understand the culture and thinking of the several Taglian peoples—weird though they are." Sindawe provided translations for the Taglian officers when Murgen informed Mogaba in the Jewel Cities dialect about Shadowspinner's impending invasion.

Mogaba's murderous abuses against the populace of Dejagore and treachery against the Old Crew during the siege force Sindawe to harbor serious doubts about his commander. With Mogaba's permission, Sindawe takes a boat with Willow Swan out of the city to meet with Croaker – the true Black Company Captain who had been thought dead for months. Using the Jewel Cities dialect, he privately shares his concerns that darkness seems to have taken hold of Mogaba. When Croaker amicably confronts Mogaba in Dejagore later, Sindawe and 12 other Nar choose to rejoin Croaker. Mogaba departs in shame with only Khucho and two other Nar.

She Is the Darkness[]

Sindawe is present for the Battle of Charandaprash, where he participates in battle against the forces of his former leader, Mogaba. He also fights in the Siege of Overlook.

By the time the Company reaches the Shadowgate in She Is the Darkness, only Sindawe, Isi, and Ochiba remain of the 13 Nar who rejoined Croaker. All three of them join the Company leadership when they attempt a scouting mission across the glittering plain. But Sindawe does not become a member of the Captured when Soulcatcher springs her trap at the fortress with no name. Instead, Sindawe and 12 others attempted to run many miles off the plain back to the homeworld. He and everyone else who fled from Soulcatcher's trap (except for Lisa Daele Bowalk) were killed by the feral shadows which haunt the place.

Water Sleeps[]

Some details of Sindawe's last moments on that last night of She Is the Darkness are revealed more than 15 years later in Water Sleeps. Since his corpse was the first to be found by Sleepy's band, it was learned that Sindawe had covered the most distance between the nameless fortress and the Shadowgate. His remains were the first to be respectfully placed on a travois for later burial. It was also revealed that Sindawe had been a skilled silversmith: he had personally handcrafted his own Company badge, a "beautifully crafted silver skull in which the one ruby eye seemed to glow with an inner life." It was retrieved by Goblin and turned over to Sleepy.

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