Straw was a former Annalist of the Black Company, many generations before Croaker's modern Annals. Along with Annalists Lees, Agrip, and Holm, Straw wrote the Book of Kette early in the Company's second century, when the group was in the service of a tyrant called the Paingod of Cho'n Delor. During Straw's time, the Company numbered more than 6,000 strong and consisted entirely of black men.
The Black Company[]
In the city of Lords, the Annalist Croaker did his monthly reading from the Annals to the entire Company in assembly. This reading was a selection written by Annalist Straw, from the Book of Kette. Croaker read the narrative "like a mad prophet" for three hours, and received a standing ovation from the enraptured men. Even the emotionless Raven was spellbound, and actually thanked Croaker later in private.
Croaker admired "Old Straw" and considered him to be "hell with a pen". Croaker's reading from Straw's Annals in Lords left him feeling as though his life had been fulfilled.