continent of Genabackis. Under High Fist Dujek, The Malazan 2nd Army has been besieging the city of Pale, one of only two Free Cities left in the Malazans' path in Genabackis, for several years. Pale is holding out thanks to an alliance with the powerful Anomander Rake, Lord of Moon's Spawn (a floating fortress), leader of the non-human Tiste Andii. Pale finally falls when Rake withdraws his fortress following a fierce battle. Even then, the Empire suffers severe losses, including the near total destruction of a legendary infantry unit in its 2nd army, the Bridgeburners. Several characters speculate that someone higher up within the Empire may be engineering the elimination of various people who were loyal to the late Emperor. The Empire then turns its attention to the last remaining Free City, Darujhistan. A handful of surviving members of the Bridgeburners, led by Sergeant Whiskeyjack, now severely reduced in rank after Laseen's seizure of power, are sent to try to undermine the city from within. Once there, they attempt fruitlessly to contact the city's assassins' guild, in the hope of paying them to betray their city, but Rake has already driven the guild underground. Adjunct Lorn, second-in-command to the Empress, is sent to uncover something in the hills east of Darujhistan. She is accompanied by Tool, a T'lan Imass, an undead race that once dominated the world before humans. Meanwhile, Tattersail, one of the few mages to survive the Siege of Pale, and Paran, now a captain and the Bridgeburners' nominal commander, head toward the city to determine the reason for the increased involvement of several gods and other magical forces in the campaign. A group of con-artists and underworld figures within Darujhistan work to oppose members of the civic government who are considering capitulating to the Empire. Meanwhile Anomander Rake offers his alliance to the true rulers of Darujhistan, a secretive cabal of mages. The plots collide when Adjunct Lorn releases a Jaghut Tyrant, a powerful ancient being, with the aim of either damaging Anomander Rake seriously or forcing him to withdraw from the city. The Tyrant is eventually imprisoned inside an Azath House after a fierce battle with Rake's people, while Rake himself defeats a demon lord that Lorn releases inside the city. A substantial subplot involves a young Bridgeburner named Sorry. She is known as a cold-blooded killer but is in fact possessed by Cotillion, also known