Quick Ben, 9th Squad, a Seven Cities Mage

GotM, Dramatis Personae

"...turning to the tall, thin black-skinned man who came up beside him...Though he spoke Malazan, his harsh accent was Seven Cities..."

"He seemed to shiver, but his lean face was expressionless as..."

GotM, UK mmpb p.55

"...as he watched his two Seven Cities soldiers..."

- referring to Quick Ben and Kalam Mekhar

GotM, UK mmpb 56

"'The tall one,' she said. 'He's a mage, isn't he?'

Whiskeyjack grunted, then said,' His name's Quick Ben.'

'Not the one he was born with.'

'No.'

She rolled her shoulders against the weight of her cloak, momentarily easing the dull pain in her lower back. 'I should know him, Sergeant. That kind of power gets noticed. He's no novice.'

'No,' Whiskeyjack replied. 'He isn't.'

- Tattersail talks to Whiskeyjack

GotM, UK mmpb p.57

"...almost feminine hands...fine, ascetic features...thin, spidery hands..."

GotM, UK mmpb p.79, UK Trade p.59

"'That sounds like Denul... But not quite,' she added slowly. 'He's twisted it somehow'.

Quick Ben had resumed his chaining words, this time over the object, which he now set beside Hairlock. She watched as enwreathing power enveloped the wrapped object, watching in growing apprehension as the mage traced his long fingers alongs the hide's seams. The energy trickled from him with absolute control. He was her superior in the lore. He had opened a Warren she didn't even recognise."

- Tattersail observes the soul-shifting of Hairlock, performed by Quick Ben

GotM, UK mmpb p.80

"The black man's expression was glacial, but she saw a flicker around his eyes. Looked like fear.

- fear of Sorry. See Quick Ben's repulsing of Sorry.

GotM, UK mmpb p.82

"Quick Ben's not the expansive type, the bastard."

- Kalam Mekhar

DG, UK mmpb, p.471

"I first met him in Seven Cities . . . the Holy Desert Raraku, to be more precise...Quick Ben. Adaephon Delat, a middling wizard in the employ of one of the Seven Holy Protectors during an abortive rebellion that originated in Aren. Delat and eleven other mages made up the Protector’s cadre."

- Whiskeyjack

MoI, UK TPB, p.258

"You are supposed to be dead.' Pearl said. 'Your name is so marked on the scrolls of those High Mages who fell to the Empire in Seven Cities."

GotM, US HC, p.298

"I have no hold over him these days, alas. Why? He is too powerful. Too mysterious. Too conniving. Too Hood-damned smart. Indeed, even Shadowthrone has turned his attentions elsewhere."

- Cotillion on Quick Ben

HoC, UK TPB, p.283

"The power tricked from him with absolute control. He was her superior in the lore. He had opened a warren she didn't even recognize."

- Tattersail

GotM, UK mmpb, p.80

 

"Quick Ben's knowledge of the Holy Desert is, uh, vast."

- Fiddler

DG, UK mmpb, p.348

I am the House

imprisoning in my birth

demonic hearts,

so locked in each chamber

some trembling enraged

antiquity.

And these roots of stone

spread the deepest cracks

in parched ground

holding for ever the dream

of fruit, ah, pilgrims

come to my door

and starve . . .

Azath (ii.iii)

Adaephon (b.?)

GotM, UK Trade, p.499

 

Background History

 

Quick Ben's History remains elusive throughout however occasionally hints are given such as his involvement in destroying a cult of Rashan in Seven Cities in collusion with the Emperor during his time as a Bridgeburner.

 

"The Malazan Empire had invaded. Foreign ships had blockaded Ehrlitan's harbour. The cult of Rashan was spared the purges of the new harsh masters of Seven Cities...The cult's destruction was sudden, unexpected and had come from within...A High Priest from another city was visiting...Delat...had come to destroy Rashan. Delat, who, it proved, was both a High Priest and a Bridgeburner, and whatever the Emperor's reason for annihilating the cult, his was the hand that delivered the death-blow."

HoC, UK, mmpb, pg. 388-389.

 

 

The timing of this event is not specified but appears to have occurred after his recruitment into the Bridgeburners and likely before the Emperor disappeared.