One-Eye was a sworn brother of the Black Company whose membership predates that of any other member – aside from his blood brother Tom-Tom – in the modern Annals. By the time of the first book of Croaker, One-Eye was already about a hundred and fifty years old, sustained by his abilities as a minor wizard. A wizened, wrinkled, old black man with only one eye who wears a filthy black hat everywhere that he goes, One-Eye was an essential member of the Company.
Through his time with the Black Company, One-Eye was best known for his longstanding feud – truly, a deep and enduring friendship in disguise — with fellow Company wizard Goblin. He was also known as an incorrigible criminal and degenerate gambler, who dabbled in black marketeering, the production of alcohol stills, and cheating at tonk. Despite the less savory aspects of his personality, One-Eye was one of the most valuable brothers of the Black Company, due to his vast personal experiences and his abilities as a wizard.
His knowledge of sorcery exceeded that of Goblin, though they shared much of their expertise in illusions, and Goblin was considered far more creative in his sorcery. It is never implied that any of the Company wizards are more or less potent. However, Silent is implied to have a more deadly type of magic in his employ.
One-Eye also possessed limited skills in healing magic, often supporting Croaker as the physician's principal assistant. As Croaker wrote in Shadows Linger, "often there was a man beyond my help who could be saved with a little magic". On the other hand, he was occasionally employed as the Company's chief interrogator and torturer. For example, after assassins sent by the Shadowmasters fail to kill Prahbrindrah Drah in Shadow Games, One-Eye ends up killing one of the survivors of sheer terror through using overly potent illusions to extract information from him.
One-Eye survives almost an entire age of the Black Company, surviving even his best friend Goblin. Ultimately, he is murdered within the world of Hsien by the vengeful forvalaka Lisa Daele Bowalk, despite the best efforts of Lady and her fireball projector, and Croaker with the spear One-Eye had spent decades crafting.
He is also responsible for crafting an almost impossibly powerful spear, layering spell after spell onto it, until it is powerful enough to seriously wound even Kina. The original use for the weapon was to kill the Shadowmaster Shadowspinner during the Siege of Dejagore, although, it was not used successfully for this purpose. This weapon is ultimately used by Croaker and Goblin to kill both the shapeshifter Lisa Daele Bowalk as well as the Mother of Deceivers herself.
Gallery
.jpg "One-Eye and Goblin by Mikey Patch (Irontree).jpg (60 KB)")
.jpg "Goblin and One-Eye by Denis Pospelov (De-Prime).jpg (48 KB)")
| Black Company Wizards |
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| One-Eye • Goblin • Silent • Tom-Tom • Raven Third • Lady • Tobo • Arkana • Shukrat |