Bugg

Bugg was the unpaid manservant of Tehol Beddict in Letheras.^[1][2] He was described as an old man^[3] with a grizzled head, mostly bald with thinning hair, watery eyes, and a wizened face.^[4][5][6] His body was covered in scars.^[7]

He lived in Tehol's house but only came up onto the roof where Tehol spent most of his time when he needed more light for his tasks, one of which was knitting.^[3] Tehol claimed to sleep on the roof due to Bugg's prodigious snoring.^[8] Bugg's own shirt possessed many hidden pockets.^[9]

A former dresser of the dead, he continued to provide his services free of charge to those in need.^[10] In fact, Tehol and Bugg had met when Bugg had embalmed both of Tehol's parents.^[11]

Bugg had sworn a vow of celibacy.^[12]

In Midnight Tides

Bugg showed a surprising array of skills and knowledge, from knitting to engineering and construction. He rebuilt Tehol's fireplace by hand.^[13] The man was also something of a mage as he set wards about their house every night.^[11] The city's small time criminals knew him as the Waiting Man who could be called upon to settle unusual problems.^[14]

Bugg acted as frontman in Tehol's business endeavours and as proprietor of Bugg's Construction. He was Tehol's 'partner in crime' in a number of dubious ventures.^[15][16]

Trivia

• For the relationship between Bugg and Tehol, Erikson initially has said he was inspired by the performances of Stephen Fry and Hugh Laurie in Jeeves and Wooster.^[17] But in later interviews he leans more towards Hawkeye and Trapper John from M*A*S*H. "There was no straight man between the two," he says. "They were both capable of amusing the other person. And that's Tehol and Bugg, definitely. But that is also me and Cam as we gamed, so it's a callback to our gaming, that we could amuse each other. And we did. Alot. And most of our gaming--for as dark as some of the subject matter happened to be--was more laughter than anything else. And so that was my callback to that kind of thing."^[18]

Notes and references