Messremb

Messremb [MESS-remb]^[1] was a Soletaken,^[2] who took the form of a great brown bear. He was described as being as huge as a noble-born's carriage.^[3]

In his human form he was no more than five feet tall, nearly hairless, and thin to the point of emaciation. He was narrow-faced and shovel-toothed, and his small garnet eyes gleamed within a nest of laugh lines.^[4]

Mappo Runt knew him long ago when both lived in the pine forests of the Trell north of Nemil.^[5]

In Deadhouse Gates

Messremb encountered his old friend Mappo while following the Path of Hands. He had been drawn to the Trell by his curiosity over the scent of Mappo's companion Icarium. Messremb told Mappo he followed the path seeking answers, and Mappo warned him of seeing Ryllandaras in the region.^[6]

Later, Messremb was spotted by Felisin Paran, Heboric, and Kulp in the desert of Raraku. The great bear attacked the strange merchant Nawahl Ebur who had sat down for a meal with the trio.^[7]

Mappo and Icarium encountered Messremb once more in the strange maze of roots surrounding Tremorlor where the great bear fought a Soletaken Enkar'al. When the Enkar'al darted out of Messremb's reach, Mappo killed it with his axe. But Mappo's friend was attacked in turn by the Hound of Shadow Rood. The Hound consumed one of Messremb's paws as a devastated Mappo watched the Azath House drag his friend to his death within its walls.^[8]

In Memories of Ice

As the Soletaken First Hero Treach lay dying he recalled how the First Empire's Soletaken ritual had unraveled, shattering a Warren, and driving many of the more powerful Soletaken mad. When the T'lan Imass arrived to correct the error by exterminating the participants, it was the end of the First Empire.^[9]

Treach and his friends, Ryllandaras and Messremb, were among the few survivors. They fled, but Treach eventually lost track of Messremb, who he called a kind soul and loyal companion who had been twisted by madness.^[9]

Notes and references