Before They Are Hanged
Chapters - Joe Abercrombie
Part 1
Chapter 1: The Great Leveller
The Dogman scouts through mist-shrouded Angland and stumbles upon a valley full of Union dead, slaughtered in an ambush by Bethod's forces. Threetrees reads the battlefield with grim expertise, concluding this is only the beginning of the war. The crew then travels to the city of Ostenhorm, where a young Union officer refuses them entry despite their offer to fight for the Union cause, but Threetrees is not the sort to take no for an answer.
POV: The Dogman·On page: Black Dow, Rudd Threetrees, Tul Duru Thunderhead, Harding Grim
Chapter 2: Best Laid Plans
West accompanies Lord Marshal Burr to a tense meeting with Angland's broken Lord Governor Meed, where Burr strips the man of his authority and assumes direct command of the war. Generals Poulder and Kroy arrive and immediately begin bickering, while Burr assigns Crown Prince Ladisla a reserve position guarding the river crossing - and places West on his staff to keep things in order.
POV: Collem West·On page: Lord Marshal Burr, Crown Prince Ladisla, General Poulder, General Kroy, The Dogman, Rudd Threetrees, Black Dow, Tul Duru Thunderhead, Harding Grim
Chapter 3: Questions
Glokta arrives in the sweltering city of Dagoska by ship, armed with orders from Arch Lector Sult to find out what happened to his vanished predecessor and root out a traitor on the ruling council. He interrogates the council members one by one - General Vissbruck, Magister Eider, and the native priest Kahdia - and pays a brutal visit to the Inquisition's man Harker in the Lower City, discovering the natives are horribly mistreated.
POV: Sand dan Glokta·On page: Practical Frost, Practical Vitari, General Vissbruck, Carlot dan Eider, Haddish Kahdia, Korsten dan Vurms, Harker, Practical Severard·Mentioned: Arch Lector Sult
Chapter 4: The Wounds of the Past
Jezal endures a tedious history lecture from Bayaz as they explore the crumbling city of Calcis, learning about emperors and the uses of power. Meanwhile, Logen limps through the streets with Longfoot, who describes the terrifying dangers of their planned route across the Old Empire. Bayaz and Jezal are brought before the Imperial Legate Narba, who orders them to leave - but Bayaz responds with a furious display of authority that sends the governor cowering behind his silverware.
POV: Jezal dan Luthar·On page: Bayaz, Logen Ninefingers, Brother Longfoot·Mentioned: Crown Prince Ladisla
Chapter 5: The Condition of the Defences
Glokta inspects Dagoska's crumbling land walls with General Vissbruck and Vitari, finding the defences in a shameful state with thousands of Gurkish soldiers camped across the causeway. He meets the drunken mercenary captain Cosca, who despite his sorry state shows some tactical sense. Glokta then browbeats Vurms into securing six months' provisions for the entire city, including the natives, and begins the enormous task of repairing the walls before the Gurkish attack.
POV: Sand dan Glokta·On page: General Vissbruck, Practical Vitari, Korsten dan Vurms·Mentioned: Harker, Arch Lector Sult
Chapter 6: The Thing About Trust
Ferro rides with deep suspicion of every member of the group as they cross a bridge onto the great plain of the Old Empire. She questions Bayaz about the First Law, Khalul, and the mysterious Seed, receiving answers that only deepen her distrust. That night, she attempts to steal supplies and slip away, but Logen catches her and convinces her to stay - not with promises, but with the simple argument that sooner or later, you have to trust someone.
POV: Ferro Maljinn·On page: Bayaz, Logen Ninefingers, Jezal dan Luthar, Brother Longfoot, Malacus Quai·Mentioned: Yulwei
Chapter 7: Allies
Glokta visits Kahdia in the Lower City seeking an unlikely alliance, and finds the native priest willing to cooperate - provided the gates to the Upper City are opened and the natives given back their Great Temple. Glokta agrees, stunning Vurms and Vissbruck with this radical concession. He then turns his investigation to Magister Eider, finding her charming but slippery, and visits the native girl Shickel whom he has taken on as a servant.
POV: Sand dan Glokta·On page: Practical Frost, Haddish Kahdia, Korsten dan Vurms, General Vissbruck, Carlot dan Eider, Shickel, Practical Vitari, Practical Severard·Mentioned: Arch Lector Sult
Chapter 8: Campfire Politics
Logen rides across the great plain with his unhappy companions, trying to build bonds within the fractious group. Ferro demonstrates her uncanny archery by shooting birds from the sky, and Bayaz reveals she carries a trace of devil-blood from the Other Side. Around the campfire that evening, Quai tells the tale of Glustrod's rebellion against his brothers, while Logen works with small gestures to earn Ferro's trust and coax Jezal into doing his share.
POV: Logen Ninefingers·On page: Ferro Maljinn, Bayaz, Jezal dan Luthar, Malacus Quai, Brother Longfoot
Chapter 9: Small Crimes
West endures Prince Ladisla's delusional chatter about the glory of war while the ill-equipped levies freeze and die in the camp around them. Discovering there is not a single smith in the entire army, West rides with Jalenhorm to a nearby Inquisition penal colony, where he confronts the cold-eyed commandant Lorsen and requisitions a dozen convict metal-workers - including the horribly burned Pike and his daughter Cathil.
POV: Collem West·On page: Crown Prince Ladisla, Lieutenant Jalenhorm, Pike, Cathil·Mentioned: Sand dan Glokta, Ardee West, The Dogman
Chapter 10: Rain
Jezal suffers miserably through an epic rainstorm on the great plain, his expensive waterproof coat leaking and his pride taking a battering from Logen's cheerful indifference and Quai's cutting remarks. He aches with longing for Ardee, trapped somewhere he cannot even send a letter. When the rain clears, the group discovers a party of slaughtered merchants, and Bayaz announces they must cross the river at the ruined city of Aulcus - a place no one goes near.
POV: Jezal dan Luthar·On page: Logen Ninefingers, Bayaz, Ferro Maljinn, Malacus Quai, Brother Longfoot·Mentioned: Ardee West
Chapter 11: Bloody Company
The Dogman rides with the crew on a scouting mission, enduring Black Dow's complaints about their sorry state as former Named Men reduced to running errands. Threetrees shuts Dow down and they ambush a group of Bethod's scouts, though the Dogman nearly gets himself killed when a straggler pins him down with a knife before Tul Duru saves him. Scouting further, they discover the biggest army ever assembled out of the North - hundreds of fires, dozens of clan banners, and all heading towards the Union lines.
POV: The Dogman·On page: Black Dow, Rudd Threetrees, Tul Duru Thunderhead, Harding Grim·Mentioned: Logen Ninefingers
Chapter 12: Long Shadows
Logen and the group reach the vast canyon of the river Aos, its thundering waters making any crossing without a bridge impossible. Ferro opens up to Logen about her past as a Gurkish slave. They shelter in the ruins of the Emperor's winter palace, where Bayaz examines ancient carvings depicting the history of Glustrod while Jezal impresses everyone by spearing Longfoot's apple on his sword, and Ferro throws bird dung at Jezal from the parapet. Ferro spots riders on the horizon, and the group moves on.
POV: Logen Ninefingers·On page: Ferro Maljinn, Bayaz, Jezal dan Luthar, Brother Longfoot, Malacus Quai
Chapter 13: And next... My Gold
Glokta faces a crippling financial crisis as Vissbruck and Vurms report debts of half a million marks for the city's defences. Arch Lector Sult refuses to send funds, and Eider can only scrape together twelve thousand marks and her own jewellery. Then a representative of the banking house of Valint and Balk arrives with an astonishing one million marks in silver, gold, and gemstones - but the price is unspecified future favours, and Glokta signs knowing he may have sold himself to the most dangerous creditor of all.
POV: Sand dan Glokta·On page: General Vissbruck, Korsten dan Vurms, Carlot dan Eider, Practical Severard, Practical Frost, Shickel·Mentioned: Practical Vitari, Arch Lector Sult, Haddish Kahdia
Chapter 14: Fear
Jezal seeks combat advice from Logen, who shares hard-won wisdom about fear, fighting, and the value of appearing weak. When soldiers of the Emperor Cabrian ambush the group in a gorge, Bayaz unleashes a devastating burst of High Art that kills several attackers but leaves the valley in ruins. Logen dispatches two more enemies while Ferro picks off a third with her bow, though their leader Finnius escapes. Jezal freezes completely during the fight, and afterwards accepts Logen's authority without further argument.
POV: Jezal dan Luthar·On page: Logen Ninefingers, Bayaz, Ferro Maljinn, Malacus Quai·Mentioned: Brother Longfoot, Collem West, Lieutenant Jalenhorm, Lieutenant Kaspa, Lieutenant Brint, Ardee West
Chapter 15: One Hundred Words
Glokta wakes from a grotesque nightmare to find the first rains falling on Dagoska and is visited by the Magus Yulwei, who warns that the Gurkish are moving in massive force - five legions with siege engines, and more coming, including the dreaded Hundred Words, Eaters bred for battle. At dawn, the Gurkish host arrives exactly as described, and Glokta orders Vissbruck to flood the defensive ditch and begin building a wall behind the docks, heeding Yulwei's intelligence that the Emperor has built a fleet of one hundred ships.
POV: Sand dan Glokta·On page: Yulwei, General Vissbruck·Mentioned: Haddish Kahdia, Korsten dan Vurms, Carlot dan Eider, Bayaz
Chapter 16: The Blind Lead the Blind
With Bayaz collapsed and feverish after his use of High Art, Logen reluctantly takes charge of the group and decides they will press on to Aulcus despite Longfoot's protests that the ruined city is too dangerous. Quai makes unsettling remarks about how easily he could kill the helpless Magus, but agrees they should continue rather than turn back. Ferro accepts Logen's leadership without complaint, while Jezal struggles with shame over his inability to act during the ambush.
POV: Logen Ninefingers·On page: Bayaz, Malacus Quai, Jezal dan Luthar, Ferro Maljinn, Brother Longfoot
Chapter 17: Prince Ladisla's Stratagem
West receives alarming intelligence from Threetrees and the Dogman that Bethod is within five days' march with ten thousand battle-hardened warriors. Despite West's desperate pleas for caution, Ladisla - drunk and surrounded by fawning sycophants in his palatial tent - orders the army to cross the river and attack, convinced that boldness will win the day. Threetrees declares the plan suicidal and refuses to follow, while the Dogman steals a salmon from the Prince's table on the way out.
POV: Collem West·On page: Rudd Threetrees, The Dogman, Crown Prince Ladisla, Cathil, Pike·Mentioned: Lord Marshal Burr
Chapter 18: Until Sunset
A Gurkish ambassador delivers an ultimatum to Glokta and the ruling council of Dagoska - surrender or face annihilation. While Vissbruck, Vurms, and Eider lean towards capitulation, Glokta has the ambassador seized and tortured by Frost and Severard, extracting a confession that both Vurms and Eider are the traitors who have been plotting to hand the city to the Gurkish. Vitari threatens Glokta when she fears he might actually consider surrendering, but he assures her he is playing a longer game.
POV: Sand dan Glokta·On page: Practical Vitari, General Vissbruck, Korsten dan Vurms, Carlot dan Eider, Practical Frost, Practical Severard·Mentioned: Arch Lector Sult, Haddish Kahdia
Chapter 19: Long Odds
Ferro spots thirteen riders following the group across the plain and she and Logen decide to make a stand on a strange, ancient hill ringed with standing stones rather than attempt to outrun the pursuers with the cart. They spend the day preparing defences - digging pits and surveying the terrain - knowing the odds are heavily against them. Ferro and Logen share a quiet moment and shake hands on a promise to bury each other if either falls, an unexpected gesture of trust between two people unused to companionship.
POV: Ferro Maljinn·On page: Logen Ninefingers, Malacus Quai·Mentioned: Jezal dan Luthar, Brother Longfoot