The Claw is the Malazan Empire's intelligence and assassination service, operating in the shadows of the imperial military with a remit that encompasses espionage, political assassination, and the management of threats the regular army cannot or should not address openly. Founded and shaped by the woman who would become Empress Laseen, the Claw functions as the empire's most direct instrument of political control. Its agents are trained in a range of lethal and covert disciplines and operate under a cell structure that limits what any individual member knows about the organisation's full scope.