| Kurz | |
|---|---|
| Died |
299 AC Riverlands |
| Book | A Clash of Kings (appears) |
Kurz is a criminal taken from the dungeons of King's Landing by Yoren to join the Night's Watch.[1]
Appearance and Character
Kurz is a capable hunter[2] able to catch fish with his bare hands.[3] He uses animal sounds for signing, an old poacher's trick.[4]
Kurz carries a sword,[4] a bow,[4] a hunting horn,[3] and a skinning knife.[5]
History
Kurz had been arrested as a poacher.[2]
Recent Events
A Clash of Kings
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Kurz is among the criminals Yoren picks for the Night's Watch when he cleans out the dungeons of King's Landing.[1] and is part of the group moving north on the kingsroad to the Wall.[5]
Yoren's band arrives at an inn with a bathhouse where a group of gold cloaks carrying an arrest warrant for Gendry catches up with them. Yoren refuses to hand anyone over and the gold cloaks threaten to use force, prompting Yoren's band to announce their resistance, including Kurz, who intends to use his skinning knife as weapon. In the end, the gold cloaks retreat without violence breaking out.[5]
Avoiding the kingsroad after this encounter, the group moves west- and northwards on side roads towards the Gods Eye and soon the food Yoren has brought north runs out. Yoren turns to Kurz and Koss, both former poachers, to keep the group fed. They move ahead of the column and return by dusk, bringing deer or quails.[2]
The band arrives at the eastern side of the river running south from the Gods Eye. While Yoren and others search a ford, Kurz catches a fish in the river with his bare hands.[3]
They move on north to a town on the southern shore of the Gods Eye where Yoren intends to hire boats for crossing the lake, but the town is deserted and no boats can be found. Yoren decides that they will spend the night in the town's holdfast. He assigns Kurz, Tarber, and Cutjack the task of holding vigil from on high at the towerhouse of the town. Kurz blows his hunting horn when westermen under the command of Ser Amory Lorch approach the town that night to burn it down.[3]
Kurz is injured by an arrow when he pulls in the ladder at the towerhouse. However, he, Tarber and Cutjack survive the assault as Amory's men cannot put the towerhouse on fire and have no patience to starve the three out.[4]
After the fight at the holdfast, Tarber, Cutjack, and Kurz are reunited with Arry and others who escaped via a tunnel. Kurz teaches the group some much needed hunting techniques and survival skills. Tarber packs Kurz's wound with mud and moss from the lake, but it becomes infected. Kurz's throat turns dark and red welts creep up his jaw and down his chest. Kurz becomes too weak to continue and he soon dies. Tarber and Cutjack take everything of value from Kurz and abandon the other survivors.[4]
Quotes
Kurz caught a fish with his bare hands. Arya saw how he did it, standing over a shallow pool, calm as still water, his hand darting out quick as a snake when the fish swam near. It didn't look as hard as catching cats. Fish didn't have claws.[3]
—thoughts of Arya Stark
She wished the poacher hadn't died. He'd known more about the woods than all the rest of them together, but he'd taken an arrow through the shoulder pulling in the ladder at the towerhouse.[4]
—thoughts of Arya Stark
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 A Clash of Kings, Appendix.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 A Clash of Kings, Chapter 9, Arya III.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 A Clash of Kings, Chapter 14, Arya IV.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 A Clash of Kings, Chapter 19, Arya V.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 A Clash of Kings, Chapter 5, Arya II.