Item from Malazan Book of the Fallen by Steven Erikson
Clay grenades that changed warfare in the Malazan world — cussers blow apart fortifications, sharpers shred infantry, and sappers love them the way other soldiers love breathing.
Moranth munitions democratized destruction. Before the Moranth alliance, warfare in the Malazan world was dominated by mages — a single High Mage could break a siege, shatter an army, or level a city. Munitions gave regular soldiers the ability to match sorcerous firepower with clay and alchemy. A squad of sappers with a bag of cussers could breach any wall; a handful of sharpers could break a cavalry charge. The munitions are manufactured exclusively by the Moranth in their mountain homeland, through processes they refuse to share. The Malazan Empire's access to this supply was one of its decisive strategic advantages. The Bridgeburners and later the Bonehunters were legendary for their sapper squads — soldiers like Fiddler and Hedge who could read a battlefield and know exactly which munition, placed where, would turn a loss into a rout. The weapons are terrifyingly effective and democratically lethal: they don't care whether their target is a peasant conscript or an Elder God.
Compact clay spheres and cylinders, each type marked with distinct coloring: cussers (the largest — fist-sized, capable of leveling buildings), sharpers (smaller, anti-personnel, packed with shrapnel), burners (incendiary, burn with alchemical fire that water won't extinguish), and smokers (concealment). The clay is surprisingly light and disturbingly fragile. Sappers carry them in padded bandoliers and treat each one with the careful affection of someone holding their own death in a bag.
Also known as: Moranth Munitions, munitions, cussers, sharpers, burners, smokers