Editing Dieno

|image=The Mink by Marie Seeberger.jpeg

|spouse=Unnamed wife (deceased){{book ref|sa4|16}}

|children=Unnamed son (deceased){{book ref|sa4|16}}

|first appeared=[[Oathbringer]]

{{for|Mink (Alcatraz)|the [[Mokia]]n advisor}}

{{quote

|You... don't know our gancho, Brightlord. This is '''exactly''' how he treats dangerous situations.

|One of the Mink's bodyguards, on his habit of disappearing randomly{{book ref|sa4|2}}

}}

'''Dieno enne Calah''' (Old Herdazian for "Dieno the Mink," with "enne" being an honorific implying greatness),{{book ref|sa4|1}} often known as '''the Mink''', is a general in command of a group of soldiers and refugees at the [[Alethkar|Alethi]]-[[Herdaz]]ian border after the initial [[singer]] occupation of Alethkar.

{{quote

|Many a locked room reveals a hidden path to escape, after all.

|The Mink{{book ref|sa4|17}}

}}

The general is a middle-aged, [[darkeyed]] Herdazian man. He has brown skin and a touch of grey in his thin mustache. He is described (albeit in unflattering terms and by an adversary) as having a too-wide smile, a flat nose, and a missing tooth. He has a lean build but possesses a power to it. He has scars around his wrist that results from manacles.{{book ref|sa4|1}}

He talks in a straightforward manner, not afraid of pointing out truths.{{book ref|sa4|3}} But he is also quick to assess the situation and his honesty generally won't offend people.{{book ref|sa4|17}} He is easygoing with his soldiers and officers, and enjoys sneaking away in unexpected circumstances.{{book ref|sa4|2}} He has a habit of plotting escape routes whenever he enters a space.{{book ref|sa4|16}}

== Attributes and Abilities ==

{{quote

|You don't survive like the Mink has without learning to wiggle out of situations others could never escape.

|A Herdazian soldier discussing [[Dieno enne Calah]]'s evasiveness{{book ref|sa4|2}}

}}

He is an excellent battlefield general. He defended Herdaz for one year against the singers' invasion, despite the lack of allies and resources.{{book ref|sa4|17}} He takes over most of the actual field commanding from [[Dalinar]] after joining the coalition,{{book ref|sa4|47}} and successfully reclaimed [[Emul]].

He is an escape artist who is fond of testing his skills against the best manacles that his officers can find.{{book ref|sa3|i|10}} He was able to avoid detection by the [[Fused]],{{book ref|sa4|1}} and is said to have escaped various situations under nearly impossible circumstances.{{book ref|sa4|2}}

He is not afraid of heights.{{book ref|sa4|47}}

He is one of the few non-ardent men from a Vorin kingdom who can read.{{book ref|sa4|50}}

{{image|Mink by triflingshadows.jpg|side=right|width=250px}}

At some point in his life, the general was chained at a beach somewhere near the Alethi-Herdazian border where an enormous [[greatshell]] nicknamed "the hog" resides. He was able to unshackle himself in under a minute and escape being eaten by the creature. It is unclear whether he was there as a prisoner condemned to be fed to the hog, or he simply wanted to test his skills at escaping.{{book ref|sa3|i|10}}

His son and wife were killed during Dalinar's campaign against [[Herdaz]].{{book ref|sa4|16}}

Some time after the singer occupation of Alethkar began, the general gained command over a group of soldiers and refugees at that same area of the border.{{expand}}

After [[Jasnah Kholin]]'s duel with [[Ruthar]], Dalinar noted that, in contrast to the others in the room, the general appeared amused by the whole thing, and half expected him to start clapping.{{book ref|sa4|50}}

==Trivia==

*In the Rosharan ecosystem, minks tend to scavenge and skulk in the shadows,{{book ref|sa1|3}}{{book ref|sa4|i|5}} and they are colloquially used as a metaphor for sneaky or secretive people.{{book ref|sa3|10}} In the game of [[pieces]], the player who takes the role of the mink controls hidden information that the other players cannot see.{{book ref|sa3|40}} This cultural view of minks is presumably the source of Dieno's nickname, although this has not been explicitly confirmed.