Half-Breeds 4

Kakwatt watched as his guest ate and drank. Even the way he ate was clean, almost delicate. This was no ogre. His long white hair curled and hung about him like a cloak, reaching to his lower back. Kakwatt understood little of gods and their ways. He knew that The Great Mother was Perfection, and that She had gifted him with a sliver of that Perfection.

"Where is your city?" He asked.

"The Outlands. That is the realm where those powers of Neutrality dwell."

"Neutrality?"

"Neutral creatures tend to accept that all things have a place in the universe. Good, Evil, Life, Death. They seek to maintain a balance between these forces. Some beings try to force their idea of 'good' upon others and destroy all things they consider 'monsters'. Other beings are so 'evil' that they destroy everyone and everything around them. I believe they are both wrong. Nothing exists without purpose, though we may not understand, or be able to understand, what that purpose is." "Another good thing about The Outlands is that it is a place were beings of all types can meet peacefully to resolve their differences, trade, hold council, whatever need be. My realm is called The Obsidian Kingdom. It's small, but it will grow as The United grow in power. It's just a tiny land between Limbo and Pandemonium."

" I know you disagree, but I believe that all intelligent creatures are of equal worth. They may be different, but they all have a right to exist." He shrugged, "Of course, telling a sun elf that his soul has the same value as that of a drow usually leads to. . . Extreme reactions. And the githzerai live in Limbo, right beside The Obsidian Kingdom. I have only one illithid servant so far, and he's dead. . . He's a vampire, I mean. They tolerate him because the illithids have a powerful social taboo against the undead. Kuragari terrifies the illithids by his very existence. They view him an unholy abomination, and the only thing the gith enjoy more than killing illithids is watching them squirm." "

"Githzerai?"

"They are descendants of a race that was once enslaved by a vast illithid empire millions of years ago. They rebelled and nearly wiped out their masters, and they're still trying to finish the job. I guess they're afraid that as long as a single illithid lives they are in danger of being conquered again. It's not entirely unfounded, either. Maanzecorian, one of their gods, has shown me some of the things the illithids would like to accomplish, and they're horrifying. Fortunately, they haven't succeeded, yet."

Mind flayers were arrogant little insects, but Kakwatt was superior. The Great Mother was superior to their gods. But they were powerful. And these githyanki. . . Creatures that hunt mind flayers would be dangerous indeed.

"I'm fortunate that I'm dealing with the githzerai and not their cousins, the githyanki. The githyanki hate illithids, githzerai and anyone who would associate with either." He let out a weary sigh, "Almost every individual githyanki and 'true' giant opposes The United. I have made absolutely no progress with the githyanki, who invariably attack me on sight, and very little among 'true' giants, none among those higher up on the Ordning than a single ettin." He paused, and laughed lightly "Is there such a thing as a 'single' ettin?" Beholders as a whole found his views comical at best, but he did not want to insult his host.

The Ordning. Kakwatt wondered for a moment what rank he would hold in the Ordning. He decided that it didn't matter, he was a perfect being, at least, as perfect as a mortal could be. Besides, he wasn't a giant. He thought it odd, because he had no memory of having ever heard about the Ordning.

"Do you think that I am evil?" Kakwatt asked.

"I don't know you, and besides, I have no right to judge you. You survive as you must, you are as The Great Mother intended you to be." Yahiko was somewhat doubtful that The Great Mother had anything to do with Kakwatt's creation, but, as his goddess, she should logically accept him. Unlike her children, The Great Mother seemed to delight in creating new and varying forms of life.

Yahiko wondered if he had anything that he could use to bribe Maanzecorian for information about Kakwatt and his origins. He had given The Philosopher-Savant the cursed Egg of Lolth for knowledge of Kuragari's origins. He had received far more than he had expected. He had seen the vampire he was before ceremorphosis, and the man he had been before he was a vampire. It was both heartbreaking and horrifying.

'Be careful what you wish for' was sound advice when dealing with Maanzecorian.

He shook the images from his mind. He had no magical relics to trade, and the githyanki had been quiet lately. He could offer to recover some artifact or perform some service in exchange for the god's help in unlocking the riddle.

"Do you kill?"

That shocked Yahiko out of his revery.

The half-oni's demeanor changed instantly, he paled slightly and almost seemed to shudder. He was quiet for a moment. "If I have no other choice. Sometimes something happens that is just so wicked, dangerous or outrageous that I have to stop it." His voice was hollow, "That, unfortunately, is a part of life as well."

"With that stick?" Kakwatt nodded several eyestalks in the direction of Yahiko's staff.

"Sometimes. . ." Yahiko was clearly uncomfortable, "This can be used as a Staff of Swarming Insects. I can summon a massive swarm of carnivorous insects to devour a truly dangerous foe, such as a zombie."

Kakwatt laughed loudly, revealing rows of sword-like teeth, "Zombies?"

Yahiko reddened slightly and shrugged, "I. . . Don't like Zombies."

Kakwatt peered more closely at the staff, it was covered in intricate carvings of a wide variety of insects. "Can insects eat zombies without becoming a zombie?"

"The zombie scourge does not affect insects or worms, not even giant ones. However, there are spells that can turn giant insects into undead." Yahiko was clearly disgusted by this talk of zombies. Strange that a creature of such power should fear weak, mindless corpses. A vampire illithid would seem far more dangerous.

"Do gods have gods?"

Yahiko smiled, "Yes. There is a system, an Ordning, you could say. I am the lowest rank, a demigod. At the very top is The Overgod, who rules all gods."

"The Great Mother?"

"Uh. . ." How to answer that without offending his host? He decided for subtlety "I don't know who or what the Overgod is. . . Directly beneath him/her/it are Greater deities, the most powerful deities: The Great Mother, Ilsensine, Ghaunadaur, Silvanus, Ilmater and many others. . . Beneath them are deities who are becoming Greater gods but are not quite there yet, like Maanzecorian. Beneath them are 'Lesser deities', who have great power, but not enough to rival Greater gods. They usually serve under Greater deities. Malar, The Beastlord, god of hunters and lycanthropes, serves under Silvanus, even though they hate each other. Malar doesn't have the power yet to challenge Silvanus, so he must serve him until he can break free." He paused for a moment, "We demigods are, are, as I say, at the bottom."

It all seemed confusing to Kakwatt. He was unfamiliar with most of the names, though some sounded vaguely familiar. "Who is your master deity, Yahiko?"

"I serve under Fujin, Lord of Wind, one of The Eight Million Gods of Kazakura. He is an oni, like my mother."

Eight Million Gods. . . Kakwatt could not comprehend such an enormous pantheon. "How would you pay service to eight million different gods?"

"You pick one or two for primary devotion, and respect the power of the others. Fujin is an oni, and he decided to sponsor me as a deity. So I serve him."

"You are not human or elf. Do they call you a monster?"

Yahiko laughed grimly, "Oh, I've been mistaken for a monster, a demon, an ogre, even a troll once. A troll. No offense to trolls, but I look nothing like them. I've had people of all races think that I came to eat their babies and take their women. . ." He shook his shaggy head, "It's sad, really. We all tend to judge others by outward appearance. No two beings are alike. I admit that some beings are far more violent than others, such as harpies, but that is how they were created. That is their nature, and I cannot judge them for that."

Kakwatt knew that several harpies nested in his kingdom. He tolerated their presence as long as they didn't bother him. And, truth be told, he enjoyed their songs. They knew their place in his kingdom and rightly feared to challenge him. That was a form of Unity, was it not? He wondered if Yahiko had spoken with them, but the fact that he was still breathing and in one piece would argue against it. Perhaps he had Charmed the charmers, he clearly had great power, having fixed his legs. Come to think of it, the harpies, who normally raised a horrific din when someone entered his kingdom, had been fairly quiet today. Yet, they must be aware of Yahiko's presence.

But there was a more important question lingering in his mind.

"What am I?"

Yahiko had no idea how to answer that question. "I honestly don't know. You are. . . Unique. You were created as a hybrid of two totally different races. I don't know how, or why. . . You are an incredible person."

"I know that I am a beholder. What kind of giant am I?"

"A fomorian. Fomorians are a type of giant with a wide range of. . . Differences. Some have one limb shorter or thicker than the other, eyes on the back of their heads. No two fomorians are alike. Most are purple, but some are pale white. Many have one eye much larger than the other, it is a magic eye with various abilities. They live in small clans and are often. . . Aggressive."

"What are you?" Kakwatt asked, "Half-oni half-what?"

"My father was human."

And so it went. After a while they both settled in to sleep. In the morning, Yahiko and Kakwatt exchanged their goodbyes and the half-oni took once again to the dusty road. Yahiko turned back to look at the triangular dwelling and spherical temple.

He may not have made a convert, but he was certain that he had made a friend.

The End.

Notes:

Fujin is an ancient Japanese deity in the Shinto belief system. He usually appears as a giant black oni carrying a bag filled with the raging winds. I hope my definition of the devotions to The Eight Million Gods is correct, if not, I apologize.

Yahiko is allied with Maanzecorian as a two-way information broker. He bribes Maanzecorian with information, mostly about the githyanki, (but not the githzerai, he doesn't want to piss off his neighbors!), recovering magical or rare artifacts for him and the like. In exchange Maanzecorian shares some of his vast knowledge with him. Usually he just asks a specific question like, "Where did Kuragari come from?" or "Is Lolth really dead?" He uses insects to spy on the githyanki. They obviously have no idea of this, or they'd try to kill him.