An odd sort of superhero (Mutants & Masterminds 3e)

Δικαδώρα (Dikadora; "Gift of Justice") Kelly

"Goddess [Nemesis], for whom the women spit on their bosoms."
--Callimachus, Fragment 687 (trans. Trypanis) [N.B. It was a custom to exorcize the goddess to avert jealousy.] 
 
In the shadows of the world stalk many monsters, including a wide range of beasts that can choose their form, either animal or human or some combination thereof.  Amongst these are the werecats, sensual and mysterious and oh-so-haughty.

There is a breed of werecat, often called the Ceilican, who were once enslaved by the great lords of Faerie.  Dikedora's grandmother, however, seems not to have cared overmuch about the ancient grudge born therefrom.  She quested through all the weird realms to find herself a sidhe lover.  Cluracan Kelly was the result of their union, mixing fey blood with felianthrope blood.  The combination, like some strange gravity, pulled his life uncomfortably close unhappily often to the world of masks and capes.  He often used the name Puss in Boots on these adventures and capers.

"Hymn to Nemesis. Thee, Nemesis, I call, almighty queen, by whom the deeds of mortal life are seen: eternal, much revered, of boundless sight, alone rejoicing in the just and right : changing the counsels of the human breast for ever various, rolling without rest. To every mortal is thy influence known, and men beneath thy righteous bondage groan; for every thought within the mind concealed is to thy sight perspicuously revealed. The soul unwilling reason to obey, by lawless passion ruled, thine eyes survey. All to see, hear, and rule, O power divine, whose nature equity contains, is thine. Come, blessed, holy Goddess, hear my prayer, and make thy mystics' life thy constant care: give aid benignant in the needful hour, and strength abundant to the reasoning power; and far avert the dire, unfriendly race of counsels impious, arrogant, and base."
--Orphic Hymn 61 to Nemesis (trans. Taylor)

It was during one of those times, when the struggles of superpowered vigilantes consumed the life of a simple-if-feytouched werecat, that Cluracan met the ancient Titan Νεμεσις (Nemesis).  She was exploring the possibilities of a return to an overt practice of her mission, pursuing villains who gained undeserved reward.  Cluracan was a born swashbuckler, filled with the dazzle of the fey and the dexterity of the cat.  His flashing smile and preening ways attracted the Inescapable Lady.

Some time later, Ολυμπος (Olympus) found that its population had grown by one.  Δικαδώρα Kelly split her childhood between that sacred mountain's feasting heights and the obscure corners of the world where her father's people made their dens.  She only ever visited her grandfather's people a handful of times during her youth.  It was the last such when she learned of the strange effects of her blended heritage.  Her mother's work was within her, twisted towards the fairy's ways.  No direct strike for Dikadora against those undeserving of their luck; instead, she would bring them down by appearing to help them in their end-runs around the Μοιραι's (Fates') decisions.

"Unnoticed she walks at your feet, snaps your haughty neck, and always holds sway over your sustenance with her forearm."
--Suidas

Finally, a young Dikadora was present during one of the times Puss in Boots was needed.  Though her father tried to keep her safe and to the side, not wanting his teenaged child to become a target, Dikadora saw a moment where a seeming betrayal of her father and his allies could allow her powers to turn the tide of the battle.  The experience was invigorating in a way that she suspected only her mother would understand.

The ongoing and very real arguments Dikadora and Cluracan had about her desire to join the ranks of the heroes only helped to establish the veracity of her seeming turn to evil.  She proceeded to serve a series of villains as their minion, taking the name Catspaw and trusting her powers to bring the justice her mother raised her to seek.

"Would that I were not among the men of the fifth age, but either had died before or been born afterwards. For now truly is a race of iron, and men never rest from labour (kamatos) and sorrow (oizys) by day, and from perishing by night; and the gods shall lay sore trouble upon them. But, notwithstanding, even these shall have some good mingled with their evils. And Zeus will destroy this race of mortal men also when they come to have grey hair on the temples at their birth. The father will not agree with his children, nor the children with their father, nor guest with his host, nor comrade with comrade; nor will brother be dear to brother as aforetime. Men will dishonour their parents as they grow quickly old, and will carp at them, chiding them with bitter words, hard-hearted they, not knowing the fear of the gods. They will not repay their aged parents the cost their nurture, for might shall be their right: and one man will sack another's city. There will be no favour (kharis) for the man who keeps his oath or for the just (dikaios) or for the good (agathos); but rather men will praise the evil-doer (kakos) and his violent dealing (hybris). Strength will be right (dike) and reverence (aidos) will cease to be; and the wicked will hurt the worthy man, speaking false words against him, and will swear an oath upon them. Envy (zelos), foul-mouthed, delighting in evil, with scowling face, will go along with wretched men one and all.
And then Aidos (Aedos, Shame) and Nemesis (Indignation), with their sweet forms wrapped in white robes, will go from the wide-pathed earth and forsake mankind to join the company of the deathless gods: and bitter sorrows (lugra algea) will be left for mortal men, and there will be no help against evil."
--Hesiod, Works and Days (trans. Evelyn-White)

Timeline:
1961 ~ Cluracan Kelly first takes on the mantle and identity of Puss in Boots.
1970 ~ Cluracan Kelly meets and has a fling with Nemesis, which results in the birth of Dikadora Kelly.
1986 ~ Dikadora Kelly first begins operating as the undercover superhero known as Catspaw. 

"Neither this nor any other ancient statue of Nemesis has wings, for not even the holiest wooden images of the Smyraneans have them, but later artists, convinced that the goddess manifests herself most as a consequence of love, give wings to Nemesis as they do to Eros (Love). "
--Pausanias, Description of Greece 1. 33. 4 (trans. Jones)  

Home Base:  Las Vegas.
Gender:  Soft butch cisfemale
Sexuality:  Pansexual dominant
Romantic Identity:  Polyfidelitous

"What god joined Fortuna (Fortune) [Tykhe (Tyche)] and Invidia (Envy) [Nemesis] in truceless kinship? Who bade the cruel goddesses engage in unending war? Will the one set her mark upon no house, but the other must straightway fix it with her grim glance, and with savage hand make havoc of its gladness? Happy and prosperous was this abode, no shock assailed it, no thought of sorrow; what cause was there to have fear of Fortuna, treacherous and fickle though she be, while Caesar was favourable? Yet the jealous Fata (Fate) [Moira] found a way, and barbarous violence entered that blameless home."
--Statius, Silvae 5. 1.

Recurrent Foes:

• Greyhound:  For most of his life, Gamal Chases-Socks thought he was a typical greyhound, doped up and abused by an underground track in Las Vegas.  One race, his handlers pumped him too full of too many strenge chemicals.  As his heart began to give out, his werewolf heritage revealed itself.  No human left the raceyard that day.  Now he follows his rage, always seeking the dominance he wishes would balm the inferiority he feels chasing him constantly.
• Notable Powers:  (PL 11) Lycanthrope from Supernatural Handbook.  Run on Water, Run Up Walls, Running Jump, Running Speed, Fast Healing, Raging Strength, Terrifying Bark (Roar), Protective Hide, Animal Senses (acute olfactory, ultra-hearing) from Power Profiles.  Big-Ass Claws (Strength-based Damage), All-Out Attack, Close Attack, Diehard, Extraordinary Effort, Fearless, Improved Smash, Leadership, Power Attack, Takedown, Teamwork, Tracking, Ultimate Effort, Weapon Break, Movement (sure-footed), Senses (analytical hearing, analytical smell, direction sense, infravision, low-light vision, tracking 2)
• The Patriarch: A committed misogynist, Bobby Lirdenham has delved deep into both fringe science and the occult in his quest to eliminate feminism and build the world of the free sexual use of women.  Catspaw's first time fighting him led to a bit of a conundrum afterwards, as a small number of his liberated victims asked her to give them access to his pills and tech, claiming that they found liberation in its effects and oppression only in doing so under the Patriarch's thumb.
  
  • Notable Powers:  (PL 11) Pink pills (array:  Enhanced Trait 2: Attractive with Affects Others and Reduced Trait 3: Awareness or Enhanced Trait 3: Presence with Affects Others, Quirk: Increases Libido, and Reduced Trait 3: Intellect), bimbo-maker raygun (Weaken: Intellect with Quirk: Increases Libido), pheromone spray (Emotion Control from Power Profiles with Area and Limited to Horniness). Artificer, Inventor, Ritualist, Very Attractive, Fascinate, Daze.  Bitter Lash of Bal'Hemoth and the Enchantment of Ios and Mists of the Modrossus and Shatachna's Seal of Silence and Somnambulent Silence of Sirrion from Power Profiles 
• New Covenant Revelator:  Gabriella St. Ives was a preacher's daughter, but she was always too consumed with studies of science and engineering to rebel.  She believed that God designed the world as an act of beauty, and that witnessing that beauty by understanding how it works brings one closer to God.  Her father's church dwindled and she barely noticed, until finally he had to close up shop.  He didn't have to turn to the bottle to find the comfort he might once have hoped to find in God, but he did.  Finally noticing something outside her workshop, Gabriella spent a decade designing and building the suit she now wears as a way to bring followers to her father's new church.  She is a devout Christian, but anything can be justified to keep her father sober.
• Notable Powers:  (PL 10) Battlesuit.  Inspire, Contacts, Connected, Leadership, Luck. Startle, Trance, Defensive Attack, Evasion, Improved Aim, Improved Defense, Improved Disarm, Move-By Attack, Power Attack, Precise Attack, Takedown, Uncanny Dodge, Weapon Bind, Fearless, Interpose, Second Chance, Inventor, Create (Limited to Food), Healing.  Feature (flashlight, personal spotlight, light show, data-storage drive, remote), Blinding Aura, Dazzling Burst, Laser Weapon, Light Absorption, Photonic Shield, Lightflight, Healing Light, Illuminate, Solar Sustenance, Vision Enhancement, Strength Enhancement, Life Support System, Mind Shield, Sensory Shield, Communication System from Power Profiles.
• Paraclete:  Nemesis isn't the only Titan to have given birth to a mixed-race child in the modern world.  Her "better half" Τυχη (Tyche) gave birth to the fruit of a one-night stand with a נפיל (nefil; a half-angel) around the same time Dikadora was born.  They were raised together.  Now, Eugene Pope goes around rewarding those he thinks are deserving with good fortune, often without regard for the complexity of the situation or the effects of such luck.  Too frequent or too excessive happiness is a dangerous thing.
• Notable Powers:  (PL 10) Every Fortune Advantage and maxed out Luck. Luck Control and basically every Luck power from Power Profiles.  Olympian and angel archetypes from Book of Magic.
  
• Trademark:  There was never any question for Pierce Draper what he would do with the powers his mutated genome gave him in and over genes: he'd make lots of money.  The advertising and marketing industry proved unduly excited about the level of brand penetration he offered.  Making money hand over fist as the freelance contractor Trademark, he has been engaged in the creation and manipulation of cool ever since.
  
• Notable Powers:  (PL 9) Benefit (wealth), Connected, Inspire, Trance.  Features (Fast Sleeper, Light Sleeper, Lucid Dreamer), Sleepless, Dream Mastery, and Psychic Vampirism (Asleep as third degree) from Power Profiles.
• Colonel Cadmus:  "I will sow dragon's teeth in the desert, and raise soldiers like the world has never seen."  Colonel Dana Cadmus first came to Las Vegas in charge of an effort to use the tech and alien DNA in Area 51 to build super-soldiers.  Given a broad and independent mandate to act, she has continued to recruit test subjects for a variety of "new soldier" initiatives.
• Notable Powers:  (PL 8) Super-normal.  A large collection of combat-related advantages, Connected, Contacts, Equipment, Fearless, Inspire, Leadership, Minion, Sidekick, Teamwork, Extraordinary Effort, Ultimate Effort, Benefit (Government Backing), Well-Informed, Great Endurance. Fearsome Presence, Striking Power, Tough, Unfazeable, At A Glance, Brilliant Deduction, Light Sleeper, and Situational Awareness from Power Profiles.
  
• Emberwight:  Donald Ebberman came to Vegas desperate in 1980.  His daughter's condition was getting worse, the treatment more expensive, and he'd just lost his job.  He needed his meager savings to be significantly more than meager, and gambling was the only option he could think of.  Sadly, the casino caught fire that night.  Less sadly, the life insurance policy just barely covered his daughter's treatment.  Now he haunts the city, possessing people (like Catspaw) and watching out for his husband and daughter.
• Notable Powers:  (PL 8) Skin-rider from Supernatural Handbook.  Death Stare, Death Touch, Death's Gate, Death Sight, Death Vision, Speak With the Dead, Feature (deathly aura, tiny flame, cooking from the inside, flaming Presence bonus), Fireball (Soulfire), Fiery Breath (Soulfire), Fire Blast (Soulfire), Flame Aura (Soulfire), Immolate (Soulfire), Heatstroke, Melt, Smoke Cloud (Linked to Suffocation with Area), Fire Shield, Heat Absorption, Immunity to Heat, Infravision, Pyrokinesis, Warm from Powers Profile.
  
• Characters from Greek myth:  Because of her mother, Catspaw often finds herself running into Αρτεμις (Artemis), Αθηνη (Athena), Ναρκισσος (Narcissus), Νικαιη (Nicaea), her grandmother Νυξ (Nyx, "Night"), her grandfather Ερεβος (Erebus, "Darkness"), her half-sister Helen of Troy, her half-brothers the Τελχινες (Telkhines), Αιδως (Aedos, "Shame"), the Ερινυες (Erinyes, "Furies"), Θεμις (Themis, "Divine Law"), her uncle Μορος (Moros; "Doom"), her aunts the Κηρες (Keres; "Violent Death"), her uncle Θανατος (Thanatos; "Death"), her uncle Ὑπνος (Hypnos; "Sleep"), her uncles the Ονειροι (Oneiroi; "Dreams"), her uncle Μωμος (Momos; "Blame"), her aunt Οιζυς (Oizys; "Misery"), her aunts the Ἑσπεριδες (Hesperides; "Of the Evening"), her aunts the Μοιραι (Moirai; "Fates"), her aunt Απατη (Apate; "Deceit"), her aunt Φιλοτης (Philotes; "Friendship"), her aunt Γηρας (Geras; "Old Age"), her aunt Ερις (Eris; "Strife"), her aunt Σοφροσυνη (Sophrosyne; "Moderation"), her uncle Επιφρων (Epiphron; "Prudence"), Porphyrion, Epaphus, her aunt Ὑβρις (Hubris; "Wantonness"), her aunt Ευφροσυνη (Euphrosyne; "Good Cheer"), her aunt Ελεος (Eleos; "Compassion"), her aunt Στυξ (Styx; "Hatred"), her uncle Αιθηρ (Aether; "Upper Air"), her aunt Ἡμερα (Hemera; "Day"), her uncle Δολος (Dolos; "Guile"), her uncle Δειμος (Deimos; "Fear"), her uncle Πονος (Ponos; "Toil"), and her aunt Pertinacia ("Obstinacy")
• Several mind-controllers:  As you can imagine, mind-controlling villains are prime targets for Catspaw's particular brand of vengeance, and so she has built up a rogue's gallery full of novel ways to control minds.

"Artemis betook herself to Nemesis, and found her on the heights of Tauros (Taurus) in the clouds, where beside neighbouring Kydnos (Cydnus) she had ended the proudnecked boasting of Typhon's (Typhoeus') threats. A wheel turned itself round before the queen's feet, signifying that she rolls all the proud from on high to the ground with the avenging wheel of justice, she the allvanquishing deity who turns the path of life. Round her throne flew a bird of vengeance, a Gryps (Griffin) flying with wings, or balancing himself on four feet, to go unbidden before the flying goddess and show that she herself traverses the four separate quarters of the world: highcrested men she bridles with her bit which none can shake off, such is the meaning of the image, and she rolls a haughty fellow about as it were with the whip of misery, like a self-rolling wheel."
--Nonnus, Dionysiaca 48.

Physical Appearance:  I can't draw, so I really like providing a few reference pictures and trusting in your imagination to build a good image of Catspaw.  She looks like some combination of these five pictures:

"Straightway she [Pallas Athene] sought the filthy slimy shack where Invidia (Envy) [the Roman name for Nemesis] dwelt deep in a dreary dale, a gruesome sunless hovel, filled with frost, heart-numbing frost, its stagnant air unstirred by any breeze, for ever lacking warmth of cheerful fire, for ever wrapped in gloom. Reaching the place the virgin queen of war paused by the threshold, since she might not pass beneath that roof, and struck upon the door with her spear's point. The door flew wide and there she saw foul Invidia (Envy) eating viper's flesh, fit food for spite, and turned her eyes away. Slowly the creature rose, leaving the snakes half-eaten, and approached with dragging steps, and when she saw the goddess' face so fair and gleaming mail, she scowled and groaned in grief. Her cheeks are sallow, her whole body shrunk, her eyes askew and squinting; black decay befouls her teeth, her bosom's green with bile, and venom coats her tongue. She never smiles save when she relishes the sight of woe; sleep never soothes her, night by night awake with worry, as she sees against her will successes won and sickens at the sight. She wounds, is wounded, she herself her own torture. . . .  With sidelong glance the creature saw her fly and muttered briefly, grieving to foresee Minerva's triumph; then she took her staff, entwined with thorns, and, wrapped in a black cloud, went forth and in her progress trampled down the flowery meads, withered the grass, and slashed the tree-tops, and with filthy breath defiled peoples and towns and homes, until at last, brilliant and blessed with arts and wealth and peace, Athens in happy festival appears--and tears she sheds to see no cause for tears."
--Ovid, Metamorphoses 2. (trans. Melville)

Catspaw (PL 10)
STR 0*  AGI 2  FGT 2  AWE -1
STA 0  DEX 3  INT 1  PRE 2 
*  -2 when shrunk
Powers
Demi-Titan:  Feature 1 (temporal inertia), Immunity 1 (aging), Morph 4 (any form, increased action 1: move, quirk: always has cat-eyes), Movement 3 (dimensional travel 3) • 23 points 
Fairy Sight:  Illusion 5 (visual, Insight DC 15, 30 cu. ft.), Senses 11 (dimensional, low-light vision, mental divine awareness, tracking scent 2, vision counters all concealment, vision counters illusion) • 32 points
Nemesis-born:  Luck Control 5 (insidious, limited to those using me, subtle 2, uncontrolled), Weaken Abilities 1 (Will DC 11; broad, extended range 7, increased range, indirect 4, insidious, limited to those who use me, progressive, simultaneous, subtle 2, uncontrolled)* • 26 points
Werecat:  Claws (Strength-based Damage 2; Toughness DC 17), Leaping 3 (60 feet), Shrinking 8 (3 pounds, 1/16 cubic foot, quirk: maximum rank only), Tail (Extra Limb 1) • 21 points
*  This is heavily modified, so I thought I'd repost this here with all the changes:
Action: Standard • Range: Ranged (short 3200 feet, medium 1.25 miles, long 2.5 miles)
Duration: Instant • Cost: 4 point per rank + 14 flat
You can temporarily lower all of a target’s abilities. You must touch the target, making a normal ranged attack check, originating from any point and point in any direction.  Neither the activation nor the effect of this power are noticeable until circumstances reveal the effect.
WEAKEN RESISTANCE CHECK
Will vs. DC 11
Success: No effect.
Failure: The target loses power points from all of their abilities equal to the difference between the check result and the DC, up to a maximum of 1, each round until the target successfully resists.  Make a new Will save for the target at the end of each turn; failure weakens their abilities further, while success stops the Progressive Weaken, but the target must still recover ranks already lost.  Lost points return at a rate of 1 per round at the end of each of the target’s turns.
Advantages
Agile Feint; Assessment; Attractive; Daze (Deception); Diehard; Evasion; Fascinate (Deception); Favored Foe (people using me); Improved Grab (free with Extra Limb); Redirect; Taunt
Skills
Acrobatics 9 (+11); Close Combat: Claws 2, Deception 8 (+10; +12 to deceive, seduce, or change attitude of those attracted to me; +12 or +14 v. those who use me); Expertise: Arcane Lore 6 (+7); Expertise: Art 2 (+3); Expertise: Theology & Philosophy) 2 (+3); Intimidation 0 (+2; +4 v. those who use me; -2 or 0 when shrunk); Insight 6 (+5; +7 v. those who use me); Perception 0 (-1; +1 v. those who use me); Stealth 5 (+7; +15 when shrunk)
Offense
Initiative +2
Claws +4:  Close, Damage 2 (0 when shrunk)
Grab +2 (+3 with all three limbs):  Close, Strength/Dodge DC 10 (8 when shrunk)
Weaken +3:  Ranged, Will DC 11
Unarmed +2:  Close, Damage 0 (-2 when shrunk)
Defense
Dodge 2 (4 to avoid area effects; 6 or 8 when shrunk)
Fortitude 0
Parry 2 (6 when shrunk)
Toughness 0
Will -1
Ground speed rank 0 (-1 when shrunk)
Complications
Motivation ~ Doing Good
Power Loss:  Like those of many on their father's side, Catspaw's illusions can be dispelled with the touch of cold iron.  If Catspaw themself touches cold iron, all of their illusions are immediately dispelled; they would thus be unable to create new illusions until they were no longer in contact with the cold iron.
Reputation:  Though fighting on the side of the heroes, Catspaw appears on the surface to be a minion traded around by a bunch of villains.

Power Point Totals:  Abilities 18 + Powers 102 + Advantages 10 + Skills 20 = 150

The Big Bronze Hog of Vileswe, part 1 of 3

This post is inspired and dedicated to my sweet and beloved Owner, Francesca Gentille, the merbunny who was indeed the spark for the entire D&D setting.  She’s in Firenze right now, getting ready to teach Tantra in Roma and all about Persephone in Sicilia in a week or so.  She posted a picture of her with Il Porcellino and that inspired this whole idea in my head.  Much of the text is adapted or outright copied from https://curiousrambler.com/2014/09/07/the-bronze-pig-of-florence/ and Hans Christian Andersen’s Bronze Hog stort from A Poet’s Bazaar.

In the city of Vileswe, capitol of the Tosganwa region of the northwestern Holbytlan peninsula, there is a bronze fountain nestled in a little cross street called Tesla Lossa (“Red Chariot”) not far from the Hwatla ti Gwantoga at the side of the New Market where thet sell vegetables to the artists and their patrons, and that fountain is in the shape of a wild boar.  Clear, fresh water bubbles out of the mouth of the animal, which has become dark green from age; the snout alone shines as if it were polished bright; and it is made so by the many hundred children and townsfolk who take hold of it with their hands, and put their mouths to the animal’s to drink.  It is a complete picture to see that well-formed animal embraced by a pretty, half-naked halfling, who puts his sweet little mouth to its snout.*  Volsolno, as the halflings call him, meaning “the big pig”, is said to bring good luck when visitors rub his snout and put a coin in his mouth.  If the water washes the coin from the pig’s mouth and it falls into the grate below, the giver-and-rubber will have good luck and will be sure to return to Vileswe.  If the water fails to wash the coin from his mouth, people just try again; the coins are used to support an orphanage, after all.

Volsol’ino was sculpted 330 years ago, and copies have been installed in places in the Ravenlost Penal Colony across the Plateau of Leng, the troll-ruled realm of Sjǫtrungnis, Ganatje full of ghostly expat villages living aside living indigenous villages, the unclaimed forest of Huginmathathir, and Orvad where humans trade away their freedom in order to have it. There are 2 in Natsiyaasim where everyone is descended from angels, 2 in Camugaard the frozen land of survivalist philosophers, 4 in Brobdingnag the last refuge of the giant peoples, one in each colony along the Savage Coast, and innumerable throughout the Holbytlan peninsula.

There once was a Violeswino halfling couple who could not have children. The husband blamed his wife and made her life miserable. One day the city was attacked by a band of swine-elfs (a.k.a., orcs) who were slaughtered by the Violeswino guard; sent to scavenge what was useful and dispose of the bodies, the wife of this couple saw heard a babe’s cry.  Following the sound, she found an orcish baby squawling under the fallen body of its mother.  She lamented to herself that this babe surely would die while she couldn’t herself bear children.  Praying aloud to Hwe, the goddess who rules youth and childhood, she took the child right home with her, a slaughter-field adoption.  The couple was so excited they were going to be parents, but they had no idea that the infant was no typical orc, but rather one that had been fey-touched.  Nonetheless and unknowing, the couple did in fact raise him as their own beloved pet/son, and did a damn good job of it, too, by all accounts.

As the young fey-touched orc matured, he spoke with eloquence and was quite clever.  Then the time came when Holbytlan culture said he should begin to think about marriage.  Most of the other boys steered clear of him because they were afraid.  However, one young and very poor halfling boy recognised that he was intelligent and not like his barbaric cousins that roamed Aoqina so violently ~ in short, he saw Volsol’ino as a person and not a racist stereotype ~ so he took a chance and went the whole hog – he married orc who had been raised as a halfling.**

On their wedding night***, the halfling groom was pleasantly surprised when his orcish husband shed his boar-like skin and stood in the form of a handsome young halfling man.  His fey heritage had finally manifested, giving him the ability to change his shape, unconsciously chosen in response to the love of a good man. He had not known this would happen, however, so he did not know how to control it.  In the daytime, he changed back into an orc – and this happened day after day.

The couple, distressed, made a secret visit on a night with no moon to a certain gnomish witch who made their home in what is now the Old Market.  The witch told them that the orc’s halfling husband must promise never to tell anyone, for if he did, Volsol’ino would be forever trapped in the skin, not of an orc, but of a pig ~ and the halfling would be turned into a frog for not being able to control his tongue.  It was just the way of fairies and their magics.

Well, he tried to keep the secret but the story was just too incredible and he told his mother who in turn told her friends and by nightfall everyone knew the orc’s secret. So the halfling turned into a frog and his husband was reduced to a boar.  Well, “reduced” is how the Holbytlans tell it; the orcs got the way they are by seeking to emulate the Sow Mothers they worship, so it is possible they tell the story differently.  None of the Violeswini have ever asked.  The halfling/frog lived in the pool where the boar went to drink every day and chat with him.  It is said that he came to atone for the tongue he spread wide over his city, and the result was the grippli race, but that is an entirely other story.  A fountain in the form of a boar now stands in the same pool as a memorial to this doomed couple.  And as a lesson that one must learn to control one’s tongue.

Many years later, I will say, on a late winter evening, the mountains covered with snow, in the Dotle’s yonder palace garden, a thousand lilacs bloomed as they did every winter, a little ragged, androgynous halfling child had sat the whole day long, under the pine-tree’s roof.  They were a child that might the image of Holbytla ~ so pretty, so laughing, and yet so suffering.  They were hungry and thirsty; no one had given them even the smallest coin; and when it became dark, and the garden was to be closed, the porter chased them away.  They stood long on the bridge over the Olno river, dreaming and looking at the stars as they glistened in the water, between the child and the noble marble bridge, Ti Tlinita.

They bent their steps toward the fountain of the bronze hog, knelt half down, threw their arms around their neck, placed their little mouth to its shining snout, and drank a deep draught of the fresh water.  Close by lay lettuce salvaged from the remains of an orgy****, and a few chestnuts: these were the child’s supper.  There was not a person in the street; they were quite alone.  They sat down on the swine’s back, leaned forward so that their little curled head rested on that of the animal, and, before they themself knew it, was asleep.

It was midnight, the bronze figure moved; the child heard it say quite distinctly, “Hold fast, little androgyne, for now I run!” and away it ran with them.  It was a laughable ride.

The first place they came to was Hwatla ti Gwandoga, and the bronze horse which bore the statue of the Dotle neighed aloud; the variegated arms on the old Council Hall shone like transparent paintings; and the statue of the Heroic Shepherd swung her sling.  It was a strange life that moved!  The bronze groups with Holswus, and the “Seizure of the Savi,” were but too living: a death shriek from them passed over that magnificent but solitary place.

Volsol’ino stopped by the Halatlo ti Uvvitli, in the arcade where the nobility assemble during the pleasures of the Satolslwa.

“Hold fast!” said the animal, “hold fast!  For we are now going up the stairs.”  The little child said not a word; they half trembled, they were half happy.

The two entered a long gallery; the child knew it well, for they had been there before.  The walls were covered with paintings; here stood statues and busts: everything was in the brightest light, just as if it were day; but it was the most splendid when the door to one of the side rooms opened.  The little androgyne remembered the splendor here, yet this night everything was in its most beauteous lustre.

Here stood a beautiful naked minotaur female, as beautiful as nature and marble’s greatest master could make her.  She moved her fine limbs, those strange beings from the Hemeya Sea with the front halves of rabbits and the back halves of fish played around her feet, immortality shone from her eyes.  By the world she is called the “Mirtiin ti Netitli”.  On each side of her were numerous marble groups, in which the spirit of life had pierced the stone.  These were naked, half-formed men: the one sharpening the sword, is called the Grinder; the wrestling Gldiators form the second group; the sword is whetted, the combatants wrestle for the Goddess of Scientific Beauty.

The child was almost blinded with all this lustre: the walls beamed with colors, and all was life and motion there.  The double image of Mirtiin was here seen ~ that earthly Mirtiin, so swelling and observant, whom Titwas had pressed to his heart.  It was strange to see.  There two beautiful genderqueers; their handsome, unveiled limbs were stretched on soft cushions, their bosoms rose, and their heads moved, so that the rich locks fell down on their round shoulders, whilst their dark eyes spoke the glowing thoughts within; but ot one of all the pictures ventured to step entirely out of the frame.  The Goddess of Scientific Beauty herself the Gladiators and Grinder, remained in their places, for the glory which beamed from Natsiyaasim’s dawn-blooded founder and the angels which followed him, had bound them.  The holy images were no longer images ~ they were the sainted beings themselves.

From saloon to saloon what splendor!  What beauty!  And the little androgyne saw it all.  The bronze hog went step by step through all this magnificence and glory.  But one sight superseded the rest ~ one image alone fixed itself in their thoughts: it was caused by the glad, happy children who were there on the walls: the little child had once nodded to them by daylight.

+ = Astinwu, just to give you an idea of what he looks like, at least

Many, certainly, have wandered carelessly past this picture, and yet it incloses a treasure of poesy: it is Astinwu, boyfriend of one of the emperors of old, who descends into the netherworld by means of a watery grave; but it is not the tortured nor the forgotten nor the dreary shades we see around him; no, they tell of hope and immortality by means of the Beautiful Boy’s mysteries.  Nahwolo Bwostlino, the Violeswino, painted this picture.  The expression of the children’s certainty that they are going to be transformed into celestial beings, is excellent; two little ones embrace each other; one child stretches its hand to another below, and points to himself as if he said, “I am going to walk amongst the angels!”  All the gods stand nearby, sad, the one melancholy part of the picture, as they mourn these delicious morsels who have stolen themselves away from the plate.*****

The child looked longer at this picture than at any other; the bronze hog stood still before it; a gentle sigh was heard; did it come from the painting, or from the animal’s breast?  The child extended their hands toward the smiling children; then the animal started off with them, away ~ through the open front hall.

“Thanks and blessings on thee, thou sweet animal!” said the little androgyne, and patted the bronze hog, who with an amiable grunt sprang down the stairs with them.  “Thanks, and blessings on thyself!” said the animal.  “I have helped thee, and thou hast helped me, for it is only with an innocent child on my back that I have strength to run.  Nay, I dare now enter under the light of the lamp, before the image of Natsiyaasm’s founder.  I can bear thee away everywhere, only not into the temple; but when thou art with me I can look in through the open door from the outside.  Do not get off my back; if thou dost, I shall fall down dead, as thou seest me in the day at Tesla Lossa.”

“I will stay with thee, my blessed animal,” said the little child; and away they went with a whizzing flight through the streets of Vileswe, and out to the open square before the temple of Nasta Gwotle.

----

*  No joke, this sentence is lifted with but a single excepted word from Hans Christian Andersen’s story about the pig fountain in Firenze.  I exchanged “halfling” for “boy” in an attempt to tone down how creepy it read to modern people . . . .

**  Yes, I am deliberately making the situation muddy.  It is quite likely that the only one to see Volsol’ino as a person could only do so because he had been raised outside of orcish culture . . . which would be racist, y/n?  I am uninterested in fantasy that addresses issues like racism only to give simplistic answers and shallow thought ~ I will not write such.  Racism is complicated, and sticky, and often shows up to plague us just when we think we have solved it.  Our fantasies can help us do better, but only if we depict it accurately and openly.

***  That said, same-sex marriages (or rather things similar enough that modern readers cock an eyebrow) existed within the Christian church(es) from the 8th, maybe the 2nd, all the way until the 16th.  Well, for men anyway.  Read John Boswell’s Same-Sex Unions in Pre-Modern Europe for the same introduction to such that I got.  Accordingly, none of the gossip accompanying the marriage involved in the gender of the grooms.  Just their race.

As the sticker on my computer says, being queer doesn’t give you a free pass to be racist.

****  Of course my Roman-inspired halfling culture has orgies, but more importantly: lettuce was considered an aphrodisiac throughout the Ancient Near East, from Khemet (Egypt) to Kiengir (Sumer; southern Iraq).  I suspect that it is because its white sap can seem similar to semen.  This is simply too good an association to not add to Holbytlan culture!

*****  Holbytlan religion says that mortal beings were created as delectable treats for the gods to eat, and that life is the process of seasoning and cooking (or pickling or what have you) one’s soul to maximize your deliciousness.  Astinwu’s mystery cult is sometimes seen as blasphemous and dangerous because the transformation it promises results in the gods not getting fed properly.