Odyssey: Soaring Isles is part of SMITE's annual Odyssey event series made for the introduction of Ishtar and Maui. The story for this event takes place right after the conclusion of Heavenly Light's story. It began on August 23, 2022 and ended on January 24, 2023.
Videos[]
Welcome to the Odyssey: Soaring Isles[]
Collect Odyssey Points![]
Collect 
Odyssey Points by purchasing Odyssey: Soaring Isles Skins, The upcoming Digital Loot Pack, Chest Skins released up until the month of November, New Theme bundle skins, New Viewer Pass Skins, and by participating in the Battle Pass.
Explore the World![]
Discover new Territories! Receive a Map Fragment Map Fragment to unlock more unique Territories for every 20,000 Odyssey Points you earn.
Get Cool Rewards![]
Go on Voyages in each Territory and complete the Quests to uncover rare and epic rewards such as Odyssey Bonus Chests, Cosmetic Items, Team Boosters, 
Favor, and SMITE 
Gems!
Odyssey Bundles[]
All Exclusive Odyssey: Soaring Isles Skins will be purchasable with Gems. Odyssey Collection Reward items will be unlocked by earning enough Odyssey Points and can be tracked on the Odyssey reward bar. Odyssey Points can be earned by buying Odyssey: Soaring Isles Skins and can also be earned by participating in the Battle Pass, purchasing the Digital Loot Pack, and purchasing select items in the SMITE Store until November 2022.
Odyssey: Soaring Isles Skins will release with an initial discount of 33% off for the first 2 weeks! Get each Skin for 500 Gems at launch or pick it up later on at full price for 750 Gems.
Each Odyssey: Soaring Isles Skin includes a cosmetic item and 10,000 Odyssey Points.
Chapter 1[]
| Shadow Dancer | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Icon | Type | Release Date | Description |
|
God Skin | August 23, 2022 | An exclusive skin for Shiva. It has custom animations and ability effects, and custom voicelines. |
| Floofs | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Icon | Type | Release Date | Description |
|
Loading Frame | August 23, 2022 | An exclusive Loading Frame. |
| Odyssey Points | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Icon | Type | Release Date | Description |
|
Currency | August 23, 2022 | 10,000 Odyssey Points
|
| Fairy Dust | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Icon | Type | Release Date | Description |
|
God Skin | August 23, 2022 | An exclusive skin for Nu Wa. It has custom animations and ability effects, and custom voicelines. |
| Sugarplum Butterfly | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Icon | Type | Release Date | Description |
|
Recall | August 23, 2022 | An exclusive Recall Skin. |
| Odyssey Points | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Icon | Type | Release Date | Description |
|
|
Currency | August 23, 2022 | 10,000 Odyssey Points
|
| Cryonic Demon | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Icon | Type | Release Date | Description |
|
God Skin | September 6, 2022 | An exclusive skin for Ymir. It has custom animations and ability effects, and custom voicelines. |
| Cryonic Demon | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Icon | Type | Release Date | Description |
|
|
Avatar Skin | September 6, 2022 | An exclusive avatar. |
| Odyssey Points | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Icon | Type | Release Date | Description |
|
|
Currency | September 6, 2022 | 10,000 Odyssey Points
|
| Cryptid Death | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Icon | Type | Release Date | Description |
|
God Skin | September 6, 2022 | An exclusive skin for Anubis. It has custom animations and ability effects, and custom voicelines. |
| Cryptid Death | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Icon | Type | Release Date | Description |
|
Loading Screen | September 6, 2022 | An exclusive Loading Screen. |
| Odyssey Points | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Icon | Type | Release Date | Description |
|
|
Currency | September 6, 2022 | 10,000 Odyssey Points
|
Chapter 2[]
| Catlas | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Icon | Type | Release Date | Description |
|
God Skin | September 20, 2022 | An exclusive skin for Atlas. It has custom animations and ability effects, and custom voicelines. |
| Catlas | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Icon | Type | Release Date | Description |
|
Level-Up Skin | September 20, 2022 | An exclusive level-up skin. |
| Odyssey Points | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Icon | Type | Release Date | Description |
|
|
Currency | September 20, 2022 | 10,000 Odyssey Points
|
| Twilight Sky | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Icon | Type | Release Date | Description |
|
God Skin | September 20, 2022 | An exclusive skin for Jing Wei. It has custom animations and ability effects, and custom voicelines. |
| Fairy Dust | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Icon | Type | Release Date | Description |
|
Jump Stamp | September 20, 2022 | An exclusive Jump Stamp. |
| Odyssey Points | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Icon | Type | Release Date | Description |
|
|
Currency | September 20, 2022 | 10,000 Odyssey Points
|
| Bioslicer | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Icon | Type | Release Date | Description |
|
God Skin | October 4, 2022 | An exclusive skin for Tsukuyomi. It has custom animations and ability effects, and custom voicelines. |
| Biohacker | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Icon | Type | Release Date | Description |
|
|
Title | October 4, 2022 | An exclusive Title. |
| Odyssey Points | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Icon | Type | Release Date | Description |
|
|
Currency | October 4, 2022 | 10,000 Odyssey Points
|
| Necro Fumes | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Icon | Type | Release Date | Description |
|
God Skin | October 4, 2022 | An exclusive skin for Agni. It has custom animations and ability effects, and custom voicelines. |
| Neon Skulls | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Icon | Type | Release Date | Description |
|
Fountain Skin | October 4, 2022 | An exclusive Fountain skin. |
| Odyssey Points | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Icon | Type | Release Date | Description |
|
|
Currency | October 4, 2022 | 10,000 Odyssey Points
|
Chapter 3[]
| Blazing Tormentor | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Icon | Type | Release Date | Description |
|
God Skin | October 18, 2022 | An exclusive skin for Sylvanus. It has custom animations and ability effects, and custom voicelines. |
| Sad Face | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Icon | Type | Release Date | Description |
|
Death Mark | October 18, 2022 | An exclusive Death mark. |
| Odyssey Points | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Icon | Type | Release Date | Description |
|
|
Currency | October 18, 2022 | 10,000 Odyssey Points
|
| Darkest Knight | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Icon | Type | Release Date | Description |
|
God Skin | October 18, 2022 | An exclusive skin for Xbalanque. It has custom animations and ability effects, and custom voicelines. |
| Darkest Night | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Icon | Type | Release Date | Description |
|
Loading Screen | October 18, 2022 | An exclusive Loading Screen. |
| Odyssey Points | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Icon | Type | Release Date | Description |
|
|
Currency | October 18, 2022 | 10,000 Odyssey Points
|
| Primordial Paragon | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Icon | Type | Release Date | Description |
|
God Skin | November 1, 2022 | An exclusive skin for Guan Yu. It has custom animations and ability effects, and custom voicelines. |
| Bismuth Stone | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Icon | Type | Release Date | Description |
|
Ward Skin | November 1, 2022 | An exclusive Ward Skin. |
| Odyssey Points | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Icon | Type | Release Date | Description |
|
|
Currency | November 1, 2022 | 10,000 Odyssey Points
|
| Spy Master | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Icon | Type | Release Date | Description |
|
God Skin | November 1, 2022 | An exclusive skin for Kali. It has custom animations and ability effects, and custom voicelines. |
| Moons | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Icon | Type | Release Date | Description |
|
Global Emote | November 1, 2022 | An exclusive Global emote. |
| Odyssey Points | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Icon | Type | Release Date | Description |
|
|
Currency | November 1, 2022 | 10,000 Odyssey Points
|
Chapter 4[]
| Neon Pulse | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Icon | Type | Release Date | Description |
|
God Skin | November 15, 2022 | An exclusive skin for Freya. It has custom animations and ability effects, and custom voicelines. |
| Cyber Lightning | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Icon | Type | Release Date | Description |
|
Level-Up Skin | November 15, 2022 | An exclusive level-up skin. |
| Odyssey Points | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Icon | Type | Release Date | Description |
|
|
Currency | November 15, 2022 | 10,000 Odyssey Points
|
| Megoosa | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Icon | Type | Release Date | Description |
|
God Skin | November 15, 2022 | An exclusive skin for Medusa. It has custom animations and ability effects, and custom voicelines. |
| Goose! | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Icon | Type | Release Date | Description |
|
Jump Stamp | November 15, 2022 | An exclusive Jump Stamp. |
| Odyssey Points | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Icon | Type | Release Date | Description |
|
|
Currency | November 15, 2022 | 10,000 Odyssey Points
|
| Winged Machina | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Icon | Type | Release Date | Description |
|
God Skin | November 29, 2022 | An exclusive skin for Nike. It has custom animations and ability effects, and custom voicelines. |
| Winged Machina | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Icon | Type | Release Date | Description |
|
|
Announcer Pack | November 29, 2022 | A custom announcer pack. |
| Odyssey Points | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Icon | Type | Release Date | Description |
|
|
Currency | November 29, 2022 | 10,000 Odyssey Points
|
| Heatwave | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Icon | Type | Release Date | Description |
|
God Skin | November 29, 2022 | An exclusive skin for Pele. It has custom animations and ability effects, and custom voicelines. |
| Heatwave | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Icon | Type | Release Date | Description |
|
|
Avatar | November 29, 2022 | An exclusive Avatar. |
| Odyssey Points | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Icon | Type | Release Date | Description |
|
|
Currency | November 29, 2022 | 10,000 Odyssey Points
|
Odyssey Rewards[]
Unlock rewards by earning Odyssey Points! Receive Collection Bonus Skins every 40,000 Odyssey Points up to the final Tier 5 Crow of Torment Hades Reward Skin at 160,000 Odyssey Points!
Go on Quest Voyages in a Territory on the Odyssey map to uncover more rewards including Odyssey Bonus Chests, Gems, Favor, Boosters, 
Viewer Points, and Cosmetic Items!
For every 10,000 Odyssey Points you collect after 160,000, you will receive an Odyssey Bonus Chest reward! This maxes out at 350,000 Odyssey Points.
| Bun Hatz | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Icon | Type | Release Date | Description |
|
God Skin | August 23, 2022 | An exclusive skin for Hun Batz. It has custom animations and ability effects, and custom voicelines. |
| Searing Seductress | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Icon | Type | Release Date | Description |
|
God Skin | August 23, 2022 | An exclusive skin for Sol. It has custom animations and ability effects, and custom voicelines. |
| CthUwU | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Icon | Type | Release Date | Description |
|
God Skin | August 23, 2022 | An exclusive skin for Cthulhu. It has custom animations and ability effects, and custom voicelines. |
| Crow of Torment | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Icon | Type | Release Date | Description |
|
God Skin | August 23, 2022 | An unlimited skin for Hades. It has custom animations and ability effects, and custom voicelines. |
| Crow of Torment | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Icon | Type | Release Date | Description |
|
|
Recall Skin | August 23, 2022 | A limited Recall Skin. |
| Crow of Torment | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Icon | Type | Release Date | Description |
|
|
Music Theme | August 23, 2022 | A limited Music Theme. |
Quest Map[]
Territories[]
During the Odyssey you will encounter a map with 9 Isles. Each Isle will differ in environment and have its own Quests and rewards that vary from all the others.
Your first Isle, Ishtar Isle, will be free, that way you will be able to familiarize yourself with the new system. To unlock more Isles, earn 20,000 Odyssey Points which will grant you a Map Fragment Map Fragment. When selecting any Isle it will show the rewards that can be claimed from completing Quests in that Isle. It will also show how many Quests you have completed.
Let the exploration begin!
Voyage Quests[]
Unlocking a Isle will zoom you into that Isle on the map. Once zoomed in, you will see a range of trails called Voyages. These Voyages can lead to different Landmarks. Each Voyage will have Quests along it and a Isle can have a range of 10 -14 Quests in total. You can only have 1 Voyage started at a time from any Isle.
Choose a Voyage by selecting a Landmark in the Isle that stands out to you. Confirm you want to start that Voyage and begin your journey! Completing a Voyage to the Landmark will grant you a rare reward, additionally, Quests along the Voyage will grant you more common rewards. Come back to the Isles in order to select a new Voyage once you have completed your last one!
Ishtar Voyage[]
|
|
|
|
|
| Reward - Battle Points - Team Booster | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Icon | Type | Release Date | Description |
|
Team Booster | August 23, 2022 | A bundle containing 3 Battle points Boosters. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Reward - Odyssey Points | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Icon | Type | Release Date | Description |
|
|
Currency | August 23, 2022 | 10,000 Odyssey Points
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Reward - Goddess Ishtar | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Icon | Type | Release Date | Description |
|
Global Emote | August 23, 2022 | An exclusive global emote |
Chernobog Voyage[]
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Reward - Odyssey Soaring Isles Chest | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Icon | Type | Release Date | Description |
|
Treasure Chest | August 23, 2022 | An Odyssey: Soaring Isles Chest |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Reward - Odyssey Soaring Isles Chest | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Icon | Type | Release Date | Description |
|
|
Treasure Chest | August 23, 2022 | An Odyssey: Soaring Isles Chest |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Reward - Slavic Symbols | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Icon | Type | Release Date | Description |
|
Treasure Chest | August 23, 2022 | An exclusive fountain skin |
Pele Voyage[]
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Reward - Gems | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Icon | Type | Release Date | Description |
|
Currency | August 23, 2022 | 160 Gems
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Reward - Odyssey Soaring Isles Chest | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Icon | Type | Release Date | Description |
|
|
Treasure Chest | August 23, 2022 | An Odyssey: Soaring Isles Chest |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Reward - Fishy Aquarium | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Icon | Type | Release Date | Description |
|
Recall Skin | August 23, 2022 | An exclusive recall skin |
Merlin Voyage[]
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Reward - Odyssey Soaring Isles Chest | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Icon | Type | Release Date | Description |
|
|
Treasure Chest | August 23, 2022 | An Odyssey: Soaring Isles Chest |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Reward - Odyssey: Soaring Isles | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Icon | Type | Release Date | Description |
|
Loading Screen | August 23, 2022 | An exclusive loading screen |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Reward - Odyssey Soaring Isles Chest | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Icon | Type | Release Date | Description |
|
|
Treasure Chest | August 23, 2022 | An Odyssey: Soaring Isles Chest |
Odin Voyage[]
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Reward - SMITE Gems | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Icon | Type | Release Date | Description |
|
|
Currency | August 23, 2022 | 160 Gems
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Reward - Gone to Valhalla | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Icon | Type | Release Date | Description |
|
Death Mark | August 23, 2022 | An exclusive death mark |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Reward - Odyssey Soaring Isles Chest | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Icon | Type | Release Date | Description |
|
|
Treasure Chest | August 23, 2022 | An Odyssey: Soaring Isles Chest |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Reward - Odyssey Soaring Isles Chest | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Icon | Type | Release Date | Description |
|
|
Treasure Chest | August 23, 2022 | An Odyssey: Soaring Isles Chest |
Sun Wukong Voyage[]
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Winter's Mark | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Icon | Type | Release Date | Description |
|
Avatar | August 23, 2022 | An exclusive avatar. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Reward - Odyssey Soaring Isles Chest | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Icon | Type | Release Date | Description |
|
|
Treasure Chest | August 23, 2022 | An Odyssey: Soaring Isles Chest |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Reward - Odyssey Soaring Isles Chest | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Icon | Type | Release Date | Description |
|
|
Treasure Chest | August 23, 2022 | An Odyssey: Soaring Isles Chest |
Bacchus Isle[]
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Olympus | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Icon | Type | Release Date | Description |
|
Loading Screen | August 23, 2022 | An exclusive loading screen. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Reward - Odyssey Soaring Isles Chest | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Icon | Type | Release Date | Description |
|
|
Treasure Chest | August 23, 2022 | An Odyssey: Soaring Isles Chest |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Reward - Odyssey Soaring Isles Chest | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Icon | Type | Release Date | Description |
|
|
Treasure Chest | August 23, 2022 | An Odyssey: Soaring Isles Chest |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Reward - SMITE Gems | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Icon | Type | Release Date | Description |
|
|
Currency | August 23, 2022 | 160 Gems
|
Cthulhu Voyage[]
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Reward - Haunting Horrors | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Icon | Type | Release Date | Description |
|
Level-Up Skin | August 23, 2022 | An exclusive level-up skin |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Reward - Odyssey Soaring Isles Chest | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Icon | Type | Release Date | Description |
|
|
Treasure Chest | August 23, 2022 | An Odyssey: Soaring Isles Chest |
Sobek Isle[]
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Reward - SMITE Gems | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Icon | Type | Release Date | Description |
|
|
Currency | August 23, 2022 | 160 Gems
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Reward - Lurking Sobek | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Icon | Type | Release Date | Description |
|
Jump Stamp | August 23, 2022 | An exclusive jump stamp. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Reward - Odyssey Soaring Isles Chest | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Icon | Type | Release Date | Description |
|
|
Treasure Chest | August 23, 2022 | An Odyssey: Soaring Isles Chest |
Chibiland[]
- In order to unlock these quests, players are required to save the 3 Floofs from the quest map.
| Chibiland Quest 1 | |
|---|---|
|
|
|
| Chibiland Quest 2 | |
|
|
|
| Chibiland Quest 3 | |
|---|---|
|
|
|
| Chibiland Quest 4 | |
|
|
|
| Chibiland Quest 5 | |
|---|---|
|
|
|
| Chibiland Quest 6 | |
|
|
|
| Chibiland Quest 7 | |
|---|---|
|
|
|
| Chibiland Quest 8 | |
|
|
|
| Chibiland Quest 9 | |
|---|---|
|
|
|
| Chibiland Quest 10 | |
|
|
|
FAQ[]
What is eligible for Odyssey Points in the SMITE Store?[]
These items will reward you with Odyssey Points:
- Odyssey Skins = 10,000 Odyssey Points
- NEW Chest skins while the Odyssey is active (whether rolled or directly purchased) = 10,000 Odyssey Points
- Upcoming Digital Lootpack = 10,000 Odyssey Points
- Battle Pass Free completion = 15,000 Odyssey Points
- Battle Pass Premium completion = 5,000 Odyssey Points
- NEW Viewer Pass Skin = 10,000 Odyssey Points
- NEW Skins in Theme Bundles = 10,000 Odyssey Points
- You can earn a total of 55,000 Odyssey Points for FREE by completing a quest in the Ishtar Voyage and participating in the 2 Battle Passes while the Odyssey: Soaring Isles event is active
Where can I track how many Odyssey points I have earned?[]
You can see how many Odyssey Points you have earned by going to the Rewards tab in the Odyssey event. There you will also be able to see the Odyssey Reward tiers and your next obtainable Reward.
What do I get with the Buy All?[]
Players who Buy All will receive all active Odyssey Event Skins. Every two weeks new Skins will be unlocked and added to the player's inventory.
The player will receive all Reward Skins for the 40,000, 80,000, 120,000 and 160,000 Reward Tiers on day 1 of the 9.8 update, including the Unlimited Tier 5 Hades Skin.
I did the Buy All option, do I unlock all the map fragments and the territories?[]
Yes, players who Buy All will unlock all territories and will be able to start one Quest voyage in any territory.
How many total Gems can I find across all the territories?[]
800 Gems in total.
How do I start a Quest voyage?[]
First begin in your free territory or unlock a new territory by earning 20,000 Odyssey Points. Then select a landmark, one of the sights or structures you see in the territory. Selecting it will ask if you want to start that landmark’s Quest voyage. Quests from the same voyage can be completed simultaneously. Accept the Quest and begin your voyage!
What are the corrupted voyages?[]
Corrupted voyages reward the RAREST items, but beware, the Quests are more difficult to complete!
How many Collection Reward Skins are there?[]
4, you will receive a Collection Reward Skin at 40,000, 80,000, 120,000, and 160,000 Odyssey Points!
How do I get the Tier 5 Reward Skin?[]
Unlock the Unlimited Tier 5 Hades Skin by earning 160,000 Odyssey Points or buying all 16 Odyssey: Soaring Isles Skins. The T5 Hades Skin can be unlocked instantly by purchasing the Buy All option!
Lore[]
Queen of Heaven[]
Gilgamesh, king of Uruk, settled back on this throne and resisted the urge to sigh. His vizier continued to drone about whatever dull matter of state had preoccupied him this day. It was always something new. Rarely, however, was it something exciting.
Once, being king had meant slaying monsters and battling wild men. But then he had given up his throne and journeyed into the underworld in search of the secret to immortality. Though he had not found the answers he sought, he'd returned wiser than he'd left.
The world had changed in his absence, but Uruk remained, awaiting her king. He intended to be a good one, and to make the most of the second chance fate had given him.
If only it wasn't so dreadfully boring.
Gilgamesh's head rocked forward and he did his best to support it with his fist. Despite the tedium, he did his best to listen. It was the least he could do. And yet, even as he tried to focus, he felt something nag at him - a pull on his attentions. His senses, like his strength, were semi-divine. He could hear something approaching, like the breathing of great wings or the scrape of footsteps. The pressure of that approach built in his skull, making it hard to concentrate. His eyes flicked to his sword, resting against his throne.
He was reaching for the weapon even as the doors to his throne room were smashed open with a thunderous boom. Two crackling arrows cut through the air and pierced his robes, pinning him to his throne. Even as he ripped himself free, his attacker stormed into the throne room, her eyes blazing with fury. The crowd of supplicants and courtiers melted away before her divine wrath, fleeing in all directions.
"Traitor," Ishtar, Queen of Heaven, snarled as she readied a third arrow. Gilgamesh fluing himself from his throne as she loosed the arrow. It passed over his head and split his throne in two. He came to his feet, sword at the ready, bewildered by the sudden attack.
"Have I done something to offend you, my lady?" he called out, exited and confused in equal measure. He'd yearned for something to break the tedium, but an angry goddess on his doorstep was highly unexpected.
In reply, Ishtar charged towards him, her footsteps echoing throughout the rapidly emptying throne room. As she did so, she flung aside her bow and drew the twin blades sheathed across her back. The blades flashed out and Gilgamesh interposed his sword at the last moment. Ishtar continued her attack, slashing and stabbing, driving him back as much through sheer, relentless ferocity as martial skill. His mind whirled as he sought to keep her at bay. It wasn't easy; Ishtar was a goddess of war, among other things.
His return to the mortal would had not come without cost. A bargain had been struck. The gods of Babylon had promised him that which he most desired. In return, all he had to do was bind Tiamat herself, the mother of the gods.
A simple enough quest, but one that proved to have complications. The world had not been as simple as he recalled, not had Tiamat been precisely the monster of legend. Instead of doing battle, he had chosen another path. One that would almost certainly not please the gods, when they learned of it.
While he had been prepared for some from of retribution, a direct assault on his person had been the last thing he'd been worried about. The gods normally acted through intermediaries. They sent monsters to do their dirty work. They didn't come in person. Then, Ishtar had always been impulsive. Even her fellow gods feared drawing her ire. There were few lengths Ishtar would not go to, when she thought she'd been provoked. He knew that from painful experience.
He ducked a blow meant to sever his head from his body and retreated. "This reminds me of our courtship," he said, with forced cheerfulness. Ishtar glared at him, scraping her blades together angrily. "You're not still mad about that, are you?" he added. She lunged, quicker that he could follow. She was a goddess, after all, and though his blood was semi-divine, he could not match her speed. It was all he could do to keep her at a distance. Going on the offensive against her would be all but impossible.
Ishtar had him at more than a physical disadvantage. Striking her - injuring her - would result only in her fellow gods turning their unwelcome attentions on he and his people. Uruk had been getting along just fine without the interference of the Babylonian pantheon. As far as Gilgamesh was concerned, the gods ought to keep to their domains and leave the day-to-day business of the world to those who lived on it.
But if he didn't defend himself, she might well destroy both he and the city he ruled out of sheer petulance. Ishtar had never lost a battle, at least not that she had ever admitted. If she was here, attacking him, she intended to humble him at the very least and she wouldn't be satisfied until she had done so.
Once, the idea would have incensed him; driver him past the edge of reason. But these days, he had a new understanding of the world and his place in it. He had seen what the wars of the gods meant for those who worshipped them. Whoever won, it was inevitably mortals who suffered the most.
That thought was uppermost in his mind when he let his sword dip. As he did so, he hoped he was not making a mistake; if he was, Ishtar would no doubt ensure it was his last. She seized the opening and pressed the tips of her blades to his exposed throat. She forced him back against a pillar and stared at him. Her expression contorted, softened and became neutral. She stepped back. He rubbed his throat and watched her warily.
"I remember you fighting harder, last time," she said. She looked him up and down, as if trying to recall the last time they'd met.
"I was a fool," he said.
"Then? What about now?" She gestured with one of her blades. "We sent you back to the mortal world for a reason, Gilgamesh. Yet here I find you, lolling on your throne, without a care in the world."
"I was hardly lolling," he protested.
Ishtar waved his words aside and sheathed her swords. "Whatever you were doing, it wasn't as important as what we sent you to do." She fixed him with a steely gaze. "Explain yourself. Now."
Ishtar studied Gilgamesh with a considering eye. Something was different about him. The king she remembered had been a callow creature, arrogant and foolhardy. But the man before her was something else. Calm; disciplined. She found the change unsettling and intriguing in equal measure.
At her words, Gilgamesh drew himself up. "I have nothing to explain," he said. "You sent me nowhere. We made a bargain and I chose to fulfill it."
"That is not how I remember it," she said. There was the arrogance she remembered, but only a trace. She looked away, gazing about her at his throne room. Much less grand than she remembered, but more open. Less like a temple and more like a council chamber.
Once, Gilgamesh had thought himself equal to the gods - or at least deserving of that equality. His people still raised their voices in worship, and burnt offerings. But Gilgamesh himself no longer seemed interested in godhood. She sniffed and looked back at him. "Then, you never did know how to show us the proper deference."
Gilgamesh didn't reply. His silence infuriated her. He had been many things, but never silent. His arrogance and bellicose nature had made him a fine tool for her pantheon. She argued against it all the time, believing that Tiamat could only be contained by the gods who had chained her in the first place.
But the other Babylonian gods had been too fearful; too worried about what a clash between themselves and Tiamat might do to the world. They had hoped Gilgamesh would at least weaken the ancient dragon somewhat, giving them direct confrontation.
Instead, nothing had happened. Or, rather, something had happened but they didn't know what. Things had changed somehow, in some ineffable fashion. It was as if the world had reordered itself without their knowledge or input.
The others were content to debate the nature of what had occurred, but she'd had enough of their inaction. It did not matter if the world had changed, or how. All that mattered was that Tiamat was still free. If the others would not act with her, she would do so alone. It would not be the first time she had been forced to take matters into her own hands.
She cocked her head, looking Gilgamesh up and down. Once she'd thought to make him her consort, but he had refused that honor. At the time, she'd put it down to hubris. She bared her teeth and tugged on his beard; a playful gesture, but a painful one, as evidenced by his wince, "I should tear this city down around your ears, little king," she purred. "If for no other reason than to remind you who your betters are."
"I am well-aware of my place in the scheme of things," Gilgamesh said, slowly. He met her gaze and again, she was struck by the calm in his eyes. Where was the tempest of old, the roaring fire that had so matched her own? In those days, they had seemed two of a kind, both unsatisfied by what had been granted them, both desirous of new conquests - new challenges. But it was obvious he was no longer than man.
Disappointed, she released his beard and stepped back. "Whatever the reason, you have not done as we demanded. Why?"
"Tiamat and I came to an arrangement," Gilgamesh said, rubbing his chin.
Ishtar laughed scornfully. "An arrangement? You can no more come to arrangement with Tiamat than you can with the sea."
He smiled. "Then perhaps I should try talking to the sea next, for I seem to have a gift for negotiation."
She fixed him with a look. "Perhaps I should cut out your tongue and see how well you talk then." His smile faltered, but did not entirely vanish. They both knew her threat was empty. Her anger had passed, replaced by curiosity. "Explain."
Gilgamesh spread his hands. "She wished to be left alone. To coexist in peace with this world and the gods who oversee it."
Ishtar snorted. Tiamat was the very embodiment of chaos. Peace was beyond her. But clearly, she had convinced Gilgamesh otherwise. "She told you this?"
"She did."
"I did."
"Why?"
Gilgamesh gestured about them. "See for yourself. Uruk Stands. Tiamat has had many opportunities to attempt to force her will upon these lands, and yet she has not. Her actions speak louder than her words."
Ishtar frowned. "That she has not attacked you is not proof that she does not intend to do so. Only that she is patient." She poked him in the chest. "You are a fool to think otherwise, King of Uruk. Tiamat cannot be trusted. She is as changeable as the storm-wind and more ferocious still."
"Ask her yourself then," Gilgamesh said, with an air of challenge.
Ishtar glared at him for a moment. Then she laughed.
"Fine. I will."
Queen of Chaos[]
Ishtar pushed through the dripping undergrowth, her bow in hand. Broken stones rose around her - the remnants of some forgotten kingdom. She paused, listening. She could hear the pattering of the rain and beneath it...something else. Movement. She readied an arrow and turned, keen gaze scanning the greenery. The movement ceased.
She narrowed her eyes and waited. While she wasn't known for her patience, she was an experienced huntress. And sometimes a hunter simply had to wait for their prey to reveal themselves. Her arrow crackled and hissed as the rain ran along its glowing length. But she didn't lower it, or turn away. Her pursuer her was still there. Waiting for her attentions to wander. It was clever, whatever it was.
Then, Tiamat's monsters had always been clever. That was why they were so dangerous. That was why Tiamat was so dangerous. One of the reasons, at least. The last time Tiamat had been allowed to run loose, she had created an army of monsters; creatures so cunning and foul that they were a match for any god.
Ishtar smiled. Well, any god but her.
Almost as if the thought had been a provocation, Tiamat's watch-dog finally made its move. It burst out of the undergrowth, all teeth and scales. She sent her arrow flying and the monster fell into a silent heap at her feet. She looked down at it and gave it a nudge. It was the third such monster she had dispatched in as many days - all had been different in form, but the mark of Tiamat was upon them. They'd been circling her since she'd entered Tiamat's dominion. Testing her, she suspected.
Idly, she wondered if Gilgamesh had sent her into a trap. If so, it was a badly organized one. As she'd departed Uruk, Gilgamesh had offered to accompany her. She'd turned him down. It wasn't that she didn't trust him; it was simply that she doubted he would be of any real use. He'd failed to defeat Tiamat once; there was no need to let him do so twice. She knew in her heart that the Babylonian pantheon should never have sent Gilgamesh to confront the dragon in the first place. Now they would all pay for that mistake, unless she could do what Gilgamesh could not.
Which, of course, she could. There was no doubt in her mind. Was she not Ishtar the conqueror? Ishtar, who had walked into the lands of the dead and emerged unscathed? Ishtar, who had humbled the very mountains? Ishtar, who saw what she wanted and took it, as only a god could. And what she wanted now was the secret behind whatever power had freed Tiamat and subsequently changed the world. And the world had changed in some way, though she could not say how or why.
For the gods, time was a river, one moment flowing into the next. Past, present and future were one and the same. But the course of a river could be altered; it could eddy and flow. It could grow stagnant, dry up or burst its banks. Time was the same.
Something, Ishtar knew, had altered the course of the river. Not by much, or to any great effect. Rather, the general shape of the river had changed in a thousand small ways. Suddenly, what had been and what would be were no longer the way she recalled. Not exactly. The thought didn't particularly distress her, as such. But she wanted answers. Gilgamesh had convinced her that Tiamat had those, at least.
She paused. She could hear the sound of something heavy - several somethings, rather - racing towards her from all directions. She reached for another arrow and had it readied even as the first of the new arrivals burst from the trees and charged towards her with a thunderous snarl. It was a serpentine monstrosity, much like the one she'd just dispatched. Two more arrived, charging into view from her left and right, respectively.
An ambush, then. So be it. Laughing, she released her arrow at the first of the trio, knocking it to the ground in mid-leap. She ducked as the second leapt over her, and drove the end of her bow into the torso of the third, driving it backwards into a tree. The creature snarled and tried to come to grips with her, forcing her to drop her bow and step back. She snatched her blades from their sheathes and removed the monster's head in a spurt of ichor. She was already turning, even as the body slumped to the ground.
The remaining creature circled her, hissing fiercely. Ishtar made a 'come-hither' gesture with one of her blades. The monster accepted her invitation, bounding towards her with a shrill snarl. Ishtar side-stepped its charge, her blades slicing out as it went past. The monster staggered on for a few clumsy steps before it finally succumbed to her attack, collapsing onto it's face.
Ishtar scraped her blades together, cleansing them of reeking ichor. "I am becoming bored of playing with your pets, Tiamat," she called out. She did not know if the dragon could hear her, but she thought it worth a go. "Is this the best you can do? I thought you more of a challenge than this."
Ishtar looked up and smiled. Tiamat hovered above her on wings of silently shimmering lightning. She wondered how long the dragon had been there - had she watched as Ishtar dispatched her servants? If so, perhaps Gilgamesh was right and she had changed. The Tiamat of old would not have hesitated to dive into the fray. Where was the fury of the great salt sea, the roiling tempest of chaos? "You do not make it easy, old one. I have been wandering in this fetid jungle for three days now."
"What is three days to an immortal?" Tiamat said dismissively. "I would have thought you would have learned some patience in the centuries since last we saw one another, granddaughter."
"Patience has never been among my virtues," Ishtar said. She sheathed her blades and put on a wide smile. "Why do you hover so? Are you afraid? Come down, grandmother; come down and speak with me as an equal."
She was hoping to provoke Tiamat into some rash action, but instead, the dragon simply asked, "What do you want, granddaughter?"
"I want to know why you are not slumbering where we left you, grandmother," Ishtar said, "How did you come to be back in the world?"
"Fate. Accident. What does it matter?"
"It matters a great deal to us, grandmother."
"Us?" Tiamat paused. "And who is us, child? Who sent you here? The same ones who sent the king of Uruk to challenge me, perhaps?"
Ishtar paused. "Yes."
Tiamat grunted, "That was badly done, you know. He had no chance against me and yet you sent him away."
"We learned that trick from you, grandmother," Ishtar said, unable to restrain herself.
"Or maybe you feared to face me, as you once did." Tiamat waved aside Ishtar's protest. "It doesn't matter, in any event. I hold no grudges for past mistakes."
"Past - you tried to eat us," Ishtar snapped, in disbelief.
"The way I recall it, you tried to destroy me first," Tiamat countered, lazily. "But...bygones, as they say."
"Who says?"
"Other gods. I have spoken to many, since I was freed. Some of them are quite friendly. Others less so. But all of them far more interesting conversationalists than the Babylonians." Tiamat reared up and examined her claws, as if searching for some imperfection. Ishtar felt a flash of anger at being dismissed so easily.
"Weak gods talk," she snapped. "Strong gods act." A part of her realized she was being baited, but she couldn't help it. Who was Tiamat to dismiss her? Tiamat, who had been bound for millennia. Ishtar had never been so humiliated - or at least not for so long.
"And yet here we sit," Tiamat said.
Ishtar frowned, "Is that how you convinced Gilgamesh to turn against us? By hissing into his ear?"
"Gilgamesh has learned wisdom, as have I. The world is mush different." Tiamat cocked her head and fixed Ishtar with an enigmatic look. "Surely you have noticed these changed, granddaughter. In fact, I except it is a small part pf the reason you came to visit."
Ishtar paused. "You had something to do with it, didn't you," she said, accusingly.
Tiamat laughed, "I played some small part, but in the truth I was little more than a witness. I will say that I prefer the new way of things. It is more...pleasant, than the previous iteration of the cycle."
Ishtar glared at the dragon. Tiamat was being intentionally cryptic. Maybe it amused her to be so, or maybe her memory was hazy as Ishtar's own. Either way, it was becoming tiresome. "Enough of this. Get down here and fight me, old monster."
"No."
"What?" Ishtar asked, it bemusement.
"I said, I will not fight you, granddaughter." Tiamat looked down at the goddess. "More to the point, I do not need to fight you. You sent Gilgamesh to bind me, and so he has. He made me promise to remain in the lands, and so I shall." She spread her claws, indicating their surroundings. "I am bound by my word to the king of Uruk."
"Since when has keeping your word ever mattered to you?" Ishtar demanded.
"Since I was given worshippers."
Ishtar stopped. "Worshipper?"
Tiamat lashed her tail in obvious pleasure. "Oh yes. The tribes of this desolate region burn offerings on altars in my name. They are not many, but they are enough. Gilgamesh is nominally their ruler, but in truth, they are mine. In time, under my benign guidance, they may even become a nation as mighty as Uruk."
"They should be worshipping us!" Ishtar said. "These lands, these people - they are mine - ours. They are ours!" She pointed at Tiamat. "You have no right to them!"
"I have every right. I am their god now. And because of that, I will not make war on my descendants - unless I am provoked." She looked down her snout at Ishtar. "Thus far, you have not done so."
"If it's provocation you are after, I am happy yo oblige," Ishtar said, through gritted teeth. The dragon had gone too far. Gilgamesh had gone too far. She would punish them both, and take their dominions as recompense. They might even applaud her.
"And then what?" Tiamat asked, her voice as a soft rumble. "When my fury is roused, what will you do? Fight me?"
"Someone must."
"Why?"
Ishtar stared at Tiamat in incomprehension. "You are Tiamat. That is reason enough!"
Tiamat chuckled. "And you are Ishtar. Ishtar the queen, Ishtar the conqueror - isn't that why you really came? Not simply to bind me, or to discover how the world has been altered, but to take what is mine for your own. Be honest with yourself, if not me."
Ishtar paused, considering. Tiamat was right, of course. Ambition was her curse and her strength. She would not be the goddess she was, were in not for her ambition. Her hand rested on the hilt of her blade. But she didn't draw it. Not yet. "And why shouldn't I?" she asked, finally. "Better that it belongs to someone who knows what to do with it."
"And what would you do with it?" Tiamat touched down lightly, her claws clicking against the ground. Ishtar turned, following the dragon's movement. "You know, I see something of myself in you, granddaughter," Tiamat continued. "I too know the bite of ambition - the desire to consume what opposes you." Tiamat circled Ishtar, moving lightly for a creature of such great size. "I am the sea, and the sea cannot help but devour all that it touches. And you are the same."
Ishtar frowned and shook her head. "I am not like you."
"Deny it all you like, but it is obvious." Tiamat paused and reared up. "There is a whole world of new challenges out there, granddaughter. I have met them and emerged triumphant, after a fashion. Can you say the same?"
Ishtar hesitated, "What sort of challenges?" she asked.
Tiamat undulated towards her. "Gods, granddaughter. More pantheons than you can imagine, all of them bursting with worthy foes. Foes fit to test even my mettle. Lands unlike any you have ever seen. All of them waiting for you...if you are brave enough to seek them out. As Gilgamesh did. As I did." Tiamat's voice lowered to a sibilant murmur. "If you are our superior, as you claim...can you do any less?"
Ishtar stared at her for a moment. Then slowly, she smiled. "Tell me more about these new gods and lands, grandmother," she said.
"I think I would like to see them for myself."
Pele's Wrath[]
Maui sighed and hauled his boat ashore. There was ash on the wind, and everything smelled of fire. The deep fire, the red blood of the earth that boiled up and turned the seas to steam and the air to poison. The roar of the conflagration had drawn him steadly southwards, to far band of islands. Only one of the islands was inhabited. Unfortunately, it was the one with the now-active volcano on it.
Two gods were at war in the heart of that volcano. Maui intended to put an end to that conflict - hopefully before it wound up sinking some of the islands that he'd worked so hard to draw up from the bottom of the sea. But first, there was the small matter of ensuring that no innocents were caught in the crossfire.
The village that spread across the shore was new. Or at least it hadn't been here last time he'd passed this way. There were people on the beaches, fleeing for their boats. The design was one he was familiar with, though they were not native to these waters. Neither were the mortals, for that matter.
They paid him little heed as he strode onto shore, his great hook in hand. The weapon hummed with power, and its rope coiled about his arm like a serpent. Like him, it could sense the divine conflict that was the source of the conflagration.
The island shuddered, and vibrant, crimson lines rolled down the volcano's slopes and into the jungle that clustered at its base. Birds hurtled squawking into the air, seeking safety. Maui growled in consternation and swung his hook out, letting it thunk into the ground some distance from the village. Hauling tight on the rope, he began to carve a wide trench in the trembling earth. A firebreak wouldn't solve the problem, but it would buy him and the island's inhabitants some time. But even as he retrieved his hook, he heard a cry from the clustered huts. Drifting ash and embers had set several of them alight. The cries were coming from one of them. He cursed and barreled towards the hut, ignoring the cinders that pelted him like rain.
He burst through the wall of the hut, and saw a man and women crouched over a pair of children. The roof was burning; about to collapse inward. He lunged towards the nearest support timber and pressed his shoulder against it, momentarly stabilizing the structure.
"Out," he bellowed. "Get out - to the boats! Get to your boats!" He didn't know whether they understood his words or not, but they scrambled to safety as he uprooted the support timber and lifted the entire hut from its base. With a grunt, he hurled the burning hut towards the others that had already caught fire. Then he quickly turned and slung his hook towards the shore. It crashed down into the water and he gave it a tug, tearing an irrigation trench from the water's edge to the village.
As the trench filled with sea water, Maui snatched up several buckets and began to fill them. With a speed no mortal could match, he quickly wet down the remaining huts. It wouldn't save them from the volcano, but it might keep the risk from errant sparks down. Moving swiftly, he dug more irrigation trenches through the village and to the tree line, and then, without stopping, carved a larger trench right to the volcano's base. If he'd positioned it correctly, the lava would spill into the trench and avoid the village.
He paused and turned, surveying the small flotilla that was heading out to sea. Silently, he wished them luck and turned back to the volcano. The ground was shuddering underfoot and he could hear something like thunder echoing down from within the volcano. It was the sound of godly combat. Once you heard it, it was impossible to mistake it for anything else.
The volcano expelled a gout of smoke and Maui knew it would soon erupt fully and catastrophically. There was only one way to stop it, and that meant taking a direct hand. He bounded up the slope, leaping from rock to rock, dexterously avoiding the exploding bubbles of lava that trickled down.
He swung his hook over his head as he leapt, and cast it towards the mouth of the cave. The hook sank into the superheated stone and he was drawn after it, quick as a fish plucked from the water. He landed lightly at the mouth of the cave and raced towards the sound of battle. He hoped he wasn't too late.
Inside, he was startled to find not the fiery cavern he expected, but something altogether more refined. Rather than raw earth and fire, it was a scene of industry - a massive forge, wrought from the very substance of the mountain itself. Or, it had been before someone decided to wreck it. He heard a hiss and ducked as a globule of magma struck the wall behind him. He turned and saw a familiar face, rising atop a plume of fire - Pele, goddess of volcanoes and violence. "You have gone too far, Vulcan," She cried. "This place belongs to me. I will not have you sully it with your machines!"
Her opponent was a squat, heavily muscled god with a bristling crimson beard and a bald head. Maui recognized him as Vulcan, a member of the Roman pantheon. What he was doing here, Maui couldn't say. Thus far, neither had noticed him.
Vulcan gestured at Pele with the massive hammer he held. "It was you who offered me this place, deceiver! Was it all a trick? Were you hoping to steal my secrets for your own? Well, you'll not have them - not if I have anything to say about it!"
As he spoke, he reached behind his back and retrieved a round, metallic object. It glowed with heat as he hurled it at Pele. The subsequent explosion knocked her from her fiery platform, and sent Maui crashing into a wall. As he hauled himself upright, he saw Pele rise again, and the interior of the volcano moved himself upright, he saw Pele rise again, and the interior of the volcano moved with her. Streamers of magma spurted from the walls and the floor, slamming into Vulcan from all directions. He roared in surprise, and perhaps a little pain, though Maui suspected that it would take more than a bit of melted rock to slow the Roman god down.
Instantly, the magma cooled to hard, gray stone, imprisoning the god. Vulcan shouted and struggled, but was trapped, at least for the moment. Pele approached, a fierce expression on her face. Maui knew he would have no better opportunity to intervene.
He flung his hook between them, embedding it in the wall opposite. Pele stopped in surprise and turned towards him. "You-?" she began.
"Me, Madame Pele," Maui said, hauling his hook back to his hand. "I come to ask a boon of you. Cease this meaningless skirmish, before you endanger more innocent lives."
Pele stared at him in incomprehension. "Meaningless...? He stole my temple from me!" She pointed and accusing finger at Vulcan, who flushed with rage and redoubled his efforts to escape his bindings.
"I stole nothing," he boomed. "You gave me this place as a gift!"
"Why would I give you anything?" Pele replied. "When have we ever spoken, god of useless things?"
Maui intervened before Vulcan could respond to the insult. "You thought she promised you this place, only to find that she was unaware of it - or you" Maui looked at Pele. "And you're certain you didn't promise Vulcan this place?"
Pele frowned. "I think I would remember something like that."
Vulcan bared his teeth. "You lie!"
Pele whirled towards her captive, her expression wrathful. "I do not lie, Roman! Why would I give you one of my own sacred placed, just so you could turn it into a -a..."
"Workshop," Vulcan growled.
"A rubbish heap," Pele countered. "I did not - would not - do that. Nor did I give your worshippers permission to live here."
Vulcan's eyes narrowed. "If you have hurt them, I swear I will -"
"They are unhurt," Maui interjected. "No thanks to either of you, I have to add." Both Pele and Vulcan turned their glares on him and Maui shrugged. "Then, you were distracted I suppose. Even so, it must be clear to you both that your fight is not with each other."
"What do you mean?" Pele demanded.
Maui put on his best smile. "You were tricked, Madame Pele - by a most devious and cunning creature. An amoral and conning deceiver." He stepped back as a sluice of magma crawled past his bare feet.
Pele frowned. "You just described yourself, Maui." More magma geysered from the rockface, swiftly cutting off Maui's route of escape. The air wavered with heat. "Are you claiming responsibility, then?"
"Hardly," Maui said, offended. He paused, and cast w wary glance at the magma. He assumed a pose of unconcern, his great hook balanced across one shoulder. "Though I admit I am cunning...and, yes, devious. Perhaps a touch conniving. But never amoral!"
Pele snorted. "Get to the point."
"It wasn't me. But given Vulcan's presence here, I think I know who it was, though admittedly, it is only a guess." Maui put on a humble expression - or as close as he could to one. "But given that I see no benefit to any party in your clash, I think it is a good one. There is only one goddess in this world who enjoys causing her fellow deities to fight one another for no reason other than her own amusement. And Vulcan there knows who I refer to."
Pele paused and looked at her captive. "Discordia," Vulcan snarled, in sudden realization. "I'd heard she was up to her old tricks again, but I never imagined she would be foolish enough to play one on me." He began to struggle against his magmatic bonds, causing them crack. "Free me! I will avenge myself on that fluttering witch!"
Pele gestured, and Vulcan's bonds crumbled like sand. He staggered and gave her a glare of thanks. Then he looked at Maui. "Where is she then?"
Maui shrugged. "I have on idea - but I can find her!" He stepped back, his hands raised in a placatory fashion as Vulcan glowered fiercely at him. "I will find her." He paused, as an idea occurred to him. A slow spread across his face. "In fact, it would be best to leave the whole matter to me, I think."
Vulcan frowned and glanced at Pele. "What do you mean?"
Maui grinned. "It's just that - well - Discordia is a trickster at heart. Simply pummeling her won't teach her a lesson. Better to serve her up a meal of her own making, don't you think?"
Vulcan's frown deepened. "You talk too much and say little. Speak plainly."
Maui sighed, "I'm going to trick her, the way she tricked you." He looked at Pele. "Is that acceptable, Ka wahine 'ai honua?"
Pele considered his words for several moments. "Why would you do this for us?"
Maui felt his smile slip. He thought about the mortals he'd saved as their homes burned. As their lives were upended, all because of two gods had decided to settle an imaginary grudge. He did not believe that Pele - or Vulcan - had intended to harm the mortals. But they had, nonetheless. "Tricks are only entertaining when they do no lasting harm. Discordia, from what I know of her, does nothing but harm to those she targets." He glanced at Vulcan. "I am a craftsman, and her shoddy work offends me."
"That I understand," Vulcan rumbled. He looked at Pele. "What do you think?"
Pele nodded. "Maui is very good at making people regret ever having met him. I say we let him ply his trade on Discordia. Let the trickster get a taste of her own poison."
Vulcan grunted. "Very well. But if you fail, I will take what I am owed out of your hide as well as hers." He poked a thick finger into Maui's chest as he spoke. Maui fought to keep from laughing. It was difficult, be he managed.
He turned away from the pair of gods, hook still balanced on his shoulder. "Well then, I guess i'd better get started then." He gave them a jaunty wave, and started for the mouth of the cave. "After all, I have a trickster to find - and a trap to lay."
Two Tricksters[]
Maui sat on his haunches before a campfire, by the side of a coursing river. Fireflies danced through the night and he watched them for a time, enjoying the stillness of the night, before turning his attentions back to his companion. The tanuki trickster, Danzaburou, sat across from him, sipping from a bottle of sake. "So, what's the plan again?"
Danzaburou perred up at him beneath the brim of his straw hat. "It is very simple, Maui. The Kappa come, we convince them to buy my wares, and we scarper before they realize what they've bought. A child could do it. So, you should have no difficulty>" He gestured about him, indicating the barrels of sake and various other wares piled up untidily around them, including a large sack full of cucumbers. Kappa, Maui knew, had a taste for cucumbers. Soon enough, the smell would draw them from the river.
Maui raised an eyebrow. "Is that any way to talk to someone whose help you need?"
Danzaburou's tail fluffed in annoyance. "You're the one who came looking for me, remember? I never claimed to need help. You offered."
"And you accepted. Which implies you needed it."
"Nonsense," Danzaburou barked, exposing sharp, white teeth. "Besides, you never could resist a good trick. Especially on a deserving target."
"Which Kuzenbo is," Maui said. The self-proclaimed king of the Kappa was a rapacious bully, infamous even in the islands that Maui called home. If there was ever a creature deserving of a trick, it was Kuzenbo.
"Oh most certainly. This will be the third time this week." Danzaburou paused, snout twitching. "Honestly, you'd think he'd learn by now."
Some patters of behavior are harder to break than others." Maui poked his fellow trickster with the curve of his hook, "Speaking of which..."
Danzaburou battled the hook away with his paw. "Yes, yes, I saw Discordia."
"When?"
A few weeks ago. She stirred up some trouble between Tsukuyomi and Susano. Not that it was particularly difficult."
Danzaburou shrugged. "The usual. You know how she is. There's no rhyme or reason to her actions, Maui. She causes trouble because that's what she does." He paused, "Of course, from what I hear, she's been busy, even for her."
"And what do you hear, exactly?"
"Depends."
"On what?"
Danzaburou rubbed two claws together in the universal sign for payment. Maui sighed. "I'm helping you with this. Isn't enough."
Danzaburou fixed him with a smug look. "You'd have helped me with this even if you didn't need information."
"But I am, and in return I want to know what you know."
Danzaburou scowled at him. "Fine. I would have told you anyway, along and along."
"I'm sure you would have." Maui gave the tanuki a knowing look. "After all, you have no more reason to love Discordia that any of us."
Danzaburou growled softly and set his bottle down. "She gives us tricksters a bad name. The other gods think we're all cut from the same cloth at that one."
"Some of us are," Maui reminded him. Danzaburou waved this aside.
"Only the bad ones. Not proper tricksters, those. Cunning, maybe. Clever, some. Schemes for days, most of them. But one and all, they're no use when it comes to proper pranks and tricks."
"Like convincing the king of the Kappa to trade gold for empty bottles of sake?"
Danzaburou twitched his nose. "They're not empty. They've got...water in them." The way he said water made Maui doubt it was anything such thing. "With a pinch of my own special blend of dye, to make them the right tint," Danzaburou went on.
"What about the taste?
Danzaburou snickered. "Taste is subjective."
Maui grimaced. He was certain now that whatever was in those bottles, it definitely wasn't water. "I don't think Kuzenbo would agree."
"Kuzenbo has no plate," Danzaburou said. He knocked a fist against the side of his hand. "I blame the head full of pond water."
Maui didn't reply. He tensed. Something was splashing in the river. Something big. As he rose to his feet, he saw something large and dripping loom out of the darkness. There a muffled sloshing as the newcomer stepped into the light cast by the campfire. "I smell cucumbers - and sake," Kuzenbo, king of the Kappa rumbled.
Danzaburou bounded to his feet, wearing a false beard and moustache over his muzzle. Maui hadn't even seen the tanuki put them on. "Welcome, noble sir - welcome! Just the fellow I was waiting on!
Kuzenbo paused, yellow eyes narrowed in suspicious. "Don't I know you?"
I think I would remember meeting you, my lord," Danzaburou said, smoothly. "Indeed, I am humbled to be in your presence. Awestruck, even. Enthralled! Or, dare I say...overwhelmed by the sheer magnificence of your divine darkness."
His beard began to slip as he spoke, and Maui alerted him with a surreptisious gesture. Danzaburou hastily adjusted it, as Kuzenbo's attentions strayed to the sack of cucumbers. "As you should be," the Kappa grunted. "Are you a merchant, then?"
Danzaburou sketched a bow, his tail twitching. "Indeed!, You have a keen eye, my lord. I am indeed a humble purveyor of fine spirits and vegetables. Why, I'd wager that I sell the finest sake in the land."
"You don't sound so humble to me," Kuzenbo said.
"False modesty serves no one," Maui interjected.
Kuzenbo gave him a suspicious look. "You're a long way from your islands, Maui" Maui wasn't surprised that Kuzenbo recognized him. The Kappa wasn't the sharpest knife in the block, but he was semi-divine, and thus well aware of the doings of the pantheos.
"I came for the sake, if you must know," Maui said. He kept his tone polite. Kuzenbo could be dangerous, when his fury was aroused, and Maui wanted to avoid any unnecessary conflict if possible. "Pele herself sent me to acquire all of it that was to be had."
"Pele?" Kuzenbo grunted, in obvious surprise. He blinked owlishly and looked at Danzaburou. "The gods want your sake, then?"
"They do," Danzaburou said, nodding so rapidly that Maui was afraid the tanuki's false beard would fly off. "Bacchus himself has demanded I provide him with my entire stock!" He made a show of wringing his paws and dancing from one foot to another. "And he is not the only one. They hound me, day and night. Oh, to be so cursed. Every day brings new demands - new threats! If only I could get rid of it all, and thus escape their notice..."
Kuzenbo settled himself on his haunches. He casually dragged the sack of cucumbers towards himself with a claw. He began to eat without asking. As he crunched into one, he said, "It seems to me that I might be of some help to you, merchant."
"Eh? Help?" Danzaburou asked.
Kuzenbo took a bite of cucumber and nodded. "I will take your sake, and you will be free of the gods." He swallowed his mouthful and reached for another cucumber. "Give it to me, and go in peace."
Danzaburou assumed a quizzical expression. "And you will...pay for it?"
Kuzenbo sniffed, his gaze on the stack of cucumbers as he pawed through it. "I do not recall mentioning payment." He fixed Danzaburou with a heavy gaze. "Be glad that I am taking it off your hands."
"Hold on," Maui said. He flung his hook across the fire and snagged the cucumber from Kuzenbo's hand. He bit into the vegetable and chewed noisily, ignoring the Kappa's outraged glare. "I'm willing to take the whole lot as well, and i'll pay you a fair price for it."
Kuzenbo's bowl sloshed as he heaved himself up. "You dare...?"
Maui ignored him, and gestured at the sake with his half-eaten cucumber. "In fact, how does, oh, say, three bags of dried fish sound?
"Fish?" Kuzenbo spat. "He does not want fish!"
"I do like fish," Danzaburou said, stroking his false beard speculatively.
Kuzenbo whirled to glare at him. "No. No fish. I will give you gold."
"I can get gold as well. Say...two sacks?" He gave Kuzenbo a glance. "Does that sound fair to you?"
"I can give you three," Kuzenbo said.
"Four," Maui said.
"Five," Kuzenbo growled. He raised a heavy fist. "My final offer."
Maui paused, as if considering. "Very will. The sake is yours." Kuzenbo chortled and gave a bellow. There was much splashing from the river, and soon smaller Kappa appeared, each of them dragging a sodden sack of clinking gold. They deposited the sacks before the fire, and, at Kuzenbo's gesture, hefted the crates of sake onto their backs.
Kuzenbo reached to carry the last crate himself, but paused. "Perhaps I should check it first," he grunted. "I have been tricked before."
"Of course!" Danzaburou said. He offered the Kappa his own bottle. Kuzenbo pulled the cork, sniffed the contents and then took a sloppy swallow. He smacked his beak and his eyes widened in pleasure.
"The best," Danzaburou said. He bowed low. Kuzenbo turned and made for the river, still swigging from the bottle, his Kappa waddling after him. "Keep the bottle - with my compliments," Danzaburou called out as he waved goodbye. Then, to Maui, out of the corner of his mouth, "Quick, help me with these sacks."
He and Maui quickly hoisted the sacks onto their backs and raced away from the river, moving with divine speed. "How long before you think he notices?" Maui asked. Before Danzaburou could reply, a roar echoed from the direction of the river.
"Not long," Danzaburou said, laughing.
They didn't stop running until they were a safe distance from the water, and Kuzenbo's wrath. Danzaburou settled onto a fallen log and patted one of the sacks of gold. "I know a village near here that will make good use of this," he said. He looked at Maui. "Your help was much appreciated."
Maui nodded and gave him an expectant look. Danzaburou sighed. "Fine. I have heard some things. Loki mentioned that Discordia was fitting about the lands of the Celtic pantheon. Something about trapping one of them in the shape of a bear."
"And Loki knew this how?"
"You know tricksters, Maui. We're all inveterate gossips. Loki heard it from Morgan Le Fay, who had to step in before things...got out of hand." Danzaburou shrugged. "Of course, knowing Loki, he could be lying. Or Morgan might have been. But there are whispers that Discordia was abroad in the lands of our neighbors as well. That she whispered something in the ear of the Dragon King of the Eastern Seas, and that he in turn encouraged some unfortunate behavior on the part of the headless warrior, Xing Tian. But again, that's just whispers."
Maui settled back on his heels, digesting this. Discordia's trail was littered with similar stories. She'd been seen in the lands of the Babylonian gods, and not long after, Ishtar had attacked King Gilgamesh of Uruk, though there was no guarantee that the two events were connected. Even so, the reverberations of Ishtar's arrival were still echoing through the world, and likely would for some time.
Wherever Discordia went, the threat of war followed. The conflict between Pele and Vulcan was just one more spark on the bonfire. He looked at Danzaburou. "What other whispers have you heard?"
Danzaburou sniffed. "I might have heard from a mutual acquaintance that Baba Yaga is blaming Discordia for provoking the Demon King of Lanka, Ravana, into invading the lands of Chernobog. But Baba Yaga has reasons of her own for seeing Chernobog discomfited, so who knows whether there's any truth to that." Danzaburou paused. "Another thing - have you been to the lands of the Maya, recently?"
"No Why?"
"I was there for - well, it's no matter. But I spoke to Hun Batz, who had a tale to tell. He says someone lured Olorun into the Mayan underworld, where he was attacked by Camazotz. Olorun triumphed, of course, but now Ah Puch and the other lords of Xbalba and accusing the Yoruba pantheon of invading their territories." Danzaburou produced another bottle of sake from somewhere and popped the cork. "No mention of her here, but...who else would do such a thing?"
Maui frowned. "What is she up to?" he murmured, mostly to himself. Danzaburou took a swig from his sake bottle and handed it to Maui.
"And who say she is up to anything?" he asked, pointedly. "You know as well as I that sometimes it is as much the trick itself as the result which motivates us. And Discordia lives for chaos. She sews it widely, just to see what poison will sprout."
"She endangers us all - and not just us," Maui said. He took a sip of sake and handed it back. Danzaburou took another long swig.
"What are you proposing?" he asked after a moment.
Maui pushed himself slowly to his feet. "That we teach her a lesson. Once she will not soon forget." He looked down at Danzaburou. "Care to lend a hand?"
Danzaburou gave a shrill laugh
"Play a trick on atrickster? As if you even have to ask!" He raised the sake bottle. "And I know a few others who might be interested as well..."