Grandmother Elephant, the Wise and Kindly
NPC · Mage
Wisdom, nobility, and strength. These are the attributes of Grandmother Elephant. Appointed by the gods to be the chief of all animals, she was chosen not only because of her great wisdom, but also because she’s so powerful that she can be killed only by magic or man. When other animals find themselves in irreconcilable disputes, they turn to Grandmother Elephant. Humans do so too, often calling her in as a neutral party outside their arguments. An old adage claims that elephants never forget, and Grandmother
Elephant never does. Like all her children, she retains great stores of knowledge gathered over the course of her long life. When ancient chiefs, human or otherwise, pass on, their knowledge goes to Grandmother Elephant.
As a deity in her own right, Grandmother Elephant can shed her skin and transform into a human body as a means of defending herself. In one legend, a hunter found a discarded elephant skin in the woods. He took it and hid it away in a cave. Nearby, he found a large and beautiful woman, crying. When he asked her why she was crying, she said she couldn’t go home. The hunter consoled her; eventually, she went home with him. Soon afterward, they were married and had several large children. One day, the man went back to the cave to check on the elephant skin, but didn’t realize his wife was behind him. When she saw her old skin, she bellowed with joy, put it on, and returned to her herd as an elephant once again.
It’s been said that the human children of Grandmother Elephant are large people with extreme physical stamina, sharp mental faculties, grand loyalty, quiet moderation, and a cooperative spirit. Such people get along well with humans and animals alike, and are generally trusted to resolve disputes fairly, and to retain information that lesser people might forget.
Grandmother Elephant normally looks like a particularly large African elephant. If she chooses to shed her skin, however, she can look like a beautiful (and unusually large) woman of whatever age she desires to be. Grandmother Elephant has been alive a very long time, and thus can be quite patient. Kind and empathetic toward all creatures, even those wicked ones who seek to deceive her, she forgives easily but forget nothing. It’s hard to rouse her anger, but such things are possible. If someone manages to get under her skin, Grandmother Elephant reminds them how much larger, older, wiser, and stronger than people elephants truly are.