“What about Earthmaker?” Jig asked. “If the Twenty-One made the world, why didn’t you mention him?”

He looked embarrassed. “Well, Earthmaker didn’t actually make the world, as such. He came along a bit later, and he was after helping those blessed races who lived in the earth. Dwarves, gnomes, and the like. But he didn’t appear until after the Year of Darkness.”

“The Year of Darkness?” he asked before he could think better of it. As Darnak started in again, Jig looked longingly at the others across the room who sat safe from this endless storytelling. What had he started? And how could he steer the dwarf toward something useful, something that would help Jig?

Jig tried to understand the difference between the Lower Gods and the Gods of the Beginning and the Gods of the Elements, but then Darnak would mention something new, like the Gods of Men, and Jig was back to being confused. He began to wonder if the others would hold it against him if he stabbed Darnak to shut him up. Or perhaps it would be easier to turn his sword on himself.

Jig interrupted, desperately trying to break the endless flow of words. “How many Gods of Men?” From the other side of the room, his sharp ears caught a very unprincely groan from Barius.

“Nine hundred fifty-four,” Darnak said happily. “Starting with Abriana the Gray, Goddess of Storms and Sailors. She was born of a union betwixt Taras of the Oak—he’s a tree god—and a human woman named. . . .” Darnak frowned.

“Well, her name’s not important. Taras appeared to her in the form of a three-hundred-pound tortoise and propositioned her. Gods were always doing strange things back in those days. A right kinky lot, if you ask me. But like any good lass, this girl grabbed the nearest hammer and cracked that tortoise on the back. Split Taras’s shell right in two. Did I mention she was a dwarven girl?”

He hadn’t, but Jig wasn’t terribly surprised. He had only met one dwarf in his life, but he could imagine Darnak doing something like that. As for the rest of the story, Jig tried not to think about it. He didn’t know much about mating rituals, but he did know that all this changing into tortoises and other shapeshifting was a bit peculiar. Though maybe this explained why surface-dwellers were so fascinated by religion.

“Anyway, out sprang Abriana the Gray in a flash of thunder. She was twin to Wodock the Black, God of the Deep Ocean.”

“If they were twins, did he come out of the tortoise too?” Jig asked, trying to keep up.

“Nah. He came later. Had something to do with a mortal who fell in love with an acorn.” Darnak frowned. “Human, naturally. Wouldn’t catch a dwarf pining over an acorn.” He burst into laughter and punched Jig on the arm. “Pining. Get it?”