Githyanki

Greyhawk creature

Githyanki Alignment: Any evil Type: Humanoid Subtype or Tag: Extraplanar First appearance: Fiend Folio (1980)

Githyanki are a race of psionic humanoids dwelling on the Astral Plane.

Ecology

Unlike their mammalian ancestors, githyanki reproduce by laying eggs. Because biological processes temporarily stop for those on the Astral, the githyanki must travel to other planes to breed, normally the Material Plane.

Environment

Githyanki are considered to be native to the Astral Plane, though their distant ancestors were humans from the Material Plane. Their fortress-cities are built on chunks of Astral stone or on the titanic stony corpses of dead gods. They have fortress-outposts on many planes and Material Planar worlds, expecially near illithid lairs, as well as brood-chambers to incubate their eggs.

Typical physical characteristics

Githyanki are vaguely similar to humans in appearance, but taller and much gaunter, averaging six feet, three inches tall and weighing an average of 170 pounds. They have leathery, pale yellow skin, and red or black hair. Their black eyes are sunken in their skulls, and their ears are pointed and serrated in back.

Alignment

Githyanki are almost always evil, though they can be chaotic, neutral, or lawful. Non-evil githyanki are one-in-a-million exceptions, and good githyanki are unheard of.

Society

Religion

The worship of gods is forbidden in githyanki society, and because they often make their homes on the floating, stonelike corpses of dead gods drifting in the Astral Plane, they aren't very inclined to piousness in any case.

Language

Githyanki have their own language, much like that of their cousins the githzerai, commonly known as Gith. They also speak Common, and many speak Draconic. In the githyanki language, apostrophes (which are not pronounced) separate different morphemes which have been combined into a single word. For example, gish'sarath combines the word gish, or "skilled," with sarath, or "sergeant." Githyanki who have trained with great heroes add the prefix gi' ("student of") to their trainer's name.

History

Long ago, before many of the worlds known in the present day were born, the illithids ruled a vast empire known to some as Nihilath. The illithid empire held many worlds and even a few planes of existence in their tentacled grip. After a thousand years of engineering, they constructed an artificial world known as Penumbra, a vast disk that circled a sun, the planet's radius something like a hundred million miles.

And of course the empire kept slaves. Many of the slaves had originally, some sources (Polyhedron #159) say, originated on a distant world known as Pharagos, which the illithids had conquered and added to their empire. Other sources (Dragon #298) mention a subterranean empire called Zarum in Western Oerik, where a race of humanoids dominated many other races from their capital city of Anithor. These humanoids seem to have been divided into a rigid caste system, their lives ruled by ancient ritual. The ruins of Zarum overflow with sacred spaces and temples, though the names of their ancient gods are unknown today. At some point, the illithids invaded Zarum from a neighboring plane of existence. Though the natives fought fiercely, they were no match for the psionic might of the mind flayers, and soon they were enslaved. The River of Angry Souls is a remnant of one of the terrible battles between the illithids and the soon-to-be enslaved Zarumites. Many were brought to the Outer Planes and elsewhere to serve as illithid slaves. Other cities in Zarum were transformed into work pits where illithid overseers forced their slaves to toil for countless generations. For thousands of years these once-human beings, who are remembered today only as the forerunners, were thralls of Nihilath. Some were engineered to become the ancestors of the grimlocks and distributed throughout the worlds of the empire to serve their illithid masters in their subterranean realms. On every world, the slaves were unable to escape their masters' psionic power, and illithid might was unquestioned. It is said that the fiends paused in their eternal Blood War to determine if anything could stop the mind flayers as the empire expanded throughout the Astral Plane and Ethereal Plane and threatened the Outer Planes themselves.

It was then that the illithids first encounted the voor. The voor were one of the greatest threats the illithid empire ever faced. An insectoid race utterly immune to psionics, the voor reproduced using spores capable of floating through the airless reaches of outer space indefinitely before finding a place to transform into larvae, using whatever inorganic materials were on hand to create their bodies. The standard slave armies of the illithids were unable to stop the voor invasion, so in desperation a long-vanished illithid Creed constructed tumerogenesis tanks to impart certain physical, spiritual, and psionic enhancements on selected slave-soldiers. After thousands of years of slavery and controlled breeding, the illithid thralls were no longer recognizable as the humans they once were. They were longer of limb, with skin the tawny color of old ivory and slightly pointed ears.

After the long war between the illithids and voor ended, the voor all but extinct thanks to the efforts of these new modified battle-thralls, the balance of power in the illithid empire changed. The thralls were now battle-hardened and had become increasingly psionically adept. The illithids became more brutal in order to ensure their slaves remained obedient, which only invited more revolts and more brutal reprisals.

Then came Gith. Some say she was the personal bodyguard of a powerful illithid noble, while others claim she was only a lowly foot soldier and little more than a child. But her mental and physical powers were great, and her rage, hatred, power, and charisma was sufficient to guide the thralls to victory. The illithid empire was shattered by the slave rebellion (remembered by them as the Thrall Uprising). Not every illithid stronghold fell, but the ties that bound the empire together were broken, and even today the mind flayers have not recovered from that ancient war. They hid themselves away in the Underdarks of countless worlds, vowing to rebuild their strength and take vengeance against their treacherous former slaves, something they have not managed to do.

Having won the war, Gith continued to treat her people (who would become known as the githyanki, a word meaning "children of Gith") as a conquering army rather than a free people. Having just won a war, she prepared to launch a new one, an Eternal Crusade that would exterminate every last illithid once and for all.

While some githyanki were comforted by Gith's military discipline, others chafed against it. One leader, Zerthimon, was the most vocal of the dissidents. He claimed that Gith would replace the illithid tyranny with her own, and that though she had been successful in the past as a leader of war, she was unfit to lead the People in peace. He called for her to step down. Gith refused, but Zerthimon and his followers would not allow themselves to be ruled by a new tyrant. Having just won a war, now a civil war began among the githyanki, with Zerthimon's loyalists battling Gith's. During the civil war, an already wounded world was reduced to an uninhabited cinder.

What happened to Zerthimon is a matter of dispute. Some (A Guide to the Astral Plane) say Zerthimon was killed, while others (The Plane Below) say he defeated Gith in single combat, but chose to spare her life. Regardless, the followers of Zerthimon—now known as the githzerai, or "those who spurn Gith"—retreated to Limbo. Meanwhile, the losses the githyanki sustained in their war were too great for Gith to continue her crusade, so they retreated to the conquered illithid settlements on the Astral Plane to rebuild their numbers to the point when they could exterminate both the illithids and the githzerai.

Soon after, a wizard called Vlaakith began advising Gith in matters of state. It was Vlaakith who advised Gith to find allies to help their diminished people survive. When no god would treat with her and negotiations with the chaotic slaadi failed, she traveled to the Nine Hells, where she spent time negotiating with the archdevil Dispater. Dispater's price, however—the souls of all githyanki—was too high for her to contemplate. Dispater had other ways of manipulating those foolish enough to bargain with him, however, and he suggested she meet with Ephelomon, the red dragon consort of Tiamat, to see if she could make a bargain with the Dragon Queen similar to the bargain between Tiamat and the Hells that permitted the devils to borrow Tiamat's abishai. With all other possibilities of alliance having failed, Gith traveled to Tiamat's realm. There, Ephelomon agreed to send a wing of red dragons for the githyanki to ride in exchange for the aid of the githyanki whenever Tiamat required it. Dispater suggested that a hostage would be required to seal the deal, so Gith agreed to become Dispater's prisoner in his iron city of Dis, thereby giving Dispater the soul of one of the greatest rebel leaders who ever lived. Ephelomon came to the Astral Plane alone and gave Vlaakith, whom Gith had designated her successor, a magical scepter that symbolized the Dragon Queen's acceptance of the pact.

Vlaakith continued to rule as queen of the githyanki, and after her death her scepter passed to Vlaakith II, and thence to Vlaakith III, and so on until the reign of the current queen, Vlaakith CLVII (157th). With a total of 157 queens since the illithid rebellion, a long time must have passed (according to the Forgotten Realms novel Dawn of Night, it has been approximately 10,000 years, though some sources imply the time has been longer or shorter). The githyanki have become somewhat fragmented, forming isolated groups instead of a single nation. Though they almost all ultimately serve their revered Lich-Queen, each group has their own separate goals as well.

Githyanki played a significant part in the recent Priestess Wars in the city of Erelhei-Cinlu, allying with the drow house of Tormtor against their rivals, the Kilsek, who had allied themselves with the illithids.

During the Scales of War Adventure Path in Dungeon #156- #175, Vlaakith CLVII had been assassinated (with the help of PCs, in Dungeon #100), and many of her former underlings sought to claim the throne for themselves. Ultimately, the most successful incumbent was a githyanki warlord named Zetch'r'r, who had been in a critical position: after all, he had provided aide to the assassins (the PCs) who brought down the Lich-Queen in the first place! A member of the Sha’sal Khou, a secret society dedicated to forging peace between the githyanki and githzerai, Zetch'r'r found himself stymied because of his beliefs. Desperate to cement his ill-gotten power, he reluctantly sought the aide of Tiamat to reforge the pact between the Red Dragons and Githyanki. Amid the ruins of Vlaakith’s old palace, Tiamat’s dark priests crowned Zetch’r’r emperor.

During the power struggle, the soul of Gith was inadvertently released from the Nine Hells. Gith masqueraded as Vlakith CLVIII (158th), and eventually destroyed the Scepter of Ephelomon ending the pact and control of the red dragons. Her first order of business after securing the city was to extend a hand of peace to the githzerai cousins. Those githzerai who accepted the proffered peace eventually made the journey from the Elemental Chaos to find new lives amid their age-old enemies. A reunited people, they surrendered their old identities of githyanki or githzerai and embraced a new culture as the gith.

Creative origins

The githyanki were created by Charles Stross for his own Advanced Dungeons & Dragons campaign. Stross borrowed the name from a fictional race created by George R. R. Martin in his 1977 science fiction novel Dying of the Light. George R. R. Martin himself was not aware that the name had been borrowed until the 2000s. The githyanki/illithid relationship was inspired by Larry Niven's World of Ptavvs.

Martin's githyanki

In Martin's novel, the githyanki were called "soulsucks" because of their dangerous psychic powers. They were slaves of another alien race called the hrangans, and were used by them in their long space wars with humanity. Unlike the D&D race, they were barely sentient. No githyanki actually appear in Dying of the Light, as the book takes place after the war between the humans and the hrangans is long over, and the soulsucks are nearly extinct. There is also passing reference to them in Martin's short-story collection Tuf Voyaging.

Publishing history

The githyanki was first published in White Dwarf #12 (April/May 1979), in the "Fiend Factory" column, which was later reprinted in Best of White Dwarf Articles (1980). The githyanki then appears in 1981 in the first edition Fiend Folio, and even appears on the book's cover. Stross later wrote a follow-up article on the githyanki which appeared in White Dwarf #76 (April 1986). The module Tales of the Outer Planes (1988) describes a githyanki lair.

The githyanki appeared in the Monstrous Compendium Outer Planes Appendix (1991), which also included the g"lathk githyanki, the hr'a'cknir githyanki, and the mlar githyanki. The githyanki and these variants are reprinted in the Monstrous Manual (1993). The githyanki was further detailed in the first Planescape Monstrous Compendium Appendix (1994). Githyanki society and their Astral cities are further developed, and their leader Vlaakith the Lich-Queen are described in A Guide to the Astral Plane (1996).

The githyanki later appeared in the Psionics Handbook (2001), and then in the third edition Manual of the Planes (2001).

The githyanki appeared in the revised 3.5 edition Monster Manual (2003), and was further detailed in the Expanded Psionics Handbook (2004) (along with the psionic githyanki) and the Complete Psionic (2006).

The "Incursion" storyline running through July 2003's Dragon #309, Dungeon #100, and Polyhedron #159 focused on the githyanki heavily. Dungeon #100 included the duthka'gith, the kr'y'izoth template, the tl'a'ikith template, and Vlaakith the Lich-Queen. Polyhedron included Racial Traits for the Githyanki and Duthka'gith, as well as 12 feats, 6 different Prestige Classes, and a 16-level base class for Githyanki, in addition to weapons, armor, creatures, and discussing their culture.

The githyanki captain, the gish githyanki, and the githyanki soldier appeared in Monster Manual IV (2006).

The githyanki then appears in the fourth edition Monster Manual (2008), including the githyanki warrior, the githyanki mindslicer, and the githyanki gish. In The Plane Above: Secrets of the Astral Sea (2010), fourth edition statistics are provided for the ch'r'ai inquisitor, duthka'gith, githyanki far wanderer, githyanki blackweave, githyanki ghustil, githyanki pyroclast, githyanki sword stalker, Gul'othran marauder, Gul'othran dragon raider, Tu'narathi dragon rider, Osirimon, and Vlaakith CLVII.

The githyanki next appeared in fifth edition's Monster Manual (Wizards of the Coast, 2014). Statistics were provided for the Githyanki Warrior, Githyanki, Gish, Githyanki Knight, Githyanki Kith'rak, and Githyanki Supreme Commander.

Gallery

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  first Ed.Fiend Folio

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  Second Ed Monstrous Manual

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  third Ed. Psionics Handbook

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  fourth Ed. Monster Manual

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  fifth Ed. Monster Manual

References

Bibliography

• Christian, Deborah, et al. Tales of the Outer Planes. Lake Geneva, WI: TSR, 1988.
• Cook, Monte. Dead Gods. Renton, WA: Wizards of the Coast, 1997.
• -----.A Guide to the Astral Plane. Lake Geneva, WI: TSR, 1996.
• -----.Tales From the Infinite Staircase. Renton, WA: Wizards of the Coast, 1998.
• Cordell, Bruce R. Dawn of the Overmind. Renton, WA: Wizards of the Coast, 1998.

———. Expanded Psionics Handbook. Renton, WA: Wizards of the Coast, 2004.

———. The Illithiad. Renton, WA: Wizards of the Coast, 1998.

• Heinsoo, Rob. The Plane Above: Secrets of the Astral Sea. Renton, WA: Wizards of the Coast, 2010.
• Heinsoo, Rob, and Andy Collins. Underdark. Renton, WA: Wizards of the Coast, 2010.
• Inniss, Stephen. "Hounds of Space and Darkness." Dragon #117. Lake Geneva, WI: TSR, 1987.
• Kemp, Paul S. Dawn of Night. Renton, WA: Wizards of the Coast, 2004.
• LaFountain, J. Paul. Monstrous Compendium Outer Planes Appendix. Lake Geneva, WI: TSR, 1991.
• Marmell, Ari, Bruce R. Cordell, and Luke Johnson. The Plane Below: Secrets of the Elemental Chaos. Renton, WA: Wizards of the Coast, 2009.
• Pramas, Chris. "Exiles from the Vault." Dragon #298. Renton, WA: Wizards of the Coast, 2002.

———. "Underground Scenarios." Dragon #294. Renton, WA: Wizards of the Coast, 2002.

• Schwalb, Robert J." "Tu'narath, City of Death." Dragon #377. Renton, WA: Wizards of the Coast, 2009.

———. "A Tyranny of Souls." Dungeon #168. Renton, WA: Wizards of the Coast, 2009.

• Stewart, Doug, ed. Monstrous Manual. Lake Geneva, WI: TSR, 1994.
• Turnbull, Don, ed. Fiend Folio. Lake Geneva, WI: TSR, 1981.
• Tweet, Jonathan, Rob Heinsoo, and Chris Pramas. Chainmail Miniatures Game: Blood and Darkness - Set 2 Guidebook. Renton, WA: Wizards of the Coast, 2003.
• Varney, Allen, ed. Planescape Monstrous Compendium Appendix. Lake Geneva, WI: TSR, 1994.
• Williams, Skip, Jonathan Tweet, and Monte Cook. Monster Manual. Renton, WA: Wizards of the Coast, 2000.

———. Monster Manual: Core Rulebook III v.3.5. Renton, WA: Wizards of the Coast, 2003.

• Winter, Steve. The Complete Psionics Handbook. Lake Geneva, WI: TSR, 1991.
• Wyatt, James. "Knights of the Lich-Queen." Dungeon #100. Bellevue, WA: Paizo Publishing, 2003.

Zavoda Index Entry

The Encyclopedia Greyhawkania Index page has a list of sources, abbreviations, and a link to the full index. No entry for githyanki

Encyclopedia Greyhawkania Index

The Index is based on previous work of Jason Zavoda through '08, and his work as continued and updated by Eric Johnson, Richard DiIoia, Jason "PupickDad" Jacobson, a French fan group, and numerous other fans over the years. The wiki page for the EGI has a list of sources, full product names, abbreviations, and a link to the full, downloadable index.

Topic	Type	Description	Product	Page/Card/Image
Githyanki	Adventure		OP1 Tales of the Outer Planes, AD&D 1e	86-87
Githyanki	Monster		Dragon magazine #067	39-42
Githyanki	Monster		Fiend Folio, AD&D 1e	43-45
Githyanki	Monster		Monstrous Arcana: The Illithiad, AD&D 2e	58-60
Githyanki	Monster		Monstrous Compendium - Planescape Appendix I	46, 47
Githyanki	Monster		MC8 - Monstrous Compendium - Outer Planes Appendix	Insert (Githyanki)
Githyanki	Monster		Monstrous Manual, AD&D 2e	153, 154
Githyanki	Monster		Monstrous Manual, AD&D 2e (Premium Edition)	153, 154
Githyanki	Monster		Monster Manual 1, D&D 3.5e (Premium Edition)	127, 128
Githyanki	Monster		Monster Manual 1, D&D 4e (Deluxe Edition)	128, 129, 277
Githyanki	Monster		Monster Manual 1, D&D 5e	158-159, 160
Githyanki	Monster		Manual of the Planes, AD&D 1e	3, 61, 65, 66, 67, 72, 99
Githyanki	Monster		Oerth Journal #21	48,53
Githyanki	Monster		OP1 Tales of the Outer Planes, AD&D 1e	86, 87, 92, 93
Githyanki	Monster		PHBR5 - The Complete Psionics Handbook	124
Githyanki	Monster		Saltmarsh Encounters, D&D 5e	13
Githyanki	Monster		Slavers, AD&D 2e	107
Githyanki	Monster		White Dwarf #012	9
Githyanki	Monster		White Dwarf #BOV1	43
Githyanki Fortress	Settlement	Defensive Structure,	OP1 Tales of the Outer Planes, AD&D 1e	45-47
Githyanki Outpost	Settlement	Defensive Structure,	Dragon magazine #067	39-42