Also known as the Wolf of Winter,[1] Togg was a god of war (an ascended beast) that was thought to be long forgotten. He was recalled among the Barghast as the wolf-spirit named Togctha.[2]
Togg was mate to Fanderay, the She-Wolf of Winter, and the joint holder of the Beast Throne. An ancient being, he considered the Elder Gods, Draconus, Krul, and the Sister of Cold Nights, young entities compared to himself and his mate.[3] They had once run with the Imass back when the Imass were still mortal.[4] At one time they had made their home on Jacuruku.[5]
Togg was described as a huge, one-eyed wolf, with white, silver-tipped fur.[6] He was said to wear three masks of war - terror, rage, and pain.[7]
History
Togg was separated from his mate, Fanderay, when the Crippled God was called down by rebellious mages attempting to unseat King Kallor 119,739 years before Burn's Sleep. The Fall left him bloodied and claimed one of his eyes. Three years after the Fall of the Crippled God, Togg followed K'rul from afar on Jacuruku and observed the cursing of Kallor. Afterwards, he slipped into the Warren of Chaos searching for Fanderay[3] where he became lost. The general details of a horror from the sky causing their separation were known as children's bedtime stories on Genabackis.[8]
Worship
The twin cults of Togg and Fanderay continued to persist, but their temples were few and their adherents dwindled. There had been a short lived popularity of the cults within the armies of the Malazan Empire early in Empress Laseen's reign, but they had soon withered.[9]
In Memories of Ice
Togg and Toc the Younger by Matt Smith
Togg had wandered the Warren of Chaos for several hundred thousand years before finally regaining his senses when he encountered the unconscious human, Toc the Younger. Upon seeing that Toc was also missing an eye, Togg decided to inhabit the man's body in order to search for his mate, Fanderay. During his time in Chaos, Togg gained unspecified powers.[10] When Toc returned to the Malazan world, he often saw visions of distant events through his injured eye. It was unclear if this was related to Togg's presence.
Toc awoke to find himself in Morn in the presence of Onos T'oolan. He and the T'lan Imass joined the entourage of Lady Envy which also included the last living Ay, Baaljagg. The Ay bore the spirit of Fanderay at the behest of K'rul who had found and rescued the badly wounded goddess after the Fall.
Lady Envy and her entourage made war against the Pannion Seer and his empire, the Pannion Domin. During their efforts, Toc was captured and brought to the Seer's fortress at Outlook. The Seer placed Toc into the arms of his adopted mother, an insane K'Chain Che'Malle Matron, who repeatedly crushed Toc's body within her arms. Both Toc and Togg suffered in agony, with the Mhybe seeing them struggling within a prison in her dreams.[11][12]
When Envy and the others assaulted Outlook to free Toc, the Seer fled with his prisoner to Coral. Envy's party followed in pursuit, arriving at Coral amidst the Malazan siege of the city. While the others raced ahead to find the Seer, Envy and Baaljag sought Toc in the Old Palace.[13] Before they reached him, the broken Toc killed himself freeing Togg, who sounded a howl loud enough to be heard above the battlefield outside the city. The T'lan Ay responded by appearing amongst the Seer's undead K'ell Hunters and slaying them all.[14]
By the time Envy and Baaljagg found Toc, he was already dead and the ay lay beside the corpse whimpering.[15] Fanderay grieved for the loss of her mate, but Onos T'oolan informed her that Togg had slipped from Toc's body and was free within the Warren of Tellann. The Bonecaster, Kilava, reported that Toc's soul rode upon Togg's own and she opened a path into Tellann for Baaljagg to pursue them.[16]
Within the dreamworld of Tellann, Fanderay was separated from Baaljagg and finally reunited with Togg. The two gods reclaimed their thrones while acknowledging the Mhybe as the dream world's mistress. To repay Toc for the use of his body, Togg asked the Mhybe's permission to help Toc's soul migrate to the empty body of Anaster.[17]
The destruction of the Grey Swords at the Siege of Capustan and the fall of Fener, their patron god, forced the mercenaries to seek out a new sponsor. With the help of the White Face Barghast elders they settled on Fanderay and Togg and proclaimed a new Reve, the Wolf's Reve.[18] The new Grey Sword Shield Anvil, Norul, approached Silverfox requesting her to free the T'lan Ay, who the twin gods considered their children. The living Bonecaster initially refused despite Norul's warning that the gods would seek reparation.[19] Later, Silverfox relented.[20]
Expressions
- "Togg's teats"[21]
Notes and references
- ↑ Gardens of the Moon, Glossary, UK MMPB p.706
- ↑ Memories of Ice, Chapter 18, UK MMPB p.791
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Memories of Ice, Prologue
- ↑ Memories of Ice, Chapter 20, US SFBC p.726
- ↑ Memories of Ice, Prologue, US SFBC p.29
- ↑ Memories of Ice, Chapter 25, UK MMPB p.1103
- ↑ Deadhouse Gates, Chapter 13, US HC p.356
- ↑ Memories of Ice, Chapter 20, US SFBC p.705/726
- ↑ Memories of Ice, Chapter 24, Epigraph
- ↑ Memories of Ice, Chapter 1, US SFBC p.46-47
- ↑ Memories of Ice, Chapter 19, US SFBC p.693
- ↑ Memories of Ice, Chapter 25, US SFBC p.911
- ↑ Memories of Ice, Chapter 25, US SFBC p.916-917
- ↑ Memories of Ice, Chapter 25, US SFBC p.933-934
- ↑ Memories of Ice, Chapter 25, US SFBC p.940
- ↑ Memories of Ice, Chapter 25, US SFBC p.940-941
- ↑ Memories of Ice, Chapter 25, US SFBC p.953/955-956
- ↑ Memories of Ice, Chapter 18, US SFBC p.666-669
- ↑ Memories of Ice, Chapter 20, US SFBC p.730-731
- ↑ Memories of Ice, Chapter 25, US SFBC p.958-959
- ↑ Reaper's Gale, Chapter 8, UK BCAS edition p.218