Tekemikazuchi
Nai No Kami, the Tremulous Hand. LN Intermediate power of protection from earthquakes [He/Him]
Pantheon: Japanese
Symbol: A rock
Realm: Mechanus / The Shaking Land
The power known as Tekemikazuchi, (also called ‘Nai-no-Kami’ by cutters who don’t realise this is his formal title and just means ‘power of the earthquakes’), is a god of delicate and precise balance. He’s a blood poised at the pivot point between perfect order and perpetual chaos. He’s usually depicted as a towering muscular figure clad in gleaming ō-yoroi armour inlaid with silver and gold, with a calm and unwavering expression. His eyes glint with a cold, calculating intensity. In one hand, he holds a katana with a perfectly sharp edge, and the other he keeps free, all the better to grapple the fish.
Grapple a fish, you ask? Yes cutter, Tekemikazuchi has an ancient duty, which is said to protect the whole of Mechanus and keep the Great Machine running smoothly. Ever since his ascension to divinity, Tekemikazuchi has been tasked with subduing the Namazu—a colossal, cataclysmic catfish kaiju—which continually threatens to disrupt not just Mechanus, but also the mortal realms. The Namazu dwells in the mud beneath the Shaking Land, Tekemikazuchi’s realm, and when she thrashes her tail she can set off quakes which rattle the cogs of the Great Machine, sending shockwaves throughout the plane and even to the Prime.
The Shaking Land is a mechanical wonder in a plane of machines, full of inexplicble forces and surreal landscapes, all focused on maintaining one central, sacred duty: converting the unpredictable, seismic energy of the Namazu into something useful for the gears of Mechanus.
Though he is usually thought of as a warrior, Tekemikazuchi is more a mathematician of divine order. His true sacred duty lies in maintaining a precise balance: allowing the Namazu just enough movement to keep the gears of Mechanus turning, but not so much that chaos reigns. Every twitch of the catfish, every vibration, is recorded and studied by Tekemikazuchi, who has become the ultimate guardian of equilibrium. He uses an artefact called Kaname-ishi (the pivot stone), which serves as both a shield with which to protect himself from the Namazu, but also a weapon with which to hold back the ever-looming threat of disorder. His task is unceasing—chant goes that if he falters, the Namazu will roil uncontrollably, and Mechanus could shake itself apart.
Canonical Sources
- On Hallowed Ground [2e] p159,179; Planes of Law [2e] Mechanus p10; Player’s Guide p26 (all extremely brief mentions). Canonwatch: The source books only give a name, all the details here are homebrewed—but based on real world myth of Tekemikazuchi and the Namazu.
Source: Jon Winter-Holt