Discworld & Terry Pratchett Wiki - User contributions [en]

Pictsies

2016-07-23T21:22:53Z

The Guarding Dark: /* Chalk Hill Clan */

{{Character Data
|title=Pictsie
|photo=pictsiemine.jpg|By [[user:darkplush|Kit Cox]]
|names=Nac Mac Feegle, Pictsies, The Wee Free Men
|age=
|race=Pictsie
|occupation= stealing, fighting, drinking
|appearance=small but very strong
|residence=[[Ramtops]], hubward [[Sto Plains]]
|death=
|parents=
|relatives=
|children=
|marital status=
|books= {{CJ}}, {{WFM}}, {{FOC}}, {{HFOS}}, {{W}}, {{ISWM}}, [[Book:Snuff|Snuff]]
|cameos= {{MR}}, [[Book:The Celebrated Discworld Almanak|''The Celebrated Discworld Almanak'']]
}}

'''Pictsies''' or '''Nac Mac Feegle''' are six inches tall, red-haired, and blue-tattooed. Some of their number have taken to wearing skulls of small animals as helmets. In size they resemble [[gnomes]], but pictsies often protest, (violently), if they are called such.

== History ==
Nac Mac Feegle once lived in [[Fairyland]] in service of the [[Queen of the Elves|Fairy Queen]]. They would steal and plunder from other worlds for the Queen's pleasure. While they didn't mind and largely enjoyed the adventure and theft, the pictsies were less enthusiastic about fighting the weak and stealing from the poor. The Queen did not have the same sense of what was right, and she was never satisfied.

Some time after the falling out between the Fairy Queen and the [[King of the Elves]], the Queen somehow tricked the Nac Mac Feegle. They rebelled, broke away from the rule of the Queen, and took up residence in Diskworld as free agents. They remember vehemently with the battle cry: "Nae king! Nae quin! Nae laird! Nae master! We willna be fooled again!"

== Habitat ==
Pictsies live and operate as members of huge warrior clans. They have a social structure similar to bees, with one queen called a [[Kelda]] and hundreds of males (but without female "workers".) Pictsie clans live in rural areas, and make their living through stealing cows, sheep, eggs, and other things from farmers and some hunting and gathering when necessary. Pictsies are secretive, disguising their underground tunnels as rabbit holes or in burial mounds. We have encountered only a few clans so far:

*The Chalk Hill Clan. This is the clan for which [[Tiffany Aching]] was temporarily Kelda. It is home to the most well known pictsies, such as [[Rob Anybody]], [[Daft Wullie]] and [[Big Yan]].
*The Long Lake Clan. The Kelda is [[Big Aggie]], and her daughter, [[Jeannie]], came to marry [[Rob Anybody]].
*Although it is not specifically mentioned, there is a clan up in the mountains, presumably the [[Ramtops]], from which [[William the Gonnagle]] comes.

No pictsie clans have been reported to operate in cities. However, some members of other species do know about the existence of pictsies: the [[Lancre]] witches [[Granny Weatherwax]] and [[Nanny Ogg]], for example. Pictsies occasionally do business with other people; once, Corporal [[Buggy Swires]], the gnome [[Ankh-Morpork City Watch|Ankh-Morpork Watchman]] paid a pictsie clan a crate of whiskey in exchange for Morag, a highly trained buzzard (in ''[[Book:Monstrous Regiment|Monstrous Regiment]]'').

== Personality and habits ==
All pictsies share one unusual belief. They believe that they are all already dead, and are in a sort of paradise world, where they are free to do whatever they please. By their own cheerful admission, the favorite activities of the feegles are: fighting, drinking, and stealing. They are fierce fighters, but somewhat lacking in intellect, as it is well known to the Feegles that one female has the brains of 100 males. They will fight anyone and anything, and one of the ways to select a group for a mission is simply to set them all fighting, and taking the last 50 or so still standing. They distrust the written word, believing that if your name is written down you can go to prison. In at least one clan, the pictsies' swords glow blue in the presence of lawyers. However, some clans, such as the Long Lake, have taken to writing, using their tiny scripts to "legally" get what can't be achieved by fighting or stealing. The Keldas of a clan also have unusual powers, called the "Hiddlins". It is partially because of this that they are given so much respect. Each clan also has a [[gonnagle]], a sort of battle poet who may also play the [[mousepipes]], which produce such a piercing screech that it causes enemies pain.

Being little people with antedilivian habits and their own language, they may have been inspired by the Lilliputians in ''[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mistress_Masham's_Repose| Mistress Masham's Repose]'', which was read by Terry when younger.

== Dialect and language ==
Feegles talk with a strong mountain brogue. Some of the more unusual words, and their equivalent meanings are:
* Big Wee Hag - Tiffany Aching
* Bigjobs - human beings.
* Big Man - chief of the clan (usually the husband of the Kelda).
* Blathers/blethers - rubbish, nonsense.
* Boggin - to be desperate, as in 'I'm boggin for a cup of tea.(you would be gaggin for a cup of tea) REAL MEANING(this food is boggin = this food tastes really bad)
* Bunty - a weak person.
* Carlin - an old woman, witch or not.
* Cludgie - the privy
* Coo - Cow
* Crivens! - A general exclamation, ranging in seriousness and severity. Used in place of swear words.
* Dinnae/didnae - do not/did not.
* Dree your/my/his/her weird - Face the fate that is in store for you/me/him/her.
* Eldritch - weird, strange. Sometimes means oblong, too, for some reason
* Geas - An oath of sorts, an obligation. Not a bird. REAL MEANING ->(give me that)
* Hag - Witch
* Hag o' Hags - A head witch or great witch
* Haggins/hagglins - What a witch does.
* Hiddlins - secrets
* Ken - Know.
* Midden - combination of dump, cesspit, dunnikin.
* Mudlin - Useless person.
* Offski - To leave or depart quickly. (Run away.)
* Pished - Tired....or so we are told. Pished = really drunk (we all got pished - we all got really drunk).
* Scunner - A generally unpleasant person.
* Scuggan - A really unpleasant person.
* Ships - Wooly things that eat grass and go 'baa'. Not to be confused with sailing or boats.
* Spavie - See Mudlin.
* Waily - general cry of despair.
* Special Sheep Liniment - Probably moonshine whiskey

In the Long Lake clan, the dialect is much stronger and harder to understand.

== List of known pictsies ==
This list does not include honorary members of clans, for example [[Horace the Cheese]], but only "true" feegles.

=== Chalk Hill Clan ===
* [[Rob Anybody]] - big man of the clan.
* [[Big Yan]] - biggest feegle.
* [[Daft Wullie]] - second in command.
* [[Fion]] - The old [[Kelda]]'s daughter
* [[Hamish]] the Aviator - scout and messenger.
* [[No-As-Big-As-Medium-Sized-Jock-But-Bigger-Than-Wee-Jock-Jock]] - younger, apprentice Gonnagle.
* Old [[Kelda]] - Mother of Rob Anybody, Wullie and Fion, among others. Died after 70 years in charge.
* [[William the Gonnagle]] - old Gonnagle.
* [[Wee Dangerous Spike]] - a younger, inexperienced Feegle.
* Wee Bobby
* Medium Size Jock
* Wee Jock
* Not-Totally-Wee Georgie
* Slightly Mad Angus
* Slightly-Thinner-than-Fat-Jock-Jock

=== Long Lake Clan ===
* [[Awf'ly Wee Billy Bigchin]] - very small gonnagle.
* [[Big Aggie]] - Kelda.
* [[Jeannie]] - New Kelda of Chalk Hill, married to Rob Anybody.

=== Clan unknown ===
* [[Wee Mad Arthur]] - Carried off by a hawk as an infant, he was raised by peaceful [[Gnomes|gnomish]] shoemakers. His inherent Feegleness prevented him from fitting in, however. He is currently a member of the [[Ankh-Morpork City Watch]].

==Annotation==
A similarity occurs between Nac Mac Feegle of the Discworld and the Brownies seen in the sword and sorcery fantasy film, [[wikipedia:Willow (film)|Willow]]; that is to say frequently drunk, and flying on the backs of birds for easy transport.

==Trivia==
* Calling a Nac Mac Feegle 'a fairy' is considered to be a fairly quick method of committing [[Suicide]].

[[Category:Discworld humanoid species]]

God of Indigestion

2016-02-05T13:57:40Z

The Guarding Dark:

The God of Indigestion is one of several small gods and other fantastic creatures which appeared during the events of {{H}}, as a result of the presence of large quantities of spare belief which were freed up due to lack of belief in the [[Hogfather]]. His actual name, if he had one, is unknown. He appeared as a large, fat man wearing a toga and sandals.

After [[Mustrum Ridcully]], in a fit of annoyance about the creatures that had already appeared that night, suggested the possibility that some idiot would call a God of Indigestion into being, he materialized in the dining room of [[Unseen University]], landing with a crash in a huge centerpiece of fruit in the middle of a laden table. [[Susan Sto Helit]] and [[Bilious]] helped him to his feet, upon which he requested a glass of water and a charcoal biscuit while staggering to the nearest privy.

He presumably disappeared again after belief in the Hogfather was restored, although, given that [[Gods]] seldom if ever truly die, he has probably gone back to existing in potentia after his brief and rather ill-fated incarnation.

[[Category:Supernatural entities]]

The gods

2016-02-04T02:21:20Z

The Guarding Dark: /* Other gods of the Main Continent */

There are roughly 3000 gods on the [[Discworld (world)|Discworld]] and research theologians are discovering more every day. Most people make the mistake of thinking that gods came first and then came the people to believe in them, when in fact the people came first, and then their belief created the gods. Gods and people go hand in hand: gods need people to believe in them, and people need something to blame. The system seems to work quite well.

Gods feed on belief. The more people believe in a god, the more powerful that god becomes. As gods lose belief, they become weaker and smaller. Once there are no more believers, the god becomes a mere echo of a voice on the wind. Some [[Small Gods|small gods]] are gods that were once powerful, others are gods ''in potentia'', as it were, waiting for someone to erect a small cairn, or pile of stones as a short prayer so that they can gain some power, perform a few miracles and gain believers.
It is revealed by [[Hughnon Ridcully]] in {{TT}} that Gods can get sick, but from {{SG}} we already knew that gods can die from lack of belief.

Gods, of course, play games with the fates of men. The game they play is somewhere between [[Dungeons and Dragons]], Risk and Chess, with [[Exclusive Possession|Monopoly]] and Battleships thrown in for good measure along the way. Don't think the game is complicated though; gods don't have the patience for complex games. They prefer games that are short and violent. The game is played on a map of the world that is, on closer inspection, the world itself. If you look closely enough at the tiny pin that is [[Cori Celesti]] in the middle of the board, you can see the gods on top of it in their home of [[Dunmanifestin]], playing the game. If you look closer still, you can see the board with a tiny Cori Celesti and on top of that...

==Appearances==
The gods are described playing games with the fates of men in:
*{{COM}}
*{{SG}}
*{{IT}}
*{{TLH}}

Other appearances and notable mentions:
*{{P}} describes what happens when the whole pantheon of a country manifests all at once.
*{{SG}} describes the statues of the gods worshipped in [[Ephebe]]. It is also the first mention of a 'monotheistic' God, ([[Om]]).
*{{MR}} describes extensively the rules set forth by [[Nuggan]], the state god of [[Borogravia]].
*{{H}} makes mentions of several gods, and some of the new ones created due to a surplus of belief created by the disappearance of the [[Hogfather]], something of a god himself but later more of an [[anthropomorphic personification]].
*{{GP}} tells of an incident in which a man got several religions; the gods that he found are described.

==The Pantheon==

Discworld suffers from a surfeit of gods. New ones may be created at any time, and old ones fade away when no one believes any longer. Here is a (necessarily incomplete) list of some better-known deities from around the Disc.

===Gods of Dunmanifestin===
*[[Bibulous]], god of wine and things on sticks. Resembles John Belushi.
*[[Blind Io|Blind Io]], chief of the gods. His eyeless face is blindfolded, while many all-seeing eyeballs swarm around his head.
*[[Destiny|Destiny]], guides promising young adventures to their heroic destiny.
*[[Errata]], the goddess of misunderstandings; a trouble-maker.
*[[Fate|Fate]], not to be tempted. Also not popular around the games table; he always wins.
*[[Fedecks|Fedecks]], messenger of the gods.
*[[Flatulus|Flatulus]], god of the winds.
*[[The Lady|The Lady]], whose name is not spoken.
*The [[Monkey-god]], possibly based on [[Roundworld]]'s {{wp|Hanuman|Hanuman}}, mentioned as a member of the Dunmanifestin elite in {{TLH}}.
*[[Neoldian]], smith of the gods.
*[[Nuggan|Nuggan]], state god of Borogravia: a twit. Lately reduced to ''[[Small Gods|small god]]'' status.
*[[Offler|Offler]] of the Bird-Haunted Mouth: crocodile-headed and widely followed.
*[[Pedestriana]], Goddess of feet and pedal dexterity.
*the [[Sea-Goddess]] who loves dolphins and takes revenge on seaborne dolphin-abusers.
*[[Seven-Handed Sek]], says Vengeance is His.

===Other gods of the Main Continent===
*[[Aniger]], goddess of squashed animals - recent; possibly another "oh god" like Bilious.
*[[Anoia]], goddess of things that stick in drawers (formerly [[Lela]] the volcano goddess).
*[[Bilious]], oh god of hangovers.
*[[Bissonomy]]. She is currently an obscure Virtue, but according to [[Ancient and Classical Mythology|Chaffinch]], she was once a goddess and a consort of Blind Io.
*[[Epidity]] god of potatoes.
*[[God of Evolution]], survives without believers.
*[[Grune]], god of unseasonal fruit.
*[[Herne the Hunted]], god of small furry creatures.
*[[Hoki]], the jokester: banished from Dunmanifestin.
*[[Hyperopia]]. The goddess of shoes.
*[[God of Indigestion]], the personification of stomach ailments.
*[[Infernal Zoth, the Undying Renderer]].
*[[Inn-Sewer-Ants|Inn-sewer-ants polly-sea]], Worshipped on the [[Brown Islands]]
*[[Jimi]], god of beggars.
*[[Lamentatio]]. goddess of interminably long opera.
*[[Libertina]], goddess of the sea, apple pie, certain types of ice cream, and short bits of string. May be the Sea-Goddess above.
*[[Moon goddess]], Druidic
*[[Narrativia]], goddess associated with writing and writers
*[[Night]], a god for the easily impressed. Hard to see.
*[[Noddi]], creator god of [[NoThingfjord]]
*[[Nog-Humpty]] the custard god
*[[Om]], state god of Omnia; pays more attention lately.
*[[Pippina]], Goddess of chaos and discord. Almost certainly barred from Dunmanifestin after the Golden Apple incident.
*[[Reg]], god of club musicians.
*[[Resonata]], goddess of weasels.
*[[Saponaria]], goddess of soap and cleanliness
*[[Urika]], goddess of snow, saunas and theatrical performances for fewer than 120 people.
*[[Wilf]], the god of astrology.
*[[God of Watchmen]], hypothetical god of watchmen, police and guards.
*[[Mad Snake God|The Mad Snake God]]
*[[Genua]] has many minor deities, created ''ad hoc'' (see Voodoo entities, below).

===Gods of [[Howondaland]]===
*[[Glipzo]] a tribal deity, inimical to the [[N'Tuitif]]
*[[P'tang P'tang]], the newt god; noted for a very small but devoted following.
*[[Quetzovercoatl]], Tezuman god of many parts - possibly only a [[Demons|demon]].
*[[The Luggage]], the Tezuman replacement of Quetzovercoatl after Quetzovercoatl was squashed by the Luggage.

===Gods of [[Ephebe]]===
*[[Astoria]], goddess of love.
*[[Foorgol]], avalanches.
*[[Patina]], goddess of wisdom : carries a penguin.
*[[Petulia]], goddess of negotiable affection.
*[[Tuvelpit]], wine. See ''Bibulous''.
*[[Zephyrus]], god of slight breezes.
*[[Cubal]], god of fire.
*[[Flatulus]], god of winds.
*[[Blind Io]], god of thunder (not only Ephebian).
*[[Fedecks]], message bringer of gods (not only Ephebian).

===Gods of [[Djelibeybi]]===
*[[Bast]], cat-headed goddess of things left on the doorstep or half-digested under the bed. Also in Dunmanifestin.
*[[Bunu]], goats.
*[[Cephnet]], a sun god.
*[[Cephut]], cutlery.
*[[Chefet]], dog-headed god of metalwork.
*[[Fhez]], crocodile-headed god of the lower Djel; easily confused with Offler.
*[[Gil]], a sun god.
*[[Hat]], vulture-headed god of unexpected guests.
*[[Khefin]], two-faced god of gateways.
*[[Sarduk]], goddess of caves : don't go there.
*[[Scrab]], pusher of the ball of the sun.
*[[Sessifret]], goddess of the afternoon and undisputed solar ruler after midday.
*[[Tzut]], snake-headed god of the upper Djel, enemy of Fhez.
*[[What]], sky goddess who eats the sun in the evening and plants one of its seeds to grow a new sun in the morning.
*[[Vut]], dog headed god of the evening

...plus eight Supreme gods, four Sole Rulers of the World of the Dead, and many more.

===[[Troll]] Gods===
*[[Chrondite]], god of love.
*[[Gigalith]], wisdom.
*[[Silicarous]], good fortune.
*[[Monolith]], demigod hero.

===[[Small Gods]]===
*[[Angus]]
*[[Om]] (prior to his resurgence)
*[[Ur-Gilash]]
*[[Czol]]
*[[Anu-anu]]
*[[Orm]]

===Gods of the [[Shaman]]===
*[[Topaxci, the God of the Red Mushroom]]
*[[Skelde, Spirit of the Smoke]]
*[[Umcherrel, the Soul of the Forest]]

===[[Voodoo]] Spirits of Genua===
*[[Mister Safe Way]]
*[[Lady Bon Anna]]
*[[Hotaloga Andrews]]
*[[Stride Wide Man]]
*[[Baron Saturday]] (following the events of [[Witches Abroad]]

And, of course, nearly three thousand more.

And while not exactly gods, we should mention the other residents of Cori Celesti, the '''[[Ice Giants|The Ice Giants]]''', who steadfastly refuse to return the lawn mower.

'''See also [[Supernatural Entities]] for individuals who are not formally worshipped but are sometimes more powerful than the gods.'''

==Other Gods and Deities in the non-Discworld writings of Terry Pratchett==

*'''Gods and God-like Entities of the [[Nomes]]:
**[[Arnold Bros (est. 1905)]]
**[[Grandson Richard, 39]]
**[[Bargains Galore]]!
**[[Prices Slashed]]
**[[the Maker of Clouds]]

*'''God-like Entities in {{GO}}
** the [[Metatron]]

[[Category:Supernatural entities|Gods, The]]
[[de:Götter]]

God of Indigestion

2016-02-04T02:16:28Z

The Guarding Dark:

The God of Indigestion is one of several small gods and other fantastic creatures which appeared during the events of ''Hogfather'', as a result of the presence of large quantities of spare belief which were freed up due to lack of belief in the [[Hogfather]]. His actual name, if he had one, is unknown. He appeared as a large, fat man wearing a toga and sandals.

After [[Mustrum Ridcully]], in a fit of annoyance about the creatures that had already appeared that night, suggested the possibility that some idiot would call a God of Indigestion into being, he materialized in the dining room of [[Unseen University]], landing with a crash in a huge centerpiece of fruit in the middle of a laden table. [[Susan Sto Helit]] and [[Bilious]] helped him to his feet, upon which he requested a glass of water and a charcoal biscuit while staggering to the nearest privy.

He presumably disappeared again after belief in the Hogfather was restored, although, given that [[Gods]] never truly die, he has probably gone back to existing in potentia after his brief and rather ill-fated incarnation.

[[Category:Supernatural entities]]

God of Indigestion

2016-02-04T02:15:07Z

The Guarding Dark:

The God of Indigestion is one of several small gods and other fantastic creatures which appeared during the events of ''[[Hogfather]]'', as a result of the presence of large quantities of spare belief which were freed up due to lack of belief in the Hogfather. His actual name, if he had one, is unknown. He appeared as a large, fat man wearing a toga and sandals.

After [[Mustrum Ridcully]], in a fit of annoyance about the creatures that had already appeared that night, suggested the possibility that some idiot would call a God of Indigestion into being, he materialized in the dining room of [[Unseen University]], landing with a crash in a huge centerpiece of fruit in the middle of a laden table. [[Susan Sto Helit]] and [[Bilious]] helped him to his feet, upon which he requested a glass of water and a charcoal biscuit while staggering to the nearest privy.

He presumably disappeared again after belief in the Hogfather was restored, although, given that [[Gods]] never truly die, he has probably gone back to existing in potentia after his brief and rather ill-fated incarnation.

[[Category:Supernatural entities]]

God of Indigestion

2016-02-04T02:12:49Z

The Guarding Dark:

The God of Indigestion is one of several small gods and other fantastic creatures which appeared during the events of ''[[Hogfather]]'', as a result of the presence of large quantities of spare belief which were freed up due to lack of belief in the Hogfather. His actual name, if he had one, is unknown. He appeared as a large, fat man wearing a toga and sandals.

After [[Mustrum Ridcully]], in a fit of annoyance about the creatures that had already appeared that night, suggested the possibility that some idiot would call a God of Indigestion into being, he materialized in the dining room of [[Unseen University]], landing with a crash in a huge centerpiece of fruit in the middle of a laden table. [[Susan Sto Helit]] and [[Bilious]] helped him to his feet, upon which he requesting a glass of water and a charcoal biscuit while staggering to the nearest privy.

He presumably disappeared again after belief in the Hogfather was restored, although, given that [[Gods]] never truly die, he has probably gone back to existing in potentia after his brief and rather ill-fated incarnation.

[[Category:Supernatural entities]]

God of Indigestion

2016-02-04T02:11:09Z

The Guarding Dark:

The God of Indigestion is one of several small gods and other fantastic creatures which appeared during the events of ''[[Hogfather]]'', as a result of the presence of large quantities of spare belief which were freed up due to lack of belief in the Hogfather. His actual name, if he had one, is unknown. He appeared as a large, fat man wearing a toga and sandals.

After [[Mustrum Ridcully]], in a fit of annoyance about the creatures that had already appeared that night, suggested the possibility that some idiot would call a God of Indigestion into being, he materialized in the dining room of [[Unseen University]], landing with a crash in a huge centerpiece of fruit in the middle of a laden table. [[Susan Sto Helit]] and [[Bilious]] helped him to his feet, upon which he requesting a glass of water and a charcoal biscuit while staggering to the nearest privy.

He presumably disappeared again after belief in the Hogfather was restored, although, given that [[Gods]] never truly die, he has probably gone back to existing in potentia after his brief and rather ill-fated incarnation.

God of Indigestion

2016-02-04T02:08:16Z

The Guarding Dark: Created page with "The God of Indigestion is one of several small gods and other fantastic creatures which appeared during the events of '' #REDIRECT Hogfather '', as a result of the presenc..."

The God of Indigestion is one of several small gods and other fantastic creatures which appeared during the events of ''
#REDIRECT [[Hogfather]]
'', as a result of the presence of large quantities of spare belief which were freed up due to lack of belief in the Hogfather. His actual name, if he had one, is unknown. He appeared as a large, fat man wearing a toga and sandals.

After Mustrum Ridcully, in a fit of annoyance about the creatures that had already appeared that night, suggested the possibility that some idiot would call a God of Indigestion into being, he materialized in the dining room of Unseen University, landing with a crash in a huge centerpiece of fruit in the middle of a laden table. Susan Sto Helit and Bilious helped him to his feet, upon which he requesting a glass of water and a charcoal biscuit while staggering to the nearest privy.

He presumably disappeared again after belief in the Hogfather was restored, although, given that Gods never truly die, he has probably gone back to existing in potentia after his brief and rather ill-fated incarnation.