The Origin of Kjudoon’s Name
Kjudoon is not my real name. It is the name of who I am for my life has mirrored in many ways, so I adopted it. It’s actually a character from a book I loved as a child on my homeworld of Tavis Minoris. A low quality agricultural mudball of volcanoes and alluvial soils off the beaten path of most trade routes at the fringe of Marik and Liao space. In a roundabout way, being the redeemed man I became, this is who I am now.
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Kjudoon was an outsider. He was a creature caught between worlds both from his lineage, faith and circumstances. In a world where giant islands of land walked across the world on legs, he was a Minotaur in a place called the Great Hedge. The Minotaurs there were the servants of an evil demon who played at being a god. They lived their lives inside a rich labyrinth of vegetation and stone, occasionally venturing out to terrorize the dwarves, elves and humans who lived near them. Their culture was barbaric and corrupt with a demon at their core ruling them through terror capreciousness and favoritism. This was the world Kjudoon was raised in.
Unfortunately, Kjudoon was not like most other Minotaurs. He was not strong or particularly violent, but instead he was thin, cunning and a little sickly for his kind. Of course, compared to most other races in the world this is still incredibly powerful. He was instead blessed with being quick of hand and quicker of mind. Being a bit outside the usual left him ostracized from most of his kind, and fending for himself anyway he could. Since he could not use an axe or sword well, he chose the Great Bow and became an excellent shot at long distances. He became adept at the knife and stiletto as well for desperate times. His creativity vented itself in created elaborate woven leather works like decorative lashes and ropes he wove onto his clothing and cape. Such was his life.
One year, when Kjudoon was still young, the Dwarves, Elves, Humans and all the other races had enough of being terrorized and plundered by the more frequent raids of the Minotaurs as they grew bolder and bolder and more numerous. Together they formed a massive army and plunged into the Great Hedge, burning, and slaughtering all they came across. The Elvish priests came in and rooted out the spiritual abominations that resided there as well. They raged into the temple of the demon at the center of the Great Hedge and slew him, destroying both his avatar and portal to the world, forever sealing him off. At that point, the spell over all the Minotaur was over and their evil ways fled them and the few remaining became much more peaceable.
While mopping up the remaining resistance, an Elvish priest found Kjudoon, wounded and alone. His heart went out to the beast who had been his enemy when he realized the wounds were inflicted from not only Elves and Humans, but Minotaurs as well. When asked why his own would wound him, he pointed to the giant minotaur lying at his feet and said, this one would make sure I died before a single enemy saw how shameful my very existence was for all Minotaurs. The priest asked how he got the wounds from elves and humans. Kjudoon said, because he had to defend himself lest he die from all those who sought to take his life. If he wasn’t going to let his own kind take it, he wasn’t going to let them take it either if he could help it. The priest asked at last why he was hiding now, and Kjudoon responded, because I could fight no more now that all I had to fight for is dead, and all I had to fight against could not be stopped. I resigned myself to my fate.
With that, the priest bound his wounds and took him back to the temple where he served. He taught Kjudoon about God and goodness and helped him to know that he lived because God still had a purpose for him. Kjudoon never stopped seeing himself as a monster, but now saw that God has uses for monsters like him. Where once he was a monster who slew and ate others for fun and evil, he now was a monster that hunted other monsters. He became a fiend for God, if God would have him. Although he was forever marked by his very being as a Minotaur, and most still saw him as a monster, he went forth and began to fight for those who could not stop the evil that came to harm them. He kept a journal with him and his great bow as he wandered the land now looking to stop evil where he found it in the ways he knew how. Continually moving, like both refreshing rain to the good and calamitous storm to evil, he lived out his life.
That is the origin of the name Kjudoon.
It is also a parable of my life.
Dyabolum, qui victimat malus, pro Deo.
Which means, I am the fiend who slays evil for God.
Personal note: The IRL origin is pretty close to this. Kjudoon was a 4th ed AD&D character. A Chaotic Good Minotaur “Seeker” which is a magical archer who seeks out and kills monsters for the safety of others. Minotaurs are essentially evil, so I came up with the back-story for the incredible world created by Benjamin Coler and a great group of players at the Monster Den in Minneapolis, MN from 2009-2010.