Editing Gith (section)

===A Guide To The Astral Plane (Planescape)===
[[Planescape]] came along and really got down to the brass tacks with a concise history of the Gith-folk.  A book in the setting called "A Glimpse Through the Mists" tells that in really ancient times (as in before most Prime Material Plane worlds had been created), the [[illithid]]s had an empire that covered many Prime worlds (and, given what was mentioned in Spelljammer, most of the crystalline spheres of arcane space) and even had spread into the planes themselves; the illithids were such a threat that it is even the [[devil]]s and [[demon]]s of the [[Blood War]] stopped a moment to take a hard look at the tentacled assholes. The humans they had enslaved were twisted after an uncounted time into different beings, who had begun to develop psionic powers and martial strength. That's when Gith, the paragon of her kind, rose up a rebellion double-quick and after the fighting was done, there was no more illithid empire to threaten anything on the planes or the Prime Material.

Unfortunately, Gith decided that this meant it was her and her people's time to forge an empire built on conquest. [[Zerthimon]], who had his own following that felt otherwise, challenged her plans and leadership, calling Gith out for being as evil as the bastards that had enslaved them. The civil war killed Zerthimon, saw the githzerai flee to Limbo, and managed to shatter Gith's plans for conquest due to her losses.  She withdrew the githyanki ("the children of Gith") to the Astral Plane and set up shop. Eventually, one of her advisers, named Vlaakith, said that they needed allies. They tried and failed to get the [[slaad]]i to turn on the githzerai, and then Vlaakith suggested meeting with [[Tiamat]]. Supposedly, the only people who know what happened or was said at the meeting are Gith, Tiamat, and one of Tiamat's consorts, the red wyrm Ephelomon.  What is known is that Gith never came back: Ephelomon went to the Astral, informed Vlaakith that she was now Gith's successor, and told the githyanki that they had [[Chromatic Dragon|red dragon]]s ready to help them fuck shit up.

This sourcebook gives a huge amount of additional detail after the creation legend.  There are notes that allude to a very slight reptilian physiology (tying back to the Athasian gith); additional catch-words in their language; more details on their professions; and stats and background for [[Vlaakith CLVII]], the [[Lich]]-Queen herself.  This book basically established much of the lore that got reused in 3rd Edition, and if you want a good look at the githyanki as a society and whatnot, this is the place to do it.

This was also the edition of ''[[Planescape: Torment]]'', and its githzerai party member, Dak'kon the Pariah, is a vitally-important milestone in the history of that race's development, for reasons listed on that page.