Shivetya

From Glen Cook Wiki

Shivetya is a demigod, an enormous golem made of roughly hewn stone, created by the gods long ago to maintain the Glittering Plain and, later, keep the goddess Kina imprisoned. His appearance is roughly human in shape, with burning red eyes; he has a third eye in the middle of his forehead which disappears when closed.

As keeper of the Glittering Plain, a kind of dimensional crossroads between sixteen worlds, Shivetya has nearly omniscient knowledge of all that happens and has happened in all of them. He manages the Plain with the assistance of an enormous magical clockwork map built into the floor of his fortress. When the dark goddess Kina was imprisoned below the Fortress, Shivetya was tricked into guarding her, and in order to keep him to his promise, he is nailed by the hands and feet to a throne in the fortress.

Shivetya cooperates with the Black Company to ultimately destroy Kina; Croaker suspects that Shivetya chose the Company as his instrument years ago, and has been subtly manipulating them ever since Croaker decided to return to Khatovar following the destruction of the Company at the Barrowland. The golem communicates through dreams, occasionally through a white crow, and sometimes directly with Croaker.

At the end of Soldiers Live, after the destruction of Kina, Croaker agrees to switch places with Shivetya, allowing the demigod to live out Croaker's remaining mortal years (and then die) and allowing Croaker to enjoy Shivetya's knowledge forever.