The Return of the Titans
A modern day mythic PBEM.
Inspirations:
Books:
Greek and Norse Mythology
Ilium and Olympos, Dan Simmons
Prospero Lost and Prospero in Hell, L Jagi Lamplighter
Mortal Coils and All that Lives Must Die, Eric Nylund
Roleplaying Games:
Scion
FATE, in the Dresden Files Role Playing Game
Exalted
GURPS Technomancer
Nobilis
Trail of Cthulhu
Amber Diceless RPG
Movies:
Clash of the Titans
Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief
—
Now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds
With those words spoken at the Trinity bomb test on July 16, 1945, Julius Robert Oppenheimer spoke more truthfully than he knew. The power of the Trinity bomb, combined with the ritual words that Oppenheimer spoke, drastically accelerated a process that had been slowly occurring over the last thousand years:
The freedom of the Titans.
Untold Eons ago, before time itself existed, the chthonic, inhuman, ancient forces known as the Titans created the multiverse, or, perhaps, merely emerged from it. In either case, they and theirs were the original rulers of the Earth and worlds beyond, and ruled for an uncounted period of years, until they were overthrown and imprisoned by their children and creations, the Gods and Goddesses of the Mythologies of the World. The Titans and their spawn fought against the Gods and their children, heroes and demigods sired upon the mortals of Earth. Many of the stories of their struggles survive as myths we know today. In the end, the Gods and their children won, and the Titans were imprisoned.
Their victory complete, the Gods and Goddesses for the most part retired to explore and rule the Otherworlds that they won in addition to the Earth. The Titans were safely in their prison of Malfeas, or so the Gods believed. The Age of Gods and Heroes was over.
In Europe and the Middle East, the absence of the deities of the Celtic and Greek pantheons from widespread activity in the world lead to the decline of their faiths, and the rise of the Abrahamic creeds. In other parts of the world, the inattention of the Hindu, Japanese and Chinese pantheons led to the development of faiths such as Buddhism. In the Americas, the pantheons of the Native Americans still received worship until European colonization forcibly ended the practices on any significant scale.
The Gods relative inattention to Earth finally stopped in the twentieth century, as they learned that the Titans were trying to find ways to escape Malfeas. They had been twisted, crippled and neutered, yes, but they were still potent, and worked with force and craftiness against their fate.
They had not escaped in body, yet, but had, for some time, perhaps as long as several hundred years, managed to send out their creations and spawn to Earth, and beyond.
All of these monsters, demons and beings were set toward the task of freeing their masters from their long imprisonment, and so help the Titans revenge themselves on their children and their children’s children.
While the Gods had paid only sometimes fleeting attention to Earth, on their visits to Earth, they had, as in the myths of old, found liaisons with mortals. Their children, the Scions, often found that by their half-divine nature, trouble would find them, whether they wished it or not. This trouble often came from the machinations of the Titans and their spawn, or from rival Gods and their children. With the Trinity test, the seals on Malfeas have weakened to a fatal point, and now the Titans threaten to escape their bondage entirely. Perhaps some of them already have.
In this modern age, with the Titans breaking free of Malfeas, Gods and Goddesses have sought liaisons in a more deliberate manner, to sire or birth children upon the world.
Further, they have sought ties to their children, to both arm them against the Titans spawn and agents, and against their rivals both within and beyond their pantheons
Finally, the Scions are intended to help swell the numbers on the Gods’ side for the long prophesied battle between the Gods and their twisted Titanic parents:
Ragnarok
In the PBEM Return of the Titans you will play a child of one of the Gods and Goddesses of mythology in the modern world. Thrust from an ordinary existence into a greater world, what will you do with the power given to you? How will it change you? How will it change those you care about? How will it change the world?
Can you stop the Titans from overthrowing your parents and remaking the world in their own twisted image? Can you become a Goddess yourself?
Monthly Archives: December 2010
Travels in 2010
My travels in 2010.
I didn’t go very far in 2010, mainly because of the Olsons financial situation, and a lack of personal time off in my new job.
Where I laid my head to sleep:
Blaine, Minnesota
Cedar Rapids, Iowa
Two Harbors, Minnesota
A campground near Ely, Minnesota
From Home…
Furthest North traveled: Grand Portage State Park, on the Canadian Border
Furthest South traveled: Solon, Iowa
Furthest East traveled: Copper Falls State Park, Wisconsin
Furthest West traveled: Jordan, Minnesota
In 2011, I’ve already promised to visit the Olsons often when they move away down to Iowa, and I owe a visit to the East Coast.
Picture of the Day: Packer
It’s been quite a year for everyone. For many people, 2010 was for the dogs.
So for New Year’s Eve, the last day of 2010, I present a picture of the Olsons Sheltie (Shetland sheepdog), Packer.
Happy New Year!
Picture of the Day: Spiral Ginger
Today’s picture is a desert tropical plant that I stumbled across in the Como Park Conservatory. This is Costus barbatus, the spiral ginger plant.
Green Bay 45 NYG 17
http://www.nfl.com/gamecenter/2010122611/2010/REG16/giants@packers
And that, my friends, is the season for the Giants. The loss of the Eagles to the Vikings means the Bears have little to play for, and so the unlikely combination of a Giants win against the Skins and the Packers losing to the Bears, the only way the Giants make the playoffs now, is now virtually impossible.
The Jets lost but still are skidding into the playoffs.
Maybe before the Sun burns out, we’ll get a Subway series Super Bowl, but its certainly not this year.
I suspect that in a reversal of recent times, this year is going to be a Super Bowl Blowout–with the New England Patriots taking home another crown. Enjoy it, Belicheat.
Picture of the Day: Como Park Conservatory
This is the Como Park Conservatory, which faithful viewers will have seen pictures of before. This time, I tried to capture the entirety of the structure in the shot, and I also experimented with a new Lightroom preset to give it a “cold” look.
What do you think?
Picture of the Day: Polar Bear
The Como Park Zoo is a small Zoo (the Conservatory is honestly the more famous attraction) but it does have a world-class Polar Bear habitat for its twin polar bears. Today’s picture is of one of the twins, pacing around on a cold December day.
Picture of the Day: Ice Crystal Poinsettia
I never knew that there were many kinds of Poinsettia, until I visited the Conservatory over the Christmas holiday. In fact, they are having an exhibition of many kinds of the Christmas Perennial. This pink one is called a Premium Ice Crystal Poinsettia
2010 Roundup of Books and Movies
In 2010, I finished reading 39 books and saw many movies…
Book Review 2010 #39: Sizing Up the Universe
The last book of the year is one I received only a couple of days ago…
Continue reading Book Review 2010 #39: Sizing Up the Universe