TITANS OF THE THEOI
The ancient Greeks created the word Titanes to mean Strainers, referring to those who tear at the cosmic order, who defy the divine justice of the Gods. The Theoi assert theirs was the first Titanomachy — it’s hard to argue otherwise when they named the concept and guard the cell of the King of Titans himself. Not all the Theoi’s adversaries pace subterranean prisons, however. Some escaped into obscurity. Others are allowed conditional freedom, the fates of their kin dangling overhead like swords. Still they strain at their social and moral confinements, undermining Godly rule in subtle, canny ways. They may not even back the old broadbeards fuming underground, but all are eager to see Zeus’s kingdom fall.
Contents
TARTARUS
GAIA
Aliases: Allmother, Gaia, Ge, Mother Earth
Sing at last, O Muses, of the Allmother, unbegotten and self-delivered. Bearer of the Titans — Land and Sea and Firmament lay honors upon her. Namer of beasts — the crea- tures of the World owe fealty to her. Adversary of Heaven — her sons war and betray in deference to her. From her is all produced and given! She attends to the growing, so grow tall, grow strong. She leads in the reaping, so die for her, and die well!
When Uranus thought to smother her and trap her own children within her body, it was Gaea who planted the seed of insurrection in Cronus’s mind, and granted him a mur- der weapon she personally forged for him. When Cronus gorged himself on infants in a clumsy attempt to outwit Fate, it was Gaea who provided Rhea with the stone and the cunning instructions to hide her lastborn son. When Zeus dared defy her, it was Gaea who came closest to starting a second Titanomachy, leading her Gigantes sons and Typhon himself against the youngest King of Heaven. Gaea, smiling and elegant, has been instrumental in two wars of heavenly succession. She’s looking forward to her third.
Gaea chooses to appear as a well-bred, matronly wom- an, buxom and soft, barely old enough to be a grandmother. As a primeval of Earth, her powers are varied — the source of prophetic fumes, she is the Theoi’s first oracle. The lit- eral fundament, she can conceal creatures and concepts on or within her figurative body. The origin of all Theoi, she exploits even the canniest God or Goddess. Though she cur- rently holds the Mantle of Mother Earth, Gaea herself is not motherhood — she is survival for only the fittest. She prefers sacrifices of black sheep, as her once-universal worship in Greece dictated, and she prefers children who obey.
However, never say Gaea doesn’t love her family. She happens to love the cycle of succession more. If there is an abler king, she will help him ascend, and well... there are so many possible times and manners of Zeus’s fall. Naturally, Gaea plans to be there, with weapons and alliances forged, her titanspawn and Scions in formation. Said Scions must be obedient, and never indulge in weakness; Gaea has been known to disown Scions who depend too much on her assistance. Terrible as this seems, Gaea never fails to seek justice for a hurt Scion, often going to dramatic lengths for vengeance.
Provinces: Creator, Primordial (Earth), Tyrant
Dominions: BEASTS (Black Sheep), CHANCE, EARTH, ENDURANCE, FERTILITY, HEALING, PROSPERITY, WILD
RELATIONSHIPS AND AGENDAS
Gaea cultivates close relationships with her daughter Rhea and granddaughter Hera, who either don’t suspect her machinations or are powerless to oppose them. While Gaea is neither confined nor tortured like other Titans, she knows her status with her grandchildren is tenuous, so refrains from direct actions, relying instead on intelligent titanspawn and Scions. A parthenogeneticist, Gaea is known to create Scions more often than she adopts or begets them, leaving her free to craft exactly the tool she needs in the moment she needs it; the result is a semi-divine legion equipped with adamantine weapons and breathtaking mother issues. Gaea wishes to return to the days of her universal worship, to create unimpeded once again, and to continue guiding the divine lineage of the Theoi.
OTHER PANTHEONS
In the last decade, Gaea has struck up an unusual alliance with Coyolxauhqui and the eldest Centzonhuitzanaua. The Allmother has much in common with what she would otherwise consider vicious barbarians; all wish for the end of their respective pantheons and have some experience at the attempt of it. Of all her entanglements, however, she finds most promising her connections with the Gods of the Tuatha Dé Danann, who revile Zeus and harbor no ill-will toward pantheon-labelled Titans. Were the Theoi to learn of this collusion, Gaea would need to pluck every string she could to manipulate her way back into their favor.
CURRENT PRIORITIES
Gaea keeps tabs on several different prophecies regarding Zeus’s succession by another: Notably, his son by Metis, his son by Thetis, his child by a thrice-living mortal, and his child by a two-headed serpent. She is confident in having found three candidates fitting these criteria, and while she counsels from afar and equips them for war, she continues the search for others. Ultimately, Gaea means to guide one to the throne of Olympus, so that yet another generation of kings is under her control.
ECHIDNA
Aliases: Dracaena, She-Viper
Sing, O Muses, of the mother of monsters! The mother of the unloved, her wretched babes wagered liked pawns! Sing of murdered children! Of their matron’s venom-rage, of the end of man, and the end of Heroes! Loathsome worm and squirming dragon, the lover of inimical Typhon, the enemy of beloved Apollo! She whose birth-pangs will end the World — Monster! Mother! Echidna!
Gaea and Tartarus have long commingled in various inscrutable ways. As such, it is well known that when Mother Earth and Hell decide to love each other very much, nothing useful or tolerant of humanity can come of it: Echidna being the prime example. The Gods abhorred Echidna, an unmanageable monster, even before she took a mate and began to breed. While the Theoi claim she chose Typhon out of a perverse need to spawn the most horrifying creatures possible, Aphrodite is first to admit (with a shudder) that she seems to genuinely love him.
Certainly, they are a match made in — well, somewhere. Typhon couldn’t have successfully stolen Zeus’s tendons without Echidna’s low, twisted cunning. When Apollo took vengeance by filling Echidna with arrows, she would have putrefied in Pythia’s sunlight if Typhon hadn’t stolen away with her to Tartarus. No, Echidna and Typhon truly love each other, just as they truly love the abominations their union creates.
From the waist up, Echidna is a beautiful maiden, albeit with cold doll-eyes and a poisonous expression. From the waist down, however, Hell takes over: Her legs fuse into one abominable appendage, long and serpentine, frilled and bristling with venomous spikes. You are likely to find her coils miles before you catch sight of her unapproachable maiden-half. More infamous than her terrible visage are her numerous depraved children: Hydra, Scylla, Chimaera... you may have heard of a few. Agonizingly to Echidna, her children’s only worth to the World is in how much fame they bring the Hero who kills them.
Echidna is begrudgingly aligned with proponents for Titanomachy only because she hates the Theoi and their Scions with a venom that suffuses her horrifying body. She will always put her family first. Echidna’s Scions are those of the same mind: mothers, survivors of violence, and creators joyfully cultivating the ill-advised things they make. She births or adopts Scions as caretakers for her children, or as wardens for their spawning grounds and cults.
Provinces: Creator, Guardian, Monster
Dominions: BEASTS (Serpents), CHAOS, DARKNESS, ENDURANCE, FERTILITY, FIRE, PASSION (Maternal Love), WILD
RELATIONSHIPS AND AGENDAS
Above all else, Echidna loves Typhon and her children. Every action and alliance serve to protect these loves; a Titanomachy with no place for her twisted family leaves her cold. She wouldn’t have aligned with the Titanomachy at all if Gaea, whom Echidna venerates, hadn’t entreated her. That said, Echidna exults in undermining the hunter twins Apollo and Artemis, as well as Rhea, whom she considers her rival for the Purview of motherhood. Interactions with her Scions are curt, similar to a haughty aristocrat treating the nanny. If left alone, Echidna’s only plan would be to outbreed the Gods — with the rise in “Bestia Incognita” advocacy, this plan may be crazy enough to work.
OTHER PANTHEONS
Monster-mothers lead solitary lives, but Echidna gets along famously with Misiginebig, much to everyone’s horror and dismay. Her gamekeeper cults have spread attitudes of radical monster acceptance across national boundaries, causing the Shén no amount of grief when a titanspawn finally roped into gainful employment no-call-no-shows and goes back to terrorizing the locals. Other pantheons keep their distance from Echidna’s clan, and she likes this just fine.
CURRENT PRIORITIES
Echidna is gravid again. This is far from uncommon, but her gamekeeper cults are unusually restless, and her activist Scions are squeezing global legislatures to increase protection of “Bestia Incognita.” Something really special is on the way. Echidna’s primary concerns are pre- and post-natal care for the baby (or babies); namely, she needs an enormous subterranean nursery, and a lot of food, because she’s eating for A Dreadful Number Larger Than One now.
Echidna is also concerned with silencing oracles — she wasn’t born yesterday, and she knows prophecies lead Heroes to her children’s lairs. She will stop at nothing to achieve a World that exists only for her and her spawn: ev- erything a fetid bog and everyone in terrified quiescence.
TYPHON
TITANIC BIRTHRIGHTS
FOLLOWERS
Harpyiai Titanes: Horrific hybrids of women and rap- tors, harpies were born of the ichor spilled upon Cronus’s sickle. Usually bound in service to the Erinyes, these Harpies choose to serve Cronus and his interests rather than Olympus.
Horai: Minor Goddesses of weather and the orderly procession of seasons, dutiful attendants of Gaea’s favorites. There were originally numerous Horai, but they’re down to four and dwindling in power. Their rage at climate instability only burns brighter.
Ichthyocentauroi: Born when Cronus coupled with the nymph Philyra in horse-form, these are centaur with fish-tails and lobster-claw antennae. Patient chaperones and adept seafarers, they attend allies of Aphrodite and Poseidon, though their loyalties are often brought into question by hawkish Theoi.
GUIDES
CHIRON: The first centaur has built a reputation and brand as Preeminent Heroic Mentor, despite being Cronus’s son. An expert in fields from gymnastics to medicine, his impressive list of references includes Heroes like Achilles, Heracles, and Sybilla Kostanian — the latter a modern graduate known primarily for crossing the Pacific in five soaring leaps. Curiously, Chiron is known to have definitely, definite- ly died 2000 years ago. His reappearance in the early 2000s have many Theoi conspiracy theorists trading suspicions.
Enkelados: A giant who served in the Gigantomachy — Gaea’s attempt at a second Titanomachy — until Athena threw the island of Sicily at him. He’s subsumed the volcanic essence of the island and now appears more fearsome than before, belching fire with his shouts and threats. He’s set on a rematch with the Theoi and will provide combat training to anyone who can help get him there.
Sphinx: A daughter of Echidna with a mortal’s head, a lion’s body, an eagle’s wings, and a serpent’s tail. Sphinx is too clever by half, and delights in terrorizing others with her intellect. Solving one of her riddles is the only way to gain her respect or her tutelage.
Typhon: A treacherous, shape-shifting giant, veteran of the Gigantomachy, Gaea’s lieutenant, and Echidna’s mate. He variably appears winged, with serpents for legs or for fingers, or up to 100 heads, or any other feature that will leave mortals screaming. He has an unusual gift for strategy and psychological warfare and loves anything to do with undermining Zeus.
The Wyomese Bear: A grizzly bear roughly the size and weight of a tractor unit, with six legs, an invulnerable hide, and twice the usual number of teeth, currently stalking the interior midwestern United States. All local wildlife obeys its commands and those of its ward.
RELICS
Blood of Uranus: A vial of syrupy, wine-dark fluid, glittering with cold stars. When applied to any part of Gaea’s body (otherwise known as the World), this grotesquely fecund liquid has the potential to create a new creature nev- er before seen — from as crude as a beast to as sophisticated as a God.
Echidna’s Scales: A chip of Echidna’s lower-body chitin, hard as a carbide alloy, ranging in size from smartphone to riot shield. Echidna’s scales are usually weaponized — they are especially conductive of poison, and wounds caused by the scale are guaranteed to infect.
Echidna’s Venom: A high-density polyethylene con- tainer of some of the most potent contaminant slime ever to curse the World. Rots non-living organic material, erodes metal, causes numerous infections. Curiously, has no effect on plastic.
The Mother’s Bones: A waterproofed canvas bag full of various stones of impossible age. Throwing one over your shoulder so that it lands on the bare earth will cause it to metamorphose into a fully armored myrmidon with perfect discipline and obedience.
| Parents | Offspring | Parents | Offspring | Parents | Offspring |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| TARTARUS/GAIA | ECHIDNA | TARTARUS/GAIA | TYPHON | TYPHON/ECHIDNA |
|
Sound Track
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YPhcJTTz_Fs
