You didn't just hear that...you felt it.
It rumbled, resonating through your flesh, your bones and everything around you.
Whether through lore or science, many people have attributed the effect of lightning's passage to many different supernatural actors. Accordingly, the kinetic disturbance has also picked up a host of names. Among the more enduring is "Donar" or "Thor". Thanks to the modern mythology of comic books and the films they have inspired, the force of nature embodied as a ferocious warrior has enjoyed a popularity as a modern superhero that he hasn't seen since before the changing of the religious guard started cutting down oak trees and nailing up wood crucifixes.
Thor was created from a union of Odin's power with that of Mother Earth, resulting in one of the most powerful beings ever known to Asgard. One curious development at the core of Thor's comic book characterization, though, has the guardian of Earth and Asgard bound by his father to the immortal's legendary weapon. To teach his son humility (and humanity, ironically), Odin created an enchantment that tied the power of the storm-who-walks-like-a-man-god to the hammer Mjolnir. Whomever holds the hammer and is deemed by its enchantment to be worthy, shall possess the power of Thor. Usually, possession is acquainted with more malefic intentions, but I suppose we'll let that one slide for now. As a father-figure, Allfather Odin is usually regarded as one geared more toward doing good than harm. Still, y'know, gods can be capricious and their ways can seem quite harsh to mortal sensibilities. Either way, the hammer was put in charge, a sophisticated leash for the power of Thor.
Now, one of the other great challenges some of you may remember being sent against Thor was the magical automaton called The Destroyer. I've never liked that. In my head, I've always tried to re-label it as The Annihilator. I've never understood why they chose the name they did at Marvel. The name of the hammer, star of Thor's show, is Mjolnir. Mjolnir means "The Destroyer". Bad enough that the robot's super-tough because it's made from the same metal (Uru) as the hammer, but they gave it the same name as the hammer. That's got to get a little confusing in the heat of combat.
Oh, well, maybe they can work on it during their next retcon. It can't be too far off. What time is it?
Showing posts with label immortal. Show all posts
Showing posts with label immortal. Show all posts
Sunday, October 26, 2014
Monday, September 30, 2013
17157--SNICKER SNACK!
Through fire is the will of the maker enforced, shaping the metal into a blade of dangerous intent. Rhythmic hammer blows may be accompanied by chant or incantation or blessing to infuse the newly crafted weapon with specific magic or other supernatural purpose, especially if hands beyond those of mortals are involved. Air is breathed into the forge, fueling the flame and infusing the weapon with spirit.
And make no mistake, it is a weapon. Call it nothing less. It is no mere tool, brought into being for myriad function and adapted to combat. The sword is a weapon, decisive and fearsome, edged for cutting and pointed for stabbing. It is the one and only thing it was created to be. The metal of the blade is chosen for its strength so that it may easily destroy tender, yielding flesh. For thousands of years, man has been resigned to fighting his own kind.
Water is introduced to the fusion of elements, tempering the blade against stress with the fluid's cooling stability. In its own ways, water is as mystical as fire and it is a special strength it shares with the sword.
Feared or hated by goblin, demon, shade and beast, whether supernatural or mundane, spawn of the dark or the light, none crave the blade's keen bite. Inscribed with arcane symbols, imbued with the spirit of its wielder or ornamented with rarest gems, magic will only make the weapon more formidable. In fact, the most ready counter to any sword, enchanted or otherwise, seems ever to be another sword.
Was your weapon custom-made or forged by means beyond mortal ken, perhaps an immortal's gift from another realm, fat with the weight of its destiny. Draw forth your terrible blade, polish it bright and let others cringe before its shining menace and feel its awesome power.
Off the top of my head, of the many exotic personal weapons appearing in character hands throughout CHILD OF FIRE AND BLOOD, more than half of them are enchanted swords. Face it, they're tough to get away from. Do you have a favorite sword, magic or not, that holds a special place in your psyche?
And make no mistake, it is a weapon. Call it nothing less. It is no mere tool, brought into being for myriad function and adapted to combat. The sword is a weapon, decisive and fearsome, edged for cutting and pointed for stabbing. It is the one and only thing it was created to be. The metal of the blade is chosen for its strength so that it may easily destroy tender, yielding flesh. For thousands of years, man has been resigned to fighting his own kind.
Water is introduced to the fusion of elements, tempering the blade against stress with the fluid's cooling stability. In its own ways, water is as mystical as fire and it is a special strength it shares with the sword.
Feared or hated by goblin, demon, shade and beast, whether supernatural or mundane, spawn of the dark or the light, none crave the blade's keen bite. Inscribed with arcane symbols, imbued with the spirit of its wielder or ornamented with rarest gems, magic will only make the weapon more formidable. In fact, the most ready counter to any sword, enchanted or otherwise, seems ever to be another sword.
Was your weapon custom-made or forged by means beyond mortal ken, perhaps an immortal's gift from another realm, fat with the weight of its destiny. Draw forth your terrible blade, polish it bright and let others cringe before its shining menace and feel its awesome power.
Off the top of my head, of the many exotic personal weapons appearing in character hands throughout CHILD OF FIRE AND BLOOD, more than half of them are enchanted swords. Face it, they're tough to get away from. Do you have a favorite sword, magic or not, that holds a special place in your psyche?
Friday, April 5, 2013
16979--Child of Fire and Blood (Ch. 19)
The trouble starts over on the Theobroma page. I've decided to continue it out here with a few chapters for your perusal. Enjoy a taste of Tarakk prior to indulging in the whole novel. Feedback or questions on the world, its people, their gods or whatever are equally welcome.
The hot spring the dragons traditionally referred to as “the Place of Surrender“ was a place that some said conveyed its own sense of personality. Even frequent visitors found themselves impressed by its beauty. Believed to be unique within any lands the dragons knew, the area was dominated by a reddish brown and white marble eroded smooth by bubbling mineral waters over the course of countless years. The natural stone formations of slopes, steps and pools had been added to by many skilled crafters, enhanced through the creation of polished marble shelters and decorative structures to guide the water flows in aesthetically pleasing ways and to control the dissipation of the area’s natural heat. The artistic and practical fusion of elements created a special valued status for the location, respected for its tranquility by both dragon and Magi. All this existed within a great basin barely a hundred feet from the base of the southern wall of a sprawling range of jagged mountains most of the world called the Teriena Mountains. To those ancient dragons who had collectively inhabited the range for over a million years and the Magi who lived further south, they were simply dragonlands.
The nature of dragons being as it was, it was particularly rare for any of their kind to note time passage with the level of detail common to more finite species. Marking seasonal changes was their normal method of measuring the progression of a year. It was atypical among dragons to require any more specific record. Arranging meetings with non-dragons often proved an exercise in frustration when attempting to be more precise than a period of about twenty days. In adversarial matters, patient dragons had sometimes been known to outwait human opponents, achieving effortless victory through attrition.
Shakata knew it was significant to have been called to meet the head of the Dragon Council with such specificity, but he was also not surprised that the elder had not yet arrived. Still, he felt compelled to search while waiting, just to be sure they had not missed each other. Wearing only a snug pair of shorts that covered him down to mid-thigh, Shakata‘s muscled arms and torso glistened in the humid air as he walked away from a pair of relaxation experts back toward Kieren Sha where he had left her basking. Kieren Sha’s arms were outstretched from her sides along the rim of the basin, her upper body soaking in sunshine as the rest of her bathed in effervescent mineral water.
“Close your mouths, girls,” Kieren Sha called to the pair watching Shakata walk away. “You’re going to catch flies.”
“What’re you on about?” he asked, crouching beside the hot tub. “You’re supposed to be basking.”
“They were looking at you like you were lunch,” Kieren Sha said. “I don’t like their ideas of servicing you.”
“I thought it was odd that they were both offering to massage me,” he said.
“I can’t leave you alone anywhere,” she said. “I’ll massage you if you want one. They shouldn’t be trying to abuse their position like that. There are plenty of places for them to meet men with their guard down.”
“Not with so many spending all their time in Freespace,” Shakata said. “This is one of the few experiences that artificial reality just can’t match. You know how I feel about that, though.”
“Oh, sure,” she said. “You won’t shut up about it.”
“Sorry,” he told her. “You should keep an eye on your tan. You’re going to be as red as the marble if you’re not careful.”
“As long as I don’t get any tan lines,” she said, turning around. “How’s my back?”
“Beautiful as ever,” he replied. “You don’t have to stay just to protect me from stalkers, y‘know. I have to do this, but if you want to go, I can do this without you.”
“What? No, I’m in,” Kieren Sha said, turning back to face him and sliding her palms up her sides and over the tops of her breasts before stretching her arms to the sky. “I just never seem to get here enough…to really enjoy it.”
“Well, I just want to get to business and get done,” Shakata said.
“Alright,” Kieren Sha said, standing tall with her perfect breasts glistening in the sunlight, “I‘m ready. Get in here and service me.”
“What?”
“Oh, I’m sorry,” she said. “I forgot…It’s my turn to service you, isn’t it? Get in here and--”
“I…thought I’d look around once more,” Shakata said, eyeing her with increasing scrutiny. “Are you sure you’re alright? Maybe the heat‘s getting to you.”
“I…thought I was fine, but maybe it is,” Kieren Sha told him. “There are lots of other places to see pretty things. Maybe we should get out of here and bounce through some other dimensions. It could be lots of fun.”
“Just for the day?” he asked.
“Yeah,” she said with a smirk, “maybe two.”
“Or even a week,” Shakata said. “It has to be more fun than hanging around here.”
“Oh, we could visit my mother,” Kieren Sha said.
“In Magick?” Shakata asked. “Even if you know where, I thought there were restrictions against us mingling with the faeries.”
“But if you got special permission from Coyote…”
“Because all he wants is for me to agree to come to his plane and party and play and never ever leave,” Shakata said.
“Oh, now you’re talking my language,” Kieren Sha told him, wading across the hot tub to him with a mischievous gleam in her eyes.
“Literally, I imagine,” he said, poking his index finger at the center of his companion’s forehead, “Coyote.”
“Damn,” Kieren Sha said, her voice changing slightly and her shoulders slumping as a look of profound disappointment overcame her. “How’d you know?” came the question, accompanied by a profound huff and a lower lip pushed into full pout.
“You’re chaotic, Great Trickster,” Shakata said, “but broadly consistent. More importantly, Kee actually knows why we’re here.”
“It’s not to get hot and sweaty?” the puzzled immortal asked. “You do know, that’s why everyone else is here, right?”
“No,” Shakata said, doing his best to sound patient. “Regardless, I’m here for something serious.”
“No, you’re here for something boring,” Coyote complained through his mortal disguise. “Everybody else is here for action. Hot bod here,” Coyote said, grabbing and shaking her ample breasts, “is here for action with you, believe it or not. When are you going to close this deal, little buddy?”
“You’re making less sense than usual,” Shakata said, maintaining a confident facade. “This is one of those times when you’re trying to salvage your position by confusing me, right?”
“Whatever you want to believe,” Coyote said, looking at him with renewed resolve. “You desperately need to enjoy yourself more. You’ve no idea how stressed you look. Come with me. We can fly and play and--”
“No,” Shakata said, reminding himself who was truly behind the inviting tones and violet eyes.
“You don’t trust me,” the pouting lips moaned with a bit of a quiver. “After all the years we’ve known each other?”
“On the contrary,” Shakata said. “I trust you to be all too true to the Bright Chaos you embody, which offers me very poor odds of surviving your ideas of play, especially when your mind starts wandering to some new whim. That's when spider silk wings suddenly unravel and reality's harsher bits revert to relevancy.”
Coyote stuck Kieren Sha’s tongue out at Shakata.
“I definitely don’t want to see you harm Kee. You didn’t just copy her this time,” Shakata said, studying his friend’s form, “you’ve possessed her, haven’t you?”
“So what if I have?” the Trickster asked, making her sound petulant. “Maybe I like being a Coyote in Sha’s clothing.”
“And maybe I don’t like you treating her like some kind of a toy,” the young man said, steam rising off him as he lost his composed veneer for a moment. “I thought it was just the heat, at first, but you’re doing something to her aura that can’t be healthy.”
“Hey, calm yourself. You’re going to boil the water,” Coyote warned. “You want her back raw not cooked, right?”
In response, a flash of violet energy leapt from her. The light coalesced into a canine form seated beside the hot tub. Shakata noticed almost immediately that this new body had not only six legs but also six eyes.
“Satisfied?” Coyote asked.
“Close enough. That form’s actually more comprehensible,” Shakata said. “Thanks.”
“For you? Not a problem,” Coyote said, “big dumb genius know-it-all.”
“Shaka?” Kieren Sha moaned weakly. “What…?”
“Welcome back, Kee,” Shakata said, steadying her and guiding her to his side of the pool. “How do you feel?”
“I’m not sure,” she said. “When did we get here? And where’s here, anyway?”
“Here is where we are, of course,” Shakata said to her.
“Thanks,” she said, looking about. “Wolf?” Kieren Sha asked, still a bit dazed.
“Oh, please,” Coyote snapped, assuming the form of a grizzled, white-haired man so he could scowl at Kieren Sha with his hands on his hips, “as if that stiff has anywhere near my charm.”
“It’s Coyote, Kee,” Shakata said. “He…borrowed you.”
“You dare take me for some mundane avatar, a spirit, a shade reincarnating from one mortal form to the next,” Coyote protested. “I am of the Infinite, older than time, primal power beyond your woefully limited comprehension. Were you to behold me in all my unbound glory--”
“Thanks for keeping that thing covered this time, by the way,” Shakata said.
“--you would succumb to utter madness.”
“Would it sound anything like your ranting?” Shakata asked.
“Tread with care, boy,” Coyote warned grimly. “You may be especially delightful, but you’re not beyond even the least of my power.”
“No,” Shakata acknowledged thoughtfully, looking deep into the celestial being’s eyes, “but I notice you’ve yet to end me.”
The bullying trickster read the eyes of his mortal acquaintance for several tense seconds, seeking out any trace of fear upon which he might prey.
“Did you really need me here for this?” Kieren Sha asked, attempting to break the uncomfortable tension.
“Of course not,” Shakata said. “Coyote just doesn’t have a problem treating everyone else as a plaything.”
“You should see how you seethe when you get protective of her. You don’t have to like it,” the ancient entity told him, “but this one’s mine. She was born here, but she’s got my brand on her same as her mother.”
“She doesn’t need you exploiting her,” Shakata said. “This plane isn’t Magick and we’re not part of your playground.”
“You’re funny,” Coyote said. “If I ever get tired of going where I want and doing what I want, I’ll let you know.”
“For now, how about you just leave Kee alone?” Shakata asked. “She needs to recover.”
“You’re so fussy,” the immortal laughed. “She’s too comfy inside not to wear around once in a while. You should try her.”
“Being part-faerie doesn’t make her yours to victimize.”
“Sure it does,” Coyote insisted. “She’s so much bigger on the inside and we both like you for some reason. Plus, the faeries are my children, so…who better to torment? I screw with them and they pass it on. It‘s educational parenting.”
“Not enough fey blood to allow her to dwell with the faeries, but enough to make her a target?” Shakata asked.
“Yup.”
“Not even close to fair for her,” Shakata said. “Bad form.”
“You think you‘re the first to notice mortal lives ain‘t about fairness?” Coyote taunted. “Still, I’ve yet to make her do much of anything she hasn’t truly wanted to do.”
“You expect me to believe that?” Shakata asked.
“I expect you not to know whether to believe it or not,” Coyote laughed. “You two are such messy torrents of thoughts and feelings,” he said, tapping on Shakata’s skull. “Poor boy. So many gifts from the First Child, yet still merely mortal.”
“I can live with it.”
“But for how long?” the immortal asked. “Are you really going to argue for the limits of the finite?”
“She‘s free,” Shakata told him, “and I’ll fight for her for as long as I‘ve got.”
“You’ve got spirit, kid,” Coyote said. “You may not pick the fights with the best odds, but you’ve got spirit.”
“Look where I live. I’m used to being the smallest one in any fight.”
“Yeah, you’re really shaking your home team up with all that young rebel noise of yours,” Coyote said. “When do you start setting the fires?”
“I’m not trying to hurt anyone,” Shakata said. “I do respect my people.”
“You want them to eat right and exercise,” Coyote said, “but you want to do it the hard way by leaving the choice up to them based on some notion of respect for those…people you’re pretending are your actual parents.”
“I--Wait. What?” Shakata asked.
“I’d tell you to accept that you’re not going to fit in and get on with your life, but you clearly yearn to be challenged,” Coyote smiled broadly as he laughed out loud. “So keep charging onward like a wildfire, young one. You’ll find all you can manage.”
“You’re saying that following my feelings on this will lead to destruction?” Shakata asked.
“You can’t reconstruct till after you’ve destroyed, kid,” Coyote said. “Any shaman worth a damn’ll tell you that.”
“All of Nature finds regeneration through Fire,” Shakata said with the distant tone of one recalling a dream.
“Who says the young can’t be taught? No, boy, you do whatever works for you. Follow your nose, your big toe or your third leg. It doesn’t matter to me. Dance to your own music. Take a rope to a sword fight. Cut the blue wire. Answer authority with questions! Just remember to enjoy stepping on all those toes because people too angry to see straight can‘t aim their lies well either.”
“Wait, what about my parents?” Shakata asked.
“What about your parents, Shaka?” Kieren Sha asked, a probing hand on his right arm.
Shakata looked at her, then back to Coyote, but the immortal was gone.
“He’s gone,” Shakata said. “Where’d he go?”
“He vanished thirty seconds ago, Shaka,” she told him. “Then, you just…blanked out. Whatever possessed you to challenge him like that?”
“Him possessing you, I believe,” he said. “You think I’d ever just stand by and not fight for you?”
“He could’ve changed you into a slug or something,” she warned him. “Or wished you away like dust in the wind.”
“Well, the day I push too far,” Shakata said, “I suppose I’ll find out the hard way.”
“I’d rather you didn’t,” she said. “You going to be alright?”
“Indeed, a valid query,” a deep, gravelly voice asked from behind them.
“Aash-katier,” Shakata said as the young Magi pair turned to face the huge silver dragon. “Welcome, elder. You’re well?”
“My greatest issue is deep concern for you, little one,” the revered dragon elder said as he folded his shining wings along the shimmering scales of his back.
“Just…pondering my sanity,” Shakata said. “How might I assist the Dragon Council today?”
“Oh, it is I who have come to be of aid,” the ancient one said. “There are events unfolding of which you should be aware.”
“Alright,” Shakata said. “Where shall we begin?”
“You should take this,” Aash-katier said, holding out a luminous crystal ball to him.
“Thank you,” Shakata said, cradling the heavy piece of clear crystal in his hands. “This is…several thousand years old?”
“Correct. Two of our smoke agents have confirmed the presence of an Albani military force that’s taken control of two human communities in Bentrci near Zadiasam’s border,” the great dragon reported in his rumbling bass. “And I believe you were already aware of the manifestation in Azirta.”
“Yes,” Shakata said. “Are these events connected to this crystal somehow?”
“Look into the crystal,” Aash-katier told him. “Relax and clear your mind.”
His feet still dangling in the hot tub, Shakata did as he was instructed. Kieren Sha continued watching over him silently from a few feet away, submerged in the bubbling water up to her neck. As his gaze blanked, Kieren Sha’s brow furrowed.
“That’s not magical,” she said quietly. “I sense some great power in it, though. You know he doesn’t do magic, right?”
“Be at ease, child,” Aash-katier whispered, his silver-scaled form relaxing along its outstretched length as it wound about the curvaceous formations of hot rock in characteristically serpentine fashion. “Give him a moment.”
“I see…great fire,” Shakata said, the crystal beginning to glow as it appeared to flame within. “From First Child‘s fire were Magi formed and formed again. Through time’s passage, Darkness first falls. The frozen giant advances. With crimson storm, are beast and Behemoth born. By night, fire descends to cool the eastern jewel. By southern dawn’s light will fire take flight over fertile fields of blood and peace…rushing jumbling images…so much…” he said, starting to wobble.
Kieren Sha stood, wading to Shakata’s side and putting her hands on his knee. The crystal rolled forward from his limp hands, Kieren Sha catching the orb just before it hit the water.
“Shaka?” she probed as Aash-katier reached out to hold him upright.
“Fire and water…” Shakata said, sounding almost drunk. “Raining fish…ice and dark…and…”
“And? And what, Shaka?” she asked.
“The end,” he said.
“End,” she echoed. “What end? End of what?”
“End…the Magi,” he said.
Kieren Sha looked at the crystal in her hand, its glow faded, then up at Aash-katier.
“It’s more than I got out of it,” the ancient dragon said.
“Where did you get this?” Kieren Sha asked.
“From our friend’s parents,” Aash-katier replied, looking to Shakata.
“Did I miss anything?” Shakata asked, regaining alertness.
“When the Magi came to request a home in these lands,” Aash-katier said, “they were received as kindred for it was through the First Child that dragonkind first learned the Way of Fire. Still, the Magi were charged with proving they could hold any territory they might be granted, ultimately earning the name ‘Warlords’ among the humans whom they had allowed to live. With their chosen border defined, the Magi entrusted this crystal to me as a symbol of peaceful coexistence. Naming it ‘Laku’, they bid I should hold it until a time I would come to know.”
“They gave you this…thousands of years ago?” Kieren Sha asked.
“Yes,” the dragon said.
“I saw myself,” Shakata said.
“I saw you, also,” Aash-katier told them. “Thus, as events began to occur that struck my notice and the orb began to glow more, I thought it time to pass this to you.”
“Laku,” Kieren Sha said. “That sounds…old…and very familiar. What’s that mean?”
“Nothing,” Shakata said.
“I know it’s familiar,” she said. “It has to mean something.”
“It does,” Shakata said. “It’s the old tongue, Primal. It means, ‘zero’ and ‘nothing’. In this case, apparently a very specific nothing: the end of the Magi.”
“If any of that other nonsense is even to be trusted,” she said. “There is no southern dawn.”
“Maybe…second dawn?” Shakata pondered.
“Prophetic ramblings are often open to interpretation,” the elder dragon offered. “This whole thing may be premature, but when the manifestation of Phoenix descended last night upon Azirta, Zadiasam’s eastern jewel, I made an assumption. It may yet be proven right or wrong. Likewise, the further connection of Alban to being the frozen giant.”
“I’d say our options are further meditation,” Shakata said, “and using Oracle’s planetary surveillance to watch for anything else that seems like it may fit.”
“Just what you needed,” Kieren Sha said, “an excuse to try to isolate yourself.”
“Well, Kee, obviously, this could be of great importance,” Shakata said. “The things I’ve just seen and the images I’ve been seeing may prove to be warnings of great danger to all of us. We have to find out what’s going on.”
“Yes,” Aash-katier said. “No offense, but I’ll be very interested to learn what comes of all this. The suspense has really been getting to me the last couple of centuries.”
CHILD OF FIRE AND BLOOD
NINETEEN
The hot spring the dragons traditionally referred to as “the Place of Surrender“ was a place that some said conveyed its own sense of personality. Even frequent visitors found themselves impressed by its beauty. Believed to be unique within any lands the dragons knew, the area was dominated by a reddish brown and white marble eroded smooth by bubbling mineral waters over the course of countless years. The natural stone formations of slopes, steps and pools had been added to by many skilled crafters, enhanced through the creation of polished marble shelters and decorative structures to guide the water flows in aesthetically pleasing ways and to control the dissipation of the area’s natural heat. The artistic and practical fusion of elements created a special valued status for the location, respected for its tranquility by both dragon and Magi. All this existed within a great basin barely a hundred feet from the base of the southern wall of a sprawling range of jagged mountains most of the world called the Teriena Mountains. To those ancient dragons who had collectively inhabited the range for over a million years and the Magi who lived further south, they were simply dragonlands.
The nature of dragons being as it was, it was particularly rare for any of their kind to note time passage with the level of detail common to more finite species. Marking seasonal changes was their normal method of measuring the progression of a year. It was atypical among dragons to require any more specific record. Arranging meetings with non-dragons often proved an exercise in frustration when attempting to be more precise than a period of about twenty days. In adversarial matters, patient dragons had sometimes been known to outwait human opponents, achieving effortless victory through attrition.
Shakata knew it was significant to have been called to meet the head of the Dragon Council with such specificity, but he was also not surprised that the elder had not yet arrived. Still, he felt compelled to search while waiting, just to be sure they had not missed each other. Wearing only a snug pair of shorts that covered him down to mid-thigh, Shakata‘s muscled arms and torso glistened in the humid air as he walked away from a pair of relaxation experts back toward Kieren Sha where he had left her basking. Kieren Sha’s arms were outstretched from her sides along the rim of the basin, her upper body soaking in sunshine as the rest of her bathed in effervescent mineral water.
“Close your mouths, girls,” Kieren Sha called to the pair watching Shakata walk away. “You’re going to catch flies.”
“What’re you on about?” he asked, crouching beside the hot tub. “You’re supposed to be basking.”
“They were looking at you like you were lunch,” Kieren Sha said. “I don’t like their ideas of servicing you.”
“I thought it was odd that they were both offering to massage me,” he said.
“I can’t leave you alone anywhere,” she said. “I’ll massage you if you want one. They shouldn’t be trying to abuse their position like that. There are plenty of places for them to meet men with their guard down.”
“Not with so many spending all their time in Freespace,” Shakata said. “This is one of the few experiences that artificial reality just can’t match. You know how I feel about that, though.”
“Oh, sure,” she said. “You won’t shut up about it.”
“Sorry,” he told her. “You should keep an eye on your tan. You’re going to be as red as the marble if you’re not careful.”
“As long as I don’t get any tan lines,” she said, turning around. “How’s my back?”
“Beautiful as ever,” he replied. “You don’t have to stay just to protect me from stalkers, y‘know. I have to do this, but if you want to go, I can do this without you.”
“What? No, I’m in,” Kieren Sha said, turning back to face him and sliding her palms up her sides and over the tops of her breasts before stretching her arms to the sky. “I just never seem to get here enough…to really enjoy it.”
“Well, I just want to get to business and get done,” Shakata said.
“Alright,” Kieren Sha said, standing tall with her perfect breasts glistening in the sunlight, “I‘m ready. Get in here and service me.”
“What?”
“Oh, I’m sorry,” she said. “I forgot…It’s my turn to service you, isn’t it? Get in here and--”
“I…thought I’d look around once more,” Shakata said, eyeing her with increasing scrutiny. “Are you sure you’re alright? Maybe the heat‘s getting to you.”
“I…thought I was fine, but maybe it is,” Kieren Sha told him. “There are lots of other places to see pretty things. Maybe we should get out of here and bounce through some other dimensions. It could be lots of fun.”
“Just for the day?” he asked.
“Yeah,” she said with a smirk, “maybe two.”
“Or even a week,” Shakata said. “It has to be more fun than hanging around here.”
“Oh, we could visit my mother,” Kieren Sha said.
“In Magick?” Shakata asked. “Even if you know where, I thought there were restrictions against us mingling with the faeries.”
“But if you got special permission from Coyote…”
“Because all he wants is for me to agree to come to his plane and party and play and never ever leave,” Shakata said.
“Oh, now you’re talking my language,” Kieren Sha told him, wading across the hot tub to him with a mischievous gleam in her eyes.
“Literally, I imagine,” he said, poking his index finger at the center of his companion’s forehead, “Coyote.”
“Damn,” Kieren Sha said, her voice changing slightly and her shoulders slumping as a look of profound disappointment overcame her. “How’d you know?” came the question, accompanied by a profound huff and a lower lip pushed into full pout.
“You’re chaotic, Great Trickster,” Shakata said, “but broadly consistent. More importantly, Kee actually knows why we’re here.”
“It’s not to get hot and sweaty?” the puzzled immortal asked. “You do know, that’s why everyone else is here, right?”
“No,” Shakata said, doing his best to sound patient. “Regardless, I’m here for something serious.”
“No, you’re here for something boring,” Coyote complained through his mortal disguise. “Everybody else is here for action. Hot bod here,” Coyote said, grabbing and shaking her ample breasts, “is here for action with you, believe it or not. When are you going to close this deal, little buddy?”
“You’re making less sense than usual,” Shakata said, maintaining a confident facade. “This is one of those times when you’re trying to salvage your position by confusing me, right?”
“Whatever you want to believe,” Coyote said, looking at him with renewed resolve. “You desperately need to enjoy yourself more. You’ve no idea how stressed you look. Come with me. We can fly and play and--”
“No,” Shakata said, reminding himself who was truly behind the inviting tones and violet eyes.
“You don’t trust me,” the pouting lips moaned with a bit of a quiver. “After all the years we’ve known each other?”
“On the contrary,” Shakata said. “I trust you to be all too true to the Bright Chaos you embody, which offers me very poor odds of surviving your ideas of play, especially when your mind starts wandering to some new whim. That's when spider silk wings suddenly unravel and reality's harsher bits revert to relevancy.”
Coyote stuck Kieren Sha’s tongue out at Shakata.
“I definitely don’t want to see you harm Kee. You didn’t just copy her this time,” Shakata said, studying his friend’s form, “you’ve possessed her, haven’t you?”
“So what if I have?” the Trickster asked, making her sound petulant. “Maybe I like being a Coyote in Sha’s clothing.”
“And maybe I don’t like you treating her like some kind of a toy,” the young man said, steam rising off him as he lost his composed veneer for a moment. “I thought it was just the heat, at first, but you’re doing something to her aura that can’t be healthy.”
“Hey, calm yourself. You’re going to boil the water,” Coyote warned. “You want her back raw not cooked, right?”
In response, a flash of violet energy leapt from her. The light coalesced into a canine form seated beside the hot tub. Shakata noticed almost immediately that this new body had not only six legs but also six eyes.
“Satisfied?” Coyote asked.
“Close enough. That form’s actually more comprehensible,” Shakata said. “Thanks.”
“For you? Not a problem,” Coyote said, “big dumb genius know-it-all.”
“Shaka?” Kieren Sha moaned weakly. “What…?”
“Welcome back, Kee,” Shakata said, steadying her and guiding her to his side of the pool. “How do you feel?”
“I’m not sure,” she said. “When did we get here? And where’s here, anyway?”
“Here is where we are, of course,” Shakata said to her.
“Thanks,” she said, looking about. “Wolf?” Kieren Sha asked, still a bit dazed.
“Oh, please,” Coyote snapped, assuming the form of a grizzled, white-haired man so he could scowl at Kieren Sha with his hands on his hips, “as if that stiff has anywhere near my charm.”
“It’s Coyote, Kee,” Shakata said. “He…borrowed you.”
“You dare take me for some mundane avatar, a spirit, a shade reincarnating from one mortal form to the next,” Coyote protested. “I am of the Infinite, older than time, primal power beyond your woefully limited comprehension. Were you to behold me in all my unbound glory--”
“Thanks for keeping that thing covered this time, by the way,” Shakata said.
“--you would succumb to utter madness.”
“Would it sound anything like your ranting?” Shakata asked.
“Tread with care, boy,” Coyote warned grimly. “You may be especially delightful, but you’re not beyond even the least of my power.”
“No,” Shakata acknowledged thoughtfully, looking deep into the celestial being’s eyes, “but I notice you’ve yet to end me.”
The bullying trickster read the eyes of his mortal acquaintance for several tense seconds, seeking out any trace of fear upon which he might prey.
“Did you really need me here for this?” Kieren Sha asked, attempting to break the uncomfortable tension.
“Of course not,” Shakata said. “Coyote just doesn’t have a problem treating everyone else as a plaything.”
“You should see how you seethe when you get protective of her. You don’t have to like it,” the ancient entity told him, “but this one’s mine. She was born here, but she’s got my brand on her same as her mother.”
“She doesn’t need you exploiting her,” Shakata said. “This plane isn’t Magick and we’re not part of your playground.”
“You’re funny,” Coyote said. “If I ever get tired of going where I want and doing what I want, I’ll let you know.”
“For now, how about you just leave Kee alone?” Shakata asked. “She needs to recover.”
“You’re so fussy,” the immortal laughed. “She’s too comfy inside not to wear around once in a while. You should try her.”
“Being part-faerie doesn’t make her yours to victimize.”
“Sure it does,” Coyote insisted. “She’s so much bigger on the inside and we both like you for some reason. Plus, the faeries are my children, so…who better to torment? I screw with them and they pass it on. It‘s educational parenting.”
“Not enough fey blood to allow her to dwell with the faeries, but enough to make her a target?” Shakata asked.
“Yup.”
“Not even close to fair for her,” Shakata said. “Bad form.”
“You think you‘re the first to notice mortal lives ain‘t about fairness?” Coyote taunted. “Still, I’ve yet to make her do much of anything she hasn’t truly wanted to do.”
“You expect me to believe that?” Shakata asked.
“I expect you not to know whether to believe it or not,” Coyote laughed. “You two are such messy torrents of thoughts and feelings,” he said, tapping on Shakata’s skull. “Poor boy. So many gifts from the First Child, yet still merely mortal.”
“I can live with it.”
“But for how long?” the immortal asked. “Are you really going to argue for the limits of the finite?”
“She‘s free,” Shakata told him, “and I’ll fight for her for as long as I‘ve got.”
“You’ve got spirit, kid,” Coyote said. “You may not pick the fights with the best odds, but you’ve got spirit.”
“Look where I live. I’m used to being the smallest one in any fight.”
“Yeah, you’re really shaking your home team up with all that young rebel noise of yours,” Coyote said. “When do you start setting the fires?”
“I’m not trying to hurt anyone,” Shakata said. “I do respect my people.”
“You want them to eat right and exercise,” Coyote said, “but you want to do it the hard way by leaving the choice up to them based on some notion of respect for those…people you’re pretending are your actual parents.”
“I--Wait. What?” Shakata asked.
“I’d tell you to accept that you’re not going to fit in and get on with your life, but you clearly yearn to be challenged,” Coyote smiled broadly as he laughed out loud. “So keep charging onward like a wildfire, young one. You’ll find all you can manage.”
“You’re saying that following my feelings on this will lead to destruction?” Shakata asked.
“You can’t reconstruct till after you’ve destroyed, kid,” Coyote said. “Any shaman worth a damn’ll tell you that.”
“All of Nature finds regeneration through Fire,” Shakata said with the distant tone of one recalling a dream.
“Who says the young can’t be taught? No, boy, you do whatever works for you. Follow your nose, your big toe or your third leg. It doesn’t matter to me. Dance to your own music. Take a rope to a sword fight. Cut the blue wire. Answer authority with questions! Just remember to enjoy stepping on all those toes because people too angry to see straight can‘t aim their lies well either.”
“Wait, what about my parents?” Shakata asked.
“What about your parents, Shaka?” Kieren Sha asked, a probing hand on his right arm.
Shakata looked at her, then back to Coyote, but the immortal was gone.
“He’s gone,” Shakata said. “Where’d he go?”
“He vanished thirty seconds ago, Shaka,” she told him. “Then, you just…blanked out. Whatever possessed you to challenge him like that?”
“Him possessing you, I believe,” he said. “You think I’d ever just stand by and not fight for you?”
“He could’ve changed you into a slug or something,” she warned him. “Or wished you away like dust in the wind.”
“Well, the day I push too far,” Shakata said, “I suppose I’ll find out the hard way.”
“I’d rather you didn’t,” she said. “You going to be alright?”
“Indeed, a valid query,” a deep, gravelly voice asked from behind them.
“Aash-katier,” Shakata said as the young Magi pair turned to face the huge silver dragon. “Welcome, elder. You’re well?”
“My greatest issue is deep concern for you, little one,” the revered dragon elder said as he folded his shining wings along the shimmering scales of his back.
“Just…pondering my sanity,” Shakata said. “How might I assist the Dragon Council today?”
“Oh, it is I who have come to be of aid,” the ancient one said. “There are events unfolding of which you should be aware.”
“Alright,” Shakata said. “Where shall we begin?”
“You should take this,” Aash-katier said, holding out a luminous crystal ball to him.
“Thank you,” Shakata said, cradling the heavy piece of clear crystal in his hands. “This is…several thousand years old?”
“Correct. Two of our smoke agents have confirmed the presence of an Albani military force that’s taken control of two human communities in Bentrci near Zadiasam’s border,” the great dragon reported in his rumbling bass. “And I believe you were already aware of the manifestation in Azirta.”
“Yes,” Shakata said. “Are these events connected to this crystal somehow?”
“Look into the crystal,” Aash-katier told him. “Relax and clear your mind.”
His feet still dangling in the hot tub, Shakata did as he was instructed. Kieren Sha continued watching over him silently from a few feet away, submerged in the bubbling water up to her neck. As his gaze blanked, Kieren Sha’s brow furrowed.
“That’s not magical,” she said quietly. “I sense some great power in it, though. You know he doesn’t do magic, right?”
“Be at ease, child,” Aash-katier whispered, his silver-scaled form relaxing along its outstretched length as it wound about the curvaceous formations of hot rock in characteristically serpentine fashion. “Give him a moment.”
“I see…great fire,” Shakata said, the crystal beginning to glow as it appeared to flame within. “From First Child‘s fire were Magi formed and formed again. Through time’s passage, Darkness first falls. The frozen giant advances. With crimson storm, are beast and Behemoth born. By night, fire descends to cool the eastern jewel. By southern dawn’s light will fire take flight over fertile fields of blood and peace…rushing jumbling images…so much…” he said, starting to wobble.
Kieren Sha stood, wading to Shakata’s side and putting her hands on his knee. The crystal rolled forward from his limp hands, Kieren Sha catching the orb just before it hit the water.
“Shaka?” she probed as Aash-katier reached out to hold him upright.
“Fire and water…” Shakata said, sounding almost drunk. “Raining fish…ice and dark…and…”
“And? And what, Shaka?” she asked.
“The end,” he said.
“End,” she echoed. “What end? End of what?”
“End…the Magi,” he said.
Kieren Sha looked at the crystal in her hand, its glow faded, then up at Aash-katier.
“It’s more than I got out of it,” the ancient dragon said.
“Where did you get this?” Kieren Sha asked.
“From our friend’s parents,” Aash-katier replied, looking to Shakata.
“Did I miss anything?” Shakata asked, regaining alertness.
“When the Magi came to request a home in these lands,” Aash-katier said, “they were received as kindred for it was through the First Child that dragonkind first learned the Way of Fire. Still, the Magi were charged with proving they could hold any territory they might be granted, ultimately earning the name ‘Warlords’ among the humans whom they had allowed to live. With their chosen border defined, the Magi entrusted this crystal to me as a symbol of peaceful coexistence. Naming it ‘Laku’, they bid I should hold it until a time I would come to know.”
“They gave you this…thousands of years ago?” Kieren Sha asked.
“Yes,” the dragon said.
“I saw myself,” Shakata said.
“I saw you, also,” Aash-katier told them. “Thus, as events began to occur that struck my notice and the orb began to glow more, I thought it time to pass this to you.”
“Laku,” Kieren Sha said. “That sounds…old…and very familiar. What’s that mean?”
“Nothing,” Shakata said.
“I know it’s familiar,” she said. “It has to mean something.”
“It does,” Shakata said. “It’s the old tongue, Primal. It means, ‘zero’ and ‘nothing’. In this case, apparently a very specific nothing: the end of the Magi.”
“If any of that other nonsense is even to be trusted,” she said. “There is no southern dawn.”
“Maybe…second dawn?” Shakata pondered.
“Prophetic ramblings are often open to interpretation,” the elder dragon offered. “This whole thing may be premature, but when the manifestation of Phoenix descended last night upon Azirta, Zadiasam’s eastern jewel, I made an assumption. It may yet be proven right or wrong. Likewise, the further connection of Alban to being the frozen giant.”
“I’d say our options are further meditation,” Shakata said, “and using Oracle’s planetary surveillance to watch for anything else that seems like it may fit.”
“Just what you needed,” Kieren Sha said, “an excuse to try to isolate yourself.”
“Well, Kee, obviously, this could be of great importance,” Shakata said. “The things I’ve just seen and the images I’ve been seeing may prove to be warnings of great danger to all of us. We have to find out what’s going on.”
“Yes,” Aash-katier said. “No offense, but I’ll be very interested to learn what comes of all this. The suspense has really been getting to me the last couple of centuries.”
Saturday, June 16, 2012
16683--It Ain't Easy Being Green
I'm experiencing a little bit of a sweet spot in time. After a dry spell that seems to have lasted a few years, there are finally a few hours of cartoons worth watching on Saturday morning. Hallelujah!
I don't know about you, but it's the well-written superhero action that gets me excited. Ben 10 has been successfully changing themes every couple of years and maintains fairly clever writing. Thundercats is delivering a far more interesting update than its original series ever managed. Young Justice, like Marvel's Ultimates, very smartly focuses on DC's Earth 16 rather than the Earth 1 that most people are accustomed to seeing in the comics, thus freeing it from the constraints of comic continuity (not that they really seem to be worried about that in the comics anymore--Yeah, I went there.). With The Legend of Korra, Nickelodeon continues tales begun in Avatar: The Last Airbender and the only bothersome thing I find in either continues to be that Nickelodeon doesn't show them more often. That just leaves Green Lantern: The Animated Series, Bruce Timm's latest addition to the DCU animations (I'll talk about Disney's new toons another time).
Being a ring-slinger has always been a lot to shoulder. The job comes with a whole committee of bosses who are not only stern but omnipotent, no pay or benefits, relentless workload and tremendous responsibility. Oh, and travel. Oh, boy, do they travel. In the post-Crisis DCU and with the many subsequent, ridiculously frequent revisions it has undergone since, being a Green Lantern hasn't gotten any easier. At least the loyal workforce of the Guardians could feel confident before that it had been provided with the most powerful weapons in the universe. Now, they seem to have little more than watered down versions of what the mighty power rings once were. The wearers of the rings are as tough as ever, don't get me wrong. The intrepid corps, clad in their green and black tights, has a lot of heart.
The universe portrayed in the new GL series is suffering from the decay of the last three decades in the comics. A single Green Lantern was once a force to be reckoned with. Against threats that could endanger worlds or star systems, such a hero was important to have fighting for order. Now they've been neutered, reduced from special forces soldiers charging into the fray with the best gear anyone could have to neighborhood watchmen with whistles and glowy Nerf nightsticks. To the bad guys, Green Lanterns are pussies now and they'd better not go nosing into things without back-up.
The Guardians of the Universe now cower when Oa comes under attack. Excuse me? These are the Guardians of the Universe? They must be actors hired to pose as immortal titans. Oa should be the last place anyone should even think about assaulting. Likewise, if you're a bad guy, I shouldn't have to tell you to locate in some city other than Gotham, Metropolis or New York. If you're a bad guy who just has to operate in one of those towns, I have to conclude it's because you have some pathological drive to take on one of the heroes living there and won't be convinced to leave until one of you is dead. But attack Oa? Have the Guardians been neutered, too? They may want to look at next year's budget and see if they can follow the model of Earth's locale, Sector 2814: bolster it up with multiple Green Lanterns.
It certainly can't be because we have a shortage of superheroes around. I passed three the last time I leapt a tall building.
It also seems they need to work on the rings a bit because they seem to have difficulty remaining charged for any consistent length of time. The GLs may want to start carrying the lanterns with them so they can recharge at will or use them to bash bad guys with in a pinch. They may want to keep power ring tech support on their speed dialers while they're at it. I've had this problem with cell phones before, but I never put up with it for long (hint hint).
As mentioned earlier, the GLs may want to start working in groups. As ineffective and unreliable as the power rings are being portrayed, it's becoming increasingly difficult to accept that any of them make it through any of their adventures solo.
How do they even manage the trips back to the home office? Turning light years into a simple commute takes a lot of power. And remember, the omnipotent bosses are immortal, but not patient. They don't want to have to wait when they send out a summons, which means GLs have to be able to move PDQ.
I get it. I really do. Superman used to be able to move worlds and fly through stars. A Green Lantern used to hold power enough to snuff stars if needed. No more of that. Omnipotent heroes are hard to challenge which makes them harder to write for, so they've made things easier...for the writers. The heroes have to work harder for their triumphs. That's fine. It earns them more respect and makes their stories more interesting. Don't try to sell me, though, on them forgetting to charge their rings or even thinking about standing up to a score of Red Lanterns when they can barely handle two. Those sorts of behaviors just end up coming off as foolish.
Again, don't get me wrong. Green Lantern: The Animated Series is not a bad show at all. The dialogue is witty and the CGI, while new for DCU, reminds me of The Incredibles (a fantastic movie in its own right). The show could be improved with more consistency and power rings worthy of the name, though. I think it'd make a stronger challenge for the writers and better protagonists for the show to have the mortals a little brighter and the immortals a bit more patient than arrogant.
I don't know about you, but it's the well-written superhero action that gets me excited. Ben 10 has been successfully changing themes every couple of years and maintains fairly clever writing. Thundercats is delivering a far more interesting update than its original series ever managed. Young Justice, like Marvel's Ultimates, very smartly focuses on DC's Earth 16 rather than the Earth 1 that most people are accustomed to seeing in the comics, thus freeing it from the constraints of comic continuity (not that they really seem to be worried about that in the comics anymore--Yeah, I went there.). With The Legend of Korra, Nickelodeon continues tales begun in Avatar: The Last Airbender and the only bothersome thing I find in either continues to be that Nickelodeon doesn't show them more often. That just leaves Green Lantern: The Animated Series, Bruce Timm's latest addition to the DCU animations (I'll talk about Disney's new toons another time).
Being a ring-slinger has always been a lot to shoulder. The job comes with a whole committee of bosses who are not only stern but omnipotent, no pay or benefits, relentless workload and tremendous responsibility. Oh, and travel. Oh, boy, do they travel. In the post-Crisis DCU and with the many subsequent, ridiculously frequent revisions it has undergone since, being a Green Lantern hasn't gotten any easier. At least the loyal workforce of the Guardians could feel confident before that it had been provided with the most powerful weapons in the universe. Now, they seem to have little more than watered down versions of what the mighty power rings once were. The wearers of the rings are as tough as ever, don't get me wrong. The intrepid corps, clad in their green and black tights, has a lot of heart.
The universe portrayed in the new GL series is suffering from the decay of the last three decades in the comics. A single Green Lantern was once a force to be reckoned with. Against threats that could endanger worlds or star systems, such a hero was important to have fighting for order. Now they've been neutered, reduced from special forces soldiers charging into the fray with the best gear anyone could have to neighborhood watchmen with whistles and glowy Nerf nightsticks. To the bad guys, Green Lanterns are pussies now and they'd better not go nosing into things without back-up.
The Guardians of the Universe now cower when Oa comes under attack. Excuse me? These are the Guardians of the Universe? They must be actors hired to pose as immortal titans. Oa should be the last place anyone should even think about assaulting. Likewise, if you're a bad guy, I shouldn't have to tell you to locate in some city other than Gotham, Metropolis or New York. If you're a bad guy who just has to operate in one of those towns, I have to conclude it's because you have some pathological drive to take on one of the heroes living there and won't be convinced to leave until one of you is dead. But attack Oa? Have the Guardians been neutered, too? They may want to look at next year's budget and see if they can follow the model of Earth's locale, Sector 2814: bolster it up with multiple Green Lanterns.
It certainly can't be because we have a shortage of superheroes around. I passed three the last time I leapt a tall building.It also seems they need to work on the rings a bit because they seem to have difficulty remaining charged for any consistent length of time. The GLs may want to start carrying the lanterns with them so they can recharge at will or use them to bash bad guys with in a pinch. They may want to keep power ring tech support on their speed dialers while they're at it. I've had this problem with cell phones before, but I never put up with it for long (hint hint).
As mentioned earlier, the GLs may want to start working in groups. As ineffective and unreliable as the power rings are being portrayed, it's becoming increasingly difficult to accept that any of them make it through any of their adventures solo.
How do they even manage the trips back to the home office? Turning light years into a simple commute takes a lot of power. And remember, the omnipotent bosses are immortal, but not patient. They don't want to have to wait when they send out a summons, which means GLs have to be able to move PDQ.I get it. I really do. Superman used to be able to move worlds and fly through stars. A Green Lantern used to hold power enough to snuff stars if needed. No more of that. Omnipotent heroes are hard to challenge which makes them harder to write for, so they've made things easier...for the writers. The heroes have to work harder for their triumphs. That's fine. It earns them more respect and makes their stories more interesting. Don't try to sell me, though, on them forgetting to charge their rings or even thinking about standing up to a score of Red Lanterns when they can barely handle two. Those sorts of behaviors just end up coming off as foolish.
Again, don't get me wrong. Green Lantern: The Animated Series is not a bad show at all. The dialogue is witty and the CGI, while new for DCU, reminds me of The Incredibles (a fantastic movie in its own right). The show could be improved with more consistency and power rings worthy of the name, though. I think it'd make a stronger challenge for the writers and better protagonists for the show to have the mortals a little brighter and the immortals a bit more patient than arrogant.
Wednesday, December 28, 2011
16514--The Promethean Gift
We have a class of heroes in our culture that we hold dear for bucking rules and fighting systems. These heroes we adore for "fighting the good fight", meaning that we'll love them whether they win or not. We'll love them for having the heart, the courage and the staggering audacity to unleash their chutzpah against giants that may well crush them and not even care. True enough, we hold these mavericks in positions of iconic reverence, but they are still mortal. What status is deserved by a maverick who begins as an immortal?
His name, Prometheus, means "forethought" and he has long been credited with the power of prescience. He was born to the Titans, child of Iapetus and Themis, brother to Epimetheus and Atlas. When the Titans were the ones in power, he sided against them with the younger generation because he knew who would be victorious in their struggles for supremacy. Though often cited as a trickster, he is also credited with committing the theft of fire from jealous gods for the benefit of mankind despite his diminished status and, given his powers, the horrific punishment he knew would be dealt as a result. Who really wants to endure centuries of disembowelment by being eaten alive? No one I know. He ultimately traded his release for knowledge that Zeus and Poseidon both wanted, but he never broke, neither altering his position nor apologizing for it. His levels of courage and tenacity are without doubt sublime.
Unlike many mythic figures, he's not best remembered for his power. Never have I found a tale of Prometheus being the super-annoying god of "I told you so" or the guy who was always peppering conversations with "I knew you were going to say that." Instead, Prometheus is noted for his sacrifice and gifts, all favoring humanity against his oppressive kin.
I am under the impression that the legendary "theft of fire" from Olympus has actually been underrated, whether for the sake of brevity or by the designs of the Olympian PR department. I think the "fire" stolen for us was as metaphoric a description as the "darkness" that Zeus wished to keep mankind shrouded beneath. The dark time following the Titanomachies (years of wars between generations of immortals) would be common following a rise to power, Zeus taking the position of establishing the strict control of his new regime. Put 'em down, keep 'em down and keep 'em stupid...those tired, poor, huddled masses yearning to breathe free. Not if Zeus could help it.
Even though Prometheus had sided with Olympus against the Titans, he also showed that he intended to champion mortals against the gods. The act of "stealing fire" represented Prometheus bestowing not just energy to man, but the blazing light of intellect, knowledge of craft and healing arts and the living Earth. He traded his torture for our enlightenment, not only standing up to Zeus but flaunting whatever obscene he felt went best with that defiance.
Prometheus was a special kind of hero, a champion of the underdog rabble that humans really are. Sounds like a Tough Guy to me.
His name, Prometheus, means "forethought" and he has long been credited with the power of prescience. He was born to the Titans, child of Iapetus and Themis, brother to Epimetheus and Atlas. When the Titans were the ones in power, he sided against them with the younger generation because he knew who would be victorious in their struggles for supremacy. Though often cited as a trickster, he is also credited with committing the theft of fire from jealous gods for the benefit of mankind despite his diminished status and, given his powers, the horrific punishment he knew would be dealt as a result. Who really wants to endure centuries of disembowelment by being eaten alive? No one I know. He ultimately traded his release for knowledge that Zeus and Poseidon both wanted, but he never broke, neither altering his position nor apologizing for it. His levels of courage and tenacity are without doubt sublime.
Unlike many mythic figures, he's not best remembered for his power. Never have I found a tale of Prometheus being the super-annoying god of "I told you so" or the guy who was always peppering conversations with "I knew you were going to say that." Instead, Prometheus is noted for his sacrifice and gifts, all favoring humanity against his oppressive kin.
I am under the impression that the legendary "theft of fire" from Olympus has actually been underrated, whether for the sake of brevity or by the designs of the Olympian PR department. I think the "fire" stolen for us was as metaphoric a description as the "darkness" that Zeus wished to keep mankind shrouded beneath. The dark time following the Titanomachies (years of wars between generations of immortals) would be common following a rise to power, Zeus taking the position of establishing the strict control of his new regime. Put 'em down, keep 'em down and keep 'em stupid...those tired, poor, huddled masses yearning to breathe free. Not if Zeus could help it.
Even though Prometheus had sided with Olympus against the Titans, he also showed that he intended to champion mortals against the gods. The act of "stealing fire" represented Prometheus bestowing not just energy to man, but the blazing light of intellect, knowledge of craft and healing arts and the living Earth. He traded his torture for our enlightenment, not only standing up to Zeus but flaunting whatever obscene he felt went best with that defiance.
Prometheus was a special kind of hero, a champion of the underdog rabble that humans really are. Sounds like a Tough Guy to me.
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