New TWOF prequel incoming!
Okay, so you know how I've been infodumping a lot about Luzbel lately? Well, it's not for no reason because I'm making a new prequel that's all about him! It's called "Hymn of the Gods", and it's focused on Luzbel's growth as he struggles to fit in amongst the gods of the Skylands, all while facing the growing threat of the Underworld.
I just finished the Olympian's designs, and soon I'll be working on the Egyptians.
Let's kick things off with Zeus, the God of Thunder and the king himself! While he is a womanizer and has fathered many children with many mortal women, he still loves his wife Hera. He would split a planet in half for his children, and is very protective of his subjects, both divine and mortal.
Speaking of Hera, here she is! She's the goddess of marriage, and while she did always get mad at Zeus for cheating on her with mortal women, she just accepted that that's just how he is and she's calmed down about it. She's even friends with a lot of his spouses like Leto (Artemis and Apollo), Alcmene (Hercules), Semele (Dionysus), and many others.
Overall, she's very motherly and kind towards her children, but can also be very strict if they misbehave or are cruel to each other or other creatures.
Poseidon, the God of the Seas! Not much to say about him except that the sea reflects his mood, typical of an ocean god. On days when he's calm, the sea is calm and sailors can go by effortlessly. On days when he's pissed, the sea is tossing and turning with storms and tidal waves; he could drown a whole city if he wanted to, but he's not that ruthless. He's an excellent brother to Zeus and Hades, they make a great trio.
I've mentioned Hades a few times on this blog, and here he is in the flesh! He's the God of the Underworld, and despite him having a bad rep when it comes to underworld gods (I blame Disney for taking so many liberties with the Hercules movie; don't get me wrong, I like it, I just don't like how inaccurate it is to the real story), he's a nice guy and is always willing to listen if any of his subjects have something to say.
He loves his wife Persephone deeply, and would do anything for her. He's also became good friends with Orpheus after he died (he had to sit through at least an hour of tearful apologies of how stupid Orpheus was to look back at Eurydice), but now that Orphie and his beloved are reunited in the afterlife, all is well.
Demeter is the Goddess of the Harvest, and is easily the most strict and motherly of them all. She's very protective of her daughter Persephone, and while she had her complaints when Hades took her to the Underworld (they had been meeting in secret a few weeks prior because Persephone didn't want to be constantly controlled by Demeter all the time, and because Hades was the only one who treated her like an adult), she's alright about it now and even invites Hades over sometimes.
Hestia is the Goddess of the Hearth, and the oldest of her siblings (well, technically also the youngest since Kronos threw her up last since she was the first child he swallowed).
She's one of the more solitary gods, preferring to watch over and mingle among mortals since she enjoys their theatrics and culture.
Athena is the goddess of wisdom, and the oldest of the demigod Olympians. As we all know, she was expelled from Zeus' forehead after he swallowed his first wife Metis (who, in my AU, was expelled from him later in the same fashion), and as we know she came out full-grown and ready to kick some ass.
She's very smart and is well-read on all sorts of subjects, but she's also very smart and strategic when it comes to battle, which is where her association with war comes from.
Ares is the God of War, and exactly what you'd expect of him: brash, reckless, cruel, all that jazz. He's actually the real reason why Hephaestus is crippled the way he is.
In most stories, it's either Hera or Zeus that throws Hephaestus off of Mount Olympus after he's born, but in my AU it's Ares who pushed him when they were kids because he was jealous of how well-treated Hephaestus was compared to him (not that Ares wasn't treated well, he was just too much for his parents to handle). He was punished after this, and his ego only grew as he got older.
Hephaestus is the God of Blacksmithing, and is very calm and rational and smart. He brought the gift of machinery to man, and he made the first robots, which were made of bronze and given life so that they could move and do things all on their own.
He's very gentle as well, and despite the stories, he and his wife Aphrodite are a fabulous couple. He treats her very well and showers her with jewelry that he crafts himself, and her most prized treasure is the girdle he made for her as a wedding gift.
Aphrodite is the Goddess of Love, and that title is not lost on her. She's very sweet and gentle with everyone, and is more than willing to help out others with their relationships, whether it's romantic or not. She's deeply in love with Hephaestus, and hates Ares with a passion (the bad kind). The reason she married Hephaestus was because Zeus was afraid that the male gods would get into a fight over who would be her husband, and that someone would get hurt, so he asked her who she would like to marry and she chose Hephaestus.
As for the time when Ares got tricked and was caught up in chains, Aphrodite was sick and tired of Ares' constant advances and mistreatment toward her, so she and Hephaestus came up with a plan to trick him and expose his misdeeds to the gods. So Hephaestus created a net of chains that were so thin they were nearly invisible but were very strong, and strung them all around his and Aphrodite's bedroom, and instructed Aphrodite to wait for Ares to try and sneak in while he pretended to go on a trip. When Ares arrived, once he was within three feet of the bed he was suddenly caught and trapped in the net, and Hephaestus came back with all the other gods in tow. After that, Ares steered clear of Aphrodite and Hephaestus and just didn't even bother with them anymore.
Apollo is the god of the sun, healing, and music. He's very gentle but also kind of a wisecracker, and is one of the more laid-back gods. He runs an infirmary on Olympus, where he takes care of the injured after a battle or if there's an accident, and makes no exceptions to whoever he's healing.
Artemis is the goddess of the moon and the hunt, and is Apollo's twin sister. She's a bit of a tomboy, not even bothering with men (except her friendship with Orion), and spends a lot of time with her nymphs and dogs in the forest.
Hermes is the god of travelers, thieves, and messages. If anyone has a message to go to the other Skylands, they go to Hermes. That's partially why he's the smallest of the Olympians; his small size makes him faster, and he's mostly found hovering in the air or relaxing.
Last but not least, we have Dionysus, the god of wine and merrymaking. He's either too drunk or too sober, either way that's how you've got him. He's always one to host and go to parties and get-togethers in the Skylands (especially if there's booze, he bee-lines off to Asgard for those). He has a pet leopard, and looks after a grapevine that's grown so much it's all over the inside of his temple on Olympus now. Overall, he's a chill guy and good to hang out with.
And that's all I've got for the Olympians! I'll move on to the Egyptians, and then the Asgardians.
