To all of you gardeners out there here is something eco friendly thing you can do if you ever need to cut down or trim a tree or hedge. Instead of burning or throwing the waste in a wood chipper you can make what's called a deadwood hedge
You lay the largest branches on the bottom and then weave the smaller branches into it eventually making a hedge.
This particular one I made is from a laurel hedge and I'm sure a lot of people can to better than me but it still looks pretty good but is amazing for the environment as any small animals such as birds, snakes and hedgehogs use them for shelter and protection from predators as well as providing a barrier against roads keeping them from going into them
Smite god line up speculations and some lore on them
So the new god line up video got released and we already know two of the gods that will be released this year and I love mythology and wanted to share my thoughts on who the gods/deities will be as well as provide some lore for them. For those who haven’t watched it yet here it is
As the lore lady said the first goddess of the year is Tiamat. Tiamat originates from the ancient Babylonian religion and was a primordial (existing since the beginning of time) goddess of the salt sea and chaos and is the mother of Lahmu and Lahamu with Abzu/Apsu (the god of fresh water) being their father. Tiamat and Abzu were the embodiment of Nothingness and when she gave birth her children and their offspring created the world. This angered Abzu which caused him to fight against the gods but was slain, this enraged Tiamat and she created monsters to kill the gods. The most prominent monster she created during this time were dragons which is why she is usually portrayed as either a dragon or a serpent, The gods fought against her with the strongest of the gods, Marduk, leading his army of gods to fight against her creations and after an intense battle he slayed Tiamat and sliced her apart to create the rest of the world. Her ribs became heaven and earth, her eyes became the sources for the rivers tigris and euphrates and her tail became the milky way while Abzu’s corpse became the land and the night sky.
The second upcoming god is Gilgamesh, who isn't really a god but is the protagonist of one of the oldest surviving texts from the Babylonian era: The epic of Gilgamesh. It is about a king who the gods thought was so arrogant and proud that they sent Enkido to fight him to make him more humble but instead befriended him and they go on adventures. On one of their adventures they kill the demon of the cedar forest, Humbaba which caused them to get the attention of Ishtar who attempts to seduce Gilgamesh, he refuses and refers to all the other men which she seduced and had suffered horrible fates. Ishtar, so enraged with Gilgamesh sent her brother, the bull of the heavens, to kill Gilgamesh. Enkido kills the bull but by doing so is sent to death by the gods. Gilgamesh falls into a deep depression from the death of his quest and devotes the rest of his life into finding the meaning of life and to gain immortality. After traveling for many years he finds Utnapishtim who gives him 2 chances to obtain immortality, his first trial was to stay awake for 6 days and 6 nights which he fails, his second trial was to protect a magical plant which he failed as a snake eats the plant while he slept, he’s then rowed back to his home by the ferryman of the dead: Utnapishtim. Once he returns home he writes about his adventures.
The third God/deity has not been revealed but there are a lot of clues as to who they will be. They are referred to using female pronouns, has a magic circle (I couldn't find a name of a specific one) which are closely related with European witchcraft, when she's being introduced words which link to to use of magic and intelligence are used, behind her is also a castle and due to its architecture resembling English castles I think she’s most likely going to be part of the Arthurian pantheon, specifically she’s Morgan le Fay. Morgan le Fay was King Arthur’s half sister, a powerful enchantress who was closely associated with witches and her role in the story has been changed many times from a powerful witch who tries to harm King Arthur by throwing the scabbard of Excalibur into a lake to a part of the group who send King Arthur to the Isle of Avalon when he dies. I personally really love her design from what we see here and I cant wait to see it in the game.
During this god/deities introduction while the word ocean or relating word is not used there are words that constantly suggest it such as ‘drown’ and ‘depths’ along with the blue whirlpool motif and with teeth overplayed on top. I personally think that this is going to be the Greek monster Charybdis because in many depictions of Charybdis have two things in common forming a whirlpool with a bottomless depth and teeth around the edges of it. Charybdis is part of the same myth as Scylla where it is a child of Poseidon and Gaea. In Charybdis part of the myth she would swallow water and belch it onto the land causing it to flood in an attempt to help her fathers quarrel against Zeus. When Zeus saw what Charybdis was doing he transformed her into a monster cursed to eternally swallow water which created whirlpools.
The next god/deity is a part of the Celtic pantheon due to the lore lady specifically mentioning the emerald isle which is an alternative name for Ireland. The lore lady also mentions both the words ‘howling’ and ‘shrieking’ and saying this character is a vengeful spirit which causes death. This is very clearly going to be the Banshee. The Banshee was a creature from Irish mythology which is depicted as a woman which screams throughout the night, it is said that whoever hears a Banshees scream will experience either their death or the death of somebody close to them which also lines up to what the lore lady says about them ‘leaving only death in her wake’.
The last god/deity this year will be the one that has a lot of possibilities for who the will be however we do know that they are ‘carrier of the cosmos’. Personally I think that it will be Atlas, the Greek Titan who held up the sky as punishment for the titanomachy. However it very well could be many other gods such as Nut, Nuun or even Ouranos. I think its most likely going to be Atlas or Ouranos because of the fact that they take up the vast majority of the frame which I interpret as they’re going to be a big character and that at the end the lore lady say this
She specifically mentions titans and both Atlas and Ouranos were titans.
I could be wrong on any of these but I’d like to hear everyone's opinion on what they think that the new characters are going to be personally I love mythology and folklore so this was very fun to do. If you want to add any additional information to the lore of the characters go ahead I’d love to hear some more in case I learn something new
Rereading the soft machine arc and everytime they talk about Polpo’s hidden stash I keep thinking that Polpo secretly has a mustache that Araki refuses to draw, please help
