For some reason my titan oc post has been gaining traction lately, so I thought I'd finally add another installment of lore for y'alls. This time it's some more about the titans-their personalities, physicality, etc. Enjoy! (also please forgive me I still don't know how to make the drop down thing so this is just going to be a wall of text)
Tiamat is a very kind and caring Titan, absolutely adoring her ‘children’ and constantly keeping an eye on them as they grow and change with time. As any good mother should, she shepherds her flock through her Cityspeaker and continues to create new life within her mighty body every few hundred thousand years. She has not forgotten her titanic clash with Jormungandr, but she believes that she and her children are quite safe from the warmongering Titan on Sumakkalon. This sense of safety comes from the fact that all Titans have a degree of ‘interconnectedness’; it allows Tiamat to determine that Jormungandr is indeed still alive, but he is far enough away that their bond is very stretched and thus is a safe distance away. However, she does not care for the exploits of space outside of trade with other races for the betterment of her children, as she still knows that there is danger lurking amongst the stars. Thus, Sumakkalon maintains a pseudo-isolationist policy, only nurturing trade relations with other colonies and species as opposed to political and military alliances. Her children mean everything to her, and if needed she will unleash a fury like no other to defend them. However, she also wholeheartedly believes in the power of her children and is quite happy to let them march through time on their own. Though she helps them with her quarterly speeches, she purposely remains cryptic in order to let her children grow on their own and forge their own path in life instead of simply following her orders. She is incredibly proud of what the Sumakkalonians have become, and she looks forward to seeing them continue to innovate and evolve. She also feels quite blessed that her children pay attention to her and venerate her so much-she quite enjoys all of the religious ceremonies that they do!
If Tiamat must rise again and fight, she possesses vast strength and knowledge with which to do so. She wields a massive spear as her weapon. Tiamat’s lower half in robot mode takes on the form of a gigantic snake’s tail and her face is fashioned into a snarling snout. Buildings stack to form great ‘wings’ jutting from her shoulders as well. Fingers form deadly claws, fangs line her snout, and piercing yellow optics gaze on all below her. Her plating is as tan as the desert sand, accented by earthy brown, brilliant Turkish blue, and shimmering gold.
Though she maintains a consistent presence in Bahamut and the rest of Sumakkalon, Tiamat is still technically slumbering. Her body is dormant and her mind is active, but that means she cannot maintain herself other than her routine, biological maintenance systems. More extensive maintenance is necessary, as the harsh sun and semi-arid climate wear on her armour over time. Thus, the Servants of the Mother make sure to take care of her body inside and out.
Within Tiamat’s body are countless rooms, with her body being so vast that there are many rooms that even the most dedicated of the Servants cannot find. However, certain rooms hold particular significance:
Temple of the Mother-The central dome of Tiamat’s ziggurat mode, the Temple of the Mother is an auspicious ritual space in which the monthly Devotionals, the Parental Bonding, the Passing On, and the quarterly Judgements are held. It is open to the public during these events, but only these events. Other than those specific times, the Temple of the Mother is open to the Voice of the Mother, the Sacred Blades, and the Servants of the Mother only.
Mother’s Mind- This holy chamber is the space that contains Tiamat’s brain module and is only accessible by the Voice of the Mother, who only enters the chamber to speak directly with the Titan. No one other than the Voice of the Mother and their Sacred Blades know where the chamber is. The walls are a beautiful Turkish blue and are covered in golden lights, and right before the brain module sits a lavish rug and a small altar on which the Voice of the Mother lies to begin their communion with Tiamat.
Pool of An- A very plain chamber, the tan walls are decorated only with a relief of the golden optics of Tiamat gazing down at the pool. This relief is meant to symbolize the Mother watching over her unborn children. The lights in the room are very dim so as to not irritate the children. At the center of the circular room lies a pool of sentio metallico, and deep within the depths of that pool lies Tiamat’s hotspot. The sparks emerge from the hotspot directly into the sentio metallico, thus allowing them to begin forming bodies as soon as they are born. This chamber is always guarded by only the most pious and trustworthy members of the Fangs of the Mother, and only Warming Sun can open the doors to access it (she is the only one that Tiamat approves of for opening the doors).
Pool of Nintinugga- When a Sumakkalonian dies, their lightless spark casing is brought to this pool by Psychopomp, leader of the Ashes of the Mother. Once the spark casing is placed within the pool, its essence is reabsorbed into Tiamat’s life-giving systems and will essentially be ‘reincarnated’ by having aspects of its essence go into the forging of newsparks in the Pool of An. The dimly lit chamber the pool is in is a deep Turkish blue and decorated with a relief of a spark being eaten by Tiamat and its essence travelling down into her ‘womb’; a representation of the ‘reincarnation’ cycle. Only Psychopomp has access to this chamber, though it is heavily guarded by the Fangs of the Mother.
Fire of Ereshkigal- This chamber is quite different from the others, as it is brightly lit and decorated with semi-precious stones like jasper and lapis lazuli that have encrusted the walls into gemstone swirls and calligraphy. In the center lies a pit of molten metal, sentio metallico heated to boil by Tiamat’s internal heating system. The sparkless body of a dead Sumakkalonian will be placed in the molten metal by Spirit and Temporal, the two Ashes of the Mother whose job it is to ritually burn the bodies of the dead so that their metal may be recycled back into Tiamat’s systems.
Jormungandr is an incredibly fierce and warrior-like Titan who loves nothing more than to fight and conquer. He fully believes in the rule of the powerful and strong, and so takes on the opinion that his children should be equally as strong as he. Strangely enough, this belief in the strongest shall survive creates within him a strange kind of honour. He will pay great respect to any foes who he deems strong and mighty, instructing his children to do so as well. They still must win over these other civilizations, but they will most certainly not be forgotten by Jormungandr. On the other hand, he has no problem telling his children to crush obviously weaker societies under their pedes. They do not deserve to live, in his mind. Furthermore, no one holds a grudge like Jormungandr. He still despises Tiamat for her weakness and especially for her taking his right optic, so he is constantly monitoring the interconnectedness of the Titans to ensure that she is still somewhere out there. She must be, so he and his children can kill her and every single one of her wretched spawn. He knows she’s still out there, as do his children, so he remains satisfied that he will have the pleasure of killing her one day. This grudge, along with his general militancy, is the reason why he encourages his children to be so war-like along with traveling the stars so much. He wants them to be prepared for all sorts of battles that will inevitably come when he finally finds Tiamat, and he wants them to find her in the first place. Unlike the Sumakkalonians, the other Titan is not a legend to them. Jormungandr has told them Tiamat exists and must be stopped, and they believe him. As such, he has carefully cultivated the culture of Bua Iss into a war-mongering, star-traversing one in order to further his own ideology and thirst for revenge.
Outside of his hunger for battle, Jormungandr is actually quite caring and protective. Like a wolf father, he cares for his children with a viciousness and protectiveness unrivaled by even Tiamat. This protectiveness makes him a very chatty Titan as a result, as he is constantly wanting to help his children thrive and rise up as the most dominant people around. He can be quite gruff with them though, as he fully believes in tough love. He encourages his children to face defeat with an open mind and courage, as defeats are simply learning opportunities and signs that one needs to educate oneself to improve. He also encourages the Bua Issans to constantly search for new experiences and opportunities, as growth and education are key to domination. One needs to know their enemy to thoroughly defeat them! He is incredibly proud of his children and all that they have accomplished, seeing great things for them in the future. He also knows that they will always have a future, as every hundred thousand years or so his hotspot brings forth a new generation of Bua Issans. Furthermore, he knows that they will always be protected by his beloved pets Huginn and Muninn, absolutely massive raven-shaped drones who stand sentinel at the mouth of the fjord.
If push must come to shove, or if the Bua Issans find Tiamat, Jormungandr will rise again from his slumber to sound the horn for war. Wielding a truly massive skeggøx (bearded axe) as his weapon, Jormungandr has a truly impressive amount of knowledge about warfare and the ferocity to match his skills. In robot mode, his lower half looks like the tail of a sea serpent complete with gunmetal grey, black, and dark blue plating to match. His torso resembles a very heavily armoured warframe build, and his helm looks like a horned Viking helmet.
When transformed into his city form (which is most of the time), his torso resembles a massive Norwegian-style church with sharp points while his arms slam down in front of this ‘church’ to become two massive longhouses. His tail becomes numerous smaller buildings, typically small homes. In this mode he remains in a slumber, though his consciousness is active enough to regularly engage with the Ormstunga (cityspeaker-it means ‘serpent tongue’ in Old Norse). Throughout his body he has many, many rooms, with many of the lower levels being used as public spaces and offices. On the upper levels are the more exclusive rooms, with the most important being:
The Mindpeak: The highest point of Urnes, this chamber is where Jormungandr’s brain module is. This chamber is the only place in Bua Iss that is not accessible to the public, being reserved only for the Ormstunga. It is constantly guarded by the Gaetta, a special warrior branch of the Kind. Inside the Mindpeak, the walls are beautifully decorated with ‘tattoos’ depicting the battles Jormungandr has participated in, including his titanic struggle with Tiamat. There is also a ceremonial bed carved with the images of serpents that the Ormstunga lies down on when communing with Jormungandr.
The Ormstunga’s Chamber: A small, cozy nook that Jormungandr himself made for his Ormstunga, this chamber is on the level of the Urnes just below the Mindpeak. It is meant to be a haven for the cityspeaker in order to further their connection to Jormungandr. Personally, Sunsnow doesn’t like the chamber and prefers to be outside, as she finds Jormungandr’s presence in her mind to be oppressive. The only time she spends in it is to sleep and to complete her duties, most of which involve her standing out on the balcony extending from the chamber to allow her to address the hordes of Bua Issans.
The Timberfell: A large, open room on the same floor as the Ormstunga’s chamber, this room is utilized by the Ormstunga to complete the carving of the ceremonial skuta used in the Journey. It is absolutely filled with timber and tapestries, with the timber being used to create the skuta and the tapestries serving as inspiration for the intricate carvings woven into the wood. It is also constantly guarded by the Gaetta.
The Alarum: Unlike the other important, non-public rooms in the Urnes, the Alarum is located deep within the very foundation of Jormungandr’s torso. This is the location of the Titan’s hotspot, and thus the place where all Bua Issans are born. It too is constantly guarded by the Gaetta. The dimly lit chamber is primarily illuminated by the hotspot itself, which is located directly in the center of the room. It is covered by a pool of sentio metallico which flows down into the pool from two ‘waterfalls’. The Kind have determined that the sentio metallico is constantly being drawn through Jormungandr’s body and replenished by his systems; once refreshed, it comes into the chamber through the waterfalls. If not used, it simply flows through the Titan’s body again.
The Haugr: Another important room located within the foundation of the Urnes, the Haugr serves as a special crypt for the bodies of deceased Ormstunga. This very cold, dark, linear room is covered in intricate carvings of knots, and stone coffins line the walls of the room. There is a single pathway through the middle of the room, boxed in by coffins on either side. No one really knows how long the room is, as the only section that is lit is the one with the coffins in it, one light over each coffin. Only the bravest of the Gaetta guard this creepy room.
