Sungate (part 11)
Mr Zoat
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11th September 2012
14:46 GMT
"Delighted to meet you, cousin!"
The actually gold-skinned man Coeus introduced as Hyperion brushes past me to take Melinoë's hands in his own and kiss them. And it's not just his skin that's golden and mildly reflective. No, his clothes and… What I assume is meant to be armour -or at least super sized jewellery that looks a little like armour- is also gold, and his goes from bright gold at the front to red-gold at the back. His sister-wife Theia is dressed in a similar manner, adding a gold… Helmet? Head dress? To the mix.
No children, I note. No Helios-alt here to contract with the one back on Earth.
Theia doesn't look-. No, it's not that she's annoyed at her husband behaving in such a familiar way with another woman. She's looking suspiciously at all of us.
"Uncle."
"Oh, come now! We're a generation removed from our forebears." He offers her his goblet, and apparently misses the fact that her father is her mother's uncle. "May I offer you a drink?"
"Thank you, no."
"My lord Hyperion, my lady Theia."
"Human." Theia doesn't seem to like me any better having gotten a closer look at me. "You are the ambassador, and not that greater being within you?"
"You can talk to the Ophidian if you want, but the drawback of wanting everything is that you don't want anything more than anything else. It's unlikely that she'd care about you or your family."
"Still."
I shrug. "As you will."
My Agent?
She just wants to talk to you for a moment.
She believes that she is reduced by speaking to you. I shall teach her better.
As you see fit.
And then the corridors of the Honden surround me as the Ophidian borrows my body in the physical universe. Ooh, this is… Different. The.. locals have structures similar to those of most humanoids, and desires… Yes, those are familiar enough. Those around New Cronus don't appear to have the burning desire for freedom or restoration that suggests they're harshly oppressed… But then, it's not as if their native rulers were models of liberal democratic rulership. Pre-industrial society can't really work that way; travel and communication technology just doesn't allow it. So if the new rulers are worse then they're not much worse, at least to the people immediately around them.
Which is nice, I suppose.
These gods themselves… Yes, Hyperion wants to spread his 'solar rays' but only with other beings in his weight class. Theia doesn't really care about his behaviour. She cares about their alliance and doesn't think that he'll do anything to undermine.. it…
What's… That? That line of desire feels familiar. What is-.
And I'm back in the room, the assembled children of Rhea looking a little disturbed.
"Problem?"
"No, no." Coeus recovers fastest, taking my arm and leading me towards his red-skinned companions. "Just a little surprising. Don't think anything of it."
"I have no idea what she said to you-."
"This is Lord Iapetus and Lady Themis, gods of the planet."
Iapetus offers me his right arm. "Your snake has great wisdom. I have wanted to take a more active role in shaping Minosyss to the advantage of its citizens, and I believe-"
Themis looks truculent, but holds her peace when he looks at her and gives her the opportunity to chime in.
"-that we have a new accord on the subject."
"I'm glad to hear it. If you can manipulate the magma, there's probably a way to introduce geothermal power. Maybe even industrialise the place eventually."
"Your serpentine companion was of the opinion that the greatest testament to a god's greatness was the strength of their people. I take it that you share that view?"
"I wouldn't have built a Lantern Corps if I didn't."
"There, you see?" He gestures towards a globe displaying the planet below. "Rewarding devotion is no sign of subservience."
"There was a dispute on the subject?"
Iapetus nods, though the globe retains the majority of his attention.
"We discussed using the planet's resources to cow the people into greater displays of devotion. I was never in favour of it, but… It makes a certain degree of sense. It's far easier to see a disaster caused than a disaster prevented."
"Oh, that's painfully true. But exactly how-?"
"And over here-" Coeus pulls me away from the terraphiles as they redirect a major river. "-are Oceanus and Tethys."
A strange contrast in substances. Both have aquatic tails, though I can't tell whether they're supposed to be fish or dolphin. The flesh of their upper torsos is translucent blue, almost water-like, while the 'hair' on her head and the 'hair' of his tremendous beard both appear to be made of anemone tendrils. They're laying on benches by a pool.
I nod to Oceanus.
"I briefly met your predecessor. He very nearly killed me."
His beard straightens in shock.
"He lives?"
"He's currently confined, but yes."
"Then perhaps when we are finished here, we shall visit Earth."
"Have you ever visited before?"
Tethys shrugs. "In a sense, we-."
Coeus pulls again, clearly not wanting me to hear the rest of her answer. Though it's not hard to work out what it would be. They either have or haven't. If she's prevaricating, then… It's their home in a spiritual sense? Or part of them came from there? Was Rhea pregnant with them when they left?
"And the last of my brothers and sisters, Lord Crius and Lady Mnemosyne."
Brown hair, with green skin covered in tattoos. He's wearing a toga while she's wearing a cloak which bares her entire 'attribute-free' body.
And if that's the last, then there's no Cronus or Rhea equivalent. Which makes a degree of sense. Also, the pairs don't quite match up with the pairings of the originals. But they're their own people.
Which -given what happened- is probably a very good thing.
"A pleasure."
Mnemosyne nods. "It is always pleasant to meet a mortal who has pushed his mind as far as you have. But we are most eager for you to begin your work, and render the world below safe for our mortal servants."
"Then let's get started."
14:46 GMT
"Delighted to meet you, cousin!"
The actually gold-skinned man Coeus introduced as Hyperion brushes past me to take Melinoë's hands in his own and kiss them. And it's not just his skin that's golden and mildly reflective. No, his clothes and… What I assume is meant to be armour -or at least super sized jewellery that looks a little like armour- is also gold, and his goes from bright gold at the front to red-gold at the back. His sister-wife Theia is dressed in a similar manner, adding a gold… Helmet? Head dress? To the mix.
No children, I note. No Helios-alt here to contract with the one back on Earth.
Theia doesn't look-. No, it's not that she's annoyed at her husband behaving in such a familiar way with another woman. She's looking suspiciously at all of us.
"Uncle."
"Oh, come now! We're a generation removed from our forebears." He offers her his goblet, and apparently misses the fact that her father is her mother's uncle. "May I offer you a drink?"
"Thank you, no."
"My lord Hyperion, my lady Theia."
"Human." Theia doesn't seem to like me any better having gotten a closer look at me. "You are the ambassador, and not that greater being within you?"
"You can talk to the Ophidian if you want, but the drawback of wanting everything is that you don't want anything more than anything else. It's unlikely that she'd care about you or your family."
"Still."
I shrug. "As you will."
My Agent?
She just wants to talk to you for a moment.
She believes that she is reduced by speaking to you. I shall teach her better.
As you see fit.
And then the corridors of the Honden surround me as the Ophidian borrows my body in the physical universe. Ooh, this is… Different. The.. locals have structures similar to those of most humanoids, and desires… Yes, those are familiar enough. Those around New Cronus don't appear to have the burning desire for freedom or restoration that suggests they're harshly oppressed… But then, it's not as if their native rulers were models of liberal democratic rulership. Pre-industrial society can't really work that way; travel and communication technology just doesn't allow it. So if the new rulers are worse then they're not much worse, at least to the people immediately around them.
Which is nice, I suppose.
These gods themselves… Yes, Hyperion wants to spread his 'solar rays' but only with other beings in his weight class. Theia doesn't really care about his behaviour. She cares about their alliance and doesn't think that he'll do anything to undermine.. it…
What's… That? That line of desire feels familiar. What is-.
And I'm back in the room, the assembled children of Rhea looking a little disturbed.
"Problem?"
"No, no." Coeus recovers fastest, taking my arm and leading me towards his red-skinned companions. "Just a little surprising. Don't think anything of it."
"I have no idea what she said to you-."
"This is Lord Iapetus and Lady Themis, gods of the planet."
Iapetus offers me his right arm. "Your snake has great wisdom. I have wanted to take a more active role in shaping Minosyss to the advantage of its citizens, and I believe-"
Themis looks truculent, but holds her peace when he looks at her and gives her the opportunity to chime in.
"-that we have a new accord on the subject."
"I'm glad to hear it. If you can manipulate the magma, there's probably a way to introduce geothermal power. Maybe even industrialise the place eventually."
"Your serpentine companion was of the opinion that the greatest testament to a god's greatness was the strength of their people. I take it that you share that view?"
"I wouldn't have built a Lantern Corps if I didn't."
"There, you see?" He gestures towards a globe displaying the planet below. "Rewarding devotion is no sign of subservience."
"There was a dispute on the subject?"
Iapetus nods, though the globe retains the majority of his attention.
"We discussed using the planet's resources to cow the people into greater displays of devotion. I was never in favour of it, but… It makes a certain degree of sense. It's far easier to see a disaster caused than a disaster prevented."
"Oh, that's painfully true. But exactly how-?"
"And over here-" Coeus pulls me away from the terraphiles as they redirect a major river. "-are Oceanus and Tethys."
A strange contrast in substances. Both have aquatic tails, though I can't tell whether they're supposed to be fish or dolphin. The flesh of their upper torsos is translucent blue, almost water-like, while the 'hair' on her head and the 'hair' of his tremendous beard both appear to be made of anemone tendrils. They're laying on benches by a pool.
I nod to Oceanus.
"I briefly met your predecessor. He very nearly killed me."
His beard straightens in shock.
"He lives?"
"He's currently confined, but yes."
"Then perhaps when we are finished here, we shall visit Earth."
"Have you ever visited before?"
Tethys shrugs. "In a sense, we-."
Coeus pulls again, clearly not wanting me to hear the rest of her answer. Though it's not hard to work out what it would be. They either have or haven't. If she's prevaricating, then… It's their home in a spiritual sense? Or part of them came from there? Was Rhea pregnant with them when they left?
"And the last of my brothers and sisters, Lord Crius and Lady Mnemosyne."
Brown hair, with green skin covered in tattoos. He's wearing a toga while she's wearing a cloak which bares her entire 'attribute-free' body.
And if that's the last, then there's no Cronus or Rhea equivalent. Which makes a degree of sense. Also, the pairs don't quite match up with the pairings of the originals. But they're their own people.
Which -given what happened- is probably a very good thing.
"A pleasure."
Mnemosyne nods. "It is always pleasant to meet a mortal who has pushed his mind as far as you have. But we are most eager for you to begin your work, and render the world below safe for our mortal servants."
"Then let's get started."
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I'd make a comment about tangled family trees, but divine genetics does weird things. And there's often no guarantee that a divine offspring will be humanoid...
