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Exposition in a can:

Ancient gods. Ancient gods are real. Ancient gods are still real, even after all this time.

But. Power comes from worship. No worshipers, no powers. And given the increasingly atheiestic world, gods have become little more then ageless humans, though most still have a trick or two up their sleeves.

Gods don't really need food and they don't really need sleep. They're much better with them, but being immortal means you can survive a lot of things, even if it's really uncomfortable.

Injuries will usually over a week, though broken bones might take up to a month. A removed limb would need to be found and held against the body to reattach.

Will add as necessary.

Rules:

Obey ToS and Guild rules.

Even though you're a god, no god modding. You throw a punch at someone, they get to decide if it hits and where.

Be reasonable. Part of the appeal here is that the gods aren't that powerful right now. So no vaporizing people and what not.

I'm pretty loose and easy when it comes to plot, so if you have an idea go with it. If it's completely bananerz I will let you know and we can work something out, or if need be, put a stop to it. Personally, I love plot talk in the OOC, so if you want to run something by others there is the place to do it.

I don't require a whole lot of myth knowledge. However I do expect you to at least read your god's wiki page, deal?

If you're going to be gone for a period of time... say more then four days? Leave a message in the OOC. I'm very understanding about this sort of thing and we can usually find a way to deal. If you just drop off the face of the map without a word to anyone... well, it's kind of a d**k thing to do and I've lost more RPs then I can count that way. I understand the unexpected happens and you might not have a chance, that's fine, but if you know in advance and just don't say anything... well, d**k move, really.

Current Characters:


Player: Tyne Serapis
Deity: Apollo
Aka: Laurie "Sonny" Westerfield
Appearance: Even near-powerless, he's gorgeous. His hair is golden blond, wavy, and shoulder-length, his skin is lightly tanned, and his eyes are a striking, deep blue. He's physically fit no matter what, and dresses sharply, always managing to accent himself well.
Power: Instead of actual powers, he's mostly retained a few litle quirks. His skin is warm to the touch, and he still gets little flashes of premonitions. More often than not, however, they occur seconds before the event, making it useless and annoying.
Item: He keeps the lyre Hermes gave him.
Day job: Apollo is a well-known indie musician, playing mostly in small clubs and cafes. He's got a night job, too, but he refuses to speak on it most of the time.

Player: Frau Blucher
Deity: Ares
Aka: Jun-ho "Krei" Kwan
Appearance: He may look scrawny, but it's all muscle, baby. He takes pride in his physical strength, and his appearance, which he purposely designs to be menacing as he can manage in his current incarnation as a short Korean boy. His black hair is kept short, except for a thick stripe running down the middle dyed violent red - this goes down to his shoulders and is kept in a ponytail. He a piercing through his eyebrow and multiple piercings on each ear, and his eyes are shadowed with red. He has two favorite pieces of clothing - his thigh-high combat boots and a bomber jacket with his own personal design emblazoned on the back.
Power: Although Ares has developed muscle in his mortal body the old fashioned way, occasionally his godly heritage shines through in the form of obliterating strength. It's usually fleeting, and usually happens when Ares looses his temper - so yeah, at any given time.
Item: He still carries around his spear, although it sits hidden under rotting floorboards most of the time. These days Ares prefers a lead pipe to get things done.
Day job: It could be said that leading a gang of miscreant delinquents into willfully committing violent crimes is a day job, but it doesn't always pay the rent. Then again - Ares doesn't really have rent to pay. He lives in an abandoned apartment complex on the wrong side of town.

Player: Lappy
Deity: Artemis
Aka: Diana Ephesus
Appearance: Artemis has managed to look mostly the same throughout her several centuries in the world. Her hair is golden blond and wavy - she has pixie bangs and the rest of her hair is long and normally in some sort of messy braid or bun. Her eyes are strikingly blue, just like her brother's. Although she's known to be a hunter, she manages to dress normally enough; though she prefers short skirts to any other article of clothing. She is sculpted for a woman but still possesses the feminine curves that she was depicted with in Classical art.
Power: Artemis is a master sharp shooter and almost never misses a target whether her weapon be an arrow or gun. She also has an affinity for dogs.
Item: The silver bow and arrows that Zeus gave her when she was a child are kept safe tucked away in her closet. They are her ultimate weapon. One item that she is less fond of is the crescent moon tiara that she was given during her Roman period - this is normally buried beneath junk that has accumulated over the centuries.
Day job: Artemis's strong sense of justice and her prowess with a gun lead her to a career in law enforcement. She's recently been promoted to detective.

Player: GigaForte
Deity: Poseidon
Aka: Peter Clarque
Appearance: Peter is a heavyset man that appears to be in his fifties or sixty. He may be heavyset, but it's mostly muscle. He has shoulder length white hair with a tint of flimsy gray which he refuses to let fade out, as well as a matching mustache and goatee. He's in great shape for a man of his age, and many people assume he was a sailor before he worked on the ferry. His gray eyes do not contribute any brightness to his tanned, wrinkled face, but they adopt a pale blue color when he's out on the ocean. It's the only time he's ever in a good mood.
Power: Minor influence over salt water
Item: Trident
Day job: One of the captains of the Cape May-Lewes Ferry Service.

Player: Ashiken Kiora
Deity: Hermes
Aka: John "Jacky X" X. Smith; Vinni Moretti.
Appearance: Jacky is of a good height, about 6' 1", and wiry as a beanpole; bleached hair that spikes up, except for a few long bangs; shocking blue eyes that throw people for a loop. He usually dresses in plain white or band tanks and raggy jeans, with his trademark Nike sneakers. A few gold loops in his left ear's cartilage complete his ensemble.
Vinni, on the other hand, is the picture of Italian mobster. He is only about 5' 10", built stockily, wears a pinstripe suit, a red tie and rose, and always has his Fedora and cigar with him. He wears plain black loafers most of the time, but that's just a disguise. They're really Nike sneakers. He is totally Italian, with a handsome face, scanty mustache, and slicked back black hair.
Power: Hermes/Jacky X/Vinni can change his appearance. He used to be able to become anyone he pleased, but since his powers have decreased so, he has been reduced to the two aliases he now uses. He can also run very fast, up to 75 if needed [because of his shoes].
Item: Of course, Hermes can't do without his shoes, which he wears all the time, only taking them off to bathe and sleep. They allow him to run inhumanely fast; just because his power has decreased doesn't mean this artifact's hasn't.
Day job: Vinni is one of the big guys in the classic Brooklyn mob. It took him years to get to where he was, and he doesn't intend to give it up now. He's got more money than Bill Gates. But Jacky doesn't. Jacky's just a pup off the Manhattan streets who runs with a gang and once did a small job for the Italian mafia. He's a poor runt who loves living on the edge of things.

Player: Amazon
Deity: Hades
Aka: Mortimer Quietus
Appearance: A tall man with long fingers and graying black hair, Hades has still kept something of his old figure. He's a bit softer around the middle, but no one notices that when you wear a sharp business suit and jacket. Typically he wears black, though every now and then the wife insists on a bit of colour in his wardrobe.
Power: Hades can sense when one is close to death and communicate with lost spirits. When he's in the underworld he's stronger, and still able to keep everyone in line and things running through various levels of micro-management.
Item: Helm of invisibility
Day job: By day Hades runs a large bank branch downtown. One of the vaults also has a portal to the underworld, allowing him to keep both running smoothly.

Player: Amazon
Deity: Ganymede
Aka: Morgan 'Gany' Cooper
Appearance: On the taller side of average height, Ganymede has a lithe but decently muscular body. He had been a warrior once when he'd been a Prince of Troy, though many centuries as a servant has made him quiet and unassuming, something of a wallflower. An attractive wallflower, with straight dark blonde hair falling around his shoulder blades, but a wallflower none the less.
Power: N/A
Item: A golden pitcher that is always full of wine
Day job: Bartender at a local gay club

It had all started with the interview on Oprah. Hera had been busy promoting her new self help book, Men and Matrimony; How to Save Your Marriage in Twelve Easy Steps, when Oprah had turned the topic to children. Was Hera close to her children? Grandchildren? Hera had lied of course, it's hard to confess that she hadn't seen the majority of her family since the black plague was roaming about Europe, but the blow still stung her pride.

Had it been the old days she would have turned Oprah into something unpleasant. A bug. Or a tree of some sort.

But now wasn't the old days and there was only one thing to do to soothe her vanity: she decided to call the family together.

Finding Hermes had been the hard part, but once the detective had found him it was easy sailing. He was the messenger god after all, and no one could do his job quite like him. With that taken care of, Hera turned her attention to her side of things. Mostly the catering and arranging side of things. Only the finest would do. They might not be all powerful divine beings any more, but they could still live like modern royalty. There wasn't a single item in their obscenely expensive pent house apartment that didn't boast a designer pedigree of some sort.

Today Hera was dressed in her finest: Gucci glasses complementing a deep violet yet casual Valentino dress with matching heels, the cost of which could have supported a modest family of four for a month.

The goddess finished her final round of inspection. The house was immaculate in every detail. It almost looked like a catalogue. The ideal wealthy and stylish Manhatten apartment. A small buffet had been lined up on the dining table, the caterers had ton a brilliant job. They had to, she had certainly paid them enough. She'd sent them on their way, of course. While it might be nice to have servers it was best if the mortals left. It had been too long and Hera wanted everyone to feel comfortable and speak freely.

But for now, all she could do was wait for the first to arrive.

Central Park had always been the most beautiful place, though he liked it best at sunrise. The rays would light the trees and telephone poles with a superb golden light not found anywhere else, one which delighted him each mimosa morning and filled him with an old sort of happiness. Apollo sat on one of the park benches in his crisp gold suit, smoothing his lapels and admiring the smart white pinstripes. It had been a good choice for a relaxed day.

He was basking in the morning's light when his phone started to buzz. He sighed and pulled it out of his pocket, frowning at the unfamiliar number. He set it down and pushed it away, then suddenly remembered where he was and picked it up again. He tried not to be curious about who had sent him a message. He tried not to think about what secrets it might contain. Something in him said it might have been a wrong number; things like that happened all the time. People (mortals and immortals alike) were prone to mistakes.

Of course, if it were meant for another, then the secrets might be all the more valuable.

Able to resist no longer, he flipped open his phone and read the message. His eyes widened, and slowly, he smiled, blue eyes seeming to deepen in their intensity.

"A party," he mused, standing and brushing himself off. "A party could be fun." After all, it would be nice to see his dear sister again. How many nights he'd lingered on his way home, giving the moon a subtle wink and talking to her under his breath. He knew she couldn't hear, but it made him feel like a better brother. He ran a hand through his honey locks, making his way along to Hera's. Yes, a party would be most interesting.

-------------------------------------

Even after all these years, old habits refused to die. Zeus sat in his big, comfy office chair, completely unaware of the party his wife was planning. He looked out the window separating his and his secretary's respective spaces, quietly glad that the air conditioner was stuck on high and she had chosen to wear a nice silk blouse she had no doubt purchased with the money she earned from "overtime". He briefly considered calling her in for a small personal meeting, but a twinge of conscience reminded him that he had work to do.

This was the closest Artemis had ever been to consensual sex. A man, a coworker, was standing in front of her outside Chicago's police headquarters. Hundreds of people seemed to stream in and out of the doors while Artemis stood still, trying to gather her thoughts together.

"Hey, you know, we don't have to go out or anything," the man, a detective in another department, ran a hair through his hair. It was exactly the length Artemis liked it - short, but still long enough to run a hand through and practical. He was handsome and Artemis, still a virgin after two thousand years, had to wonder what he would look like naked.

And possibly, with her. Both of them naked.

She wasn't exactly daddy's little girl anymore.

Her job was difficult - rape and molestation victims were always confessing to her what others had done to them and Artemis suffered everyday from the burdens of others. Of course, being a goddess, she could handle a great deal of pain, even emotional, but she had learned more in this profession than she had in any other time in her life. Human relationships were dirty, unfair, messy, and devastating.

Yet she wanted it.

She wanted the drama, the unpredictability, and the sheer humanness of a romantic relationship. And here, a perfectly good looking man with above average credentials, was asking her out and she couldn't speak. It would be so easy - they could have dinner, go out walking after word, and then go back to one of their apartments and screw until neither could move anymore - and yet she was never so scared in her life.

It wasn't until she felt a small buzzing in her right pants pocket that her face registered any sort of emotion other than shock.

"Excuse me," she whispered as she took the phone out of her pocket. Had she been paying attention, she would have seen the man's face droop slightly - Artemis (Diana to him) was a lost cause, a shame too, she was so beautiful.

Artemis put the phone up to her ear and said, "Diana Ephesus. Special Victims Unit Chicago. How may I help you?" It was her normal response as she hardly ever got personal calls save from take out services who needed to verify her credit card number.

She had not expected it to be family.

The voice was so familiar and before she could contemplate what it was saying she was replying, "Oh yes, I'll be there. Thank you." She hung up the phone and placed it back in her pocket and then looked up at the man, even more shocked than before.

"I'll have to take a rain check on your offer," said Artemis, somewhat dumbfounded. The man gave her a disappointed smile but said he understood. He then asked who had just called and why she looked so surprised.

"That was my ... cousin. My mother in law is apparently throwing a big family reunion. It's been forever since I've seen any of them, even my own brother, so I should probably go." When was the last time she had seen her dear Apollo? The Napoleonic Wars? Had it really been that long?

"Sounds like fun," the other detective said cheerfully.

Artemis grinned ruefully at the statement and muttered, "Not when your family is full of egotistical narcissistic bastards."

Being an early riser, he was used to arriving first, though today, it was simply the fact that he was bored out of his mind and had nothing better to do. Apollo had snagged a bottle of wine from a fancy lady on the street, his glowing personality easily winning her over. It would've been easy to charm her further, take her back to his apartment, have a night of heated passion before shuffling her out the door in time for the sun to rise, but there was the party and all. Couldn't very well be late. Hera hated him enough as it was.

So, he found the swanky place listed in the message, tromped up the too-clean-for-New-York steps, compliments at the ready, and knocked on the door.