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Message: <blockquote data-quote="steeldragons" data-source="post: 6416948" data-attributes="member: 92511">Athena: becomes queen of the gods after usurping and castrating [I like that a lot, the raging hormone he was] Zeus before imprisoning him in Tarterus.This is brought about by, as stated above, Zeus' power and titanic origins eventually going to his head and leading to pure cruel madness. For centuries he has used the realm of mortals as his personal playground and demanded tribute for, essentially, not unleashing his wrath upon them. Finally faced with whether tyranny or benevolent rule is the more just and wise, she is left with little choice and laments the necessity of her actions. Regretfully, she takes on [is really "given" by the cosmos without much option for denial] the mantle of Queen of the Gods and stewardship of the domains of sky and storm...to be judiciously used with, both, skill and wisdom.After which she is faced with the rebellion of Hades, demanding rulership is his after his eons-long exile and "service" to the spirits of the mortal realms. Athena knows this to be utterly false and in forced with rallying the Olympian deities and immortals for actual "war" as her half-brother leads the undead legions of the underworld.Despite several offers, including Apollo, she steadfastly refuses all suitors. She knows -in addition to the complete justification by simply by looking at Zeus' "leadership thru bedding everything that moved" - to rule wisely she must not become tethered by romantic emotions or obligated through familial attachments.Also supports why she maintains/demands a virginal priesthood.Hades is aided by Ares [who seeks the throne for himself] and Hera [who has no love for Athena and is completely furious at the loss of her status as queen of the gods]. After hard fought victories, on the precipice of his success, he is betrayed by Ares [expecting to claim the seat of Olympus for himself]. He is utterly erased from existence.Ares, naturally, is eternally opposed to Athena. Taking his lead from her, Ares dispatches Hades and claims his own seat as ruler of the Underworld. He knows this makes him [somewhat] subject to Athena, but also has watched millenia of his uncle scheme right beneath Zeus' feet at the same time. Hades [the place] becomes more of a "hell", with spirits brought to actual torment, servitude and endlessly forced into the bloody carnage of battle, only to be revitalized to do it all again each day there is not an actual battle for Ares to go to. "Death" has become something to be avoided more than ever.Hera has been brought low and succumbed to her own titanic origin, consumed by anger and envy, seeking nothing but vengence upon Athena and the others, including her progeny, who moved "to dethrone her" (cuz it's always all about her). She holds a tentative place now, beside Ares' throne, as Ares' mother, "queen mum" of Hades [the location]...a kind of "hostess" to the arriving shades, but significantly more "dominating mistress" than "comforting mother" figure, using them as agents in all of her schemes and plots now, along with "trusted daughter" Eris [discord], and Thanatos [death] (who would like nothing more than to oust Ares and gladly take Hera as his queen). At least she is still queen of something...and her "good son" Ares will get her throne back some day...if not, Thanatos will succeed first. Patience, is not only a virtue, but a woman's greatest tool [particularly an immortal woman]. The worldly worship of Hera has taken on the role of funerary preparation and conducting burial rites...and worship of the "Queen of Olympus" and goddess of all "Womanhood" Hera is all but wiped out.      Aphrodite, in her pride and vanity, stands behind (in fact, ran off and plots with) her lover to someday assume the mantle of "Queen of Olympus" for herself. She, obviously, would make the most beautiful -thus most worthy- queen. For now, Queen of Hades will do. Her son, Eros, has [with a heavy heart at the fall of his mother] taken on her place as God of Love.Aphrodite's aspect as goddess of Physical Beauty has been granted to Narcissus, released along with many of the spirits of the dead following Hades' destruction. Born of immortals, he's been raised to demi-god status by Athena who believes [rightfully] the prideful young son of a river god and nymph has learned his lesson. Hephaestus is crushed by the loss of his obsession...er..."love" and is all but lost to the world, answering to none but Athena...and even she must go to him. He does, however continue to make -from time to time- divine weapons and miraculous devices and so his faithful and priests begin to take on a more "secret society" kind of organization, jealously guarding their secrets of metallurgy and craftsmanship.  One of the unexpected movers and shakers in all of this upheaval is Hecate. Her domain as goddess of the crossroads is magnified a thousandfold with this cosmic flux and, ever seeking to supplant Hades as queen of the Underworld, her witchcraft and knowledge of the undead is greatly valuable to the Olympian forces in overcoming the endless undead armies of Hades. Athena makes great use of Hecate's knowledge and magical skills, naming her a trusted counsellor in the Olympian halls and imparts on her the status as Goddess of Sorcery and Sagecraft. Amazed at the eons she wasted in pursuit of Hades' throne, Hecate is more than satisfied in her new place and power with no desire or designs to betray her new liege...more than a little because she quite likes having an intelligent and fair-minded woman on the throne of Olympus. Mages and other arcane spellcasters [who may have been] persecuted are now held in a significantly higher regard within the mortal world.Apollo now stands as primary [male] deity, the first to come to Athena's aid/side, of Olymmpus. He holds his typical spheres of the sun, artistry and music, and archery but has a slightly more militant slant now. Whole priesthoods of "divine archers" [educated in art, music...think, like an order of samurai-style-trained archers] are now trained and travel the land to serve as guardians at all Olympian sites.  Artemis persists, as she always has, returning to her beloved wooded groves following the great war and Hade's defeat. If anything she becomes more reclusive. Following the Olympian/Hades war, Gaia, Rhea and Demeter is utterly decimated and lost to the cosmos. The overseeing of "Bounteous Earth" and "the Growing World" is passed on to Artemis. This puts her somewhat at odds with her heretofore wild nature as "agriculture" and "taming nature" is not really the Huntress' style...but Athena's will be done. She is learning, growing into a "full/overall/both sides of" Nature deity, while delegating Dionysus and Pan into a more "warden of the wilds/animals" role...though the two of them tend to spend their time getting drunk together more than anything else...and granting the newly emancipated Persephone continue to play her role -significantly more gloriously- as the bringer of spring/rebirth/renewal.Poseidon, as others have already [rightly, to my mind] stated, "bows out". He retreats to the deepest depths of his realm, resigned to "the passing of the time of the Sons of Cronos" and is nearly unheard of again [but remains in the world should Athena ever need something 'old school']. He passes his trident on to his son, Triton, who had played a great role in Athena's successes and Triton becomes the new God of the Seas and Earthquakes. Hermes, Hercules, Hestia and uncounted lesser immortal heroes and semi-divine beings were slain in the Hades Rebellion, annihilated by Hades before he fell. The widowed Hebe is raised from the status of "cupbearer" to take on Hestia's role as Goddess of the Hearth and Home. Aeolus, son of Poseidon and a god of winds, is elevated to major standing as the new "Messenger & Trickery" god. Morpheus [dream] has added the realm of sleep to his portfolio, filling the void left by the loss of his brother, Hypnos. That's pretty much all I can come up with at the moment. Maybe more after I eat something. <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" /></blockquote>

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