Godbound/Scion: The Titans, Part 2

A continuation of last month's expansion/rework of the Titans. These include Titans from not one but three different pantheon and Titanic Realm/origin, united by the common thread of their role within the setting.

The Progenitor Of Monsters

The most simplistic and obvious role for a Titan is to act as a direct or indirect source for monstrous antagonist. There is nothing inherently wrong with such a 'simple' feature and role, however. Mythologically speaking, monsters play an important role. They also happen to be quite iconic, always interesting, weird and most importantly very cool for people to use in their games. Monsters inspire both awe and terror in equal measure. Even in the 20th and 21st century we remain obsessed with monsters, our popular culture replete with supernatural monstrosities, alien terrors, demented slasher and the byproduct of science gone wrong. The monster is both an 'other' and a force of nature, primeval and terrible.

Some Titans are particularly tied to the birthing of monsters. It simply is in their very nature to be these dreaded forces of primordial fertility, giving birth to uncountable terrors. As some of the Titans have stirred, they have started to cast a shadow on the world. Their offspring have begun to slip through the 'cracks in the world' to terrorize a new generation of mortal and heroes alike.

Tiamat

Associated Realms: Beast, Water

Godbound Word: Beast, Fertility and Sea

Art by Victor Adame

The ever-fecund and primordial Tiamat is among the most archetypal of the Titans-as-progenitor. She is called the 'Mother of all Monsters' and is hideous to behold, an impossible amalgam of all traits which both exist and do not exist in nature. Tiamat's form is that of all beasts and monsters who ever threatened mankind and the Gods. With the Titans stirring, Tiamat's influence has crept back and her brood has begun to encroach upon the world and domain of the gods alike. In time she may seek to resurrect her husband, Apsu, but for now the direct threat she pose to any Scion is through the proliferation of her broods.

Limitless in their forms and permutation (but with a slight preference for predatory animals and sea monsters, naturally), the myriad offsprings of Tiamat run the gamut of small (relatively speaking) predatory monsters with limited intellect to much more dangerous beasts with shocking mental capacity, albeit ever predatory and primal. The greatest of her spawns are more akin to being likened to great dragons but this nomenclature is purely a side effect of modern popular culture associating great, vaguely reptilian beasts as 'dragons'. Her brood is truly limitless.

Spawns of Tiamat

As previously mentioned, Tiamat has an endless variety of Titanspawns of all shape and size obeying the will of their great mother. Her offspring are creature of primal aspects of beasts and ancient chaos, with maws filled with row of teeth, great wingspan or coiling tails which encircle entire buildings. Many of them display poisonous traits in some capacity.

• The least of Tiamat's Spawn are analogous to not only Thralls, but also the Chimera and Nemean, even if some argue that Tiamat's equivalent to such creature are a breed apart from the 'baseline' Nemean, if such a thing is even possible. Tiamat does not create human-derived Thralls (her essence is too distinct and opposite to humanity) and instead her 'primordial mud' or 'ichor' infuse animals of all kind.
• The ranks of Tiamat's Titanspawns lacks Giants in the traditional sense. While many of her spawns are indeed gigantic creatures, very few if any are of a humanoid body plan.
• Tiamat does not and cannot create Scion. Her nature is fundamentally opposite to humanity.

Echidna

Associated Realms: Beast, Earth

Godbound Word: Beast, Fertility and Might or Alacrity

Art by Genzoman

On the surface, Echidna is very much like Tiamat. Both are primordial creatures and bear a title of 'Mother of Monsters'. The devil is in the details, of course: for one thing Echidna is the child of Gaia and an ever so slightly less primordial monstrosity than Tiamat. Her form include human elements and she is a much more seductive entity: beautiful, fecund and rapacious. She is the monstrous mother of the greatest and most iconic of mythological beasts, such as the infamous Chimera. Each of her children became such a myth that they became a byword for all later monsters.

Tiamat's brood is endless but Echidna is a crafter and nurturer. Her monstrous children are quality over quantity. She doesn't really love her children in a traditional sense and can be a harsh parent but her spawns which survive their short childhood and her dangerous tutelage are dangerous beasts. She nurse a powerful grudge against the Gods, especially the Greek ones, who have treated her offspring as almost of a diversion to challenge and amuse their Scion.

Spawns of Echidna

Echidna's children tend to be less chaotic and nightmarish than Tiamat's mishmashes monsters. They tend to combine features of two or more animals into an amalgamated whole, with the Chimera being the most famous example of these. Like a cross between a mad scientist and an obsessives parent with expectations too high for their children, the modern Echidna is obsessively breeding 'the next big thing'. A new monster for the new era, the modern Chimera.

• Like Tiamat, Echidna mainly produce Chimeras (fittingly!) and Nemean. Its only fair, given these two terms come from two of her infamous children. Unlike Tiamat, who prefer predatory animals, Echidna has no particular preferences and anything non-human will do. Her most mundane creations compensate any lack of power with sheer ferocity and vigor.
• The Titanspawns of Echidna are all animalistic amalgamation. She has never directly recreated her 'classics' (such as the original Chimera) but some of the lesser descendants of these original spawns may still exist.
• The rare Scions of Echidna are all born Scions. Echidna is quite capable of taking the form of a beautiful woman with rapacious sexual appetite and she often mate with mortal men, only to devour them. She doesn't control completely what is born as a Scion and what is born as a Titanspawn and in some cases she has birthed twins, one which is human-like and one which is a monster completely removed from humanity.

Shuten-Doji

Associated Realms: Destruction(?), Chaos(?)

Godbound Word: Might, Endurance and Sorcery

Art by Christian Villacis

Some Titans and their Avatars are well defined things. Others are somewhat more complicated to ascertain, as their identities and mantles have been passed down through the ages. Both Shuten-Doji and Ibaraki-Doji have been associated with the status of being 'Leaders of the Demons in Japan' but where exactly they come from and what Titan they are associated with is a bit unclear. Having once faded into myth following its defeat by the potential Scion Minamoto Raikou, a new Shuten Doji has emerged with the stirring of the Titans in the modern day. As with all beings labelled as 'Oni', they are a dangerous creature of immense physical power. This new Shuten-Doji is just as much an agent of chaos and destruction as the original.

Unlike Tiamat and Echidna, Shuten-Doji doesn't directly birth its minions. Instead, styling itself as a power hungry warlord, it recruit most of its minion to its cause. Power, pleasure and more drive the various agenda of Shuten-Doji rather than true political or ideological cause. They are hedonist in the purest, simplest and most barbaric form: they enjoy good food, good wine (well, any alcohol really) and women. Or, men, too as the Oni hordes of the modern Shuten Douji include folks of all sex and tastes. In his own twisted way, Shuten-Douji is an egalitarian. Only might, cruelty and dedication to mayhem really matters to his minions. Anyone who disagree is free to disagree and let their fists decide.

Spawns of Shuten-Doji

A sizeable portion of Shuten-Doji's minions are miscellaneous Oni, as well as semi independent Giants from different mythologies which have flocked to his banner. Those minions which Shuten-Doji creates aren't born directly from him but, rather, he empower hordes of Thralls and mold men and beast into monsters more akin to himself: larger, powerful and rapacious. While Tiamat and Echidna represent monsters and beasts born of nature itself, it could be said Shuten-Doji's hordes are monsters born of mankind. Humanity reduced to its most petty self.

• Titanspawns of Shuten-Doji are rare, but generally created through indirect means rather than directly from Shuten-Doji itself. Their form is, invariably, that of Oni. Which is to say they are large and monstrous, ogre-like creatures. Horns, brightly colored skins and tusks are the norm. In addition to those he create, Shuten-Doji also 'adopt' rogue Giants and Titanspawns into himself.
• There are Scions of Shuten-Doji and most are Chosen, from those mortals who would be best suited to be Shuten Doji's generals rather than mere thralls. Given the sexual appetite of Oni, there are also born Scion of Shuten-Doji but his chaotic nature mean they are just as likely to rebel against him as they are to obey him.