Fantasy [LORE] — 𝐡𝐮𝐛𝐫𝐢𝐬.

[leviathan.]

introduction.

the world of hubris is not unlike our own, but it does have one key divergence: gods and monsters, turned contemporary, roam the earth.
it's 20XX. there's the internet, phones—the world has made countless advancements since the days of old, where one had to send a prayer to make sure they lasted the winter. humankind no longer needs to depend on divine intervention to live—they have become gods unto themselves.

but every age, no matter how far-flung into the future, needs its heroes.

the gods.

the gods are famous for their trysts with humans. the love between immortal and mortal and the offspring the results are subjects of epics both modern and ancient. these flings have survived the cross between ages and there may be more demigods in the world now than in the days of the iliad. the proliferation of godly blood has had its effects, and they are listed thus:

+ the more children a god has, the more uneven the power distribution. there are many of zeus' children that can conjure up small rainclouds from their fingertips, but only a select few can call down real storms from the sky itself. the less promiscuous gods have more chances of distilling more power into the few offspring that they bear, but there is always a chance of producing a weakling. and gods do not favor weaklings, not even in their full-blooded children. just look at hephaestus.

+ a demigod is always claimed before or on their 17th birthday. when claimed, they will emit pheromones that permits them to be sensed by any otherworldly beings in their vicinity, including monsters. the pheromones are usually more noticeable when the abilities are stronger, though that is not always the case.

+ after claiming, a demigod can choose to attend a branch of the empyrean institute of higher learning to learn how to protect themselves from monsters, then left to fend for themselves.
more promising children are cherry-picked and trained to enter into service of their godly parent in exchange for wealth, blessings, and further protection. the discarded must pay tuition in the form of offering to attend further training.

the monsters.

for as long as there have been gods, there have been monsters. their main diet being unsuspecting demigods, they are a constant threat to the newly claimed and also why most greek demigods are desperate to be sheltered by empyrean.

the fates.

the reason why the gods have a vested interest in training their children up to become legacies, heroes that fulfill the prophecies they share. the will of the fates must be carried out, to both preserve the world and the beloved status quo.

the titans.

most of the titans are locked away in the deepest of abysses. but some manage, after endless millennia, to manifest a weak avatar to roam the mortal plane, usually bereft of the powers and presence, so the pantheon usually cannot sense them in time to eradicate these manifestations. they have recently started to take mortal lovers and bear the demi-titan children for their own mysterious ends—the numbers of demi-titan children have increased steadily over the past two decades, and it is no mere coincidence.

+ titans cannot interact with their children as much as the gods can and usually disappear abruptly during the child's life due to the disintegration of their avatar, which can take years to decades, even centuries to remake. due to this, demititan children are rarely claimed & their powers/pheromones (which actually does not attract monsters, but deters or even endears them) can appear anytime in their life.

+ demi-titans are mandated to attend weekly psychological evaluations along with their lessons at empyrean (if they are selected) to examine their loyalties. demi-titans are more likely to be recruited & more heavily indoctrinated (to prevent revolt) into empyrean as their pheromones are convenient and their abilities tend to be more powerful than demigods'. there are exceptions though, and weak demi-titans are tested to determine that they are too harmless to become a pro-titan threat and thrown out with no baseline education about their abilities, unlike weak demigods, who at least get basic training before being thrown out.

+ the demi-titans that refuse to abide by empyrean ideals tend to disappear quite quickly unless they seek the solace of mortalize or the hearth. especially if they're powerful.

 

[leviathan.]

&&— ❝ hubris. ❞​

❝ The Empyrean Institute. ❞
The Empyrean Institute of Higher Learning (or, at least, its main branch) is situated in Olympus, Virginia, a bastion of Greek classical values and architecture against the rolling forests and the Civil War monuments that populate the suburban municipality. On the outside, it is merely a prestigious, pre-colonial tertiary school with an astonishing 5% acceptance rate and a small, but high-powered student body, but in reality, Empyrean has so much more to offer than what is written in their admittedly lengthy Wikipedia article.

❝ HISTORY OF THE SCHOOL. ❞
The institute was created pre-American Revolution, when Harvard & Yale too were getting their start. The Fates had established a prophecy with an unusually large proportion of heroes to aid in the Revolutions (both French & American, as well as the following insurrections in Latin America), too many for any one mentor to train up. So with the blessing of Zeus, god of mentorship (and also, less importantly, the Sun) Apollo created Empyrean College to raise the new generation of demigods (and to keep control of their oft unruly offspring).

❝ SUBSETS. ❞
❝ CHIRON'S COLLEGE ❞ — ELITE PREP.

Where students who excel go, separate from the regular classes. The few that get into this rigorous training program are called "Apparents", while mere students are called "Heirs." They are the cream of the crop, ruthless and powerful, assumed to be a shoe-in for a position in the esteemed Legacy Division. However, gods are fickle and many who enter the program often do not finish it, supplanted by their better siblings, sabotaged, or worse.

❝ MT. DELPHI'S SOCIETY. ❞ — THE INTELLIGENCE.

Where the oracles and their apprentices + Empyrean intelligence officers reside. The intelligence & espionage program of Empyrean, Mt. Delphi's is ostensibly headed by none other than Apollo, but the day-to-day operations are managed by the Pythia. Responsible for counterintelligence, gathering data, delivering prophecies, and maintaining a "Mist" around campus (among other things)—the "cloak" part of "cloak & dagger."

❝ LEGACY DIVISION. ❞ — THE ENFORCERS.

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❝ VALUES & CULTURE. ❞
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❝ OTHER. ❞
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❝ MORTALIZE. ❞
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❝ HISTORY OF THE ORGANIZATION. ❞
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❝ HIERARCHY. ❞
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❝ VALUES & CULTURE. ❞
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❝ OTHER. ❞
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❝ OTHER COLLECTIVES. ❞
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❝ SCHOOL OF NEW MYTH. ❞ — MORTALIZE ALLY.

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❝ MIDNIGHT HUNT. ❞ — EMPYREAN ALLY.

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❝ ORDER OF HERMES. ❞ — NEUTRAL.

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❝ THE HEARTH. ❞ — NEUTRAL.

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&&— ❝ ORGANIZATIONS. ❞​

work in progress.​

 

[leviathan.]

&&— ❝ hubris. ❞​

❝ DAEDALUS. ❞ — HEADMASTER OF EMPYREAN.

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❝ CHIRON. ❞ — THE TEACHER.

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❝ PYTHIA. ❞ — THE ASSISTANT.

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❝ CRUSADE. ❞ — THE ALUMNI.

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❝ HA-NEUL SONG. ❞ — DIRECTORATE, ZEUS.

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❝ ??? ❞ — DIRECTORATE, POSEIDON.

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❝ ??? ❞ — DIRECTORATE, HADES.

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❝ ??? ❞ — UNDERSECRETARY, HECATE.

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&&— ❝ PEOPLE. ❞​