Mars
Ethereal Spirit
Corporeal Forces: 3 Strength: 5 Agility: 7
Ethereal Forces: 3 Intelligence: 7 Precision: 5
Celestial Forces: 4 Will: 8 Perception: 8
Vessel: human male, Charisma +3
Skills: Acrobatics/2, Chemistry/1, Dodge/2, Emote/5,
Fighting/3, Knowledge (Cosmology/1, Physics/1,
Literature/2, US Space Program/3), Large Weapon/1
(Sword), Piloting/3 (Space Vehicles), Savoir-Faire/1,
Seduction/1
Songs: Dreams (All/3), Motion (Corporeal/2,
Ethereal/1, Celestial/3), Possession/6, Shields
(All/1)
Once upon a time, there was an ethereal named Ares.
He didn't survive the Purity Crusade - and, frankly,
it wasn't much of a loss. Ares was vain, boastful,
crude, violent and had a certain streak of cowardice
to him. The only one that missed him much was
Aphrodite, mostly because he was pretty good in bed.
Time passed.
People have always looked up at the sky. It's only
been in the last few centuries that they were able to
improve on the naked eye. Naturally, they looked at
the planets, especially that red one over there. And,
of course, they began to dream. Mars owes his
existence to those dreams. But the dreams and wishes
that make him up are completely different than that of
his predecessor.
He is Barsoom. He is Doorsha. He is Northwest Smith.
He is both John Carters. He is the tragically doomed
race of the Martian Chronicles. He is Valentine
Michael Smith and Podykane. The face that some have
seen in the sands is his face. He knows every eddy
and wave of the canals that never graced the Red
Planet, and has sipped imaginary wine in Helium's
nonexistent towers. Mars is Mars as modern humans
have dreamed it. All of this was enough to create
him, but it took the dreams of those who wished to go
there in fact, rather than in fiction, to make him
strong. The ethereal has watched humanity take its
first stumbling steps out of the playpen, and cheered
them on every step of the way.
But, recently, it would seem that the steps have been
faltering, and humanity seems to be wondering whether
the playpen isn't so bad, after all. This distresses
Mars - and not just because he will be weakened if
humanity stops dreaming these particular types of
dreams. The ethereal seems to be better disposed
towards humans than almost any other of his kind, and
wishes only the best for this mad, contradictory,
wonderful species. They should go out there. That's
where they belong. That's where they'll be safest.
Mars cannot stand by and do nothing.
Understand the above, and you'll understand why
Olympus is a hotbed of controversy these days. Mars
just walked in and started ... well, 'preaching' isn't
precisely the right word, but it will do. Mars wants
the Greek pantheon to stop languishing around
interestingly and weeping for their lost glory, and
instead get up and actually do something useful with
their lives. They're supposed to be gods, right?
Well, they should cease feeling sorry for themselves
and act like gods. There are people out there who
desperately need inspiration and assistance. It's not
like the Olympians had anything better to do with
their time, anyway.
Now, 'imitations' (if the word means anything in this
context) of the Greek and Roman gods had appeared in
the past, and not a few of them came in out of the
cold raving about this or that. However, very few of
them were as potent as Mars (really, he's just got
enough Essence coming in to stay stable, but compared
to the half starved Olympians, he's almost indecently
healthy).
The mere fact that he obviously was doing something
right was enough to convince others to follow or ally
themselves with him. Athena and Vulcan were the first
to welcome him - ironically enough, in the case of the
latter - and even Juno has warmed to Mars, no doubt
out of sentiment. Frankly, this version of her son is
an improvement over the last one.
Of course, he's not universally beloved. Apollo can't
stand him, for one (the feeling is mutual), and
Bacchus thinks that following Mars will get the rest
all killed posthaste. The more traditional spirits
follow these two's lead (many Olympians are actively
afraid of the modern world - and more importantly,
Heaven and Hell). Of the others, well, Neptune does
not care much and Venus is too busy trying to seduce
her 'old' lover to care much for politics. Their
neutrality has kept consensus from forming, but the
situation isn't stable, however. If nothing else,
Venus will finally get it through her head that Mars
really could care less about reenacting old myths
(frankly, Pallas Athene is more his kind of girl, but
Vulcan seems to have that one sewn up, not that either
of them have realized it yet). There may be war in
Olympus soon - or at least a final break between the
two unofficial leaders of the pantheon.
Incidentally, Blandine knows all about this, and
actually wants Mars to succeed in his quest to
reinvigorate the Olympian pantheon. The Archangel of
Dreams has never been happy with the rest of the
Host's policy in the Marches, and this could be the
catalyst for getting some real changes made. Blandine
is so quiet that her peers forget how tenacious she
can be - and how much power she can wield in Council,
should she so choose. Considering that she might just
get Lightning and the Wind on board on this one, in
addition to her regular allies, that power may be even
greater than usual. And, if worse comes to worse,
there's always the Archangel of the Sword: when push
comes to shove, he won't oppose her.
Yes, Blandine knows.
After all, even Archangels Dream.
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