Monday, April 26, 2010

Moses – Moses was the adopted brother of Ramses, the hero who would be known as the Sphinx, Egypt’s greatest hero. After the death of Ramses’ father, he is manipulated by the Gods of Egypt and the temple priests to destroy Moses. Ramses believes that Moses is in fact the Destroyer of Egypt, the one will destroy his great kingdom. Moses went on to free his people and become a great prophet; Ramses went on to become The Sphinx, a superhero of the Middle East and a member of the Lost Legion.

Samson – Samson, unlike the other heroes and Gods of the past, was in fact born with his great might, perhaps some new form of evolution or miraculous mutation. The people of Israel were living in terror of their oppressors, the Philistines. Samson’s mother was a strict disciplinarian and stern Nazirite. She believed Samson was chosen by the angels to free the Israelites from their oppressors. Samson was a great strategist and had a gift with animals. After tearing a lion apart with his bare hands, he swore a pledge to never kill an animal needlessly again. This is how he was able to gather three hundred foxes and, tying torches to their tails, send them out across the fields of the Philistines. After they retaliate by burning his wife and her father, Samson begins to strike them down at every turn, at one point wading through the bodies of the dead waist high.

Eventually Samson is betrayed by Delilah who shaves off his hair while he slept. So strong were his convictions and upbringing that he truly believed the loss of his hair weakened him physically, as this was against the code of the Nazirite. He was quickly captured and his eyes burned out with a hot poker. They locked him in the basement of a temple, tied to a grain wheel. As his hair and beard grew, Samson prays to the God of Israel. For ten years he toiled in the dark basement of the temple. On the tenth year of his capture, his enemies gathered on the roof of the temple to celebrate. Perhaps his eyesight was not lost completely or perhaps God looked down and pitied Samson, but a light appeared in the darkness and illuminated the pillars that supported the temple. With his strength returned and his God’s blessing in his heart, Samson destroyed the temple, pushing over the pillars so that his enemies came crashing down around him. Only when every enemy was crushed did Samson finally collapse beneath the great weight of the temple. The Norse and Greek Gods came together over the ruins and removed Samson from the rubble. Even though he was not of their blood and was a true believer in the God of the Israelites, the Greek and Norse Gods accepted him as one of them and he sleeps beside them to this day.

At this point in history, things became muddled. Our galaxy moved through a low energy field, causing unknown changes on the Earth. The Earth would pass through a high energy field many centuries later at the dawn of the 20th century. The Ancient Gods prepared for a long slumber and a star appeared over Bethlehem. Magic, an ancient energy force that ebbed and flowed like water, was at a high point during these periods, giving man and beast new challenges and forming the basis for new myths and legends. The Sphinx began travelling the world rather than watch Egypt crumble.

Ganesa – As the Greek and Norse Gods grew tired, the Gods of India flourished. Unlike some of the other Gods, the Gods of the Vedas and the children of Brahma created and occupied an alternate dimension that was not tied to Earth in the same way Olympus and Asgard were. Their realm was vast and unreachable to man, their wars did not spill over to the world of their followers. They understood that their power came from the belief people held in them, they did not see the benefit in tormenting humanity the way other pantheons did. Ganesa stands out among these Gods for one reason only; Ganesa was very popular. When disputes erupted between other Gods it was Ganesa who would serve as their go-between. Everyone knows of Ganesa and all respect his judgement. To this day Ganesa still resides in India somewhere.

Monday, April 5, 2010

More History from the world of the Legion

Perseus – Another of Zeus’s offspring, Perseus was different in that his father conceived him while in the form of a shower of gold. Perseus was born with skin as hard as metal, golden brown like a bronze cast. Often an outcast and treated poorly as a child, Perseus eventually faced Medusa. He did not behead her as it was believed, he in fact restored her to her former beauty. During the transformation back to her old self, the snake head was simply shed like old skin. He used this old skin as a weapon to turn his opponents to stone; almost everyone believed it was Medusa’s actual head. Medusa and Perseus had children who also carried aspects of their parents’ curses (snake like skin that was gold and impervious for example). Their children spread far and wide across the globe. Perseus is the only warrior to marry two powerful women of myth, for his marriage to Andromeda was real and loving and eventually founded the Persian Empire through their son Perses. Medusa remained his second, secret wife because she loved him and owed her life to him.

Orpheus – One of the few God-Sons not to rest during the Great Slumber, Orpheus was the son of Apollo and Calliope. Apollo had great power among the Gods. The Roman’s, unlike the Greeks, were afraid of the Gods and used their powerful Magi to bind each of the gods to a planet; Zeus to Jupiter, Ares to Mars, etc. Apollo remained free, for he alone did not frighten the Roman people. His journey to rescue his wife from Hades was one of histories greatest love stories. He was a skilful musician and had a great charm and intelligence. His great honor and moral character grated on the nerves of Dionysus. The two feuded for decades, perhaps centuries, until Dionysus eventually slept alongside the other Gods. Orpheus laid his harp and helmet at the feet of his father Apollo and disappeared into the East. The harp is believed to have fallen into the hands of a strange individual known as The Songsmith, who can transform the emotions into music.

Prometheus – Although thought of as a “Titan”, Prometheus was the first super-human to stand against the Gods. A mere mortal, Prometheus used his uncanny athletic abilities to steal power from Zeus himself, making himself super strong, fast and nearly invincible. Zeus in anger created a race of Amazon’s known as ‘The Pandora’ and sent them to capture Prometheus. Their leader carried a jar containing the worst magical spells Zeus could conjure, had Prometheus not surrendered the jar would have released evil so great it would have ravaged the Earth. After his surrender Prometheus was chained to a rock, his liver eaten daily by a large vulture. He remained there for many years until Hercules freed him from his chains. Prometheus spent his last days in the city of Argos, protecting men from the wrath of the Gods.

Beowulf – Known as War Wolf, he was one of the greatest fighters to have ever lived. His raw strength and power continued to increase throughout his life so that when he died he was as strong as any God. Like Prometheus, Beowulf despised the Gods and their meddling ways. Grendel’s Mother was in fact a descendant of Perseus and Medusa. Grendel’s father was a Titan, possibly Atlas himself. After her sons death Grendel’s mother attacked and killed most of the men in the camp Beowulf was protecting. Beowulf followed her back to her underwater lair and tried to slay her but she was either too powerful for him, or seduced him. Their battle lasted all morning until past noon. Just as Beowulf was about to fall, he spotted a sword in the waters of the cavern; illuminated by the noonday sun coming in through the cave roof. Beowulf removed the head of Grendel’s mother with the sword and then returned it to the waters. The sword was known as Excalibur.