Post by JANUS VASILOU on Dec 10, 2012 0:16:30 GMT -5
[atrb=width,500,btable][cs=2] JANUS VASILOU GOD OF POLIS | |
RANK. rank e AGE. 2700+ (give or take). looks to be about 25 or so DOB. doesn’t remember and doesn’t care ETHNICITY. greek OCCUPATION. unofficial city enforcer RESIDENCE. apartment of whoever he's banging that night - intends to establish some kind of base...eventually | [atrb=width,100] |
[cs=2] ancient greece chapter once upon a time, he had simply been vasilou. as a young deity, vasilou had been an arrogant womanizer - two traits that one foreign woman had seemingly overlooked to win his heart. he had been utterly fascinated with her, so it didn’t take too much convincing for young vasilou to leave his city for the young woman’s homeland. he had known of the dizzying effects that accompanied countryside travel, but never the full extent. not only was her home in another kingdom entirely, his lover had demanded to sleep for every night of their journey, so the trip was prolonged. by the fifth day, janus had lost most of his powers. by the tenth day, the young deity had fallen into a deep coma from the distance from any settlement. his lover had cut her losses and fled alone, knowing that her lover’s body would only be dead weight. vasilou’s greek jewelry was used for bartering her way back home. meanwhile, the grasses around his body grow tall, but a circular area around his body remains barren to both vegetation and insect life. even beasts seem to be disinterested in his body, regardless of how starved they were. rome chapter vasilou is discovered centuries later by roman travellers. they mistake him for a germanic barbarian because of his wheat-gold hair, but agree that he could be useful nonetheless. the men bring him back home as a slave, and vasilou wakes up just in time to see the perfect arches of rome. they christen him janus. he wasn’t sold cheaply, and so all janus knew for the first few years of his new life was servitude. as ill tempered as ever, especially because of his present situation, so the deity had caused more than a bit of trouble for his master. janus had rarely been caught, since he had learned every nook and cranny of rome’s streets within the first two weeks. he exploited them shamelessly; his memory could be erased, but not his nature. as generations passed, janus amassed a sizable amount of power that was as close to that of, if not more than the power that he once held in his hometown. by the time that the emperor aurelius had died, janus had long since assumed himself a god. not for too long, however. rome was dying, and somehow, janus could feel it in his bones. hardly a year went by without some succession dispute that janus didn’t want to throw a litter sack at. with the separation of the east and west, janus knew that things had become irreversible. just what was coming, nobody really knew, but the deity had a better idea than anyone else. he just never wanted to admit it. he had always loved rome too much to see it die, but such a mother would have her sons at her deathbed if she required it. it’s a shame that few went to her funeral, and were too busy squabbling over her heirlooms. (he thinks that he might have met romulus once. janus had saluted, and the ex-slave never saw him again. if he wasn’t willing to save his daughter, then janus supposed that nobody would) middle ages-renaissance chapter a new dusk was approaching, and like everyone else, janus clung to civilization. unlike the humans, however, janus had no ‘convert to christianity’ option for obvious reasons. he was alone, and for once, he hated his power for it. by the time that theoderic invaded with the intention to conquer, janus hated himself for having too little power. when the black death made a house call, janus could content himself with the fact that everyone did, humans and gods alike. blessed be the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of hea - fuck it. he had been poor in spirit for far too long - if that was heaven, then he didn’t want it. he had wanted rome. rome was far superior to whatever judeo-christian god could provide. no watcher could convince him otherwise, so damn the feathered beasts for trying to ‘save’ him from the devil. he’s killed himself plenty of times to avoid sticky situations - he knows that there is no kind of hell that he couldn’t escape from. (except he can’t save himself) he doesn’t care. the pope can do whatever the hell his holiness desires. janus only wishes that he didn’t have to feel every cathedral being built in romulus’ city. he was almost banished from rome after a particularly nasty personal conflict with a pope, but nobody could catch him in his own backyard. even if they did, then death was merely temporary. janus knew rome better than any man alive. that would never change. it’s only a shame that the humans eventually figured out how to deal with their kind. philosophical texts weren’t the only greek legacies that the renaissance adopted for their own aims. humanism seemed to be a joke to janus, but the spells of magoi were something else entirely. however, the spells were poorly misunderstood by the humans. they had thought that janus was banished to hell. he supposed that they are right, since everything outside of rome seemed to be an unforgiving wilderness of bastard princes and increasingly rebellious serfs. the spell had done much better - after all, magic is only the servant of the gods. janus had supposed that he could make do with rome’s daughter. better britannia than the traitorous byzantium. second rome, his ass. janus tells himself that he feels nothing for the ottoman invasion when the news finally came. he tries, at least. (except gods shouldn’t be trying; gods should simply do and be) - everything in this space is a wip for when i feel like writing this shit. like, unless you guys really can’t accept my app without it, i guess. nothing too important happened tho, i think. poor guy couldn’t really get into a crusaders phase for good reason, and he died plenty during the plague outbreaks. sometimes, he’d be a baby for weeks on end. - british empire chapter britannnia had been good to him. better than good. london had been a hub of the world, and janus had a great revival because of it. he had actually learned a few verses of ‘god save the queen’, instead of heckling those who were off-key. even london’s orphans were especially clever and resourceful, and janus found himself to be their father/older brother of sorts. innovations had been made, cricket games had been played, and wars have been fought. the great slump (or depression for you yankees) was pretty shitty for everyone involved, but janus got by better than most due to the fact that he didn’t really need food. leaving greece pretty much meant that he had long gotten used to not getting personal sacrifices anyway. however, his health is positively related to his city’s wellbeing, so he can’t say that those were some of his glory days. what really screwed things up was world war ii, though. not only did the germans bomb the living hell out of london, but most of the production was used towards warfare. rations were nothing to smile about either. by the end of the second great war, it was obvious that the sun was setting on the british empire. janus looked westward and saw the sun rising somewhere else. rising to declare the new rome. rising to declare the new american empire. (he had passed on the russians long ago. third rome or not, janus did not see romulus’ blessing in them. then again, he does not see all) it was no longer about survival. it was about following the prodigal son to the ends of the earth. this time, janus made his own choice to move to new york city. at the age of fifty-nine, janus had more than enough favors saved up for the passage, and died shortly after reaching the city. he had not abandoned his devotion to rome’s sons, but instead, devoted his protection to the true heir. present chapter immigrants to new york usually have a good story to tell. upon his arrival, janus would prove to be an exception. the guy doesn’t really like thinking about the past since there’s just too goddamn much to hold him back. he was the same deity who had raised so much hell in europe, and there was no reason to change here. janus has a taste for armani suits and fine californian wine, but also a mouth that he never kissed his mother with (better to lick your [insert euphemism of choice] with, my dear). after sixty years, janus is all too aware of his godhood, and none too hesitant to flaunt it to the wakers. his powers are returning, and janus figures that it’s about time that he settles down for good. | |
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[cs=2] played by redox |