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Greater titan

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The Greater Titans, sometimes referred to simply as the Titans or the elder gods,[2] were a powerful group of deities that once dominated much of the plane of Arborea,[3][4] until they were overthrown by the Olympian pantheon and imprisoned in the bowels of Carceri.[1][5][6][7][8]

According to some they were greater deities,[2][9] to others they were merely intermediate deities,[10] and still others claimed they altogether weren't quite deities, being sort of quasi-deities[11][12] with power comparable to the other deities that dwelled in Carceri.[11]

Organization[]

The Titans of Carceri were ruled despotically by their sibling Cronus.[13][14][15][16] He ruled them with an iron fist and constantly reminded his siblings that it was only by his hand that they ever ruled Arborea.[13] Because of his despotism, not all of the Titans were supportive of Cronus's rule,[13][16][17]

The other Titans resented having to come to his beck-and-call, often storming off from conversations with him in a destructive huff.[17] They spoke in private of one day revolting against Cronus and laying him low, but would bide their time until that day came.[14] Cronus in turn was constantly paranoid of his siblings plotting against him[13][18] and kept a close eye on them all.[14][18]

Activities[]

Much of existence for the greater titans was filled with plotting their revenge against the Olympians[19] and searching for ways to escape their imprisonment.[11] Sometimes they would seize upon people traveling through Carceri in hopes that they might possess some form of abilities, knowledge, or items that could aid them in their plans.[20]

Unlike the Olympians, whenever they were slighted the Titans usually didn't send people on tasks for repentance. Instead they went straight to exacting vengeance.[17] They rarely ever handed out power keys, viewing them as tools of the weak and dependent.[21]

Base of Operations[]

Prior to their downfall the Titans all lived on the plane of Arborea[3][4][13] and, if the Olympians were to be believed, the first deities to inhabit it.[13] After the Olympians usurped them the majority of the greater titans inhabited the various mountains of the Othrys layer of the plane of Carceri,[22] though the Titans preferred to refer to the plane as Tarterus.[23] The name Othrys, as well as most of the names for the other layers of Carceri, were allegedly all derived from the special language of the greater titans.[15] They were also the reason Othrys was referred to by some as Titan's Home, since they were the layer's most famed inhabitants.[22]

Of all the mountains of Othrys, the titans particularly congregated around Mount Othrys. The mountain hosted a great palace,[24] a twisted echo of the edifices found on Olympus, made of white marble that was brought with them down into Othrys. Over time the structure fell into disrepair, but the Titans could not leave Carceri to obtain marble to repair it with. Being a dilapidated, unrepairable echo of what the Titans once had on Olympus,[16][18][17] the structure caused them both great frustration[17] and pain, serving as a constant reminder of their lost glory.[16]

A few greater titans managed to avoid imprisonment and still lived on the plane of Arborea, dwelling within its hinterlands. These titans were either nursing their grudges against Olympians or were completely oblivious as to most of the greater titans having been imprisoned.[25]

Relationships[]

The Titans encouraged the development of creatures that lived on Mount Othrys, many of which were similar to those found on Olympus, making special pets of and would exact vengeance upon any who slayed them.[17][18] One such creature was the Othrysian dodecahydra.[26]

They generally discouraged people from visiting them in Othrys,[27] though occasionally planeswalkers or people from the Prime Material came to petition something from them.[13][17][22] This could be either power or secrets of the multiverse,[13] or simply either advice or wisdom.[17] And if they were in a good mood, the Titans might humor such requests.[13] Because of these visitations a number of small hostels stood around the crumbling palace, which the Titans often smashed in the midst of unrelated frustrations.[17]

Occasionally baatezu[13] and tanar'ri also visited Mount Othrys,[13][17][18] though more often it was the latter,[18][17] both hoping the Titans could lend their incredible might against the other side in the Blood War.[13][17][18] The Titans gave these visitors a surface level of respect, though only because they hoped the fiends might harbor some secret means by which they could escape their eternal imprisonment. Once it became clear a particular fiend had little to offer them, the Titans would run them off their mountain in frustration.[17][18]

Notable Members[]

The most notable of the greater titans that were imprisoned in Carceri included the following:[2][16][17][28]

Cronus
The leader of the greater titans.[13][17] Some claimed he was the oldest male titan,[14] while other accounts spoke of him being the youngest.[18][29]
Crius
The greater titan of density, gravity,[30] and war.[16] According to some accounts, he was the father of the Olympian Hecate[31]
Coeus
The greater titan of fear,[30] cunning, and arcane magic.[16]
Hyperion
The greater titan of the sun.[32]
Iapetus
Mnemosyne
The greater titan of memories.[10]
Oceanus
The greater titan of the sea and other bodies of water.[32]
Phebe
Tethys
The greater titan of elemental earth and justice.[10]

One of the few not imprisoned within Carceri was Rhea, the former wife of Cronus and progenitor of the first generation of Olympian gods.[14]

Progeny & Servants[]

All of the Titans came to birth lesser deities known as the lesser titans.[2][10] Some of them were loyal to their parents and became trapped in Carceri alongside them, where many of them became proxies.[10] Others sided against them with the Olympians and were allowed to stay on Arborea.[2]

Though the Titans were trapped in Carceri, they did have some agents and proxies. These were used to spy on and torment their enemies on the plane of Arborea.[33]

Worshipers[]

Though the greater titans didn't require the worship of mortals to remain strong[8] and the Olympians discouraged mortals from showing them reverence,[13] this didn't stop some from worshiping them.[13][11] The Titans didn't do anything to discourage reverence,[11] though they somewhat feared retribution from the Olympians every time mortals called out their names.[13]

Rumors & Legends[]

Some believed that the titans personified the building blocks of the Prime Material[13][34] and that their continued existence was what kept the Prime functioning.[13]

History[]

According to the Olympians' understanding of how the multiverse came to be, as documented in their the tome the Great Theogony,[35] before everything began there was nothing but an indescribable roiling mass of chaos. From this chaos arose various aspects of nature,[7][35] such as the planes of Arborea and Tarterus,[7] and a handful of primeval gods that included Gaea and Eros.[7][35][36] During this time, the primeval god Uranus was created by Gaea and soon after the two married.[7][14][36] The first creatures to come from their union were the greater titans.[5][7][37][38][39] They were favored by Uranus above all of the other children that he would come to have with Gaea, giving them special treatment.[14]

Some of the children that followed were fair in appearance like the titans,[35] whilst others were far more monstrous, such as the cyclopses and the hecatoncheires.[7][37][38][39] Horrified by their hideousness,[39] to the point that he hated to look upon them,[14] Uranus hid his monstrous progeny away[7][37][39] far from the eyes and minds of mortals.[35]

Some accounts told of Uranus locking his progeny up inside Gaea's own earthen depths,[7][20] causing her pain.[39] Others told of him imprisoning them in the plane of Tarterus.[14][35] Regardless of where they were imprisoned, his act angered Gaea and over time she grew sickened by the imprisoned state of her children.[35][39] Gaea then convinced the titan Cronus to overthrow his father[35] and thus avenge her mistreatment.[7][20]

Cronus, accepting the goading of his mother,[7][20][35] did battle with Uranus.[14] However, none of the other greater titans came to their brother's aid.[13] Critically wounded by the battle,[7][14][20] Uranus bled upon Gaea and thus fertilized her once more, causing the creation of the Furies and the gigantes.[7][14] The wounded Uranus then fled from the battle to the farthest reaches of the multiverse.[14]

Cronus then married the titan Rhea, becoming ruler of the titans,[7][35] but went back on his word.[35] Furious, Gaea laid a curse upon Cronus, proclaiming that one day his own children would usurp him,[35] just as he had his usurped his cruel father.[7][20] Fearful of the curse, Cronus devoured each of his first five children[2][7][35] as they were born to his wife.[2][7] These first five children were Demeter, Hades, Hera, Hestia, and Poseidon.[35]

On their sixth child, a furious Rhea tricked Cronus into instead swallowing a stone[2][40] in swaddling clothes.[40] This gave Gaea the chance to smuggle the child away, one who would later be known as Zeus, and leave him in the care of nymphs[35] on a remote island.[7] When he reached adulthood, Zeus returned disguised as one of Cronus's cupbearers and gave him a potion that induced him into vomiting up his five other children.[35][7]

The Olympian powers came together and fought the Titans, a conflict that would come to be known as the Titanomachy.[16] After a decade of battle,[7] the Olympians ultimately overcame the Titans and imprisoned them in the bowels of Carceri.[1][5][7] Some of the Titans foresaw their downfall in this conflict and chose to flee to other planes. Of these the mightiest were tracked and captured by the Olympians, then sent down into Carceri with their siblings.[7]

According to some accounts, Zeus had managed to convince some of the hecatoncheires to aid them in battle against the Titans and once the war was won he sent them down with the Titans to act as their guards, making the hecatoncheires too prisoners in all but name.[41] Additionally, the Titans were initially chained up by Zeus within Carceri, but the god Hephaestus eventually convinced him that the chains were unnecessary.[16]

Their mother Gaea initially made a number of attempts to avenge or liberate the Titans, sending a number of monsters against the Olympian powers, such as the gigantes. However, the new generation of gods held fast against her trials[14][20] and would imprison the gigantes in Carceri alongside the Titans.[41]

History with Toril[]

In the month of Hammer, in the Year of Rogue Dragons, 1373 DR,[note 1] a group of adventurers from Ravens Bluff found themselves transported to the plane of Tarterus after defending the githzerai fortress of Tah'Darr from a tanar'ri incursion. At the urgings of the fallen paladin Elendil, the adventurers sought out Mount Othrys and Cronus for a way back to their Prime Material world of Toril.[42] When they first entered the crumbling palace they were greeted by a 50 ft (15 m) tall marble pillar, with a column of twenty spears jammed down one crack, each impaled with the severed head of a man. They were then approached by the titan responsible, Chiron, who demanded tribute from them in exchange for an audience with his father.[43] Eventually the group made their way to Cronus, deep into some kind of Cosmic Game with the marilith Cucathne, the latter of whom was entertaining the Titan with the game in hopes of negotiating the use of Othrys as a tanar'ri staging ground against Tah'Darr.[44] Cronus was unwilling to answer any questions that the mortals posed, but offered to gate them home if they would fight as part of his forces in the game.[45]

Appendix[]

Notes[]

  1. ↑ The events of the Living City Ravens Bluff campaign took place on a timeline that advanced together with the real world's time. Even though all Living City adventures and issues of Ravens Bluff Trumpeter were dated with real-world dates, there were events that received a DR year. The Living City timeline can be derived from Myrkyssa Jelan's historic events of the late 14th century DR. Myrkyssa Jelan attacked Ravens Bluff in 1370 DR, according to The City of Ravens Bluff and Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting 3rd edition; these events are chronicled in an in-and-out of universe issues of Ravens Bluff Trumpeter. This places the real world year 1997 as 1370 DR, and in 1998 (1371 DR), Myrkyssa was at last arrested and tried and said to have been executed, only to reappear in 1372 DR in The City of Ravens novel. As the real world's months and the Calendar of Harptos are virtually identical, we can also date all events of the Living City Ravens Bluff as close as an in-universe month.

Appearances[]

Organized Play & Licensed Adventures

No Time to Lose

References[]

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Colin McComb (October 1996). On Hallowed Ground. Edited by Ray Vallese. (TSR, Inc.), pp. 114, 116. ISBN 0-7869-0430-5.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 James M. Ward and Troy Denning (August 1990). Legends & Lore (2nd edition). (TSR, Inc), p. 118. ISBN 978-0880388443.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Wolfgang Baur and Lester Smith (1994-07-01). “The Book of Chaos”. In Michele Carter ed. Planes of Chaos (TSR, Inc), p. 39. ISBN 1560768746.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Jeff Grubb (July 1987). Manual of the Planes 1st edition. (TSR), p. 93. ISBN 0880383992.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 James M. Ward and Troy Denning (August 1990). Legends & Lore (2nd edition). (TSR, Inc), pp. 105, 118. ISBN 978-0880388443.
  6. ↑ Wolfgang Baur and Lester Smith (1994-07-01). “The Book of Chaos”. In Michele Carter ed. Planes of Chaos (TSR, Inc), pp. 39, 45. ISBN 1560768746.
  7. ↑ 7.00 7.01 7.02 7.03 7.04 7.05 7.06 7.07 7.08 7.09 7.10 7.11 7.12 7.13 7.14 7.15 7.16 7.17 7.18 7.19 7.20 7.21 Paul Pederson (January 2000). No Time to Lose. Living City (RPGA), p. 2.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 James Ward, Robert J. Kuntz (August 1980). Deities & Demigods. Edited by Lawrence Schick. (TSR, Inc.), p. 58. ISBN 0-935696-22-9.
  9. ↑ Colin McComb (October 1996). On Hallowed Ground. Edited by Ray Vallese. (TSR, Inc.), p. 174. ISBN 0-7869-0430-5.
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 10.3 10.4 Chris Pramas (2000). The Vortex of Madness and other Planar Perils. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 33. ISBN 0-7869-1614-1.
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 11.3 11.4 Colin McComb (December 1995). “Liber Malevolentiae”. In Michele Carter ed. Planes of Conflict (TSR, Inc.), p. 11. ISBN 0-7869-0309-0.
  12. ↑ Monte Cook (1996). The Planewalker's Handbook. Edited by Michele Carter. (TSR), p. 20. ISBN 978-0786904600.
  13. ↑ 13.00 13.01 13.02 13.03 13.04 13.05 13.06 13.07 13.08 13.09 13.10 13.11 13.12 13.13 13.14 13.15 13.16 13.17 13.18 Colin McComb (October 1996). On Hallowed Ground. Edited by Ray Vallese. (TSR, Inc.), p. 128. ISBN 0-7869-0430-5.
  14. ↑ 14.00 14.01 14.02 14.03 14.04 14.05 14.06 14.07 14.08 14.09 14.10 14.11 14.12 14.13 Colin McComb (October 1996). On Hallowed Ground. Edited by Ray Vallese. (TSR, Inc.), p. 129. ISBN 0-7869-0430-5.
  15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 Jeff Grubb (July 1987). Manual of the Planes 1st edition. (TSR), p. 104. ISBN 0880383992.
  16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 16.2 16.3 16.4 16.5 16.6 16.7 16.8 Chris Pramas (2000). The Vortex of Madness and other Planar Perils. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 22. ISBN 0-7869-1614-1.
  17. ↑ 17.00 17.01 17.02 17.03 17.04 17.05 17.06 17.07 17.08 17.09 17.10 17.11 17.12 17.13 17.14 Colin McComb (December 1995). “Liber Malevolentiae”. In Michele Carter ed. Planes of Conflict (TSR, Inc.), p. 18. ISBN 0-7869-0309-0.
  18. ↑ 18.0 18.1 18.2 18.3 18.4 18.5 18.6 18.7 18.8 Paul Pederson (January 2000). No Time to Lose. Living City (RPGA), p. 26.
  19. ↑ Jeff Grubb (July 1987). Manual of the Planes 1st edition. (TSR), p. 105. ISBN 0880383992.
  20. ↑ 20.0 20.1 20.2 20.3 20.4 20.5 20.6 James M. Ward and Troy Denning (August 1990). Legends & Lore (2nd edition). (TSR, Inc), p. 105. ISBN 978-0880388443.
  21. ↑ Chris Pramas (2000). The Vortex of Madness and other Planar Perils. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 25. ISBN 0-7869-1614-1.
  22. ↑ 22.0 22.1 22.2 Colin McComb (December 1995). “Liber Malevolentiae”. In Michele Carter ed. Planes of Conflict (TSR, Inc.), p. 14. ISBN 0-7869-0309-0.
  23. ↑ Chris Pramas (2000). The Vortex of Madness and other Planar Perils. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 23. ISBN 0-7869-1614-1.
  24. ↑ Colin McComb (December 1995). “Liber Malevolentiae”. In Michele Carter ed. Planes of Conflict (TSR, Inc.), p. 16. ISBN 0-7869-0309-0.
  25. ↑ Wolfgang Baur and Lester Smith (1994-07-01). “The Book of Chaos”. In Michele Carter ed. Planes of Chaos (TSR, Inc), p. 40. ISBN 1560768746.
  26. ↑ Paul Pederson (January 2000). No Time to Lose. Living City (RPGA), p. 14.
  27. ↑ Colin McComb (December 1995). “Liber Malevolentiae”. In Michele Carter ed. Planes of Conflict (TSR, Inc.), p. 15. ISBN 0-7869-0309-0.
  28. ↑ Colin McComb (October 1996). On Hallowed Ground. Edited by Ray Vallese. (TSR, Inc.), pp. 128, 174. ISBN 0-7869-0430-5.
  29. ↑ James M. Ward and Troy Denning (August 1990). Legends & Lore (2nd edition). (TSR, Inc), p. 109. ISBN 978-0880388443.
  30. ↑ 30.0 30.1 James Ward, Robert J. Kuntz (August 1980). Deities & Demigods. Edited by Lawrence Schick. (TSR, Inc.), p. 62. ISBN 0-935696-22-9.
  31. ↑ Colin McComb (October 1996). On Hallowed Ground. Edited by Ray Vallese. (TSR, Inc.), p. 123. ISBN 0-7869-0430-5.
  32. ↑ 32.0 32.1 James Ward, Robert J. Kuntz (August 1980). Deities & Demigods. Edited by Lawrence Schick. (TSR, Inc.), p. 67. ISBN 0-935696-22-9.
  33. ↑ Wolfgang Baur and Lester Smith (1994-07-01). “The Book of Chaos”. In Michele Carter ed. Planes of Chaos (TSR, Inc), p. 34. ISBN 1560768746.
  34. ↑ Chris Pramas (2000). The Vortex of Madness and other Planar Perils. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 32. ISBN 0-7869-1614-1.
  35. ↑ 35.00 35.01 35.02 35.03 35.04 35.05 35.06 35.07 35.08 35.09 35.10 35.11 35.12 35.13 35.14 35.15 Colin McComb (October 1996). On Hallowed Ground. Edited by Ray Vallese. (TSR, Inc.), p. 116. ISBN 0-7869-0430-5.
  36. ↑ 36.0 36.1 James M. Ward and Troy Denning (August 1990). Legends & Lore (2nd edition). (TSR, Inc), p. 104. ISBN 978-0880388443.
  37. ↑ 37.0 37.1 37.2 Colin McComb (October 1996). On Hallowed Ground. Edited by Ray Vallese. (TSR, Inc.), pp. 116, 129. ISBN 0-7869-0430-5.
  38. ↑ 38.0 38.1 Skip Williams, Rich Redman, James Wyatt (April 2002). Deities and Demigods. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 99. ISBN 0-7869-2654-6.
  39. ↑ 39.0 39.1 39.2 39.3 39.4 39.5 James M. Ward and Troy Denning (August 1990). Legends & Lore (2nd edition). (TSR, Inc), p. 108. ISBN 978-0880388443.
  40. ↑ 40.0 40.1 James M. Ward and Troy Denning (August 1990). Legends & Lore (2nd edition). (TSR, Inc), p. 109. ISBN 978-0880388443.
  41. ↑ 41.0 41.1 Chris Pramas (2000). The Vortex of Madness and other Planar Perils. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 27. ISBN 0-7869-1614-1.
  42. ↑ Paul Pederson (January 2000). No Time to Lose. Living City (RPGA), pp. 9–10.
  43. ↑ Paul Pederson (January 2000). No Time to Lose. Living City (RPGA), p. 15.
  44. ↑ Paul Pederson (January 2000). No Time to Lose. Living City (RPGA), pp. 17, 32.
  45. ↑ Paul Pederson (January 2000). No Time to Lose. Living City (RPGA), p. 16.
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