Hephaestus

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Hephaestus is the god of forge and fire, scribed by Iain Houston.

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Know Your God

Height: 6’3

Weight: 230 lbs

Hair Color: longish, curly, and dark brown

Facial Hair: short beard

Eyes: brown

Distinguishing Features: a slight limp, not easily noticeable if you’re not looking for it

Family

Parents: Zeus and Hera

Siblings: Many

Spouse: Aphrodite (former)

Children: None

Professions

Down the ages, I worked with the highest technology available, which usually involved a forge and bellows. These days, I’ve grown more diverse: I own Transpheri Technologies, a space startup on the Gulf Coast of Florida, which also devises technological solutions to the greatest problems that people bring to us. I recruit the best and brightest, and so far, none have realized that I’m anything more than a rich, eccentric mortal.

Residence

Apartment on the grounds of Transpheri Technologies in Florida

Personal Information

General Overview: I lived from ancient times to modern in the company of the other gods, for whom I crafted unique weapons, defences, and other artifacts. For all of that time, I was primitive, hot-tempered, and full of issues. Happiness eluded me, especially in my marriage to Aphrodite. Finally, I holed up in an apartment on Crete, determined to figure out what was wrong and how to live a life I could enjoy. One day, a man appeared out of thin air and introduced himself as the sorcerer Hermes Trismegistus. He told me that he could help me in my quest; then he sent me back through time to the days of ancient Greece, to live my life again. This time, I avoided the gods (especially my younger self) and lived among mortals, eventually passing myself off as one of them. Travelling the world and befriending mortals, learning to think and live as they did, I grew to admire them greatly and care deeply for them. In time, I essentially lost the memory of my first passage through the ages, rarely remembering anything, not of my second life. My chief concern became the progress of mortal intellect and science, and ultimately I lent a hand to the process. After some decades of working on steam engines, then airplanes, I founded Transpheri Technologies in 1971. This is a space startup, but also a source of technological solutions for the biggest problems in the world, especially those problems that cannot be made public. To this end, I’ve recruited a team of experts and geniuses who actually create most of the solutions themselves; they fill me with pride. As I’ve recently begun to regain my memories of the other gods from my first life, I foresee a time when they come to me for my solutions to their problems, as they once did.

Nicknames: N/A

Likes: N/A

Dislikes: N/A

Flaws / Weaknesses

Replaced. Hephaestus has more than a little resentment for Ares after millennia of Aphrodite seeking out the God of War’s bed on the regular. He uses the anger to fire his creations, and probably would admit to visualizing Ares’ head beneath every stroke of his hammer. Hephaestus prefers not to be in the same room with Ares, which makes getting anything done that requires both of their input awkward and tiresome. When he does manage to remain in Ares presence, it is not without considerable sniping and cutting remarks, which anyone would know is the wrong way to handle a God of War.

Flawed. Hephaestus does not enjoy the unblemished and perfect immortal beauty that the other immortals do. As a result, he suffers from feelings of jealousy and self-consciousness that make him keep to himself, both to avoid inflicting himself on them and to avoid having to deal with the reminder that, of all the Gods, he alone is flawed.

Burned. Aphrodite's constant infidelity has left Hephaestus distrustful and difficult to open up in any sort of romantic relationship. This may make him seem standoffish at times and has left him bitter to his prospects for love and love’s worth, in general.

Hitch In His Step. Hephaestus’ ease of movement is impeded by a slight limp. Once much worse, he has recovered over the millennia and the limp is barely noticeable. One might not even see it unless you knew him from long ago or were looking for it.

Skills / Abilities

Immortality. Technically immortal. Immune to the effects of aging, cannot die by any conventional means, and is immune to all known mortal diseases and infections. As a deity, they are able to teleport, or "pop" anywhere in the mortal plane with a few exceptions, the God Floors of the GC HQ are mystically protected, so no teleporting to or in between them, anything on the non-mortal plane, i.e., the Underworld, Atlantis, and the Void, are non-accessible without a guide.

Mother Tongue. As the bridge between the mortal world and the divine, they speak all languages mortals do, even the long dead ones.

Forge Sight. Through concentration, Hephaestus can manipulate the molecular structure of metal, causing it to vibrate at a high rate, heating the metal in his sight to very high temperatures. The larger the piece of metal, the more energy this requires and the longer the process takes.

Pyrokinesis. Hephaestus can manipulate flame and fire without being burned. He can also control fires, even not of his own creation. He also has control over molten substances provided they have been heated by some variety of thermal method.

Master Craftsman. Hephaestus is a craftsman par excellence, his skills at building, repairing, and inventing anything at a technological level are unsurpassed. When an immortal needs something crafted, they come to Hephaestus. His forge mark has a reputation all its own.

Personal Attire

Normal Daily Wear: I wear suits when I must, mainly in dealing with high-income customers. Otherwise, I normally wear ordinary street clothes: jeans, button-down shirts or T-shirts.

Alternative Dress Wear: N/A

Magical Artifacts/Weapons

A unique multipurpose weapon somewhat resembling a rifle, but capable of producing an intense, destructive beam.