Nereus

Nereus is the second generation prime of the seas, scribed by Richard White.

Know Your God

Height: 6’ 3” in mortal form and bipedal deity form; 9’ 6” in full deity form (including tail)

Weight: 195 lbs in mortal form; 325 lbs in full deity form

Hair Color: White

Facial Hair: White Beard and Mustache

Eyes: Brown in mortal form; Sea Green in deity form

Distinguishing Features: Appears to be in his mid-50s. A few scars on his arms/ torso (claims they’re from shark bites)

Family

Parents: Pontus & Gaia

Siblings: Thaumas, Phorcys, Ceto, and Euryba

Spouse: Doris (An Oceanid)

Children: The Nereids (50 daughters to include Amphitrite, Galatea, Thetis), Nerites (son), Glaukos (son)

Professions

Nereus owns and operates a fleet of fishing boats as well as a marina and a processing plant on the island of Mykonos. The fourteen boats are captained by direct mortal descendants of his daughters as is his personal yacht. Nereus is best known as Alexandros Korias to his business associates. He allows his mortal form to “age” and then reappears every 30-40 years as the eldest son of the former owner who’s retired and left him the business.

Once called back to the God Complex (GC), Nereus establishes Nereids’ Expeditions, which both promotes sustainable usage of the seas as well as catering to diving expeditions and underwater archeology. He has commissioned a SWATH (Small Waterplane Area Twin Hull) research vessel (S.S. Xantho) with an oceanography lab as well as an archeological research facility. Two mini-subs are assigned to the Xantho (Ione and Ligea).

One of Nereus’s side businesses is intelligence gathering/selling. He is very up-to-date on any and all naval activity as well as merchant activity on the seas and is more than happy to help tip events to ensure the peace on the seas. He considers it a play on his old days serving as an oracle.

Residence

When not staying at the Olympus Annex (OA), Nereus lives on his yacht, Aegean Star, which is home-ported in Mykonos. The Aegean Star is a 75’ luxury yacht sporting a single mast and a foresail, with an auxiliary motor for calm days. There are twenty sailors aboard, plus a quartermaster, a first mate, and a captain.

The Star hosts a main cabin large enough to host parties up to 40 people with an attached galley. The main stateroom is Nereus and Doris’s living quarters, and the captain’s quarters are next to the main stateroom. There are six additional staterooms for overnight visitors. The crew’s berths are below.

When duties call him back to the OA, Nereus resides on the 41st Floor of the complex, which he has divided into an anteroom, two offices, a research lab, and his living quarters. There is an aquatic theme to the anteroom and one secretary (a sea nymph) ensures all visitors are made comfortable before they enter one of the inner offices. One office is the new offices of Bounty of the Sea, identified by the gold hippocampus against a blue and white wavy field emblazoned on the door. The other office is the booking office for Nereids’ Expeditions, identified by picture of a mermaid holding a golden trident and sitting on a rock jutting out of the sea on the wall next to the door.

Beyond these two mundane offices, Nereus has a special research lab and a restoration lab to help repair and restore ancient items that have been acquired by any expeditions to turn over to the current Greek government (unless the gods have a prior claim on said items). Also, any unusual or magical items discovered on these expeditions are recreated with a mundane copy (aged properly to hide the switch), to keep dangerous items out of the hands of mortals.

Nereus’s living quarters are fairly Spartan, since he’s only there when he has to be. However he spared no expense on the shower/sauna and the kitchen. While not “classically trained”, he does see himself as a bit of a chef. Doris visits him here from time to time, but she is even less enamored with dry land than he is.

Personal Information

General Overview: Nereus was lord of the oceans before the Titanomachy, but with the fall of his cousins, he was happy to turn over the rulership of the seas to Poseidon. He’s spent the past five thousand years enjoying his retirement and touring the world’s oceans. The earliest scribes talked about his gentle-nature and trustworthiness and they were right up to a point.

Along with controlling the seas, Nereus is known as the god of the bounty of the sea and fishermen around the Mediterranean still toss a fish or two back after a good haul as Nereus’s tribute, even if the actual meaning has been lost over time. In the modern era, Nereus spends a lot of time among the fishermen, working with them incognito and blessing or cursing their catches depending on how they treat the sea and each other. He encourages people to work together to improve themselves and their environments.

He was once an oracle, said to be able to predict the future. That is one part of his past he’s happy most have forgotten.

Nicknames: The Old Man of the Sea, Dad

Likes: Doris, his wife (still married after 45,000 years). The ocean and its changing moods. Mediterranean food, although he’s developed an appreciation for Polynesian dishes. Strong drinks. Black coffee. Wines of all types, Spartoi – his pet hippocampus. All his children (tries not to show favoritism).

Dislikes: Obnoxious, full-of-themselves people. Intentionally cruel people. People who pollute the ocean. Pirates. Office hours.

Flaws / Weaknesses

Me Hearties. After the Gods’ decline and departure from Olympus, Nereus remained in close contact with the mortal creatures that lived on the land, remaining in close communion and bonds with them. As a result, Nereus cares greatly for the mortals with whom he interacts, even to the point of being biased on their behalf. Mortals on whom he has bestowed interest or favor pull at his attention where even immortals would not, sometimes deviating him from other courses of action.

Home Waters. Nereus’ powers are most potent and concentrated when he is in the area of the Aegean Sea. Since all waters are connected, he has some power everywhere he goes, but that power diminishes the farther he travels from those home waters of the Aegean. It was a price he paid when he relinquished control to Poseidon, but hey - he also released responsibilities, so it’s fair.

Salt Life. Nereus is epitome of calm waters. Like the sailors that call upon his name, he can become stuck in the doldrums and be difficult to mobilize or motivate to do things. This laid-back tendency can come across as apathetic to many and makes it difficult to enlist his aid on anything that does not concern him. As a result, few people seek him out which breeds a further sense of isolation and compounds the inertia. Even if Poseidon came to him for assistance, Nereus would tell him to go handle it himself.

Landlocked. As god of the seas and open waters, Nereus suffers from a degree of claustrophobia whenever he gets too far away from water or is in an enclosed space. This breeds general nervousness and can result in a full-on panic attack. The thought of going to the Underworld for any length of time is something Nereus doesn’t like to even entertain, much less do. Doing would require large amounts of drugs.

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.

Transmogrification. Nereus is a shapeshifter, although he does favor aquatic forms above all others. These days he generally stays in human form, but he can shift between his deity form and human form at will. He will generally change his human form every 30-40 years as part of maintaining his ownership of Bounty of the Sea, his fishing company.

Water Creation. Nereus can create water wherever he is, either salt or fresh as required. Nereus can create water in a capacity to match the full contents of an Olympic sized pool before it begins to drain his strength.

• Water Control (Personal). Along with creating water (see above), Nereus can wield water as both a weapon (water jets or even a solidified water club) and create a sheath of water around him that resembles ancient Green armor and a shield. He can maintain this for half an hour on dry land out of sight of the ocean or indefinitely when on the ocean.
• Water Control (External). Nereus can create whirlpools, waves, and even minor storms on the oceans (but not on land). Creating storms takes more energy than he’s usually willing to exert these days, but if the cause is just, he’ll rise to the occasion. Utilization of this power causes Nereus to need to recuperate for several days before utilizing this power again.

Summon Sea Creatures. Nereus can summon sea-creatures, but not sea-monsters, as needed. This summoning will be heeded by all creatures within one nautical mile. This can be something as simple as summoning a school of fish to aid a group of fishermen who have pleased him to summoning a school of barracuda to aid him in combat. Telepathic Communication (Spartoi) – Nereus is able to telepathically communicate with his hippocampus steed, Spartoi, whenever he is on the sea or at least within sight of the sea while on land. This includes basic communication as well as commands.

Prophecy. Nereus is known for his oracle abilities, but like most oracles spoke in riddles and kept many of the details to himself, letting the seeker work hard for the answer, understand it in their own time, and take it to heart. Truths freely given are often ignored. His answers are always the truth, but sometimes the truth is only realized after the fact. Only if you can defeat him in a wrestling match will he answer in a straightforward manner. To perform acts of prophecy, he must be holding the Staff of Prophecy as it is the source of this power.

Personal Attire

Normal Daily Wear: Nereus is generally found in a soft linen shirt, jeans, a Greek fisherman’s cap and dock shoes when on one of his fishing vessels or at the Bounty of the Sea office on Mykonos. While aboard the Aegean Star, he’s usually found in a blazer with a mermaid holding a trident embroidered just above the right pocket, silk shirt (he favors blues and greens), slacks, and dress shoes.

Alternative Dress Wear: If he doesn’t have anywhere to be when he’s at the O.A., he’s generally found in swim trunks, a Hawaiian shirt, and sunglasses, near the pool.

Magical Artifacts/Weapons

Nereus passed the Trident of the Sea to Poseidon after the Titanomachy, but that does not mean he is defenseless. All but the Staff of Prophecy were created by Hephaestus.

Trident of the Aegean. A trident which aids in his control of the water. It can shoot a stream of water with the force of a fire hose and enhance his control over aquatic beings. It is strongest in the waters of the Aegean Sea and weakens the further away he gets from those waters.

Crown of the Seven Seas. Nereus can use the power of this crown to increase his persuasive abilities with any mortal who lives near the Mediterranean, Black, or Red Seas. This augmented charisma has no effect on immortals. Invisible to all mortal eyes, it is a simple coral diadem set with seven perfect pearls: white, black, golden, pink, lavender, blue, and iridescent.

Staff of Prophecy. A simple staff carved from driftwood. This staff aids Nereus whenever he uses his oracular powers, and was given to him by his father, Pontus. Nereus cannot perform acts of prophecy without this staff in his hand. Nereus guards this staff closely as its powers would be available to anyone who holds it. While those born from the sea may use it with full knowledge and understanding of the prophecies conveyed, anyone not born of the sea would receive the prophecies true, but jumbled and difficult to interpret.

Bracelet of the Sea. These seven tokens are given by Nereus to mortals who have pleased him. A simple silver braided bracelet, it contains an iridescent pearl that identifies the wearer to sea creatures as being favored of Nereus and as such to be left unmolested, or aided in time of distress on the sea. Additionally, the wearers can crush the pearl to summon Nereus to their aid, but this is a one-time summons and destroys the bracelet, requiring a new one to be made. Currently, four mortals have been given a Bracelet of the Sea, leaving three in Nereus’ possession to be bestowed.

Historical Synopsis

Nereus, known as “The Old Man of the Sea”, was an ancient god of the sea and the god of the sea’s rich bounty of fish. He was known for his old age, kindness to mortals and trustworthy knowledge of the future. He dwelt in a shining cave at the bottom of the Aegean with his wife, Doris and his fifty daughters, the Nereids. He was a master shapeshifter and spoke with a prophetic voice. He was considered to be the protector of Greek fishermen, giving them an abundance of fish to catch, according to the goodness of his heart toward the people.

Introduction written by Richard White

Ah, good day to you too. Welcome aboard. I can guarantee we’ve nothing but smooth sailing ahead of us for the day. Mind the deck; it can get a little slippery at times.

Yes, I am Nereus, former ruler of the seas, now enjoying my retirement with a little fishing, a little exploring, and a large appreciation of the wines and cuisines of the Mediterranean and its minor seas. I’ve been enjoying my retirement, but I think I’ve lounged around enough and it’s time to get a little more involved in this modern world. After all, everything comes from the sea and eventually returns to the sea, so I’ve grown attached to you mortals over the centuries and, for the most part, you all have been quite fascinating to watch.

So, come enjoy the bounty of the sea . . . swim in its bosom, enjoy the waves sweeping the shores, and explore its mysteries. Maybe you’ll see something out of the corner of your eye that couldn’t possibly exist? After all, you mortals have explored your lands, conquered the sky, and even visited the cold depths of the heavens above, but you’ve yet to fully explore the mother of you all, much less understand the mysteries that lie beneath the bluish-green waves that lap at your shores every day.

Who knows?

Perhaps today will reveal something grand, if you’re bold enough to seek it.