Title: Balmut, The Wandering Calamity
Also known as: Bahamut, Blessedbane, and the Death Titan.
Activity: Frequent.
Area: The Green Hell and the Scorch.
Bio: The 1st Titan, Balmut is nearly 50 feet tall. It has no skin, and is more akin to a mountain of obsidian than an actual living creature. Despite this, its overall shape is humanoid, with long claws, thick limbs, an orange mouth dripping with magma, and a single red, glowing, eye.
Balmut’s power is Dynakinesis, the ability to control any and all types of energy. The Titan most often uses this to create and Shape fire, plasma, and lighting. Balmut can create storms of lighting centered around its being, or send incredible streams of concentrated electricity and plasma in a beam-like attack across great distances. Balmut’s lightning follows the laws of physics, allowing skilled Blessed to redirect its attacks. However, Balmut can ultimately still control its lightning after it leaves its body, so efforts to usurp the Titan’s control in this manner are often futile. Balmut can create massive conflagrations using its mind, emit magma and flame from its hands, and even reactivate volcanoes if given sufficient time.
One of Balmut’s most notorious abilities is the one that earned it the name “Blessedbane.” Within a certain radius, Balmut is capable of manifesting and controlling energy inside a target’s body. The Titan typically chooses to create an incredibly potent flame, burning combatants from the inside out. The limit to this range was originally thought to be less than 50 feet, but Balmut demonstrated the ability to raise the circle’s diameter to over a mile during the Horror, effectively making fighting it at close range impossible. Balmut is even able to saturate this area with radiation, poisoning and usually killing all those near him not struck down by flame.
Finally, by manipulating energy, Balmut can unleash a sonic roar that grows more powerful over time, eventually becoming potent enough to collapse buildings, liquify organs, and turn fortifications into dust. Exceptional care should be employed when engaging the Titan with energy attacks, as it is capable of redirecting them, often to devastating effect.
Personality: Balmut is perhaps the simplest of the Titans, both in philosophy and intellectual capability. It is a brute, a being that cares only for destruction and devastation. Balmut is the walking personification of a natural disaster, a true act of God or the Warrior sent to test humanity. Balmut desires to burn flesh, to blow up buildings, and to leave nothing behind it other than a wasteland. It is large, strong, powerful, vicious, and must be engaged with caution.
Unlike many of the other Titans who keep to their own devices, Balmut will likely never stop attacking humanity. The Titan strikes religiously and regularly and, if not stymied by the lives of Blessed, efforts must be made to evacuate his intended target. That said, Balmut is not particularly intelligent. It is a slow moving creature, incapable of mentally or physically responding to complex battle maneuvers, and can be moderately easily avoided.
Though deadly without doubt, Balmut is perhaps one of the easiest Titans to effectively deal with; just stay out of its range and attack from afar. But whatever you do, do not give it time. No one wants another Brisbane.
~~~
Title: Lotan, Avatar of the Abyss.
Also known as: Jormungandr, Tiamat, Typhon and the Sea Titan.
Activity: Scarce.
Area: The Oceans.
Bio: Lotan is the second Titan ever to appear on Earth Bet. It is thirty feet tall, covered in green scales, quadrupedal, and shaped somewhat like a cross between an ape and a wolf. It sports digitigrade back legs and long claws. Lotan is heavily muscled, and possesses a prehensile tail over 50 feet long. It bears no discernable facial features aside from four glowing green eyes like crevices that split apart its skin. Lotan’s body is contoured by micromolecular fins.
Lotan is a hydrokinetic, able to manipulate water on a massive scale. However, it is not a true ygrokinetic, as it is only able to manipulate liquids with a sufficient amount of water in them. The Titan primarily attacks port cities, riding upon the back of a tsunami, and drenching the location with a rainstorm. It will not hesitate to draw larger and larger waves from the sea depending upon the course of the battle.
Lotan will also use its ability to destroy underground aquifers and caverns, exerting extreme amounts of pressure to erode the surrounding silica and materials in order to collapse part of or the entirety of its target. In more than one instance, particularly during the Horror, this ability sank entire islands and carved off landmasses into the sea. Contesting the Titan’s control with Blessed hydrokinetics, while effective, will cause it to target them ceaselessly.
Lotan has the ability to create clones of itself composed entirely of water. It uses one of these clones to produce an “after-image” of itself that follows it in combat. The clones are more vulnerable to damage than the Titan, and do not hit as hard, but move just as quickly. The maximum number of clones Lotan can create is unknown, but legends of the Horror propose it fielded as many as ten at a time.
In addition to the incredible strength and durability of a Titan, Lotan boasts remarkable speed. The upper limit of its speed is unknown, and is not on the level of the Quicksilver, but Lotan has demonstrated speeds of up to 80 miles per hour.
Personality: Lotan is, without doubt, an incredibly skilled combatant. It demonstrates more proficiency in battle than either of the other two original Titans, Balmut (who rampages around like an animal) and the Simurgh (whose foresight cannot truly be likened to skill in combat).
Despite this, Lotan does not appear to take any pleasure in fighting. Make no mistake, the Titan will not pull punches if pushed, but neither does it exhibit Balmut’s destructive glee or Beelzebub’s sadism. If sufficiently pressed, Lotan will simply retreat. Despite legends describing Lotan as quite active prior to the collapse and during the Horror, in recent years the Titan has scarcely been seen, apparently content to remain in its lair at the bottom of the Mariana Trench.
Lotan will not hesitate to attack those who damage the sea’s ecosystem through overfishing, dumping of toxic materials, or the widespread destruction of coral, but no longer attacks ships at random.
No, now the only thing to fear from the seas are the creatures that escape the Labyrinth.
~~~
Title: The Silverwinged Simurgh.
Also known as: Ziz, the Stranger, and the Lost Titan.
Activity: None.
Area: Unknown.
Bio: We know little of the Simurgh.
Precious little. For reasons I intend to make all too obvious below, its appearance, its powers, and its disposition are very much mired in doubt and uncertainty. We are thus, when it comes to the nuances of the Simurgh, forced to resort to a rather unbecoming manner of speculation.
Accounts regarding the Simurgh’s appearance vary considerably.
All stories, however, concur in this sole regard; the Simurgh, hence its unofficial Title, is a winged creature. It possesses, in fact, a great many wings. It is the precise color, and number, and orientation of these appendages, as well as the morphology of their host corpus, where Ancient histories proceed to differ.
The Simurgh’s wings are depicted as white, and gold, and silver, and light blue-green, depending upon which recollection one refers to. Its described measurements are six, and ten, and sixty feet tall, some slight enough to walk among us, others so large as to wreak earthquakes with each glorious footfall.
Its body is humanoid, slender, and delicate. Or, it is deformed, and many-limbed, and monstrous. Or, it is naught more than a ball of one-hundred gargantuan, ever-twisting feathers. It is masculine, or feminine, or androgynous. It is beautiful, or horrifying, or impossible to directly observe.
Similarly, Ancient reports converge when it comes to the Simurgh’s mental proclivity, yet are maddeningly contradictory on all other fronts.
It is a precognitive, or a postcognitive, or the only true psychic to exist in all the world. It is a Blaster, or a Master, or a telekinetic strong enough to lift the seven seas with but a single finger. It can steal powers, like the Vile. Craft wonders, like the Maker. Meddle with the very mechanisms of Blessings, themselves.
Recount enough of the Lost Titan, dear reader, and you, too, shall surely find there to be nearly nothing it cannot do.
Personality: The Simurgh is a curious creature.
Curious, indeed. There is good reason I leave this account for last, despite, of course, the fact that the Simurgh was not the final Titan to appear on Bet. No, the Quicksilver claims that ignominy. The Simurgh was, by all accounts, the third Titan to walk our earth, and the last to arrive before the infamous events of Gold Morning. And yet, in the end, this is the quandary; all we have are accounts.
The Simurgh vanished over seven centuries ago.
Unlike Balmut, Lotan, and Beelzebub, the Simurgh took no part in our Horror, nor the Folly that followed. It showed neither hide nor single hair during the Respite, either. Or the Arrival. Or the Blooding. And during our New Era, we have seen no more of it than ever.
Not once, in any age since 0 A.C., has the Simurgh attacked.
It is tempting, therefore, to believe the Lost Titan’s eponymous evaporation humanity’s victory. And yet, whilst the Simurgh did vanish, may I remind the reader out that no body of its has been recovered. No body of its has ever been sighted. No proof of its disappearance has ever been presented.
It is entertaining, I accept, in a puerile fashion, to spin all manner of baseless narrative regarding the Simurgh’s shrouded origins, or supposed untimely end. This is not, however, in my estimation, a productive manner in which to engage academic historical discourse.
As such, and in the effort of good practice, allow me to discredit some of these most popular theorems now:
T1: The Simurgh was slain by another Titan.
Response: Unlikely. There is no evidence at all to suggest that Titans may make war with one another. To the contrary, even the notorious storied feud between the Sword and Vile Titans has yet to once result in direct combative action. In all other cases, the Titans are well-documented to lend one another a wide berth.
T2: The Simurgh never existed at all.
Response: Plausible. There certainly are, and have been, abundant rumors of Titans ancillary to the more well-documented ten that arrived from years 0 to 290 A.C. The origination of many of these stories may be attributed to Blessed of particular potency or grandeur in physical appearance that were mistaken for more esoteric creatures. For example, the Celestial Emperor himself was once popularly considered to be none other than an eleventh Titan. As such, it remains a distinct possibility that the Lost Titan was, in fact, none more than a similarly powerful Thinker whose legacy was embellished post-mortem (as is often the case).
T3: The Simurgh hides itself somewhere on Earth Bet.
Response: Unlikely. No Titans in history have demonstrated the capacity to recant themselves from interaction with the mortal populace, nor particularly the desire to do so. Even Beelzebub, infamous for its subterfuge, does not do this. It is an unspoken and relatively well-established rule among my ilk that something fundamental to Titan biology or psychology sets them at odds with mortal man. Indeed, this is perhaps the one area in which Chroniclers and Devoted Scholars agree (though, needless to say, for different reasons).
T4: The Simurgh died during the events of Gold Morning.
Response: This, I find to be the most plausible of implausible theories. It is possible, if unlikely, that a Blessed, or a number of Blessed, or even one of the Holy Triumvirate, was or were strong enough, together, to bring down the erstwhile God. Similarly, it is possible that the Warrior, in his rage, attacked indiscriminately, and his spawn suffered for it. All the same, I find it difficult to accept that there would be no records of such a momentous event.
T5: The Simurgh is not, and was never, a Titan. Rather, it was a hyper-advanced construct created by the High Priest to aid in battle against the Warrior. The Warrior destroyed it.
Response: Utterly ludicrous. It is consistently remarkable to me the extent to which my contemporaries will assign feats of unimaginable potence to Eidolon posthumously, far beyond that which he was ever concretely credited with in life. This theory, in particular, I suspect stands as a crudely-concealed Devoted dogwhistle, intended to discredit the Priest’s intentions and cast doubt upon humanities morals regarding the Rebellion. The Papal Canon may be inconsistent in places, but that is no reason to propagate vile rumors such as this one amongst the populace.
Ultimately, fact based solely upon eyewitness reports is no fact, at all. We may speculate and supposate ad nauseam, but the Simurgh is the one Titan whose nature and manner we may never truly know.
~~~
Title: Beelzebub of the Masquerade.
Also known as: The Devil, The Gentleman, Lord of Flies, and The Vile Titan.
Activity: Unknown.
Area: Unknown.
Bio: The 4th Titan, birthed by the Warrior’s psychic scream. No Titan is feared quite like Beelzebub. No Titan is responsible for more death, destruction, and ruin than Beelzebub. Beelzebub’s true form is unknown, as it has only ever been recorded or witnessed wearing the forms of others. It is possible that Beelzebub only reveals its true self to those it is about to kill.
Beelzebub is able to shape its form, a swarm of flies millions strong, into anything it desires, human or otherwise. Beelzebub can even copy the forms of Blessed that have died by its hand. When in these forms, Beelzebub gains their powers as well, though it cannot copy Gifts. It never loses a copy once it gains them, except if it dies whilst in the copied form. It can only replicate one Blessed at a time. It is unknown whether Beelzebub can copy the powers of other Titans.
Though not the strongest Titan in direct combat, Beelzebub’s proficiency is in infiltration, deception, and subterfuge. Beelzebub will target a successful city, organization, or alliance and slowly tear it apart from within. It will assassinate and impersonate people in positions of power, sow dissent amongst the populace and generally cause chaos. It may spend months, or even years doing so, all the while unnoticed. It is very difficult to kill Beelzebub, as it can change forms (and therefore powers) instantaneously at will and may resurrect from any one of the millions of flies that make up its body. However, it is possible to defeat the Titan through other means.
As soon as someone recognizes Beelzebub as a fake, and warns a single other person, the Titan will arrest its efforts and retreat. If Beelzebub is able to kill the aware individual prior to them being able to warn another, it will not retreat. Additionally, after recognition, if any number of individuals engage Beelzebub, it will delay its departure to fight each of the offending parties.
Personality: Unlike the other Titans, Beelzebub demonstrates a remarkable degree of intelligence and understanding of the human psyche. It is able to converse and otherwise interact with humans without any difficulty, even assuming the traits and quirks of those it impersonates with ease.
While most Titans display little care for the lives of humanity, Beelzebub actually seems to take pleasure in our suffering, going so far as to mock, deride, and even torture those it interacts with. There is no line Beelzebub will not cross, no undertaking too horrific or cruel. If possible, Beelzebub will attempt to not only kill those it impersonates, but destroy their legacy, leaking their darkest secrets and tarnishing their memory in any way that it can. Upon discovery, the Titan will try to goad those around it into attacking and is all too often successful.
While I would liken most Titans to walking calamities or natural disasters, Beelzebub is truly evil.
To help identify the Titan and thereby mitigate the amount of damage it can deal, a list of personality quirks it seems to exhibit has been created and is steadily growing. Beelzebub does not always display these traits, and they vary based upon the individual it impersonates. This entry has been updated with the following:
-When possible, Beelzebub will present itself well-dressed, in a suit or formal wear.
-Beelzebub’s movements tend to be polished and precise–more so than those it impersonates.
-Beelzebub displays a proclivity for chewing mint leaves, though the purpose of this is unknown.
-Beelzebub consumes large amounts of food, generally red meat, and drink, generally spirits.
-Beelzebub demonstrates a measure of compassion for cloven-footed creatures such as goats and sheep.
-Beelzebub may emit a constant subsonic buzz in a 100 meter sphere around it, detectable by potent auditory capes. This buzz will affect people’s minds, making them tired, angry, and even driving them mad if exposed to it for a long enough duration.
Beelzebub has not been seen for a long time. A very long time. Centuries, if the Vault’s records are to be believed. Many rejoice at this news, yet I cannot help but fear.
No news is not good news, not when it comes to the Devil.
~~~
Title: Knossos the Elaborate.
Also known as: The Labyrinth, The Dungeon and The World Titan.
Activity: Constant.
Area: Worldwide.
Bio: Knossos, the 5th Titan, is without doubt the most esoteric of its brethren. It is also unquestionably the one responsible for the greatest societal change, even more so than Chelm. Unlike the other Titans (even those such as Sothoth and Dainsleif, whose physiologies are particularly unusual) Knossos has no true physical form. Or at least, if it does, none have ever laid eyes upon it. Instead, Knossos is a living, thinking, evolving dungeon. The specifics of the Titan’s Blessing are largely unknown. However, its behavior is exceedingly well documented.
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Knossos interacts with the surface world via a system of entry “portals,” known as Maws. These Maws appear in seemingly random locations across the globe, even in the highest mountains and the deepest depths of the ocean. However, Knossos is not a globe spanning, subterranean megastructure, as none of its Maws actually physically connect to anything. Underneath the Maws lies nothing but dirt and soil. Instead, entering one will teleport an individual to Knossos’s true body which exists in, according to Thinkers, multidimensional space.
The Maws of Knossos may take any number of forms, such as a quaint inn, a dank cave entrance, a door within a large tree, and even a golden portal in the clouds, just to name a few. All Maws share one thing in common. The first “room” within the Maw will always have the way forward sealed until the entry portal, whatever it may be, is closed to the outside. Once it is closed, re-opening the portal will see all previously within it vanished. For those inside, the delve begins.
Upon entering the portal, delvers are transported to the true body of Knossos, and begin their test in earnest. For that is what Knossos is, ultimately: a test. Unlike other Titans who seek only to destroy, Knossos destroys the weak and rewards the worthy (or perhaps, the lucky). Knossos’s tests constitute a series of rooms and floors. A delver progresses linearly through rooms in a floor, and then downwards to the next floor.
The appearance and architecture of Knossos’s rooms is effectively limitless in variety. Trap rooms may test agility, stealth or perception. Puzzle rooms may test intellect, wit, and the ability to think quickly under pressure. Combat rooms may test delvers against any number of foes, from armies to single combatants. Not all rooms fit within these parameters. Some rooms may test all of the above. Rooms may repeat thematically, but no two rooms have ever been recorded as exactly identical. The Vault of Glass keeps a record of all rooms encountered by the Delvers Guild. Some examples are described below:
-A room with a large, seemingly bottomless pit at the center. Delvers may cross the chasm via a network of small stands sufficient only for a single foot. One cannot breathe in this room without clapping.
-A room shaped like a large manor house. The way forwards, through one of the doors in the house, is barred. The house is filled with antique furniture. Upon retrieving the key in the basement of the house, items of furniture within the house will attack.
-A room filled with four adversaries: a knight, a thief, a mage, and a gunslinger. Killing one of them will revive all those already dead. The only way forward is to kill all of them at once.
-A room shaped like an opulent bathhouse. The bath house is massive, seemingly endless, and filled with nude humans. The bathgoers will attempt to seduce delvers who encounter them. However, upon copulating with them, a party member will be turned into a member of the bathhouse. The only way out is drowning oneself in the waters.
Rooms themselves, within a floor of the dungeon, are inconsistent. Some delvers may face only a single room before reaching the end of a floor. Some may be forced to traverse tens, or even hundreds of rooms. More confoundingly still, rooms may demonstrate any manner of esoteric effects. It is well documented that the deeper one delves, the more the dungeon exhibits temporal dilation effects. Some rooms on lower floors have been known to dilate time to such an extent that decades of travel and struggle undertaken within the dungeon occur in only seconds upon the surface world.
Before they leave a given floor, and indeed in order to do so, all delvers must first face the Champion. The Champion is a particularly difficult test, the penultimate challenge of a floor. It may be a puzzle, or trap, but it is more than often a single, particularly strong, monster. Once the Champion has been defeated, delvers are faced with a choice. Either continue the delve to the next floor, or exit the dungeon. Those who choose to exit will reappear in the initial room of the Maw. Those who continue will face greater tests.
Knossos become progressively more dangerous as one descends floors, to the point of testing even the bravest, strongest, and most experienced Blessed in the world. But this is nothing compared to what one faces once they reach the fourth floor, and the exotic floors begin.
Delving into the fourth floor is lunacy for all but the strongest Blessed. It takes an Immortal, a Godkin, to even survive the first of the exotic floors. For, at this point in the dungeon, there are no rooms. That is to say, there are no discrete, physical, areas in which a test may take place. No, now the tests take place in cities, on continents, in whole new worlds. The exotic floors are responsible for Knossos’s most notorious moniker; The World Titan. These worlds are never re-used.
To the chagrin of thinkers and delvers alike, it is devilishly difficult to draw distinct conclusions, or even generalities, about the nature of Knossos’s tests. Many floors do appear to follow a general theme, but these themes can be as concrete as ‘plants’ or ‘dragons’ or as abstract as ‘greed’ or ‘time.’ Some floors seem to follow no theme at all. As such, the only true way to become a more capable delver is to learn to survive in incredibly dangerous situations, regardless of specifics.
Ironically, the Labyrinth itself is not the greatest danger presented by The World Titan. After all, if one wishes to be safe from Knossos, one need simply not delve. No, the greatest threat it poses is Overflow. If Maws are not regularly delved within, they will begin to spawn the creatures within their depths onto the surface world. This has led to certain sparsely populated areas of the world becoming thick with wild, dangerous monsters.
Personality: Knossos’s personality is unknown, as its behavior is near indiscernible and its “brain,” if such a thing even exists, has never been seen. Perhaps, like Chelm, it is an inventor and the dungeon is its greatest creation. Perhaps, like Dainsleif, it is obsessed with the idea of testing the worthy and eliminating the corrupt. Perhaps, like Beelzebub, it enjoys watching those who undergo its tests suffer. Or perhaps, like Sothoth, it is only interested in perpetual expansion. Conjecture as to the Titan’s true motives and desires is pointless.
What is highly relevant, however, is addressing the Titan’s impact on society. This can be summed up with a single question, and a single answer. The question is, why would anyone choose to delve, to risk life and limb within the body of Knossos? And the answer is simple: Entropy. Entropy is everything to the New World. It is the ultimate energy source; clean and potent and perpetually storable. It is what powers our great cities, our transportation, the golems that work our fields. It may even be consumed by the Blessed in return for increased Attunement.
Entropy is better than oil. More valuable than gold. All aspects of our society are built on it. Beauty and magic and power, all rolled into one. And the strongest Entropy crystals grow only in the Dungeon. But Maws do not last forever. They are constantly changing, arriving and disappearing, preventing cities from being built around them and requiring the successful delver to be always on the move.
Many, even outside of the Devoted, revere Knossos above all other Titans. But make no mistake. Knossos is not a God. And if it is, it’s not a benevolent one. It may come bearing gifts, but it demands a steep price for them in turn. The lives reaped by the World Titan are done so out of sight, and thereby out of mind, but it is just as much a killer as any of its brethren.
Delve with caution, for Knossos is unkind to the unprepared.
~~~
Title: Spawnmother Sothoth
Also known as: The Wretched, the Cursed Womb, the Stainmother, and the Birth Titan.
Activity: ?
Area: ?
Bio: ?
Personality: ?
~~~
Title: Tlaloc of the Emerald Eye
Also known as: Coatl, the Feathered Serpent, Savior of Aztlan, and the Sacred Titan.
Activity: ?
Area: ?
Bio: ?
Personality: ?
~~~
Title: Curseblade Dainsleif.
Also known as: The Knight, the Noble, the Sword Titan and Devilsbane.
Activity: Frequent.
Area: Worldwide.
Bio: Dainsleif is the 8th Titan, born at some unknown point in time between 167 and 290 AC, during the period known only as the Arrival. The Titan takes the form of an approximately 8 foot tall humanoid composed entirely of white and gold marble with no distinguishing features, no face or hair, and a single aureate character upon the exact center of its forehead.
This character appears to roughly match the shape of a ‘T,’ and Thinkers suggest it stands for Tiwaz, an antiquated norse rune dating back to the Pre-Collapse era. According to them, the symbol conveys multiple different meanings in its original dialect, such as ‘Law,’ ‘Justice,’ or ‘Warrior.’ Despite its apparently nordic origin, this rune cannot be replicated by Grimnir. However, the 8th Titan’s true form is not humanoid at all. Rather, it is, in reality, the ornate sword that the creature carries in its hand.
Dainsleif is a deadly memetic weapon.
It can cut through any object regardless of composition. The wounds it delivers to flesh will never heal, even in the case of the most potent regenerators, though they may scar over. Limbs it dismembers will never regrow, and prostheses put in their place, be they runic or cybernetic, will not function.
Dainsleif’s proficiency is in single combat. The Titan will approach a settlement, army, or group, and plant its sword into the ground, issuing forth a great sound, at which point it will remain in place for a period of 1 hour. If the receiving party does not respond within this duration, Dainsleif will slaughter all those present bearing arms or Blessings. If the receiving party attempts to retreat, Dainsleif will slaughter all those present bearing arms or Blessings. If the receiving party attempts to overwhelm Dainsleif via an army of combatants, Dainsleif will multiply to match the number of those dispatched. After defeating the army, the multiplied Dainsleifs will slaughter all those present bearing arms or Blessings, usually very quickly.
If the receiving party sends a single challenger, Dainsleif will duel them, most often to the death, and always to grievous injury. In the case that they send someone neither armed nor Blessed, Dainsleif will ignore the challenger and continue the countdown. As such, sending mundane slaves or servants rarely acts as a viable strategy to delay the Sword Titan. Presumably, if Dainsleif lost this duel, it would retreat. Ultimately, though, this is merely a supposition, as Dainsleif has never lost a recorded duel.
Following the Titan’s victory, one of two things will happen. Either Dainsleif will arrest its efforts and leave the area, or it will plant its sword into the earth once more and the 1 hour countdown will be reset. If the countdown is reset in this manner, the cycle shall continue until Dainsleif retreats of its own volition.
Dainsleif has been known to duel parties down to the last combatant, and to leave after only dueling once. Some postulate that the number of duels correlates directly to the Titan’s satisfaction with the combat proficiency of dispatched challengers. Others contend that Dainsleif selects specific targets and will not leave until it has dueled them. Although evidence exists to support both these hypotheses, neither has been conclusively proven.
As a warning to those encountering this Titan in the future, no attempt should be made to destroy Dainsleif’s humanoid body from afar. In the case of attacking the sword’s body, by any means outside of single combat, Dainsleif will make no moves to defend itself, regardless of injury. However, if its form is destroyed entirely, the sword will enter a Breaker state where it exceeds mach 1 and kills indiscriminately, even those not armed or Blessed.
No records exist of individuals surviving an encounter with the Titan in its Breaker form.
Personality: It is understandable to me that so many have taken to calling Dainsleif the “Noble Titan.” Though undoubtedly a ruthless murderer, the death toll under Dainsleif is a pittance compared to the genocide its siblings visit upon our kind. And though its outward demeanor may appear emotionless, there is a sort of honor to Dainsleif’s manner. The Titan seems to preferentially target those committing what it considers dishonorable acts; such as slavers, murderers, bandits and the corrupt in general.
Although the Titan’s edge has been documented parting even the most durable materials with little difficulty, it fights charitably. When faced with even the most decaying wooden shield or rusted axe, it will not chip a single splinter from the wood, nor will it mark a single notch in the steel. Instead, Dainsleif will parry, block, and outmaneuver its opponents, treating their weapons with great respect. Though it has demonstrated great strength and speed, it will scale these to its adversary, only ever staying one step ahead of them.
Dainsleif never plays, or toys, with its opponents. It takes duels seriously and, if the Titan is going to kill, it does so quickly and mercifully. Dainsleif displays a great enmity for Beelzebub, and will combat the Vile Titan whenever and wherever they encounter one another. During these confrontations, Dainsleif recognizes Beelzebub with no apparent difficulty, regardless of the latter’s current form. Though Beelzebub may temporarily resist the Sword Titan, it will always retreat in the end.
It should be noted that Beelzebub has never demonstrated any animosity, in return, towards the Sword Titan.
~~~
Title: Chelm, Kiln of Cobalt.
Also known as: The Golem, The Ghost of Pripyat, and the Maker Titan.
Activity: Frequent.
Area: The Radiation Exclusion Zone.
Bio: Chelm is a 30 foot tall android composed entirely of an unknown, cobalt-blue alloy that serves as both skin and armor. Alongside Beelzebub, Hermes, and the Simurgh, Chelm is one of the four humanoid Titans, possessing two arms and two legs attached to a thin, lithe frame. From its neck upwards rises a technologically sophisticated, visored helmet with a video display terminal for a face. Consoles and windows pepper the surface of the screen ephemerally, appearing and disappearing constantly. Any attempts undertaken by Blessed Thinkers to divine the content of or meaning behind these digital interfaces are met with nosebleeds, headaches, blackouts, and eventually brain damage. It is unknown whether Chelm’s actual face exists underneath the helm, or whether the helm itself is the Titan’s face.
Four spider-like appendages are attached to its back, each tipped with three long, metallic micromanipulators. Chelm is orbited by a number of energy and particle-emitting orbs of myriad color and size, which are normally inert. However, Chelm may make the orbs “active” by selecting them with one of its four aforementioned appendages. The exact nature of these orbs is unclear; research on their precise properties is largely nonexistent, and many of their effects have not been cataloged, but they appear to each allow the Titan a measure of Kinesis with a corresponding element.
Chelm roams the ruins of Old Russia, pausing routinely to craft. When Chelm begins crafting, it will shroud itself within a slightly glowing sphere of the same color as its armor, approximately 200 feet in diameter. The sphere is covered with console windows that appear, spawn text, and disappear, in the same manner as its helm and with the same anti-Thinker memetic effects. Though opaque, the sphere is physically permeable. Nevertheless, entry to the sphere is highly discouraged.
If an individual or party enters the sphere, they will be able to see whatsoever Chelm is in the process of crafting. But as soon as they enter, they will be set upon by the Titan. And despite its passive aesthetic, Chelm is a formidable opponent in all forms of combat. The Titan moves in a very precise, exact manner and is able to uncannily detect and attack vital spots and weak points in those it engages.
Chelm will exercise its physical body as little as possible during an engagement, leaving most of the battle to its micromanipulators, which can extend to up to 100 feet, allowing it access to all who enter its sphere. Chelm is incredibly difficult to meaningfully damage; its armor being near-impenetrable, and the vast breadth of esoteric effects levied against it, the Titan counters easily through use of its orbs. Chelm’s crafting periods have lasted as briefly as an hour, and as long as decades. Even now, the minutiae of its crafting processes remain unknown.
Dealing with this Titan is, comparatively speaking, simple. Do not enter the sphere. Do not bother the Maker. Chelm almost exclusively acts in the REZ, secluded in Northwestern Russia, where no one lives. Therefore, the Titan poses no threat to those who do not actively seek it out.
Personality: Chelm is rather unique in being the only Titan, save perhaps for Knossos, to never have attacked without provocation, seemingly only interested in the development of its inventions. However, perhaps unwittingly, the Golem is responsible for one of the most profitable industries to have emerged in the New Age: Relic scavenging.
Relics, the fruits of the Maker Titan’s ceaseless work, wrought by eldritch means and for unknown purpose, pose both incredible danger and reward. Their exotic effects range from the devastating to the life saving to the incomprehensible, but their value is unquestioned and has resulted in masses of Scavengers arranging, most often, ill-fated expeditions to the Radiation Exclusion Zone.
Ill-fated, as the Zone is not without its perils. Despite its name, radiation is the least of an adept Scavenger’s concerns. Memetic hazards litter the place. Entropic refuse left by items of unimaginable power and destruction, or actualized as necessary byproducts of their forging.
The works of the Maker distort reality.
The ground is cracked and cratered by vents of flame, so hot they melt the flesh of the strongest Brutes, or creeping frost that shatters them to pieces. Areas of greatly increased or decreased gravity threaten to either turn one’s form to pulp, or send them rocketing off into the upper atmosphere. Ever-present, raging storms spawn rippling balls of condensed lightning that surge across the sky, chasing all nearby lifeforms, and discharging violently into the ground. Lakes and rivers are turned to bright green, bubbling pits of viscous acid. Yet, instead of eating flesh, this liquid turns fauna to flora, converting immersed body parts seamlessly from flesh into clumps of flaking flowers.
But even these dangers are nothing compared to the true horrors of the Zone. Ever so often, one may come across warps in reality, portals to other universes, to mind-bending dimensions and savage hells, host to countless mutants and monsters that crawl unbidden into our own, their brutality eclipsing even those spat forth by the World Titan. These tears in space and time and the creatures that inhabit them make up the few things in the known world capable of destroying even Immortal Blessed.
The REZ is cordoned off, surrounded by towering walls on every side, and manned perpetually by the combined might of Old Europe. No one wants another Stain.
And yet, despite the danger, Relic Scavenging grows more profitable with every passing annum. The industry has, in recent years, overtaken even Delving, the Zone acting as a suitable medium to many experienced and Immortal Dungeoneers who fear traipsing the exotic floors, yet find themselves unsatisfied by the first three. And the treasures offered by the REZ, though scarce, are so much more valuable. Relics represent the pinnacle of power in the New Age, the sole equalizer by which the wealthy may stand on even footing with Godkin, by which those with weak Blessings may enact their revenge on their betters. But many exact a terrible price in turn.
All Relics are potent, though some more than most. For posterity and by way of explanation, a brief list of particularly legendary Relics and their history has been assembled below:
The Nornband: A sleek, polished bracelet of twisting marble and silver patterned with thorns and threads of yarn. This band bestows upon its wearer a minor measure of Chronokinesis, one of the rarest and most potent powers in existence. Specifically, it allows the user to contract or expand the flow of time for themselves or others, as well as a considerable precognitive ability; at the cost of a great amount of Entropy, the wearer may turn back time up to a period of one hour.
The Nornband steals time from its wearers, aging them years for every minute they manipulate. While malign for most, this Relic may be safely used by Immortals, who need not fear time’s passage, though its Entropy cost remains obscene.
Its whereabouts are currently unknown.
Annals of the Ancestors: This Relic is a large, well-bound tome which, on its surface, depicts a roughly-drawn group of warriors kneeling in prayer before a canvas painting. The tome cannot be opened, but upon touching it, it will grant a middling proficiency in any skill contained within its pages. This comes at the cost of losing a skill the holder currently possesses, which is then bound within the Annals, added to its ranks.
While not the most powerful, the Annals of the Ancestors is a relatively benign Relic of great utility (particularly in propagating technically advanced skills, such as Ciphic Engineering) and thus commands considerable value.
It is currently held by the Coterie, kept under lock and key at the Bern Institute of Entropic Arts and Sciences.
A Glimpse of Aether: A glass globe about the size of an orange. Within the globe, in absolute clarity, is depicted a grassy field several leagues’ breadth, below a bright blue sky. Upon grasping the globe and shaking, whilst imagining a particular forecast, those same weather conditions will be replicated about an area of the user’s choice. Nearly any imaginable atmosphere may be brought into being by the globe, even those with exotic effects, such as storms that emit massive lasers in lieu of lightning, or acid rain powerful enough to melt steel.
Upon requesting a forecast, the user sacrifices themselves, becoming trapped within the globe. As no manner of belongings, even food or clothing, may be transported into the Relic alongside them, this is typically a death sentence.
A Glimpse of Aether is classified as malign and currently in possession of Cell Syn, who use the enslaved in order to deploy the Relic as a strategic-class weapon upon the Frontlines.
Fifteen Pearls: A set of beautiful glowing pearls of miniscule size and myriad colors, each inscribed with a character from one to fifteen. These pearls allow their bearers to communicate across any distance, even penetrating through dimensionally isolated space.
The Pearls exact as a price merely a slow dulling of one’s hearing, eventually resulting in deafness. However, as this effect may be healed by Blessings and ignored entirely by Immortals, this remains a relatively benign Relic.
In recent centuries, the Pearls have become a hallmark of the Celestial Empire’s intelligence service’s upper echelons.
Savitri’s Diadem: A slim, tall, nine-pointed ornate obsidian crown embedded with rubies and covered in complex runes. This Relic grants the bearer a high-level Master Blessing, rendering upon them the capability to summon and control demonic entities of variable power via blood sacrifice. Prolonged usage will inevitably turn the bearer themselves more and more demonic, until their very will is subsumed by the crown, perverting them into a mindless puppet. It is unknown whether these summons are extradimensional in origin, or created by the crown itself.
Savitri’s Diadem is, obviously, a malign Relic. It is also one of the oldest, most notorious, and most powerful Relics, having been host to a great number of bearers over the centuries, near-unanimously resulting in destruction and death. It is possible that the crown exhibits a memetic effect that warps the psyches of its holders, enticing them to make use of it, as any efforts to retrieve and store the Relic safely have ubiquitously been met with failure.
The crown’s most recent bearer was Etrigast the Burning, formerly Lord of Balmut’s Maul. Etrigast was slain in 554 A.C., at the climax of the First Infernal Crusade, or as it is otherwise known, the War of the Jehenists. So complete was the dark Lord’s corruption, only the combined efforts of Wergar the White under the light of a full moon and the Almighty Valour were capable of putting him to the sword. And their efforts came at great cost.
The Diadem, itself, was never recovered.
As a final note, on very rare occasions Chelm has been known to “gift” its creations to those it considers worthy. These gifted Relics are, without exception, immensely powerful and carry none of the drawbacks that usual Relics may. A well-known example is the Arkenstone, gifted to Grimnir early in 480 A.C., which now sits at the heart of the Fortress-City of Erebor.
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Title: Mercury the Quicksilver
Also known as: The Gamer, the Wanderer, and the Speed Titan.
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