When Worlds Collide OC - Argus

## History

Argus was born in the village of Lowfield, a small community bordering on the southernmost area of the Land of Gaia, sitting right on the coast to the oceanic continent of the Land of Tiamat. It was a tiny village with a friendly population of farmers and fishermen, but its beauty was always shadowed by the Palace of the Pantheon North of the village in the centre of the Land of Gaia. Both of Argus's parents were fishers, living with a low income but with optimistic smiles on their faces. Argus himself was born blind, making him incapable of taking up regular jobs such as fishing or farming. However, Argus was always seeing the brighter side in life; with his lack of sight he gained excellent hearing. He always enjoyed sitting in his house and listening to the sounds of his village, hearing his parents take a boat out to sea, the crushing waves biting at the land, the sound of cattle walking through the grass. He spent the majority of his childhood just listening to the sounds of nature, he was fascinated by it, and never saw his blindness as a disadvantage.

Living in the age of peace, Argus grew up to be really passionate about the Earth and the laws of nature. As his hearing got even better he would try to help out on the farms, and on his breaks he would sit out in the fields and take in the fresh air and ambiance of the wild. His father noticed his passion for nature and would read him the same book at night about the worship of Gaia and the Titans of the Earth. It was the only book his father could afford but Argus had his father read it to him several times over, to the point where Argus was able to read it himself by heart. When Argus turned 17, he left the mundane life of his parents and set out himself, with the book in hand. Argus would recite the teaching of the book to himself day and night, until one day when he met a group of travelers that recognised the sentences. The group was a religious cult dedicated to the worship of Mother Earth, AKA Gaia. They accepted Argus in for his curiosity, teaching him about the worship of Gaia and nature, until he became a devout follower of the group, known as Gaians. The Gaians admired Argus because his lack of sight gave him a stronger understanding of nature, he would not be distracted by what he saw but would be able to take in the beauty of the Earth through listening. Whispers spread around about the blind boy who could apparently "hear the Earth's voice", and it was not long after that Argus was made the superficial leader of the cult.

*"Close your eyes. Open your heart and listen. Listen to Gaia's music. She sings for her children."* - Argus to his followers

When Argus reached his late twenties, his hearing and other senses had gone beyond what was humanly possible. He could feel changing weather patterns, the movement of people's muscles and the footsteps of ants in a forest far away. He gained fame fast throughout the continent, a man who could see without eyes. This earnt him the title *Panoptes* among the Gaians, and his followers believed he was blessed by Gaia with the ability to sense life itself. Argus himself was a vegetarian, and spread his beliefs against the consumption of meat and the mistreatment of animals, including stressing his movements against deforestation and industrialisation. Argus believed true human development came from within, and humanity shouldn't force the world to adapt to them, but instead embrace the natural world themselves. His cult created controversy among the big cities such as Attis that had rapid industrial development in progress, but Argus kept a passive aggressive approach to the issue. When the followers of Gaia grew larger, more controversial beliefs came to light throughout the years.

*"You rush to raise cities in the name of the Pantheon. Continue to pervert the state of nature and She will be raised, and raze She will."* - Excerpt from the Tome of Panoptes

In his late thirties to fourties, Argus had written a book on his viewpoint and started the Titansblood theory, also known as the Gaia theory. The theory stated that humanity's blood does not just trace back to the First Gods, but the Titans themselves, and with great understanding of human nature and internal enlightenment, humans would be able to open up from their chrysalis, and become celestial and divine. This is the only way Argus proposed to please Gaia, and to show humanity's apologies to the Titans for the First Gods forsaking them in the First Titanomachy. This book, named the Tome of Panoptes, sparked great deals of controversy, and gained additional support and praise. More people started to use the term titansblood to refer to their genes/blood instead of godsblood, and some people went as far as to reject the teaching of the Pantheon, favouring the path of worshipping the Titans over them instead. This gave the Gaians a bad reputation with regular community, people referring to Argus's acolytes as *Terrans* instead as a derogatory term. Argus himself was seen with increasing hatred, but also gaining more popular as the years went on.

*"The Earth rumbles for a reason. Gaia is angry. No one can crack the Mother's heart like her own children. The Gods cannot protect you any further..."* - Argus to his critics

When the Second Titanomachy began and Gaia, Tiamat, Theia and Hyperia rose from beneath the Earth, killing the current Gods and destroying the Palace of the Pantheon, Argus and the Terrans grew even crazier. Argus told everyone he warned them, and gave them a final chance to turn to him before Gaia unleashed her wrath. Argus was 40 years old at the time, when the Titans sent their recent spawn out to attack cities. Argus regrouped with all his followers, and saw themselves as a part of Gaia's army. The zealots within the cult began ignoring the titans, even going as far as to unlock city gates for the titan spawn to pass through. Their actions allowed the first few cities closest to the epicentre of Gaia's attack to become destroyed and consumed by the titan forces. Argus didn't show much approval for these actions, and advised his followers to not do anything that would purposely put innocent people in harm's way. He obviously couldn't control all his men, but tried his best to convert more desperate people to his cause.

In 8 AST, Gaia regained enough magic and made Humanity infertile. She awoke her sleeping offspring the ancient titan spawns and sent them after humanity, who couldn't possibly fight back. When Humanity discovered how to awaken their godsblood to produce the divine magical substance Ichor and become Daimons, they managed to fight back against the ancient titans and even kill them. These Daimons were bordering on the line between Godhood and Mortality, and named themselves after the First Gods. This event angered the Terrans even more, and they started warring against the humans who called themselves gods. They impeded humanity's fight against the Titans by attacking them from behind, destroying their rations to starve them out of their fortresses and stealing their weapons. They continued to worship Gaia, and Argus taught that the best method of survival for humans was to ask Gaia for forgiveness rather than attack the titan spawns. Because of their behaviour, the Terrans and any other Followers of Gaia were seen as a Doomsday cult, extremists and fundamentalists. This was not Argus's intention, but he was indeed displeased with humanity's ignorance.

*"Humanity has failed you again. I'm sorry, I tried to help them see, but they're all blind! Only we can see you, Gaia, your faithful children!"* - Argus's prayers to Gaia

In 12 AST, four years into the conflict between the Terrans and the Daimons, Argus was forced to reconstruct the cult into a paramilitary group in order to survive the brutal killings from the Daimons and organise their methods. Argus hired advisors and generals who helped utilise military tactics against the human forces, but they only targeted Daimons and only as a response for defence. As against killing humans he was, he couldn't stand seeing his own people murdered. When the war escalated, and the Daimons grew more powerful, stronger titans were awakening or being created. Though one legendary ancient titan hadn't awakened yet, the thundering beast Typhon. Argus knew Humanity would kneel at the sight of such a devastating monster, and so sought out to find its buried body that was still in torpor. Typhon was a particularly frightening titan of legends infamous for devouring many minor deities, and its defeat only came about by Ziona herself. Argus eventually found the sleeping remains of Typhon's corpse, and prayed to Gaia to awaken him. After finishing the prayers, nothing happened, and Argus and his followers waited hours for Typhon to awaken, with no luck. Eventually, the Daimons tracked down Argus and attacked them; he begged for them to end the conflict to not disturb the resting grounds of Typhon, but they continued anyway. The leader of these attacking Daimons, a Daimon of Ziona came directly after Argus. He dropped to his knees and begged she show mercy for both their sakes. Ziona ignored his pleas and struck him with a bolt of lightning, so powerful it scarred his chest and face, with thunder so loud it instantly ruptured Argus's eardrums, rendering him permanently deaf.

Argus fell to the floor, his heart had stopped and he was dying. Ziona slaughtered the rest of his surrounding followers and left the area, confirming Argus of Lowfield as dead. Argus lay on the cold grass fading away, but in his last moments of consciousness he called out to Gaia, asking for her help. When she never responded, his mind suddenly filled with anger. Gaia was still not satisfied with all he had done, and so his work wasn't complete. Argus's passion and anger both caused him to activate the power of his titansblood, and the magical Ichor saved his life. He raised up from death, now being a Daimon...of Momentus, God of Wind. Argus immediately felt the ground the graveyard of Typhon, a hurricane attributed titan. He was deaf and blind, but he believed he was granted the powers of Typhon by Gaia. Argus, now referring to himself as Typhon, wandered around the remnants of the titan's body for days, until more Terrans arrived and found him. They brought him to one of their camps and fed him, questioning him because they believed he was dead. He never responded because he couldn't hear them, but later that day Typhon unlocked a strange ability. He could send wind currents into and out of people's breath, and breathe it in himself. This allowed him to relay their senses through himself, allowing him to repair his hearing...and his sight.

*"I've tasted death and returned. I saw what She wants, and I shall deliver."* - Typhon in regards to his mission

Argus, now named Typhon, became a ruthless leader hellbent on wiping out humanity in the name of Gaia. He claims that in his state of deafness and blindness, he reached enlightenment and broke out of his evolutionary barrier and received absolution from the Titans. He commanded his followers to join the titan spawn and tear down the walls of the defending humans, as he uses his newfound powers to wreak havoc across the lands. The Daimons feared this so-called Anti-Daimon with supposed unimaginable power, and there were rumours spreading around that Argus could even command the titan spawn. Since Argus becoming a Daimon and the wars following that day, the events that happened were colloquially referred to as the *Typhonomachy*. In 20 AST, Typhon, along with a portion of the Terrans, were strangely transported to Prime Earth, a new universe in which the titans nor the Daimons exist, a universe Argus would find it hard to adapt to...

## Personality

Argus was once an optimistic young boy who enjoyed meditation and serenity. He enjoyed listening to his father read and demonstrated his great memory when he recited the entire book back to himself. He's a religious man who takes his faith seriously, and can almost never be swayed from his beliefs, as he'd constantly think up excuses for why something happened differently than he thought. He was usually against violence, vandalism or the harming of innocents, but would risk any of his morals for his cause. He likes to use few words when talking, and would rather listen, but ever since his independent hearing was stripped from him he forgot his passion about it and it was replaced with aggression. Taking after the ancient spawn of Gaia, Typhon, Argus is now a very violent and destructive person. He's grateful of the great powers granted to him and doesn't show arrogance, he only sees himself as an example to help others. He can be quite temperamental now, but would never harm his loyalists or innocent people, unless the latter gets in his way.

## Powers and Abilities

* ***Ichor Manipulation:*** Argus believes that titansblood runs through his veins, but his blood still produces the magical energy Ichor. Since Ichor is a natural magic in Tertie-2, and since Argus is very tied to nature, his Ichor is seen as very powerful. The production of Ichor is linked to heartbeat and as an old man, Argus has a low heart rate. This would usually result in a weak Daimon, but Argus is robust and faithful, so his Ichor is still very potent.
	+ **Shattering Wind:** The power granted from being a Daimon of Momentus. However, Argus does not believe his power comes from a First God, and instead sees it as the blood of Typhon in his veins. Thus, his powers revolve around hurricanes and such. Considering Ichor has different effects depending on the producer's beliefs, this power allows Argus to use abilities that relate to him. Argus is exceptionally powerful, and so his Wind Manipulation displays this with him effortlessly producing currents strong enough to shatter stone.
		- All-seeing: This ability allows Argus to constantly expel air from his body that can be inhaled and exhaled by any human in a kilometre radius. Upon entering the body, the air reads through the senses of people and then exits the body through the breath, and upon recontact with the atmosphere, the air will send that information to Argus. This allows sensory perception to be relayed to Argus so he can see, hear, smell, touch, and taste whatever anyone else around him can.
		- Calm the Titan: This ability allows Argus to expel air particles that, when inhaled by a titan or titan spawn, allow him to calm them down. This ability also lets him command them to a certain extent which is so far unknown.
		- Song of Gaia: Argus whistles out a sharp piercing wind current that seduces or demoralises crowds of people to calm them or cause them to riot and fight.