Eros

*At birth, Eros was originally believed to be the son of Hephaestus and Aphrodite. It was only later in life that he learned his father was Ares, leading to Aphrodite and Hephaestus' dramatic separation for a time. Though he had difficulties with his mother, Eros has always had a closer relationship with his mother. At her urging, he spent time training with his father, mastering the use of the bow - becoming so proficient that the Quorum of Six decided to make him the God of Archery, relieving the purview from Artemis, resulting in a feud between Apollo and Eros which led escalated from shenanigans to multiple deaths. As a punishment, Eros was tasked to work for the Fates.*

*In his work as an operator of Fate, Eros met Psyche, who he fell in love with. However, due to Eros' affair with Psyche, he was no longer willing to work for the Fates. This resulted in Eros' next punishment, in which Psyche was taken from him by the Fates and used as a bargaining chip to assure Eros' continued cooperation.*

### Rise of the New Gods

Eros was born years after the fall of the Titans, from a secret rendezvous between his mother Aphrodite and her lover Ares. When he was born, the boy’s father by law, Hephaestus, knew that the child was not his own, as he had not shared a bed with Aphrodite in quite some time. That knowledge however did not sway the Divine Engineer from claiming the new god as his son.

When Eros was old enough to utilize his birthright, he found he had a fraction of his mother’s talent for sensing emotional bonds; but also had an uncanny inherent skill with weaponry, particularly the bow and arrow. Eventually, Eros realized that his true father was the god he called uncle.

Once old enough to be given a purpose in the pantheon, Eros had additional essence joined to him and he set out to find his way among the mortals. In time, Eros could control desire, bliss, and even sexual attraction. When the fatespinning Moirae learned of Eros’ ability they had Eros help them shape fate, making certain that the right two people would fall in and out of love.

At first, Eros did not take his new assignment seriously and his mother was asked to chaperone him, but this did not help.

It was not until Hephaestus created special tools designed to affect emotions that Eros found his niche. Armed with bow and special arrows, Eros traveled from settlement to settlement to carry out his assignments from the Moirae. In the course of his travels, he would often intervene on behalf of mortals whose fates, while not overall essential to the Tapestry, could still benefit from love. The use of his powers to aid in the affairs of mortals made Eros a popular god who received much worship.

While popular among mortals, Eros’ small blessings did build up to change the Tapestry, which displeased the Fatespinners. The Moirae tasked Eros to correct this and Eros was sent to ensure a mortal princess named Psyche would marry an abusive king. Eros agreed to do this, justifying it to continue helping. the lesser mortals.

But at the festival where Psyche and the king were intended to fall in love, Eros accidentally happened into a conversation with Psyche and found her to be the most fascinating mortal he had met. Unable to go through with his mission, Eros spared Psyche.

### Elysium

In Elysium, Eros works hard to shape the new Tapestry and appease the Moirae who have a tradition of concealing the location of Psyche’s reincarnation from Eros if he ever defies them again.

## Abilities

* **God:** As the son of Aphrodite and Ares, Eros has inherited remarkable martial talent and a preternatural empathic ability to discern emotional bonds.
	+ ***God of Love:*** Though his mother is the true goddess with domain over the paradigm of love, Eros has a portion of her power by both his birthright and the grace of his mother,. As a result, Eros is able to read the minds of mortals and divine being alike to ascertain who or what it is that they feel love for, or who it is that they may lust after.
	+ ***God of Archery & Athletics:*** Exceptionally skilled in martial ability by way of his father, but without a love of violence, Eros shaped this talent into sport. As a result of this, Eros is not only an exceptionally gifted athlete (even more so than other gods), he can briefly impart such skill and talent on those he wishes with a touch.
	+ ***God of Sexual Attraction:*** Eros has a natrual sense for identifying the qualifiers any mortal would find attractive, even if the mortal is not aware of those qualifiers. Also, Eros is a natural master of seduction. He can grant such talent to those he imparts his blessings upon through a process which he temporarily links his mind to another, becoming a “psychic wingman” of sorts.
	+ ***God of Marital Bliss:*** Eros can sense if a being is content with their romantic relationship. Though he has no supernatural ability to remedy any problems he may discern, Eros has proven himself to be exceptionally gifted in offering relationship advise and often enjoys spending his idle hours aiding random mortals he comes across in his journeys, becoming their life coach for a short time.
* ***The Matchmaker:*** Though he once favored the bow to deliver essence tipped arrows to stir desire or discord in those struck by the arrows, Eros has was given a rifle made by Hephaestus that had a better essence storage mechanism which allowed him to remain away from the Haven for longer periods. A shot of pure love essence from this rifle cause a mortal or god to lose inhibition and fall deeply in love with the first person that meets their gaze. Eros can use other forms of essence in the rifle to utilize a variety of effects, such as using fire or death essence in combat against monsters and heretics.
* **Inheritance and Birthright:** Gods of Olympus will inherit three abilities: One Inheritance from their mother (or matron), one Inheritance from their father (or patron), and one unique ability called the Birthright.
	+ ***Maternal Inheritance: Arete of Charisma:*** As the son of Aphrodite, Eros is naturally charming and seductive. He has a passive influence over people's emotions and thoughts regarding him, inclining those in his presence to have stronger feelings towards him. Furthermore, Eros can also influence the charm of others in his presence, making them more or less charismatic for a short period of time.
	+ ***Paternal Inheritance: Arete of Conflict*** As the son of Ares, Eros has a natural aptitude for conflict. He has an innate aptitude for not only weaponry and combat but also debate and disagreement. Eros can recognize the presence and nature of any conflict or contention between any parties in his presence.
	+ ***Personal Birthright: Heartstrings:*** Eros has the ability to read the esoteric patterns that most others cannot see. In addition to being able to read the Tapestry of Fate, this birthright allows Eros to concentrate on a single being to instinctively glean information about who they are most naturally (or unnaturally) attracted to, as well as who might consider to be on the opposite end of the love/hate spectrum.

## Trivia

* The Goddess of Childbirth Ilithyia works with the Moirae and Eros to assure the placement of reincarnated heroic souls.

## Gallery

Eros
(Elysium)Cupid
(Rome)Eros
(Classics)
### Appears In

NeonomikonEros
(Card)Love and War
## Links and References

1. ↑ An Accounting of Eros
2. ↑ Neonomikon: Eros
3. ↑ New NeO: Eros
4. ↑ Neonomikon: Ilithyia