Demeter

* Elysium
* Classic

*Demeter was the third mortal chosen for exaltation by Kronos and Rhea. She became a powerful goddess of nature and taught the arts of agriculture to mortals, allowing Ancient Greece to flourish with powerful city-states. Also worshiped as a loving mother, Demeter's ferocity would be become legendary when her daughter Persephone went missing. Though Persephone was not harmed and had merely run away to marry her secret lover, Hades, Demeter still is haunted by the idea of what she was prepared to do to bring her daughter home. Upon arriving in Elysium, Demeter has taken Gaia's place as the new Mother Nature, leading the Natural Order into this brave new age of industry and technological advancement.*

## History

### Early Life

As the Titans' influence and power grew, as mortals began to spread their legend across the land, the Titans no longer wished to spend time among the mortals and wished to dwell in the Haven, the impressive transdimensional residence and research station that Ouranos and Gaia had built for themselves atop Mt. Othrys. So to this end, the Titan Rhea discovered a way to extract the essence of the most powerful Titan, Kronos, and bestow that essence upon six of Kronos' most loyal mortal followers: Zeus, Hera, Poseidon, Demeter, Hades, and Hestia.

The Titans’ first endowments of power were to Hestia & Hades, both were given responsibilities to serve the Titans’ interests as the caretaker of their Haven and spymaster, respectively. Such shows the selfish, greedy nature of the Titans. They did not act to create a steward for their mortal subjects until they chose Demeter fit to have their third gift.

The shaman Demeter was made to be a demonstrator and given powers of nature so that she could work miracles in the land of mortals to demonstrate the power of the Titans. These feats were usually teaching the people of a tribe to farm instead of forage or helping care for the sick and injured. Simple acts for a being of her power, but it endeared her greatly to the people.

However, one by one, the six began to realize that their physical existence and metaphysical empowerment gave them potential that exceeded the Titans' own power. The first to realize this was Hestia and when she shared her findings, she was imprisoned in Tartarus, the dimensional prison that held Gaia. Demeter had engaged in a relationship with Poseidon early on, and it was for this reason (and her deep love for mortals) that Kronos’ paranoia saw to it that Demeter be locked away in Tartarus.

Persephone, Demeter’s firstborn, was born in Tartarus and both goddesses took advantage of their time imprisoned, learning many of Gaia’s secrets of Earth’s natural ways.

In the outside world, Zeus' escapades started producing followers that flocked to Zeus' secret refuge to join his cause in ever-increasing numbers. Without his steward spreading his tale, Kronos' power began to wane as Zeus discovered that he was becoming more powerful as his own legend increased.

When Zeus' powers had grown able to rival a Titan's, Zeus decided to make a strategic strike against the Titans. Leading his children and some key allies in a raid, Zeus broke into Tartarus and freed his spirit brothers and sisters, and for the first time, met his daughter Athena. But Zeus likewise discovered that his first wife, Metis, was unable to leave Tartarus due to her Titan physiology having bound her to the prison dimension's reality and was unable to exist in Earth's own reality. They had planned to free Gaia as well, but Metis insisted they should not do that.

Having been freed from Tartarus, Demeter was instrumental in helping turn the support of the mortal subjects away from the Titans and toward Demeter and her kind.

Poseidon proposed marriage many times to Demeter while preparing for battle, though she preferred to remain untethered to one person despite the strong love for each other. Following this event, to secure the loyalties of the sea nymphs and unite the Nereid and Oceanid clans, Poseidon went against his romantic pursuit of Demeter and married Amphitrite.

When the heavily injured Ares and Hephaestus returned to camp with word of Hera's capture, the gods decided that the time they had been waiting for was now. And so, to rescue Hera, the Gods rallied their allies and made an assault on Othrys. In the melee, a great deal of ichor and blood was shed. There were gods whose names were lost to history that died on that battlefield, but in the end, the three brothers of Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades took down their creator.

### Rise of the New Gods

By the end of the usurpation, Demeter’s cult had grown so large she was as powerful as Zeus, perhaps more so even. Yet, Demeter did not contest Zeus’ claim to the throne, having little taste for the Haven and its games, preferring to wander on the Earth with her daughter, free of the confining walls that reminded her too much of Tartarus.

This desire to remain unbound by the confines of responsibilities that interfered with her work led her to having the occasional affair with Zeus, a handsome farmer like Iasus, or even the occasional Amazon or bawdy barmaid (if she was so inclined).

Perhaps it was this reason why Demeter became so furious upon discovering the brewing love between her own daughter and Hades. Following the division of power, Hades began a secret affair with Persephone, having fell in love while they were gathering intelligence against the Titans. As a result of the eclectic paradigm of power, Persephone was able to continue their secret affair until the two decided to be married. Demeter was quite upset over the matter and for a time, Persephone nearly gave up on the whole relationship citing that as a goddess of nature, her place was on Earth. In her fury, Demeter told Zeus that Hades had kidnapped Persephone. Fortunately, the truth of it did come out and Demeter has made peace with it.

### Elysium

On Elysium, Demeter fell in love with its natural beauty and helped it prosper further by creating new flora and fauna inspired by Earth. Following the death of his wife, Poseidon needed something else to fill that void, and he turned to exploring the vast wilderness of Elysium, occasionally stopping to lay waste to pockets of infidels or mourn the memory of Amphitrite at the shrine he built out of broken ships for her on the shores of Atlantis. Lately, Demeter has been visiting Atlantis often to comfort him.

## Abilities

### Ichoric Doctrine

* **Divine Physicality:** Though the exact levels may fluctuate or cease to function due to lack of Nektar and Ambrosia in her system, generally speaking, Nektar is processed by her body and converted into ichor which is required for replenishing ichor and channeling essence; while Ambrosia is processed by her body to heal injuries and sustain immortality. Demeter does require some level of mundane food and drink, though a diet strictly made of Nektar and Ambrosia can sustain her (though she may become increasingly disconnected and 'inhuman' as a result). While she is properly nourished with Nektar and Ambrosia, Demeter has the following abilities:
	+ ***Enhanced Agility:*** Demeter is more agile, coordinated, and dexterous than her physique would otherwise suggest.
	+ ***Enhanced Awareness:*** Demeter is more closely attuned to the esoteric, arcane, and mystical than mortals. She can perceive ghosts, unmanifested nymphs, and other passively invisible patterns at work in her environment.
	+ ***Enhanced Durability:*** Demeter is more durable, resilient, and resistant than her physique would otherwise suggest. Mystical weaponry, magic, concentrated essence weaponry, the natural attacks of other gods or divine creatures, and weapons forged of magical metals such as adamantine or orichalcum are the exceptions to this nigh-invulnerability. Most mortal weaponry cannot pierce Demeter's skin, though bladed attacks from incredibly strong mortals have left bruises or slight cuts on her and repeated blows can weaken her over time as her body burns through its consumed Ambrosia.
	+ ***Enhanced Might:*** Demeter is stronger than their physique would otherwise suggest. She punches harder than a mule can kick. In conjunction with her enhanced durability, Hestia can barehandedly punch through a brick and mortar wall without concern for harming her body.
	+ ***Enhanced Speed:*** Demeter is faster, more reflexive, and all-around quicker than their physique would otherwise suggest. She can usually dodge gunfire if she is aware of the attack and prepared to move.

### Inheritance and Birthright:

* **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 Endowment: Fertility Affinity:*** Rhea endowed Demeter with the power to use essence to enrich organic matter and thereby restore its vigor. With this ability, she can instantly heal minor ailments, cure impotence or infertility over time, and get an overall sense of the general health of all beings in her locality. With Demeter's particular variation of this affinity, an insatiable libido seems to be common.
	+ ***Paternal Endowment: Arete of Agriculture:*** Kronos endowed Demeter with the innate understanding of that practice of agriculture. She can also accelerate plant growth and replenish recently rotted crops with a wave of her hand.
	+ ***Personal Birthright: Primal Wrath:*** With a glare, Demeter can curse others with the chaotic energies of primal creation. The effects are random and vary from the affliction of self-cannibalism to transformation into an animal. Though the effects are temporary for the divine, the effects are all too permanent for mortals.

### Doctrine

* + ***Council of the Twelve:*** Demeter is an active member of the Council of Twelve and has been since its founding. She sits on the Third Throne of Olympus, on Hera's side, beside Ares, and across from Poseidon.
	+ ***Elder Goddess:*** Demeter was the third being endowed with Titanic essence and made immortal using Rhea's perfected method.
	+ ***Goddess of Agriculture:*** Demeter can sense the agricultural needs of a community in her vicinity. She can give insightful knowledge of agriculture to a mortal mind through touch (she calls this 'sowing the seeds of wisdom').
	+ ***Goddess of Fertility:*** Demeter's natural affinity for fertility is greatly enhanced with this purview. Using this power, she can heal major ailments and moderate injuries. She can cure impotence or infertility with a simple cleaning ritual, and can sense the general health of all beings in her locality, as well as the general well-being of the entire landscape in her visual range. With an involved fertility ritual requiring community participation, she could revitalize the entire region and all its residents in a single night.
	+ ***Goddess of the Harvest:*** Demeter can restore withered crops, bestow resilience upon fields, sense the agricultural needs of a community, and cause seeds to sprout before your eyes. She can also give insightful knowledge of both agriculture and horticulture upon a mortal mind through touch (which she calls ‘sowing the seeds of wisdom’).
	+ ***Goddess of the Horticulture:*** Demeter can grow a simple and modest garden with the snap of her fingers, or she could take a failing and pathetic garden and transform it into a lush and brilliant one. If she were given a palatial garden, she could make it a true work of the divine. She can also give insightful knowledge of horticulture to a mortal mind through touch (she calls this 'sowing the seeds of wisdom').
	+ ***Goddess of Mills:*** With this purview, Demeter can sense the nearest mill, its scale, production output, and what products it supplies. She can also specify the type of mill she is looking for and know its general direction and distance. Upon arriving at a mill, she can assess what issues the mill is facing and may have some insight into the steps required to correct it. Demeter also instinctively knows how to make use of a mill's equipment.
	+ ***Goddess of Ranching:*** With this purview, Demeter can sense the nearest ranch, its size, what livestock it has, and if it is for the production of food or a breeding ranch. She can also specify the type of ranch she is looking for and know its general direction and distance. Upon arriving at a ranch, Demeter can assess what issues the ranch is facing and may have some insight into the steps required to correct it. Demeter also instinctively knows how to oversee and work a ranch. Animals on a ranch will always respond favorably to Demeter's presence, especially pigs.
	+ ***Goddess of Sacred Law:*** As the Goddess of Sacred Law, Demeter oversees the judgment and punishment of severe violators of the Sacred Laws, such as the Law of the Guest, Law of the Kin, or Law of the Crown. If a violator is known but has not surrendered themselves or been brought before Demeter, she can issue an edict, allowing her to activate any martial body she considers necessary to bring the violator to justice, whether mortal or divine. This includes the full weight of the Royal Guard, the Queen's Harpies, the Furies of the Dead, the Ichnaea of the Fates, or even unleashing the Kraken himself.
	+ ***Quorum of the Six:*** Demeter is a member of the Quorum of the Six. She is therefore given a say in the most important decisions affecting the Olympians.
	+ ***Sacred Mother of the Natural Order:*** Demeter is revered as the 'Sacred Mother' to the members of the Natural Order. She holds court in the Great Arcadian Wilderness of Northern Knossos, inside the Grand Lodge of the Natural Order, a colossal palace made in unity with the forest and protected by the services of the Enclave of the Moon and its Silver Wardens. Demeter makes the rules of the Natural Order and oversees its many subsidiary sects, such as the Court of Seasons. She is also usually consulted on any major decisions carried out by the Way of the Waves or the Conclave of Winds.

### Essential Doctrine

* **Cantrips**
	+ **Essence Types:** *Varies by Sourced Environment*- Demeter can absorb specific types of essence from her current environment. She can store this essence to engage in minor magical tricks at that time or at a later date. Essence not native to her current environment dissipates over time becoming less potent.
* ***Spells***
	+ **Essence Types:** *Bestial, Chaos, Hunger* - If Demeter has a greater affinity for a particular type of essence, she can accomplish more significant effects related to that essence type. Such essence does not dissipate when stored in her ichor.
* **Invocations**
	+ **Essence Types:** *Elemental, Empyrean, Flora, Life, Natural* - If Demeter has a mastery over a particular essence, then she can wield that particular type of essence to achieve legendary fears of essence manipulation. Such essence does not need to be sourced from the environment as she has become a source for this essence herself.

### Theological Relics

* ***The Cornucopia:*** Built by Rhea to feed Demeter on her long travels. It was used during the exile to feed Demeter and her kin before they required Ambrosia and Nektar. This horn of plenty can be used by any being with essence to conjure any mortal form of nourishment imaginable.

### Weaknesses

* **Adamant:** All gods find adamant to be concerning as injuries caused by such weaponry not only ignore their divine resilience, but also leave injuries that do not easily heal. Such weaponry poisons the god's own ichor. Even baring an adamantine weapon against a god is considered a mortal sin punishable by death.
* **Ambrosia:** Ambrosia is processed by the immortal body to heal injuries and prevent aging.
* **Nektar:** Generally speaking, Nektar is processed by an immortal body and converted into ichor which is required for replenishing ichor and channeling essence.
* **Nourishment:** A deity does require some level of mundane food and drink, though a diet strictly made of Nektar and Ambrosia can sustain them (though they may become increasingly disconnected and 'inhuman' as a result).

## Relationships

* **Poseidon**: While Demeter engages in several casual affairs, her most significant relationship is with Poseidon. The father of her child, the two became intimate while serving under the Titans, resulting in the birth of Persephone while in prison. While there was a strong love between the two, Demeter never wanted a committed relationship and thus turned down his marriage proposal several times. Now in Elysium, Demeter visits Atlantis quite often to comfort the grieving Poseidon.
* **Persephone**: Demeter and Persephone share an extremely close relationship. Demeter was devastated when Persephone had married Hades in secret, so much so that she told Zeus Hades had kidnapped Persephone. She eventually got over it and the two resumed their close relationship.

## Trivia

### General

* Like the rest of the Gods, Demeter does not have a set sexuality. However, she seems to have a preference for women.

### Mythology

* In Greek Mythology, Demeter was the biological child of Kronos and Rhea. She grew up to have affairs with her brothers Poseidon and Zeus. In NeOlympus, the incest is avoided by making the Eldest Gods spiritual siblings, so there is no biological relationship, and the affairs with his own children are completely cut out.
* In Mythology, Persephone was the daughter of Demeter and Zeus. In NeOlympus, she's the daughter of Demeter and Poseidon.
* In Mythology, Hades kidnapped Persephone and forced her into marriage by trapping her in the Underworld. In NeOlympus, that was just a lie told by Demeter in her rage.
* In Greek Mythology, Demeter was the goddess of seasons thus divine authority and absolute control over the seasons, such as annually transforming spring into winter (when her daughter Persephone is with Hades), and vice versa (when her daughter returns). In fact, it was because of her power over seasons that forced Zeus to return her daughter.

## Gallery

Demeter
(Elysium)Ceres
(Rome)Demeter
(Classic)The Giver
(Champion of the Titans)
### Appears In

NeonomikonDemeter
(Card)