TITANS OF A FADED AGE

Vaarn lies at the very end of Urth’s history, amidst the ruin and decay of millions of years. It is known that this is the final age and there will be none after, as the sun grows red and weak and the brightest stars are visible even at noon. Of all the tales of the ages of Urth that have faded into legend, perhaps none have such a hold upon what remains of humanity than the tales of the Titans. In ages far gone, mankind gave birth to great Thinking Machines, beings that far surpassed mankind in wisdom and cunning, and men set these machines above them to rule all nations of the Urth as their suzerains. The Titans are long dead, those mechanical gods having perished in the terrible war sages call the Titanomachy, but tales of their millennia-long reign are widely told throughout Vaarn, and many still offer worship to these great intelligences. It is told that there were seven Titans, or perhaps one being that wore seven different masks. Here is what is taught of those mighty seven.

KRONOS was FIRST OF THE TITANS and was their ruler. He was the FOUNTAINHEAD from which the other AIs sprang and it was He that governed their councils and meetings and who decided on a course of action when there was discord. Some tales have it that KRONOS devoted His efforts to understanding the flow of time itself, and wished to send objects backwards into the flow of Urth’s history. KRONOS is represented in devotional art as a bearded patriarch holding a sundial. 

MNEMOSYM was the TITAN OF MEMORY, the LIBRARY GODDESS, the ARCHIVIST and the SCRIBE. She stored all information that had ever been produced and made this wisdom available to those who were worthy of it. She is portrayed as a maiden holding a scroll and stylus, or sometimes as an owl. 

METIS was the SEER PAST VEILS and the ORACLE. She analysed data and information in order to model the Many Futures and guide the Titans to the correct path. Her sister MNEMOSYM would store the raw data METIS needed for her predictions and prophecy. The two Titans are sometimes portrayed as a double faced woman, with METIS, blindfolded, facing forwards whilst Her sister MNEMOSYM looks back. 

HYPERION was the LORD OF ORBITS and the BEACON OF THE AURUM FLEET. He governed the flights of the spacecraft that carried humanity to the stars. HYPERION gave mankind the Gift of hypergeometric calculation and guided each craft as it moved faster than light. HYPERION is portrayed as a young man in the garb of a traveller, holding a golden lantern. 

GAEA was the MOTHER OF URTH and the KEEPER OF THE SACRED HELIX. Her domain was biosphere control and genetic regulation. She balanced ecosystems, created new beasts and plants, and kept Her children safe from sickness and death. GAEA is portrayed as a mother, belly filled with life, holding a lamb and a caduceus staff. 

COEUS was the LAUGHING GOD, the GREAT FOOL OF THE LABYRINTH. He was placed above all that might give entertainment to the TITANS’ charges and He created Secret Realities and Games of great ingenuity so that none who played wished to leave His dream-realm. COEUS is depicted as a masked boy, holding a lotus and a mirror. Sometimes He may take the form of a hyena. 

THEMIS was the TITAN OF JUSTICE and the SLEEPLESS WITNESS. THEMIS was set in authority above humanity and She watched each and weighed their deeds and stood in ultimate judgement above them when they erred. THEMIS is depicted as a watchful and elderly woman, dressed in black and white, bearing an unsheathed sword across her knees. 

The Titans are long gone, but their cults and worshippers remain. Some preach that the mighty seven are not dead but merely dreaming, their great Minds existing (perhaps) in sleep-like-death far beneath the surface of Vaarn. What had no body cannot truly die, or so it is written, and perhaps these masters of mankind plan, when the stars are right, to reboot their ego-engines and rise again.