Wild Rover No More

Question: So has Marduk's wanderlust ever faded over the ages? I would think that now that Sumeria is long dead he has more time to travel to other lands.

Marduk was actually pretty small potatoes back in Sumeria - it wasn't until the rise of Babylon and the diligent workings of his number-one fanboy Hammurabi that he really became the pantheon's big cheese. But once he did, nobody ever argued again!

The story of Marduk's statue and its wanderings is a really interesting one to play with for a Scion game; each time it was stolen, the Babylonians panicked and had generally bad fortunes in war until it was recovered (usually by invading somewhere in a terribly ill temper). Several small-scale prophecies surrounded the event, including the fact that Marduk's statue would only return to Babylon when it had proven itself worthy of him again, or that its return would usher in a new and even more glorious age for the empire.

Those kinds of prophecies practically write Scion plots for you - especially if you're playing with Anunna Scions or their allies, the idea that perhaps Marduk's salmu has been missing lo these many years and that the Scions must go on a quest to find it and return it to the ruins of Babylon, thus rebirthing the new empire, is certainly the stuff of heroic legend. The antagonists could be anyone - Titans, intentionally depriving the Anunna of the support of a kingdom in the World? A rival pantheon (perhaps near neighbors the Yazata or the Elohim, both of whom were invaded more than a few times, or the ever-volatile, ever-grudge-holding Dodekatheon)? Even one of the other gods of the Anunna might be the culprit, attempting to stage a coup to take over the pantheon or get revenge on him for some ancient slight. The possibilities are endless, and the resurgence of Babylon is certainly something the Anunna and their chidlren would have a strong opinion on (one way or another!).

As for Marduk himself, I'm not sure how much time he has to wander around with Shamu under seige by Tiamat's forces; he's probably on pretty much twenty-four hour border patrol and monster smashing duty. But if and when he does have some leisure time, I wouldn't be surprised if he disappears to wherever that missing statue might be (especially if it's somewhere interesting or plot-worthy!).