Question: Besides normal human-god procreation and adoption, what other ways can a god create a Scion?
Scions are rare and special creatures; gods can't just pop them up all the time by doing random stuff, or their lives would be much easier and they wouldn't have to spend so much time messing around in the dangerous and Fatebond-plagued World. Scions are the fusion of the mortal with the divine, enabling them to reach for the awesome greatness of divinity while retaining the spark and soul of humanity, and that's not something that's easy to come by.
Gods can make progeny all kinds of ways, of course. They can create living creatures with various purviews, including Industry and Health, but those aren't Scions. They can have children with all kinds of Legendary creatures and inhabitants of magical worlds, but those aren't Scions. They can even make copies and illusions of themselves, but those aren't Scions, either, just mirror images or pale imitations.
There are technically a few ways a god might be able to manage it. We've talked before about the fact that gods might be able to create Scions by spreading their seed to animals instead of humans; the resulting children would probably be very bestial and have a lot of challenges that normal Scions don't, but it's technically possible, depending on your Storyteller's inclinations. It's also technically possible for a god with Human Hybrid to crossbreed a Scion with a normal human, resulting in a mortal who could be tapped as a Scion by the original Scion's parent. That only works for one generation, and since you're spending a bucket of Legend around a mortal to do it it doesn't seem like there's much point, but it's possible as long as you're of the creator-god set. Finally, as with most things, a purview Avatar used appropriately could probably create a Scion, particularly The Savior or The Wyrd; Avatars are able to do bananas things that normally can't be done, so they get around the usual restrictions.
Short of those, however, Scions are created by the fusion of ichor and blood from a mortal having a child with a god, and that's where the vast majority of them should be coming from. The other methods are possible but in most cases not useful unless there are extreme extenuating circumstances or obstacles to getting it done the normal way, and most gods won't go to the extra effort and expense unless they have a seriously important reason to do so.
Could a god take his ichor and combine it with a mortal to make a Scion using Artisan?
ReplyDeleteCould an NPC get a hold of god sperm and a willing female to make a Scion?
Could a non-god pump a mortal full of ichor and make them a Scion?
For the first one, yes if they had the Avatar level. Not at the lower levels, probably; Artisan can create living things, but not living beings.
DeleteDefinitely yes to the second! I'm not sure where an NPC would get god-sperm, but if they did and knocked up a mortal woman with it, instant Scion. The Scion Storyteller Screen's original writeup for Esus actually suggested that he made a practice of donating to sperm banks so that large numbers of mortal women could bare his children without him having to visit each one.
No to the third. Pumping a mortal full of ichor would probably make them a Legendary Mortal or affect them in some permanent way (for example, Sangria did this to Hector, the last motral son of Moctezuma's line, and it resulted in an instant maximum-level Fatebond to her), but it wouldn't make them a Scion. Scions require being born of two elements, not being one and then having the other forcibly introduced. You also couldn't make a god into a Scion by filling him full of mortal blood.
Bear... bear his children. Maybe I need to go back to bed.
DeleteMan, the idea of a God just donating to a sperm bank seems... lame. Totally practical, absolutely logically sound.. but lame.
DeleteIt just doesn't have the romance (not the hearts-and-flowers kind, the artistic movement kind) and the mythic feel of a God coming down to Earth and fathering children. It feels like a Scion assembly line, which doesn't work in my brain. Scions are Legendary beings and generally, even their conception should match up with that. I can see it working... like once? But just making hundreds of babies via sperm donation seems like cheating, in the boring way. It takes away from the specialness of Scions.
I suppose some gods have no fucks to give when it comes to notions of romance or doing things in a way that would make a great story.
DeleteI wouldn't imagine many of them do it. It's a quick and easy way to get a bunch of potential Scions, but that also means there are a ton of potential Scions running around that you may or may not know about who may or may not cause you serious problems/want to overthrow you/be corrupted by Titans/work for your enemies. It's safer to have a few you keep tabs on than a horde that could be up to anything.
DeleteSome gods probably like the idea of going through the trouble of wooing or rape to get kids. Make a donation, wait for the kids to grow, pick the one you want. I'm surprised every god doesn't do it.
ReplyDeleteSee above - it's dangerous, so many gods probably wouldn't do it just for that reason. Some who like taking a chance and aren't that interested in a romp with a mortal might go for it, though. :)
DeleteThat's what I meant, that the gods who don't want to deal with wooing or force would. Sorry for the confusion. And the chance outweighs the risk when you have multiple options to choose from without the fatebonds from close association from ones conquest.
DeleteThese *are* Gods though. All but the most anti-social Gods can seduce just about anyone with minimal effort.
DeleteI could see some married or virginal deities using modern fertility treatments to create Scions. Like Hera or Vishnu donating some material (egg/sperm) to a couple and letting the mortals raise their Scion. No cheating! Totally kosher.
While Vishnu donating sperm is one thing, I could TOTALLY see Hera donating an egg to a couple. She's the goddess of marriage and motherhood and imagine how moved she would be by a mortal (married) couple who loved each other but couldn't have children. It's not something totally orthodox, but I could see Hera implanting one of her eggs inside the mortal woman's ovaries and allowing it to be fertilized into a Scion.
DeleteI don't even think that would necessarily require the Avatar of Health to pull off and sounds very her.
Just throwing out a few examples for the question asker of ideas for Scions' conceptions that don't involve 'normal' human-god procreation and adoption:
ReplyDeleteTaking a leaf from Zeus, I've always been fond of the idea of Athena having a Scion by turning a mortal man she considers a worthy father into a fly (or what have you), swallowing it, and then giving birth to the Scion through her head. (Bonus points for maintaining her status as a virgin goddess.) And, of course, I don't see why any other god couldn't do this, too.
There's also the example of the Pandavas (sp?). I'm sure Anne and John could do a much better job of telling you all about them and the circumstances of their birth, and I could be wrong, but my impression from what I've read about them is that King Pandu's wives performed rituals that allowed them to be impregnated by the gods, so King Pandu could have sons (the King had been cursed for killing a sage and his wife, and, as a result, he would die if he ever made love to a woman, and thus, was incapable of having children).
In the case of the most famous of the Pandavas, Arjuna, we assume that he's the product of the use of the Avatar of Health. He basically just pointed at Kunti and was like, "Yo, you are now pregnant," no sexytimes involved. Your Athena example sounds like the use of some kind of purview Avatar as well.
DeleteGods at Legend 12 can do pretty zany stuff if they're willing to bust the thirty Legend for it, so that's usually an option for virginal or impotent gods if they use them right. :)