Open Hostilities

Question: So, I kind of wanted to know a little bit more about the universe you and John have made for your games. To be specific, I wanted to know what inter-pantheon disputes were going on. I know that the Aztecs and the Aesir were having some difficulties, as well as the Gaelic and the Olympians, but how about the others? Are Kalfu and Tsuki-Yomi battling it out on the moon, chucking space rocks at each other?

Inter-pantheon disputes. They are the stuff of epic disaster, and they have happened in our main universe a lot.

The two most obvious in the stories so far are the ones you mentioned; the Aesir are encroaching on Aztlanti territory and the Aztlanti are kind of peeved with them about it, and the Dodekatheon have renewed their ancient feud with the Nemetondevos. The first conflict has led to a lot of dead Scions and lesser immortals on both sides as the lower levels of the Aesir and Aztlanti powers fight amongst themselves while the gods keep giving them contradictory orders, and the second has killed at least one god already. Things are not looking good on either front, and they're going to get worse.

The Amatsukami, to jump a whole continent away, are mad at pretty much everybody, but they're specifically feuding with the Aesir, Dodekatheon, Aztlanti and Pesedjet at the moment. They attempted to simply create an impenetrable safeguard around Japan, preventing any Titans from touching it, but the other four pantheons banded together to stop them, correctly assessing that they would withdraw from helping fight the Titans if they no longer had a horse in the race. The direct assault on Japan was led by Odin, Thoth, Quetzalcoatl and Apollo, and again claimed the lives of at least two gods. It was successful in that the Amatsukami are forced to continue participating in the affairs of the world, but has earned their furious enmity against the pantheons that pulled it off (to the point where they're now actively trying to cause Ragnarok just as a big middle finger to everybody who stopped them).

The Devas and Yazata, as usual, are thoroughly opposed to one another and thwart one anothers' plans as every turn. This has been going on for millennia and isn't particularly new, but it causes severe problems for anyone trying to cooperate with both of them, and plays directly into the Titans' hands as they remain divided by fighting each other as much as their other enemies. A few of them occasionally cross over between pantheons, but there's no question of open truce at the moment.

The Aztlanti also recently experienced a resurgance of revolt from the Maya pantheon, which in our games had been conquered by them a while back but decided that they could make a bid for sovereignty again while the Aztec gods were distracted by Norsemen and Titans. As usually does with wars between Mesoamerican pantheons, things got very bloody very quickly, and at least two of the Maya gods perished in the struggle.

Unfortunately for the Australian pantheon, minions of the Aesir, Aztlanti and Dodekatheon swept through it on a killing and imprisoning rampage early in our games; not because they particularly disliked the Australian gods, but because they were on a mission to gain more power and influence for themselves by doing so. They succeeded, but dregs of the Australians live on in unexpected places, and any of them would no doubt be happy to see the pantheons that razed them stabbed in the back.

And, of course, the Pesedjet are in the middle of a civil war. So they've got their own problems.

Every pantheon usually has sparks fly when they encounter another set of gods, simply because they all have different customs, Virtues and agendas and usually bring planet-sized egos with them, to boot. But when they get into conflicts - real, serious conflicts that aren't easily smoothed over by a guy with Epic Charisma - people die. Even gods die. And while they're dying, the Titans are still oncoming, relentless in their onslaught.

Kids should probably learn to play nice sooner rather than later.