Hephaistos (pronounced heh-FAI-stohs) is a Hellean hero-god, known for the incredible constructs that are designed and manufactured in his workshop. He is one of the oldest hero-gods at present.
Edicts and anathema
- Edicts
- Create constructs, use your creations to lessen your own labors, bring order and efficiency to society
- Anathema
- Allow machines to act and think for themselves
Description
The human hero-god Hephaistos is widely regarded to be one of the finest designers and builders of constructs the world has ever seen. His creations are not only detailed, intricate, and artistic, but are also very capable of performing their intended tasks, whether that is as servant, soldier, or something else. He tends to favor constructs that are humanoid in form, though with unusual faces featuring a singular eye.
At any given time, the crafter hero-god teaches a small number of students in his arts; these students almost always become Hephaistos’ most prominent clerics. Hephaistos is generally neutral towards the goings on of the broader world, devoting his time primarily only to his works - he encourages his clerics and followers to do the same. However, Hephaistos is rigid about the role of constructs built by both himself and others. To him, these are simple machines that only have value if they competently perform their intended purpose. Constructs that break, fail to live up to their designs, or awakened constructs that choose to disobey are, to Hephaistos, only worth as much as their base materials and should be either returned to service or scrapped.
Sculptors and crafters in Hellea often consider Hephaistos to be their patron deity. His following is geographically quite broad but also very diffuse. Temples to Hephaistos are unheard of, though his devotees usually have small shines to the hero-god in their workshops. Following in the footsteps of their god, some followers of Hephaistos have replaced their limbs or organs with synthetic parts, often tailored towards specific purposes.
Hephaistos is reticent towards sharing details about his personal history, and to his followers such information is irrelevant. At some point in the past, Hephaistos seemingly attempted to erase details of his early life - records exist that he attended a minor magical school in the Machaian city of Metrya, almost seven hundred years ago, but little is known besides that. Hephaistos almost never appears in public, or outside the walls of his workshop at all, and when he does he always wears a bronze mask.
Though his works are rare and fetch extremely high prices, constructs built by Hephaistos are sought after across the world.
Along with Antikythera, Hephaistos is one of the oldest of the living hero-gods. Hephaistos is roughly seven hundred years old, having been born sometime around Y9250*.
Location of worship
Hephaistos is worshiped by sculptors and mages specializing in construct crafting within Hellea and Thadria, alongside smaller numbers of followers elsewhere. Hephaistos himself resides in a fortified and heavily guarded complex near Strata in Halakros.
Holy text
Hephaistos’ holy text is The Book of Plans, a collection of the hero-god's prized blueprints. The holy text changes regularly, as new creations are built or old ones adjusted, and very few aside from Hephaistos himself are in possession of a complete copy.