Ares

Ares, is the son of Zeus and Hera (Zeus' wife). As such Ares is a Greater God in the Twelve: the pantheon of Gods in the 'official' religion of the Merebian Empire. Ares resides in the "Third Plane" of the pantheon. On Oberon, the figure of Ares is the archetypal ancient Greek version of the deity rather than the Roman 'equivalent' deity, Mars

Ares

Epithets

Ares is most often referred to as "The Punisher" which represents both his motivation in battle but also his position on acts of retribution.

Symbol

The most common symbol of Ares is that of two crossed, white, spears (pointed upwards) on a blood-red background.

Sphere of Influence

Ares has the following 'spheres of influence':

• God of Chaos
• God of Murder
• God of Revenge
• God of (needless) Battle

It is these spheres that the name of Ares is most often invoked in. Ares is very much the God of unplanned assault, driven by rage or passion, but he is also the God of strength in the face of adversity. When strength of resolve is needed to complete a challenge, it is often Ares' spirit that is invoked.

Depiction

Ares is most commonly depicted as a large, muscular human male, with tanned skin and jet black hair. He carries a spear, shield and sword. He is sometimes depicted naked but more commonly is wearing some form of armour (typically a breastplate, bracers, grieves and helm). He is rarely depicted wearing heavy armour or carrying any form of non-thrown missile weapon.

Relationships

The tales of Ares typically recount him having fairly cordial relations with his sister, Athena. His relationship with his father, Zeus, is somewhat strained due to Ares' often reckless nature. Ares appears to be fairly neutral towards his half-siblings, Apollo and Artemis, and also his 'aunt', Demeter. The only member of the Twelve with whom Ares displays any true fondness for is his half-brother/cousin (it's complicated), Dionysus.

Rituals & Devotions

Ares does not require much from his worshippers. All he asks is that each and every person shows strength both in body and resolve when enacting whatever task they commit in his name.

Ares is not considered to be a 'Good' God with respect to alignment - Ares doesn't actually care if the act one undertakes in his name is just or leads to a reduction in suffering only that it is approached to the best of the worshipper's ability. Ares is fine with a task being abandoned if the cause is hopeless as long as every possible attempt was made to complete it.

The usual devotion to Ares is "Ares, give unto me the strength to [insert task] at the best of my ability".

Festival

Ares (along with Hermes) has NO festival dedicated to him during the Imperial calendar.

Worshippers

Ares' worshippers are nearly all Humans who worship his as part of the worship of the entire pantheon of The Twelve. Few people solely worship Ares because his influence is not one that tends to be required for normal, urban life.

Those who solely worship Ares do so because their life involves some continual battle or hardship that must be overcome. Obviously this most often tends to be professional soldiers and mercenaries but could also include the chronically sick or disabled. Many lepers ask Ares each morning for the strength to see out another day before asking Apollo to heal them of their ailment.

Ares is most typically followed by those with the classes of Fighter, Barbarian or Cleric but counts members of all the classes amongst his worshippers. Ares has three specific groups on Oberon who follow specific aspects of his spheres of influence and are open primarily to just one class:

• The Oxys of Ares - a group of professional assassins found throughout southern Dominus
• The Order of Theritas - a Druidical group
• The Enchespalus - a group of Paladins dedicated to fighting Fiends