other any more.
The shikome, Izanami’s handmaidens, white rooms and server rooms (of course he works in the
are almost as terrifying to look on as she is.
Izanami doesn’t get out into the World much. She
tends to be reclusive; a common disguise is as old lady
living with 47 cats in a house that smells of formaldehyde
and dust. Even then, though, a search of her history
turns up great achievements in the past—as a biologist, a
mother, an ethicist, a philosopher and a campaigner for
family values. Her history tends to latch onto her and
O find a way to express itself, as it does for all the Gods.
N Fate catches up with everyone eventually.
E Izanami’s Scions tend to be children of either her
— creative, light phase or her dark and deathly phase.
The creative children are clever and happy, capable of
P beautiful works of great energy. The other Gods usually
A soft places in reality’s defenses. Having access to one
shower them with artistic Birthrights in memory of their
N living mother, but keep them away from any real power
T or place where they might do genuine damage or good.
H Her dark Scions, on the other hand, tend to receive
E their power directly from their mother’s hand. Izanami
does not always love the Gods who could not save her in
O childbirth, and she picks out her aggressive offspring to
N be scourges to the other divinities. Some wonder if she
intends to side with the Titans in the current conflict.
Associated Powers: Epic Appearance, Epic Charisma,
Darkness, Death, Earth, Tsukumo-Gami
Abilities: Brawl, Command, Fortitude, Integrity,
Occult, Stealth
Rivals: Izanagi; Bastet, Freyr, Poseidon, Shango, Thor,
Tlaloc
RAIDEN
AKA: NARUKAMI, RAIJIN
Description: Red-skinned, with clawed feet and a
demonic visage, orbited by a set of drums and wielding
a mighty bow, Raiden is the God of thunder and
lightning. A guardian against invaders and invasions,
he so effectively turned back the Mongol fleet sent
against Japan that only three sailors survived. Many
fear him because of his terrible face and his often-angry
opinions about the state of the World and the nation.
Yet if you can get him to calm down long enough
(usually through the application of sake in copious
quantities), he proves to be quite a likeable fellow who
can offer advice on just about any subject. Whether
you take that advice depends on how drunk you made
yourself in the process. Raiden is a famous admirer of
belly buttons, and he has been known to steal them
from people. Current fashion trends favoring bare
midriffs please him tremendously.
These days, Raiden is a pig. He is ugly by anyone’s
standards, no matter what disguise he puts on. So, other
than hiding his teeth, muting the red of his skin and
sheathing his feet in boots, Raiden tends to not hide
86 very much of his amiably disgusting behavior. He eats
too much, belches and farts publicly, drinks soda in the
computer field—harnessed lightning is always interesting
to him) and leers at pretty women. He openly disdains
ugly ones. When he plays at being a college student,
he wins invitations to fraternities simply because he
can be so boorishly funny. After graduation, though,
everyone discovers how difficult it can be to have him as
a roommate camped on the couch for weeks on end.
Raiden’s Scions are often lesser versions of their
father. They might not be quite as appalling, but the
apple here never falls very far from the tree. Inclined to
indecent behavior and possessing great skill with modern
technology, they tend to become the Gods’ programmers
and hackers, finding information and defending the
of the World’s most primal forces, they also have some
command over plant life, a powerful, root-level network
for change and communication in the World.
Associated Powers: Epic Appearance, Epic Dexterity,
Guardian, Sky, Tsukumo-Gami
Abilities: Athletics, Brawl, Fortitude, Marksmanship,
Presence, Science
Rivals: Amaterasu; Artemis, Athena, Erzulie, Freya,
Hera, Isis, Sif, Tlazoltéotl
SUSANO-O
AKA: SUSANOO NO MIKOTO
Description: God of the sea and of storms, Susano-
o is a fiery-tempered, bearded young man, full of rage.
He is always haring off on some wild adventure—usually
because he is unwelcome where he currently resides. In
one legend, he found himself sent out of Takamagahara—
the Amatsukami’s region of the Overworld—on some
thin pretext, so he decided to visit his sister, Amaterasu,
before he left. They had a contest in which they both
made people. She made beautiful women from fragments
of his sword, and he made men from the jewels of her
necklace. Yet Amaterasu was clearly the winner. In anger,
Susano-o killed one of her attendants, destroyed her rice
fields and finally flung a flayed horse into her weaving
room. He was banished to the World, where he had to
slay an eight-headed dragon, marry a peasant girl after
many trials and give up his sword to his sister before he
was allowed to return to Takamagahara.
Given how exciting the World can be, Susano-o
sometimes wonders if the apologies were worth it. He
likes marching in parades and protests, fighting guerrillas
in deserts and jungles, blowing up buildings, setting off
fireworks (both physical and metaphorical), jumping
out of airplanes, surfing in hurricanes and starting
revolutions. It’s an exciting time to be alive, plus there are
all sorts of incredibly beautiful women around. What’s
not to like? And it’s not nearly so stuffy and orderly as the
Overworld. Humans are into chaos, and they like people
who can create it, especially in front of TV cameras.