ZEUS

Zeus is the first of the Three Brothers of ancient myth.

Legend
Born in a lightning storm, his mother convulsed as she gave birth. As the doctor held him, lightning struck, killing the doctor. The baby was unharmed. His father was the king of Charon, a desert land. He was taught to rule, but chafed. It is said, that more than a few bore the lightning shaped wound of his pranks.

When he came of age, he fell in love with a young Guinevere and sought her hand. She refused him. He asked her what could he do to earn her love? She said.

"Bring me a candle as thick as your arm of ear wax, a living looking glass, a rock that floats and a Home that walks, and I may see you face-to-face again."

Zeus went away sorrowful, as he could not think to get any of these things. His brothers, HADES and POSEIDON came to him, and declared they would help him in his trials. They decided to enlist the aid of their teacher, a wise-woman named Baba. She told them.

"A giant has ears as big as a house. A floating Roc is in the larder of a Dragon. A Behemoth-Tortoise's shell moves. A living looking glass may be found in the boudoir of LUKIA, but beware!"

First, they went to the giant, Halfast the Terrible. They asked him for enough ear wax for a candle. "Ha! Puny men! Show me three wonders and I will give you what you ask!" He laughed at them. "But fail to amuse me and I will eat you up!"

First, Zeus summoned a lightning cloud and let a lightning bolt dance on his hand. Poseidon caused a Water Sprite to come up and sing for them. Hades hewed the rocks into a comfortable chair for Halfast to sit in out of the mountain itself. It was ornamented in gold and gems as big as Halfast's fist. Halfast was astounded and gave them all the earwax they needed.

"Those are wonders! Hades I value most of all. I warn you, though, that women whose heart requires great deeds will require dearer gifts than you should give."

Thanking him for his advice, they continued on to the The Dragon's Fangs. There, they met a prince of the dragons, Ringvalen. He told them that no Roc had come by him for a long time, but that he had heard that the Lake of Spires had a Roc living there. He warned them that this Roc was ancient and had become wise, so that no dragon was wont to hunt it. The three thanked him, and went to the Lake of Spires.

They were almost immediately attacked by the Roc, as soon as they entered his territory. "Foolish mortals! I am Krakar! I am a god of thunder! Beware! I am your doom!"

Zeus just laughed. "Oh-ho! You a god of thunder!? If you are a god of thunder then I am the king of gods!" The roc laughed and called down lightning upon himself. He then used the lightning to fly to the Roc's beak and stand there.

The Roc was astounded. "Krakar! No mortal ever dared such feats and lived! I know you from my friend Halfast that you are a master of thunder, Zeus! I will permit you to ride me." Zeus asked if he could float. "I can float! We will show this girl that she is wrong to scorn such a mortal as you!"

Krakar took them to the breeding ground of the Behemoth Tortoise. "Karrra! I cannot carry a full grown one, so choose among the youth the loveliest of them!" Zeus and his brothers went down into the grounds. Immediately, they chose a tortoise that would be a fitting gift. But the tortoise refused to go with him, instead it demanded that they play a riddle game against it. It would tell the riddles and they must discover the answer.

"I am from animal, not a vegetable, but a mineral. I need be perfect, lest my cargo die. What am I?" Simple, Poseidon said, an egg-shell.

"I cannot die. I cannot live. I forge yet I create not. I cannot eat, yet I vomit cooked meals. What am I." Simple, Hades said, a volcano.

Very good, it said, but let us see if you crack this one.

"An old woman does not tremble, a dog is startled and barks at nothing and a young girl clings to her father's chest." Zeus answered quickly. A lightning strike is well known to an old woman, but not the girl, and the dog has no notion of it.

"Ah. I cannot believe I lost so easily! I will do your bidding for a time. I am called Ben-Hamin." With Krakar and Ben-Hamin, they went to see LUKIA and her great Sand Slug Rumania to ask for her living looking glass.

"Oh ho! What a motley crew! You travel great distances just to see me and ask of me one of my rarest treasures!? The Mirror of Ungol? HA HA HA! what for?

"Love" said Zeus, "I love Guinevere, the sister of Arturia more than any other woman!"

Lukia was enraged, and tried to kill them. "You dare name her in front of me! I should slay you where you stand! But... you say she sent you on a quest for impossible items? No woman who loves men sends them on such a quest. I will lend it to you. Return it to me with it's weight in gold after you have finished with it!" Zeus promised that he would do so.

Over joyed they returned to Guinevere.

"Ew. You have passed my first test. And your Roc floats. The turtle ('I'm a tortoise!' 'Shut up!') can be considered a house that moves. And this mirror..." Guinevere looked into the mirror and screamed, throwing it at Zeus. He caught it so that it did not shatter. "LEAVE! Leave here and do not come before me again! If I see you again I will have my men torture you and I will stamp on your bones and break them! Go you curs! You dogs!"

Dejected, Zeus returned the mirror to Lukia with the gold. She laughed at his plight, and instead gave him a gift of prophecy. "This is no ordinary mirror, as you may have guessed. It shows a person as they truly are. It's master may even pull prophecy from it."

"You may be king in his own life, but you will serve ever after."

Lukia shrugged when Zeus asked her for a meaning. She gave them trinkets. Zeus received a necklace with a lightning bolt charm that held a static charge. Poseidon received a rod which Lukia said could discover water even in the driest desert. Hades received a cloak that would make him fully invisible if the sun was not shining. They thanked her for her kindness and left for their kingdom.