Tzargos, God of Gambling

[Tzargos]

TZARGOS God of GAMBLING



THE BASICS

Name: Tzargos
Nicknames: Maximillion "Max" Powers (his alias in the mortal realm)
Age: Immortal, appears to be in his late 20’s
Gender: Male

FAMILY

Father: Krisi, God of Judgment
Mother: Geminus, Goddess of Disguise and Mimicry
Siblings: Two biological sisters - Eortasmas and Occulta
Children: Several demigod children
Other:

• Grandparents - Hades and Persephone on his father's side, Morpheus and Hecate on his mother's side
  
• Aunts - Melinoe and Macaria on his father's side
  
• Various nieces and nephews from his two sisters
  

APPEARANCE

Species: Vea God
Hair: Dark brown, medium length
Eyes: Blue
Skin: Caucasian; light skin tone but not too pale
Stature: Tall and athletic
Clothing style: Tzargos favors modern mortal clothing over more traditional styles. Depending on his mood and the occasion, Tzargos's wardrobe includes v-neck t-shirts and jeans, tuxedos with bowties, and everything in-between. He is very fashion conscious and wears only the most stylish designer clothing.
Distinguishing features: He always carries around the lucky rabbit's foot he won from Asmodaios. It is usually disguised as an average-looking charm necklace; if he's not wearing it around his neck, it's stuffed in his pocket.

PERSONALITY

Likes:

• Games of chance
  
• Risks
  
• Luxury
  
• Fun
  
• Flirting with women
  
• The mortal realm
  

Dislikes:

• Prudes
  
• Sore losers
  
• Conservatism
  
• Boredom
  
• Hard work
  

Strengths:

• Lucky
  
• Charismatic
  
• Bold
  

Weaknesses:

• Recklessness
  
• Fate
  
• Beautiful women
  

Fears:

• Losing a serious bet
  
• Fading
  
• Responsibilities
  

Weapons: Weaponized deck of playing cards (work much like throwing knives)

Fighting Style: Tzargos prefers to avoid fights at all costs. He would much rather settle conflicts by leaving the resolution up to chance, such as in a coin toss. Relying mainly on his luck and skill as a persuasive negotiator, he rarely makes an effort to train as a fighter.

If forced into a fight, he can manipulate probability in his favor to make him competent against the toughest foes, able to accurately land punches, throw projectiles, and dodge incoming attacks in ways that seem to defy the odds. He is rather clever with using his surroundings in a fight, so the only weapons he carries on him are his fists and cards.

Overall: Life is nothing but a game of chance to Tzargos. In a world with so many constraints and outside influences, you can only get so far with just hard work, preparation, and strategy. To make any real progress, one must either wait to be blessed with the chance of a lifetime or find the courage to take a risk. With this philosophy, Tzargos grew up having a rebellious nature and was uninterested in traditions or godly duties.

The only trait he seems to have in common with the other gods is his uncontrollable lust. Rather than exuding power and authority, he is known for being extremely easy-going and approachable. He enjoys the company of mortals for the simple fact that they generally seem more open-minded and progressive than the gods. Most people he encounters are easily drawn in by his charm and become convinced to take wild, impossible risks that actually turn out successful.

He loves having a good time and thrives in extravagant, uninhibited, and lively environments such as casinos. To him, gambling exists for the thrill of taking chances and teaching that with great risks come great rewards. However, there is a loser for every bet and sometimes risks backfire. Learning to cope with this is also an important lesson and Tzargos is often willing to help people move on gracefully.

Although he has the power to manipulate probability, he never abuses it in a game for personal gain, relying instead on his natural luck and skill. He is very much against the cheating, corruption, and greed that is associated with gambling will curse naughty gamblers with terrible luck.

HISTORY

The three Fates represent an ancient, neutral, and universal order that even the gods may not obstruct. With the birth of every being, Clotho spins a new thread of life. After the circumstances of the birth have been determined, Lachesis proceeds to measure the thread and lifespan of the individual. Atropos then chooses the method of death before snipping the thread and sealing the fate for that life.

Once, then twice, and finally thrice upon a time, during the ban of godly births in the medieval era, the Vea god Krisi and goddess Geminus conceived children in the secret of their Underworld home. Clotho set aside an infinite, unbreakable thread of life for each godling. The first two children, a lovely pair of daughters, both grew up to be righteous and dutiful goddesses. The third, Tzargos, was also kind hearted but a huge pain in the ass.

He found the Underworld to be too dreary for his tastes, despite all the luxury afforded to them by his grandfather’s wealth. As much as he cared for his family, he would seldom visit them again after deciding to leave for Avalon. But even there, a supposed paradise on par with Mount Olympus, he found his company to be too proud, stubborn, and stuck in traditions. Needless to say most did not approve of Tzargos’s audacious attitude either.

Eventually he started causing trouble mostly in the mortal realm. The medieval era was a time of many social restraints, but Tzargos still felt mortals had more potential for taking risks. Naturally, he was drawn to gambling as a teaching tool, the only problem being that the activity itself was somewhat taboo. The monarchy went as far as to restrict it by law, out of fear that their subjects would become greedy, rebellious, and distracted from working. Gambling also had undertones of immorality and futility, with the popular belief being that every single detail in life was preordained by higher powers and there is no such thing as chance.

In actuality, the only things certain in the fate of a mortal are the circumstances of their birth and death. Lachesis weaves a seemingly endless variety of branching paths for life to take between its predetermined beginning and ending. What paths are taken may be influenced by a variety of factors, including probability and chance. Tzargos strongly believed it was wrong for mortals to be oppressed into believing that they had no real opportunities, and set out to make a difference in the mortal realm.

Tzargos began by challenging the hypocritical monarchs and lords to the games of chance they themselves enjoyed so often. Under the persona of Maximillion Potestatis, an obscure prince from a faraway land, he wagered lavish and exotic prizes and convinced his opponents to expand the gambling rights of their subjects if they lost. Sure enough, the prince won every match and became quite a legend, even gaining the attention of the Master of the Playing Cards. The so-called Master was actually a malevolent rabbit-like daemon known as Asmodaios, who used gambling as a means of encouraging corruption. Being from the Underworld, he recognized Tzargos and challenged him to his highest stakes game yet.

If Tzargos lost, the outgoing godling would have to live in complete isolation within the mortal realm until he permanently faded. If he won, Asmodaios would sever his own lucky foot to offer as a prize and send himself back the Underworld. The conditions involved his greatest fears, but Tzargos accepted them anyways out of desperation to promote gambling in a positive light. The Master of the Playing Cards was known to engrave various sets of cards and create new games with convoluted rules, confusing his opponents. However, Tzargos publically defeated Asmodaios at his own game and informally gained the title God of Gambling.

Although Tzargos accepted the rabbit's foot and still wears it around his neck to this day, he was more interested in playing cards and assumed them as his symbol of power. He settled with a deck of 52 cards and chose hearts, clubs, spades, and diamonds as the four suits. As the Middle Ages approached an end, he considered France the most hip and happening place to be. There he introduced his cards in play and they caught on like wildfire, becoming known as the French suits. Card games have since developed into an immensely popular past time and a mainstay of gambling throughout the ages.

Concerned mainly with finding new forms of gambling, encouraging mortals to take risks, and having romantic flings with mortal women, he has tended to neglect other godly affairs. He regarded the Second Titan War as merely a petty power struggle with the gods still clinging onto their old ways and sat it out. Years later, history has repeated itself. Asmodaios has reformed and his negative influence caused most of the United States to restrict gambling. Now known simply as the suave, professional gambler Max Powers in the mortal realm, Tzargos has seen some progress in his struggle against Asmodaios. Most notably, he transformed Las Vegas into one of the gambling capitals of the world and became its patron deity.

Meanwhile, the power of the gods is threatened by Gaea and Saccularius. This time around, Tzargos is considering the option of helping the gods. He seeks to follow the example of Mouggos, one of the few fellow gods he deeply respects, and also to gain wider recognition for himself. The only thing holding him back is his doubt that he will be able to help much – after focusing so much on his games, he is an inexperienced fighter. In violent conflicts his manipulation of probability is unreliable, since Atropos ultimately decides how and when beings meet their final demise.

ALL THE REST

Name/Alias: Eric (real name), Oak (my usual online handle), or Tzargos
Age: 23
Experience: Been role-playing on and off for maybe about 10 years? Only started up again about a month or two ago.
Other characters: None yet!
Face claim: Brandon Beemer
Referral: You can blame Dreamer for unleashing me on you.
RP Sample:

Trading card games; the perfect combination of gambling, strategy, and chance. They were insanely popular among both kids and adults, so you’d think Tzargos would be pleased by it. But something about them didn’t quite seem kosher. One of the more recently developed games was already having a championship tournament in his home turf of Las Vegas. He had to go investigate.

Thankfully, it wouldn’t be too much effort. He had a pretty hot date that night and would hate to miss it. His first stop was at one of the local game shops, where the windows were plastered with posters advertising the Pokedaemon Trading Card Game. The shop reeked of unshowered nerds, but it was still a step up above the stench of unshowered gamblers combined with cigarette smoke and alcohol in casinos. Something about it was still awkward though, with the awkward gaze of pimply nerds focused on ‘Max’ as he strolled in with his usual swagger.

Perhaps he was a little over-dressed? While all the other patrons were clad in graphic tees and ratty old jeans, he was dressed to impress for tonight’s date. Sporting a tight dress shirt with the top few buttons undone, the guy at the counter instantly tensed up at the sight of the seemingly normal necklace dangling over Max’s partially exposed chest.

"And here I was just looking for some cards, but instead it seems like you just saw something you like?" He said sarcastically, with a playful smirk at the salesperson.

The salesperson stared right past Max and gave his customers a stern look. They rose out of their seats, each glancing at the god-in-disguise without a word as they left the store. Tzargos didn’t let it faze him as he examined the glass display cases intently. The cases featured some rare individual Pokedaemon cards at insane prices, along with boxes of booster packs with random cards inside. The game seemed to represent some sick perversion of gambling, and things finally clicked when he realized that the theme centered around mythological monsters.

Tzargos caressed the necklace between his fingers mockingly as he looked over the counter at the salesperson’s legs. As he suspected, one of them was replaced with a wooden peg. "So Asmodaios, I see you're back and in the business of corrupting children now? I thought I already taught you your lesson a long time ago, but if you need another challenge-"

The daemon cut him off before he could finish. Both Asmodaios and Tzargos had a thing about not refusing challenges, but Asmodaios wasn't ready to face him yet. "I wasn’t expecting to see you here either, useless godling. You're irrelevant to this world, so just go lie down and fade away already. This is your last chance, I won't let you off the hook so easily next time."

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One moment later, the peg-legged salesclerk disappeared, leaving only the scent of sulfur and nerd behind.
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This application was made by NotAllPixieDustIsGolden of Caution2.0 please do not remove this credit thank you!

[LEONTUS]

The Eternal Ones arrive by your prayer and hears of your plight as in taking longed delibiration of thy fate finally decides of what will happen to you....



ACCEPTANCE
In greeting of your acceptance and for the fates breathing the life into your very being you are welcomed into the world