Gods of the Ancient World: Ares (4/27/24)

What follows is Olympian Ares/Mars perspective of the running of Gods of the Ancient World in Dallas, TX on 4/27/24.

Pregame

It is a time of strife in the ancient world. The peoples of Greece and Rome have been at an uneasy standoff for a generation. By the Spear of Ares, that will change.

Turn 1

The gods send their signs to the mortal realms.

As the gods of Olympus listen to the prayers of the Greeks and Romans, only one country seeks the protection of Ares. Macedonia. They will get my blessings. The rest send their thoughts and prayers to Zeus and Poseidon…who…weirdly enough…just got back from a very weird trip across the world and insists on being called Bro-seidon. He is definitely the most weird of my uncles.

We gods gather our mysterious signs and send them to be interpreted by the priestly orders of the mortals. My brother Apollo walks past some assembled gods eating grapes, as he is want to do, and we applaud. Way to be yourself, brother. To our humor, the echo of applause from the various temples down below reaches our ears in response. The humans seem to believe that we want them to applaud when we do. Humorous.

I immediately Hephaestus fuming over his forge. I pass by and hear him uttering curses towards Napoli. Apparently, they disrespected him in their prayers and insulted Hermes. Hephaestus was going to let them know what happens when you disrespect the god of fire and the messenger of the gods.

I bless the shields of the Macedonians in their upcoming conflicts.

Suddenly, I get word from Hermes that the Roman Caesar had died and was in the underworld? Ares cares not where the blood flows.

Turn 2

Olympus erupts in laughter as the cries from Napoli reach our ears and the profuse apologies follow bring a wide smile to Hephaestus’ face, Again, Macedonia calls for aid and this time the Spartans join in. The Romans are more generic in their cries for aid. If they dare not address me, they will not receive my blessings.

Hades overlooks as Caesar tries to escape the Underworld.

My father Zeus stumbles upon a majestic Pegasus and decides to start some heavenly entertainment. He calls for a Quest of Champions. I choose the pious priest of Macedonia to represent me in the quest and, much to my delight, he is victorious and bests two champions from Rome.

Turn 3

More prayers, and again it’s only Macedonia and Spart that call my name. Others profuse love to Zeus and Bro-seidon. I find it tiresome, honestly.

Suddenly, a cheer erupts from the boot shaped peninsula. The Roman Empire has renamed itself the Broman Empire in honor of my Uncle.

In better news, the Macedonians built a temple in my honor. They better after I twisted the fates to help them conquer that quest…

As the various factions start to expand, I give strength to the Macedonian armies and reinforce the tactical minds of the Spartan generals.

Turn 4

More prayers, some of the Romans seem to be noticing my influence but their praise to me is but a passing note in a long list of requests. Focus on your real wants and needs and you’ll earn my help.

I notice a minotaur running wild on the island of Krete. As I walk through the island, I notice the warriors of Greece dying in droves to the creature. To reward their faith and countless prayers, I send a dragon to help. As I am summoning the creature, the Macedonians deliver the killing blow to the minotaur.

As the dragon appears, the beleaguered Macedonian general almost drops his shield as the creature flies towards him. “Why…why is there a dragon now”

A divine voice floated towards the general. “Macedonia, you are the ones who slew the minotaur. Are you not?”

“…Yes…”

“The dragon is yours to command.”

The cheers from the Greek soldiers rattled through Olympus. My devoted had a real weapon and it was time for them to use it.

Turn 5

Apparently, the rider of the Pegasus was killed and the Pegasus was sent to Zeus. Not sure why it went to him, but Dad’s often been known to take stuff that isn’t his…

The prayers are much the same; Macedonia and Sparta are thankful. I think Cisalpina says something but no sooner than their priest begins to speak I receive ghastly news. My son Cycnus was slain by a mortal. It is time for vengeance.

I scramble my devoted to search for the individual who took such a heinous action.

While I am stewing in my rage, I am approached by Pos….Broseidon and Hermes. A Roman mortal from Lucania is continuously lying to Hermes. No mortal should be so bold. The three of us pay the individual a visit and warn him that more lies would only lead to ruin in his country.

Suddenly, the Romans call a large festival of some kind. I believe it is to Apollo, or something, but it is to be capped off with a grand wrestling match. It was a glorious match, worthy of song. But songs can be tragic and I tell Hermes to announce to the mortals that Ares demands the sacrifice of the loser.

Much to my chagrin, the mortals happily comply and I watch as Hermes ferries him to the underworld.

Turn 6

War rages throughout the mortal realms.

The sacrifice of the mortal has only stoked the fire of vengeance and I disguise myself as a Carthaginian ambassador and make my way through the Roman peninsula, searching for my son’s killer. And where else would I end up…

Lucania

While questioning that exact same mortal who lied to Hermes, I saw his resolve shake as he was questioned. I immediately returned to Olympus to seek my helmet and spear. In a flash of lighting and a cloud of black smoke, I strode towards the Overseer of Lucania, spear drawn.

“I am Ares, God of War. Overseer of Lucania, you killed my son! And I SHALL KILL YOU!”

With one swift stroke my spear pierced the man and he fell to the underworld. For harboring a murderer, it was time for Rome to burn. I unleash a troll to wreak havoc on their capitol.

Elsewhere on Olympus, Hera strikes down Hephaestus with one of Zeus’ Lightning Bolts, sending him tumbling down to Hades. My other Uncle has been quite busy. Upon his escape, Hephaestus is banished to the mortal realms, where he is welcomed with open arms.

Turn 7

After sending many signs to start war, war is finally raging in the mortal realms. My faithful want protection, they want their spears to be true. I grant them their wish and imbue their soldiers with my power. I probably should have helped their generals’ tactical genius, as I get word that they are being beaten. Luckily for me, Ares cares not where the blood flows.

Elsewhere, Uncle Bro-seidon finds his long lost love…from both countries, marries them in a ceremony on Olympus and then unceremoniously sends them back to the mortal realms. Mid-God-Life crisis much? Next thing we know, he’s going to get a new racing dolphin or something.

Turn 8

More prayers are sent to Olympus and our dear Hephaestus is welcomed back to Olympus but all I care about is enjoying the bloodshed of the mortal realms. War rages across all fronts. Monsters are causing havoc everywhere. The Greeks have a Dragon/Pegasus hybrid that was hatched by my mother Hera.

I may not be the most liked god of Olympus, but I avenged my fallen son, battled raged and chaos reigned across the land. I had won my personal quest for Ares cares not where the blood flows.

Postgame

I absolutely loved this game! This was the first time I had played one of the ‘secret’ roles in a Megagame and it was a wildly different experience than being ‘in the main room.’ The God game was so fun; drawing pictures, listening to prayers and then throwing mighty powers at the mortals to see if anything fun happened. I loved not really getting to have any insight outside of hearsay and observations. It made hearing all the stories later even more enjoyable.

I went into this game wanting to try to keep the balance as much as I could. Unfortunately, I quickly saw that I was only being prayed to by one side so I put most of my efforts into the side that devoted time to me. That played heavily into me being the fifth most popular god…well that, and not getting any offerings to turn into prayers in the last turn.

Completing my revenge quest was probably the highlight of the game for me, with the reaction to the dragon being a close second.

I can’t wait to play this game again and I am completely torn between wanting to play a god role again or finding someplace to go in the mortal realms.