Abzu (deceased)

Origin:

One of the very first gods to emerge from the crucible of Chaos at the multiverse's heart, Abzu was a primordial deity. Originally representative of fresh, underground water sources, Abzu became a divine etemmu after he was executed by his descendent, Enki.

Known Powers:

Abstraction: strictly speaking, Abzu wasn't a god, so much as he was the personification of an abstract concept. Embodying aquifers, water sources found deep underground, Abzu conceivably would have persisted for as long as sentient beings utilized such sources of hydration.

However, after being slain by Enki, Abzu's very godhead was extracted for use in the conception of his greatest son, Marduk. Though dead, Abzu's potent force of personality persists despite his change of state, and he still possesses these abilities as a result:

* Awe: though his previous size was enough to deter most foes, Abzu could nonetheless brandish his very life force at enemies if necessary. Mind you, most of his power was transferred to his Tablet of Destinies, so this ability wasn't as mighty as one might think.

Now that he is dead, and possesses a more rational volume, Abzu is much more inclined to expose an echo of his melammu, or divine life force, to those who would oppose his wishes. This often acts to instill great fear in his enemies, functioning with Amazing (50) ability.

* Boon: though a godly ghost, Abzu is nonetheless implored by others to share his might with assorted spellcasters. As most of the living have long since forgotten that he ever existed, Abzu finds such requests a novel experience, and thus will happily share his power.

Long associated with the idea of a vast, underground reservoir of water, Abzu readily bolsters magic related to such phenomenon with Unearthly (100) ability. More directly, when fueling entreaty spells, the casting of those he most often supports include Nature Control / Water and Yclept.

Fluid Animation: with his dual mythological profiles, Abzu couldn't help but possess this power. It allows him to impose his will upon water of any type, forcing it to obey his every whim thanks to its considerable might, as it functions with Unearthly (100) ability.

Unfortunately for Abzu, this power's potency is directly dependent on the purity of the water he intends to maniuplate. Controlling solutions such as salt water is attempted at a -3 CS penalty, which is why Abzu usually relies upon his own fresh water emissions when wielding it.

Growth / Self: emblematizing the concept of a vast, underground freshwater sea, Abzu could originally swell to an epic size. Originally possessing this power at Class 1000 rank, he could bolster his volume by 512 times, giving him a size factor of +9 against normal-sized foes!

This represented Abzu before he invested most of his primordial power within the Tablet of Destinies, however. Once he did this, Abzu was greatly diminished, and only possessed this ability at Unearthly (100) rank afterwards. Which was still impressive, when you get down to it.

Power Transfer: an extremely enhanced variation on how this power normally functions, Abzu has the ability to temporarily or permanently transfer some or all of his power to others, as desired. He has demonstrated a Class 5000 mastery of this capability.

It is extremely enhanced because Abzu may do this to people or objects, crafting powerful artifacts when engaging in the latter. Most notably, he has created the Tablet of Destinies using his power transfer, a powerful totem of the Anunnaki's lordship over the multiverse.

Transformation / Self (Psychoplasm): being an etemmu, albeit a divine one, Abzu shares this ability with his ghostly peers. Should he find himself outside the various astral realms of the afterlife, he may temporarily transubstantiate his ectoplasmic form into psychoplasm.

This imaginary form of matter allows him to interact with normal, real mass, as if he were alive. He can maintain this state for as long as he wishes, or until depleted of Health. This is the only state in which Abzu can still tranform into (psychoplasmic) water.

Transformation / Self (Water): his first form, Abzu could exist in a material state indistinguishable from pure, fresh water. Unlike his bride, Abzu rarely assumes his liquid form these days, for his adoration of order prevents his appreciation for its inherently chaotic state.

While liquid, however, Abzu benefits from 1 CS of damage reduction where physical assault is concerned, the energy of such dampened simply due to it being harder to connect with him. This in addition to any other protection offered to him by dint of any excess volume he may possess.

Limitations / Enhancements:

Immaterial: being a dead god, Abzu now exists in a ghostly, ectoplasmic state. Within the various realms of the afterlife, such as Irkalla, Abzu can be interacted with in a normal fashion, the physics of these planes treating ectoplasm as conventional, real matter.

If encountered elsewhere, he should be treated as if functionally and permanently intangible, per that power. This characteristic works at a rank equal to his Psyche score, and doesn't require him to breathe. Physically acting upon the living requires he be somehow transubstantiated.

Equipment:

the Abzu: before his (perhaps timely) demise at the hands of his descendent, Enki, Abzu was the lord of the extraplanar realm that shares his name. This watery plane of existence, nestled between the Chaos and the underworld of Irkalla, is borne of his own, watery excretions.

The purest form of water one will ever find, save for that freshly issuing forth from Abzu's very self, the Abzu is the mythological source of all underground rivers. This vast subterranean sea has many notable features, all of which are described more fully elsewhere.

the Tablet of Destinies: ostensibly the oldest divine artifact in existence, the Tablet of Destinies was forged by Abzu using the majority of his own power. Embedded in a nigh-indestructible tablet he fished out of the Chaos, it possesses a material strength of Class 5000.

A totem of order, the Tablet is the symbol of the Anunnaki's leadership, as well as their dominion over the multiverse. Though its subsequent owners' disregard for tradition has greatly weakened it, the Tablet is nonetheless an incredibly powerful item, as described in its own entry.

Quirks:

Abnormal Attribute: whether or not Abzu has assumed his liquid form, water is constantly issuing forth from his body. A divine trait related to his abstract nature, this fluid is the purest form of fresh water in existence, though consuming it may be somewhat unappealing.

Compulsiveness 3: an abstract representing fresh water and the codification of existence, Abzu's thoughts and behavior are influenced by mortals' beliefs regarding these concepts. He must pass a Psyche ACTION at -6 CS to resist the urge to crush bedlam when it presents itself.

Talents:

Archaeology: the second oldest known sentient entity born on our world, Abzu knows all about its history - he personally observed most of it, after all! His Reason on applicable ACTION rolls should be considered +1 CS, +2 CS where specifically related to Mesopotamian history.

Law 3: more than anything else, Abzu has been enamored of law and order since his emergence from the Chaos before the dawn of history. He understands all of its intriciaties and the various forms it takes, and may resolve related Reason ACTION rolls with a +3 CS bonus.

Contacts:

As the progenitor of the Anunnaki and the first husband of Tiamat, Abzu could reliably consider his progeny contacts - at least, until they learned of his plot to destroy them all, that is! After that, only Tiamat, Mummu, and perhaps some Igigi would deign to provide him aid.

Costume:

One of the first deities, Abzu did not make use of clothing most of the time, even after he began to prefer his human form over all else. When he does bother to, however, Abzu tends to keep it simple, opting for a horned cap, along with plain-looking sandals, tunics, and split skirts.

Personality:

Mighty Abzu is obsessed with imposing order upon the cosmos, but considering his origins in the crucible of the Chaos, who can blame him? Heavily distressed by the unexpected and the inexplicable, Abzu often reacts violently to that which upsets the status quo, for good or ill.

Real Name: Abzu
Occupation: father and first king of the gods
Legal Status: the first citizen of the Abzu, legally deceased
Marital Status: married
Alias(es), if any: none
Group Affiliation: progenitor of the Anunnaki, Abzu was their original king, and is thus a member of that group of deities.

Height: 6'
Hair: white
Eyes: blue
Weight: 160 lbs.
Other Distinguishing Characteristics: in his humanoid state, Abzu possesses powder blue skin, and impossibly pure water constantly issues forth from his body - not enough to inflict any harm, but definitely enough for him to manipulate using his ability to control such matter.

When taking the form of a fresh water sea, Abzu appears as a large volume of water. Unlike his significant other, Abzu's color never changes, having the same, light blue tint his humanoid skin does. In this form, his fluid moves in an uncanny, orderly fashion that seems unnatural.

Having become an etemmu after Enki slayed him, albeit a divine one, Abzu now appears much more pale, regardless of whether or not he is in a ghostly or transubstantiated state. And instead of water constantly issuing forth from his form, ectoplasm rises from his mass like a cool mist.

Story:

At the very bottom of the multiverse lies the Chaos, a roiling fount of possibility whose size and shape is forever in flux. Before anything else existed, there was naught but the Chaos, where anything and everything was constantly created, and subsequently destroyed, within.

As literally anything could issue forth from the Chaos, something eventually manifested within this cauldron of possibility that could escape annihilation beyond its deadly event horizon. One such thing took the form of a sentient, fresh water mass, one which called himself Abzu.

His very soul consumed with his struggle against the Chaos, a war to retain his very existence in the face of the dissolution that the Chaos promised, Abzu strived to produce a counter to what he perceived as its malignant influence. He wished to produce an anchor of stability.

Peering back into the Chaos despite his utter disdain for it, Abzu watched as various items, beings, concepts, and more manifested before being subsequently liquidated. Eventually learning what he needed to know, Abzu reached into the Chaos at an opportune time, and got started.

Drawing forth a strange tablet from the Chaos upon its spontaneous creation, before it could dissolve once more into nothingness, Abzu collected the majority of his primordial might. Bequeathing it into this strange object, Abzu ultimately created the Tablet of Destinies.

With this mighty totem for order, Abzu no longer needed struggle against the Chaos he was adjacent to, allowing him to contemplate the rest of existence outside it. And that's when Abzu discovered that he was not alone. In fact, he was not the first entity to escape the Chaos!

Having observed his act of creatiom from afar, Tiamat introduced herself to Abzu. Something of an opposite coin to the fresh water being, Tiamat was the living embodiment of a salt water sea, and inherently chaotic. But ultimately, their similarities were greater than their differences.

Their waters mingling in time, as tends to happen after such fortuitous meetings, Abzu and Tiamat engaged in an act of creation all their own. Giving birth to twins, who came to be known as Lakhmu and Lakhamu, Tiamat became the mother of the gods, while Abzu became their father.

They continued to engender more children, and their own offspring ultimately came together to create still more progeny. Seeing that he had founded a dynasty, Abzu passed the Tablet of Destinies on to Lakhmu upon the birth of his first son, and retired to his place above the Chaos.

His further contemplations of existence were increasingly disturbed over time, however, as his various descendents further shaped the multiverse to their liking. The imposition of their will on reality inflicting countless changes to the status quo filled Abzu with fury.

The last straw occurred when, after squabbling amongst themselves for supremacy, Abzu's descendents damaged the Tablet of Destinies! When much of the might he bequeathed unto it from his own essence escaped, Abzu vowed to wipe out the line of the Anunnaki forevermore.

Hearing Abzu's plans to slay her children when he plotted against them with his sukkal, Mummu, Tiamat warned Enki of the imminent threat. Thinking he would rally his fellows as a deterrent, Tiamat was appalled when Enki directly assaulted Abzu in his very own realm!

Defeating both Abzu and Mummu, Enki slew the former and consigned the latter to Ilurugu, the Prison of the Gods! Adding insult to injury, Enki extracted the very godhead from Abzu, forged his corpse into a seat of power, and came together with Ninhursag inside to conceive Marduk!

Beside herself with rage, Tiamat subsequently warred with the Anunnaki, but this conflict was beyond Abzu's care or awareness. As have many dead gods before him, Abzu's essense drifted towards the Valley of the Dead Gods, a realtively short distance from the Abzu.

And there, Abzu's vanquished personality lingers to this very day. Now an etemmu, albeit a divine one, what remains of Abzu is subject to the rule of Ereshkigal, Queen of the Dead. Not that Abzu is too bothered by this, for his descendent rules Irkalla with an iron fist.

Even if she, herself, is somewhat out of control.

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