Parents
The first High Priestess of Dionysus, was named Thyia. She worshipped the God, his temple built at her instruction and under her watchful eye. Her devotion and fortitude impressed him, as he gifted her with life and youth for every sacrifice. With the unwavering dedication she had for him, and the regal beauty she possessed, he soon found himself lusting after her.
Their unions were many, but on the final evening of fornication, after yet another virginal sacrifice, Dionysus chose to impregnate her. He wished to have a half godling of his own, not content to watch the feral Demigod offspring of his brothers and sisters roaming the hills and beaches of Greece.
Thyia carried their child to term, but much to Dionysus' disappointment, the godling was female. Iris was born and brought in to the temple, where she was raised by her mother, and the other thyiads that lived there. She would live a sheltered life, far from men and common society, her powers a well kept secret from all the locals. She would live hidden from them all, despite the Gods and Demigods that would often attempt to see, abduct, or kill her.
When she was of age, Dionysus decided to present himself to the temple once more, easily finding the most beautiful one there, and knowing she was his daughter. That, however did nothing to deter his base needs and desires for fornication, and he informed Thyia that this sacrifice was to be not of the lifeblood of a virgin, but the virginity of his daughter.
Thyia protested, but as she depended on his grace and powers to maintain life in her 4th century, she conceded. All the thyiads took leave of the temple, leaving Iris in the hands of her father. He defiled her, before telling her who he was, and once he had plucked that delicate gift from her, he vanished back to Olympus.
Birth 950 B.C,
What had not been expected, however, was for her to fall pregnant from this violent, monstrous act. Nine months later, on July 29th 950 B.C, she bore the son and grandson of Dionysus, and upon his weaning from her breast, she fell to her death.
The child had not been given a name through ceremony, and when news of his mothers passing made it to Neo Raeai, the son of Zeus and Maat, he travelled to the temple. Neo had lived a millennia, recording all that happened amongst the Gods and mortals, both in Greece and Egypt, and decided the child's name would be Alki, to bless it with strength.
He would live in the temple with his grandmother, under the watchful eye of his cousin, as he grew and trained both academically and physically. Neo was more than aware of the abomination that this child was considered, and thus he kept him under his protection for as long as he possibly could.
Youth 925 B.C.
Alki was raised as all Greek children were, the boys being taught language and mathematics alongside their physical conditioning. He would learn what was known of geography, the sciences, the Gods, and of the rituals the thyiads performed. He would stay close to the women that raised him, never hearing hide nor hair from his father as he grew, and as his powers began to manifest themselves. Through his teens and early 20’s, he was solely focused on his studies and being of use to the priestesses of the temple. They were isolated enough from the rest of the surrounding communities, that he kept to himself, and had little to do with the mortals.
Powers 900 B.C.
As Alki's powers grew, he found himself pulling away from the thyiads and his grandmother. He would find himself travelling the Greek and Balcan landscape, as each power would slowly manifest itself. Teleportation, his inhuman strength and speed, K9 like sense of smell and hearing. What shocked him most, was while helping a family with building a home in the fields of Thessalia, was his healing ability. He had suspected it, but when he fell from a rooftop, breaking his leg, it was confirmed. His leg healed within minutes, and though the break did not hurt him much at all, the healing process is what knocked the wind out of him, and brought tears to his eyes.
He would soon discover that he did not feel pain like humans, but healing hurt in ways he couldn't bare to describe. The bigger the wound, the worse it felt. As the centuries passed, he would discover the ability to speak from his mind to the mind of others, and that he could manipulate elements in small ways, as well as manifest items he required.
War 690 B.C.
Around the time of the Lelantine war, Alki's travels brought him to Evia. Fertile lands that were being bitterly fought over, and he was dragged in as a mercenary to aid the natives to keep their land, against those of the big cities. This was his first real war, his first life taken. He would never remember all the details of that war, but the locals would tell stories of the superhuman man, that seemed to live through everything. He fought for 2 decades, moving from one main battle ground to the other, unaware that his immortality was a topic of discussion. The rumours brought the attention of the Pantheon, along with an assassination attempt. The lesson he learned quickly was that he was not safe from them. And that they would stop at nothing to be rid of him.
Spartans 480B.C.
When Xerxes set his sights on the Peloponese, Alki had moved to Sparta. Close friends with Leonidas, who knew exactly who and what he was. The famous story of the 300 men that defended at Thermopylae was accurate, barring one small detail. The last man standing, was Alki. He had fought alongside these brave men, watching each and every one of them have a good death, knowing he would not be following them to Hades. Finally, he fell to the ground amongst them, feigning death, to not give away his heritage to the invaders.
Atlantis 450B.C.
The rumours after Xerxes had receded back to Persia, of the last surviving Spartan swirled amongst the people, and filtered to the residents of Olympus. More assassination attempts were ordered, as he fled from region to region, skirting the Greek coastlines.
Neo watched from afar, unable to truly intervene, but what he could do, was contact Poseidon in passing. They met just outside the town that would eventually be called Alexandria, in Egypt. Sipping on nectar, as Neo spoke of the man that the Gods had a vendetta against.
Days later, when Alki found himself exhausted on the island of Naxos, laying on a small beach, watching the stars, Poseidon showed himself. It was that day his uncle took him to Atlantis. And it was the day he chose to no longer keep the name Neo had chosen for him, but to take that of the women who raised him. From then on forward, he was Thyiad.
Egypt 40B.C.
How little he enjoyed the damp cold of the northern British isles after a few decades there. When his beloved Druid mentor passed away, he began the return to the warmth of the Mediterranean sea, finding his way along coast lines. Somehow, his travels brought him to work on a ship destined for Egypt, and there, he landed in Alexandria once again. His size and facial features, along with his fluent Greek and education, inevitably brought him before Cleopatra, who yearned to speak with someone in her native tongue.
No one would ever know just how close she became to Thyiad, or how long he actually stayed in Alexandria for her. She was one of the few mortals to ever know of his lineage, at the time.
Agean 100 A.D.
After Alexandria, with the wave of Christianity working around the mediterranean, Thyiad chose to lay low, and stay away from heavily populated areas, opting to move through the Agean sea and all it’s islands, then shifting over to the Ionian sea, before he crossed over to Napoli, eventually making his way towards Spain. This took centuries, fading away in to the beginning of the Crusades.
Barcelona 565 A.D.
He found a home in the mountains the surrounded the town, then known as Barkenon. He worked with farmers, sometimes fishermen, carpenters, metal smiths. His appearance always youthful, his strength always handy, he moved only once rumours would begin.
But anything after this period and until he woke one day on a beach, was a blur. Days, weeks and years melting in to one another, as he simply existed. Happily for the most part, but quietly.
Marseilles 1085 A.D.
Thyiad had wandered out of the mountain range of Spain, heading east towards the coast of France, when he was attacked. He wasn’t sure if it was random bandits, or the unsuccessful strike of more Olympian sent assassins. But what he does remember vaguely, was his father staring down at him, one finger on his forehead as the coppery taste of blood filled his mouth. Memories pulled from his mind one by one, until he passed out.
Hours, days, weeks could have passed, and he would never be sure, but Thyiad woke on the beaches of what would become Marseilles. Blood covered, wet, dizzy, he wandered, somehow finding himself in the middle of the starting point of the Crusades.
Tuscany 1311 A.D.
He was sent to a small town in Tuscany, San Gimigniano, to assassinate the blade smith there. He wasn't told exactly why, but his sources led him to believe it was because he had smithed a knightly sword that had a rather unique handle. One that could incriminate some of those the Vatican wanted protected and martyred.
He would never remember his name, but he did raise the blade smiths his daughter.
He was, apparently, more than a loose end. He was an abuser of his wife. Not to say that that wasn't common back then. Far more than Thyiad cared to see. And coming from a lineage of essentially independent women... it was a difficult thing for him to navigate.
But when he had showed up to deal with his mark, Thyiad was in the process of following him. Charged with making it look like someone else's work.
After a few days, he began to see the mark brutalizing his wife. Zanetta was reduced to a barely breathing, bloodied heap, in front of her 3 year old daughter, Isabetta.
Thyiad had seen tens of thousands of men die, easily peaked at 4 digits of his own body count.
But Zanetta was ever so tiny. No more than 5'1". Slender. Petite. With ebony hair down to her knees. The mark was easily Thyiads size, thick and strong. Thyiad watched as he threw her around like a ragdoll. He heard bones break, the screams of agony. And the baby... She tried to stand between them. He swiped his hand, and the baby landed in a pile of hay, nothing more than startled. At that point, Thyiad was done waiting.
Zanetta was barely breathing, as Thyiad knocked him out, taking the time to tend to her and the child. He then dragged him to the small barn, and strung him up. Planning on simply killing him, but she told Thyiad what he had done to her. She had been married off to him at 14, and she was now 20. He couldn’t wrap his head around how she was able to survive him.
When the baby was asleep, Thyiad took Zanetta to the barn with him. She watched as he meticulously tore him apart. Skinning him alive, and finally, ridding her of his carcass. Thyiad ended up being a sub par blade smith in town for about 15 years. He and Zanetta never really married, nor did anyone ever question his presence, as he was a known abuser and violent man. Having him gone was a blessing.
Isabetta was so small, they assumed she didn’t remember him, though he never lied about him not being her biological father. She was also the one that first realised he wasn't completely human.
When it became more obvious that Zanetta was aging, and Thyiad was not, he explained it to them both. Eventually he lived in the mountains mostly, but close enough to watch over them for a few years more, until they passed. Zanetta lived to about 42. And Isabetta, she had children of her own, and Thyiad would sometimes visit her, or play with the kids in the forests. She only lived to about 30-31. She died in childbirth, and he wasn't able to get to her in time to help.
Kyoto 1470 A.D.
Fed up with Europe and all of it’s politics, Thyiad travelled slowly across the Middle East to find himself in Japan in 1470. In the middle of the Onin war, he became a hired hand in the fighting, as a high ranking Samurai officer for the Ashikaga family. Eventually, he lay roots in nearby Kyoto, amidst the rumours of his origins and wealth.
He kept in touch with his uncle Poseidon, and mastered the ability to manifest what he needed, yet he lived frugally and quietly for the most part. Occasionally being hired to assist in missions of various Samurai clans.
He moved through Japan and Korea for a few hundred years, before heading back to Europe.
London 1875 A.D.
Slowly, Thyiad travelled the globe, to find himself in the middle of the industrial boom in London. He slipped in to the city, purchasing property, and establishing himself as a businessman from afar, opening his first pub. So little was known of him, but having come back in to contact with his cousin, Damian, the demigod son of Ares, it became easy for him to integrate. His business thrived, though no one really knew who the owner was, and he and his cousin slipped amongst the shadows, as hired assassins together.
He bought warehouses and property, using them for his activities quietly.
Paris 1980 A.D.
Settling in Paris, Thyiad opened restaurants on the left bank, cooking amongst the chefs, not one of them knowing he was their boss. He loved being tucked away in the busy kitchens, as Damian sauntered through once in a while to put the fear of the gods in them all.
Quietly living his multifaceted life, moving to a different establishment every so often, when rumours would begin to swirl around him.
It was then that he began spending time in Amsterdam, purchasing property there too, opening cafes and wandering galleries.
His work as an assassin carried over in to his more mundane life though, as one of his warehouses went up in flames.
He returned to Paris, staying there until his move to Seoul in 2020.