Claiming:Camp/Jocasta Adrienna

Full Name: Jocasta Whisper Adrienna

Godly Parent: Phlegethon

Role (to be allowed at Camp): Oracle of Dodona

Home: Grove of Dodona, Oracle's Cave

Age: 18

History: (Olympene History in the drop-down menu:) ( Once, the Kingdom of Olympene was once one of the great states in the Ancient Greek period. The people of Olympene were known not only for their violence and battle wit, but also their counsel and intricate strategies. Easily a forerunner in the development of the world today, the Kingdom seemingly vanished into thin air - perhaps akin to Atlantis. Many people of the time correctly guessed that the Kingdom had faced the wrath of the Gods and all its achievements, technologies, inhabitants and legacies were wiped from the Earth. Over the years, the once great Kingdom of Olympene that so many of the Ancient Greek peoples had experienced became a rumour, a folklore that eventually was erased from memory. The supposed fate is only somewhat true, but to understand it one must look further back in the Kingdom’s history.

Even to the modern day, the origins of the Kingdom is debated with common myth believing that it was the result of a union of Athenians and Spartans banding together and stumbling across an island and, under the blessing of the Gods, creating Olympene, honouring them through its name. Others believe that a band of demigods ventured out and created a haven for all demichildren, one where people could mate with the gods and raise their children with their knowledge. Ultimately, an amalgamation of the two boasts the right to call itself Olympene’s origin. Demi-brethren had came together from both Athens and Sparta to found the city of true greatness, one that would uphold the Gods in a manner unparalleled. Sparta’s military prowess paired in union with Athens’ counsel created a seemingly perfect state. In its early days, Olympene was known for the extravagant festivals and parties it threw to honour the gods, the main focus being on the Olympian Twelve, celebrating them as the rulers of the Greek world. Although the gods had a minor interest in the Kingdom due to the concentration of demichildren, the grand festivals truly caught their attention and thus received blessings of prosperity and having one of the most profound legacies of all time. The only thing the Kingdom had to do was ensure that the extensive worship of the gods never faltered, nor would they succumb to greed and boast excessively about their advancements.

For years, Olympene obided by what the Olympians had asked of them; they remained humble in their achievements and acted as a peacemaker nation amongst the ancient Greek world. Throughout this period, temptation was forever close as deities such as Eris and Apate found the Kingdom to be like a playground - forever pushing the limits and seeing which ruler would crack. The Kings and Queens of Olympene for many generations were able to ignore the temptations and please the Olympians but a slip up was inevitable. During the reign of King Eumastas, the goddess Eris was successfully able to seduce him and tempt him into going against what the Olympians had laid out for Olympene, telling him that the aim was to suppress the greatness of his people, also telling that all of his ancestors were just puppets and, should he go against the Olympians, he would be hailed as one of the greatest kings of all time. The goddess’ temptation, paired with an internalised need to live up to the image of his father who ruled before him, King Eumastas broke the guidelines of the Olympians. Through greed, he led Olympene to countless wars, conquering smaller islands around them and being merciless to the people of said islands. In regards to Olympene’s advancements, instead of bartering with the other city states for knowledge in exchange for other valuable things, Eumastas offended the other states, citing that they weren’t worthy enough of Olympene’s godly knowledge, referring to the people of city states such as Athens and Sparta as peasants whilst elevating the people of Olympene.

Naturally, the Olympians were enraged by Eumastas’ behaviour and gave him a single chance to turn his reign around and be the model ruler they wanted him to be. For a week he was plagued with dreams and visions of what could happen to his people should he continue. Visions of eternal darkness, an illness wiping out most of the population or unwinnable wars were all Eumastas could see for a week and he nearly gave in, had it not been for the tempting words of Eris. During her visit to him, Eris told Eumastas that she could bear him a son that would lead Olympene against the threats of the Olympians, lead it to conquest the Hellenes and rise as one of the greatest states of all time. Now that his internal need had grown into a desire to prove how bad of a leader his father was, Eumastas gave into Eris’ words and continued to go against the Gods. True to her word, Eris reared him a son, Alphesiboeus, and continued to promise Eumastas that he would grow up to champion the gods. In reality, the birth of Alphesiboeus marked the downfall of Olympene’s greatness.

Each of the Olympians cursed the Kingdom of Olympene in various ways to ensure that it would never reach the status it once was able to boast. In a war where Olympene should have triumphed easily against Athens and Sparta, Ares turned the battle tide and the Kingdom suffered a momentous defeat. Whatever men did survive weren’t able to return home as Poseidon enchanted the seas around the isle of Olympene to be forever stormy and unnavigable, further stopping any trading to and from the island. Hermes ensured that no forms of communication could be sent by the Kingdom and, should some be able to, due to the god’s mischievousness, the message would have no importance and be redundant. As festivals were still part of Olympene’s culture, Dionysus cursed the island whereby whenever a festival went on, an extremely negative thing would happen to the Kingdom - ranging from the destruction of key buildings to widespread over-intoxication leading to death. Whilst Hera placed a curse on the Kingdom whereby, at any given time, there would be no more than half of the female population that would be fertile, Aphrodite placed a curse whereby the other half of the island, the fertile half, would have extreme difficulty in finding someone to mate with, thus stunting Olympene greatly. Demeter cursed the island so that only the bare minimum of harvest would be produced every year, ensuring that Olympene would never experience the lavious lifestyles they once led. Naturally, Athena revoked the extreme wisdom the Olympians had given the Kingdom, replacing it with subpar knowledge instead, additionally causing any person who was perceived as being smarter than the rest to be feared by the population of the Kingdom and be heralded as a bringer of the Olympian’s wrath. Hephaestus rendered most of their weapons created in their forges useless, meaning that should Olympene ever attempt to wage war (not that they could, given Poseidon’s curse), they would fail miserably. As Apollo and Artemis were the bringers of disease for their respective genders, Olympene experienced waves of disease - some incurable and some not. The final curse, of Zeus himself, was that the island would never be remembered in time to come and, when the name Olympene meant nothing to anyone outside of the island, the island would be subjected to a curse of forever moving and being unable to communicate with the outside world. For extra, concluding measures, the gods ensured that Eumastas’ son, Alphesiboeus, was weaker than his father but had a strong sense of devotion to not commit the same mistakes he had done, ensuring that Olympene would fade.

Over the next hundreds of years as Olympene vanished from outside memory, the various curses of the Olympian’s began to fade. Demeter slowly allowed more harvest to be produced, allowing the Kingdom to flourish somewhat. Apollo and Artemis stopped the relentless waves of diseases, instead making it that the inhabitants of Olympene had a resistance to healing techniques. Hephaestus made their weapons somewhat stronger - not that they needed them. Hera and Aphrodite’s curses remained but, as time went on, the number they affected got smaller and smaller. Athena allowed some knowledge back and Hermes’ curse was removed as it wasn’t needed due to Poseidon’s. Dionysus stopped the wave of bad events with each festival, allowing the people of Olympene some joy in their situation. Coming into modern times, only Poseidon’s and Zeus’ curses remained, ensuring that Olympene would never have contact with the outside world. In the past hundred or years or so, given the very ancient feel of Olympene as the Kingdom hasn’t experienced the same modernisation as the world, Olympene has become a breeding ground for the gods - a traditional solace in the modern world.

The overthrow of House Therabes by House Ayteria led by Penthylos was a defining point in the history of Olympene. For generations, House Ayteria believed that the Therabian rulers were damaging Olympene, not learning from the mistakes of their ancestors and condemning the island for a Tartarus live above the Underworld. The House of Ayteria was always favoured by the Gods, both Olympian and minor. Many of the House belonged to the small circle of Olymepians who were gifted with intelligence and knowledge far beyond that of the population, something they used to their advantage. Penthylos was within said circle and, paired with blessings from Ares and Hephaestus, he was able to overthrow the elderly king; Eumastas VI. Upon Penthylos' ascension as Penthylos I, reform was widespread in the Kingdom and marked the kinder cheek of the Olympians being shown to Olympene - a thing many Olympenians were grateful for, ensuring House Ayteria's long and fruitful reign.

Queen Arethusa, a daughter of Khione and member of House Ayteria, is the currently ruling monarch and holds the morals behind the Ayterian Rebellion close to her heart; for repent, for the Olympenians and for Olympus. In fact, Arethusa has gone further than the monarchs before her, pouring her everything into restoring Olympene's status amongst the Olympians. That's partially down to the fact that she never thought she'd reign, having lived in the shadow of her older brother Prince Laertes, a son of Hades. Laeretes was always more willing to test the curses of the Olympians out, eager to see if they were still in tact and how many more festivals would appease them and this was his downfall. In a test of Poseidon's raging seas, his ship was destroyed by the waves and his body was washed up days later. That event sparked Arethusa to become as close to the model leader in the Olympian's eyes as she could; something she's succeeded in so far. ) It was extraordinarily rare for Phlegethon, the goddess of the river of fire, to leave the underworld. But on occasion, he enjoyed visiting the island of Olympene. With a wish and a snap of his fingers, he traveled to where he could find a spark - the remnants of a fire in the Olympene Market.

Phlegethon found himself (as he was what he decided to use as a pronoun at the time) on the island, and much had changed since he'd last visited. The humans were... happier. No longer starving. Educated. It would seem that the gods had lifted their curses, at long last.

In wonder, he failed to notice a woman rushing through the marketplace, a basket of bread in hand. The pair collided, Phlegethon and the lady toppling to the ground. Phlegethon recovered first. "Oh, um, please excuse me."

"Not at all!" The woman smiled. "Gods always look that way when they haven't visited for a while."

Phlegethon did a double take. "I'm sorry?"

"Someone in my family was once with one of you, a long time ago. Hades knows which, but I've got a little bit of godly blood somewhere deep down!" She smiled. "So I know you're not one of us mortals. Not to mention, this." She gestured to her bread, which had somehow toasted.

The god of the river of fire was, for the first time in quite a while, flustered. "Ah."

"Oh, don't you worry." The woman gestured to him. "Here, come with me. I'll get you caught up. And it's not like I can eat all this by myself, now that it's cooked!" Strangely, Phlegethon found himself drawn to follow her.

And so it was that perhaps one of the strangest relationships on the Island of Olympene began. Over time, the god found himself more and more attracted to this strange young woman, and she to him. It was as if she was the calm to his seemingly uncontrollable flames, and yet her own fiery disposition intoxicated him. He doted on her, and as time went on, he knew he loved her.

But it was not to last. The rivers of the underworld called, and he was forced to answer. He could not linger for much longer. Before he left, he gave his lover a gift he had not given for many an eon - a child. He left a last, searing kiss upon the woman's lips as she held the baby with trembling hands, and in a burst of sparks, he was gone.

While the woman, Darla, was heartbroken, she promised that night to forever look after her child - Jocasta Whisper Adrienna. Jocasta, or Jo, grew quickly and happily, playing with all the other children without a care in the world. She was simultaneously one of the most and least social - always there for every activity, letting her friends confide in her, but just as much there to quell arguments, go with the flow, make everyone else happy. She was fair, and subdued - but the spark of her father was definitely within.

As she grew and was taught about Greek Mythology, she was required to learn to fight. She always trained with a sword, despite finding them too heavy and cumbersome. It felt... right, and yet wrong. On her seventeenth birthday, however, it all but saved her life. In the middle of training, near the edge of the city, a harpy screeched in, immediately clawing at a surprised child of Demeter. Jocasta didn't hesitate, immediately running forward with her sword. While blunt, and still too heavy, the sword was made of true celestial bronze. Jocasta ignored her training and swung the blade with all her strength, and sent the monster spinning backwards to crumple to the ground, neck askew.

After being treated, Jocasta was praised, and she more confidently took on training, despite being "a mortal", which some of her friends disliked her for. No one knew who her father was, but they didn't make fun of her for it. After all, it wasn't a good idea to cross the girl who'd broken a harpy's neck in one hit.

Eventually, one day, warning horns blew across the island. Rushing to see what the commotion was, Jocasta was shocked to see that it was newcomers. Hailing from a place called "Camp Half-Blood," they offered to take some of the Olympenians back with them. Without hesitation, Jocasta accepted, always being one for adventure, and wanting to see the world since she was a little girl.

Once reaching camp, Jocasta felt very unsure of herself... so she took a walk. After a short while, she came to the woods and felt a beckoning presence. It told her to go farther into the woods.

Ignoring the vines, thorns, and all of the underbrush, almost as if in a trance, Jocasta came to what was possibly the most beautiful forest clearing she'd ever seen. While overgrown, it seemed... peaceful. Ancient chimes hanging from the trees clinked softly, although muffled by the leaves and bark they were surrounded by.

At the back of the clearing, a small tree stump was covered in the softest of moss, branches and roots winding together to make a sort of chair. Not knowing what she was doing, Jocasta slowly walked over and sat down in the chair.

At once, the wind rose. The chimes rang out a dissonant chord, falling to the earth. As the ancient trees groaned and shifted, a green mist formed in front of Jocasta's widened eyes.

We are Dodona, whispered the wind, coming in from all sides. ''We have waited so long... for you. Will you... help us?''

Jocasta didn't know why, but she was compelled to answer. "Yes. I will help you." The mist moved forward, filling her nose and mouth, and her vision darkened. As she crumpled and her vision darkened, the grove whispered once again to her. ''We are linked together, now. You will be our eyes, our ears... our mouth. We will help you, little one. And are to be our Oracle. Let us... show you.''

Jocasta dreamed. The visions in her head made perfect sense, but none at the same time. But as she awoke, she understood.

She would protect the spirit inside her, as it would her. She would speak the words of prophecy, and be a force to help save Olympus. This grove was her home.

She was the Oracle of Dodona.

Weaponry: An enchanted wooden sword, crafted by a child of Hephaestus from a branch of a Dodonian tree. This weapon is enchanted to be highly resistant to fire, extremely durable and strong. Due to its magical properties, it is capable of slaying monsters.