The divine hammer struck against the molten metal, sending sparks flying into the air like dying stars. Hephaestus stood before his anvil, deep in thought. Lemnos. The island where he had once fallen—a place of pain, exile, and eventual rebirth.
It was here that he had first honed his craft, refining his skills until his talent was undeniable, even to the gods who had cast him aside. It was here that he had first forged his legend.
Lemnos was no just an island to him. It was home.
And now, he would take it with him.
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Hephaestus reminisce his past.
Hephaestus remembered how he was once cast down from Olympus, thrown from the heavens by Hera, his own mother, for his deformity. He fell for an entire day and night before crashing into the island of Lemnos, his body broken, his spirit shattered.
Yet, it was here, in the fires of exile, that he found his true strength. He perfected his craft, creating weapons, artifacts, and automata beyond mortal comprehension. His skill became so great that his creations rivaled the power of the gods themselves.
The world, recognizing Hephaestus' mastery, granted him the divine authority over crafting—the Craft Divinity. With this, he was invited back to Olympus, no longer as an exile, but as a god.
He did not return as a beggar, nor as a son seeking forgiveness. He returned as a master of his own fate.
After coming back to Olympus. Zeus decreed that Hephaestus would be married to Aphrodite, the goddess of beauty. Many saw this as an honor—a chance for the god of the forge to wed the most beautiful being in existence.
But Aphrodite did not love him.
She ignored him, looking instead to Ares, the god of war. Their affair was whispered across Olympus, yet Hephaestus endured. He did not seek love or revenge. Instead, he sought something greater.
Through his trials, Hephaestus discovered something no other Olympian had—Nirvana.
The gods were ruled by their desires—lust, power, vengeance, and pride. But Hephaestus, through pain and rejection, found detachment.
He no longer cared for the approval of others, nor did he seek revenge on those who wronged him. His forge became his world, his creations his purpose. And with this, he forge nirvana.
With his Craft Divinity and newfound clarity, Hephaestus became the greatest smith in existence. His hands shaped weapons and artifacts that would alter the course of history. Hephaestus traveled the world, forging his creation.
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Now Hephaestus is here, on the island where it all started. Hephaestus stood on the scorched and rocky land of Lemnos, the very island where he had fallen from Olympus. It had once been his prison, his exile. But now, it would become his kingdom.
For centuries, Lemnos had been a forgotten land. But Hephaestus saw potential—he would not just reclaim the island, he would transform it.
He envisioned a city unlike any other, a city that moved, a city that thrived on the power of the forge—a divine machine of endless creation.
This was not just an ambition. It was destiny.
To create a city that could move, that could withstand gods and disasters alike, Hephaestus needed a heart—a core of infinite power.
He descended into the volcanic depths of Lemnos, where molten rivers flowed like the blood of the earth. He took his hammer and began crafting:
1. The Engine of the Titans – Hephaestus carved the very last fragment of the World Tree into a divine mechanism, an engine that would power the entire city. This engine would tap into the world's leylines, absorbing energy like the roots of the tree once did.
2. The Wings of Hyperion – To make the city move, Hephaestus took the wings of Hyperion, a part of the dead titan body who was given to him by Helioz, binding it into massive mechanical wings that would allow the city to fly.
3. The Chains of Chronos – To stabilize the moving city, Hephaestus forged the chains with the ability to bound time itself, creating an eternal balance between movement and stillness.
Finally, he placed all three artifacts into a colossal forge, binding them together into one divine mechanism—the Core of Hephaestus.
And with that, the city awakened.
Lemnos trembled as the forge roared to life. The island itself began to shift, rise, and transform. Buildings reforged themselves into towers of bronze and gold, streets turned into moving gears and levers, and the mountains collapsed into massive titanic constructs—all controlled by the will of Hephaestus.
The city did not just move. It breathed.
It was a living forge, a divine workshop, a kingdom of creation.
No longer an exile. No longer a god in the shadows.
Hephaestus had forged his own Olympus.
And the gods would soon take notice.