Othea
| Othea | ||
|---|---|---|
| Unknown | ||
| Alignment | Unknown, possibly Chaotic Good | |
| Divine Rank | Dead God, formerly Demigoddess | |
| Pantheon | The Ordning (Giant) | |
| Portfolio | Motherhood, Fertility, Family | |
| Domains | Unknown | |
| Home Plane | Presumably Gudheim (Ysgard) | |
| Worshippers | Giants, Giant-kin, Ogres | |
| Favoured Weapon | Unknown | |
Othea is the mother-goddess of the giant and giant-kin races in the Forgotten Realms setting of Dungeons & Dragons. She was the wife of Annam All-Father, the belligerent and lusty divine patriarch of the giant races, but was less than faithful to him; not only did she give birth to the ogre race after a brief affair with Vaprak, she eventually scorned Annam for the advances of a minor sea-god named Ulutiu. Annam was incensed by this, and murdered Ulutiu, throwing his body into the ocean, where an enchanted medallion worn by the god began freezing an enormous swathe of the world, creating the Great Glacier and the Endless Ice Sea.
Although Othea hated Annam for murdering her lover, the All-Father used magical trickery to impregnate Othea against her will with another son, whom he intended to be born as a god-king that would rebuild the ruined giantish empire of Ostoria, which had been all but toppeled by a long and bloody war with the dragons of Faerun. Othea responded by blackmailing Annam, forcing him to agree to leave Faerun until the day his son called upon Annam, lest she abort the child and feed it to her ogres. Whilst Annam left, that left his children leaderless in the face of a new problem; the spreading Great Glacier was about to envelop the remains of Ostoria's capital, and whilst they knew how to stop its spread, Othea forbade her divine offspring from interfering with Ulutiu's body - in her eyes, this was just revenge. After all, the only thing it ultimately threatened was Annam's dream of a Toril ruled entirely by giantkind.
In response to this, Lanaxis, Othea's eldest son and the first of the titans, sought first to rally his brothers to disobey Othea - and when that failed, he attempted to poison her, only to inadvertently poison all of his brothers (bar Dunmore, the first Voadkyn, and Arno/Julian, the first ettin) in the process. With her dying breath, Othea cursed Lanaxis, condemning him to forever dwell in the shadow of the mountain that was her material manifestation or else lose his immortality.
Ironically, Othea and Annam's final son, Hartkiller, would survive his mother's death but would be stunted into the womb, growing to the "runty" height of a mere 12 feet tall. Because of this, the giants rejected his claims of leadership, and instead, he turned to seek power amongst the human race, creating an empire of men that drove back the giants and established the kingdom of Hartsvale. He perished during the final battle, but he fathered a lineage of god-blooded half-giants that went on to rule Hartsvale in his stead.
Othea's Progeny[edit | edit source]
Although Annam had already fathered the lesser gods Stronmaus, Hiatea, Grolantor, Iallanis, Memnor and Skoraeus by one or more unknown mothers, it was on Othea that the All-Father begat the bulk of the giantish pantheon; Ruk, Obadai, Ottar, Masud, Nicias, Vilmos, Lanaxis, and Arno/Julian were all born of Othea and Annam. These entities were presumably demigods like their mother, and were the direct progenitors of the giantish races; Ruk of the Hill Giants, Obadai of the Stone Giants, Ottar of the Frost Giants, Masud of the Fire Giants, Nicias of the Cloud Giants, Vilmos of the Storm Giants, Lanaxis of the Titans, and Arno/Julian of the Ettins.
But Othea disliked sharing her bed with Annam, and sought love elsewhere. From a dalliance with Vaprak, she gave birth to the ogre race. With her true lover, Ulutiu, she gave birth to three new giant-like races; the firbolgs, the verbeegs, and the fomorians.
Othea also had another son, Dunmore, the progenitor of the voadkyn. Originally, she managed to delude Annam into thinking that Dunmore was one of his sons, but it was ultimately revealed that Dunmore was one of Ulutiu's bastards, if not the first of them.
Then there was Othea's final son, Hartkiller, begotten on her by Annam with the aid of magic.
Nobody knows the true origins of the cyclops race; whilst they desperately claim to be children of Annam, the true giants instead believe that they are the result of one of Othea's dalliances, if not yet another of Ulutiu's bastard lineages.
If you're counting, that means that Othea confirmably gave birth to 14 kids; nine by Annam, four by Ulutiu, and one by Vaprak. As well as possibly a 15th by either Ulutiu or another being.