Shortly after the Korean War, Zeus had to make a promise to Hera to refrain from having children for 5 years after one of his meddlings had accidently caused a devoted worshipper of Hera to be captured and killed by North Korean soldiers. For the first couple years Zeus was able to restrain himself, but by the third year he had taken to female mortal "window shopping" and by the fourth year he had become completely desperate. When Hera was off visiting a sanctuary of hers in Greece, he snuck over to Denmark and seduced the attractive owner of a large electric car company. Shortly after impregnating her he left without a second glance to avoid Hera's detection and ire. Long story short the owner gave birth to a daughter named Anna who went through all the customary demigod experiences up until her mother died of Cancer and she had to return to Denmark to take over the company. During this time, Hera did not believe for a second that Zeus had kept his word and so had secretly long searched for proof of her suspicions. Proof revealed itself shortly after Anna's takeover of the company as she naively began using her powers to expand the company that manufactured both electric cars and the energy required to run them. Hera soon discovered the company and upon discovering Anna's age put two and two together. She raged in fury at Zeus but the god stood firm and refused to allow Hera to directly harm her. Stymied temporarily, Hera continued to watch Anna with malice and vengeance on her mind.
As fate would have it, lightning would strike twice on the Stålstyrke family (no pun intended). The gentle god Hephaestus, having heard rumor of the succesful Danish comppany travelled to Denmark to see it for himself and was instantly stricken by Anna and with his skill soon became an employee within her company and rose through the ranks. Little by little they developed a relationship until eventually he got her pregnant. Hephaestus then had to return to Olympus but he worried little about the safety of his child as he knew that Anna was a demigod herself. When Hera realized that Anna was pregnant (with twins), she was beside herself with glee as she knew that as children of Hephaestus, they would be exempt from Zeus' Protection. Hera placed a curse on the twins so that they would be born as siamese rather than regular twins. Satisfied with her vengeance yet also slightly remorseful about the strife being placed on two innocent children, Hera caused them to be born with a constantly replenishing phial of ambrosia which had the special property of temporarily separating the twins when consumed as well as an explanatory note. Unfortunately, the pain involved in giving birth to siamese twins and a phial of ambrosia proved to be too much for Anna and she died giving birth shortly after naming the children Dirk and Mikael. With no other family to raise them, the infant siamese twins were taken to the local orphanage. As luck would have it, the orphanage was was run by an elderly child of Mnemosyne who had founded the orphanage and a school with it in order to identify and look after demigods in that region of Europe where Satyrs were scarce. It didn't take him long to realize that there was nothing ordinary about Dirk and Mikael and resolved to keep a close eye on them. He made the decision to store away the note and phial and conceal their heritage until the right moment because he wanted them to have a normal childhood and he was afraid if the secret behind their condition was revealed they would take foolhardy measures to cure themselves including possibly trying to seek revenge on Hera or Zeus.
Dirk and Mikael grew up as normal as demigod siamese twins in an orphanage possibly can and taken care of by the son of Mnemosyne they were for the most part happy. Once they had reached the age of 11 however, they began coming into their powers. Not only were they beginning to develop abilities as sons of Hephaestus, they even developed slight Zeus related powers from their mother. The boys were at first excited but things took a turn for the worst when they were attacked by a laestrygonian giant while on a field trip to a national park and were barely saved by the child of Mnemosyne. Frightened and angry, Dirk and Mikael forced the orphanage leader to tell them the truth about their heritage. The son of Mnemosyne complied but after spilling the beans he gave them the adress to Camp Half-Blood and urged the twins to journey there. However, the twins refused to do so until they had found a way to permanently separate from each other and so they remained at the orphanage in diligent research, fending off the periodic monster attacks with the reluctant aid of the child of Mnemosyne. Finally after 6 years and little to no progress, the twins realized that no break throughs were coming in their current location so they finally agreed to make the journey to Camp Half-Blood. After a seamless journey, they arrived at camp and were claimed as sons of Hephaestus.
Children of Hephaestus have the ability to create and control fire; however, it is extremely chaotic and will burn anything near it no matter the intention of the child of Hephaestus. They can shoot fireballs, streams of fire and coat weapons in flame. The more fire summoned and controlled, the more energy is drained.
Defensive[]
Children of Hephaestus can become resistant to all types of physical attacks for a short time.
Children of Hephaestus are able to create a wall of stone, no larger than 2 to 3 times the size of the user, to temporarily block attacks
Passive[]
Children of Hephaestus are innately extremely resistant to heat and fire.
Children of Hephaestus are innately stronger and faster than others.
Children of Hephaestus possess an ability to instantly understand how to use and wield any weapon they possess with no training beforehand.
Supplementary[]
Children of Hephaestus have the ability to release heat from their hands in order to cauterize an open wound.
Children of Hephaestus are able to create a smoke screen that suffocates and hinders enemies for a short time, using it to either escape or do one sneak attack
Children of Hephaestus have the ability to control a single mechanical object with their mind; doing so, however, immobilizes the child of Hephaestus until control is broken. This only works on objects mechanically controlled, not objects controlled by magic.
Children of Hephaestus can telekinetically move weapons under their own possession and use. They can move up to 3 large weapons at a time, such as swords, axes and hammers. Or up to 10 small weapons such as throwing stars, knives and caltrops. The longer weapons are telekinetically held, the more energy is drained.
3 Months After Character is Made[]
Children of Hephaestus have the ability to curse an opponent’s weapons, armor and shields, make it softer, somewhat fragile or even rusted. This would last for a short time and make it easier for the user to attack. They can also repair weapons and armor with a thought and enchant weapons/armor to perform/defend against twice the amount of damage for a short time.
6 Months After Character is Made[]
Children of Hephaestus are able to summon a humanoid automaton to fight for them for a short time, the automaton cannot be bigger than 2-3 times the size of the user. It may possess one weapon of the user’s choice and will take a basic appearance of a Greek soldier, but the user can customize their armor or facial appearance. The automaton will have no special abilities other than it’s strength, stamina and endurance. ( No powers over Electricity, Magnetism, Flight. etc) The user however has a hard time moving while the automaton is present. The automaton will follow any command of the user, after a short time the automaton will crumble and fall apart. The user will be left quite drained.
9 Months After Character is Made[]
Children of Hephaestus can transform their bodies into pure metal for a short time, making them stronger and far more durable. They can also shift and transform parts of their body into weapons in this state. They also have the option to add an incredible amount of heat to their metal form, doing this would make the transformation even more draining than before. Choosing to become molten metal means the user burns anything they touch, enhancing their offensive abilities. Once the transformation is complete, the user is incredibly drained. Even moving wouldn’t be possible for a long time and they could possibly faint.
Traits[]
Children of Hephaestus are known for making great mechanics and blacksmiths. Able to make, upgrade and repair all sorts of weapons, machines and devices including automatons, armor and transforming weaponry.
Children of Hephaestus normally grow up to be excellent sculptors, stonemasons, architects,construction workers, carpenters and woodworkers.
Children of Hephaestus normally feel comfortable in forges and other warm areas, making them great fire-fighters and volcanologists.
