AU Worldbuilding: Tony Stark x ?
In the world of old, gods existed with the shared purpose of facilitating and guiding mortal life. Though power favored the gods, gods and mortals balanced each other, both needing the other to survive. The originating gods, who existed when the world was new, have now gone and passed their responsibilities to their children/current gods. The gods’ ability to breed (which happens few and far between) means the ability to die.
Gods can only die by the hands of a god. This means a god can die by their own hand or commission another god to slay them. At times, gods may enter a feud with one another, which could result in death, but this was considered the worst of crimes warranting the death of the surviving god. Therefore, rarely occurred.
In the beginning, it was considered taboo for god and mortal to couple, but the taboo faded over the ages. It wasn’t encouraged, some gods still strongly frowned upon it, but it was no longer taboo. When it was first discovered that a god had fallen in love with a mortal, chaos erupted (arguing about the ethics of it), unfortunately wreaking havoc upon the mortals. When god and mortal fled to another stretch of the world, calm reclaimed the region (for the gods knew not where they fled). The region from where the mortal came noticed the correlation and started a ritual, thinking they could stifle potential catastrophes.
The ritual involved a certain individual becoming chosen as an offering to the gods. The chosen were not sacrificed, but were ostracized (loved ones turned their backs on the chosen, like the unwanted runt of a litter).
Howard was an old world god, not an originator, who fell in love with a mortal: Maria. Despite their love no longer considered taboo, Howard rigidly stuck to old customs, and hid his relationship with Maria. Maria’s pregnancy was difficult, which left her weakened after Tony’s birth, until she succumbed to sickness when he was a child. Howard, grief-stricken and resentful towards Tony, abandoned his child to commission another god to end his life.
When god and mortal join, they produce demi-gods. Demi-gods rarely exhibit powers and have a bastardized version of immortality: rebirth. Tony’s nature as a demi-god was left unknown for years as a result of Howard and Maria’s secret romance.
The story begins with Tony becoming selected as an offering.
Demi-gods: Tony, Bruce, Wanda and Pietro (referenced only).
Mortals: Pepper, Rhodey.
Weather gods: Thor commands storms (heat components), summers, springs. Loki commands storms (cold components), winters, falls. They are brothers, working together to manage the seasons.
Celestial gods: Steve commands the sun, light, planets. Natasha commands the moon, darkness, stars. They are friends, working together to manage the cosmos.
Life/Death: Clint commands birth, mirth, innocence. Bucky commands death, sorrow, pain. They are friends, working together to manage time.
*I’m sure a variation of this sort of thing was done, but the idea struck me (and it struck me hard), so I wanted to share it and perhaps generate more brainstorming.
