Goddess Ninurta
From Unofficial Handbook of the Virtue Universe
| |
| The Goddess Ninurta in her human host. | |
| Ninurta, Goddess of the Storms | |
| Player: BlackWolfe Coyoten | |
| Origin: | Magic |
|---|---|
| Archetype: | Defender |
| Security Level: | 2 |
| Personal Data | |
| Real Name: | Ninurta |
| Known Aliases: | None |
| Species: | Deity (Human Host) |
| Age: | Ancient. Or 30 |
| Height: | 8'3" |
| Weight: | Undisclosed |
| Eye Color: | White |
| Hair Color: | Black |
| Biographical Data | |
| Nationality: | Ancient Sumerian (mind)/American (body) |
| Occupation: | Professor of Anthropology (deceased)/Goddess |
| Place of Birth: | Sumeria |
| Base of Operations: | Nippur |
| Marital Status: | Single |
| Known Relatives: | None |
| Known Powers | |
| Storm Summoning, Electric Blast | |
| Known Abilities | |
| Unknown | |
| Equipment | |
| The god Ninurta's mace, Car-ur, now appears as an ornate battle axe when she summons it. She no longer appears to use her bow and arrow. | |
| No additional information available. | |
Contents |
The God Ninurta
The Sumerian god Ninurta was the god of storms, fertility, the aqueduct, and the hunt. Patron deity of Nippur, the gud Ninurta was a champion and a defender of his people, as well as a farmer, god and defender to the simple people who kept the city of Nippur alive through their toils.
Little record remains of most of his existance as a deity. He was a champion who slew monsters in defense of his people. He may have had a consort, Ugallu (or perhaps Bau). As it stands, those relationships, along with the Sumerian people (and later, the Assyrians) are no more.
The Tablets of Destiny
One of the tales of the god Ninurta tells of the theft of the Tablets of Destiny by the monster Anzu. In doing so, Ninurta defeated several monsters, including, finally, Anzu, and reclaimed the Tablets of Destiny. Though legend says that he did so for the god Enlil, in fact Ninurta believed the Tablets to be too dangerous for even a god to use.
Ninurta reshaped the Tablets into icons of various deities - Sumerian and otherwise - and commanded his high priest to give the tablets over to the care of a parishoner who would be unknown to any, even Ninurta himself, and for that parishoner to then dispose of the tablets in a manner that would render them unrecoverable. Each tablet, thus disguised, was then given to a different parishoner by the High Priest, and sent in varying directions.
The priest selected the old and infirm, and instructed them to hide the statues and tell no one of their location. The statues have thus been lost for centuries, waiting to be found.
The Professor, The Priestess, and the Goddess
Kept "alive" despite a lack of worship by the studious attentions of anthropology and archeology students throughout the world, bound to a small onyx statue - one of the aforementioned Tablets of Destiny - and eventually shipped to the Paragon City Museum of Natural History, this deity was on the verge of fading, until the devout study of Doctor Angela Lovett, a professor of anthropology, awakened him.
Her interest was akin to the attentive worship of a member of his clergy. When he became aware that she was dying - lung cancer caused by exposure to asbestos dust from packing material in old shipping crates - he attempted to bring his divine powers to bear on her. His efforts were too late, however, and directing his power at her caused his essence to flow into her body as her own flowed out at the moment of her death.
Her body - now his - transformed, becoming taller, more powerful, and taking on the color of the stormy skies that were his domain. Angela passed on, and Ninurta, now mortal, but with a hint of the powers that had made him a god, vowed to make her sacrifice a worthy one by using the opportunity to defend a new people in his new land.
Now known as Goddess Ninurta due to a communications breakdown during his - now her - superhero registration, Ninurta uses her control of wind, water, and lightning to champion the right in Paragon City. Meanwhile, there are other Tablets of Destiny in the world, and no one - not even the goddess Ninurta - knows where any of them are.
Ninurta has adopted the identity of her benefactor as an alter-ego, and relies heavily upon Dr. Lovett's butler, Mr. Dodgson, for information about modern culture. Her identity is a secret - Ninurta has learned to disguise her appearance when not in costume - and Dodgson is one of the few people in the know (along with the museum director).
Powers, Abilities, and Equipment
Powers
Due to a lack of real worship, Ninurta finds her powers a very pale imitation of what she had once been. Her command over the elements is, at the moment, weak. She has the ability to summon strong gusts of wind, and brief precipitation in the form of a small but furious blizzard. In addition, she has the ability to cast bolts of lightning from either hand.
Abilities
Being a deity, Ninurta has the ability to speak in tongues, conveying her intended meaning despite language barriers. However, this ability is completely flummoxed by any cultural differences - until she had a better understanding of modern means of transportation, for example, her attempts at communicating the concept of the monoral were most often interpreted as "the large metal serpent." This ability works both ways, but cultural differences are even more of an obstacle to her understanding of others.
Equipment
Traditionally, the god Ninurta, being a god of the hunt, was believed to use a bow and arrow. She has explained that the bow and arrow she (at the time, he) was portrayed using were symbolic of the lightning she wields. However, her mace, Car-ur, still exists, but now appears as an ornate battle axe when she summons it.
In addition, the statue that had been one of the Tablets of Destiny has reshaped itself yet again, now appearing as the bracers Ninurta wears on her wrists, as well as her winged headgear. It is unknown if these items link Ninurta to her new body, and she seems unwilling to experiment in order to find out.
