Over the last week, we have delved into the God Powers and the novel squad combat system of Gods and Heroes. With its full set of deities and strong military history, the largely untapped genre of the early Roman republic provides an interesting backdrop for these features. However, Perpetual's use of the elements of the ancient society does not stop here, but continues further into the lore of the Romans.

The Romans' mythology supplies a broad range of interesting creatures to populate the game world of Gods and Heroes. In ancient myth, these creatures ranged from friendly, if somewhat mischievous, Nymphs, to the enormous Gigantes, to the ferocious Cerberus. All of these find a new home in Gods and Heroes. Some of these characters are simply ambient, showing up roaming the countryside or in art, others are enemies, and still others are helpful on quests or even possibly minions.

To the ancient Greeks and Romans, nymphs were minor deities, the female spirits (and protectors) of streams, mountains, rivers and other natural features. Nymphs were seen as quite varied in their personalities and appearances, which related strongly to the element of nature to which they are bound. Dryads, for example, were forest nymphs and were often found dressed in green gauzy garments with wreaths and belts of live foliage.

Several types of nymphs have found their way into Gods and Heroes, helping an adventurer on his quest. Nymphs are most often friendly, and even rumored to be a high-level minion, filling a priest-like capacity. However, if a careless wanderer were to deface a nymph's habitat, she would not hesitate to use her powers against the offender.

The Sphinx was known throughout the Mediterranean, surfacing in Greek and Egyptian culture in slightly different forms. Sometimes Sphinx was depicted as a female winged lion with a woman's head, others she had a more snake-like body and tail. What was unvarying, however, was her love of riddles and respect for logic. Sphinx was also known to settle upon a widely used bridge or mountain pass and force passers-by to answer a riddle or complete a seemingly impossible task in order to pass.

Naturally, the team at Perpetual ran with the beautiful opportunity to build around the lore of the calculating Sphinx. Just as Oedipus answered Sphinx's riddle, players will have to solve puzzles or bribe their way past a Sphinx at some time or another as they advance their characters.

Cerberus was the guardian of the gate to the underworld of Dis. The three-headed dog was set to allow new spirits into the realm of the dead, but none were supposed to leave. Even still, a couple of legends held that there were those who returned from the underworld. Cerberus apparently has some weaknesses, allowing the living to slip past to retrieve the spirit of the dead.

An interesting situation arises from these stories - does Perpetual have a quest to retrieve someone from the kingdom of Dis? Or perhaps a fresh take on death, retrieving a beloved minion from the underworld by defeating this creature? It seems a natural fit. And maybe it would be helpful to learn those secret weaknesses...

Perhaps one of the most imposing, yet unknown, characters from ancient lore, the gigantes were enormous humanoid creatures with legs ending in serpents. Gigantes were not at all friendly, even among each other, and were quite powerful, often wielding boulders and trees as their weapons. Long ago, they were knocked out of power by the gods and hated them ever after. This hatred, of course, extended to any who worship the gods, as well.

Perpetual has placed gigantes in Gods and Heroes as formidable foes to adventurers. In fact, Perpetual claims this to be the largest creature in the game. A gigantic creature with snake legs, swinging whole trees and hurling boulders, who hates the very site of humans, will be quite a challenge! Luckily, Perpetual says they are not found in groups ... most of the time.

Talos was the guardian of Crete, who was so large he was able to walk around the island three times a day. He sank offending ships by throwing large stones at them and stomped enemies on land. But the most striking thing about Talos was that he was a huge giant of bronze, created by Hephaestus. While he was created to serve his master, Hephaestus, he is still able to think and is not easily fooled.

Players of Gods and Heroes will certainly be awed by this giant of metal, even as they dodge the blows of his solid bronze fists. Talos will likely be found in one of Perpetual's special Dynamic Zones guarding some important part of heroes' epic quests. It would definitely be best to take friends.

These are just a few of the treats Perpetual has in store for players of Gods and Heroes. As stated in previous articles, it seems that Perpetual has carefully chosen exciting ancient creatures and tweaked them for maximum fun. By bringing in some of the most beautiful, most dangerous, and most awesome creatures of the ancient Roman lore, Perpetual has created a game in which we can look forward to compelling quests, exotic minions, and perilous enemies in the upcoming title, Gods and Heroes.