Poseidon

Poseidon of Lyr was the ninth and final Sorcerer-King of Atlantia. A distinguished military commander from a cadet branch of the royal line, he ascended the throne amidst the chaos of the Sheeda War. Remembered as a gruff, duty-bound warrior-king, his reign culminated in a catastrophic act of sacrifice that saved the world from the escape of Ichthultu but effectively destroyed Atlantean civilisation as it was known, leaving behind a legacy debated for millennia.

This version of Poseidon is directly inspired by the character of Lord Poseidon, the last ruler of Atlantis to live above water, in the Justice League episode “The Terror Below”.

Biography

Early Life and Military Career

Born into the third branch of Domos Arbouneas, descended from Segontius and Amarbena, Poseidon was a cousin to both his immediate predecessors: the formidable Queen Tocih (Seventh Sorcerer-King) and the tragic King Melias Attacus (Eighth Sorcerer-King).

During King Melias’s reign, Poseidon served as the Chief of the Atlantean Armies and concurrently as a high-ranking General within the Coalition of Light’s allied forces engaged in the Universe War, specifically commanding cavalry formations in the Earth Sector. His reputation was that of a prolific warrior leader, known for his preference for leading charges from the front, distinguishing himself in campaigns such as the Liberation of New Thule and the Battle of Ma’aleca’andra (Mars). He also forged a close operational alliance with the Exarch of the Khe Province, integrating the highly effective Khe cavalry and their Marshalls into his command structure.

As King Melias succumbed to grief and withdrew from active rule, Poseidon’s duties expanded. Sources suggest that key administrative and executive decisions were often deferred to him or the ministers, although he was never formally appointed Regent. However, his influence at court diminished significantly once Melias fell under the sway of the enigmatic Gloriana. Shortly before Gloriana’s ultimate betrayal and the murder of the King, Melias ordered Poseidon away from the capital city, Atlantia. This dismissal may indicate that Gloriana viewed Poseidon as a potential obstacle, or perhaps offered unwelcome counsel regarding the King’s obsessive and dangerous plans, driven by Gloriana’s manipulation.

The Sheeda War and Ascension

Poseidon was undertaking duties for the Coalition of Light, reportedly in Lansinar, when news reached him of Gloriana’s treachery: the murder of King Melias and the invasion of Atlantia by Sheeda hordes pouring through the newly created Temporal Maelstrom. Rallying loyalist forces, he returned to the besieged Atlantia. Alongside the great Lansinarian hero Aurakles, Poseidon led the desperate but decisive “Charge of the 1000 Marshals”. This charge broke the Sheeda lines, initiating a rout that ultimately drove the invaders back through the temporal gateway. Poseidon survived the charge, but Aurakles, pursuing the enemy relentlessly, was dragged through the Maelstrom with them and presumed lost.

In the aftermath, with King Melias dead and the capital’s defences ravaged, Poseidon assumed control as the highest-ranking military authority and a member of the extended royal line. He was acclaimed as the Ninth Sorcerer-King of Atlantia.

Reign and the Apokolips Invasion

Poseidon’s reign began with rebuilding Atlantia after the Sheeda War, a conflict that had significantly depleted the kingdom’s military strength and resources. He also continued to serve as a General in the Coalition armies, fulfilling Atlantia’s commitments to the Universe War, though his duties as monarch increasingly limited his time away from Earth.

The wider Universe War finally reached Earth when a three-pronged invasion targeting Lansinar, the Council of Eternity and Atlantis – the Harrowing of Earth has begun. Hordes of Para-Demons, Darkseid’s shock troops, swept across the outer provinces, including Hoshan and Mu, before converging on the capital. King Poseidon led the defence, drawing heavily upon the power of the ancient Orichalcum Regalia passed down from Orin I. Desperate pleas for aid sent to their allies in Lansinar went unanswered, leaving Atlantis to stand alone. The Atlanteans held out for six-days after Lansinar fell. The final defence was concentrated on the First Citadel, where the remaining Atlantean nobility, the surviving Eternals, and defenders made their last stand. 

In the dying moments of the siege, Poseidon silently drove the Trident of Orin into the ground at a nexus point of the continent’s ley line network. He, the Eternals, and the surviving Atlantean mages then channelled all their power, an immense, almost unimaginable, surge of magical energy through the Trident directly into the ley line network. The energies sealed the Zodiac Vault, ensuring the Old God’s continued imprisonment, and virtually wiped out the attacking army, but the cost was the lives of Poseidon and the other surviving mages.

The final result of the Harrowing of Earth was the collapse of the Atlantean-Lansinar civilisation, the extinction of the Lansinarians, and the reduction of the Atlanteans practically back to the Stone Age.

Legacy

Poseidon’s final act has been debated by Atlanteans throughout the ensuing Ages. It has been mythologised, demonised, celebrated, and examined more than virtually all other acts from the Orichalcum Age. It was especially criticised and demonised during the Adamant Age, when the nature of the Zodiac Vault and the Old God remained forgotten. However, his position was reevaluated after the Second Cataclysm when the truth about the Old God was rediscovered.

Family

This tree shows the Arboureas Dynasty, which ruled around the end of the Orcichalcum Age. Only those immediate descendants that have Codex entries.