Inspiration: the Dyosa Fantaserye

The Philippines has had its share of fantaseryes, all of which have had to contend with budget constraints in realizing their respective counter-realist visions. Another series that caught my attention with its core concept and occasional sparks of budget- and industry-transcending brilliance was Dyosa.

Dyosa ("Goddess") was a TV show about a young woman who, at the age of 18, discovers that she belongs to a divine lineage. Here's the upshot from Wikipedia:

Josephine is a young orphan who finally finds out she is no ordinary mortal after reaching the age of 18. After years of being raised by her foster parents, Josephine finds out she is the 'Takda' or Chosen One with divine powers and must help save the world from the Kasamyan, who are evil creatures from Lower Earth. After becoming a full-fledged goddess, Josephine also discovers that she has the power of the earth, air and water. To harness these powers, she takes the form of Dyosa Tierra, a centauride, Dyosa Agua, a mermaid, and Dyosa Cielo, a harpy.

Now, like most local teleseryes, this show certainly had its share of romantic and domestic drama, but there were some scenes that truly sparkled because of some surprising humorous situations written into otherwise cliched scenes. I felt that they really overreached in terms of the three forms of the goddess -- it was just too expensive and time consuming to solve the issues of animation and SFX cleanly. The most problematic was the centaur form, due to the motion of the horse and trying to stitch the upper half of the lead onto it. But, it was ambitious and who am I to say they shouldn't have tried to push the boundaries of local fantasy shows in terms of concept and SFX?

Gaming Inspiration

Despite the modern setting of the series, I'm intrigued by the idea of the goddess taking multiple forms.

Dyosa Cielo -- the winged form associated with the air -- is described as both
harpy and siren. It's interesting because both are winged female creatures
(though the siren has also been associated with a mermaid-like aspect) of myth.
I'll be delving into both to tap into the Immortals and Creatures of Enigmundia.

Dyosa Tierra -- the centaur form associated with earth -- makes
me think about the role of the race as a protector of the forests
and the lands of a given realm. It is perhaps one granted by
the Immortal that oversaw their creation.

Dyosa Agua -- the mermaid -- already has many
interpretations, but perhaps this form of the Goddess
can can likewise be linked to the creation of a race.
Perhaps as a counter-race to the Deep Ones that
serve strange alien gods that will surely
find their way into the creatures of Enigmundia.

Should be an interesting delving into classic mythical creatures.