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501984.jpg
Orange Star Glory
501984
>For now, why don't you tell us about the gods?
Alright, then.
The gods weren’t always around. At some point in the distant past, they came to our world, and for lack of a better description, everything went to shit. Groups of people sided with various gods because who doesn’t want magic, the gods had petty fights and basically everything was at war with everything else for several hundred years. Or longer, according to some. Eternal war isn’t exactly sustainable, so eventually something gave. There was a bit of a revolution among the people, and somehow, one of the gods was killed. This somehow led to a treaty of sorts, where the gods basically agreed to divide the populace such that each god had their own group of followers to lord over without the other gods interfering. And then we all lived happily ever after.
Or so the legends say, anyways. Given the gods’ close involvement with pretty much everything, recorded history isn’t the most reliable source.
Regardless, the remaining gods follow the rules that have been laid out, and everyone gets along well enough despite old rivalries.
As for the gods themselves:
Haemorus is the Lord of Blood. His domains are Life and Death. His magics focus on the manipulation of flesh, blood, and bone. He is associated with the Bat, feasting upon flesh. His people are barbers, morticians, doctors, assassins, and butchers. His people tend to be distant and calm, seemingly less affected by events than others.
As a rule, those with the favour of Haemorus live longer. As such, I’ve been sure to make offerings to keep on decent terms with him.
Cyra is the Lord of Fire. Her domains are Warmth and Refuge. Her magics focus on the creation and manipulation of fire. She is associated with the Lion, protecting her kin. Her people are soldiers, innkeepers, smiths, guards, and chefs. Her people tend to be passionate about what they do and kind towards those they care for. Those they don’t care for don’t last very long.
Cyra is probably not the happiest with me. Not enough that she’d care to do anything about it, but I haven’t gone out of my way to appease her and she’s not incredibly fond of murderers.
Sohlarn is the Lord of Light. His domains are Freedom and Order. His magics focus on light and guidance. He is associated with the Eagle, flying high above. His people are leaders, jailors, judges, politicians, and executioners. His people tend to believe in honour, justice, and righteousness, and often value them more than most would consider reasonable.
Given recent events, Sohlarn will likely kill me if I ever dare to set foot in one of his churches. I never liked him or his people much anyways, so it’s not a big loss.
Fwyn is the Lord of Earth. Her domains are Nature and Creation. Her magics focus on the manipulation of earth and stone. She is associated with the Beaver, constructing a den. Her people are hunters, masons, herbalists, engineers, and farmers. Her people tend to be dependable, if a bit reclusive.
I don’t think I’ve done anything that would annoy Fwyn, so she’s probably indifferent about me.
Karas is the Lord of Winds. Her domains are Novelty and Change. Her magics focus upon the manipulation of winds and weather. She is associated with the Raccoon, surviving behind masks. Her people are sailors, revolutionaries, couriers, vagrants, and inventors. Her people find entertainment in simple things, but tend to bore easily.
I haven’t had too much to do with Karas in the past, but given current events, I think I might have to look into making an offering or two.
Hyrssa is the Lord of Seas. His domains are Hope and Ambition. His magics focus on the manipulation of luck. He is associated with Hermit Crab, seeking a shell. His people are merchants, gamblers, entrepreneurs, prospectors, and ambassadors. His people tend to believe that the world is not as great as it could be. How they act on that is a bit more varied.
In the past I’ve tried to be on good terms with Hyrssa for the extra bit of luck it provides. That said, he might not be too happy with me over Javier’s death. A lot of people looked to him as a role model, and he was more or less the best hope for the town’s defense. On the other hand, he might appreciate that I’m trying something different with my life.
Nothe is the Lord of Darkness. Her domains are Discovery and Secrets. Her magics focus on Observation and Illusion. She is associated with the Coyote, hunting in the night. Her people are explorers, psychologists, spies, lawyers, and scientists. Her people often make strange leaps in thought, and are notoriously hard to follow in conversation.
Nothe has a bit of a rivalry with Sohlarn, so she’s probably quite happy with me considering the circumstances of Javier’s death.
And that's the lot of them. Really, you don’t have to do much about the gods to keep a relatively normal life. By default your patron god will be happy with you, and making the others more than indifferent is generally as easy as offering your pocket change to their church every now and then. They really just don’t care enough to bother punishing minor sleights, so as long as you avoid doing anything extra heretical (like killing one of their chosen), you’ll be fine.
And yes, as many of you have guessed, I was born without a patron god. It's not completely unheard of for it to happen, but it's rare enough that most people aren't aware of it.
Anyways, it really only means that my personality and the like were not strongly influenced by any of the gods, I'm not particularly great with any of their magics, and I can't belong to any church.
It does get a bit weird when gods do want to affect me, though. Positive stuff works just fine, but a part of their divine agreement is that the gods can only punish their own disciples. So, for example, if a follower of Fwyn went and murdered one of the Chosen of Karas, Karas would have to either ask Fwyn to punish the follower, or ask for her permission to act against the follower. Either way, Fwyn would probably agree, even if only to avoid making enemies among the gods.
Obviously, with me not having a patron god, I'm in this awkward punishment grey area where there isn't a specific god that is supposed to keep me in line. When these grey areas crop up, the gods have to reach some sort of consensus before anyone can do anything about it. Well, do anything about it without angering the rest of the gods. The original plan for killing Javier hinged on the consensus delay, but it all worked out regardless.
And honestly, I can't see them giving Sohlarn permission to hunt me down. It's not like I would just go quietly, I've proven I'm capable of killing Chosen, and the gods are very adverse to sending anything stronger than the Chosen to deal with problems. And none of that even matters now that they have an invasion to deal with.
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