Rise from the Ashes: God Rules and Lore

Rules and Guide for Gods:​

Gods have tiers of divinity and faith called Belief. The varying levels of Belief constitute how powerful a God's blessings and powers are.

Tier 1 - Local Deity:​

The God in question is rather limited in scope; they may have a small following or were ousted from their original power. Regardless, the God cannot manifest physically, only able to relay their will to their champion indirectly and to other deities. I.e. God of Lakes, God of Canyons, etc.

Tier 2 - Regional Deity:​

The God has become more potent as new followers and powers are associated with them. This in turn means that the God has access to new and potent abilities, such as being able to possess and bolster one of their followers- even their Champion. Still, despite this, they cannot manifest directly and posession comes with a risk; should the possessed individual be killed, the God will lose a fair amount of Belief, resulting in sealed abilities or even a reduction in their tier. They also gain more followers who they can speak to in dreams and omens. The Champion gains the ability to generally understand what their God may want, but this is not perfect and said God's will can be misinterpreted.

Tier 3 - Abstraction:​

At this point, the God becomes more intertwined with their domain (i.e. A God of Shadows might become the God of Darkness or the God of Shadows' might strengthen their understanding of how to manipulate shadows) and typically either gains a new domain on top of their current domain or strengthens their current domain (See example above). The God can also take form directly, though this manifestation is as powerful as a regular mortal, but this allows a God to inform their people of their desires without misinterpretation and inspire new followers. One new ability to note that is rather powerful is the ability to craft Sacred Beasts; these are monsters of varying shapes or sizes directly connected to its creator. This, usually, is where most Gods plateau as further increases in Tiers require either a pantheon or a specific drive, unique to each God.

Tier 4 - Conceptualization:​

At this Tier, Gods are more than a match for any mortal, all but the mightiest Champions can stand a chance. The God in question now strengthens their domain, gaining new blessings and powers, along with being able to manifest as a large monster, usually something associated with them. This monstrous form allows the God to combat potential threats to their people without exclusively relying on their Champion; the form also allows boons and powers of the God wielding it. Should the God die in this form, a reduction in Belief will occur and will cause a reduction in Tier.

Tier 5 - Apotheosis:​

When Gods reach this level, they usually are the leaders of Pantheons or are equivalent to a Pantheon in terms of sheer power. To say the God is the living embodiment of their domain(s) is an understatement; the God and their domain have become one and the same, allowing them to wield enough power to make the Chorus take notice. Previous manifestation powers are enhanced, allowing the God to be potent as a mortal, monstrous beast or as an Incarnation of their domain. An Incarnation is a final form comprised of all domains that allows a God to overpower all but the most powerful of Gods and is unique to each God (Incarnation of War, Dreams, etc.). Should a God die as an Incarnation, they do not suffer a Tier drop or loss in Belief. Instead, due to the mass concentration of their power, the God will cease to exist, although there are rumors of ways to resurrect such a fallen God.



Godly characters start out at Tier 1 (or 2 with permission from me or TBA)

Champions:​

Champions are demigods, chosen by their patron God, who have granted them powerful abilities and/or enhanced physiques.

Champions are not immortal nor can they survive mortal wounds without assistance. They are still mortal creatures and can die if they suffer too much harm. That being said, the Tier of a God can determine how much punishment the Champion can take before they succumb to their wounds.

Not all Champions are the typical image one might think of: armored knights, dashing rogues, and wise wizards are possible Champions, but so too are lorekeepers, blacksmiths, tailors and more. A Champion is selected due to a God's preference and nature, and may be more of a support to their Society.

Society:​

Societies are what your followers are (pacifistic philosophers, honor-bound warriors, xenophobic capitalists for example) and define how your people react to others when left to their own devices. This doesn't define all people who comprise a Society, but mavericks who defy their Society tend to be rare.

Societies tend to also progress alongside their God, getting more refined as time goes along; from nomadic bronze-age tribes to iron age city-states to medieval kingdoms and empires.

Godly Abilities:​

Possession - This powerful ability allows Gods to possess their followers, bolstering their natural abilities with Godly Belief, enhancing them into mortals capable of besting all but the most stalwart of foes- or those enhanced with possession themselves. Posession is not an indefinite skill that one can use there is a duration due to the mortal body that is being possessed simply falling apart due to the cosmic powers inside of it and should that happen, the God will still experience death.

Manifestation - This skill allows a God to commune with followers and physically appear before them, but with their average level of strength (I.E. as strong as a Human if manifesting as a Human). This does scale as the God gets higher in their Tier, making them able to masquerade as Champions themselves. Gods in this form can influence their people and can even sire children with mortals if they so desire. Similar to Possession, Gods can only maintain the form for so long, however so long as a God doesn't use any of their Godly abilities, they can maintain the form indefinitely.

Sacred Beast Crafting- This allows a God to create a divine monster that can serve to expand the Belief in the God as mortals tell stories of it. The monster can be made to look like anything the God wants and generally has attributes of the God's domain (I.e. a shadowy duck for a God of shadows, A humanoid with a book for a head, a praying mantis with additional arms that whispers telepathically, etc.) but is quite large; the general size of the monster in question should be close to a large building like a two-story house. Same as with other powers, should the divine beast be killed, a reduction in Belief will occur, but smaller than the previous two abilities. The divine beast can have any temperament and generally can't be turned against the God unless mind control type abilities are used. It should be said, however, that any sufficiently powerful monster or beast that is found can be made into a Sacred Beast.

The Monster Within - This type of Manifestation is quite taxing on the God as it allows them to engage threats directly or inspire obedience with their mere appearance. This has the exact downsides as a typical Manifestation, but with a small difference; as the God is actively using their powers, they have a limited amount of time in the form before they will be forced out of the form.

Incarnation - If the Monster Within is an advanced Manifestation, this type is the ultimate form, carrying with it the ultimate price should a God use it without weighing the costs of such power. This allows the God to ascend to a more primordial form that can defeat multiple Gods in a variety of ways dependent on what domain the God has. This form, should it be defeated, will result in the God dying not as themselves, but as their ascended form and being distributed among their domain(s).

Domain -
What the God rules over, and what they directly control. For example, a God could rule over water and could imbue their followers with water-adjacent properties. This, along with Tier, dictates what a God can do with their power.



Lore of Rise from Ruins:
On the Original Continent of Alidera, three major Pantheons reigned as the de facto rulers of faith, with minor Pantheons and lone gods subject to their mercy. This lasted for hundreds of years, with the major three growing more and more into the debauchery their societies' indulged in. Then, just like any other day, their people began to go insane, one by one. Their powers began to wane, culminating in a mad search for their problem.

Unfortunately, they found out the cause; The Chorus, an unknowable entity that seemed to be able to absorb the Gods themselves, their very concepts and domains, but curiously not for long. Thus began the War of Obedience, a war with most Major pantheons with a few minor ones aiding them. Countless mortals died as well as several Gods. With the Major pantheons fighting tooth and nail against The Chorus, several minor pantheons saw the forgone conclusion of the war; total annihilation for the major pantheons. Taking their followers in repurposed ships, they fled across the sea towards a newly discovered continent, Zalarin. There they would be able to rebuild their strength.

However, upon landing, they discovered they were not the only Gods on this continent; there were already Gods who had started up their own civilizations and vastly outnumbered the technologically advanced newcomers. Quick negotiations were set up between the Aunri -the natural Gods of Zalarin - and the Yarin -the newcomer Gods- for territories and a mutual, if tenuous, defensive pact if The Chorus were to appear.


Chorus Lore:
No one knows where the Chorus came from or even if it is a traditional God, but since it does bear the powers and strengths of a God, perhaps overly so, many Gods initially considered it a fellow peer. When it began affecting various followers and killing Gods, many tried to stop it and those valiant Champions and Gods either died or, if they were unlucky, converted over. The Chorus is said to look like an amalgamation of bodies, all in various stages of decomposition but whose flesh twists and turns, the multitude of bodies shifting to various ages and genders. Beyond certain abilities that were described by survivors, it's unknown what abilities the Chorus has.