Dethroning The Old Death (A Riot Quest)(ALWAYS RECRUITING)

When your God fully forms, how should I determine their actions?

  • NPC Ally

    Votes: 28 65.1%
  • Quest Protagonist (players vote on deity's actions in addition to Riot Actions)

    Votes: 15 34.9%

  • Total voters
    43
[X] General Information Gathering
-[X] Investigate the disappearances
-[X] Method: Organise a register of travel - who leaves, when, and where do they go?

EDIT: I should ask - do 2 people have to do the same methods to perform an action together?
With the gathering of funds I used a differant method but was still in the same group, so I assume you are still in the same action with fatedbread.
 
Player: Drepson
Name: Sarah
Description: Short, thin, always in black funeral garments, often cloaked, pale skin from lack of sunlight, sickly, dark hair that mostly fallen out, forlorn look, usually found watching over children when not working, emotionally distant and watchful of others, kind and caring,
Backstory: Born to a family of scribes, after a relatively happy childhood she and her twin sister grew distant as Sarah went on to continue the family tradition while looking after their parents her twin left to find work outside eventually returning one day while Sarah was away working to sacrifice the twins parents, after walking in on her sister raising her parents as undead Sarah ran.
Stats: Preaching 2, Mysticism 1, Subversion 0, Administration 2
Skill Tags: [Village_Scribe]: Sarah's family always worked as aides to the mayor and such a job has taught her how to prepare events and festivals for the community well.

[X] Organize a floating lantern festival symbolize the Morth taking the souls of the lost and placing them like candles in the sky as stars where they may rest in eternal peace.
 
Player: @ConfusedPotato
Name: Thaumus Flash, The Crystal Mage
Description:
A crystalline chimera spellcaster made up of precious gems Thaumus lives up to his name as the crystal mage. The patterns on the gems that make up his body are thousands of tiny runes he has carved into his skin. They form patterns of larger runes and spell and ritual circles on his body allowing him to cast powerful spells with a thought. Casually casting magic has become second nature to him, especially after he carved his entire spell book onto himself. A deeply studious individual he can usually be found reading or experimenting with magic with his owl familiar Minerva perched on his shoulder. It should be noted that Minerva is also make entirely of crystal, both victims of the same magical accident.

Backstory:
Born an ordinary human Thaumus was a prodigy at the magical arts. Studying under some of the best spellcasters known, he quickly mastered every spell he was taught. Despite his teachers telling him he was not ready to learn more spells he did so anyway, attempting to cast spells that he was physically unable to channel enough magic for. He continually drove himself to exhaustion trying to cast ever more powerful spells heedless of the danger. It was this recklessness and impatience that would lead to the magical accident that would change his life. Attempting to perform a ritual on himself that would allow him to channel more magic, he lost control of the forces involved. He had done everything possible to make it so that the ritual would succeed and it did, far too well. Rather than simply allowing him to channel more magic temporarily, it instead permanently transformed his entire body into crystal, a substance with one of the highest magical capacities in existence. Such was the power involved that it affected and changed his familiar as well through the magical bond they both shared, his first friend, Minerva.

After this incident he gained a sense of caution and respect for the forces used in spellcasting. With the changes caused by the accident his personality finally mellowed out, as no longer was his ability to channel magic holding him back but rather his lack of understanding. He would have been content to spend the rest of his days reading and studying magic but eventually the rumours of his crystalline body and skill with magic spread. And with the rumours came the greedy and the unscrupulous. As a powerful spellcaster made of gems he would fetch a high price alive or dead. Whether it be for his skills or for the use of his remains as magical reagents. Whilst most of them could be discouraged by the fact that he was very good at magic there was one group that just wouldn't give up, the priesthood of Zerrakh. Performing atrocity after atrocity in an attempt to capture him the final straw came when he returned to his home city to find they had killed everyone there in an attempt to get him. Killing his friends, family, teachers and co-workers and razing his lab and home to the ground in the process. Realising that fighting would just lead to his death, he turned around and swore that he would get vengeance for his family and everyone he had cared about. The priesthood of Zerrakh and all they stood for would die for this crime, and if he had to kill a god to do it? Well then, so be it.

Stats: Preaching 0, Mysticism 5, Subversion 0, Administration 0
Skill Tags: [I_AM_MY_CASTING_FOCUS] - There are many ways of casting magic but the stronger the spell the more a casting focus is needed. Anything can be used as a focus but the best ones are crystals of personal significance with runes carved into them. Of course this means that being disarmed is a threat when casting powerful spells. But Thaumus doesn't need to worry about either of these problems, after all can you get an any more powerful and hard to disarm focus than your very own rune carved crystal skin.
 
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Oof. Trying to write my first omake. And I do mean first ever. Its tough going. How do ya'll end up having so many good ideas and writing skills? :cry:
 
Oof. Trying to write my first omake. And I do mean first ever. Its tough going. How do ya'll end up having so many good ideas and writing skills? :cry:
Traded my marketable skills for a good prose style. The devil seemed pretty down, but in hindsight he'd have been kinder to just take my soul and be done with it. :p
 
Oof. Trying to write my first omake. And I do mean first ever. Its tough going. How do ya'll end up having so many good ideas and writing skills? :cry:
Me, I have a sort of vague idea and then start writing about it. I don't have all the details fleshed out when I start, as I write I get more ideas for details, which I then write down, which gives me more ideas, which I write. And soon I have wasted 3 and a half hours searching up synonyms, cross-referencing with GM given data, looking up good character art and researching the composition of gemstones. Oh and I have a piece of writing that is about 3 times as long as what I wanted when I started.
 
Personally, I usually have the idea for a thing burning in my brain for at least two months before I actually write it. Main reason is that I've had way too many projects peter out when I lost interest in them, so I want to make sure I'll be able to follow through before I get started.
 
Me, I have a sort of vague idea and then start writing about it. I don't have all the details fleshed out when I start, as I write I get more ideas for details, which I then write down, which gives me more ideas, which I write. And soon I have wasted 3 and a half hours searching up synonyms, cross-referencing with GM given data, looking up good character art and researching the composition of gemstones. Oh and I have a piece of writing that is about 3 times as long as what I wanted when I started.

Personally, I usually have the idea for a thing burning in my brain for at least two months before I actually write it. Main reason is that I've had way too many projects peter out when I lost interest in them, so I want to make sure I'll be able to follow through before I get started.
I know both of these feelings. Writting and then the story starts mutating (granted I have more concrete idea and do less research)
And I know the feeling of putting a project off to make sure you will actually complete it.
 
VIGNETTE: From Despair
Well, I'd like to join in! This seems really cool, I hope it isn't any trouble...
Player: @Ardent_Dreamer
Name: Laelas Qiguan
Description: A young man of reliable character, his parentage was often the talk of the matrons of his former home, an orphanage, due to its almost feathery spikes and bright rust color. He affects a shy persona around others, not helped by his autumn hooded cloak, only for it to crumble when a subject of his interest rises, speaking passionately and wildly. He wears his sister's feathers in his hair as a reminder.
Backstory: Although he is kind and was always the peacekeeper among his friends, whenever the Death God Zerrakh was mentioned, the boy's kind eyes became predatory. He would speak quietly against the god, almost uncaring about the consequences, even before his first caretaker, a crow beastkin he saw as a sister, died to protect him from a priest of Zerrakh that went on a... rampage, commonplace in the city he used to live. It was traumatizing, it was horrible, and many of the people he knew died. He was never the same after, yet he continued to hope for his sister and friend's happiness in the afterlife; a foolish hope with Zerrakh around.
When the Eternal Candle-Bearers came to Greenvale, Laelas saw his opportunity, and joined as fast as he could. While he knew his sister would disapprove of his inner reasons, he wanted some form of revenge; and getting rid of the subject of his nightmares and its god would be a cause he'd kill for if he had to: for his sister, for the friends he lost, there were many that the Old Death killed for no reason other than his own satisfaction.
Stats: Preaching 2, Mysticism 1, Subversion 2, Administration 0
Skill Tags: [PHOENIX_ASHES] - It is easy to give up when all seems lost, when the anchor of your life disappears in front of you. Happenings like that often bring people to the brink of despair, yet you continued to rise above your challenges. One day, you might not be able to win against the odds, but until then, you will rise and rise again until you burn out like your sister.

[X] Spread Scripture
-[X] The Wisdom of the Orphan Girl

Vignette: From Despair...
He smiled at the old couple, their words indistinct in his mind. All he cared was that they would let him stay in return for some help, and although they were kind, it was easier to let them say what they wanted.

"It was no trouble at all," He smiled, before making a subtle show of looking up at the sky. "Ah, um... I might be late to something, I'm sorry but I might miss your afternoon meal..."

The female of the couple laughed and gave him some of her hard-worked bread. The male shook his head and pat him on the back. Laelas stumbled only because the old man was a particularly tough crystalkin.

As he walked into Greenvale, he kept his eyes ahead, studiously trying to avoid looking at the families around him. It was hard, but for his purposes in the central plaza, it was... somewhat troublesome, but he would persevere. He was good at that, and as long as he kept his hood up...

He might be able to talk to one of the... survivors of Zerrakh's rampage in this town. Although he himself was from somewhere else, it wouldn't be too much skin off his back if he managed to stir some trouble for the "god". It might not be nice, but as long as he continued to cause them trouble, maybe he'd find a way...

He shook his head. No. He would not (he couldn't) go that route. Not if he wanted to face his sister in the afterlife.

He stood in the middle of the plaza, his sister's feathers moving slightly in the wind as he called on to some of the poorer children; some of them he knew from a year before. Taking the stance his sister took when she used to tell him stories all those years ago, he spoke of a cruel king and a little orphan, eyes flashing with emotion as he spoke.

It might not be a work of art like his sister used to make, but at least he gave the kids he used to spend so much time around some hope.

As a side note, I have no idea what I'm doing, but I hope this works???
 
VIGNETTE: Thaumus Introduction
[X] Research Wizardry
-[X] Fix the Indiscriminate Belief Collector

Thaumus hummed to himself as he walked along the road towards a non-descript house, Minerva circling around over his head. The fact that it sounded like someone running their finger on the rim of a wineglass was something that he had long gotten use to. He had recently come to Roolan after hearing a rumour that there was a group of people here that were looking to overthrow Zerrakh as the god of death. Normally such rumour didn't actually amount to much but the fortune telling and scrying spells had surprisingly given them a fairly good chance to succeed. So he had gotten onto a boat and the moment he had gotten some supplies from the port he had set off, heading in the direction that he had spent the voyage divining.

It was only now after a solid week worth of travel that he had arrived in this small town. A few questions to the townspeople and he had a time and a place to meet these apparent god builders. It was in theory a good idea, gods are the products of their believers and if a god has no believers they will die. So make a new better death god to steal all of Zerrakh's believers. It was a simple idea, but would be notoriously harder to put into practice. Gods are the products of their believers and so while it would be easy to construct a god as an idea the more that it spread the harder it would be to shape and control. That was why the major gods had organised religion, without it the small regional differences would slowly grow and eventually cause the god to splinter into multiple minor gods. This was why scripture and legends were so important to gods, without their images would be warped by time and distance. Of course interpretations of the scripture could be different but that was what the preachers were for, to ensure people believed in the correct one. Without preachers, a god might splinter or it might not, came down to chance really.

Another thing that a god needed to succeed and become major was rituals. This could be as big and complex as a great festival and sacrifices to honour the god or as small and simple as saying a prayer to them before bed every night. Something you could do that would gain you the favour of the god and make things go better for you overall. After all who would believe in a god that didn't do anything for you, your time would be better spent doing something that actually did improve your life or happiness. It was here that Thaumus hoped to contribute to the cause, after all magic was belief and belief was magic, and Thaumus was good at magic. A big part of both magic was symbols and symbolism, the correct combination and you could rewrite reality at a whim, mess up and you could cause a disaster to occur. It was even possible to do both at the same time, if you were clever and/or lucky enough. He had learned that last one through personal experience. With belief the god provided the power but the symbols in the ritual could mean the difference between an effective ritual and one that barely did anything for a given amount of power spent.

Walking up to the house he saw a green lizardman carrying a small box covered in runes heading to the door. Looking at the box he resisted the urge to facepalm and hurried up to catch up to him. The box could be considered one the best ways to strangle a god in its infancy. Completely indiscriminate and inefficient about it too. That would drain the belief out of any nascent god that was forming in the area before it got enough power to stabilise itself. It would be a disaster if they attempted to use it to speed up the creation of a god by feeding it the power from the box directly. They had forgotten to cleanse the belief in the box of its prior symbolism. If fed to a god the conflicting mess of ideas would tear it apart from the inside out, the only type of god that it might be useful for was a chaos god, not a death one.

As the he reached the door he pushed it open, casting an instinctive unlocking spell, surprising the lizardman. He pulled the box out of the lizardman's grasp as he walked towards the table in the middle of the room, ignoring the looks of everyone else at the table.

"This is some of the most shoddy spellcasting I have ever seen, I mean look at it, there are four different runes that all do the same thing. These three whilst normally being effective on their own are interfering with each other causing them to function at about twenty percent efficiency."

A wave of his hand pulled out a chair from under the table and caused all the paper on the tablespace in front of it stack itself into neat piles. Turning it over in his hands he continued to rant in the stunned silence that pervaded the room.

"The more I look at this runes written on this device the more things I find that I object too. These runes are written backwards which would mostly be fine if it weren't for the fact that this one in the middle here is written forwards. And don't get me started on the cluster on the top, whilst it does draw in energy it also has the effect of turning that energy into heat the moment this cube reaches capacity, a great way to start a fire. Or cause an explosion. One of the two. Really depends on whether it is facing north or south."

At this point the vulture sitting at the table finally got over the shock of seeing a sentient mass of crystal walk in, sit down and start lecturing everyone one their spellcasting skills, or apparently from what he was saying, lack thereof. Looking to the rest of the table he finally asked.

"Who are you and what are you doing here?"

Thaumus paused halfway through casting his favourite series of diagnostic spells and looked up at the rest of the table.

"I forgot to introduce myself didn't I. My name is Thaumus Flash and I am here to join your overthrow Zerrakh by making a new god club. Any my first order of business is going to be explaining to you everything that is wrong with this stupid box."
 
SCRIPTURE: Mercy of the Dead
Ea's lighthammer, eternal punishment themes are dangerous!! And the real Nedben has spent far too much time under the grace of gods-espousing-punishment and mothers claiming it's for one's own good to allow that to run untempered. A dangerous and punitive deity will end up only a few shades better than what they replace.

...Now that I think about it, this is actually my second rodeo creating a fire-and-death goddess, so hopefully we can do things a bit better this time around than iridium-plated destroyers of cities and incompetent machines.

Uzorkh takes a few moments between drafting candles to panic while waving arms around that y'all are corrupting the precious communal daughter pen mercy itself to retain the aspect of 'certain good afterlife', while Palstat continues the research work proper.
---

Scripture of the Mercy of the Dead as given to the Goddess Morth larval-and-endless.

Candles of virtue among the living at times burn all too briefly, while fires of vice among the living at times burn dangerously great. Candles of virtue among the dead burn eternal, candles of vice among the dead grow small and wind down.

Eternal torture alone is pointless vengeance, long beyond the need for vengeance: the fire is not merely endless lash, but also the ascendancy of teaching. Even the forgotten god of revenge knows well when all price has been exacted and the enemy ended. Perhaps the best revenge is to live well against the wishes of your enemies, but all too often for good reason hate fades before endlessness, while kindness remains.

Consider that the sea and sky lash out with waves and lightning: even then, they punish the evil body and reshape the land with lifegiving rain, not to give ill among the soul. Consider that life begets life in its own serene dance of chance: death takes its cue to be more. Infinite afterlife and blessing to the finity of life's joys, but finity of torture to the infinity of newborn suffering! Consider that a craftsman may one day finish a fine work and send it out for use. Some projects may be the work of a lifetime, or an eternal quest for repair and maintenance, but many products are at some point completed.

All candles may be wired at wish, candelabra to candelabra, chamber to chamber, realm to realm, into the shining world of light beyond. Those who love may stay together, or choose to wander. Each dead brings forth a little world that sprouts its burning sign, and grows with creation, veneration, and the accumulation of belief and power: belief and sacrifice sent to the grace of the ancestors expands the domain of the dead in the world of Morth, and this is good to the goddess as well.

Those that are hate burn only according to the time of their sins. Reformation is possible in the beyond! People can be saved even then. They who died tyrants may, in many lifetimes of teaching and remaking, be made sensible again. The sins burn away and leave behind healed people: demons among the fire are saintlike in teaching, for they make of remains from the maddened living the blessed dead. When a hell of blazing fires expires and the Inferno again dons the masks of grace, remember the work of the Little One, mask without mask, larval sleeper yet waking maker in the world of the dead: to teach mercy to the merciless, to teach love to the loveless, to teach hope to the hopeless, to teach virtue to the virtueless, and release the weight of sins when understanding has been attained of why it was wrong: to know the ethics of judgment rather than subjection alone. Punishment focuses on education and guidance. Soon the fires of hell turn to the fields of purgatory, and justly later one builds heaven by good works among the living and dead alike, to craft something beautiful even from the burning vaults that bound them and the sins of their life. When it can no longer hurt anyone, dreams turn from nightmares to lovely shapes.

The afterlife need not be a fixed space of punishment or private glory: as the goddess bears many masks, so can people take on many facets and connections. Thus saith the revelation of the dead to the priests of Morth who forward Her Mercy.
 
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Eternal punishment is dangerous, yes.
So is promises that everything will be fine and dandy and there are no conquences in death if you do bad things.
Granted I did want to make clear the Inferno's punishment is not eternal.
It is depended on how much bad you did, and how extreme it was.
Kendrik was just a hella extreme example.
Edit: but Hey I suck at communication, appearently.
I try not to corrupt our communal god daughter but parenting a goddess is not easy.
Edit Edit: Granted I have not read it yet and redemption is a good thing.
Blegh, will write more after a good shower has cleared me head.
 
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Ea's lighthammer, eternal punishment themes are dangerous!! And the real Nedben has spent far too much time under the grace of gods-espousing-punishment and mothers claiming it's for one's own good to allow that to run untempered. A dangerous and punitive deity will end up only a few shades better than what they replace.

Ugh. You're going to make us be sensible about this, aren't you. :p

All joking aside, that's a fair point. Having some sort of system to commute eternal punishment once the sinner in question has served their time and repented is probably a good idea. Having that be the Mask of the Little One (bringing salvation through adorableness) is also cool. Shall I edit my compiled features of the goddess post to stick the Little One in masks? Or has my dumb ass missed something?
 
Eternal punishment is dangerous, yes.
So is promises that everything will be fine and dandy and there are no conquences in death if you do bad things.
Granted I did want to make clear the Inferno's punishment is not eternal.
It is depended on how much bad you did, and how extreme it was.
Kendrik was just a hella extreme example.
Edit: but Hey I suck at communication, appearently.
I try not to corrupt our communal god daughter but parenting a goddess is not easy.
It's alright, I just wanted to reiterate the 'it does get fixed eventually' part in order to head off any dangerous adherents we might get anyway. Parenting a goddess is indeed really hard...

Ugh. You're going to make us be sensible about this, aren't you. :p

All joking aside, that's a fair point. Having some sort of system to commute eternal punishment once the sinner in question has served their time and repented is probably a good idea. Having that be the Mask of the Little One (bringing salvation through adorableness) is also cool. Shall I edit my compiled features of the goddess post to stick the Little One in masks? Or has my dumb ass missed something?
Go ahead, that works great. I'm unsure if the Mask of the Little One could fill the role of 'equating Death with childbirth' through 'the sinful dead become better people', but you could probably tentatively award her default form status if she actually sticks as 'what Morth looks like not yet awakened' if anyone wants to write more scripture to that effect.

Maybe add another section about subordinate associate spirits? We name crows, gravediggers, spirits of the dead, reapers, demons that guide sinners toward becoming better people, an individual forgotten god of vengeance, an unspecified golden butterfly that might just be someone's personal symbol, and maybe a few other minor characters from specific scripture that could recur in some way.
 
Go ahead, that works great. I'm unsure if the Mask of the Little One could fill the role of 'equating Death with childbirth' through 'the sinful dead become better people', but you could probably tentatively award her default form status if she actually sticks as 'what Morth looks like not yet awakened' if anyone wants to write more scripture to that effect.

Fair enough. Will do.

Maybe add another section about subordinate associate spirits? We name crows, gravediggers, spirits of the dead, reapers, demons that guide sinners toward becoming better people, an individual forgotten god of vengeance, an unspecified golden butterfly that might just be someone's personal symbol, and maybe a few other minor characters from specific scripture that could recur in some way.

That's a good idea. Plus, the individual servitor spirits lets us work out weird apocrypha. Speaking as a former catholic, bitch I am ALL ABOUT WEIRD APOCRYPHA! Lay on that good revelations shit!
 
So, would something (a attempt at a scripture) about mourning be amiss? Or lost souls... but I'm mostly focusing on the former due to my character's backstory. I mean, I remember that some cultures have this thing about spirits being kept to the mortal plain due to... excessive mourning, so there's that?

I mean, a part of Death is letting go of things in a way, or the concept is connected... I mean, if the whole "eternal punishment" isn't flying, it makes sense that "eternal/excessive mourning" would also not be a good thing... I guess. Like, all I really have is a short... poem thing.
 
So, would something (a attempt at a scripture) about mourning be amiss? Or lost souls... but I'm mostly focusing on the former due to my character's backstory. I mean, I remember that some cultures have this thing about spirits being kept to the mortal plain due to... excessive mourning, so there's that?

I mean, a part of Death is letting go of things in a way, or the concept is connected... I mean, if the whole "eternal punishment" isn't flying, it makes sense that "eternal/excessive mourning" would also not be a good thing... I guess. Like, all I really have is a short... poem thing.
Establishing rhetoric about that is important to do, but we essentially have the reign to convince reality of our way. Idea of 'peaceful passage' probably insists that once they are on their way in the afterlife just trust in Morth and the dead themselves to keep it running by wizardry or otherwise? So we can have ancestor memorialization as a thing to keep up belief focus, but otherwise there's no need to mourn beyond the initial goodbyes since that's preemptively handled by the faith to keep Morth going. There would be little need to mourn because once the dead are interred and souls sent somewhere free they are indeed going to be okay. (Perhaps 'the taxman establishing the rites with which to speak with the dead' will be a next-turn goal?)
 
So, would something (a attempt at a scripture) about mourning be amiss? Or lost souls... but I'm mostly focusing on the former due to my character's backstory. I mean, I remember that some cultures have this thing about spirits being kept to the mortal plain due to... excessive mourning, so there's that?

I mean, a part of Death is letting go of things in a way, or the concept is connected... I mean, if the whole "eternal punishment" isn't flying, it makes sense that "eternal/excessive mourning" would also not be a good thing... I guess. Like, all I really have is a short... poem thing.

Establishing rhetoric about that is important to do, but we essentially have the reign to convince reality of our way. Idea of 'peaceful passage' probably insists that once they are on their way in the afterlife just trust in Morth and the dead themselves to keep it running by wizardry or otherwise? So we can have ancestor memorialization as a thing to keep up belief focus, but otherwise there's no need to mourn beyond the initial goodbyes since that's preemptively handled by the faith to keep Morth going. There would be little need to mourn because once the dead are interred and souls sent somewhere free they are indeed going to be okay.

From a metaphysical perspective, I agree that endless mourning is probably unnecessary- Morth handles things okay, and probably gets annoyed if you just mourn forever. If you've got scripture that handles mourning, post it. More scripture is always good.

(Perhaps 'the taxman establishing the rites with which to speak with the dead' will be a next-turn goal?)

Agreed. I think the magic people might be the best to work on that, though?

Also, updated the compilation of stuff we have on Morth so far. @theflyingbiscuit , there's a bit concerning you in the associated spirits section- let me know if I've got something wrong.
 
Actually I have a scripture in mind that can be used for mourning.
But first have to write a scripture about a chicken. Very important.
 
SCRIPTURE: Shale, the Bird Reaper
The chicken sometimes referred to by the tall creatures has Henna, was confused.
It was confused Why the creatures that fed and stole its children, picked it up.
It was confused, as they brought up the external claw, and cut her head off
======
It was in a realm smoke
"Bwaaaaaak!" <confusion>
It should be dead, right.
Cooooo <Henna>
A cold voice intoned.
The Henna Looked up, at the hawk skeleton, visible within the plumage If shadows.
"Kwaaa?" <location>
Coooo <Death>
Hana recoiled like struck.
"Bwaaa..." <death...>
Coo <Sadness>
Henna Looked up, and asked the bird, the Fowl Reaper
"Bwa? <now?>
Cooooooo <Rest>
The Flapping Reaper reached out, turning Henna's soul into a candle.
The bird skull released a rush of flame, lighting the candle.
And Then placed it on a large candelabra, holding the souls of Henna's kin.
=====
Morth heard a flap of wings and saw one of her shadows.
A candle, light, casts a shadow.
But like how life needs death, light needs shadow.
But Morths shadow was not life, it was the death of those often caught in the shadow.
All other living things that were sentient, not just sapient.
Animals, they needed their own reapers.
So Morth created them from her shadow, the Fowl reaper sitting on her arm, watching over their own candles.
She called him Shale, Shale was a good bird.
Morth was wondering If She should make a plant or a fish reaper out of her shadow next...
 
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Divine Power Scale
So, just so everybody knows, here's a list of the various power levels a deity could be at. Each level includes the amount of belief that the divine being requires to stay at that level, how long they take to gestate at that level of belief, and what they are capable of. A reminder: it's not just belief that matters, but also telling the divinity's stories and observing their rites. It is not required for a believer to like or desire the intervention of a deity, only that they keep telling the stories.

It is possible for a divinity to force belief if they have enough power to make their presence obvious and known, but is rather inefficient. In addition, regular communication between separated believer populations is required in order to maintain coherency as a single being, instead of fragmenting. Even then, it is important to note that a god can have different levels of power in different locations, based on how many believers are in those locations. Regions are defined as much by cultural separation as they are by geographical distance.

Divine Gifts are an exception to the limited zone of influence for deities. If a believer is bestowed with a Divine Gift, then they can use it anywhere, regardless of how far they are from their deity's homeland.

Capabilities tagged as maximum exertion are the absolute limit of what a deity of that level can manage, and cannot be used simultaneously with any other power.
tier 0: imaginary friend
Believers Required: 1

Gestation Time: ~2.5 years

Capabilities: Talk to Believer, Share Believer's Senses

NOTE: These particular capabilites are ONLY possible for imaginary friends, as they exist solely within the mind of a single person.
tier 1: lesser faerie
Believers Required: 50-200

Gestation Time: ~1.5 years

Capabilities (maximum exertion): Manifest Miniature Illusion Avatar (15 cm scale), Move Small Objects, Least Evocation (could maybe light a fire if they really tried their hardest)
tier 2: faerie
Believers Required: 201-750

Gestation Time: ~1 year

Capabilities: Manifest Miniature Avatar (35 cm scale), Minor Evocation (Fire causes 2nd degree burns, electricity like a taser, TK hard as a normal punch, that sort of thing), Illusions (20 m radius)

Capabilities (maximum exertion): Grant Level 1 Divine Gift to one person
tier 3: lesser demigod
Believers Required: 751-1,500

Gestation Time: ~8 months

Capabilities: Generate Divine Realm, Manifest Full-Scale Avatar, Lesser Evocation (competent battle mage), Grant Level 1 Divine Gift to one person, basic domain effect (I.E. escorting the souls of the dead for death, knowing how to work with metal for a crafts deity, that sort of thing)

Capabilities (maximum exertion): Grant levels of Divine Gift equal to 0.5% of believer base
tier 4: demigod
Believers Required: 1,500-3,000

Gestation Time: ~7 months

Capabilities: Generate Divine Realm, Manifest Lesser Superhuman Avatar, Evocation (highly skilled battle mage), grant levels of Divine Gift equal to 0.5% of believer base, lesser Rites (putting a talisman up to talk to the god in your sleep, throwing seeds at the full moon to ward off small spirits, that sort of thing), moderate domain effects (letting the dead talk to the living in dreams, making a tree grow to maturity overnight, that level of feat)

NOTE: Beyond this level, capabilities don't go away, but if they aren't improved by the increased power they are no longer mentioned.
tier 5: minor divinity
Believers Required: 3,000-6,000

Gestation Time: ~6 months

Capabilities: Manifest Superhuman Avatar, Greater Evocation (peak mortal mage), grant levels of Divine Gift equal to 5% of believer base, improved efficiency of existing Domain Effects
tier 6: lesser divinity
Believers Required: 6,000-24,000

Gestation Time: ~5 months

Capabilities: Manifest Multiple Avatars (# equal to 0.1% of believer base), Minor Celestial Evocation (demolish a sturdy house in a single shot), grant levels of Divine Gift equal to 10% of believer base, Rites (stuff like drawing a holy symbol to make an anti-evil forcefield, or sprinkling special powders on the dying so they have a bit of extra time as a zombie to say goodbye)
tier 7: divinity
Believers Required: 24,000-96,000

Gestation Time: ~4 months

Capabilities: grant levels of Divine Gift equal to 15% of believer base, greater Domain Effects (return souls to the material plane as undead, unleash a necrotic plague, instantly convert 30,000 tons of raw iron into a clockwork army)
tier 8: greater divinity
Believers Required: 96,000-384,000

Gestation Time: ~3 months

Capabilities: Divine Roads, Lesser Celestial Evocation (demolish a small castle in a single shot), grant levels of Divine Gift equal to 15% of believer base, improved efficiency of existing Rites
tier 9: lesser deity
Believers Required: 384,000-1,500,000

Gestation Time: ~2 months

Capabilities: grant levels of Divine Gift equal to 20% of believer base, Greater Rites ()
tier 10: deity
Believers Required: 1,500,000-6,000,000

Gestation Time: ~1 month

Capabilities: Celestial Evocation (Small Natural Disaster Level), Familiars, grant levels of Divine Gift equal to 25% of believer base
tier 11: greater deity
Believers Required: 6,000,000-24,000,000

Gestation Time: ~2 weeks

Capabilities: Greater Celestial Evocation (demolish a city in one shot), grant levels of Divine Gift equal to 30% of believer base
tier 12: true archdeity
Believers Required: 24,000,000-96,000,000

Gestation Time: ~1 week

Capabilities: grant levels of Divine Gift equal to 35% of believer base
Here's a quick glossary of terms.

Avatar: An avatar is a proxy that a God produces in order to act physically. Destroying an Avatar only inconveniences a god, as it doesn't actually impact their main existence. It takes gods a month or so to remake a destroyed avatar.

Familiars: This indicates the point where a God has enough power to send a mini-avatar to act as a companion to all their followers without overly taxing themselves.

Evocation: Big, flashy stuff. At the higher levels (marked as Celestial Evocation) a god can only fire a full-power shot every few days (or every few months for the really big things). On the other hand, they gain a better ability to recharge lower-level Celestial Evocation as they gain access to higher levels. A god with access to any level of Celestial Evocation can perform normal Evocation pretty much at will. Notably, a god can fire Celestial Evocation anywhere within their range of influence, but must channel regular Evocation through an Avatar.

Divine Realm: A metaphysical plane that the deity resides in and can invite visitors to for various purposes. It's pretty much entirely up to the god in question what it's like. They either have it or they don't.

Divine Roads: An improvement to a god's Divine Realm, their followers can now use the Divine Realm as a form of portal network to reach locations faster. Entrance and exit is still only possible in locations where a high concentration of believers exists.

Rites: Simplified spells with a greatly reduced energy cost compared to a wizardly spell that does the same thing, Rites are often designed to be used by those with minimal training. The reduced energy cost means that most people don't even have to consciously pump belief into low-level Rites. They just Do The Thing, and stuff happens. A practiced mage can work within the domains of an established god to reduce the belief cost even when not using a Rite.

Divine Gift: Divine powers invested in their followers by a god. One level of Divine Gift provides a supernatural power that's roughly equivalent to a skill tag in where it's useful, and by how much. There is no limit the the number of levels of Divine Gift that can be piled onto one person, but most gods prefer to spread them out more.
 
@djehuty3 our friend Shale the Fowl Reaper and the implication of other animal reapers form animal skeletons and Morth shadows need to be Added, probally.
(When your awake)
 
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