@Durin
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The Thrice-Radiant
Background
Of all the ways a god may be born, the fastest and most reliable way is through a god lifting a mortal up into the ranks of divinity. The domain the newly ascended god takes is dependent upon their own mortal lives, and so a mighty warrior when ascended by divinities will, upon ascension, become a war god. In this manner, a pantheon may strengthen itself by uplifting mortals with specialised skills that they lack, strengthening the pantheon as a whole.
The minor god alliance has been doing this, both to gain gods with domains of particular benefit to them as well as to merely replenish their ranks after taking casualties in the eternal war against Chaos. In one case, however, they ascended a mortal in service to themselves, but in service to another: Cegorach, the laughing god of the eldar. In exchange for a boon of great value, the alliance would create a god that would serve to distract the Gods of Chaos, that whatever inscrutable scheme the Laughing God was carrying out would succeed.
Though the alliance distrusted a figure so treacherous and conniving as Cegorach, the alliance's desperation made such a lucrative offer tempting. Ultimately, Zahak broke the stalemate, convincing her compatriots to accept so long as payment was made up front. With great skill, they searched amongst the mortals, human and xeno alike, for the one who would act in the role, and eventually found a suitable candidate. The mortal was told that they would be a distraction, and while they would have a chance of long term survival, it would be a very slim one. The mortal, knowing that even with a short lifespan it could do more for the greater good of the galaxy as a god than as a mortal, accepted regardless.
So was born the god known only as the Thrice-Radiant, whose aim is to spread righteousness, protect the innocent, and vanquish evil for as long as they can.
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Appearance
What race the Thrice-Radiant was has been deliberately kept a mystery so as to not cause divides over species lines. It is considered a sin to depict them as being of any specific race in religious iconography. Only one of their mortal servants has been allowed to see their face since their ascension, and only because they have a somewhat personal relationship with the deity.
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Powers
To serve as the distraction they need to be, the Thrice-Radiant could not reside in the Warp. There, they would be too quickly set upon by the daemons of Chaos and destroyed. Neither could they reside in the Webway, where their reduced ability to act and increased safety would draw too little attention. They would need to reside in the Materium. They would not inhabit the flesh of an avatar, however. Using technology developed though ultimately unused by the Sun Goddess, they would instead be held in the centre of a gargantuan warptech machine. There they would be immobile and unable to maintain an afterlife, but would be safe from direct attack by daemons and could act in ways that an avatar-bound god could not.
The Thrice-Radiant provides general, low-level protection against the influence of Chaos to those who worship them, the same as other gods. They can have their power channelled to perform miracles, though as is the case with minor gods, that is a very rare thing. They can also create divine servitors and provide blessings, the latter of which being where the lion's share of their power goes, with them having many champions for a god of their strength.
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Religion
The Thrice-Radiant's faith is centred around doing good deeds and bringing hope to the galaxy. It is racially open, allowing for humans and most xenos to practice worship of the Thrice-Radiant and live under their strictures. Though very new and still yet establishing a foothold on other worlds, the openness of the religion as well as its general attractiveness has been seeing the faith spread very quickly to numerous different worlds and species, the Laughing God's followers ferrying its missionaries far and wide. In the Thrice-Radiant's home alone, this has naturally resulted in a number of faiths that branch of from the original faith that, while different in certain areas, remain truthful in totality to the spirit of the Thrice-Radiant's faith. The orthodox faith acknowledges, allows, and to a large extent incorporates them into the wider organised religion, ensuring unity.
The reasoning behind this policy of openness and tolerance of difference is in part practical and in part theological. An adaptable, fluid religion makes it easier to spread amongst new populations, who may otherwise reject the religion wholesale on the grounds of a few ultimately irrelevant details. Additionally, dynamism in the faith prevents it from fossilising and becoming stale, keeping it from souring and turning into the same spiritual abomination that was the Imperial Creed.
Unfortunately, this has made the Thrice-Radiant's faith fertile ground for heresies: beliefs that, whether in theory or practice, go against the spirit of the faith and pervert its teachings, even as they claim - whether truthfully or otherwise - to stay true to the Thrice-Radiant. The Thrice-Radiant's clergy responds to these heresies with censure, denunciation, and excommunication, which is divinely affirmed by the Thrice-Radiant themselves. While harsh, to the Thrice-Radiant, the idea of being twisted by such beliefs is worse than death, and opts to be absolutely sure he'll remain uncorrupted. As of yet, the worlds where the religion has only recently gained a foothold have yet to develop these heresies thanks to their small size, but the mechanisms are in place to ensure they'll remain on the right path once they grow.
The response to Chaos heresy is to scourge and purge.
The duty of the Paladin's God's priests is primarily to cultivate and protect the spiritual well being of their flocks. They direct worship of their lord, provide spiritual guidance, organise charities, and ward against the influence of Chaos. (This latter duty is all but unnecessary in the Thrice-Radiant's home system but vital elsewhere.) They also act as advisors to secular authorities, though are never such themselves; the Ecclesiarchy of the Imperium of Man is well-remembered across the galaxy.
The sacrifice of sapient creatures is heretical to the Thrice-Radiant's faith. Slaying foes of the forces of Order in combat, however, is looked upon well by the god, as is the formal execution of Chaos heretics.
Polytheism is allowed and to an extent enacted on the worlds where the Thrice-Radiant holds sway. As the Thrice-Radiant cannot maintain an afterlife themselves, they are reliant on another god to hold the vast majority of their worshippers after death. As a result, that god maintains a priesthood on the Thrice-Radiant's worlds, who primarily enact a person's last rites to ensure safe passage into the afterlife. The Thrice-Radiant's worshippers pray to the death god for the sake of loved ones who've passed on.
Exceptionally holy people can be canonised post-death as one of the god's saints.
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Templars
By far the most noteworthy of the Thrice-Radiant's servants are the Templars. The Order of the Templars an organisation of elite warriors trained in the use of power armour dedicated to serving the Thrice-Radiant and their people by means of battle. They are organised partially in emulation of the legendary Space Marines, who are looked upon with respect by the Thrice-Radiant who, along with those who would form the core of the Templar organisation, fought alongside them against the forces of Chaos when the god was a mortal. They are a super-elite force of fighters, and at their peak their equipment and training allow them to effectively contest enemy super-elites such as Chaos Space Marines, albeit at a ruinous cost in lives. The Templar Order is a greatly privileged organisation, as the Thrice-Radiant invests the majority of their power in them, through blessings; the Templars are host to more Champions within their ranks than many other minor gods have Champions at all.
The Templars are organised into independent Hosts of 10,000 Templars each, sub-divided into Spheres of 1,000 each. Currently the only Host at full strength in terms of numbers and wargear is the one based on the Thrice-Radiant's home system. Those based on other worlds are understrength, not yet having a full complement of warriors and with very few of them having their own suit of power armour. This is expected to change over time as faith in the Thrice-Radiant spreads and the Order gains more access to resources abroad.
Templars are recruited from orphans, with preference given to war orphans, and trained throughout their lives to wage war in the name of their god. These initiates are also given a rounded enough education so that if upon reaching adulthood they choose to leave the organisation, they can still integrate effectively into society. The tutors of the homeworld Templars are well known for being of the highest quality, and when there are vacancies open they will take on pupils from outside their Host for payment to help fund its operation. Pupils of the Templar Host exit with a very high education and great faith in the Thrice-Radiant, to the benefit of all.
After an initiate has completed their training, they will be inducted into the Templars' ranks as a probationary member, whereupon they will traditionally be given carapace armour and deployed in war operations. If they perform well, they will be inducted as full members of the Templar Host and given their own suit of power armour.
Every Host, even those abroad, where it the Host has the assistance of the ruling body, has a psyker attache that provides psychic and sorcerous support, effectively acting as a Librarian. This psyker is pure of heart, incredibly powerful, and incorruptible, though not entirely sane, or at least not by human standards.
A Templar Host is led by a Grandmaster, and is aided by the Masters of the Host, who each lead one of the Hosts' Spheres. When a Grandmaster dies, one of the Masters who are pure of heart will be elected by the rest of the Masters to become Grandmaster. If none are pure of heart, a sorcerous ritual will be conducted to determine who is the most pure, and they will become the new Grandmaster.
Perhaps the Templars' greatest claim to fame is how common it is for Paladins to rise from their ranks.
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Paladins
Paladins are the mortal Champions of the Thrice-Radiant. They are paragons of faith and righteousness imbued heavily with the power of their deity. To become one requires utter purity of heart, as well as to have first earned the Mark of the Thrice-Radiant. In battle, they are the equal of any Champion of the Chaos Astartes, and can turn the tide of war through their might and bravery.
Paladins are filled with superhuman physical prowess and know no fear. Upon the transformation into a Paladin, the mortal loses all signs of age and scars, and gains a lifespan equal to multiple of that of their race. Paladins speak with a rich voice, inspiring confidence in allies and dread in their enemies. Weapons wielded by Paladins often radiate with holy power, enchanted by their very touch.
Paladins are the only ones capable of summoning and wielding the most potent of the Thrice-Radiant's weapons: Soulstrike Weapons. While the vast majority of those souls who worshipped the Thrice-Radiant in life go to the afterlife, those who are pure of heart are given the option to serve their god even after death. If they agree, they will be fused together with other pure souls to create Soulstrike Weapons - weapons constructed of the compressed mass of one million pure souls. The radiant energy they shine with sear the hands of all but Paladins, who are the only ones worthy enough to wield such weapons. They hold so much power that it has been said that it is like wielding a Deathstrike Missile in your hand, which is where their name comes from. They are weapons meant to be used in melee and thrown. If thrown, the will of the souls that make up the weapon will see it strike unerringly into the enemy's ranks, before flying back into the Paladin's hand. Soulstrike Weapons remain in the Materium for only a limited amount of time, and after that time is complete, or in the near impossible scenario where they are destroyed before that, the weapon is permanently used up, and the souls that comprised it are released to their final rest in the afterlife.
Paladins can and do rise from outside the Templar Order, but it is a very rare occurrence. When it happens, they are offered the opportunity to receive Templar training and establish their own Host, or take over the leadership of an existing Host whose leader is impure.
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Divine Servitors
The Thrice-Radiant has divine servitors, but less so than many gods. They have no Greater Divine Servitors, but a single Herald, no beasts and no steeds, and only a few lesser servitors. The god uses these servitors strategically and makes them for specific purposes.
The Herald is built for exactly one purpose: the purification of souls, via the Rite of Purification. The Rite of Purification is, for the most part, a ritual that summons the Herald of the Thrice-Radiant into the body. The Herald then invades every single part of the possessed's soul to locate and scour every trace of evil within. While it does have substantial amounts of raw power, its specialisation leaves it crippled in every other area. It is incapable of speech, it's worthless in a fight, it holds no warplore but what it needs to fulfil its purpose, and it's very easy to exorcise it from the body it's possessed. It is a rare mortal who cannot eject it from their body simply by deciding to do so. It is reliant on the possessed allowing it to complete its work, and merely the presence of too much evil within the subject's mind is, on its own, enough to remove it from the body.
The lesser divine servitors of the Thrice-Radiant, meanwhile, are in many ways the same as that of the lesser servitors of other gods. The main differences are that they have as little psychic power and physical ability as a lesser servitor can have, instead being gifted with greater combat skill and warplore. The purpose of these servitors is born of inevitable tragedy. There are many amongst the most powerful of psykers who, even though they try their hardest to master their powers, end up ultimately unlikely to complete their trials. A few manage to defy the odds and succeed, but most such psykers fail, with death and the afterlife being the result of the lucky, and eternal damnation the fate of the rest. To these poor unfortunates who are extremely powerful but unlikely to succeed in the trials, the Thrice-Radiant offers what mercy they can: to transform them into a spirithost. Should the candidate accept, one of the Thrice-Radiant's lesser servitors will be made to inhabit the body until its death, tapping into its host's well of psychic strength so that the servitor may serve as the psyker attache of a Templar Host. Meanwhile, the mind of the mortal psyker will be locked away, dormant and sleeping, dreaming sweet dreams as they bask in the presence of the divine until their bodies expire and they rest forevermore in the afterlife.
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The Thrice-Radiant hopes to create a Living Saint before their almost-inevitable death and, if possible, to find a way for their power to continue on even afterwards.