Deity

Deities are not merely powerful individuals, but conceptual beings, birthed from the essence of the world's primal forces—fire, frost, storm, death, moonlight, rot, and more. They are sentient embodiments of elemental, emotional, or metaphysical truths. Whether worshipped by mortals or feared as lurking powers, deities exist both within and beyond the physical world, straddling the line between entity and idea.

Their influence stretches across both the Wildlands and Shadowed Lands, though their forms, temperaments, and domains vary greatly depending on the region, culture, and spiritual philosophies.

No unified creation myth explains the origin of all deities. Some are said to have formed from the first natural forces—storms crashing against stone, fire erupting from the earth’s core, or the first death whispered into the void. Others are believed to have ascended from mortal beings, so revered or powerful they transcended flesh and became symbols incarnate.

Some scholars classify them into:

• Primordial Deities – born from nature’s earliest chaos (e.g., Pale Coil, Sky-Father)
• Ascended Deities – powerful mortals who became divine through artifact, worship, or arcane ritual (e.g., possibly Velkarin, or Seeress Emberfrost’s future path)
• Constructed or Fed Deities – formed through belief, ritual, or magic (e.g., gods born in dreams, myths, or collective desire)

Basic Information

Anatomy

Deities can manifest in countless forms, often reflective of their domains:

• A god of storms may appear as a colossal titan of thunderclouds.
• A goddess of rot may be a shifting tangle of bone, vine, and decay.
• Some deities never appear in a single shape, instead arriving in dreams, omens, or phenomena (falling stars, cracking ice, voices in wind).

These forms are not truly corporeal, even when they seem physical. Many avatars are symbolic masks—vessels chosen for effect or necessity.

Biological Traits

• Immortality: Deities cannot die of age; they can only be forgotten, consumed, or broken.
• Conceptual Influence: Their strength is tied to the concept they embody. When frost spreads, Velkarin grows stronger. When storms rage, the Sky-Father listens more clearly.
• Reality-Warping: Their presence can reshape nature, dreams, or even the minds of mortals.
• Relic Creation: Deities may craft or inspire divine artifacts, like the Coilstone or the Scepter of Eternal Stillness.
• Avatar Projection: Most gods rarely act in person, instead sending servants, visions, or fragments of themselves.

Additional Information

Social Structure

There is no unified pantheon, though mortal cultures often group deities into mythic families or rivalries. Some deities form pacts or alliances—others are eternal rivals.
Examples include:

• The Storm Deities, like the Sky-Father and the First Stormwright, with shared domains of sky and fury.
• The Death and Decay Circle, such as Velkarin and Pale Coil, who often overlap in worship and influence.
• The Infernal Court believed to surround Crackling Maw or other fire-deities tied to Emberfall.

Civilization and Culture

Interspecies Relations and Assumptions

Deities may:

• Bless chosen champions, priests, or warlocks.
• Demand tribute, offerings, or obedience.
• Possess individuals or send messengers to guide/forsake.
• Remain silent, influencing the world only through natural forces or dreams.

Some mortals view deities as guides or guardians. Others see them as tools to bargain with, forces to avoid, or tyrants to resist.

In the World:

• In the Wildlands, deities are often seen as natural spirits or ancestral forces, honored in seasonal rites, elemental worship, or druidic traditions.
• In the Shadowed Lands, deities may be patron overlords, bound into imperial cults or secretive covens. Worship there is often tied to power, dominion, or transformation.