Divine Magic

Where primal magic was discovered through accident and experiment, and developed through practice and communion with the power now intrinsic within the World, Divine Magic was a direct gift given by the gods to their faithful. Beginning with the minor blessings bestowed upon the theurgists, the gods quickly came to understand the benefits of granting greater power.
While it may seem counter to the goals of the Young Gods - to gain power from the actions of their faithful - to grant power, in truth, divine magic draws very little from the godhead.
The mechanism of divine magic is like any sacred act. The components of a divine spell form a sacred ritual which converts a substantial amount of divine energy from the world. It is this energy that powers the spell, with just a spark from the god directly. In return, the god receives the credit and a part of the converted power.
The first divine magicians were known as theurgists, but soon these developed into priests, and in particular the divine magic specialists known as clerics. The clerics replaced druids as the wonder-worker par excellence for towns and villages, and this cemented their place in the world as the guides and custodians of civilisation on behalf of the culture gods.
Alongside the clerics, another group of divine magicians began to emerge. Known as the oath bound, questers or guardians (paladin itself is not a common word on Aiaos,) they lacked the balance of giving and receiving that marks the clerical relationship with a god. Instead, they were able to generate the divine energy to power their magic through their deep and sincere devotion to a cause, embodied in an oath that guides their actions and behaviour. This oath may be connected to a god, but does not have to be.
Clerical powers are broadly divided into domains, which are more related to the cleric's individual approach to their role than to the nature of their god. More broadly, clerics can be described as one of five types:

• Custodians look to the good of the people, in their congregation and its surrounding community, as healers and guides.
• Consuls instead look to the relationship of church and state; to maintaing their god's influence over their society, its leaders and its morality.
• Practitioners concern themselves primarily with upholding the internal praxis of their faith, and thus the relationship between church and deity.
• Disruptors see it as their sacred role to challenge what is accepted. They are seldom popular with authority figures, but often a hit with the common people.
• Militants defend the faith, and sometimes the community or state, as their sacred role.

Paladins can be similarly divided, based on their approach to their role and their abilities.

• Obedient paladins swear ther oath to a god and act as a part of that god's church, or they give oath and service to a temporal ruler with divine favour.
• Dedicated paladins swear an oath to the world, or to the people, and strive to do right by their code without explicit guidance.
• Determined paladins swear to themselves and are their own only judge. This may seem the easiest course, but to hold to an empowering oath without oversight is a demanding path.