The Ascended

Gods who were once mortal, who ascended by their deeds and actions

The weakest of all true Gods, the Ascended Gods are mortals who are or who become so incredibly powerful that they become innately capable of bestowing divine power on those who follow them.
Many people compare them to Bahamut, or Lolth: extremely powerful, already-godlike beings who were granted Godhood by other Gods. The Ascended differ in a small but important way, however: rather than being given the mantle of Godhood by the Primeval Deities or being willed or empowered into existence like other Gods, they instead ascended to Godhood through their deeds and their actions.
On the proverbial ladder of power that the Gods inhabit, the Ascended lie at the bottom rung due to their inherent mortality, being the weakest a being can be while still being a full divine. This still renders then unfathomably powerful, but they cannot hold a candle to other Deities. However, this does give them a notable advantage; unlike every other God, their nature as Ascended Gods ties them to the material plane, meaning they can actually bypass the Divine Gate.
While six of the seven known Ascended achieved Godhood in the same basic way, the seventh - Mana - ascended by accident in vastly different circumstances. She is still considered an Ascended, by nature of her once being a purely mortal being who ascended on her own terms, albeit accidentally.

Divine Origins

The origins of the Ascended is somewhat murky; each of the seven Ascended rose to divinity at different times across history. The first of their kind - Rhedon - did so at the beginning of the Age of Myth; Mana, the most recent Ascended, did so over 1,000 years prior to the modern day.
While the specifics of how each of them ascended varies, there is a commonality; they had found (or in Mana's case, created ) what was known as a Divine Seed: a tiny, incomprehensibly powerful mote of energy that would grow within them, magnifying their power as they grew stronger until they reached divinity, whereupon it would then feed off of the worship of the people they knew in life. The seed took note of their words and deeds, and what they exemplified in their life, and when the time was right they would flower into new Gods.
The first to undergo the process of ascension was Rhedon; after leaving the newly-founded nation of Olton in the hands of his mortal son, Rhedon's body was said to have been consumed by an immense column of light, before he transformed into a towering, idealised version of himself. It was said that his body disappeared, leaving only a small flower where he stood.
The others would follow in his footsteps, their bodies exploding into light as the Divine Seeds within them finally flowered, transforming them into true Gods and leaving their mortal lives behind.
It is said that, unlike the other Gods of Itaxia, the Ascended still walk the world even now; taking more inconspicuous forms and guiding people where they can.

Type

Religious, Pantheon

Alternative Names

Mortal Gods

Deities

• Calliope, the Eternal Verse
• Fortuna, the Fortunate
• Grimmscar, the Blood Brother
• Imperious, the Last of the First Men
• Mana, the Mad Mage
• Tatli, the Passionate
• Vect, the Storyweaver