Avatars

"I have heard that in other worlds, they have gods with nigh-unlimited power. Thankfully, that is not the case here. Our gods must anchor themselves within the physical world for stability, and this limits their reach and their power. To extend their influence beyond their physical location, they must rely on agents who they invest with a measure of their power. These agents are a great asset to the gods. They are also a great vulnerability." - Bagus Jayanagara, founder of Tirta Baya

Avatars are the individuals chosen by gods to act as their agents in the world beyond their physical domains. They are rare individuals who may or may not be a member of a god's priesthood, and are granted miraculous powers by their deities.

Not all gods choose to empower an avatar. It is a long-term commitment of a significant amount of power, as the god must place a portion of their own Pneuma within their agent. Doing so weakens the god, and having several such agents can weaken them dramatically. Those who do maintain an Avatar rarely have more than one for this reason.

Miracles and other Powers

Avatars carry a piece of their god inside them, and this is not a trivial thing. All Avatars have access to miraculous powers, depending on the nature of their god. Some can heal with a touch, while others can call down lightning, or open fissures in the ground, or even strike a person dead with a glance. Using the powers is something an avatar must learn how to do, and can exhaust their spirit. As an Avatar develops skill with their powers, they can perform more impressive and more frequent miracles.

There are other effects of carrying a god in your soul. One is that Avatars can always recognize each other. Whenever an Avatar of one god sees another, it is immediately obvious what they are. With examination, they will get an impression of the other Avatar's patron - perhaps the smell of the ocean, or an emotion like fear, love, or pride. This impression will contain details that are unique to the god, and an Avatar can learn to pick out a specific god this way.

Finally, there can be direct effects on the environment around the Avatar. This is quite rare, and only occurs in Avatars with a great deal of experience carrying their god. Effects will correspond to the nature of the god they carry; an Avatar of An Dia Liath may be perpetually surrounded by fog, while one bound to Triantáfylla might have roses bloom in their presence. Avatars powerful enough to change the physical world in their presence are devastatingly powerful, and conflict with them is in the same league as challenging the god they represent.

Sacred Spaces

The power of an Avatar comes from the piece of the god's Pneuma which resides in them. This same energy permeates the places which are dedicated to their god, and being in a sacred space allows the Avatar to access more of this divine energy than elsewhere. The amount of power available depends on how long the place has been actively a part of the god's worship. A small shrine with occasional pilgrims may offer a little more power, while an active temple used daily for millennia contains almost unlimited spiritual energy. Few people choose to challenge an Avatar when they stand on ground sacred to their god, and those that do learn to regret it.

A Strength and a Weakness

While an Avatar can be a great asset for a god, they are also a liability in some situations. As they carry a part of the god's Pneuma with them, an Avatar is a way in which a god can be attacked, something that was used against the gods of Ynys when the Clarati invaded. If the god is aware that this is about to happen, they can withdraw themselves and abandon their Avatar almost instantaneously - but if taken by surprise, a god can be bound, injured, or even slain by magic deployed using their Avatar as a channel. Attacking a god in this way is much easier than facing the deity directly, and some gods refuse to ever expose themselves by bonding to Avatar because of this threat.

The Limits of the Gods

The gods of the Great Ring are Numina, born out of the beliefs of the people and shaped by the Egregoric Force. Without a physical anchor, Numina are very unstable and subject to rapid shifts in identity and knowledge as beliefs about them change. Long-lasting gods are anchored to a physical body, usually a geographical feature like a mountain or an island, which makes them more resistant to the power of collective belief. Having a physical form is also a limitation; gods cannot directly exert power on anything beyond their physical domain, and must use proxies to do so. You can read more about how Numina work here.

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It is possible to be the Avatar of more than one god at a time. This is almost never done, outside of one place -the Polis of Mytilene on the island of Íssa, which has based their government on this fact. The Archon of Mytilene is selected by the gods of island, who indicate their support by investing the candidate as an Avatar. The candidate who can demonstrate the most divine gifts is declared Archon, and rules with absolute authority until and unless the gods withdraw their support in favor of a different candidate. The current Archon of Mytilene is Eudoxia - you can read more about them and the Polis of Mytilene here.

Prominent Avatars in the Great Ring

Here are some of the best known and most influential Avatars in the world.

Eldráðr Bjornvidr

Leader of the Drekkamen and Avatar of Reginn.

Archon Eudoxia

The ruler of the Polis of Mytilene

Queen Isla of Cait

The Queen of Cait and Avatar of Eilidh Oirbheartach, the cat-goddess of the Albidosi.

Tagnaán

The Avatar of Sinaílig the Riddle-breaker, goddess of the Parola Pasi, and the greatest detective in the world.