Departed Gods
Princess Mononoke
The Departed Gods are a pantheon or classification of Material demigods that are no longer "present in Material affairs" in a permanent sense. As gods do not die of old age, this usually means they were killed—perhaps by another god, a hero/villain or great catastrophe—but can also encompass any other kind of permanent disappearance, perhaps by choice or by somehow having their godhood removed (a process that is only theoretical or apocryphal). Gods can sometimes disappear for long stretches and return; as such only ancient gods, whose absence can safely be considered permanent, can be classified as Departed.
Known Members
Known Departed Gods are likely only a fraction of demigods that have lived and died, since the apocalyptic Deluge destroyed the majority of First Age writings and artwork. Those known are as follows.
- Solonn (died of injuries sustained in a duel with the Lady of the Mountain, for her hand in marriage)
- Lichlord Na'ashu (died in battle with Elir-Otrinax during the First Dragon Wars)
- Tekchinyulot Ch'tosé of Locrian Hall (died in battle with Elir-Otrinax during the First Dragon Wars)
- The Orphans (died in battle with Elir-Otrinax during the First Dragon Wars)
- B'Non il-Anrau (died in battle with Elir-Otrinax during the First Dragon Wars)
- R'Ani il-Duat (died in battle with Elir-Otrinax during the First Dragon Wars)
- Hrafnagaldr Fistpoetry (died in battle with Elir-Otrinax during the First Dragon Wars)
- Falkor'atru "The Wise" (died in battle with Elir-Otrinax during the First Dragon Wars)
- Raggedy Azra (a Hecath Queen, killed in the Hemlock Veldt Disaster battling the Lichlord Vierix Euphraxia of Lochthwain)
- Vierix Euphraxia (killed in the Hemlock Veldt Disaster battling the Hecath Queen Raggedy Azra)
- Syr Gavvan Grimbold (unknown; no confirmed death; various conflicting stories of his disappearance)
- Olcadan of Dhund (unknown; histories show he died "of old age" in the Holy City of Calm, though this cannot be true if he indeed ascended)
Illus. Logan Marshall (CC0)
Is there any kind of afterlife for the gods, or is this unknown?
Ascendant demigods, like the ones above, follow the same paths that any mortal do beyond death. If they die on or near a Class III plane, in other words a plane with a deeper, 'Spective' layer of reality beneath the Material one (for example the Duskscape on Waking Materia), their undead souls will pass on to that layer. It is generally believed a soul must journey through the Spective layer to the 'Twilight Eternities' beyond. From there it is mysterious. Overbeings or 'True Gods' on the other hand never really die at all: their essence can be dissipated, but will then coagulate again over the course of years or decades into something else. In essence, eternal reincarnation. Thank you for the question!
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