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Gods

Gods are beings of extreme magical ability who live on other worlds or in other planes of existence but who have created a connection to Palboria through which they exert their will.

The descriptions of the gods in this wiki are from the human perspective. Appearances and interpretations may differ for other races.

Representation on Palboria

The gods who have made it to Palboria are anchored here by means of an avatar - a portion of themselves which resides on this world while the main consciousness resides elsewhere. Avatars are able to channel the maximum amount of power the god has access to on Palboria. While some gods prefer a fixed appearance for their avatar - a pillar of fire or an old woman, for example - all avatars have the ability to change their shape at will, an ability which is often used by the gods to manipulate mortals.

Domains

Each of the gods has their own domain. This is a general concept by which the god is viewed and worshipped on Palboria. For example, Orytyr is a god of the earth and stone. As a result, Orytyr is just as often found in the prayers of miners as they are in burial rites for the dead.

By general agreement, a god has the right to exert any influence they can over their domain without say from the other gods. However, when a god meddles in another god's domain, multiple other gods might intercede to restore order.

Some gods have overlapping domains. Pana is the god of the battlefield and Dalen is the god of archers and hunting. While the two domains are separate, archers are often used in battle, leading to overlapping worshippers on the battlefield. In most cases, there is room for both gods - Pana would not lend favor to archers, for example. However, in cases such as Vara, a death goddess, and [Hetgakh] , goddess of poisons, the two gods may argue over who has the real right to influence. Vara has been known to help poisoned mortals recover just to assert her dominance over death above Hetgakh.

Symbols

In addition to their own influence, gods are able to provide magical abilities to select followers. Gods who take part in this kind of favoritism will use a symbol to identify their select mortals and increase contact with them.

Because this sort of identification can mark the select as a target of other gods, many gods distribute their symbols among all of their followers, only granting their magical gifts to their select. Hellista, for example, uses an 8-pointed star as her symbol. All of her priesthood and church guard wear this symbol embroidered on their tabbards, stoles, and chasubles, but only her chosen paladins gain abilities from them.

Worship as a Source of Power

While all gods have their own innate abilities and powers on their home worlds, on Palboria they have a finite amount of magical energy to call upon. According to philosophers, the gods on Palboria have a parasitic relationship with the mortal races. Each god gains power from the quantity and fervency of the faith presented by their followers.

However, because of the destruction left in the wake of the Wars the gods have fought on Palboria, few mortals put any trust in the gods. Gods whose domains are beneficial to mortals are likely to get a token amount of prayer or sacrifice, but even then the mortal attitude is an acceptance that, should the god fail to give their favor, life still goes on.

As a result, where the gods once dominated and ruled over their domains in a harmonious spiritual order, today they squabble with each other and scrap over ways to increase their own individual follower count while trying to cut into those of the other gods.

Relations to Other Gods

For unknown reasons, gods - even those from disparate worlds and planes - sometimes refer to other gods using the familial terms of mortals. Vara, for example, refers to Pana and Rotna as her "brothers". Philosophers continue to debate the implications of this. Where many see this as simply Vara's acknowledgement that the three domains - war, disease, and death - are inextricably entwined, others believe that the avatars themselves were entangled in a familial relationship when the gods arrived on Palboria.