Overview
Divinity regards divine creatures, whom are often bound to higher planes and grant or are able to perform blessings and Divine Magic. Demi-Deities are simply put those who still maintain a strong tie to the realm of Materia, and can often materialise into a comprehensible form. This includes:
- Living Saints and Exemplars.
- Nature Deities and Spirits, like Yokai.
- Other creatures blurring the line of the earthly and divine.
Deities on the other hand exist on a level above that of people and what they can comprehend fully. While they escape being comprehensively understood because of this, it is believed they need need to be bound to a realm above Materia in the Great Flow. While intervening in the plane below, they can take on a number of forms known as Icons - of which also may appear differently to different people. Many Deities are Ascended - meaning they existed as a lesser being on the plane of Materia but then found a way to rise above.
Fiendish creatures like Demons and Devils are usually thought to inhabit lower level planes, but can become similar to deities. While being bound to a higher or lower plane than Materia seems to be a prerequisite to deityhood, it is not the case that all creatures from other planes are deities still.
Deities include:
- The Titans, whom had a large pantheon and were worshipped and recognised across large swathes of Iduria. Their home plane was Haeven, and their Icons usually appeared as humanoids with animal heads. They had to claim a Mantle in order to ascend to deityhood, which defines their domains. Mantles are thought to be moulded over time by the deity which wields it, but the mantle too influences the deity in return.
- The One & Only is the main deity of Vilhun. Her followers do not call her a Titan, but others on the outside might - despite the fact she wasn’t in their pantheon.
While there are Trinities and focuses on balance across all forms of magic, they’re particularly important with divinity and divine magic. Divine guidance and laws are often about finding righteous balance. In one mostly abandoned tradition, the Divine was created by balancing the Arcane, Primal and Occult - turning the 3+1 Theorem on its head with Divinity as a sacred fourth. This is shunned today however.
The term God has been used for Deities, though some claim it should refer to something above a mere Titan or the like. Some say God is more fitting for Deities which have undergone Reverence, that is to say ascended even further above in the planar order. Ur-God is a more precise term for this, which has been used for Deities and forces of the universe like:
- The Sibling Dragons, Creator Monkey or First Ascended, whom appear in the Mythos of Vendrith.
- The Daydreaming Truth, identified with the planet of Yond in the Night Sky.
- The Wordless Fleece, a personification of the World Fleece.
- The Macabre Maelstrom, a personification or force of the universe representing inevitable entropy and decay.