Some Notes on Demylan Religion
Gods work with the divine side of magic, and while each God has an elemental affinity, they have learned what they need to use as spell components to bridge the gap to other elements as needed.
Gods are stronger the more people that believe in them and worship them. This is part of what motivates them to maintain stable relationships with mortals. It also fosters competition among gods to get followers/steal power from each other.
Gods can bestow these things to followers: Keys, Sigils, Avatarship, “Hero”, Favor, or Gift. (see table below)
| Key | Sigil | Avatar | Hero | Favor | Gift |
| A key of magic – this will have an abstract theme (such as love or order or kindness) and strengthens the God in topics of this domain. It makes them a major God. | A sigil of magic; these are derived from keys and makes a minor God. These Gods are subordinates of those who made them. | Any God can make an avatar. This person gets extended life and enacts the will of their God with greatly expanded powers. Some of them are well known, some of them are hidden. Most Gods have only one. | Any god or avatar can anoint a “Hero” of that God. They get gifts and wishes from Gods, in exchange for service. Heroes get at least one wish, unused wishes go to eldest descendants. | Gods can mark any mortal they like as favored. These will get prioritized treatment by clergy and avatars (who can see the mark or item). They get better gifts than average. | Any mortal can receive a gift from a God. Gifts are often expanded abilities (or sometimes curses). This is used to get worship and favor. |
Commonalities in all Religions
The relationships that Gods have with each other influence the behavior of religions and to a smaller degree magic.
So, if Moranos, the God of Death is currently in a relationship (could be very close friendship or more lover-y just depending) with Tristeen, the Goddess of Order – since both of them enjoy Order and everything in its right place… things when the two of them are involved together tend to skew toward a more harsh law/justice system and more effort than normal to control the uncontrollable.
Whereas if his brother, Viryon and Tristeen interact a lot, there may be even more advancements in horticulture or new progress of living things.
So, many religions spend a lot of effort trying to determine who in the pantheon is getting along with who, and which Gods created other Gods and so forth. They obsess a little on when dating/relationships occur and try to befriend that religion to some degree. Some religions are better at telling the “business” of the Gods than others.
Every religion has at least one holiday.
Every religion is recognizable by a holy symbol.
Every religion has a variation of personal shrines, public shrines, or temples. Training usually occurs at a shrine or temple for people who want to follow a God.
Here is the God hierarchy (images are currently placeholders generated by AI)
