Work sucks so I'm back with a lore drop for Delphia's og verse, Seer and the Gods. This could potentially spoil things if you haven't read the big story for her so fair warning.
TW: lots of mentions of death, eating people, torture, just general fucked shit. Nothing too detailed though.
The Old Gods
The gods Delphia meets are all considered new with the exception of Vitus, Dabria, and Fate. There’s an important reason for this. The prior gods were corrupt and torturous towards humans and other mortals. They played with them like toys and some were especially bad. It seems worth it to go over a bit of what exactly had been done. The reasons for the fear Delphia and many others have felt when it comes to meeting a god.
The God of Nature before Ash was overwhelmingly kind to nature. He would happily force plants of all kinds well past their natural limits. He ignored their voices as much as the voices of the creatures this hurt. He relished in seeing how his work could overrun the ways mortals had destroyed it. Frequently taking the displaced mortals to give to the other gods for their own amusement. This god, while terrifying, was easy enough to appease. Respect nature and don’t call on it for yourself in any way. There used to be witches of nature who could help guide harvests and other smaller things. Slowly but surely each practitioner disappeared or one day all that was left was a tree that looked eerily similar to them.
The God of Prosperity before Felix eventually became more akin to the God of Greed. He was a cruel man that enjoyed giving others riches when they had vile souls. He’d watch the corruption forming in them and one day, he’d take them. At first he enjoyed just toying with them, begging for their lives with promises of offerings to a god who could have anything he wanted. One day he played a game with one and discovered they made a fun snack too. He became feared, but was also one of the only gods to receive…living offerings. He was also the most excited when they’d gotten bored of having to be careful how many mortals they could take, he was a god he should have what he wants.
The Gods of the Skies before Luna and Sola both looked much older. They fit in more in a way, since currently they are the only two who appear as children. They both were somewhat bored. They would play with things to feed their boredom. The old Goddess of Night would rework the stars or change the phase of the moon as she saw fit. Sometimes she would cover portions of the world in darkness and see how things changed. She would only let in light when a god requested. The God of Morning was just as bad. Playing with clouds and the light of the sun. He’d take rain away for months at a time and laugh as the drought caused problems. He’d purposely interfere with the darkness his other half cast for fun. It would turn into small wars between the two and torture for mortals of all kinds caught within the zone. They never really had mortals directly unless the others were bored with ones they took. When they did, they’d get localized versions of their games until they grew bored and abandoned the mortal to waste away.
The prior Deity of Love enjoyed toying with the strings of bonds. They would cut them as they pleased and rebind ones they thought could cause the most drama. They would steal away mortals who had strings they couldn’t cut. Testing and experimenting with ways to finally undo the bonds that fate deemed necessary. They’d try a lot of horrible ways to destroy it, none worked. When finally they got sick of it they’d always split the bonded up. They’d give half to Prosperity and half to the sky gods. If they couldn’t have their way then they wanted the insubordinate mortals to die in ways they knew wouldn’t be kind.
The goddess of protection and guardians is new for this cycle. Sadly that didn’t free her from the stigma. Stories of beings three bodies tall spread quickly. Each one followed by a person who disappeared. It didn’t help that while people forgot Delphia, no one could ever explain the strange woman twice as tall as most men who massacred a portion of the king’s army.
The god of war before Ryder was almost an exact opposite. That god was cruel and vindictive, planting reasons for war between kingdoms. If it wasn’t enough whole armies would be spirited away in order to fight for his own amusement. He’d make them fight until they hit exhaustion any that argued would be crushed by his own hand or offered to another god. If the majority of the army refused he’d let the deity of love pick first, followed by the sky gods, followed by prosperity. He built coliseums and cages to house people he’d steal while seeding the wars mortals would wage. He loved when he’d find large non-human mortals, he’d used them for a long time as the monster they had to defeat. He had no mind for strategy and would just guide someone to an act he knew would spark anger. He was usually helped by the others who knew they’d get a prize out of it.
There were a number of other lesser gods. They’d numbered in the hundreds at one point. They had domains no one thought were needed. Gods of murder, of cruelty, of torture, the list goes on. They formed to follow the wills of the gods that had existed longer at the time. They were crafted as supposedly perfect embodiments to maintain the domain. They didn’t have any soul to guide them at the time, just blind instinct and wants. They had no reasoning to see mortals as anything more than playthings. At least that’s how they thought.
So this brings a fun dilemma, why weren’t Vitus, Dabria, and Fate like this. It started with Fate, they were so intrinsic to mortal lives that the threads of Fate picked a mortal soul to become the guide. The soul was young and learned from the things they witnessed. It’s part of why Fate’s form shifts as well. Vitus and Dabria were two of the youngest among the old gods, life and death needed guides as the gods grew more selfish and cruel. To try and help them, the threads of fate picked souls that would have been bound to Fate the deity. They formed and were actually some of the shortest gods at the time too.
Of course they just did their jobs at first, maintaining life and guiding souls. It was as they lived their lives as gods they became more pained over time. They hated how the others treated mortals, but every attempt to change their minds was ignored. Dabria would spend years in their study crying silently as she guided souls. Vitus would just hold her, he couldn’t force more life into the world. Even if he could, it would end just as painfully.
This went on for a long time, Fate knew they could grant stronger abilities to the others. They never thought they should until almost all the threads they guided met a torn and tattered end. The others, the gods with no souls, were planning something awful. Fate gave Vitus and Dabria the power to end a god with the rule they all had to be in the mortal realm when it happened. They understood, but hated the idea and hoped it would never come.
When the day did come they were horrified. The dates and names in the registry of life faded. Every name in the registry of death had the same date. They already knew the gods were all gone, it was something they could always tell. They used the power fate gave them and wrote the date of death for every god but the three with human souls. They watched in horror as each died, including one they had never even met.
The threads of fate do have their own mind and Fate the deity helps to govern the possibilities. They can give nudges to outcomes understood between both to be proper. So what’s different about the gods this time? Every single god is made from a human soul that, if they’d been human, would share a connection. The human family that never was exists as the gods with some additions like Alessia, Delphia, and Vincent.
Finally drawing some prompts I've had in my list for ages. My OC Fate, who is Paul's son but got corrupted by the curse in Paul before he was born so he came out a bit... wrong (and evil hhuehue, I have a whole redemption story but evil Fate is a lot of fun). Now to figure out how to draw blood...
