Questions from the Discord
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@wywrds asked:
oh okay might as well jump here real quick, someone got me thinking of this and then I remember that Syn is sorta new?? To being a god (I think). How does he feel about being a god? What there an adjustment period of some sort for him to settle in and relax?
Asking because someone brought up how ‘made gods’ lose themself and become what people worship (if the whole thing of godship is. People believe in you so much you become immortal)
If syn was always a god then nvm mixing up things
All good questions, which will require some context to answer! But I will try to make this painless, so bear with my lore dumping for just a bit.
Synethiira is an ascended mortal and was originally a regular (albeit magically gifted) elf. His ascension was at age 6, and as he is currently only 128, he's definitely new to divinity in relative terms. But to understand how he feels about his divinity, it's essential to know how the divine functions in this setting and how Syn ascended in the first place.
Let's talk about the divine pantheon and how divinity functions in this setting. First and foremost, before Syn, there was no such thing as a 'made' god or ascension. Gods were 'born' fully formed when a specific sphere or aspect became prevalent enough to warrant a divine vessel to oversee it. Therefore, the pantheon, which consists of 9 gods (excluding Syn), has always been divine beings. Their existences are hinged upon the spheres they preside over since they are the literal manifestation of their domains. They will exist so long as what they preside over exists, and they have power proportional to the breadth of their fields. This is why the gods are very protective of their domains, since the loss of a domain means loss of power and, potentially, erases the need for their existence.
As an example of how this works in practice, the current chief deity of the pantheon is the God of Law, Order, and Judgment, who has gained the sub-domains of Justice, Vigilance, and Civilization. He is actually one of the youngest deities in the pantheon, only arriving in the very early days of the oldest immortal races, and was initially relatively weak in comparison. However, as populations grew and culture flourished into civilization, his domains expanded, and he rapidly increased in power. So much so that he is now one of the most powerful deities in the pantheon and took up the chief position. Whether people worship him or not doesn't matter - the fact that his domains exist and are incredibly potent does.
This system of domains is how the heavens have always been maintained. The gods have been known to meddle to increase their influence to sustain themselves or even steal domains from each other, but they cannot touch or change the fundamental 'rules' of their existence. In this way, the system is entirely unbiased and forces the gods onto an even playing field.
But what controls the system itself, and what makes or unmakes the gods when necessary?
Magic. In this setting, magic is the fabric of the multiverse; it creates, destroys, sustains, and permeates anything and everything. It is the heartbeat of existence and the breath of nonexistence. There was never a god of magic because magic was all the gods and so much more. It is an incomprehensible and undeniable force and has always simply been.
And then Lesedi, God of Knowledge, Secrets, and Discovery, decided to perform an experiment.
Which brings us to context part two: how did Synethiira ascend? In short, Lesedi gambled and broke the system.
To start, it's essential to understand the scope of Lesedi's own domains and, by extension, their nature. As the god of Knowledge, they are omniscient in the most literal sense. This isn't just about facts or learning or logic. This is knowing in the purest sense; they are acutely aware of everything, ever, including any and all potential outcomes that may branch from any and all potential situations during any and all potential times on any and all potential planes or states of existence across any and all potential universes.
Then one day, they stumbled upon this distraught 6-year-old and knew that in a single potential future out of infinite possibilities and failures, he could successfully ascend to ultimate divinity as the manifestation of magic itself. And Lesedi, being Lesedi, thought that would be highly entertaining to see. So they fulfilled their part of this potential future to start Syn on the path and sat back to watch what would happen. Considering the astronomical odds, they were not expecting the future where Syn succeeded would be the one that came true.
Suffice to say, Lesedi knew they were going to be in profound trouble with the rest of the pantheon, what with how they just knowingly helped a child become the most powerful force in all existence.
During his ascension, though, Synethiira the mortal was utterly obliterated so that he could become something far more significant and well beyond even divine understanding. Just like how the other gods are their domains, Synethiira is magic. And, since magic is the fabric of the multiverse, suffice to say, he no longer thinks, feels, or perceives things as an ordinary being would.
So now we can actually get to answering your question! Finally!
How does Syn feel about being a god? He would answer that he knows no other way to feel. Yes, he did retain his life memories before his ascension, but he was six and traumatized. What memories were there were vague at best and felt foreign and uncomfortable to a mind so wholly changed. With time and growth, they simply ceased to matter. Sure, he could hold on to these vague sensations and ideas of mortality, but why would he when they aren't what he knows anymore through lived experience?
Was there an adjustment period? No, and yes. No, because becoming the manifestation of magic came with an innate understanding of all that magic entails. Yes, because his physical form had to do a lot of catching up. Successfully ascending was only possible because he was young and malleable, but the downside was his body couldn't manage the sudden power. Lesedi maintains that the reason Syn still went through a 'normal' growing up process after ascending was a subconscious choice on his part, to allow himself to slowly adjust to his new state of being over time. I suppose you could think of it as divine puberty, almost? But he is competent and comfortable with his divinity now and has been for many, many years.
What about the worship aspect, and how it might change someone? I would say it's entirely plausible even for the typical gods, as there are a good few who let the power of their churches go to their heads even if the worship of their followers has no tangible effect on them. But in Syn's case, it's not really applicable; after all, no one worships the God of Magic because there shouldn't even be a God of Magic. To the rest of the world, magic never changed; it's still the same incomprehensible force it's always been. And Syn is perfectly content to keep things that way.
And there you go. Er... Ask me no questions, and I will write you no essays. My bad. 😅