Deities are special beings with unlimited magical power. They are worshipped by many cultures in Odiem, and their powers are capable of shaping the world around them, and impacting the lives of the creatures that live in the planet. They have the power to teleport to different regions, bestow gifts upon mortals, among other things.
Most deities rule over a domain, typically an aspect of life, such as Rain or Death. Their domain indicates in what aspect their power is strongest.
Deities are not immortal, but their lifespan can last for thousands of years. They usually get stronger with age, until they reach their prime. After that, their power quickly decays, until they go dormant. This is the final stage of a deity's life, and after many centuries, a dormant deity will eventually die. A deity's death has no further impact on the world, and it is possible for mortals to worship deities that have been long dead, albeit that worship will not grant them any miracles.
For example, the people of Ashk'nar worshipped the god Weos, who allowed them to live in the harshness of the desert. After Weos' death, the desert will no longer be habitable, and no more people will live in it.
Some deities are more powerful than others. They are typically divided between "True deities" and "Minor deities," although these groups can further be subdivided into subgroups, according to certain scholars.
True deities are the ones born in Khronoss, and are the most powerful of all deities. They are born directly from Khronoss' ocean of plasma, and are thus considered children of Khronoss itself. They have a longer lifespan as well, being able to live for many more centuries compared to minor deities.
Minor deities are the ones born away from Khronoss, be it in Odiem itself, or in another planet. They are born from the union of two deities, and are less powerful than true deities. There are many types of minor deities, all with varying power levels: the deities born from two True deity parents are more powerful than those with only one Trye deity parent. They are also smaller than True deities. Minor deities are the only ones able to mate with mortals.
Deities can also be classified by a "generation" system, in which higher generation deities are further removed from Khronoss. For example:
True deity: Generation 1 deity;
True deity x True deity: Generation 2 deity;
True deity x Generation 2 deity: Generation 2 deity;
Generation 2 x Generation 2 deity: Generation 3 deity;
Generation 3 x Generation 3 deity: Generation 4 deity;
And so on and so forth.
When classifying a deity's generation, one must always look at the lowest generation parent in order to determine how far removed a deity is from Khronoss. A generation 5 deity or lower is considered a demigod, although a more powerful demigod than a half mortal.
Theoretically, every star in the universe is capable of spawing deities. At some point in its existence, a True deity may feel compelled to travel to another star, almost as if driven by the instinct to reproduce. This journey is long and arduous even for a god, and it is not every deity that decides to take it. Once reaching a star other than its birth star, the deity will remain in there and donate its genetic material directly to the plasma of the star, thus making to possible to spawn new deities.
True deities do not have a fixed sex or gender, as they are able to change their appearance at will. They are both able to impregnate other deities, or be impregnated. Minor deities will usually be capable of one or the other, never both at the same time. For a minor deity, changing its appearance takes significantly longer.
When a deity mates with a mortal, a demigod is born.
Different generations have different lifespans.
The death of a deity is known as Divine Decay. It happens when a deity has reached the end of its lifespan away from a star. The divine decay starts as a process in which the deity rapidly loses power (which is over the course of a few centuries.) Once a deity "runs out" of power, it will go into a dormant state, and it will appear to be made of stone. The older a deity gets the bigger it becomes, which means that by the time of decay, lower generation deities are usually the size of a mountain.
During the dormant state, the deities innards slowly crystalize. This process usually takes several years, depending on how big the deity has gotten. There are multiple types of crystals inside a dead deity, coming from its various biological processes.
Skin, flesh and bone all turn to stone, whereas softer parts like organs and bone marrow will turn into crystals, amber and brown in color. Liquids like blood, bile and semen turn into metallic crystals, which are especially shiny and colorful in appearance.
These crystals do not have any magical properties, although they can have different effetcs when in contact with a living being.
Deities of generation 5 or lower do not go though Divine decay. When they die, their body is decomposed by the earth just like a mortal's body.
When a deity dies in its birth star, their body simply returns to the plasma from where they were spawned. If a deity dies on a star away from its birth star, its body will become plasma and mix with the plasma of the star, until it becomes part of it. This process also allows for new deities to be spawned from the plasma.