Welcome to our Worldbuilding Wednesday! On Wednesdays, we will discuss the creative process behind different facets of the Twinverse, from as lofty a concept as the entire cosmology, to specific characters and their role in the setting. Worldbuilding Wednesday is meant as a behind-the-scenes column to give insight into how the setting itself changes and evolves, beyond just the events of the books.
Welcome to the second part of our disquisition on creating gods for your fantasy world. In Part 1, we discussed the concepts behind multiple pantheons and how to design them in a way that organically meshes with the cultures with which they are associated.
But once the pantheon is sketched out, individual gods may need to be fleshed out more thoroughly. This may be a bigger or smaller task, depending on how much you anticipate the gods to be "present" (directly or otherwise) in your story. But typically, at least a bit of work on the major gods of the pantheon may be needed, if nothing else to allow characters to refer to them and their idiosyncracies.
An additional element that needs to be defined, either at the pantheon level or at the individual deity level, is the amount of involvement the gods have in everyday life. Typically, most deities do not interfere directly in a story: doing so removes agency from the (mortal) protagonists, and reduces the stakes if deities can reach out and undo major plot elements, or advance the plot forward by simply willing it to be so. So on average, gods aren't present in everyday life. Is there a reason why? Do they hold to a compact? Are dimensional barriers tough to pierce, even for them? Are they just aloof and/or uninterested in mortals? Are they sleeping? Dead?
The decision doesn't need to be made at the level of the pantheon - individual gods may or may not be more willing to interact with their followers, or the world at large. A decision at the pantheon level suggests a more structured pantheon, while individual decisions suggest a looser pantheon (perhaps not even much of one, other than being categorized as such by scholars).
Either way, it's time to define the gods that populate it. There are two aspects that need to be decided. First and foremost, the deity's personality and history. Personality informs the god's cult too: most portfolio will look very different based on even just whether the deity is benevolent or malevolent. Consider the differences between a good or evil god of death, for example. Is the deity jovial, but evil? Stern and unyielding, but fundamentally good? Neutral, but nosy?
As for history, you don't need to detail thousands of years of divine life. A few noteworthy deeds, however (e.g. they created a famous artifact, or slew a legendary monster, or brought death to the world, or killed their own spouse, to name a few) should be fleshed out. These are jumping points for more world-building and/or story seeds.
Define the iconography of the deity, too. Is there an animal that represents them, or which always appears in their depictions? An object? A symbol?
Then, when all this is done, you focus on the cult. The cult will tend to reflect the god's personality, showcase any iconography of the god, and potentially draw inspiration from the god's deeds for their mission. A deity who is the protector of mortalkind might have priests who are sworn to help the innocent. A deity who is nosy might charge their priests with uncovering every secret they can find. and so on.
Finally, if you wish, you can flesh out some ceremonies. If the deity contemplates the concept of marriage (not all might), you might want to define roughly what that ceremony entails. Same for funerals, or major holidays.
Don't create more than you have to, unless you are inspired or you're doing this just for world-building as a hobby. The minutiae may never see the light of day if the deity is to be a throwaway reference in a book or in a game. But sometimes they may give you more inspiration - and that's part of the fun!
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