“Andratha, Lord of Blood and Water, God of Storm and Sea, and Protector of the Narazai... please... we beseech you... awaken and defend your people!”

Minimum number of followers (500) attained!

Dear nascent entity, [Andratha], you are now qualified to receive the [God System], congratulations!

As a newborn god, please keep in mind and understand the following:

Your goal, like the goal of all other beings in the cosmos, is to grow in strength and power. As a [Nascent God], your method for growth is through the accumulation of powerful miracles and by expanding your territory.

How?

[Miracles] are unlocked by attaining more and more [Followers]. You are able to make use of [Miracles] by spending [Faith Points], which you passively generate as long as you have followers; alternatively, you can receive [Faith Points] through direct prayers or through sacrifices.

Simple, right?

There is a caveat, however, in that you can, quite literally, die if you run out of both [Followers] and [Faith Points]; so, don’t. Having zero [Faith Points] is fine, however, since it’s meant to be spent; fully depleting your [Faith Points] will force you into a deep slumber that lasts until you’ve recovered the minimum amount, which is a fifth of the total number of [Followers] you possess. That means that, in the event that you lose all your followers, you could use your remaining [Faith Points] to gain new ones, through the use of [Miracles].

That will be nigh-impossible, but still doable; there have been numerous instances of other gods doing so.

Furthermore, the [Miracles] that you unlock are determined by the faith of your [Followers] and their perception of you; this also includes the [Miracles] that you start with. As a [Nascent God], you – quite literally – live and die by your followers.

Speaking of which, here is your Data Sheet:

Name: Andratha

Followers: 500

Faith Points: 100 (+50 (Followers/10) per month)

Status: Nascent God

Domain/s:

- Storm

- Sea

- Protection

Miracles:

[Tidal Control] – Shift ocean currents and waves to whatever direction you see fit. Cost is determined by the amount of water you’re affecting.

[Storm Control] – Summon a localized thunderstorm or disperse it. Cost is determined by size and intensity.

[Lesser Protection] – Summon a protective sphere on a specific area; your followers within that area gain a 20% resistance to physical damage. Cost is determined by sphere size.

[Lesser Avatar] – Designate a follower as your Avatar, allowing you to perceive the mortal world through their senses. However, you can only have one Avatar at a time. Choosing an unborn child, carried by a pregnant follower, as your Avatar will allow you to fully overtake that child’s personality, giving you full control over them. No Cost.

[Create Hallowed Site] – Consecrate an area as a Hallowed Site. Hallowed Sites are places where you are able to communicate directly with your followers and vice versa. Hallowed Sites can be destroyed if desecrated by heretics or infidels. Cost is determined by size.

[Manifest Afterlife] – Fully manifest an afterlife, where the spirits of your followers can travel to and linger in, after death. Doing so will protect their spirits from sorcerous spells and, more importantly, allow you to keep feeding off of their faith to generate [Faith Points]. Cost: 100,000 [Faith Points]

Remember this, [Andratha], as a god, your lifeblood is your [Followers]. The more of them you possess, the stronger and more powerful you become. Protect and nurture them, just as they protect and nurture you. Once you reach the level of [Awakened God], however, then you will no longer require [Followers] to exist. There are levels to your existence.

Those levels are:

[Nascent God] – This you as you are now.

[Waking God] – Achieved through gaining approximately 1,000,000 [Followers]

[Awakened God] – Achieved through gaining approximately 100,000,000 [Followers]

[Ascendant God] – Achieved through gaining approximately 1,000,000,000 [Followers]

Congratulations of waking up. I expect great things from you. We shall speak again when or if you reach the level of [Awakened God]. Enjoy your existence, [Andratha].

Till we meet again....

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My senses snapped into place. And I became vaguely aware of the fact that I was looking down at the ritual that’d apparently awakened me. Ah, these must be my followers, each of them outlined in a faint, golden hue. They gathered on the highest peak of a lonely little island in the middle of a stormy sea, a graveyard of ruined ships around them, smashed and broken apart into the rocky shoals by the roaring winds and tides. Thick and black thunderclouds loomed overhead. There was an altar at their very center, where the corpse of a man lay with a dagger stuck in his chest.

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A sacrifice?

There was a woman there, standing right by the altar, holding her hands together. My other followers mirrored her gesture. And I think I understood – quite well – what they wanted from me, even if I could not quite perceive their words, not unless I sanctified the entire island into a single, massive Hallowed Ground, which would be a good waste of the paltry amount of Faith Points I had.

The storm itself would swallow all of them into oblivion if I did nothing. Is that why they called for me?

I looked out and surveyed the storm for a moment, before calculating how much [Faith Points] I’d need to fully disperse it. It wasn’t overly large, but definitely massive enough to devour the little island my followers were marooned on.

Ah, I’d need 100 [Faith Points], which was all I had.

Oh well. It was meant to be spent anyway. And, seeing the situation of my followers, I didn’t exactly have much of a choice in the matter.

I spent the [Faith Points] and immediately felt drowsy as the storm quickly dissipated, the large and thick clouds seemingly dissolving into nothing. The winds died down, though they did not disappear. The raging waves calmed and devolved into an almost placid sea. Golden pillars of sunlight pierced through the thinning veil of clouds, more and more of them appearing with every passing moment until the darkness retreated from the sky, turning blue and calm.

There were thousands and thousands of bodies in the water, I noted, floating, pale and rotting. Could these people have been my followers too, if given the chance?

Seeing the awe-struck faces of my followers was... comforting. It felt right. But then my senses dimmed and I could no longer force myself to stay awake. I could only hope that my followers would find a way to survive, to escape this dreadful island. Two months, assuming the number of my followers remained the same; I’d be asleep for the next two months. Soon enough, however, my senses faded and I drifted off to sleep.

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My senses returned slowly. I remember dreaming, but I don’t recall what I dreamed, merely vague flashes and images, unrecognizable scenes and voices – so many voices.

I checked my number of followers and was relived to see that the number had apparently climbed to 520, which wasn’t a lot, but any progress was technically still progress. That also meant my monthly [Faith Points] gain had jumped up to 52, which also wasn’t a lot, but – again – progress and all that.

Beyond the slight increase in followers and [Faith Points], of which I now had 104, however, there were no other changes to my nature or my domain. Though, given the extremely brief passage of time, that was to be expected.

Glancing around, I realize quickly that this wasn’t the same lonely little island I’d first found my followers in. It was, in fact, a small village by the shore – thatched huts and wooden hovels. Every mortal in the village had a distinct golden glow to them, which meant these were my followers. They’d somehow found a way to escape that island and made their way here. That was good. I took a closer look at my followers for a moment, just to satisfy my idle fancies.

Interesting.

While most of them were human and all of them were mortal. There were a few who were of another race. I already knew what they were the same way I already knew what humans were. Elves, Dwarves, and Orcs. And humans, of course. There were other races in the world, according to the knowledge that was already in my mind – many others. My followers were mixed, it seemed, and I could only hope that such diversity caused no divisions in the future, but – instead – brought strength.

At the center of the village was an altar of stone, decorated with all manner of ossified corals and animal bones. And upon that altar was a pool of blood.

This must be where they made sacrifices to me.

But where did they pray?

I wanted to hear and listen to my followers, to understand their needs and wants through their prayers.

However, there were no other distinct buildings that might’ve served as a place of communal prayer, which meant my followers did not gather together to pray if they prayed at all. Still, I had the ability to consecrate Hallowed Grounds and that altar and the its immediate surroundings was as good a place as any. It likely held some measure of symbolic significance for my followers, after all. And, since it was a relatively small space, consecrating it would only cost me 30 [Faith Points].

And so, that’s exactly what I did. Enacting a miracle took only the barest exertion of my will. A haze of splashing water and cackling lightning then emerged from the waters of the nearby beach, extending towards the altar in the form of a mighty and gigantic hand. This immediately caught the attention of my followers, all of whom looked on in both awe and fear. They exited their hovels and sank to their knees, chanting my name as they placed their hands together and bowed their heads. They were muttering a bunch of other things as well, but I couldn’t understand them. The only thing I understood from their... praying was my name.

The hand of water and lightning reached the altar, blasting away all the blood and gore and bones, and enveloped it entirely, briefly submerging the altar before the water dissipated, the lightning disappearing with it. Now consecrated, the altar began emitting a soft hum and a pulsating bluish glow.

A mortal woman in white robes emerged from one of the hovels. Upon her head was a jagged wooden crown. I recognized this one. She was the one who stood at the peak of the mountain on the day I first awakened. She was the one who called to me. Interesting. Was she a high priestess of some sort? Though unquantifiable, I could feel her faith oozing out of her – a fanatic.

That was good to know. Fanatics, though they contributed no more than the average follower as far as the system was concerned, would be crucial to spreading my faith. Most followers wouldn’t think to preach their religion or their beliefs and that was perfectly fine. Fanatics, however, were precious, because they’d happily preach anywhere and everywhere they could.

I was going to keep an eye on this one, maybe even make her my Avatar. It’d be interesting to perceive the mortal world through her perspective.

The first to approach my first Hallowed Ground was a child, a little girl with pointy ears and silver hair. No one was there to stop her from waddling right onto my altar, where she fell to her knees, smiling. And then, I heard her.

“Lord Andratha, thank you for saving my parents. Thank you for letting my mother and father live, and thank you for keeping them safe on the journey here.” She said, smiling as she uttered the words.

How very fascinating.

I did not answer immediately, however, because I wanted to maintain the air of mystery and divinity about myself. If I answered every single prayer or talked to every single follower, for instance, I’d end up cheapening the way they saw me. Besides, it didn’t seem like the little Elf was expecting an actual response from me.

And then, one by one, my mortal followers stood up and walked towards the altar. And, one by one, they knelt, pushing their hands together and bowing their heads to pray.