14: What is a God?
The next morning, while getting breakfast Garion noticed that the food was not as good as before, but put it out of his mind.
In class he met up with the others and got ready to take notes
Felinia went onto stage and got straight down to business
“Before I tell you what an Estelen in, I will tell what they are not.
“They are not Overgods. Overgods are also restricted to their own Sphere, and create Estelen.
“They are not mere Totems, which are created by another way.
“They are not Astral spirits.
“They are not merely powerful immortal beings.
“They are not Quasi Deities, who may be mistaken for Estelen.”
She looked around at all of them.
“An Estelen is a being that possesses a Divine Spark bestowed on them by the Overgod of that Sphere, or who allowed them to receive it.
“An Estelen is comprised of 5 parts.
“The first 4 are common for most living beings, and the 3rd is most often ignored.
* Soul we may call it, although it may be also correct to call it spirit, awareness, mind, ID and many other things. This is the part of a being that houses its consciousness, memories and self identity. Even things considered inanimate or non-living may develop these in time.
* This includes life force, magic, and all other kinds. Without this you just have at most a soul in a body.
* If it can be imagined, then it exists in concept and perception. Mental power flows to shaping the idea of it. If the thing the totem is of really exists, the totem may be like them, or totally unlike them.
* This is a being’s physical form. It is where the soul rests and contains the power. Without a body, a being made up of just Soul and Power, like a spirit, can easily loose its form, and it also loses power to maintain itself fast. The body can be anything physical, including void, flame, lightning or a giant marshmallow man.
* Lastly is the Divine Spark, which allows for ease in funneling their totems power into them, and lets them attune with Domains easier.
“The first two, Soul and Power can be merged into one, called Essence. Used properly Essence can be a very powerful tool, but there may be risks with it that can in bestow a lot of power on potential enemies.”
That got everyone’s attention!
“Your soul, or awareness, may reach far from your body. Imagine if someone could stand here and sense everything in this room. Apart from me and Gallen, it would be impressive.
“Your soul contains a bit of power itself, but should never be used as Power, unless you are extremely desperate. As in desperate enough to destroy yourself entirely. Just trying to use parts of yourself you don’t like won’t work. That leads to madness.
“Your soul directs how the Power is used, and the flavor it develops. If two people got the same amount of raw Power from the same source, they would use it in different ways depending on their Soul.”
The group nodded. The soul part was simple.
“Power is just that; power. It may be easier to use depending on how you get it, and how you intend to use it. For example, it would be much harder for someone to use power from the tides to affect how people think then it would be to use that power to help generate storms.
“You will be able to draw power from your Domains, and belief or even knowledge of you. You can do rituals to boost you, or find other ways. And yes to the one who asked about cannibalism yesterday, if you consume a Deity’s body you do consume the power they have. Just remember that people.
“If you consume another Deity’s power, it will make it easier to claim their Domains if you can manage to use the power.”
Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.
There was shocked dead silence at that. What many people thought was an off joke, or just someone being nasty turned out to be a highly viable tactic.
Felinia continued “Then comes Totem. If something in perception, or concept, then mental power goes to fueling it. This is one of the main sources of a Deity’s power. The more people believe in it, the more powerful it is. More both as in the number of believers, and how much they believe. A fanatic will generate more belief then someone who just accepts it.
“For this reason people who can draw on such power tend to be dramatic, flamboyant and generally trying to get people’s attention, acting like being the center of attention is a matter of life and death. That’s because it can be.”
A shudder passed through the crowd. That was scary. For those who lived in places where people being cancelled or unpersoned, it was bowl clenching terrifying
“Totems do not need to form around anything that is actually real. Over time Totems can develop their own personalities, but are much more easily shaped by how people perceive them. They might help the thing they are based around, or they may refuse.
“Imagine someone who is a sports star and everyone admires him. Their totem might manage to boost them a little bit, allowing them to reach new heights of fame and success in the game. Everyone loves them. Then someone frames them as a drug cheat. Instead of being good at sport, they are seen as being bad it at. Their totem no longer helps them and the lessened skill in playing is seen as a sign they were cheating before.”
She looked around and told them “Learn public relations! Learn to control how people see you!”
“Next is body. Your body is the seat of your awareness, contains your power and is the focus of your Totem. A body can be anything with these. You can shape it as you desire. However, it is how people view you and thus part of your Totem is based around it.
“If your body is being destroyed, you may be able to jump bodies, if you know how, but your old body contains a fair chunk of your old power.”
“Then comes your Divine Spark. Only with an Overgod’s approval can you receive and use one. Sure you may receive one via devouring a Deity, but you can’t actually use it without an Overgod’s permission.
“A Divine Spark not only marks you as an Estelen, but serves various functions. Firstly, it bestows a type of immortality on you: This immortality is that you will not age past your peak and are immune to most sickness and lesser poisons Many Quasi Deities also have this.
“Second is that it helps you join with your Totem. However, you have to be as your Totem is, in general. No getting a large following praising you for your deeds, when it is all lies and you just killed the actual heroes to steal the credit, or being a master fighter while it was actually your massively enchanted weapons that did all the work, or being considered extremely brave because you fought great foes, while you only fought them to protect yourself. No seeking being a deity of charity if the charities you created were made solely for you to embezzle from, or arrange to profit from in other ways.”
There was massive groaning at that.
“By merging Totem, Body, Power and Soul, the totem is stabilized with the Soul controlling it and preventing it being so easily influenced by wrong belief. You absorb Power from it easier, and the body can also help store the Power gained via the Totem.
“After receiving the Divine Spark, you can feed off even false belief, but not as well.
“The Divine Spark also helps you merge with your Domains. The more your Domain flourishes, the more power you receive from it. You will also have more influence over it.”
“Any questions?”
Someone called out “What is the deal with Essence?”
“Essence is a lesson in its own right. Anything else?”
“We were told about a graveyard for students who die, if they leave a body behind. Will they still have the power in them?”
Felinia smiled. “Smart question. The answer is no. I will be having it drained from their bodies before they are buried. Next?”
“Will children of Estelen also be Estelen?”
Felinia actually paused here. “It all depends on how you define children. This will be covered in depth in future lessons. Short of it is that an Estelen can create other Estelen from themselves and their Domains. One example from a story Gallen found was in a world a Goddess of luck was being slowly twisted, so she was split into two, who were the goddess of good lick, and of bad luck. They were Estelen from the start. However, if a couple of Estelen have sex and one gives birth to a baby, the baby would not automatically be an Estelen. The parents could have people honor it and guide it to Ascending.
“Put another way, you can’t inherit being an Estelen, but you can be created as one.
“Any other questions?”
A geek called out “You mentioned power fueling Estelen and totems. How much is needed?”
“Another good question. For the Ascension to Demi-god, which is an Estelen, you need to have about 300 dedicated followers providing belief, or a larger number providing lesser belief. You might also use artifacts. After that you remain an Estelen until you change to something else or are destroyed. You need about 300 dedicated followers to maintain a steady existence and be powerful enough to do things. You will otherwise weaken and fade away. That will be covered in how to kill a Deity.”
Someone else called out “I read up on D&D gods. The part about totems was totally different!”
Felinia smiled. “I said I merged different systems, and the Estelar was only a basis. This is part of the differences!”
She looked around at them. “This is enough for today. Tomorrow I will cover powers that Estelen have.”
Garion’s group left, and Jane was in shock. Garion only managed to hold it together in order to help her. Dranek and Harlen seemed intrigued about it.