Inside a small hut, two gods sat, and you could tell which one had just been elevated to divinity. The older, more experienced god sat confidently in his seat, used to the power that his divinity granted him, and the far younger and inexperienced godbound, did his best to sit as his grandfather did, but there were many flaws in his form, he had no idea what his newfound divinity entailed and though he did not show it in his face; he was excited to explore the newfound possibilities.

The blond god started the conversation. “There are many things that I must explain, but first I have a question.”

“What do you think gives a god their power, Hearne?” The blond god continued.

Hearne thought about it for a while, but he was unsure of his answer. After a momentary pause, he wore a mask of confidence and answered the question.

“Why, of course, grandfather, the loyal worshippers that give the gods their power.”

“You are only a third right. Three things make up a god: their words, cult, and constellation.”

The blond god continued “Now since we both have the same words and I have already informed everyone of my choice to pick you as my godbound, your constellation is just the only thing left, but it will take time for both of you to come into your own so that is of no consequence right now.”

Noticing Hearne’s confusion, he added, “I realize that I have just bombarded you with a lot of information, so I will let you ask questions now.”

“Can you please explain to me what words are and how you can tell we have the same words?” Hearne asked, unfamiliar with the new concept introduced to him.

“Of course, words or, in simpler terms, domains are what we gods are in charge of. For example, my words are bow, alacrity, and beasts. Now some words are misleading and others are very obvious.”

Herne continued to speak barely pausing “An example would be me because as I just said one of my words is Bow, which is very misleading as Bow puts me in charge of all forms of ranged combat, either with slings to whatever ranged weapon humans may come up with.”

“And as of how I know that we have the same domains, that is because we gods have a special ability to see what words other gods have, and godbound have it too although it is limited.”

“Why bother creating a cult when yours will worship me, anyway?” Hearne asked curiously, because why bother? He knew these people. He could probably convince them to worship him once his grandfather passed.

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“I have two points to make about this matter: loyalty and proof. Firstly, let’s talk about loyalty. The cult that I have established is very loyal to me, which is beneficial to me. However, when I picked you as my godbound, I begrudgingly acknowledged that changes are inevitable and that conflicts may arise when you start doing things differently than I do. That’s why it’s important to have proof.”

“Proof is what your followers see. It is the reason they follow you. It is evidence that you can improve their lives in ways that other gods can’t. Your actions, whether good or bad, will gradually attract followers and through the stories that your followers will make about you, my followers will slowly but surely turn to you.”

“I only used that example to convince my followers, but it can also help you gain followers. Let me explain: when I defeated the demon that was harassing your mother, it served as proof of my abilities. Then, based on her appearance and traits, I convinced her that she could have a better life if she joined me. This, of course, instilled loyalty. However, things outside the forest are far more complicated than this simple example.” Herne said, bringing to light stories of how Hearne’s mother met Lord Herne. She recalled it as a shepherd bringing a lost sheep to join the herd, but the god made it sound as if it was a regular day.

Now that the god had explained it to him, Hearne could see the logic in his words, how important going out into the world was, not only as a way to gain followers but also to know what they want and provide it for them.

“Thanks to your explanation, I know how important words and cults are, but what of the constellation? How is that important?” The young godbound asked as he truly did not understand how the arrangement of stars in the sky was so important.

“This subject can get very complicated so I will attempt to keep it as simple as I can when a godbound is chosen, stars from the constellation of the god that chose them separate and form an instrument of that god’s divine power, you do not have a choice in what that instrument is, that is for the other races to decide.” Herne paused to check if Hearne had been keeping up with him so far, which he was much to the god’s surprise, as even other gods did not think this was important.

“The constellation may not be as significant as your followers, but it serves as a reminder that your symbol is always in the sky. Now, moving on to the more obscure part, when a constellation comes to an end, like everything else, the god associated with the constellation becomes weaker. However, as long as their followers are still alive, they will gradually regain their strength. But when both followers and the constellation die out, the god dies soon after.”

“How do you know all of this, grandfather? Did you see a god’s death personally?” Hearne asked, trying to add some humor to the painfully dull lesson.

“Yes, I did. The god in question was a rather close friend of mine.” Herne said as he looked down at his hands in focus, as if recalling an old, painful memory.

“Forgive me, grandfather, I did not mean to dig up old wounds”

“No, it’s alright, I see what you were trying to do, but that is enough for today, too many memories for this old god.” Herne said as he struggled to get up from his chair, showing his age for only a brief second as he got up and quickly vanished leaving no trace of his presence behind.