Öffentlicher Katalog
Terra Divina
Mythic Fantasy
Worlds where ancient gods, legendary heroes, and classic myths are real.
Übersicht
The year is 847 of the Common Calendar, though no one agrees what event started it. Europe's coastlines bear the scars of Norse raiding parties while Mediterranean trade routes wither under Olympian trade taxes. Priests of Marduk calculate celestial alignments to determine which pantheon holds temporary advantage, while Celtic druids retreat into forests that grow thicker and wilder each passing season. The faithful serve as both currency and soldiers, for a god without worshipers becomes a myth, fading until they can no longer maintain their divine realm. Temples rise and fall within decades, their stones repurposed by whatever faith claimed the territory. Fistfalls of mortal petitioners travel to border regions, hoping to catch a god's attention through acts of devotion or spectacular sacrifice, while refugees flee advancing pantheon borders carrying only their refusal to convert. The wars between heavens reshape earthly borders with each generation. Lines of divine authority shift constantly. What was Zeus's domain becomes Odin's by spring. What Ra claimed for eternity falls to those who offer different prayers by harvest.
Gesellschaft
Mortal government exists at divine pleasure, with mortal rulers serving as intermediaries between their people and demanding patrons. The Pact of Witness, signed by all pantheons after the Nile Delta devastation of 234 CC, prohibits gods from manifesting directly except during sanctioned holy days. Instead, they work through omens, chosen champions, and priest-castes who interpret divine will, sometimes accurately. Sedition against a god's appointed governor counts as blasphemy, but governors who fail their divine patrons face consequences mortal courts cannot comprehend. Conversion is both treason and heresy. Cities at pantheon borders maintain dual temples, their priests watching each other with the careful hostility of those who know war could arrive with the next harvest festival.
Technologie
Divine patronage grants specific advances to faithful regions. Norse territories possess shipbuilding techniques their southern neighbors cannot replicate without Odin's permission, which he grants selectively to maintain maritime dominance. Egyptian architects construct monuments that should collapse under their own weight, stone held by Ra's continuing approval rather than engineering. Greek physicians understand anatomy no one else has discovered, though Apollo withholds cures for diseases he inflicts as punishment. The gods carefully meter these gifts, never providing enough to make their worshipers independent. Priests of Hephaestus guard metallurgical secrets with lethal jealousy. Those who share divine knowledge across pantheon lines risk their patron's wrath in addition to mortal execution.