Gods

**Gods** are powerful beings that represent the forces of nature. Because they are immensely powerful, they do not need prayer to live, but they would like to see their creations venerate them like kings.

All the deities are collectively known as "**the Gods**", with the g being capitalised to represent all of the deities involved. They are sometimes also known as "**The Heavens**", or "**Heaven**".

## In the Rabydosverse

The Gods are the various deities and powerful beings who created and shaped the multiverse. Many of them are independent and sovereign like ethereal kings, but some have formed leagues and alliances to protect the very multiverse they created.

When people say "the will of the Gods", they either refer to uncontrollable circumstances, or their own actions as expressions of divine judgment. For example, the Novantirnas regarded their crusades against the Valgetan cannibals as "the Gods' wrath", and so did the Sarmelonid fleets when they waged war against the Igarin and Konjor horrors.

The majority of all cultures in the Rabydosverse's many planets across the whole Galaxy are polytheistic. On Jerde, polytheism is considered "normal", to the point that the word "polytheist" in some languages is a synonym for "ordinary" or "typical".

Jerdiskar used to distrust anyone who was monotheist or atheist as terrorists, due to the actions of various empires and invaders during the Sixteenth Age; nowadays, they are tolerated. On the other hand, various religious wars and extremists forced the polytheistic nations of Jerde to be more tolerant of each other's faiths, as they regarded any wars of faith to be a great waste of lives and resources, especially after surviving the ruin of a great war.

One popular saying in many Jerdiskar cultures reads: "It does not matter whether are the Gods with you. What matters more is whether are you with the Gods."

The full version reads:

"It is not a matter whether are you afraid of the dark. What matters more is whether the darkness is afraid of you.

Likewise, what matters more is not that the Gods with you or not, but whether *are you with the Gods.*"

### Names of the Great Plan of the Gods

Jerdiskar and many other Galactic peoples believe that all the Gods who exist have a sort of "Great Plan" to organise the universe into a beautiful utopia. Good behaviour, benevolence, fairness, and justice are among the ways that the Great Plan of the Gods is completed and achieved.

In the languages of Jerde, the Great Plan is usually translated as "order", "harmony", and "justice". Following the Great Plan and the Gods blesses the believers, and the world.

* Slavjane (Rodnovery): pravi
* Sanskrit (Hinduism, Buddhism): dharma, rta
* Baltika (Romuva): darna
* Gauvajut, Vozonid: aran
* Daizhouvian (Taoism): dao
* Gimbarsian (Egyptian, Atenism): me'e, ma'at
* Zarijanian (Zoroastrianism): arta

This, along with the many torments that their people suffered, were why the Jerdiskar picked up a phrase, "no justice, no peace" from their Maeranoi enemies, and then applied it in almost every aspect of their society. As a result, Jerdiskar in general tend to be more helpful, ensuring that no more disputes or grievances would be allowed to exist by being more fair or vengeful.

Although they do not directly use the word "responsibility", it exists in Jerdiskar society and is forced on everyone, from the greatest god-kings to the lowest criminal behind bars. Nearly all Jerdiskar try their best to be responsible, mainly out of hatred against enemies such as the fanatical Terrans.

## Lists of deities and related beings

### Real or historical cultures, or influenced by real cultures

* Gauvajut mythology/Hittite mythology
* Nordic mythology/Norse mythology
* Slavic mythology
* Baltic mythology
* Hindu mythology
* Gimbarsian mythology/Egyptian mythology
* Siangwaanian mythology/Chinese mythology
* Tuksharan mythology/Tocharian mythology

### Fictional human cultures

* Freyrgardian mythology
* Lysandrean mythology
* Aspieran folklore
* Vozonid mythology
	+ Sarmelonid pantheon
	+ Josolchir mythology
	+ Azgovian mythology
	+ Vovtarlan mythology

* Sakautari mythology
* Kekhaulid mythology
* Bujanski folklore (from Slavic mythology)
* Wonao mythology
* Ardeschi folklore

### Fictional Rabydosverse cultures

* Parmankjapoin mythology
* Gdjestranian mythology

### Alien cultures

* Igarin mythology
* Kuelgon mythology
* Resparin mythology
* Vovtarlan mythology
* Novantirna mythology
* Porasonid mythology
* Heronoi mythology
	+ Twelve Thinkers
	+ Twelve Goddesses of the Months
* Arnadjanai mythology
* Eimarin mythology
* Tuxavin mythology

### Rinnarverse cultures

* Rinnarit mythology
* Zergonian mythology
* Vetarbroitar religion
* Vetarbroitar religion (19-canon)

## Trivia

* The various gods in the Rabydosverse do *not* need prayers or worship to survive and be powerful, as they are either extremely powerful beings or embodiments of powerful forces.
	+ The idea that gods need worship to survive is often mocked in Jerdiskar societies, where polytheism is considered normal. It is compared to trying to "feed the wind", as the wind can still be there even if you cannot feed it with food.
	+ This concept was also used in the ages before the Sixteenth to encourage the abandonment of human sacrifice, fuelled by a growing understanding of science. After all, the wind cannot be sustained by feeding people to it, and neither can the lava of a volcano.
		- Some people even considered reviving sacrificial victims as clones.
	+ In Malendor mythology, even if no one believes or knows that Odin exists, He will still be there. As the god of knowledge, Odin is believed by the Malendors to continue existing as *all* information and knowledge itself. Even if all life were to be destroyed, and all information will be gone, He will still be around, although wandering alone in an empty void.

## See also

* God, for the deity in monotheistic religions
* Atheism, for the refusal or lack of belief in these gods
* Celestials and Wights, their heavenly and earthly servants
* Demons, their monstrous enemies