Gods of Earth

**Old Gods**, collectively known as the **Gods of Earth**, are higher immortal supernatural beings of divine power who control the forces of nature ("spheres of influence" or "domains") and rule large portions of the Earth. Deities are categorized under a **Pantheon** and were highly respected by their followers, even being considered blasphemous for disrespecting the gods since they provide for humanity. Aside from their already set level of power within the cosmic hierarchy, it's important to note that depending on the pantheon in question, the worship level is notably important for the gods and the greater the number of worshipers of a god, the greater their power will be.

## Overview

Old Gods are supernatural divine beings responsible for controlling the forces of nature and safeguarding the universe. They're attributed to natural phenomena such as lightning, floods and storms, and miracles, and can be conceived as the authorities or controllers of every aspect of human life (such as birth or the afterlife). Some deities are considered the directors of time and destiny, the givers of morality and human laws, the final judges of value and human behavior and the designers and creators of the Earth and/or the universe, rather than these phenomena being solely products of natural laws or physics. The distinction between the human and the divine in many cultures is far from absolute. Demigods, for instance, are born from the union of a human and a deity, and many royal dynasties in antiquity asserted descent from divine ancestors, blurring the line between mortals and the divine realm.

## History

### Origins

The exact origins of the Old Gods are lost in antiquity, but it's known that every culture has its own, often contradictory, myths on the creation of the universe. What's known is that soon after the creation of the Earth, the Demiurge, the embodiment of the planet's potential biosphere, seeded it with its own life essence, producing the Elder Gods known as Set, Chthon, and Gaea among others. Most of these deities degenerated into demons, forcing Gaea to have to sire a son, Atum, to destroy most of them, while the few that survived were driven away to nether realm. Atum had taken the energy accumulated by the demonic entities and returned them to Demiurge who ended up dying for reasons unknown to all save for a few.

Demiurge's sudden death unleashed a cosmic wave of pure concentarted divine energy known as the Godwave, which spread across the universe and expanded the metaphysical reality known as the Sphere of the Gods. It's unknown how the Godwave contributed to the Old God's existence, however it's been theorized when the wave of power swept across the cosmos, leaving a seed of divinity wherever it touched, it became responsible for creating various pantheons of gods and divine entities on various planets. As the energy wave spread, it eventually reached the edge of the universe and rebounded, making a second pass that created the potential for superhumans on planets such as Earth a thousand years from the present. In time, the resonance created by the Godwave began to expand and contract whereupon it returned to the Void.

It's also known that many of these Old Gods were descended from the primeval Earth-Goddess Gaea and over the years have separated into tribes or pantheons, each pantheon connected to worshipers separated on Earth by either geological, cultural or environmental boundaries.

## Powers & Abilities

### Powers

The Old Gods, generally speaking, are the most powerful beings in existence save for the Archangels, Chaos, and The Presence. They're strong enough to be feared throughout the multiverse, not just by mortals, but even amongst themselves. While each god appears to possess the same authority and powers, their individual power varies depending on their divine linage, how old they are, or if they serve another deity. As supernatural beings, Old Gods are empowered and immensely linked to their spheres of influence, some even being harmed should their domains sustain any damage.

* **Cosmo Mastery**: As the first beings to control the universe, Old Gods hold complete mastery over their individual Cosmo and have mastered its various paths, to the point the energy itself serves as the receptacle of all memory, knowledge and aspect that gods have themselves. By inciting their Cosmo, the deities manifest an aura whose color and varies The power and cosmic level of the gods is so immeasurable that some see humans as no more powerful or important than how humans view bacteria.
* **Divine Magic**: Old Gods were magical beings of divine power, wielding unlimited control over the divine energy inherent within all Old Gods and manifested its abilities using a "Mystic Art" linked to their respective pantheon. An Old Gods magic grants various abilities, the most notable being authoritative and mystical command over certain spheres of influence connected to reality and nature, such as life and death, war, thunder, life, etc. This power is the reason why mortals feared and worshiped deities of mythology as they maintained balance and ensured the safety, prosperity and development of whatever civilization worshiped them.
	+ **Psionics**: The gods, but not all, have an almost unlimited amount of control over general mental powers, including teleportation, telepathy, psychokinesis, and in some cases, precognition. It's noted these abilities were somewhat derived from Mind Magic, being a natural part of their being with mental powers that are both magical and psionic in nature, however they cannot harness mental energy the same way as psychics like Psylocke and Jean Grey. Furthermore, an Old Gods ability to teleport is not always classified as being a psychic ability, the reasoning behind is remains unknown.
	+ **Transfiguration**: Many Old Gods were known for their ability to transfigure and transmute virtually anything into something else, usally doing this as divine punishment upon mortals who've offended them. Their ability to affect matter has been considered somewhat separate from their telekinetic abilities, as not every deity utilized their psychickinetic power to manipulate atoms. In some cases, especially with beings such as the Gods of Atlantis and Ares, their telekinetic and matter manipulating power can be used together as two separate abilities.
* **Mastery of the Ninth Sense**: The gods are the supreme beings of the universe because they control the Supreme Virtue, which has allowed them to ascend to the higher state they are in and awaken a wide range of abilities as well as attributes close to omnipotence. They are also capable of absurd feats with their cosmos, even if it contradicts the laws of physics - Hades was capable of aligning every planet within the solar system and Perseus created an explosion that destroyed multiverse, but even an incomplete mastery can guarantee overwhelming divine power. Ut also seems that the deities awaken a differentiated capacity according to their divine lineage by gaining control of this sense.
* **Ichor**: Unlike most deities from across the universe, Old Gods has their bodies and immortality defined through ichor, a divine substance that replaces blood found within the bodies of mortals. This fluid carries the same divine power as its wielder, being extremely poisonous to mortals. At the same time, it's used by them and other deities to heal themselves, strengthen or expand their capabilities. Furthermore, ichor doesn't carry the same genetic imperfections as mortals, being entirely unique to the god itself which allowed for children born into the same family without deformities.
* **Immortality**: Old Gods were functionally immortal and cannot die through any conventional means. Their bodies alone prevent them from being harmed by mortal weaponry unless they're enchanted with magic. They also become immune to all human diseases (they are still vulnerable to some magical afflictions), and capable of surviving damage that would easily destroy a human. Despite their immortality, not every Old God were truly immortal as some have enchanted lifespans that protect them from natural causes and should be noted that under the right conditions, certain deities may be killed. However, it's confirmed such methods of death for these gods wasn't permenent and they'll eventually reform over an extended period of time greater than regular immortals.
* **Physical Aptitude**: The gods have physical abilities, such as strength, speed, endurance, and stamina, vastly superior to that of mortals, even going beyond those who are also seen as superhuman. They have an inhuman durability, being able to quickly generate and manipulate immense amounts of cosmo energy without inconvenience, besides possessing incredible regenerative abilities. The limits of one god's power in this regard are unknown, as is the extent to which they can cross another's domain. However, they can get tired or overpowered depending on how powerful their opponent is or how numerous they are. Although capable of sustaining large levels of damage, they are still susceptible to pain, mental or physical.

## Miscellaneous

### Cultural Traits

The Gods of Earth usually take on the cultural traits of the culture of their worshipers.

## Known Pantheons

* Aboriginal Gods
* Amatsu-Kami
* Annunaki
* Asgardians
* Ahau
* Apu
* Daevas
* Dievas
* Ennead
* Inua
* Jumala
* Manidoog
* Olympians
	+ Gods of Atlantis
	+ Titans of Myth
* Tenger
* Tēteoh
* Tuatha de Danaans
	+ Fomorians
	+ Gods of Avalon
* Vodū/Orishas
* Xian
* Yazatas

## Trivia

* Some deities, such as Valkyrie, Hadari-Yao, or Yu Huang, were mortals who apotheosized either as a result of being elevated to divine status by another deity, through being worshiped, or some other means of attaining godhood.
* Loki suggests that gods are stories that are so good that the universe believes them, thus they become reality. In other words, it is the mortals who created the gods.
	+ This was later stated to be false, instead being the Godwave creating the Old Gods from the remains of an already existing deity. Furthermore, there's established facts that various other types of gods and immortals existed before the Old Gods and mortals, they themselves being responsible for the latter's existence.
* While known as the Gods of Earth, Old Gods was a term used for otherworldly being to differentiate them from the New Gods