Lesser Gods

Unable to travel through the mortal planes without the use of an avatar, these exusians are typically worshipped by a number of people; between 500,000-1,000,000 and will spend their days tending to their portfolios and relationships with the other deities of the realms. They still have the ability to use visions and symbolism to get their point across to their followers, often preferring this over the use of an avatar in most cases because if the avatar gets damaged the deity behind them does as well.

## Description

Lesser gods are the second most powerful deities in all the realms only beaten by Greater deities in power and influence. They will typically have 1-3 avatars which they can use in order to contact their worshippers as they are the first of the exusians which are not able to walk among mortals on the living realms, though they often also contact their worshippers through symbolism, dreams, and other divine omens that can be interpreted in a number of ways; as such it is often seen as less effective than just sending an ethereal angel or visiting in an avatar form.

## Abilities

Like the other exusians, lesser gods have a number of basic abilities which are: improved strength, improved speed, improved hearing, celestial nature, protection from good and evil, enhanced intelligence, and enhanced memory. Additionally, they have the ability to levitate at will, fly, shapeshift, and semi-omnipotence (in a certain radius around their clerics/priests/paladins). Lesser gods also have innate spellcasting which they can tap into at any given time, the spells that are available to them are: Protection, Mending, Remedy lesser wound, Martial Prowess, Comprehend Languages, Detect Nature, Memory Manipulation, Shield, and Meteor Storm; of course there is a limit to how many times these spells can be cast but it is unknown entirely what that limit is.

For abilities in martial combat, an idol receives a certain boon in martial knowledge upon ascension in addition to the enhanced understanding of martial tactics a hero-god would gain upon ascension. They gain a certain prowess derived from their enhanced speed, strength, and hearing which allow them better performance in combat situations.

Like their lesser divine counterparts; the celestials; lesser deities have immunities, resistances, and vulnerabilities to certain elements, magic types, and damaging effects; though they are bettered by their greater divinity; these include: Immunity to celestial damage, charming spells, becoming frightened, and exhaustion, resistance to poison, acid, fire, cold, paralysis, and petrification, and vulnerability to necrotic damage. Unlike their lesser in status gods, the hero-gods, they do not require food, water, or sleep, but can still eat and drink water if they wish and enter a meditative state somewhat similar to sleep; though they are still entirely aware of their surroundings with their enhanced sound. Additionally, idols are immune to all non-magical illnesses and diseases as per their divinity.

## Worship

Typically lesser gods will have between 500,000-1,000,000 worshippers with many of those being simpler folk and not actual priest, clerics, or paladins of the deity. They do gain a larger boon than that of the idols from their larger number of worshippers so they gain greater health and defense with the added ability to cast their innate spells a number of additionally times than is the default. Most of the worship of these deities were handled through their angels which would be able to contact their mortal worshippers and give them tasks based on the deities goals which are inherently known by their angels.