Deified
Some individuals and entities, having lived extraordinary lives, may find themselves deified by those they helped over the course of their life.
Ekal is a cutthroat world for deities, with rival gods competing for dominance over various domains. Few deities save for the Ageless One can feel secure in their position of worship, but threats to their godhood can come from unexpected places. Some worshipers unsatisfied with the celestial pantheon have been known to channel their worship towards a new entity and forge a new god or goddess through sheer force of will. The process is long and strenuous, but there have been a handful of successful cases like Rexfur and Thorvald Grettirson.
The process of deification can take months or centuries depending on the situation, but there are three steps that must be followed in every case:
1. Spark of the Divine: a handful of die-hard followers must distill their faith into a single entity, granting them with the first hints of divine magic and power.
2. Tending the Flock: faith in the person must grow as the original disciples spread word of their deity-in-the-making. This can be done in a number of ways, but proselytizing and displays of faith are the most effective ways for ensuring success in step 3.
3. Approved by the AO: once a deity-in-the-making has reached a certain threshold in its number of followers or displays of faith, the Ageless One will make a ruling on whether or not the deity's tenets align with the AO's core values. If approved, they become a full-fledged deity allowed to continue expanding with small annual tribues to the AO's ministry in Dhamma. If disapproved, the fledgling will be ordered to disband its following and will be labeled a cult by world governments. For deities disapproved by the AO, they have the opportunity to reform their domain and tenets and appeal for a new ruling 100 years after the first decision.
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