Inaethri Explained

Inaethri are deities galvanized into power and immortality by the belief or faith of the living.

In the beginning of the Inaethrite Era, the Aethri - protohumanoids akin to changelings or doppelgangers - would naturally congregate around each other and form cultures that were based off of their connections and the context of their environs. As they gathered, they would begin to pool their resources and solve tasks together. Not all of these resources were physical. Aethrin - not just our ancestors, but all current mortal races - have the latent ability to invest other beings with power through their faith.
Although the rules and specifics for exactly how this process occurs are frustratingly obfuscated by the inexorable nature of time, one thing is certain. This power to consciously or subconsciously elevate a person (like a beloved leader), place (like a sacred mountain), thing (like a house of worship), or idea (like a philosophy) invests not only a form of immortality but also a great and terrible power. Each and every single Inaethrid recorded in these tomes represents the Inaethri as supremely powerful beings who could act with the will of an entire civilization focused through one singular conduit.
With this power the Inaethri could - and did - frequently smite each other at will, constantly battling though they were fruit wielding their own vines as they burned. Few records exist of the Inaethri who did not survive to present day, as they were only ever destroyed by the destruction of the faith, and that faith existed in the aethrin beneath them. And for those mortals who died for the victory, the Inaethri crafted grand afterlives through the faith, stewarded by their own dreams.
I suppose that it is lucky an Inaethrid cannot only be formed by conscious thought, but subconscious as well. For every "heaven" of promised reward after a lifetime in service to not only the Inaethri, but the faith, there is also a "hell" that may steal the souls of the believers. The ultimate cursed rapture, a torment unending of the believers' own design, where whatever passes for their worst fears are realized. To the sacred, the profane is hell, and vice versa. To the capricious, there is a hell of axioms, and so on.
Aethrin are flawed and their judgment - whether as individuals or as a people - can be recklessly wholesome or fiendishly malevolent. That the power of faith elevates not only the exarch of the will of the people, but also the antithesis to that will through the fears of the people, means that no power exists without balance. Myzelis' proof of a greater guiding hand, with all the wisdom of experience, and none of the bias of want.

The Introduction to Eblin's Journal of the Gylidder Inaethrid

as written by

Elomin Ri'sa Al'sah

Curator of Gylidder Magic

High Priest of the Dragon, Izzithsicoria Dauddraig

Creation

Faith in an Inaethri does not have to be positive or reverent. Inaethri are created whenever a particular belief structure is strong enough, regardless of whether the belief is that the Inaethri is good, evil, beloved, feared, or simply respected. There are two methods by which an entity becomes Inaethri: Possession, or an Inaethrid.

Possession

In the first method, an Incari is possessed by the faith of those who live near it.
The belief structure of mortals can grant sentience, wants, and needs, resulting in entities that can act in spite of their primal instincts. Examples include but are not limited to: haunted mountains, sacred groves, treacherous seas. Sometimes, the possessed Incari takes on an Inaethri name, if given one by the mortals that believe in it. When the belief structure disappears (perhaps because none who live remember the treachery of a particular sea), the Inaethri usually becomes an Incari again, and returns to its primal instincts.

Inaethrid

In the second method, a mortal being undergoes an “Inaethrid.”
When at the end of their life (whether natural or not), a truly legendary individual gathers the attention of their entire society, it was once the natural way of things for that individual to ascend to godhood. Whether from adoration, respect, fear, love, or any other strong emotion, these mortals would have the choice to “accept” their ascension or reject it. This moment - both the act of belief and the decision to accept the powers and responsibilities of becoming a god - is called an Inaethrid.
If the mortal declines, they merely pass on to the afterlife. It is possible for someone to have a second chance to accept in the form of another Inaethrid, but usually the belief is spent and doesn’t linger - mortals tend to move on to elevate the next important figure.
If the mortal accepts the Inaethrid, they shed their mortal form and become an Inaethri, a god. They are vested with the power to construct their own realm - an outer plane in which their followers are judged and granted an afterlife or can be transmuted into servants to defend the realm. They may grant spells to devout followers, and send their servants to answer powerful spells in their name.

Powers

Inaethri, unlike Incari, are empowered by and subject to the faith of the mortals that believe in them. If a civilization creates an Inaethri, that same group subconscious can also change the god’s importance, demeanor, and powers. Entities of great importance can find their powers waning as the society crumbles or shifts away from their worship, and otherwise lesser deities can gradually find themselves filling entirely different roles as gods than they ever did as mortals.
Likewise, Inaethri cannot be killed except by destroying the believers, or changing the belief. An Inaethri whose avatar is destroyed is swiftly reborn, and they have near omnipotence when residing in their plane. An Inaethri with no worshippers is gone forever.

On Myzelis

Inaethri can, and sometimes do, visit Myzelis, but Vrokíva’s reaction is very strong. Throughout history, Inaethri and their followers have used powerful magic and the strength of their beliefs to force Myzelis, its moons, stars, and fellow planets, to bend to their whims. Until the creation of the Brume and Vrokíva’s Inaethrid, the planet was constantly being reshaped and destroyed, healed and consumed by these factions.
Myzelis (as the Incari), spawned the Brume as a way to fight against future magics and to heal the damage that had been caused. This event is known to scholars as “The Ripple,” because it came with a violent earthquake felt all across Myzelis that caused new mountain ranges to form and shattered some lands into new seas.
Since Inaethri were the catalyst for this, Vrokíva is especially vindictive against them. The presence of an Inaethri in the prime material plane causes the Brume to roil against the edges of civilization. In the past, this has led to death, suffering, and destruction, and on occasion the complete annihilation of entire civilizations. The Inaethri and societies that persist to present day aren’t the only ones to ever exist - they are the only ones to have survived the Brume with their civilizations intact. The gods of these pantheons have learned to respect Vrokíva’s power and leave change to mortalkind.