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From InBrightestDay on February 11, 2020 Well, we have some important world building here. Thank you I like the idea of the forum where the gods meet, and that they only do so reluctantly. I am interested in the exact nature of the Nine Divines. The Noble Nine. Nine Divines, Are Adala’s pantheon. She’s 1/9th. Their preeminence is the result of back breaking work and constant vigilance. Others tribes and pantheons view them range from staunch allies, to view them with envy, jealously to outright hatred. They’re not resting on their laurels. In the game of civilization. They’re winning and they’ve chosen not to hide that fact. The waypoints, way stations and roads they’ve encouraged mortals to build is simply too useful. The age of the wilds and the daunting wilderness is ending. Every road, every bridge, every junction, highway in some small way is an announcement of that fact. in a all roads lead to Rome sense. The fae will not go silently but they are going and they’re bleeding power,strength and numbers. Some are resigned, some are defiant but all know they had their apex, their age of supremacy within which they could even cow the gods. Not with a bang but a whisper. Unfortunately, for some they’re reaping the rewards of the ascendant gods. Who remember every insult they’ve been forced to accept. And the reckoning is not in the fae’s favor. Given the number of gods in Mortane, are they part of the nine, or are the nine only one small group of deities, the gods of order and civilization, who attend these councils, and the others don't participate? The noble nine are just one pantheon. The gods of order and civilization are the ones who tend to gather at the forum. The gods of dark tend to be loners. Well at least until a pantheon or tribes likes them enough to adopt them into the fold. Kinda like how extroverts adopt introverts. I love the imagery of the Mother of Angels wearing a galaxy as a dress; that's such a cool idea! It's also nice seeing her affectionate attitude toward Adala, sort of similar to Adala's attitude toward Trias. Similarly, I liked seeing the impact Trias's choice to worship Adala had on Adala herself; that it's flattering to her that Trias chose her out of all the deities she could have been a champion for. Imagine being chosen out of every human that exists. 7 billion people but out of those. You were the lucky one. I'll admit I wasn't sure how big the Mother of Angels was supposed to be. She produces the Angel of Death in the palm of her hand, which made me think she was huge, but then at the end she hugs Adara, which makes her seem roughly human size (or the same size as the other deities, anyway). Granted, as a goddess, she could just shrink or grow as the situation requires. The Mother Of Angels is deliberately holding back. Those divine senses can only do so much. She towers over them not just in a physical sense but a metaphysical one as well. The galaxy dress is the only hint she’s giving. She’s measured in light-years at the least. In Theopolis, She’s the closest one comes to true omnipotence. Her power is such that it hobbles her more than it helps. She can’t visit mortal universes even with aspects they are profoundly beyond her reach. Lest every star simultaneously supernova, the universe ruptures and the nothingness dissolves everything in seconds. Total vacuum collapse. So she mostly wanders the multiversal cosmos tending and visiting her angelic children. It is draining to hold back so the angel of death eventually just does the talking/ambassador duties. I feel like some of the stuff in here, like the weird moon, is a reference to the other stories in this universe, like Ghoulneedle and Winterfall, though as I haven't read those yet I can't be sure. Not required reading but there will be major spoilers for those in the coming chapters. I am curious about the "thrown into a star" thing. The wording was a little vague, so is that Adala has thrown local spirits into stars for breaking the rules, or that the Mother goddess has thrown younger deities into stars over that? Adala is being an unreliable narrator on purpose. It’s standard procedure to imprison nonmortal beings but deliberately imprisoning them in the heart of a star borders on inhumane. by the time the star dies in the billions of years that would take quite effectively removes them and their influence on the world permanently. Death is messy for nonmortals and lesser powers and can pave the way for their resurrection and greater power. Imprisoning them somewhere where they’ve been rendered powerless is a much better deterrent. Adala doesn’t pull her punches. And really is sapient sacrifice worth billions of years of crushing pressure and excruciating heat while the only thing you can do is scream? Next up, it looks like the gods of this setting are somewhat limited in what they can see, so Adala's going to need evidence to get the other eight deities to go to war. That means she's going to need some help, and we'll find out about this new godling next time. Looking forward to it! The gods see the world most clearly where their influence is greatest. Where every sense radiates for miles around it tapers off into a blurry fog of war of indistinctness. They can see landmasses as a map but this sense can be blocked by hostile to unfriendly deities and lesser powers. Where foggy nothingness is shown instead. The Mother Of Angels saved her from embarrassing herself. Going into the meeting riding high on emotions and little evidence. She has evidence. What she’s looking for is the smoking gun. The factual proof that she needs so the other gods will be forced to listen. All it takes is a little guesswork but its out there. That last place anyone would look. The shrinking frontier or the dead marshes before The Detestable Valley.