universalis | OOC : ABOUT

U N I V E R S A L I S
( a modern pantheon verse )

premise

The ancient gods live amongst us, immortal and never changing. Their power and strength wanes and waxes as the mortals of the world remember or forget their names, but a well-placed prayer can bring even the oldest and weakest godling back from the brink of dissolution.

To help them navigate the swelling tides of social change each god is assigned a partnership of carers: a master and an apprentice, and both are expected to stay with their charge until their deaths. Each god may have lived through hundreds of thousands of carers and only on the death of their master may an apprentice graduate and pick an apprentice of their own - their eventual replacement.

The gods take human names and human jobs to eke out a living in the company of the mortals that they once governed but most still seem to possess the vitriolic wrath and tempestuous personalities of their former selves. They maintain links with their pantheons and often gravitate towards each other in order to maintain some semblance of the lives and relationships they once knew. Some of the more organised pantheons have even started their own companies such as OlympiCorps - the multi-national corporation of Greco-Roman deities.

Their carers are often left despairing but the life of a minder isn't so bad. Each and every deity gifts its carers with a 'blessing' - a power to make their duties just that little bit easier. A minder is expected to aid and assist their charge in every little matter the god wishes them to help with - one part PA and one part priest, a minder is expected to commit every last fibre of their being to their god.

The blessings vary from deity to deity - naturally, some are more generous than others. A Welsh fire goddess may choose to bestow upon her carers the ability to control a fire, because who know's when she may just set a man on fire in the middle of some drunken bar brawl in Cardiff city center? The relationships between a god and their carers will vary as well - for some, it's a sore bruise to their pride that they should have to be nannied and babysat like some tiresome toddler. Others enjoy the attention, and even endeavour to keep their carers amused with sexual and romantic advances. Other than total devotion to their charge there are no rules or codes of conduct for the masters or their apprentices - for the most part, they are expected to indulge the whims of their petulant charges for fear of what might happen should they offend them too deeply.

gameplay

There are no hard and fast rules to this verse and anyone who wants to join in may do so. Lists will be maintained by Shaz/fizzy but other than that players are able to do as they please. There are no applications and players may recruit their friends as they please - all we ask is that claims on the reserves lists are respected and that there is an effort by all to pick PBs of appropriate cultures for various deities (ie. no whitewashing).

Obviously, the idea of gods and goddesses living among modern-day mortals is nothing new! The idea behind this verse owes quite a bit to Neil Gaiman's book American Gods - specifically the idea that a deity's power strengthens and weakens according to mortal belief. Everything else is pretty much public domain.

The comm universalis is open for everything - from OOC organisation, to private logs, to wide-ranging events, to open memes. Feel free to use it and abuse it as you see fit!

Layout CSS by visualwit

questions? ideas?

Please comment below with any questions, ideas or suggestions. Comments can be replied to by everybody and anybody who thinks they might have an answer!