Today, there are only twelve churches of gods in the entire Holy City, and they can still gain the favor of the gods, still receive divine power, and still possess divine magic.In the eyes of outsiders, these churches of the twelve gods are very Buddhist in their appearance, and they pursue faith, but they are not fanatical, but regard it as a kind of psychological sustenance.They also preach, but more often for good, and the competition between churches is not fierce, even if believers change their faith, they can be treated calmly.And the upper echelons of the church, even the cardinal archbishop, and even the patriarch, can only cultivate divine arts to the level of a half-step legend, similar to the archmage.Of course, it is not excluded that there are amazing and brilliant priests who can also cultivate the warrior system and go to the realm of legends.But this is only a very small minority.As for the Wharton plane, relying directly on divine grace to forcibly break through the legend, hehe, it has never appeared in this plane, or rather, there is no such statement!
However, as a member of Atlantis, the Church of the Gods was not active in the demonic invasion and was not the main force, but it never lagged behind.They did not prohibit their followers from participating in wars against demons, and there were even cases where the Empire called for help, sending priests or Knights Templar to help.Although they are no better than Warfighters in the high-end realms, some of the magic techniques have a great effect on the evil power of the Abyss, and they are also the best healers.For example, before the First World War of the Burning Wasteland, Fao went to the Holy City and befriended the Patriarch of the Church of the God of Fighting, His Majesty Otoro.On his recommendation, the Patriarchs of the Twelve convened and eventually sent a Knights Templar and a large number of priests.And they played a great role in pulling out the abyssal breath.Of course, having learned many secrets, Fao only felt that this pious council was specially kept by the gods.In today's Atlantis, although there are many people willing to believe in gods under the threat of demonic invasion, due to the lack of elements and the difficulty of divine magic, the harvest of the power of faith is largely beyond the means of making ends meet.But they still maintain the operation of the church, and may even maintain it by relying on divine power, which obviously has a deeper calculation.This sentence is not only applicable to the mortals of the main material plane, but also to the gods.So the meaning of the existence of these churches is worth considering?
In Fao's view, their greatest role is to protect the forged by the magic net to block the elemental tides.Amon also recognized this, and of course, he saw more!
He made a detailed comparison between the gods of Atlantis and the gods of Wharton, and gained a great deal of very secret knowledge by referring to some of the ideas in the book.For example, Atlantis has some of the same gods as Wharton, such as Tabrand, the god of storms, Ziawan Sali, the goddess of immortal vengeance, and Waukin, the goddess of wealth.Of course, this is not only the same name of God, but also the same beliefs and doctrines.On the other hand, Atlante also has some gods that are not available on the Wharton plane, such as Mystra, the goddess of magic, Kranvo, the god of death, Panser, the god of psionics, and so on.However, the Lions God Nubien of the Wharton Plane, Zertus, the God of Authority and Justice, and Gunde, the God of Craft, these Atlantis did not appear.Note that it is not the Church that has died in the long course of history, but the long epoch of the Age of the Gods, in which none of these gods have appeared.For example, in Atlantis, Randerson, the god of the sun, and Lossanda, the lord of the dawn, are two separate churches, and the god of war is not called Tampas, but Ares.Ares, the god of war, is an extremely powerful and powerful god who is good at fighting.Of course, what Amon minds the most is that there is also Kord's church here.It's just that Kord here is not the god of strength and courage, but also the god of fighting.For this reason, Amun instigated Fao to go to the Holy City, where he befriended the patriarch of the Church of the God of Fighting and studied their teachings carefully.He found that the teachings here were similar to those of Wharton, and even the images of the gods were depicted on the outside.It can be concluded that this god of fighting, Kord, is the god of strength and courage that Amun knew.It's just that the difference in the name of the god obviously indicates something deeper.After careful study, Amon also made a discovery, that is, in Atlantis, Kode's priesthood not only contains strength, courage, and movement, but also a struggle that the Wharton plane does not have.Thinking about something in the book, Amon suddenly had some thoughts, and it was clear that Kord intended to get involved in the priesthood in the field of grappling.With this as a rocker, he can even expand the priesthood such as battle, war, death, intrigue, etc.Clearly, He was a thoughtful deity who was not content to be in the present authority.However, if he wanted to get his hands on it, he would inevitably anger some more powerful gods, such as Tampas, the god of war.As for the war between the gods, Amon couldn't even imagine how it would go, but he knew that the priesthood represented different authorities, and authority was always the root cause of the war of the gods.Amon even conjectured that on the Wharton plane, the kingdom of Tampas, the god of war, was close by, and Kord only dared to claim himself the god of strength and courage.But in Atlantis, there was no Tampas, the god of war, so he was careful about it.He added the priesthood of wrestling for himself when he preached the doctrine, and it was clear that He wanted to expand the realm of his control.It's just that why he is afraid of Tampas, the god of war, but doesn't seem to care much about Ares, the god of war, is not known to Amon today.Even so, though, Amon had the feeling of grasping Kord's pigtails, which he felt was definitely a hidden knowledge worth remembering.No, at some point, this secret knowledge will be useful.Amon walked out of the true dragon's lair again, it was already the spring bud moon of another year, and looking at the dragon's nest peaks that had turned green, he had the illusion of being in a different world.If you really want to count it, he has been in this world for more than two years, he is busy, he seems to have done a lot of things, and his life has been very fulfilling, and he has not stopped much.But he didn't seem to have done anything, and it seemed that he could still see the two-headed bull monster that was almost in front of him, and he could still remember the beast tide that made him almost die.Everything is still vivid in my mind as if it happened yesterday.In the month of spring buds, everything recovers, and it is about to usher in another year of trade fairs and coming-of-age ceremonies.Because of the departure of King Khakassia and Queen Paris, this year's fair will inevitably lose a bit of lustre.As a result, the courtiers of the House of Odoyak and the Church of the God of Strength and Courage negotiated a large competitive tournament as a celebration ceremony.And Amon was pulled out by Alice at this time.Although he consciously downplayed his existence, he was a member of the Odoyak family after all, and he had to attend official occasions.It should be said that Amon didn't think much about it when he walked out of the dragon's lair and entered the city of Kelmar, because Kord, the god of strength and courage, was a god who loved to push the limits.He would encourage his followers to play deadly sports to decide disputes.Therefore, in addition to the daily gladiatorial competitions, the gladiatorial arena in Kelmar City is also an important venue for sports competitions.Especially during festivals and festivals, sports competitions organized by the Church of the God of Strength and Courage and the Odoyak family can even attract the attention and lively discussion of the whole kingdom.Originally, this was all according to the normal process, but when the competitive competition entered the climax, everything changed.The clouds above the sky suddenly cracked, and a huge male figure with long fiery red hair and long beard, strong and muscular, wearing white dragon leather gloves, blue boots, and a red battle belt appeared in the sky.He looked down at the world, as if he was watching the pomp and circumstance of the world with relish, and after revealing his figure, he waved his hand and sowed boundless radiance.The brilliant light shone down and fell on the city of Kelmar, and countless believers felt the vitality in their bodies, as if they heard the voice of God.This is a miracle!
The miracle of Kourd, the god of strength and courage!!
The first to react was the white-haired, one-armed Pope, who immediately fell to one knee, bowed his head, and chanted aloud a hymn in praise of the god of strength and courage.With him as a dot, as if contagious, a large number of priests and devout believers also fell to one knee and began to pray with excitement and trembling.It only took a moment for the entire city of Kelmar to be immersed in a frenzied atmosphere.As for Amun, he mingled in a corner of the gladiatorial arena and did the same as everyone else, kneeling on one knee and reciting prayers as if he were praying.It's just that in a position that no one can see, his face is already full of horror.He could perceive that the figure in the sky was not an entity, but something similar to a projection, but the towering oppression like a mountain gave him a sense of crisis when he faced the advent of the six-armed snake demon queen Shaktari in the Atlantean plane.He could still feel the radiance that had entered his body, with an inexplicable air of fanaticism, which, although it was beneficial, made him frightened and repulsed.He could hear the voice that seemed to ring in his heart, it was a shocking murmur like Hong Zhong Dalu, it was an indescribable language system.He didn't understand it, but he could understand the meaning.It was the prophecy of Kord, the god of strength and courage, the oracle proclaimed by the Church!
It was also in this oracle that Kode guided his followers to destroy the false god faith, to expand the territory of Kode, the god of strength and courage, to spread the teachings, and to create an empire belonging to the ancient Mongols.The moment he understood the contents of this oracle, Amon felt a sense of transparency like an initiation, and the trembling that followed.Therefore, his guess is actually correct, the Wharton plane is actually at the transition between the thriving and mature periods, the pattern of the city-state will be broken, and the era of imperial unification is about to begin.It's just that he didn't expect everything to come so quickly!
And he had wondered how the gods could start this battle for the unification of the empire and the battle of faith in the church.Now, there is an answer.That's a false god!
What is a false god?
In the book, there is a sentence that the gods are great because of faith, and they are also perishable because of faith.This sentence seems ordinary, but if you study it carefully, the content is actually very deep, and just the first half of the sentence reveals an incredible secret.Gods are great because of faith, does that mean that gods are actually born from faith?
Even, if there are enough faiths, can mortals also achieve godhood?
The answer is yes.That's right, according to the point of view in the book, the gods were born from faith.For example, if a powerful monster inadvertently shelters a primitive tribe, the tribe will worship in the image of the other party, sacrifice, offer food, and even create rituals for it according to its own understanding, and pass it on from generation to generation.Until this demonic beast inadvertently condenses the initial power of faith, and becomes more powerful as a result, and even has some incredible powers, is this demonic beast considered the original god?
In fact, this is really the prototype of the gods.It has a more apt name, the Totem of Faith!
To give a ready-made example, such as Nubien, the lion god of the Lion City faith, became a god because of this.Also, if there is a powerful warrior or spellcaster, after their death, their souls do not fall into the River Styx for some reason, but attach themselves to a certain land and become another form of being.Well, if this spirit is sacrificed by mortals, tastes the fruits of the power of faith, extends special powers, and begins to answer the prayers of the believers and shelter them.Countless years later, is it also the prototype of a god?
The answer is yes, it also has a more apt name, ancestral spirit.Also to give a ready-made example, the Patron Saint of the Northland Ranger, Guilun Storm took this path.Of course, these two are successful examples, built on the vast number of failed cases in reality.Not to mention whether there is so much time and a favorable environment for them to slowly develop their beliefs, let's just say that the initial ignorance period of totems and ancestral spirits is not so easy to pass.You must know that most of the totems and ancestral spirits of this period follow instinctive activities, but once they have tasted taboos such as killing and blood sacrifices, it is difficult to get rid of them.And this will make their hearts dusty, and they will no longer be able to regain reason, and then they will sink until they are eaten up by the power of faith.Of course, if you have to ask, is there any kind of totem or ancestral spirit that has the best environment for development, has a long time, and has gone through the period of ignorance, and has established its own church, and has its own priesthood.And over time, he defeated countless opponents and became the brightest cub in the plane, ahem, gods?
In this case, there really is.The universe is vast, and the main material planes that can reproduce life are as many as stars, even if the gods have boundless power, it does not mean that they can discover all the planes suitable for the reproduction of life.If you are really lucky, will you really be able to become a god in the plane?
In fact, in the first half, the author's travel diary was recorded, and he really accidentally encountered such a main material plane.It was an extremely remote corner, and for some reason, a mature plane was not discovered, and the author found that although the entire plane was not large, tens of millions of mortals believed in a primordial god.And this deity not only relied on the barrier of the main material plane to establish his own kingdom of God, but also gathered countless pious believers.He defeated all other native gods and became the only one in the entire plane, thus accumulating an unimaginably strong power of faith.It should be said that the indigenous gods of this level are actually no worse than the real gods, and even if there are really gods with bad heads, they forcibly descend on this main material plane and clash with him.It will only be the native god who wins, not the true god.That's the advantage that comes with being at home, and sometimes even being able to cross the limits of the ranks.It's just that no matter how powerful this native god is, how powerful he is in his own plane, he is only a false god, not a true god.The so-called difference between true gods and false gods is actually very simple, false gods just taste the power of faith, condense the godhead and priesthood, and even establish the kingdom of God.However, they did not cast their kingdom of God into a throne and hold it up to the sky and become a star.So, no matter how powerful they are, they owe the multiverse a complete ascension ritual.And the true gods, they will cast their own kingdom into a throne, and hold the throne high, out of the astral plane, or the sea of chaos, and pull the throne to the upper plane, or somewhere in the lower plane, and fix it.From then on, they will truly break away from the mundane and become immortal.They will have their place in the Pantheon.Of course, this step is also extremely difficult, not only because the ascension ceremony is not easy, but also because you need to face other gods after the ascension ceremony.For example, the author of the book met the indigenous god whose church had grown to the extreme of capturing almost the entire plane of faith.His kingdom is also extremely powerful, and after being forged into the throne, he fears almost any danger in the ascension ceremony.But He still failed.For within the plane, he claims to be the embodiment of light, the god of the sun, the home of the river Styx, the god of death.He is in control of birth, and He is in control of death.His condensed priesthood includes the sun, the rising, the resurrection, and the realms of darkness, silence, and death.So, when he ascended from the throne, he was faced with a large number of sun gods, god of war, and god of death.Then His kingdom was shattered, and He was beaten to death.Just kidding, although the multiverse is big, there are so many laws and so many powers, and if you share more, others will have to take less.Besides, how greedy do you have to be to combine the realm of the sun and the realm of death into one, to have both light and darkness at the same time?