from Zariste’s Concise Guide to World Religions

After the Age of Gods, the gods decided their presence was corrupting their creation, so they vowed to only manifest in their corporeal form on their holy days or if a majority of the other gods agreed to allow it. They guide their followers using indirect manners most of the year.

The gods often simply whisper in their followers’ heart, although this whisper can be difficult for most to distinguish from their own thoughts, and it can be easy for the obstinate to ignore. Even so, the gods allow their followers free will because they prefer those who chose to follow them rather than those obey because they must.

Priests are those who have answered their god’s call to serve, so they are often the best at hearing and following their god’s whispers. Because of this, their god impacts more of their conscious life than that of their parishioners. Once ordained, priests know their god’s true name, so they can summon their god better, and the gods are more likely to speak directly to priests. Also, priests attempt to help others follow their god’s precepts as well.

Outside of holy days, the gods only manifest through their voice or their chosen presence medium. When speaking directly to their followers, a god’s voice can sometimes come from their presence medium, the world around their followers, or from everywhere and nowhere at once. The Goddess’s voice is a warm feminine one that sounds both old and young. The Sea God’s voice is a deep masculine one with the rumble of the sea behind it. The Twins often speak in unison, with Lady Night’s voice being a velvety alto, while Lord Day’s a smooth tenor.

Each of the gods possess a different presence medium. The Goddess’s presence can be summoned through a Goddess laurel, a holy shrub that only flourishes on the Goddess’s consecrated grounds. The Sea God’s presence can be summoned through a Sea God bowl, a bowl created by the sea that is filled with sea water. The Twins’ presences can be summoned through a Twins candle, a two-wick candle made at either dawn or dusk. Most often, only priests use their god’s presence medium, and using one is more effective when using a god’s true name.

Although gods can physically manifest on holy days, they seldom choose to do so. Even on these days, they typically keep to their normal manner of communication. If they do physically manifest, it is often only to a few people, and they rarely do so to the same person more than once. When the gods physically manifest, they appear suddenly, in a puff of smoke, out of direct sight, grow into being, or many other ways. Sometimes the gods appear tiny or human-sized or massive. However, when they do physically manifest, they always have the same appearance. The Goddess is a curvy lady of middle years with golden skin, brown-green eyes, and wavy hair a mixture of brown, gold, and black. The Sea God is a burly man of middle years with silvery skin, navy eyes, and long, unruly, black hair and beard. The Twins bear similar features, except Lady Night is curvier with inky hair and dark skin, while Lord Day is brawnier with blond hair and gold skin.

Avatars of the gods follow similar restrictions to the gods, except avatars manifest their image throughout the year and don’t use presence mediums. Yet avatars can still only physically manifest on holy days. They appear with less display than the gods, usually just quietly appearing or disappearing out of direct sight. Avatars don’t often whisper in people’s heart, but instead speak directly.