Estus is a world home to many beings of many different types, ranging from simple, humble mortals eking out a life amidst a world of magic and monsters to strange folk existing in bizarre locales that skirted many a line between reality and the metaphysical. But we’re not talking about those today!

Nope, this is not a day for mortals in the slightest. Indeed, it is one for gods! And answering questions about those gods! Because that’s what we’re doing now! Because Specials!

So onto the thing!

What are gods?

Gods are immortal beings of grand elemental and conceptual powers, embodying facets of reality and personifying a particular domain. They have immense mystical might, and are completely and totally immortal, meaning they will not only never die of aging, but outright cannot be killed.

So no, no god-slaying weapons for any cute little mortals, got it? Deicide is out!

So mortals can’t ever beat gods?

Didn’t say that! Defeating is very different from killing, and there are plenty of ways to beat someone without resorting to violence. Outwitting a deity may be tricky, but it’s possible, and overpowering them probably won’t happen for most mortals, but is possible under certain specific circumstances.

If a mortal wants to beat a god through violence, they either need to become a god, or have the backing of a god (or multiple gods) of equal power or greater. This typically comes in the form of a divine weapon, since receiving direct blessing from a god can be handy in small bursts, but too much divine power put into a mortal body means that body’s going kaput. Usually explosively.

In short, yes, a mortal could beat a god a contest of wills, but if they want to overpower them, they not only need to cheat; they need another god to help them cheat. And said god needs to be at least equal in power to the god in question. A god won’t beat an Elder God, so don’t get cocky.

So I can become a god?

Totally! Any mortal of Estus is capable of becoming a god (Outworlders, sorry, but you’re shit out of luck there)!

You just have to fulfill three simple requirements:

Attain Complete Spiritual Enlightenment without the aid of an Existing God! Break out of the Reincarnation Cycle without falling under the domain of an Existing God! Form an entirely new and unique Branch of Magic and create a(n) Elemental/Conceptual Plane of your very own!

Once you complete these three things, godhood is yours! Skip any of them, and you’ll probably turn into some misshapen monstrosity. Or just remain a regular mortal. Either or.

[Fair Note!]

All of these become a lot easier if you happen to be a demigod! If you don’t know what that is, it’s a mortal with divine blood! Not a lesser god! They’re different things!

[Further Note!]

Demigods aren’t really a thing ever since the gods stopped coming to Estus way back at the beginning of the Second Era. There are probably tons of descendants of these people, but divine blood tends to get diluted after the years, and it stopped being special a long time ago. This does mean that the people of Estus are generally stronger than people of other worlds (suck it outworlders) but it’s not like it means they have any significant advantages, unlike a direct mortal child of a god. Which, again, doesn’t happen anymore.

But who cares about that?? If you’re reading this, you’re hungry for knowledge (or entertainment) so that means onward we go, to actual details!

Who are the gods?

Yes, this is a different and better question. For you see, the gods of Estus are not one big happy pantheon here.

No no no, the gods of Estus are, in fact, three (3) entirely separate Pantheons, that may interact at times, but have entirely dissimilar natures and are fundamentally different. They still share the same basic characteristics (immortality, immense power, elementa/conceptual theming) and can be recognized as deities as a result, but otherwise, they’re essentially separate races.

To use a bit of metaphor, it’s like comparing mammals, reptiles, and fish; they may all be animals, and some of them can seem pretty similar, but the important bits diverge from one another to the point where it’s very obvious, if you know what you’re talking about, that they’re different species.

You should note though, that yes, a human can totally produce offspring with a drake, so the differences are not entirely irreconcilable.

So, at this point, you’re likely wondering: “So what are these three pantheons?”, and if you are, you’re really bad at paying attention, huh? That, or you’re very forgetful.

But it’s okay if you are! Because I am here for you now!

And now, we begin!

The Three Pantheons of Estus Are:

The Rakuli, Deities of Life and Order (Boo, hiss!) The Ouza! Deities of Death and Chaos! (Woo, yay!) The Laut, Deities of Stagnation and Mystery (...Eh.)

And there you have it. Though you probably want some more details.

What’s with the Rakuli?

The Rakuli (Rah-koo-lee) are, as stated previously, the gods of Life and Order. Their Heavenly Realm is known as Cielo (See-ehl-oh) and is located, metaphysically speaking, directly above Estus. Due to their “Life and Order” existence, their nature fundamentally leans towards not exploding Estus, and also acts as the source of all Healing Magic. So yeah, mortals tend to like them.

In the current era (The Fourth Era, for those unknowing), they’re kinda the Top Pantheon, at least because their “Elders” are all at the height of their power. Though I should probably explain that first.

[Side Note! What are Elder Gods?]

Elder Gods, or Ancient Gods or Primordial Gods, are the gods right above normal gods. Sometimes we call them Top Gods. They’re our parents, our creators, often our queens, and they are very very important to the fundamental nature of the world.

Now that that’s done, the Rakuli Pantheon is, at the current time, split up into separate courts. Back in the Third Era, they were formed into Five Courts. Now, there’s only Three of them. This is important, but we’re busy at the moment, so here’s some quick info on the courts!

The Rakuli Courts!

The Daybreak Court: Home of Lucere (Loo-sair), the Elder God of Light. The Duskmend Court: Former Home of Caligori (Kah-lee-gorr-ee), the Exiled Elder of Darkness. The Sunrise Court: Former Home of Surodus (Soo-roh-duh-ss), the Lost Elder of Heat. The Tundrafall Court: Home of Khioni (Kee-oh-nee), the Elder God of Cold. The Giltwheat Court: Home of Elion (Eh-lee-awn), the Elder God of Wealth (who is nice).

Each one of them is headed by an Elder God, and is mostly filled up with their kids. Which they have a lot of, and each one of those gods has their own mini-realm of their own, sometimes called the Heavens or Paradises for various reasons. One of the Elders also tends to take in lost and wayward deities to give them a place, further adding to their power.

So, yes, overall, they are in the most powerful position, despite effectively losing two of their Top Gods in some big kerfuffle, and they essentially hold divine domain over the Light Lands, the Sun Lands, and the Frost Lands of Estus.

But enough about them! Onto the Ouza!

What’s up with the Ouza?

The Ouza (Oh-zah) are, as also previously stated, the gods of Death and Chaos, who exist within and rule over the Abyssal/Infernal Realms of Abisso (Ah-bee-soh), which are directly “below” Estus in a metaphysical sense.

“Why is it Abyssal or Infernal?” you might be wondering, and that’s a decent question that mostly has to do with conflicts on naming decisions. The Ancient Gods (the Ouzan version of Elder Gods, though it would be more accurate to say “Elder Gods” are the Rakuli version of Ancient Gods) crafted their realms separately from one another, and when the time came to come up with a collective name, Mother Rupture wanted to name them “The Inferno” while Mother Fathom wanted to name them “The Abyss”.

Arguments escalated into conflict, egged on by Mother Tempest, and finally, Mother Stygian decided on a compromise, leaving no one satisfied and everyone mildly annoyed at each other, aside from Mother Tempest, who just found the whole thing quite amusing.

Which leads into the next important part: The Abyssal Realms! You see, after each of the Ancients were sealed (in a variety of conflicts you could read about in some history books or whatever), their original Four Realms were split up into Nine, which became known as the Nine Hells because mortals are rude, each ruled by one or more of the Ancients’ children. Well, mostly. Point is, Four became Nine and that’s why demons are so drastically outnumbering angels (we’ll get into what those are later) so ha.

The Nine Hells! (Ranked by how close they are to Estus; the deeper you go, the deadlier the demons)

Terma, the Gray Hell: Once the terminal between the Four Hells (hence the name), now just a piddly little nothing full of useless, boring creatures that can’t even sin right. Home to Limboans, the demons of law. It sucks. Ditched by Auteur, the Annoying God of Art, Daughter of All. Vebaste, The Bright Hell: The first real Hell, home to Luxurians (otherwise known as Incubi, Concubi, and Succubi)–the demons of Lust–the Second Circle was formed out of a few little chunks of demonic lands gathered and sewn together in some pleasant enough ways to finally form a large enough planet, where brightly lit cities were built and divided up into fancy sections or whatever. It’s neat enough. Created by and ruled by Tisserand Skin-Weaver, the God of Flesh. Nihumda, The Dark Hell: Despite its common epithet, Nihumda is a great deal brighter nowadays, leading to the secondary nickname of The Twilight Hell. Home of Gulans–demons of Gluttony–and Invidians–demons of Envy–along with a few little weird things like fruit and mushroom demons. The Third Circle was once the Realm of Stygian, a dark place of nightmares and dreams formed in equal measure, the true birthplace of demon kind, but now currently consists of a fancy, delicious top layer and a slightly danker and caustic lower layer. Both are nice to visit though. Ruled by Vitriol, God of Poison and Delight, God of Pleasure, Daughters of Stygian and Fathom. Ibovei, The Gold Hell: The Richest Hell of them all because certain deities are cheaters who decided they wanted literal rivers of gold. Home to Avaricians–demons of Greed–and Acedians–demons of Sloth. The Fourth Hell is alright. Created and ruled by Mordant, God of Debt, and Bleak, God of Time, Daughters of Rupture and Fathom. Disber, The Storm Hell: The Fifth Hell is a weird one, mostly because Tempest, who it used to belong to, did not know how land worked. Therian has tried to fix that in her absence, but it required being inventive, since she’s the Beast God, not a Land God. Take a tour sometime, it’s neat. Home to Beluans, demons of Savagery. Also the origin of some other stuff. Ruled by Therian, God of Beasts, Daughter of Tempest. Duidan, The Fire Hell: Terrible, way too hot, very burny, not great, and run by a jackass who thinks he’s cute but he’s not. He’s a dick. Fuck him. Point is, Duidan is the Sixth Circle. Iratans (wrath demons) Haereticans (heresy demons) and Superbians (pride demons) all live in this fiery hellscape that, again, sucks. Never visit, no stars. Glass sculptures and palaces are alright. Also there’s dragons, it’s the birthplace of them. Ruled by Conceit, Vain God of Glass, Son of Rupture and Tempest. Phlegethon, the Blood Hell: A large, grandiose Hell split up into three major regions that could probably be realms all on their own if the trio that built it weren’t so close knit. Home to the Nosori (demons of Plague), the Dolori (demons of Pain) and the Timori (demons of Fear), though sometimes these demon types are called Violentians, on account of them all being intensely related to violence (of the physical, mental, and emotional varieties). A nice place to hang out on a weekend, though certain people can be annoyingly teasing over their seniority as though it makes them superior but it doesn't, now does it, Rot?? Created and ruled by The Noble Triumvirate, consisting of Rot, God of Conquest and Pestilence; Marrow, God of War; and Drought, God of Famine, all Daughters of Stygian. Amanue, the Grand Hell: Technically called something more like The Book Hell, the Eighth Circle is a massive library-world, composed of infinite literature collected from all of history. No work is forgotten here, and no piece is ever lost, no matter the era it originates from, and much of the realm is born from those stories and histories. It’s home to Dolusians, the demons of Fraud, though certain beings would prefer they were instead called Demons of Fiction, because they are very creative entities and shouldn’t be slandered. The best home someone could have and a wonderful place for tourists. Definitely. Created and ruled by the Magnificent Scripture, Goddess of Paper, Ink, and Writing, Youngest Daughter of Stygian. Tehom, the Water Hell: Now more commonly known as The Cold Hell or The Frozen Hell, Tehom was the Realm of Fathom, the Ancient God of Oceans (which, yes, is different from being the God of Water; it has to do with the connotations, and really, Mesic should be calling herself the God of Rivers, Lakes, Rain or some other such Freshwater thing, the insignificant little bitch). Due to certain circumstances involving heroes, icy swords, and horrible betrayals, the realm is now quite iced over. Stolen by a Traitor.

So, I believe that wraps things up for the Ouza, the coolest and most special of the Estian gods. We’ll go over some more stuff a little ways down the line, but we really should get around to our third Pantheon at some point.

What’s going on with the Laut?

No one really knows. The Laut (Lao-t; think “out”) are, as also also previously stated previously, the gods of Stagnation and Mystery. What the fuck does that mean, you may be asking? Well first, don’t curse, it’s rude. Second off, fuck if I know. Laut are weird.

They also live in Vuoto (Voo-oh-toh), their own mix of Eldritch Realms somewhere off in an odd direction to Estus. Sometimes it’s East, sometimes it’s West, but there’s always just a vague sensation that it’s somewhere to the side of the mortal plane, instead of above or below, or north or south. It’s a strange feeling, but one that makes sense for a very strange set of realms owned by a very strange set of gods.

As for what those realms are and what goes on in them, I can’t really say. The names tend to be the type that can’t be written, only described, and are commonly referred to as “planes”, though the nonexistent realm of Outai, the God of Nothing, is commonly referred to as a “void” instead.

So, for a quick overview, here are The Lautic Planes:

The Void: Already told you about this one. In case you’re skimming, it’s a plane that isn’t, a realm that has never existed and never will, and it’s owned by Outai, a nonexistent god of nothing who, nevertheless, isn’t. The Plane of Law: Sometimes referred to as The Cosmic Plane, this place is big in the sense that it has no real limits to its borders. There are places where you can exit and enter, yet you could easily wander it for millennia and never see the same landmark twice. It belongs to Father Zerert, the Father of Scripture and the God of Law, and it’s where he tends to make decisions on how the laws of existence work, based on cases presented by his other children (primarily by Rail and Vale, the twin gods of Innovation and Survival, respectively). The Plane of Love: Also known as The Plane of Hearts, this place isn’t that big, but feels like it is in a very looping sense. It’s a land with limits, but it’s very hard to ever reach those limits, and you’ll more than likely see the same sights a thousand times before you leave. This palatial plane belongs to Hallow, the God of Love, and is often frequented by Hymn, the God of Sound, and Warden, the God of Barriers; because while they may have smaller planes of their own, it’s always nice to visit your mother, particularly when she enjoys your work and can be so very encouraging about it.

Now, while there may be more to the Laut (including a god among them I haven’t even named because why bother? No, really, why bother at all? Okay, you caught me, their name is Ide, and they’re the God of Magnetism), but if I wanted to go into all of that, I would write a different book entirely. Maybe some gripping tale of something or other? My point being, we’re moving on, and so should you.

So what’s next?

I’m glad you asked! Now ask “What makes all these gods different?”, if you would.

What are the differences between these pantheons?

That isn’t what I requested, but fine! Here’s a few significant things to know about how the pantheons differ:

First and foremost, they all have different types of minions, those small vassal things gods make to do their bidding. For the Rakuli, these are ‘angels’, which are weird feathery things they make out of elements. For the Ouza, they’re ‘demons’, weird bat-winged things we make out of sin, horror, and bizarre thoughts. And for the Laut, they make ‘eldrits’, which are some weird moth-elf things made of calamari. Seriously, never ask what’s up with their shells, it’s disconcerting how quickly they go from “perfect, ethereal beauty” to “undersea flesh garden”.

[Side Note]

Technically, demons as most Estians know them originate purely from mother Stygian. Each “lesser” god of the Ouza is totally capable of making their own variants of demons, but the classic ones were all born from the thoughts and dreams of an Ancient.

The other three had their own specific minions, which technically are demons, but technically aren’t either. Rupture’s creations were Dragons, Fathom’s were Leviathans, and Tempest’s...Well, some things should be kept a little secret. Heh.

The pantheons also differ in how they treat these minions. The Rakuli, for instance, tend to act like their angels are not just their servants, but almost like pseudo-children to them. Their angels tend to call the Rakuli “Mother” or “Father” when addressing them, and there’s a great deal of care put into them to make sure they’re safe and happy in their little “paradises”. Angels even have a direct, mental link to their gods at all times, which supposedly feels like a comforting presence in the back of their head.

[Another Note]

The exception to this is if their divine parent/patron is an asshole. Then it feels less comforting and more like an oppressive, constant staring into their mind. There’s a reason why Fallen Angels are a thing, and there’s a big reason why they only really come from one source.

Meanwhile, the Ouza, for the most part, really don’t care about the vast majority of the demonic population. Not only are there billions of the things out there, most of them don’t even come from the gods whose realms they’re living in, and they tend to be sociopathic little pricks. As such, they’re left to their own devices, with only a few laws established to keep them well enough in check.

Sometimes they can get too big for their britches and they make some poor decisions regarding their own ambitions. As such, it should be noted that the rule established at the very beginning of this writing, the one about how mortals can and cannot beat gods, applies quite soundly to demons as well.

Lastly, the Laut’s relationship with their eldrits tends to lean more towards the Rakuli’s relationship with their angels, though with an extra level of incomprehension. They’re more servant-like, for the most part, but then there are some that just appear to do whatever. So no one knows for certain, and that’s how the Laut seem to like it.

Secondly, the gods of each pantheon differ a great deal in appearance. Now, every deity is unique, and as such they will almost certainly have a unique appearance of their own, but there are certain standard rules that tend to appy to the specific pantheons.

So, real quick: The Rakuli tend to have extra parts; extra arms and extra eyes mostly, and the eyes in particular tend to represent how many domains their element falls under. Lightning, for instance, is regarded solely as wild and destructive power, untamed and unchecked, so Innominatum, the God of Lightning, has only one eye, while his direct sister, Foco, the God of Fire, has two, because her element has both the connotations of raging, destructive infernos, and calm, gentle warmth; a wildfire versus a fireplace, for instance.

In contrast, the Ouza tend to be “missing” parts. Eyes, ears, mouths, noses, hands, legs, so on, so forth. These parts aren’t actually missing (they never existed to begin with for us), but this sense of mutilation (originating from all Ouzans’ nature as death gods) is quite noticeable, as are the generally more “monstrous” appearances the Ouza have a result.

As for the Laut, they tend to have more esoteric forms. While the gods in general tend to take more “folkish” shapes (the general shape of a human, for example, is surprisingly well-built and useful; their spines are terrible, but that’s easy to correct), the Laut eschew that tendency, and instead are often shaped in whatever form seems to work best for them, without any set standard. Hymn, for instance, entirely lacks a physical form, instead often appearing solely as noises or a strangely layered voice; if she does manifest visually, it’s typically as a set of musical notes along a sound line, which fluctuates based on her tone and constantly gives off a sense of ethereal music.

Thirdly and finally, for this document at the very least, the pantheons differ in what inherent energies they give off. This has already been remarked upon a few times previously, where I noted how the Rakuli all tie into the magic of Healing due to their nature as gods of Life, facilitating both the repair and preservation of mortal life, but the same is true for both the Ouza and the Laut.

The Ouza, also as stated previously, are death gods. Their nature is fundamentally tied to destruction and the cessation of life, as well as the corpses that remain afterward. As such, it should come as no surprise to those savvy in such matter that the Ouza are intrinsically connected to the art of Necromancy, along with all other forms of “Death Magic”. So if you’re the type of person who enjoys raising corpses and imbuing them with arcane energies to do your bidding, do make sure to leave an offering for at least one of the Ouza. It’s nice to be acknowledged.

As for the Laut, their magic, much like them, is a bit strange and overly varied, but it tends to come together under the umbrella term of “Psionic”. As for what that means, basically think “Mind Magic”. Not all magic requires sapience to use, but this one definitely does as it involves using one’s thoughts to influence the world in myriad ways. It’s also easily the most dangerous of these natural magics (yes, even more dangerous than Death Magic) because it involves directly using one’s own brain to do things.

Have you ever tried lifting a very heavy weight? Such as an anvil or some such? Now attempt it by thinking at it. Yes, you do have a horrific nosebleed now, and yes, you will likely die of an aneurysm. Why would you do that? Just learn normal magic. Lift it with rocks or iron. Don’t be stupid, the Laut are weird and mock your attempts at breaking reality.

Anyhow, that appears to be the end of our document! You may have more questions, infinitely many if you’re any sort of inquisitive, so feel free to ask your local experts, because I am no longer bothering with this.

Though, one last thing.

Pleased to meet you all. I hope you can guess my name.