So before I talk about my main OC, I need to explain a bit about how gods work in the Pantheon setting. This is gonna be a little bit long, so buckle in!
Apotheosis
All gods were originally mortal. Some may not want to admit that, but it's true.
Apotheosis isn't something that can be predicted or reliably triggered. It just sort of happens, very rarely, to people who can go and make Meaning™ for themselves rather than needing to seek it out elsewhere.
It starts with a feeling of elation and dread in equal measure. A jittering energy in everything you do and think, like you have more of yourself than you can possibly pour into anything you're doing. It builds in intensity over time, never going away. The amount of time varies, for some nascent gods it happens over the course of hours, but for others it can take years.
Once the rising energy reaches an overwhelming point, it sort of... spills out of you. Gods most commonly refer to this as your Branding—some sort of undeniable mark appears on your flesh. There's different kinds of gods, and how the Branding affects the nascent god is largely dependent on what type of god they're becoming (which I'll elaborate on in a future #worldbuilding post).
Whatever type of Brand the nascent god manifests, the final result is the same—the utter destruction of their physical body as their metaphysical Self starts growing out of control. Your sense of Self grows into something immeasurably beyond humanity (most commonly called the Aeon by gods), something that can't fit within the confines of reality anymore.
Your Aeonic Self ascends out of reality, and you experience a moment of absolute perfect Unity, Meaning, and Truth as your Aeonic Self merges with the concepts that you've defined your own Meaning with.
...and then you realize you're actively starving to death.
You need the mortal world to feed off of the Concept that you define Meaning with, but you're too metaphysically big to fit inside of reality anymore. What do??
Next Time
Time to talk about Avatars!
