Gods of Duurn

There are countless entities that have been referred to as gods across Duurn, with no singular definition of what makes a deity. The broadest and most correct definition is perhaps "any nonhuman entity with powers beyond human capacity that humans entreat either for favors or to avert their displeasure." As the concept of a deity is part of a mortal framework attempting to make sense of things far beyond mortal comprehension, it is an inherently blurry category.   The Gnostic understanding of deity is currently the most popular in Duurn. It splits deities into two categories: celestial deities, living within or originating from the Astatoma, and chthonic deities, living within and originating from the Stereoma.  

Celestial Deities

Originating from beyond the Veil, celestial deities are impossibly powerful and incomprehensibly alien. Their motivations and actions are so far beyond mortalkind that any attempt to understand them is doomed. These beings either do not communicate with mortals or do so in ways that are difficult to interpret or understand.   Their origin is a point of contention within Gnostic circles. There are three popular explanations:

• Solipsism - The celestial deities are avatars of the Astatoma itself, either conscious or unconscious expressions of its energy.
• Creationism - The celestial deities were created by some unknown supreme deity that has not revealed itself to humanity
• Incidentism - The celestial deities formed by random chance within the energy of the Astatoma.

Chthonic Deities

Born within the Stereoma, chthonic deities vary widely in ability, but they all have a comprehensible physical form. These beings can appear to and directly communicate with humankind, whether or not they choose to. Within the gnostic framework, chthonic deities form through a process called apotheosis, whereby a being ascends to mastery of will and, therefore, Astatora.