Theurgy: Forsaken Oaths (Book Two)

Interlude 2 Vessels of the Gods

After the war in heaven, most gods were either destroyed or imprisoned in several locations throughout the world inaccessible by mortals. Most of the Greek pantheon were thrown into the maws of Tartarus, their physical forms destroyed and power stripped to be placed into the six pendants constructed by Hecate who herself was trapped by her own creations. 

      Some had some influence over the mortal realm either through dreams or the nature of their imprisonment. But it was the god Morpheus, the god of dreams, who whispered into the ears of Umerius Cull to free him and his siblings. However, Umerius instead freed a portion of Hecate's spirit and used whatever knowledge he could gain in order to begin his quest to collect the powerful remnants the gods left behind on earth. After encountering the first generation of godslayers and suffering a grave defeat, he sought to craft warriors who could become vessels for the gods. Using various artifacts and relics connected to the corresponding gods, either weapons, blessed oils, etc, a portion of their powers would be held within a vessel. This would allow the gods to once more walk among the mortal realm, or even regain their lost powers. When one becomes a vessel, much of the original personality or soul is completely burned out of their own body as the god occupies it. For more uncooperative gods, such as Thanatos or Hades, special care was placed to make sure that the vessels themselves become the dominant personality. 

     In this state, they retain their own personality and memories while having access to god's knowledge. Vessels are not restricted to humans or demi-humans as well. Ares, instead of possessing a singular host instead possesses a suit of armor made of an unknown malleable metal. Once the vessel is destroyed, the spirit of the god is usually taken by Zagreus to be imprisoned someplace else.