Teasers/Tidbits Of Alamea Mythology

Patron Gods

As a part of Alamea being a modern fantasy setting, there is the case of patron gods. Patron gods are typically gods that have come to favor a certain philosophy, establishment, or people and so chose to become protectors of said philosophy, establishment and/or people. For example, you can have a patron god/goddess for different aspects of the arts, for libraries and forges, groups or organizations of people, cities, etc.

Some gods, typically the more widely known ones, are known for being pateons of specific establishments. Tanwen, a former goddess of fire, was a patron of the forge. Selisis, a goddess of magic and knowledge, is the patron of libraries and witches.

And then there are also lesser known gods that aren't as powerful as the more known ones, but still have more power than most angels and demons and specifically are patron gods of cities or smaller organizations of people. They're typically called minor gods (though they are sometimes called "lesser gods" by more powerful gods, but if a mortal were to say something like that they'd likely get cursed by said "lesser god" due to how they dared to insult a being that is still more powerful than them, regardless of how kind of a minor god they may be). They typically become the patrons of cities they find interest in or in the people residing in said cities, but their protection only lasts so long as one of the two conditions for their patronage are kept: 1. That the people of the city continue to worship that god in return for their gifts/protection and/or 2. That the people of the city keep the same morals that align with the god's values. If the people of the city fail to uphold at least one of these conditions, the god will abandon them to face the harsh conditions of the world alone.

With some countries and cities moving away from the ways of the past including worshiping deities, so patron gods have kind fallen away from the spotlight in the "modern world"

This chapter was partially inspired by a scenario/story idea I thought up and figured it'd be fun to share it here but wanted to justify why it would be in this book lol so here it is:

The eyes of a city's patron god are painted wide open on the top of the front gates or on the back walls that signifies that god's protection and that they'll always keep watch over the city. However, the more corrupt the city becomes, the eyes slowly close over time as the god loses hope for the people of the city to become better as their worship of the god declines over time. It takes such a long time that the people living in the city don't notice the eyes closing until something bad happens that was the result of their corrupt leader's decisions, and when they look to the eyes to see what was wrong, why their god had abandoned them... they see that the painted eyes had been long closed, the paint faded and cracked. They realize that the crisis they're facing... is one of their own making, and their god is not willing to save them any longer, having long abandoned them.