Gods

Religion plays a major part in the lives of the citizens of All-That-Is. With the exception of the evolutionists, most (if not all) people worship a God of some kind, even the Atheists.

Once an individual comes of age at twenty, they can pronounce their faithfulness to a deity. This can only be done after worship of the god for 5 years straight (although in special circumstances, with permission from the god themselves, these five years can be skipped) and so those who know which god they wish to worship start to do so at the age of 15. aoeu Once you are eligible to pronounce your faithfulness to a god, the process is sealed with a tattoo of your particular god's symbol. This is generally (but not required to be) placed on the shoulder of the dominant arm. Once tattooed, the worshipper is gifted with a special power, unique to each god. (these powers range from the subtle to the obvious: for instance, those who worship Solomon, the God of Wisdom are slightly more patient and wise than they were before. Those who worship Norbi, the God of Flight, are capable of flying at a faster speed than those who don't. Worshippers of Yashel, the God of Gold, are able to breed gold.)

One can change their faith, but it is a long and painful process. To begin with, before one's god can be changed, they must have worshipped their new choice for at least 5 years. The tattoo must then be removed by their new god, which must be sanctioned by the Voice of the God themselves.

The tattoo-removal process is extremely painful, and is rumoured to take years off one's life. What's more, the pain is so great, a god can only be changed once. If attempted a second time, the individual will die.

The Voice of a God is the heavenly appointed leader of each particular church. The Voice is the only person who can directly talk to their particular deity - although, of course, the gods have been known to use all kinds of methods to contact individuals. Simon, the God of Hairdos is known for contacting his worshippers through messages shaved in their hair of a greater skill than any mortal barber. Those outside of the church often mock people with these messages in their hair, but Simon-worshippers who are blessed in this way will generally keep the message shaved, as it grants them great prestige in the church.

Most gods also have a home city, where their Voice lives, and the bulk of their worshippers. The Voice of Norbi, the God of Flight resides in the centre hand of Earlgate, the Angel capital, and the largest city in the world. Earlgate (in fact, all of Nevah-Nevah is a theocracy, and thus the Voice of Norbi is also ruler over the Angels.

The job of Voice is generally considered a huge honour, and thus is maintained until death, though there have been extremely rare cases of a Voice quitting.

Gods themselves reside in the heavens above All-That-Is. Godland is only connected to All-That-Is in two ways; the centre hand of Earlgate, which is high enough to reach the sky, and Mount Zeddy, which reaches Godland as well, however is so tricky to climb that people generally don't bother, instead contacting the Gods directly through their Voices.

There are a handful of Unholy Gods, such as Sangue, the God of Vampires, which some claim live not above in Godland, but rather below All-That-Is, in the Fire Realm. This has never been confirmed nor denied by anyone in any official Holy capacity.

Once every hundred years, each God picks a team, and each team competes, in an event known merely as The God Contest. With no official prize, the god whose team is the winner of this Contest generally gets quite a strong upsurge in worshippers.

A God's power is dependent on their quantity of worshippers. As such, some of the more popular gods such as Slor or Sexlia is easily more powerful than one of the less popular gods, such as Geoff, the God of Biscuits, or Ocid, the God of Cleanliness.

Gods, like mortals, frequently get into relationships or fights, fall in and out of love, and in rare cases, get married or divorced. The wedding of two gods is generally the most covered story in the scrolloids for the decade. The churches will quite often combine, and a marriage between two gods is the only way that a worshipper can have both tattoos at once. (and although they do receive both god-given powers, they only receive them at half strength)

While a PARA can worship any god of their choice, unless they worship one of the Unholy Gods, they receive no powers.

Here is a list of some of the various gods of All-That-Is.

• Colk, the God of Time
• Eureka, the God of Diamonds
• Feldman, the God of Humour and Shoes
• Finto, the God of Ninjas
• Frastaire, the God of Dance
• Gad, the God of Gossip
• Geoff, the God of Biscuits
• Gnob, the God of Green
• Jas, the God of Pain
• Jom, the God of Song
• Marge Inn, the God of Dragons
• Merma, the God of the Sea
• Mildred, the God of Librarians
• Nakira, the God of Lies
• Neil, the God of Rivers
• Nolga, the God of Questions and Chewing Gum
• Norbi, the God of Flight
• Ocid, the God of Cleanliness
• Perte, the God of Entertainment
• Phanatat, the God of Procrastination
• Poultro, the God of Intelligence
• Priapus, the God of Gardens and Penises
• Rete, the God of Boats
• Rhayes, the God of Instruments
• Rilmen, the God of Magic
• Sangue, the God of Vampires
• Sexlia, the God of Love
• Sila, the God of Truth
• Sillan, the God of Health
• Simon, the God of Hairdos
• Inn Ebriata, the god of Innkeepers
• Slor, the God of Axes and Beards
• Snorth, the God of Chefs
• Solomon, the God of Wisdom
• Som Addream, the God of Healing
• Suze, God of Thunder
• Targ, the God of Pirates
• The God of Gods
• Wesley Fake, the God of Atheists
• Wroth, the God of Lightning
• Yashel, the God of Gold
• Yenn, the God of Werewolves and Cake

Note: "god" as a noun is not capitalised, however when used as a title it is. For instance:

All the gods are sitting in the water, sitting in the water, sitting the water. This makes Merma, the God of the Sea very angry, and she upsets a boat. "My god!" one man calls. "Your god sucks! My god is Gad, the God of Gab!"

"Gad, the God of Gab? Gad talks so much that his Voice is redundant!"

"Don't mock the Voice of the God!"

"I'm mocking Gad! Not the Gods in general!"