Editing Skein of Worlds:Cosmology and Setting (section)

== [[Skein_of_Worlds:The_Divine_Realms|The Divine Realms]] ==
There is still one major piece missing from this puzzle; the Divine Realms, the homes of the various deities that exist across the many planets. The Divine Realms are much too varied to describe what how they look, but there are still some commonalities.

The easiest to see is how these places look from the Astral Plane. In fact, the vortices leading into them look much like the vortices leading back to the material plane, at least until you get close enough. In fact, there are threads running to and from these vortices. These threads are not the silver threads that link two portals though. These threads exist in many colors, though they aren't random. The best theory for now is that the color of the thread is related to the portfolio of the deity of that realm. Most importantly though is where these threads connect. Any material sphere with worshipers of a deity has such a thread linked to that deity's realm.

=== Belief ===
Deities depend on belief for their power, and they return some of that power to a few, chosen believers. The big question is, why the deities exist in the first place.

=== Outside the Divine Realms ===
There is one fact of vital importance in explaining how the universe works on an everyday level. Deities that leave their divine realm leave their divine power behind. This explains why deities rarely interact with the material plane directly.

=== Souls and Outsiders ===
When a person dies, their souls travel along the thread their belief had previously traveled, arriving in their deities realm. Here they take on a form chosen by the deity. Believers in a nature deity may become animals in that deities forest realm, for example. These transformed souls are generically called outsiders, though there are many forms common enough to be known by more specific names. What happens to a person that claims no belief is a mystery. Few people really believe in nothing though, so it is likely that the most appropriate deity gets claim to their soul.

=== Apotheosis ===
There are three known ways to achieve apotheosis and become a new deity. (I say that, but few people even know it's possible, much less how to do it.) None of these options are simple or easy.