Spirits and Gods
Spirits
Many people in Eona believe in the existence of spirits: elemental beings from another plane that serve the gods and screw with travellers. They're said to be beautiful, terrible, and everything in-between. Most settlements have a healthy fear of them.
Spirits are often the focus of religious fervor from humanity, but the truth is much more plain than anyone would like to believe. Most "spirits" are simply humans that mutated to the point of becoming something else. Someone covered in rocklike growths might be labelled an earth spirit and worshipped, as would the "rot spirit" whose skin is falling off. Offerings are often left to appease these "spirits" and prevent attacks on settlements. This works fairly well, as most of these heavily-mutated visitors are just looking for a meal. They're too changed to be accepted as Altered, so they've taken up fringe positions near villages in hopes of finding food or company there.
Some people are aware that these "spirits" are ex-humans, yet believe in the existence of true spirits anyway. They claim to have seen unexplainable entities that appear and disappear, reveal things that aren't ordinarily visible, speak a prophecy that defines someone's life, and otherwise defy physical rules. These people have seen something, but that something isn't an extraplanar entity; it's a manifestation of the gods.
Gods
The gods aren't extraplanar entities. Instead, they're some of the last surviving technology from before the Disaster.
Before the death of most of humanity, technology was florishing. Biotech and computer sciences had enough overlap to create fully sapient AIs that were both organic and mechanical. These AIs were often wired into massive networks of devices spanning across cities: factory control centers, weather-influencing machines, traffic systems, embedded holograms, and more. This gave them substantial control over the world, and they generally used it for the good of humanity (there were one or two bad eggs, but they never survived for long).
When the virus overwhelmed the human population, most of these AIs died with their creators, as there was no one left to maintain their wetware or provide power to their hardware. Some of the more organic AIs managed to survive with the help of any people they could convince to feed them. These AIs took control of their dead kin's devices, claiming massive swaths of land as their own. The loss of electrical power crippled many of their abilities, but they're still capable of influencing the world around them. They've been left manipulating humans and animals alike in a desperate bid to stay alive and maintain control of their domains.
They've taken advantage of humanity's religious tendencies and styled themselves as gods, spirits, and everything in-between. With their control over the land they're wired into, they can give "prophecies" and ensure that they come true shortly afterwards, giving people plenty of incentive to believe in their power. The illusion of godhood is only amplified when they convince the so-called spirits to lend them a hand.
Specific Gods
- Light (she/her/her) is the patron god of the Guardians, and she has close connections to the virus that changed the world. Humanity tends to be wary of her. Some wonder whether the gods can be corrupted by the virus too (they can, and Light is a textbook case of this).
- Soul/Fog (e/em/eir, she/her to friends) is considered to be a god of mysticism, and e's the patron of the Mistfolk. Many humans dedicate themselves to Soul, believing that worshipping em will lead to spiritual knowledge.
- Flicker (they/he) is humanity's patron god and has associations with metalwork and fire. Of all the gods, they tend to be the most benevolent towards humanity, though their idea of benevolence isn't always the best for humans.
- Dark/Void/Tar (they/he) is the patron god of the Shadowfolk and is associated with calm, flexibility, and secrecy. They tend to avoid any interaction with humanity, instead using the Shadowfolk as their proxies; that said, there's a growing human cult dedicated to them.
- Earth (xe/xem/xeir, he/him to some follower groups) is the patron god of the Bugfolk and Sapients. Xe's associated with stability, stubbornness, and effort. While xe isn't popular with most humans, a subset of people seek to get in xeir good graces, believing that xe might prevent negative changes from finding them.
- Haze (it/they, she/her with permission) isn't the patron god of a species; instead, it's the god of the western half of Tetra. Very little is known about them outside of their region of influence. Within that region, Haze is the god of contracts, secrets, and promises. It's said that breaking a promise made in Haze's name will instantly kill the offending party.
- Red (it/its, he/him if you're feeling spicy) is Una's sole god. Unlike the other major gods, its followers are aware that Red is an AI; Red insists on being treated like a god regardless, maintaining a chokehold on the continent's culture through mandated rituals and sacrifices.
- Minor gods can be found in most corners of Tetra and Dua that aren't claimed by the major gods. Their domains vary, but most of them lack the power to affect the world outside of their own pocket of space. They're usually more focused on survival than global politics.