http://www.majik3d.org/gfx/worldbook/statue.jpg
	
	= Gods =
	
	The gods are common in Majik. They are real and that is a fact. Even lowly peasants may have seen a god (well, if they're lucky enough) and thus there are no people who decree that some individual god exists as opposed to other gods. Instead, people who worship a certain god are in faith that their god is the right one to worship. However, the new lesser gods might not be well-known and their worshippers might need to demostrate their powers to get more  followers and make the god more widely known, or they might need to do the same if the god they are worshipping has a reputation of an idle god, a god who just sleeps and doesn't hear his mortal followers or grant any powers, no matter how fervent the worshipper is. Thus, everyone in Majik knows quite well all the gods and their individual personalities. 
	
	The gods are personalities. They do not have alignment nor do they have any exact spheres of influence. A god of forest could burn its own forest and eat the all children of nearby tribes if he wants to do so but as he loves the forest and wants to keep his followers, he will not do that. Gods might even get in trouble with other gods, particularly gods whose "spheres of influence" are in some sort of conflict. The gods are usually quite jealous about their territory. The mortal worshippers pick a god whose motives are similar in some way with their own motives, they do not pick a god by their alignment or anything else. Thus, there actually are no gods of forests, gods of death, or gods of fishermen, instead there are gods who like the forests, gods who like death, gods who like fishermen, but they are not bound only to those. They may change their mind if they want to. They can do whatever they want, at a cost of their followers and fellow gods' dislike. They however must have an initial personality and a bunch of stuff they like before they even try to start roleplaying their role. That is what the mortals expect the god to do and that is why they may worship the god.
	
	By this way we don't need to have a god for every sphere of influence we can think of. There is no need. As said before, mortals do not pick a god by their sphere of influence, they pick a god by their motives and the way they see the world.
	
	The lesser gods, gods and greater gods only differ in that they need
	to pay a varying share of their divine points to the higher ranking ones and that is quite automatical and the initial amount of divine points and followers they have (no lesser god may have a whole race behind it). So if a lesser god gains divine points, a share of them are spread over all the gods and when a god gains divine points a share of them are spread over all the greater gods. This way the higher ones can always get divine points without actually having any followers. A lesser god can however get more divine points than the average amount the higher gods possess; and then it's time for the greater gods to think about the advancement of this lesser god to a higher rank, and also think about who to replace the thus former lesser god with, and that replacement is chosen among the mortals, most likely the former lesser god's best ranking worshipper. The gods who only idle can become forgotten ones, and in practice this means that players will really forgot them as well. They can however make a come back whenever they like.
	
	= Gods Influence Over Mortals =
	
	Each mortal is first pure and good, blessed with the wondrous gift of birth by Aluna and Dazzt, but the forces of darkness, those led by Lord Sinister, may he be shunned by those who walk in light, ominously seek to tip the scale. Mandor, the Shadow-Son, makes it so that each mortal is, to some extent, chronically famished with a hunger for power and respect. Some resist this, those that give in to the temptations of the dark side become selfish, arrogant, vague and subtle.
	
	Those beastly things who carry out their goal for power, viewed as fornicators by the powers of light and healing, take advantage of others to improve their own positions. The reward is a crooked feeling of righteousness and superiority, and material gain; a dark little stinging fist to the already bruised face of Aluna, but a source of joy for Mandor.
	
	But the light-filled gods understand. They, instead, reward mortals with pleasant connections to other mortals, and a peaceful life. Groups are strong. Those that are part of a group are strong, and this is the nature of the strength of good. Only those who help the innocent, only those who give of their own to others, only those who heal the injured have a place among the light-filled halls of Aluna, where eternal serenity, peace and warmth fill the beautiful hearts and bodies of the little angels who once were men. And may it be known to all, that while Aluna is great in her sense of compassion, she too is vain and subtle, and it takes effort and allegiance to appear on her good side.
	
	Those, who do not consider this world to be worthy of their influence, and do not give of their own, and do not follow the paths set before them so clearly, and are desolate and will not bow their heads for no-one, become the lost ones. Those, who are deafened by the loud calls of the halls of the dead find their strength in Yorkaturr. Some, in their madness, come to this situation willingly, some come to this situation after they fall from grace or power, some live in shame, some in hate or blasphemy, many in vengeful indifference. All of these, it is true, are welcome to the unholy hordes; and all of these despise the living. What a convenient ending it is for the life of one, who so hates, to slay, and rend, and ravage in mindless hatred; and what little difference it makes to be but a pulsating heap of flesh...
	
	Then there are those who fall between. Those, who are not given the gift of power, or those who do not think they are worthy. Those, who are so detached from the struggle between the gods, eventhough it is certainly visible to them, that only Namhas cares for them. It is so with scholars, who know but do not meddle, magicians, who meddle but do not know, warriors, who meddle but do not care, and all the meaningless little toilers, who do not meddle and do not know, but might care. Some might call these people ignorant, others call them wise and neutral. It is, in this case, from the point of view of the rivalling gods, a twisted competition where the gods seem to appeal to the mortals. The light-filled ones give them the choice of being helpful to their fellows, and the dark ones set out with much more concrete lures. But, in many cases where a mortal of this kind is involved, nothing is gained.
	
	= Priesthood =
	
	As Majik is free from character class-distinction, there are no "priests" or "clerics" by trade or ability like in other roleplaying games. One can fight and be a mage at same time without actual penalties and so one can be a fighter and at same time magically heal his wounds. The priests in Majik are not however only healers. They may be almost anything. Even the most lowly peasants can pray for their gods and most fervent ones of those can receive special powers and thus heal or kill people using the powers of their god.
	
	The picture is simple: a mortal sacrifices stuff for the god, the god receives divine points and becomes stronger and when the god is stronger it can do more things. It can then grant more powers to his follower or choose to do things on his own. In this way, mortals are responsible for the ability of their god. Mortals can also make their god stronger by, for example, trying to attain more suitable followers or by doing quests for the god. The point here is to get the god more powerful and at the same time hoping to gain the god's favor. When the god actually notices that a certain mortal is actually doing something useful, he might then answer to the mortal's prayers if they are not too demanding of the god's powers. When the god sees a certain mortal as a very valuable mortal indeed, the god can grant special powers that are appropriate for the god's motives. A god who likes to see people dead can give the mortal a special power to unleash a powerful bolt to kill people as many times he wants to, except that every time the mortal uses the special ability it drains the god's power, and so if the mortal uses the power too much, or if the mortal uses the power for not appropriate reasons the god can get angry and even kill the mortal.
	
	If a god has a religion, an organized structure behind him, then these levels of power are pre-defined, but however, the god usually is the who decides the mortal's advancement, or if the religion is just too large for the god to handle, he may have given authorities to his high-ranking members to be responsible for adjusting the ranks without even asking for divine permission. But again if the god comes to know that his powers are abused, you can only guess what will happen.
	
	To distinguish the priest as a dedicated profession or character class, the god may not see it appropriate for the priest to do mundane things like being a powerful fighter (if the god doesn't care about fighting), or researching magic and similar things, the god may ask the mortal to end those if the mortal is to remain on the god's good side, and this is quite usual. So, it is not likely to see a high priest partying with other mortals and killing dragons. The high priest usually comes out of his deity's temple to convert people to his religion or to do some quest. This dedicating restriction is also true for those who worship more than one god. The gods are very jealous of their territory and if they see that their followers are worshipping some other god, they can become angry for those without second thought. There is, of course, an exception if those gods are friends to each other and shares similar motives.
	
	= List of Gods =
	
	*((Aluna)) (Sun, Light)
	*((Namhas)) (World, Balance, Justice)
	*((Sinister)) (Night, Darkness, Destruction, Mayhem)
	*((Dalia)) (Shadows)
	*((Mandor)) (Lies)
	*((Dazzt)) (Healing)
	*((Harum)) (War)
	*((Shinael)) (Nature)
	*((Yorkaturr)) (Undead, Death)
	*((Darshan)) (Mind)
	*((Warc)) (Dreams)
	*((Protector)) (Oblivion, Visions)
	*((Ghadar)) (The Dream Serpent, Guardian of Dreams)
	
	Gods that have not been assigned to a player - pick freely!
	
	*The Goddess of Fertility and Lust
	*Shanta, The Sand Goddess
	*Hadarah, The God of Murdered Souls
	*The Goddess of Feminity and Beauty
	*The God of Masculinity and Strength
	*The God of Oceans
	*The Goddess of Rivers
	
	Ancients (a.k.a the Sages)
	
	*((Maelvor)), The Shifter
	*Eleril, The Indescribable
	*((Brethel)), The Cartographer
	
	There is a bit more of unassigned Gods, find them from the WorldBook!