Rites of Catatheosis

The Rites of Catatheosis are a powerful and unique working of arcane, divine, and dunamantic magic by which the souls of deities become bound to Exandria and its cycle of rebirth, allowing the divine entities to regain their identity and some of their powers eventually, but remaining mortal and thus undetectable for threats such as Predathos.

History

Fan art of the Raven Queen, by MargaretChurchA.

In 843 PD, during the crisis that followed the Red Solstice, Bells Hells were tasked with traveling to Ruidus and stopping Ludinus Da'leth before he freed Predathos and destroyed the gods. Although the adventurers had their own complicated feelings about both divinity and the archmage that wanted to eradicate it, they were also encouraged by two gods, the Arch Heart and the Raven Queen, to use that opportunity to challenge the status quo using the God Eater, either as a tool of negotiation or as a way of forcing the divine beings out of Exandria. During the fight against Predathos itself, Laudna used the Mask of the Matron to have a meeting with the goddess of death, along with the rest of her adventuring party. When they were talking about the God Eater's powers and its hunger, Imogen Temult (who was acting as its vessel) remembered that it didn't seem to sense mortals, and suggested the gods to take mortal forms as they had done in the past, becoming invisible to their natural predator. After some initial hesitation the Matron of Death agreed to the plan, declaring she would be able to create a ritual to allow it, connected to the Luxon to some degree, although warning them that Bells Hells would have to give her time and subdue Predathos first.

Fan art of Ashton's sacrifice, by Sabira Langevin.

After the group of adventurers successfully defeated the Red End and contained it inside of Imogen, they returned to Exandria with it, and with the help of the Matron, met with the other gods of the main pantheon, explaining the situation and presenting the Rites of Catatheosis as the best possible solution. With some effort, they reached a unanimous agreement, and after undoing the Divine Gate, the Raven Queen used her new ritual with Ashton Greymoore's help, and the gods abandoned their current forms to be reborn as mortals.

Components

The Rites of Catatheosis were designed using the Rites of Ascension as a reference, combined with the knowledge of the Raven Queen about mortal incarnation and the corrupted version of her own ritual created by Vecna.

When the theoretical part of the rites was ready, the Divine Gate had to be removed for the ritual to be performed from Exandria, using a source of dunamancy as the central focus in a gargantuan arcane equation of fractal patterns and silver light that made everything brighter and produced a feeling as if several important moments were happening at once. Upon completion, the dunamantic focus was destroyed.

Trivia

• Catatheosis seems to be a direct antonym of apotheosis, using instead the prefix kata, meaning "down" or "against".
• When the Matron of Ravens started the ritual she created the arcane equation as a "draft" in the ground that grew in size and complexity in the sky.
• The light generated by the Rites of Catatheosis made the dusk sky become blue as daytime for a few minutes after its completion.
• The rites were designed to allow the deities to be reborn as members of the many races that follow them, but when asked if it would work with creatures such as animals, the Raven Queen herself admitted that since it was all created in a hurry, there is a small chance of unusual exceptions.

References

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