If you were a god...

[Legal Rose]

Here's another thought: how many of these gods were, or still are, that interested in creating people? Some might prefer experimenting with raw magic, weather and nature, or with nonsapient animals. These might form either:

Forbidden Lands that tried to drive out any people that entered (they might still come to hide in it, to prove themselves, or to harvest unique materials).

Lands that the god allowed limited people from other lands to settle in, on his terms-- tending his gardens and carrying out his negotiations with the other gods.

(In fact, if a god like that was attacked by a rival, he might not have the right power to recreate people except by bargaining for new settlers, and if the attacker saturated the place with plagues or other things the defender couldn't cure --or put the word out that he would, if anyone tried to repopulate it-- you'd get a truly "lost" land. At least lost from a human perspective; the god's own powers would still work on his real interests, but it would be no place for people.)

Yeah, I especially like the idea of a god that just wants to be left alone for some reason or another.

And one issue with all of these scenarios is that no one really knows how a person's mind would warp with extreme power and immortality. I mean, the gut instinct seems to be to assume that they become increasingly bored and detached, but I'm no so sure that would necessarily apply to everyone.

 

[wordwalker]

And one issue with all of these scenarios is that no one really knows how a person's mind would warp with extreme power and immortality. I mean, the gut instinct seems to be to assume that they become increasingly bored and detached, but I'm no so sure that would necessarily apply to everyone.

Very much a question. Then again, there is the point that these actually are gods-- it's not like asking how long a vampire can keep a conscience after a few centuries of feeding and outliving everyone he's befriended. These are beings that are supposed to be what they are, doing what they do. If anything (especially since this is a universe that decided it needed so many contrasting gods), they might be more likely to be rigid, more set in their ways than humans.

I can picture a god who built a peaceful world and might be capable of defending it when roused, but always have trouble suspecting the worst in his neighbors-- and his followers (especially the human ones who immigrated from other lands and proved themselves as defenders) would have to constantly plead with him not to be too trusting. Or another equally peaceful god with a different spin, that could be brutal on anything that disturbed his standards of tranquility.

 

[Legal Rose]

I can picture a god who built a peaceful world and might be capable of defending it when roused, but always have trouble suspecting the worst in his neighbors-- and his followers (especially the human ones who immigrated from other lands and proved themselves as defenders) would have to constantly plead with him not to be too trusting. Or another equally peaceful god with a different spin, that could be brutal on anything that disturbed his standards of tranquility.

Good point. I've been going with the sort of assumption that these gods would have the mentality of normal humans. But at the very least these would be beings with no family, no childhood, and no real ingrained relationship with humans except for how they personally chose to interact. So even if the way their minds work is human in nature, they might still behave in unusual ways thanks to their personal experiences.

 

[mbartelsm]

A large island with a main port surrounded by cliffs, on top of the cliffs people who are as fast and light as the wind live on houses a la mediterranean, the port is heavily defended as the portal is way far from the island, in the middle of the ocean, so a lot of pirates tend to come and assault.

 

[Cheezyb10]

I would have an island surrounded by endless ocean, to start. I would start by giving my people life, water, food, air, vegetation, and the pursuit of happiness. And observe.