The Gods play a crucial role in your life and most mortals elect to follow a divine patron at some stage in the Avalon lives. This is one of the key decisions of your character's life - see HELP PATRONS for the current pantheon. To interact with the deities, divine Orders and holy locations there are various commands you should be familiar with:
HELP 23 / HELP 24 Shows an index of helpfiles relating to the Gods.
DIVINITIES Lists your patron, and how the deities feel towards you.
OFFER <item> Offers items to deities in their temples/marked spots.
WISH <message> Send a wish within a temple, or to all deities of Avalon.
KNEEL or BOW To give a sign of humility to a god or a holy location.
FOLLOWERS Lists those who follow your patron as followers.
THEORDER Lists those who follow your patron fully.
OUR <various> Tells you about your patron's place/rank in the pantheon.
DEVOTE <deity> To devote the subsequent command/action to a deity.
SUPPLICATE <deity> To request of the deity to allow you into his/her Order.
PATRON <deity> Selects yourself a patron. The god must be visible.
UNPATRON <deity> Denounces your patron and leaves you free from them.
PRAY <message> Prays to deities in their temples, for instance.
There are certain core help files you should learn intimately if you wish to understand the divine pantheon: HELP CREATION narrates Avalon's creation story; HELP DEITIES provides broader info on gods, divine realms, priesthoods and patronage; HELP TEMPLES tells you about holy locations, including temple sanctuaries; HELP OFFERINGS introduces the all-important offerings to the Gods and HELP OBEISANCE the more complex sacrificial fires, traditional symbols of piety; finally HELP FESTIVALS to enter the world of priesthood rituals, one of the primary functions of the divine Order and their enduring effect on the land.
You will find that Gods often act in ways which may seem unfairly towards you, helping another at your expense or hindering you. Remember that FAVOUR and DISFAVOUR play a large part here, and if you are pitting yourself against somebody with the favour of a deity then you can expect them to be aided against you. Gods conform to no laws, they are unbounded by concepts such as 'equality' and 'fairness'; this is precisely what makes them so interesting and enigmatic. The Gods are not in Avalon to act either as nursemaid or to police the mortals. Remember the crucial rule; Gods do not exist because of the mortals, they exist despite them.
