Lesser Deity

The winter wind grew more biting by the day.

Even Port Nyanzaru, close to the subtropics, had seen temperatures plunge. This winter promised to be no better than the last, and no one knew how many displaced people would survive it. The temple in Central Square held its daily prayers. Perhaps sensing that something unusual was coming, the Church had tightened its requirements for worshippers. The large prayer gatherings, once held weekly, now took place every three days. Meanwhile, Half-Elf artisans from Falling Leaf City had begun making statues of the god in large numbers.

The Half-Elf Church's temple was being expanded.

It was not just the Grand Temple in Port Nyanzaru. Temples were also being built in the twelve newly established towns, and priests had long since been sent to preside over them. For Soren, that meant more sources of faith.

The Temple of Wealth had grown rather deserted.

As war made trade across the mainland increasingly difficult, faith in the Lady of Fortune had suffered badly. Trade routes through the Overseas Islands remained active, but their traffic had probably fallen by around thirty percent. Soren could faintly sense the Lady of Fortune's Divine Power declining. Without enough worshippers and sources of faith, a deity's power would only weaken, which made the choice of Portfolio crucial.

The Goddess of Wealth had to sustain the power her priests consumed when they prayed for Divine Magic. If she stopped granting it, her Church would suffer a severe blow.

Granting priests Divine Magic required Divine Power, which came from faith. With trade devastated, faith dwindled, and Divine Power fell with it. That made sustaining her priests' Divine Magic harder. To avoid a vicious cycle, the Lady of Fortune had no choice but to keep granting them her Divine Power, gradually lowering her