A portfolio item is an area of worship, a domain of responsibility and a source of power that a god can hold. They seem to acquire these over time and can gain more by consensus of the other gods which usually follows a consensus amongst the mortals. 1 portfolio items for every god seems to be convergent , the rest is up for grabs and their distribution varies.
A portfolio item gives the god the power and knowledge to influence that domain in the physical world. This results in mortals praying to that particular god if they want help in that particular domain. For example a general that wants help with winning a battle might bring offers to Ratish, god of War. Giving offers to Januri, god of Love, before the battle might be less helpful. Even though Januri could ofcourse help with their godly powers to influence the coming fight, they would never be able to help as efficient as Ratish would. However, praying to Ratish right before asking somebody out on a date might be equally inefficient.
Usually a god claims a portfolio item after already having acquired some notable power and knowledge in that domain above the other gods. But after claiming a portfolio the knowledge and power seems to snowball and grow exponentially due to people in certain professions and or with certain interests aligning themselves with that god. When those people die and enter the divine realms the knowledge they gaining during their live is now in the possession of the god.
When a god claims a portfolio item two things need to happen, it needs to be announced to the other gods and it needs to be announced to the mortals. When nobody protests that makes the god the defacto god of that domain. Sometimes a portfolio claim is contested by some gods who are also trying to become the god of that domain. This contest is usually resolved by agreement amongst the gods (sometimes settled by a literal contest in the domain) or in time by the mortals who usually gradually shift to one or the other god for prayer in that particular domain.
In very rare cases the claim of a god is contested by the mortals, usually when they gradually shift to a different god when asking for help in this particular domain. Sometimes this is caused by a semantic issue. For example, when there is a god A of war and a god B of battle, the overall logistics and strategy of war is lorded over by god A, and one of one combat is part of the portfolio of god B, but what about a large scale battle that is part of a war? If you want help with the outcome of that, should you pray to god A? B? Both? The majority consensus amongst the mortals about such questions can sometimes subtly shift or determine what falls under one or the other portfolio.
Portfolio items of the gods
The following are convergent portfolio items of the gods. On convergent worlds the gods start out with these portfolio items.
- Talor Knowledge
- Danu Fertility
- Gataur Community
- Januri Love
- Ratish War
- Ganinisum Hospitality
- Tahordyn Protection
- Nantillion Health
- Zalsz Destruction
- Ranimsul Caution
- Sin Revolt
- Tal'Kinita Rest
- Uastra Harvest
- Vanessa Pleasure
- Wana Hunting
The following are convergent portfolio items that are always available up for grabs, but not bound to 1 specific god. These portfolio items are chosen and divided at some point on the convergent timeline, but the specific god that claims it is not convergent.
- Travel
- Freedom
- Time
- Trade
- Craftmanship
- Magic
- Electronics
- Software
- Art
The following are recurring portfolio items. They are present in some but not all worlds and are not bound to a particular spot on the convergent timeline nor are they bound to a specific god.
Common (More than 1/3 of the worlds have this):
- Engineering
- Charity
- Temperance
- Judgement
- Diplomacy
- Resolve
- Independence
- Beauty
- Strength
- Spacetravel
- Spirit worship
- Luck
Uncommon (More than 1/20 of the worlds have this):
- Disease
- Seduction
- Preservation
- Ancestry
- Decay
- Dreams
- Intoxication
- Balance
- Morality
- Challenge
- Seafaring
- Humour
Rare (Less then 1/20 of the worlds have this), this is not a complete list:
- Air
- Fire
- Earth
- Water
- Spirit
- Void
- Wood
- Metal
- Slaughter
- Tradition
- Logic
- Civilisation
- Nature