[tiam]

maybe when the are killed (ish) they dont die but lose power and worshippers. However i beleive normal gods such as hood can die. Because hood is (arguably) an ascended jaghut then i suppose he could be killed. also shadowthrone and dancer could be killed because they are just mortal ascendents. I suppose oponn and co could be killed.

[Aztiel]

Its a pretty common fantasy theme that gods lose their power when they lose worshippers. K'rul was gone, or had no power, because no one worshipped him.

That kind of falls apart when you consider nightchill though, but I guess she only had mortal power at that point.

[Dolorous Menhir]

I thought K'rul disappeared because Kallor cursed him to be forgotten. even given that example though, I don't think the relationship between worship and power in the Malazan world is anything like other systems (notably the Discworld).

Mael was totally indifferent to his worshippers and duties, yet remains a heavy-hitter. Once K'rul came back he's been steadily growing in power, without a corresponding increase in worshippers. Nightchill had no worshippers. it seems the Elder Gods cannot truly die...if Draconus were to be freed I think he would be just as powerful as he was before, despite being little remembered.

The belief/strength relationship may apply more to newer gods like Fener and Treach though. It's also pretty clear that they can die. We've seen Oponn show fear, Hood worry about rivals, Fener brought low. the young gods can cease to exist, but the Elder Gods are eternal.

[tiam]

i think gods in terms of aligned such as high house life are just ascended humans/mortals like opponn are ascended twins for example. I belaieve because they were once mortal they can die

[Dolorous Menhir]

so the distinction is between the born/created/Elder gods and the ascended/once mortal/young gods. makes sense.

[tiam]

ye thats what makes the elder gods elder and better i suppose. The fact that they can never truly die. But what about nightchill? i suppose shes alive in a small way but she should surely be able to have a better form than a 1/4 of a silverfox

[Tiger_sword]

she made the mistake of becoming a mortal (for a time) which means, i guess, that if an elder god chooses to be mortal then they CAN die

[tiam]

yeh i suppose she just risked her immortality. like mael maybe she got bored with existence

[Dolorous Menhir]

in the MoI prologue, Nightchill says - post-cursing - that she will continue to "play the mortal game". she refused to be cowed by his prophecy of death. she chose to be mortal, for whatever reason. thus she exposed herself to true death, unlike the other Elder Gods (though she ended up in Silverfox rather that through Hood's Gate.

[Dragnipur]

Hetan said:

Kallor told K'rul that he would fade from the world and be forgotten yes, but he didn't tell him he would die so that answers the first part... namely the curse will not be lifted and Kallor will not ascend.

This just gave me a thought. If you relate Kallor's not ascending to the sanction of the house of chains does it mean that Kallor would be even more powerful because he would not be 'bound by the game'?

I wonder what the repercussions of that could be?