We could do a combination of fantasy and modern! Like, fantasy gods, a monarchy, magic, strange races, fantasy creatures, but also modern technology, clothing, and general aesthetic. I read a graphic novel like that once, it was amazing. So they can live in a modern kingdom where a king/queen rules, and a puppetmaster pulls the strings. Now, perhaps the puppetmaster has to do with the fall of the god. Here are a few ideas for that:

1. Technology's Too Powerful. The Puppetmaster has been accumulating all kinds of technology only for themselves. t's grown powerful enough to take down a god - but they have to be sure. The deity is the Puppetmaster's guinea pig. They must find help, and come across the group (or the two - I guess it's two humans and a god.) It could even be that one of the two works for the Puppetmaster.

2. Divine Right. The deity is the one who has granted the Puppetmaster the "divine right" to rule. Only thing is, none of the other gods agreed to this. When they find out who did it, they promptly banish the deity, causing turbulence for the Puppetmaster. The deity is certain these two can help reinstate them as a god - though they may not be entirely honest about the goal of the quest.

3. The Heirs. The Puppetmaster is in desperate need of heirs. They invoke a ritual to bring this deity to the earthly realm, where they have some amount of control over them. They order the deity to choose the two best potential heirs and bring them to the palace. But the deity doesn't exactly appreciate being told what to do.

Freedom said:

We could do a combination of fantasy and modern! Like, fantasy gods, a monarchy, magic, strange races, fantasy creatures, but also modern technology, clothing, and general aesthetic. I read a graphic novel like that once, it was amazing. So they can live in a modern kingdom where a king/queen rules, and a puppetmaster pulls the strings. Now, perhaps the puppetmaster has to do with the fall of the god. Here are a few ideas for that:

2. Divine Right. The deity is the one who has granted the Puppetmaster the "divine right" to rule. Only thing is, none of the other gods agreed to this. When they find out who did it, they promptly banish the deity, causing turbulence for the Puppetmaster. The deity is certain these two can help reinstate them as a god - though they may not be entirely honest about the goal of the quest.

Okay, I kind of like it! I think, though, that whoever winds up playing the "random third guy" could decide more of their role and involvement in it. We, of course, would need to think of an actual goal they're moving towards. Something that would reinstate the god, I guess, and therefore reinstate the puppetmaster? And the third guy, as you said, probably doesn't fully comprehend the situation. They could be something like a hero/explorer/servant of the puppetmaster/devout of the god, and agree to help for whatever their reason is without fully knowing what they're getting themselves into.

honestly, i would NOT mind playing the random third guy if you two would prefer to do one of the other two, unless you lot would like the role >>

i do think that what would reinstate the deity and puppetmaster would depend a lot on the lore of the deities' existence. there being enough for the others to Not Agree on the puppetmaster's existence and also them not agreeing leading to a veto of the deity's power suggests that there's a sort of community of gods up there with distinct rules. perhaps there's a sort of acension system that no one knows about that if they complete a certain quest or check a certain set of boxes, then some eligible people can be picked by the gods to ascend, and then become the god of something or other that's picked by them by the committee? and the deity's idea is that if they do it all again, then they may be forgiven and ascended again.

if this is the case, it's probably supposed to be a secret that no one knows about, but puppetmaster isn't interested in becoming a god because they're happy with their life here and just want to get back to it chop chop while neither of them are really telling third what all this will do in the first place, so them chasing down godlihood isn't a risk, either. either that or only certain people can ascend in the first place and those two aren't a risk.

I think it would be fun to do a quest sort of thing, yeah! I imagine the deity already did it once, in ancient times, and they think they already know exactly how to do it and where everything is, so it'll be quick and easy. But - surprise surprise! - things have changed a ton since they became a god, and it turns out to bea lot more complicated than they had anticipated. Thus, perhaps, why the third person is needed.

okay, sorry, went offline for a bit again!

and yes, that sounds like it could be very fun. i like the idea of the deity being cocky about knowing what they're doing and the puppetmaster assuming they're right and the decline into the deity realizing they very much do NOT know and being frustrated and the puppetmaster being annoyed that they're repeatedly wrong because they want to get back to their old life as quickly as possible. the arguments that could ensue tickle my brain. then they'd have to begrudgingly rely on a mortal who already knows.

neither of them are really used to mortal life as a whole, and i assume the puppetmaster doesn't want people to know they're the puppetmaster and the deity doesn't want people to know of their shame as a fallen god, so the mortal might also be able to help them act like normal people since i doubt either of them would blend well into the mortal world. froggington's idea gave me the vibe that the puppetmaster didn't go outside much, and the god is, well. a god. so that might add a little bit of a camp feeling to our roleplay, or at least make for a fun dynamic.

i'm considering how the third person would even know how to do the quest. the puppetmaster probably knows a lot of things going on in the kingdom and a lot of people in it since news would get to them, even if they don't know them personally, so they'd likely be able to name a couple of helpful people. maybe they're a knight whose missions have sent them far and wide (and therefore able to guide them to the places they need to go) and the puppetmaster promised to get them honored if they did this or the two of them simply tricked the knight into pitying them and is now doing it as a little side-job to help some poor folks get what is owed to them, or a criminal who's been on the run for years and has been all over the world as a result and was promised a pardon by the puppetmaster were they to do all this.

(apologies, I thought I'd responded at least once within the last few responses)

The Ascension thing that TIAPN mentioned reminds me of Disney Hercules and how he became a god and I think in Greek myths there were a few instances of the gods deciding a mortal was special enough to become a god because everyone liked them or they did something special. It also reminds me of Brandon Sanderon's Comsere "mythology" and the gods all hold shards which created the world. You can kill the shard holder and then someone else will take up the name and the power of the shard, so the god can be referred to their human name or their shard name. I'm not sure, because i've only read one of his series and I think he's still figuring stuff out/revealing stuff gradually.

I feel like the puppet master and the god would be too prideful to ask the random guy to teach them how to act normal. It's bad enough that they have to ask the random guy what's going on to help understand many situations. I feel like that while the puppet master doesn't interact with a lot of people directly, they're still around in the outskirts and shadows so they should know how to act passablely and understand how normal people work. Of course they probably had certain advantages they are trying to get used to living without but they would have been a normal person at some point in their life so they know something.

One interesting thought is do the will the puppet master and god form a plan B if they realize that it isn't possible to regain their former positions. Also I kinda imagined the puppet master in addition to the god's greater knowledge would have their own contacts and their own skill set for manipulating the world such as espionage, assassination, and any other useful abilities/skills.

What would the gods normal interactions be like with humans? Are they frequent? They only interact when the human is interesting or the situation? Is it more common for more higher ranked gods or lower ranked ones because I have no idea what kind of powers the god has?

I'm also curious if the puppet master and the god if they'll like work well together and smoothly or if they are both so disgruntled by their loss of position that the random guy has to be the intercessor.

Also another thing that the random guy could be is a con artist and they think he's some well-learned well well-traveled skilled person but he's actually a young upstart and moved to a really big busy trade city so he can hide easier and start up a con. And he's actually more confused than they are because he doesn't know how to figure out the quest but he does know normal human things in that city, but he doesn't necessarily know the most about far distant places and he just knows enough from being in a trading city to B.S. his way with the confidence only a con has.

I'm thinking either puppeteer or random guy for what I'd be interested in writing, but I can do anything. I just have no idea how to play a fallen god lol.