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.