Young Writers Society

So. Here's the plan I got so far, divived in a few elements.

1. First and foremost, it all begins with something called the Heaven's Parade. It's basically a feast that's organized in An to celebrate the deities in duty, remind people of their presence and also to accept new Aspiring Deities in their ranks - if they are deemed worthy. The reason why I believe starting with this event is important is because the deities essentially use it as an excuse to recruit more people so that they'll be a match to the rebellion that they KNOW is currently happening in the Netherworld.

2. Now, what's unique about this thing is that although it mostly happens in An, Deities might want to make a point by inviting Geniis, Humans that had contact with supernatural beings and even - if they behaved well enough- Benevolant Dalkhus. That's also a facade - make sure to show that gods are nice and charming and that the evil rebellion is what you should be afraid of or fighting against.
^ having the Geniis, humans and dalkhus is optional. It's just how I personally think Deities would do it - and it's also a very good way for all of our characters to bump into each other, because they might all get invited into the parade.
But if this doesn't fit with the actual way your world works, @Sagitta, do tell me, and I'll come up with somethin' else. I'm not managing this SB here: you are. I'm just providing some suggestions

3. The point of this "2." bit of my plan is that even if other races aren't invited, the Heaven's Parade brings a LOT of attention - to those who can see it - which means that a lot of roaming Geniis will become more active. That'll be a good way to have some of our characters wonder what the heck is going on, or why do they suddenly see a lot of weird things around them, etc.

4. Since the SB mentions a rebellion, well, one of the activities said rebellion may have would be trying to strike the human world first - because a lot of human beings aren't aware of everything that's goin' on outside of Earth, and also because it's much safer to attack them first than a group of freakin' gods - to see how the Deities will react, and also to forcefully recruit people. Or manipulate them into joining their ranks.


5. Now, I realize that actual Dalkhus can't exactly leave the Netherworld, as they're pretty much stuck there, according to the SB's first page. So one way they could reach Earth would be by trying to pass via some ancient portals or pathways they used to have when some of them were deities. Which, as you may have guessed, would be a perfect opportunity to travel in various places of the world and use the mysteries our good old Earth has in store specifically for the story's plot points.
And the first example that came to my mind was the Nazca Lines. They were apparently drawn for a lot or purposes, a plausible one being that these lines accompanied religious rituals so that the people living there may enjoy some water, which they rarely had.
Point being, if we're having former gods take part of a rebellion that can't actually move around, sending a few scouts trying to get back to Earth and open the gates for the rest of the army would be a logical choice. And using symbols they used a long time ago would be a solution for that.

If this is approved, then rest assured, people: we're not using all the lines. There are about 40 of those, so it'll even be more insteresting to have our characters guess which ones are the portals and which ones are not - with up to 8 of them being actual gateways.

6. Therefore, our first "arc" so to speak would be to have our characters either prevent former-deity-Dalkhus from entering Earth and then find a way to spread into the heavens - because CHAOS UNFOLDS if they do - or banish/defeat those who actually manage to enter our planet.