"A doubter and a questioner would be right at home here," Jigano admitted with a chuckle. "And if you can put up with me, I'd be happy to answer both doubts and questions as best I can." He tilted his head thoughtfully as the questions about the gods came in quick succession, and he waited until Oliver was finished before he tried to tackle them both.
"I can give you a quick history lesson, and hopefully it will help clear things up a bit. The Old Gods are Mort, Vi, and Rae, gods of death, life, and nature, respectively. Beneath them are lesser gods that they created to help them in their duties: Ludo, Safrin, and Frey, one for each of them. For the past three hundred years, Ludo, Safrin and Frey were trapped inside the Hollowed Grounds with the people here, and were the only gods they knew, so we know more about them. It's only since the barrier has fallen that a few - a very few - people have met any of the big Old Gods." He stopped for a breath finally, and to pour the tea into the large, thick cups, offering one to Oliver as he continued. "Abandoned - mages - are something of an accident, an anomaly that cropped up in humans long ago. Being different wasn't initially a bad thing, but some among the Abandoned grew powerful in magic and technology both, and sought to challenge the gods for power. These were the first Ascended, and some of them did become gods in their own right. New ones, and ones that waged war against the old gods. Whether the old gods were jealous of their power and sought to throw them down, or whether the Ascended tried to take the old gods' power for themselves... well, we just don't know yet. Whoever started it, though, the result was that the old gods no longer trusted magic users after that war." Was it fair? It didn't seem that way to anyone who had been trapped in the barrier for even a short time, but it was the way this world had gone, as far as Jigano had been able to discover. "Attuned worship the old gods, not the new ones, and pledge themselves to the old gods and their ways. In return, as you know, the old gods grant them the ability to become animals. It's possible - uncommon, but possible - for an Abandoned who has either done great service for the old gods or who is particularly pious to be... forgiven, I suppose." He frowned slightly, blowing on his tea. "I don't know if that's quite the right word, but the result is someone who is 'in tune' enough with the world to become one of its animals, while still having access to their magic."
His lips curved into a sadder smile as he shrugged. "Of course, the opposite is also true. An Attuned can anger one of the gods enough that they become cursed with Abandoned magic, whether they want it or not." A curse was in the eye of the beholder, though. And one could be cursed by one god and blessed by another, as Jigano had been. "Is there a particular god you're curious about and want to try approaching?" he asked instead of pursuing that line of thought. "I can tell you what I know about the offerings for the ones whose interest you'd most like to gain."
The list of memories was short and a little confusing. Jigano didn't know what an 'Irish' was - a race of humans? A nationality? A breed, like elves or dwarves or kobolds? A religion? But it sounded like Oliver didn't know either, so the bard just smiled reassuringly and sipped the apple-flavored tea. "You're not the first the portal has taken that way," he reassured the young man. "Another member of the guild, Seiji, had a similar loss of memory. It will make finding your niche a little more challenging, perhaps, but it also gives you a chance to try many things without feeling like you have to stick with what you already know."
"I can give you a quick history lesson, and hopefully it will help clear things up a bit. The Old Gods are Mort, Vi, and Rae, gods of death, life, and nature, respectively. Beneath them are lesser gods that they created to help them in their duties: Ludo, Safrin, and Frey, one for each of them. For the past three hundred years, Ludo, Safrin and Frey were trapped inside the Hollowed Grounds with the people here, and were the only gods they knew, so we know more about them. It's only since the barrier has fallen that a few - a very few - people have met any of the big Old Gods." He stopped for a breath finally, and to pour the tea into the large, thick cups, offering one to Oliver as he continued. "Abandoned - mages - are something of an accident, an anomaly that cropped up in humans long ago. Being different wasn't initially a bad thing, but some among the Abandoned grew powerful in magic and technology both, and sought to challenge the gods for power. These were the first Ascended, and some of them did become gods in their own right. New ones, and ones that waged war against the old gods. Whether the old gods were jealous of their power and sought to throw them down, or whether the Ascended tried to take the old gods' power for themselves... well, we just don't know yet. Whoever started it, though, the result was that the old gods no longer trusted magic users after that war." Was it fair? It didn't seem that way to anyone who had been trapped in the barrier for even a short time, but it was the way this world had gone, as far as Jigano had been able to discover. "Attuned worship the old gods, not the new ones, and pledge themselves to the old gods and their ways. In return, as you know, the old gods grant them the ability to become animals. It's possible - uncommon, but possible - for an Abandoned who has either done great service for the old gods or who is particularly pious to be... forgiven, I suppose." He frowned slightly, blowing on his tea. "I don't know if that's quite the right word, but the result is someone who is 'in tune' enough with the world to become one of its animals, while still having access to their magic."
His lips curved into a sadder smile as he shrugged. "Of course, the opposite is also true. An Attuned can anger one of the gods enough that they become cursed with Abandoned magic, whether they want it or not." A curse was in the eye of the beholder, though. And one could be cursed by one god and blessed by another, as Jigano had been. "Is there a particular god you're curious about and want to try approaching?" he asked instead of pursuing that line of thought. "I can tell you what I know about the offerings for the ones whose interest you'd most like to gain."
The list of memories was short and a little confusing. Jigano didn't know what an 'Irish' was - a race of humans? A nationality? A breed, like elves or dwarves or kobolds? A religion? But it sounded like Oliver didn't know either, so the bard just smiled reassuringly and sipped the apple-flavored tea. "You're not the first the portal has taken that way," he reassured the young man. "Another member of the guild, Seiji, had a similar loss of memory. It will make finding your niche a little more challenging, perhaps, but it also gives you a chance to try many things without feeling like you have to stick with what you already know."
