Part of the reason Jigano had turned the question back to Chuy was so that he could steal a few more bites between his explanations, but he finished chewing and swallowed quickly when the request to continue came. No one had ever accused the bard of being reticent, and he had no intention of letting it start now.
"Much of what we know is lost to time," Jigano admitted freely. "But what we've pieced together so far is that the Voice was once a mortal woman, one who mixed magic and technology in pursuit of her ambition. Somehow she managed to gain not just immortality but divinity - an affront to the old gods. She seems to believe that she knows better than they do, and has sought out greater and greater power, gathering followers who are dependent on her to live." He paused, a faint frown creasing his lips. "She offers a form of discount longevity, replacing their blood with a clear fluid and affecting their other organs, giving them 'upgrades' of physical abilities and powers.
"But there is a price." Wasn't there always?
"Food and water no longer sustain them. They can feed in one of two ways: by praying to her, or by taking the blood of other humans. And not just their blood, but their abilities, absorbing their magic or animal shifts for a time." It was an ability that he found distasteful, but he tried to set that feeling aside as he met Chulane's eyes solemnly. "If the other gods take a broad view of the world and all of the connections within it, showing the sentient races some favoritism but by no means all, her focus is narrow to the exclusion of almost all else: the improvement of the species she has created, and increasing their numbers. And those early versions that she used for her experiments and has now moved past? Well... what would you do with older models that no longer meet your expectations?" he asked softly.
"Much of what we know is lost to time," Jigano admitted freely. "But what we've pieced together so far is that the Voice was once a mortal woman, one who mixed magic and technology in pursuit of her ambition. Somehow she managed to gain not just immortality but divinity - an affront to the old gods. She seems to believe that she knows better than they do, and has sought out greater and greater power, gathering followers who are dependent on her to live." He paused, a faint frown creasing his lips. "She offers a form of discount longevity, replacing their blood with a clear fluid and affecting their other organs, giving them 'upgrades' of physical abilities and powers.
"But there is a price." Wasn't there always?
"Food and water no longer sustain them. They can feed in one of two ways: by praying to her, or by taking the blood of other humans. And not just their blood, but their abilities, absorbing their magic or animal shifts for a time." It was an ability that he found distasteful, but he tried to set that feeling aside as he met Chulane's eyes solemnly. "If the other gods take a broad view of the world and all of the connections within it, showing the sentient races some favoritism but by no means all, her focus is narrow to the exclusion of almost all else: the improvement of the species she has created, and increasing their numbers. And those early versions that she used for her experiments and has now moved past? Well... what would you do with older models that no longer meet your expectations?" he asked softly.
