Hearing that the young woman had no previous experience with gods but now considered herself an expert on them was enough to take even the normally calm lorekeeper back. "Y... yes?" he asked, then shook his head and tried to clarify. "I mean, yes, those all sound like the abilities of powerful mages, not gods. I brought a friend of mine back to life once, using gloves made by a purely mortal artisan. Summoning powerful extraplanar allies was a particular trick of devils we fought, and another companion of mine, Oni, could unleash killing spells like you describe. Those aren't particularly godly powers, though thankfully they were rare. But any god worth its salt could strike down any single mage that dared to face it." If he had known what was going through her head he would have been even more confused. He wasn't human - or hadn't been, before. Most of his friends hadn't been human, for that matter. That didn't make them gods, though.
"Ludo gave Remi the ability to see beyond the barrier and encouraged him to bring it down," the bard said thoughtfully. "And Safrin gave Ronin a weapon for defeating the Spire demon. All of that after the Voice was freed and returned to power. So either they're telling different people different things... or else people are interpreting their words in very different ways."
And it was entirely possible that the girl he was leading to the subterranean shrine had sorely mistaken what Ludo meant.
He sighed, giving her a weary smile. "I think you must follow what you believe is right," he said gently, thinking back to how Remi had called him controlling. So, for the pup's sake, he would try and let things go. "I agree that the elder gods who raised the barrier in the first place might be a bit... unhappy... if it's brought down from within, but given all that Ludo and Safrin are doing to facilitate it, I would like to think that they would also try and protect the mortals in their care from any petty backlash." He gave another little shrug along with his lopsided smile. "But I am, admittedly, a bit annoyed at the Old Gods, as well, for dooming so many innocents to centuries of entrapment and the slow death of their world and children, just to punish one arrogant child-goddess whose crimes haven't been entirely explained."
"You came from Northaven, then?" he hazarded, based on her lack of familiarity with gods prior to Caido. "And Ronin knows you from there?"
"Ludo gave Remi the ability to see beyond the barrier and encouraged him to bring it down," the bard said thoughtfully. "And Safrin gave Ronin a weapon for defeating the Spire demon. All of that after the Voice was freed and returned to power. So either they're telling different people different things... or else people are interpreting their words in very different ways."
And it was entirely possible that the girl he was leading to the subterranean shrine had sorely mistaken what Ludo meant.
He sighed, giving her a weary smile. "I think you must follow what you believe is right," he said gently, thinking back to how Remi had called him controlling. So, for the pup's sake, he would try and let things go. "I agree that the elder gods who raised the barrier in the first place might be a bit... unhappy... if it's brought down from within, but given all that Ludo and Safrin are doing to facilitate it, I would like to think that they would also try and protect the mortals in their care from any petty backlash." He gave another little shrug along with his lopsided smile. "But I am, admittedly, a bit annoyed at the Old Gods, as well, for dooming so many innocents to centuries of entrapment and the slow death of their world and children, just to punish one arrogant child-goddess whose crimes haven't been entirely explained."
"You came from Northaven, then?" he hazarded, based on her lack of familiarity with gods prior to Caido. "And Ronin knows you from there?"
