"But why make it easier for them to succeed?" Jigano mused. "If they don't want the barrier to fall while the Voice is free, why give powerful Outlanders tools and information to bring the barrier down now, and not do so for the Naturals fifty years ago when the Ascended's goddess was still trapped and sleeping?" He agreed with her that people would chase their desires, but what he found strange was that, if the gods were so adamant about the Voice's entrapment (or destruction), why did they seemingly encourage the warriors to face the Demon, the Spire, and the Barrier now, when she had a much better chance of escaping once it came down?
He nodded in agreement again when she said that the gods were bound somehow. "The Old Gods probably left some rules in place over their, ah, colleagues here. Though the fact that Ludo could tell you 'too much' and wasn't constrained from it is telling, too. They stopped because they chose to, not because they were prevented from speaking in the first place." A pact, perhaps, with the other two old - small 'o' - gods? Or a directive from the Old Gods? Alas, questioning deities often didn't end well. They liked their mysteries and their secrets as much as he did.
"Fear of the unknown, of change, can push people to extremes... even gods," Jigano said softly as he paused at a four way intersection, cocked his head, and then chose the right hand path for them to continue down. "A mortal ascending to godhood might have shaken the very core of what they believed, such that they lashed out without thinking or planning, to punish and control and to hell - literally - with those innocent souls caught in the crossfire." He tossed Phoebe a glance over his shoulder and the hint of a wry grin. "Then again, she could also have attempted to raise Ascended armies and forced the conversion of Accepted and Abandoned and Attuned to create more young gods like herself and overthrow the old order, and that's why they slammed the barrier over her." He gave a little shrug, returning his attention to their winding path. "The problem is... I've heard and read bits that suggest both. And neither side is unbiased in this, making it difficult to untangle the truth from the propaganda."
He nodded at the information that she had been a newcomer, and gave her a fleeting smile - more open and honest this time - as he slowed his steps over a slick area of uneven stone, ready to offer an arm in assistance should she need it. "What was your life like, before Caido?" he asked curiously. "And the land you came from before Northhaven?"
He nodded in agreement again when she said that the gods were bound somehow. "The Old Gods probably left some rules in place over their, ah, colleagues here. Though the fact that Ludo could tell you 'too much' and wasn't constrained from it is telling, too. They stopped because they chose to, not because they were prevented from speaking in the first place." A pact, perhaps, with the other two old - small 'o' - gods? Or a directive from the Old Gods? Alas, questioning deities often didn't end well. They liked their mysteries and their secrets as much as he did.
"Fear of the unknown, of change, can push people to extremes... even gods," Jigano said softly as he paused at a four way intersection, cocked his head, and then chose the right hand path for them to continue down. "A mortal ascending to godhood might have shaken the very core of what they believed, such that they lashed out without thinking or planning, to punish and control and to hell - literally - with those innocent souls caught in the crossfire." He tossed Phoebe a glance over his shoulder and the hint of a wry grin. "Then again, she could also have attempted to raise Ascended armies and forced the conversion of Accepted and Abandoned and Attuned to create more young gods like herself and overthrow the old order, and that's why they slammed the barrier over her." He gave a little shrug, returning his attention to their winding path. "The problem is... I've heard and read bits that suggest both. And neither side is unbiased in this, making it difficult to untangle the truth from the propaganda."
He nodded at the information that she had been a newcomer, and gave her a fleeting smile - more open and honest this time - as he slowed his steps over a slick area of uneven stone, ready to offer an arm in assistance should she need it. "What was your life like, before Caido?" he asked curiously. "And the land you came from before Northhaven?"
