At the first part, Jon just nods, thoughtful. Back when the Andals came to Westeros, they'd brought their seven gods in one with them -- the new gods. They'd had no foothold in the North, had never been able to conquer it thanks to the easy defensibility of the southmost borders, but their religion had been picked up by many of the Houses of the First Men below the Neck. He is not sure why anyone would have given up the Old Gods to take the Seven in their place, unless they were made to at the point of a sword -- but the Old Gods have mostly been tolerated in the South where people wished to hold to them. What made people give up their gods here?
It seems, from what Istredd is saying, that he must have had thoughts on the same lines.
"It stands to reason that the Heralds wouldn't talk like us, think like us. That any god wouldn't. But those Summoned, their power -- how great did the power of those Summoned grow?"
The idea makes him uneasy. He is no god; he does not like it when people begin to treat him like one, the look in some people's eyes when they know what has happened to him -- something he has been blissfully free of since Thorne pulled him out of his life. And here, he has found himself able to do things he shouldn't, that no man should be able to do, past the magic they teach him: the hours he's spent as a wolf, the flames that comes to his hands easily. He seeks no greater powers than those he needs to save his people. He never seeks for them to grow, though they do now and then nonetheless.
But if you were a real god, or something that had become accustomed to worship, how much would you resent whatever came to supplant you?
[OMG holy pete it has been longer since I hit this than I thought. It's interesting, and I definitely want to do more with them, but absolutely feel free to wrap this one if you want/need to. Jon can pretty much be like "I'm sorry, I'm taking up too much of your time" at any point.]
no subject
It seems, from what Istredd is saying, that he must have had thoughts on the same lines.
"It stands to reason that the Heralds wouldn't talk like us, think like us. That any god wouldn't. But those Summoned, their power -- how great did the power of those Summoned grow?"
The idea makes him uneasy. He is no god; he does not like it when people begin to treat him like one, the look in some people's eyes when they know what has happened to him -- something he has been blissfully free of since Thorne pulled him out of his life. And here, he has found himself able to do things he shouldn't, that no man should be able to do, past the magic they teach him: the hours he's spent as a wolf, the flames that comes to his hands easily. He seeks no greater powers than those he needs to save his people. He never seeks for them to grow, though they do now and then nonetheless.
But if you were a real god, or something that had become accustomed to worship, how much would you resent whatever came to supplant you?
[OMG holy pete it has been longer since I hit this than I thought. It's interesting, and I definitely want to do more with them, but absolutely feel free to wrap this one if you want/need to. Jon can pretty much be like "I'm sorry, I'm taking up too much of your time" at any point.]