How does the earth around your feet

[magicalarchaeologist]

WHO: Istredd and anyone!
WHAT: Catch-all for November
WHERE: Thorne, Horizon, Nocwich
WHEN: November
WARNINGS: May be spoilers for Witcher s3 in comments.





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[northerndragon]

A thoughtful nod.

"The Old Gods that I spoke of -- they simply are. They are part of the world, in every tree and rock and river. They were the gods of the Children of the Forest." A pause, and he adds, "My people, my father's people, we're called the First Men. Crossed from Essos long ago, before there were any people in Westeros. But the Children were there first, and were not the same as men. Smaller. They've been gone a long time now.

"None of that matters here, I know, but what I mean is, their gods still live, and they are part of the world. But they are silent. I've never heard from them the way the Singularity tries to tell us things from time to time. Who does it speak to more?"

As he talks, Ghost begins to chase a leosylph some distance away. For the time being, the creatures appear playful. And because Ghost is only a part of Jon's mind and what the Singularity will let him do, Ghost will remain playful, making no move to tear at the other animal.

[magicalarchaeologist]

"It matters," Istredd says firmly. "Most spheres have their own versions and they may be relevant." So Jon might not think his story is relevant, but Istredd feels differently. "As a historian, I feel most things matter." For all they know this sphere is connected to theirs and the Children could exist here. There are many things they have yet to learn about the land they currently occupy.

"The gods did try to talk to us that one time. Just ... not in the most pleasant of ways." The heralds, sweeping across the land, damaging everyone along their past. "I don't know that their actions were intentional to hurt anyone though. It could be them trying to reach out and causing harm due to miscommunication." A kinder reading than most people would give them, but Istredd tries not to make assumptions about the intentions of others. The gods have their own priorities.

"I cannot say, it's private to those people who have the deeper connection." Rhy, Sabine, that woman from the Free Cities, Julie. He knows not of anyone else. "But they seem to be able to communicate with it, yet it communicates in feelings and images I believe, not words." So perhaps the gods are the same!

[northerndragon]

Jon appreciates the firmness with which Istredd says that his gods matter. So often, with no heart trees here, and few followers, they do not seem to. And by extension, little of his life before he came here seems to matter much: only what sort of friend he is, what sort of man, and sometimes, what he can do with his sword.

"The gods of this place aren't people, and most of the people of this place... they don't seem to want to have much to do with them anymore. But there's no reason to think that a god would always talk in a way that a person would understand at once, rather than at last. We must be small to them. Our lives are short. They can harm us, if they wish: why wouldn't a god just come out and do it if they wanted to? If I don't understand their messages, or you don't, might be that someone does, or it might be that we will -- in the end."

As to the idea that people who have a connection to the Singularity might wish to keep it to themselves, he only nods. How much would he give not to have a connection to the Lord of Light?

Where would he be if he did not?

[magicalarchaeologist]

"It is surprising how few people believe or worship after we've actively experienced the heralds crashing through the land." Istredd doesn't know what to make of that, really. Perhaps they believe in terms of understanding these creatures exist, but don't worship them as their gods. Or they have their heads in the sand. It's hard to know but Istredd knows that humans can be very stubborn. If they don't want to put stock in the gods, they simply won't.

"There's a theory that has been going on for some time about the gods." Well, it started with Kyle and then him, but it has been discussed since. "Over a thousand years ago, the first Summons happened with a high mage who was exiled and founded Solvunn. It is possible those Summoned became what is known now as the new gods." Since it originated in Solvunn, where those Summoned might have ended up with their mage, it still makes the most logical sense to him.

"The heralds were all the old gods though. I do think they communicate differently from us. We're a different species at the very least, not everyone can talk the same way."

[northerndragon]

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.]

let's wrap on this one yes!

[magicalarchaeologist]

"How great does our power grow already? We get magical gifts, magic is stronger when trained here, we can manipulate the entire psychic plane here in the Horizon to our needs. We've been here over two years. In the history, they were here for centuries before the Summoning was stopped."

So take the power that the Summoned currently have gathered over only a few years and multiply that. It seems very obvious to him how realistic the new gods being former Summoned truly is. They're already otherworldly, they're already over-powered. In Solvunn they're worshipped. It's a slippery slope.

"We don't know for sure though, it's a theory for now." One that Istredd believes in otherwise he wouldn't have said anything. He gets up though, and glances over at Jon. "I must go to my next class, but thank you for spending some time with me and the Singularity. You should visit it again. It may like that." He doesn't know for certain, but it is alive, and it never seems to mind him talking to it.

He salutes and disappears from the Horizon to get to class!