The Amell Legacy: Transgressions

[Zevran]

"Which would make it rather hard to finish things," Zevran agrees gravely. "I must admit, I am... rather inexperienced with rituals- I have only been in two, and one I was unconcious for."

[Marian Hawke]

"Yeah?" asks Marian, oddly interested. 

[Zevran]

Zevran's smiles wavers for a moment, though he doesn't seem upset with her. "A simple invocation of Ciren when I entered puberty by the village cleric. He was Valshathe but as the only cleric, he did rituals for most of the Heptad. He did not know true rituals for all of them but Ciren he did." He sounds wistful, almost nostalgic. 

[Marian Hawke]

"Huh. I never formally dedicated to Alydra -- just as well, I suppose."

[Zevran]

"It's not required," Zevran says with a shrug. "I... well, to be honest, I suspect it was pushed for despite my youth because they wanted to ensure I did not... choose another deity. As much as they may have disliked my, ah, prowess in certain Ciren-related matters- and the interest the other youths had in said prowess- they preferred that over other... interests."

[Marian Hawke]

She wrinkles her nose. "I can't imagine binding myself to Her," she says, looking back at her book. "I don't know why anyone ever does. It's stupid. What good is power if you're a slave in exchange for borrowing it?"

[Zevran]

A shadow crosses his eyes and he smiles thinly. "Quite so."

[Marian Hawke]

"It's gotta be one of the dumbest ways to power you can find," she adds. "Sell your soul to a devil and you'll get power, but you'll be a pawn. Ditto for swearing yourself to Her -- all power, no initiative of your own. Even Keindranas is a better choice because you can pick who you want to torture. Tesseline doesn't promise anyone anything other than misery, of course. Kato or Zanon are your smart picks among the Dark deities."

[Zevran]

"And the other gods?" Zevran asks quietly.

[Marian Hawke]

"Most people go for Bright gods because they match who they are -- good people, honest people, hardworking people. People want things: community, family, love, protection, honor. Equality. Freedom. Some of the Twilight are like that -- Naugrix, Junon, Alydra. Things people aspire to be or to have. None of them are well known for giving you power. Maybe Vangal. But they don't usually promise you anything -- they say, here's what I want, and if you fit, you gravitate toward them."

[Zevran]

Zevran snorts softly. "But you think Betrayal and Evil will give power? Without taking more than They give?" He shakes his head. "The gods do not grant power for nothing, none of them. The gods give us purpose and guidance, nothing more."

[Marian Hawke]

"Purpose I can handle. Purpose sounds great, actually. After all, if you don't have a purpose, someone will force one onto you."

[Zevran]

"I have not found that to be true, though I suppose a month or so of freedom is not so long," Zevran says mildly.

[Marian Hawke]

"You don't think Bela has a purpose in mind for you?" asks Marian, mildly. 

[Zevran]

"You said force," Zevran counters, noting that she didn't even seem to notice the implication in his words, too focused on the argument, on the relevance to herself. "I assure you, the word has meaning in such a context."