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[sterngaze]

Liem Talbott

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Liem's mindscape is dark; quiet; contemplative. Any feelings or sensations that Liem doesn't intentionally project himself seem distant, as though echoing from a far-off room. Following any given sense to its source is bafflingly difficult.

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[sterngaze]

[Liem is already misunderstanding the point of this religion just from this brief description, but at least he seems genuinely interested about it. The subject of religion is always intriguing to him, regardless of how much or how little it happens to align with his own.]

Oh, many. More than there were deities in the Outer Sphere, and there were certainly hundreds of different deities that presided over Golarion — possibly thousands.

[There were entire continents that Liem knew very little about, after all; they certainly had their own local gods, even if some of the oldest would have been worshipped across the globe.

As they walk, Liem holds out his hand, showing Gray his palm. Just visible in the low light is the shape of a key, branded into the flesh there.]

Abadar's most prevalent symbol is a gold key, often depicted with a city engraved on the bow. It represents his domains of wealth and cities, and his status as Master of the First Vault.

[gravings]

[ "Outer Sphere" makes her think of outer space, which in turn makes her think of vampires in space. But Liem doesn't seem like he's come from that type of society... Maybe it's because she has vivid memories of him shooting arrows at that ridiculously gargantuan dragon that one time.

She peers curiously at the key branded into his hand. She isn't well-versed in many different religions, but this one is already quite different from anything she's used to. ]

There were that many deities... and some were actively ruling? Wasn't that dangerous?

[sterngaze]

Well… it could be. Some of the wars in the region where my country was located were religiously motivated.

[Certainly the gods do have an impact on the wars that humanity tends to wage on itself. He thinks of Rahadoum, where religion has been banned entirely for centuries as a result of the bloody religious wars that once ravaged it. He thinks of the wars that shattered Cheliax after the unexpected death of the god Aroden, which resulted in the nation’s current worship of Asmodeus instead.

He holds his hand still for a moment to let Gray get a clear look at the mark on it, before finally lowering it again and continuing on.]

Some countries in my world did enjoy the patronage of specific gods, but most recognized and worshipped a number of different deities. My own country had not had a patron deity for a long time; Abadar’s true realm is in the city of Axis, which most are only lucky enough to visit in death.

[gravings]

[ What a rich history. It sounds like Liem's world was dense with bonds to its gods, which played a tangible role in the lives of its people. Very different from the relationship between Gray's people and the Christian God, at least in her experience. She was never a true believer herself, but after meeting gods in the flesh like Set and Quetzalcoatl, she can't say that gods didn't walk Earth at some point in time. Maybe back then, things didn't look so different from Liem's world. ]

If your world had so many gods, where did they come from? Was there a higher god that made all the rest?

[sterngaze]

[Initially, Liem’s only answer to Gray’s question is a thoughtful hum. This subject is one that has often been on his mind over the past several months; after all, those of Zenith desire to birth a new Creation of their own design. He has often wondered if such a thing could really be possible, and if such a Creation would truly be better than the ones they’ve all left behind.]

The history of the Age of Creation is not well documented, at least by mortals. After all, there were many, many years between even the birth of the first sapient races and the current age. And the Age of Creation preceded even that.

[Perhaps somewhere in the Outer Sphere, records existed of that long-lost time when the planets were first created. But he certainly hasn’t read them.]

I have read that Pharasma, the goddess of birth, death, and fate, was the first deity, and the one responsible for the creation of the current reality and its first gods. The details and interpretations of that myth are not especially well known to me, however; a member of her church could likely have told you more.

[gravings]

[ So even Liem's world of modern and plentiful god interaction doesn't know the exact truth of its creation. Maybe Gray was trying to cheat for answers like a schoolchild taking a peek at someone else's exam. ]

In my world, there were so many different gods that were said to have created the world... Ah. [ Suddenly, she remembers. ] Miss Quetzalcoatl was said to be one of the ones who helped create our planet.

[ Weird but allegedly true. Does the hard presence of Quetzalcoatl automatically disprove every other Earthly creation myth? ]

Have you had the chance to meet her? She's only arrived recently.