From The Old Gods by Scholar Shuwen

From what we know of the Old Gods, they tend to hold some humans above others. Those they admire, they grant boons to, which results in a range of benefits for the “favored” individual. If one looks at any prominent hero of the past, one can discern the traits that are enhanced from one God or another’s favor.

It begs the question, how do these deities select those few from so many individuals? Do they have a system of selection? Do they do it based on certain interests?

Let us study Myrna, the Right Hand of Justice, for example. No one could beat her in a contest of speed. She could draw her blade and slash an opponent all within the blink of an eye. Her use of magicks was extraordinary, although that could be said of many heroes of her time. During the Twilight War, she charged the enemy ballistae and destroyed them by herself—the same ballistae that had decimated her army moments before.

When there are heroes like that, what chance do normal humans have? What do the Gods themselves gain by bequeathing their favor to our frail mortal bodies? Could the favored merely be pawns in a game played by the Old Gods themselves? Puppets used by them to achieve their goals in our realm, as they cannot—or will not—step in to create change themselves?

We may never know, unless someone favored by The Scholar were to write a book on the whims of the Gods. Unfortunately, the Scholar must be too busy recording the course of Teran history to select favored individuals. The Scholar is a God of dedication to one’s craft and likely spends all of his time writing. Perhaps one day, he will select an assistant to help him, and we can gain insight into the minds of the Gods above.

- Scholar Shuwen