While the group is resting, waiting for Telosh to fully recover. The glow of the dwarven crypt surrounds the group. Alexis is sorting through his equipment and organizing it. As he pulls out his old holy symbol to Tymora he looks at it a bit wistfully. The glow of the room seems to help bring out the shine of the simple silver disk. After turning the disk over several times, Alexis addresses the rest of the group.
“Is Tymora of any interest to any of you? This was given to me by my father when I was eight. He wanted me to have something to help with my luck. Promised to beat me if I lost it.” Alexis smiles at the memory.
Alexis turns the disk over for the rest to see “when I studied with Publius I hired a silversmith to modify the coin with the name ‘Tyche’. There is some evidence that Tymora and Tyche are the same, or Tyche was the older name. Or possibly Tyche was a lost daughter of Tymora. Or…? At the time I was sure I would someday find the answer to this riddle.”
Alexis looks expectantly at the group.
Telosh stirs slightly when Alexis mentions Tymora, later, when no others have responded and Telosh is recovered, he approaches Alexis., and in a raspy voice responds,
“My father too taught me to seek luck in Tymora, if you no longer wish to carry her symbol, I will take it from you. I have felt recently that it is… appropriate for me to seek her push and accept her pull…”
Telosh gestures in a way that conveys his recent encounter with the yellow mold…
Red listens to the chatter over gods, coins and faith. He reflects on his life, on Sutheron, his family, Raiden and his own beliefs.
“Where is the luck that Tymora offers? Is it in the coin itself? Or is it in the tossing one lot to the fates?
Should the fisherman who tosses a net into the stream pray to Tymora for luck? Or to the fish gods for a sacrifice? Or the water gods for swift passage?
I ask to learn. As the path to Raiden seems to be in deeds, in action and not words or hope. What is the path to Tymora?”
“First, all gods are gods of action. The actions of some are more overt or impressive than others. But all gods demand action from their followers. In the case of Tymora, she demands that her followers put themselves in luck’s path. A cobbler will have a hard time, since his job is mostly just skill. This is why gamblers are common worshipers of our Lady of Luck. They seek out situations where luck is on the line. Usually it’s pretty low-stakes so it’s going to be hard to keep her attention. A thrill seeker is a better worshiper.”
“Second, you bring up a good question about which god ‘should’ a fisherman pray to. It depends on the result the fisherman wants. Tymora is not going to answer a prayer with something mundane. The fish our noble fisherman catches might be the largest fish ever caught in that stream. Or the smallest. Or the poor sod might catch a body that was dumped there the night before. Or the nymph who guards the stream. Or a talking fish.”
“If the fisherman were to pray to some god of the water, then the fisherman would be asking the god to part with some of his fish. And the question is: what is the fisherman willing to pay the water god with?”
“Some might think it best to pray to all the gods to get the benefits from them all, but this is folly. This is the sort of folly the common people commit daily. Hourly. This is folly for at least two reasons. Firstly because there’s no true devotion when so many gods are called upon. Each god knows that the postulant isn’t truly devoted, but just making wind. Secondly because the gods are jealous. Even if our theoretical aspirant was to truly worship at the feet one one of the gods, that god is going to expect, and probably demand, this aspirant only have eyes for him. Once our poor aspirant commits a true prayer to another god, the first will consider the previous prayers to have been a lie – a betrayal – and turn his back on our poor aspirant. Probably never allowing him into his confidence again. At least not without significant atonement. And then the second god will be upset.” Alexis throws his arms in the air at the futility.
“What I’ve said here is shunned by most churches. Many will say that praying to each god gives them their due. And as long as each church gets a couple coins for their god, they’re happy.”