#and i am a person who craves earnesty in life so it colours a lot of how i view the interactions in the games

[pearlaquaoceans]

One thing I've been curious about with Ashton, Imogen, etc, saying they've prayed to the gods, and they never answered... who did they pray to? What did they pray for? This is going to be a huge long ramble that's quite disjointed, and I'm sorry for that. Also I'm going off memory so if I am mistaken in any way or forgetting something, totally my bad and I'll own to it.

If the characters who have said their prayers went unanswered, I wonder if they are randomly just saying words into the universe, just praying to anyone and expecting for a sign from anyone..

I kinda see it like the gods all working in an office, phone ringing constantly, hundreds of emails or the pleas of their followers and a person they don't know randomly just standing at the doorway of the office of all the gods and shouting 'hey you' without any direction or purpose behind it and no followup. Can the gods hear it? Maybe. Probably. But why should they answer it? Do they know it's directed at them? Yes, the gods actively reach out to people who aren't praying. We have seen the wildmother do it with Fjord and Orym now. But both also have deep connections to her domain even before she did so.

If the person praying went to a temple and prayed and asked for something specific etc, I see that as going actually into the office and up to the desk and asking for help. Going to a temple shows actual active choice and active want from a single god of the pantheon. The person praying must look at the deity and think 'this one' for one reason or another no matter how tenuous. But they would show they at least have purpose by going to the temple and in so, know who they are praying to.

Just praying in a moment to the general idea of them.. is so...passive. Again. What are they asking for? Are they asking for anything? Are they asking for a better life? Are they just asking for a sign that the gods see them? Since we have not seen these unanswered prayer moments in game and they have only been mentioned starting mid game as the characters doing it countless times, we do not know what was said in those prayers. And so I wonder.. if someone comes to your desk and just says help, without context. How do you help them? Yes, the gods know things but do they know what is in the heart of people? Do they know what is in their mind? They seem to know more of the people connected to them. Connected to their domains.

What would Fearne ask of in earnest of the gods? What would Imogen ask in earnest of the gods? What would Ashton ask in earnest of the gods? Would Ashton ask without the distaste of authority that is so baked into his being because of his experiences? Not all gods are merciful as the everlight in looking past what could come across as sarcasm and snark.

Then, with signs. Everything I can think of in-game where characters have actively prayed to a single god with a focus for their prayer, it has been, in some form, acknowledged.

It is sometimes just a warm breeze, and sometimes not what they want to hear, and usually, even an absence has a reason to the larger story that is influenced by the choices of the characters. Could they have been sent a sign they didn't recognize because they didn't pray to a single god, so they didn't know to see the sign from a particular god?

Did Imogen always pray to the stormlord? I feel like her path to where he might be has been entirely in game as she has grown so so much. Ashton says he wants to talk to the arch heart only because he interpreted what he saw in Aeor but I don't know he would have prayed to before because I can't imagine what he would have asked for. Did Fearne say she prayed? I can't remember exactly but my brain says she said something along those lines. Am I forgetting where she did so in game to a particular god? If she's saying it happened pre-game... Who would she have prayed to? And especially in the fey realm? Would she even really know the gods there? She didn't really feel consequence until she joined Bells Hells. Would it be in earnest?

Also, the gods are behind the divine gate and cannot work directly outside of someone rolling divine intervention. Often, all they can do is send those small signs. Praying just for a better life isn't something that will be answered because it's not something they can do, at least to my understanding. You get visions and signs 95% of the time.

I know we as the audience knows more than the characters so they could absolutely be expecting more than they have been giving because they don't know what is to be expected. There are so many threads to make up where the characters are and how they act vs how we view them knowing more than they do.

I dunno it's just been bouncing around in my head and then I saw a super interesting and wonderful post talking about how OP wondered if the people saying their prayers hadn't been answered had chosen pre-stream that it would be part of their backstory or if the players decided to add it later on to justify their characters' povs (both totally valid choices) and that post really got my mind turning about what would they pray for? Who would they pray to?

Just my silly little thoughts and how I wonder about how prayers work within Exandria.