"Why not?"

"Because - hmm, let's say you started out with the correct theology, all the gods and what they actually wanted and did and wanted you all to do. How long ago would that have been? A thousand years?"

"Ish? I think Cefax was inhabited by barbarians before around then and I don't think they used the godsprings much."

"And how many theological points are there which are as critical as 'mages should be raised by the Temple-Guilds', ten? Twenty?"

"Fewer as critical, lots of little quibbling."

"So if Liatsi's right that that one could change in thirty years just because of a change in conditions like 'there aren't tons of orphans desperate to become mages anymore', then over a thousand years there'd have been maybe fifty changes that big in the theology, whenever there's a big enough plague or disaster or war or change in what's scarce or change in what the government will tolerate. And you could have your current theology off pretty much any starting point, what you have now gives you barely any information at all about what you started with, and how did they start with the truth anyway, if the gods were noninterventionist even back then..."

"We're going off what the springs do..."

"That could have lots of other explanations, though - it doesn't necessarily even need anthropomorphic gods -"

"They're not very anthropomorphic."

" - okay, doesn't even need sapient gods - doesn't even need gods that are best characterized as having preferences -"

Cir frowns.

"Sorry, I don't mean to be rude."

"I'm not really attached to most of them but - I was glad Tsi picked me, it's the one most worth being more like, it loves everyone -"

Squeeze - "I don't know, I'm just speculating, might be the Valar will visit and be like 'ah, yes, we're going to give Tsi some divine support in making everything good for everyone' - its problem wouldn't be like the Valar's problem, theirs was that they didn't understand but if redmages really are more like Tsi it understands..."

"It forgets, maybe." Small smile.

"Maybe we'll give it a necklace and everything'll be all right." Snuggle. 

Snuggle!

He sings a while longer and then picks Cir up and carries him off upstairs.

Elsewhere:

"Mirelótë says she hears you've been ignoring Fredrick and wants to know if I have been exhibiting some kind of trend towards jealousy or something. Have I been doing that?"

"Hmm? No, not at all, but it's still not a very good idea for him to have a crush on me."

"...so you're ignoring him?"

"I'm not. But, I mean, we were best friends, and probably headed towards more, and now all of that is gone so even if I'm not ignoring him it's definitely been painful - heard that from who, did she say -"

"Didn't specify, should I ask?"

"I mean, if it's Fredrick that'd be very surprising and informative - that he wouldn't just say something to me, I mean - actually no matter who it is I am interested in why they'd go to Mirelótë. It's not my alt from that world, he has his -" handwave -

"Redmage. That means he couldn't be concerned for Fredrick being ignored?"