Quoted By:
<span class="mu-b">"Moreover, why invoke our name, our power, our dominion over the sea- if not to worship us? Couldn't your 'Almighty' let you do the same?"</span>
<span class="mu-s">"That is what magic is... a triumph of the Almighty over false gods. When we invoke names, it is done in reference to the many victories of God, over lessers."</span>
You're curious about this education of hers then, and try to understand how it pertains to you. Maybe the most important factor which is that, not all magic is reliant on gods or calling on them. It is only a particular type of magic that relies on invoking names of power for their magical influence.
In the case of you and your mother, the summation from Zahra's education relates to the stories you know; a false drowned goddess of anger and despair from long ago, who mothered sea monsters to do her bidding, of mythical remembrance to these lands being how one such monster destroyed an ancient maritime civilization of this region. The story is treated as an educational lesson, and regarded for how the one God stands supreme over them like all other false gods. There's plenty of other educational lessons Zahra knows, of other aquatic gods and how invoking their names in defeat, amount to spellcraft.
So, it is nice to know that in some twisted way your goddess is still remembered, but Zahra herself is not some misguided follower of either you or your mother. She is simply more aware than most, a chief reason for this being that the school of water magic unlike most, can learn of information from across the world. No regular people of these lands know anything about the world even a thousand miles away, but by listening to the seas (especially in times past) water mages can learn of what is happening in the ocean on the other side of the world... including drowning goddesses. Maybe in ancient times before this trend of One Gods, there may have been worshipers of your mother even this far away, but now there are only scholars of her it seems...
...at least, as far as Zahra is aware.
The important thing you can take away from this labored conversation with the sorceress, is that while there may not be extant followers of your goddess in this land, there is definitely potential among them. They are educated about her, and could potentially call on her for power, it's not such a stretch for them to offer worship to her.
Or hells, even you. Your mother is missing, but you're hopeful she still exists somewhere. You however, you can right here and now grab Zahra, drag her under the sea and potentially exact faith from her one way or another. After all, how can she deny believing in you when you sit right in front of her? And if not her, then others who you could influence and carry your will through. If you could accomplish something like this, then with enough people surely you could find your own goddess?
The important thing, is that neither you nor your goddess are as lost to the world and to humans, as you previously thought.
