Once you’re both dropped off near the Pantheon, you and Pandion head inside, intent on wandering through the ancient temple; taking plenty of time to examine the meticulously preserved statues, impressive domes, and classical architecture.
After a few hours of perusal, you find a nice corner to take a quick break and rest your weary legs.
Pandion’s been obviously enjoying seeing the place, even if he did seem a little irritated at some of the Roman revisionism.
You haven’t had much one-on-one time with the guy, now seems like a good enough time as any other.
> “Would you mind giving me your thoughts about the gods? Seems like I’ve stumbled across quite a few, and I’d like to learn as much as I can about them.”He sighs, more mournful than anything else.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eh51m6glEHo“Ever since my childhood, I had been raised to worship and seek solace in the divinity of the Olympians. For a time, I accepted it as an indomitable truth that the gods were just, kind, and fair.
But when I grew older and bore witness to the bloodshed and chaos that began to wash over my lands, I began to question the mercy and charity of a pantheon content to stand by and do nothing in our time of greatest need.
As the situation grew more dire, I came to realize a terrible truth; that their love is purely transactional. We may be shaped in their image, but never assume that they view us as anything more than pieces on their board or particularly fragile toys.
Above all else, Gods are fickle and capricious things. Never trust them fully, not even their sympathy. Their deals are always bent to their benefit, as I myself discovered once I was sealed inside the Claw.
Put honestly, the world may be a better place now that they are gone and men are free to shape their own destinies without their misguided interference.”
> “It’s starting to sound like you hated the gods.”“That would be impossible. One cannot hate or love them any more than one can hate or love a mighty storm. It simply washes over all that stands in its way, because that is all that knows how to do. Whether or not this has destructive impacts on lesser beings is immaterial. The most one can do is respect their power and avoid their attention.”
Despite the harshness of his words, Pandion doesn’t seem angry; more disappointed than anything else.
> “What about Set and Thoth? Any sage wisdom about them?”“I knew a man much like Thoth on one of my earliest campaigns. Piss-poor swordsman, but one of the finest archers I ever saw. He was always scribbling away at whatever bits and pieces of papyrus he managed to steal from the Phoenician traders. Never told anybody what it was. Never finished it either, he died of an infection from a stray arrow wound. We buried him with it. There’s a moral to be had there, but that’s for you to decide."
