So suppose for the sake of argument I am a bard who perhaps acknowledges Oghma and Milil but isn’t a devotee, and whose beloved teacher is cruelly slaughtered by gnolls, leading me to swear a terrible oath of vengeance against all evil that, by violence, extinguishes art and beauty from the world. Might a story like that be used to justify a multi-class into a paladin? I guess various gods might take an interest in such an oath, ones whose folios cover art like Oghma and Milil, but also the normal evil-smiting ones and possibly even one like Tymora. In order for me to become a paladin and gain divine powers as a result, would one or more of those deities have to actively sponsor my oath, or is it potentially enough to get me access to powers that my vow aligns with one or more of these divine portfolios? And, once I do become a paladin, when I then use divine magic is that mediated by deities consciously or unconsciously shaping the Weave on my behalf, or does the nature of my oath and it’s connection to specific elements of divine portfolios somehow give me access to sort of pre-shaped bits of Weave that align with the powers and spells I have access to without any involvement from a deity at all?
I think from what has been said here that, for both questions, the answer might be that either option is possible?
Consider that it might be in a deities best interest to sponsor a new champion without being acknowledged until later.
This is where we get to the subject of prayers, how they go to deities, and how they can be redirected or stolen. This is where portfolios come in again, and I'm going to use Set, Sseth and Merrshaulk as an example. Merrshaulk and Sseth are both Yuan-ti deities. Merrshaulk was at one point the prime Yuan-ti deity, until the ascendancy of Sseth, and then became an aspect of Sseth. However, many Merrshaulk worshipers refused to swap over the Sseth, and kept worshiping Merrshaulk, which worked, prayers kept going to Sseth, even if people were praying to Merrshaulk. This is where Set comes in. During the Time of Troubles Set subdued Sseth and began masquerading as him, effectively stealing the prayers and followers of two deities, until he was powerful enough to take on the form of Zehir and join the Fearunian pantheon as an independent deity.
So prayers can be stolen, or redirected, and go to someone other than who the pray-ee intended them to go to. This is not uncommon, especially when you have deities that that split apart or combine (Remember Angharrradh), or who are wholly subservient to another deity. So that begs the question, what happens if someone prays for something, but out of ignorance or desperation, does not specify who they pray to? If someone in the aftermath of slaughter who swears bloody vengeance gets sponsored by Hoar (the god of revenge), do they actually know it at the time, or is it something they learn later? (realistically, part of Hoar's thing is that his name appears on the lips of those seeking vengeance, so you might know that someone was watching out for you).
