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?
I think everyone acknowledges the various gods in FR. I mean it's pretty hard to say Chauntea isn't a god if their clerics do a whole lot of Plant growth spells giving a bumper harvest.
All paladins fight for righteousness and justice. It's easy to draw _Truth_ as a basis for these. Oghma is a neutral knowledge deity, truth sounds pretty central to that. In a world with duplicitous monsters and secret cults, seems very plausible for a paladin to step forth wanting to cut away lies and deceit.
I see that 5E clerics and paladins no longer have the requirement to be one step removed from their deity, but even if you play with this legacy rule, that leaves LN and NG as valid alignment choices.
Bard and Paladin have quite forgiving multiclass ability score requirements: 13 Str and 13 Cha. I can see Ancients in particular meshing well with its love of beauty. Though your story of loss and revenge is more an ugly path of the Avenger.
Pass about deity and oath. Generally, you'd swear your oath to say Oghma and draw power from them. But FR leaves open the possibility of the PHB paladin who draws direct from the divine. Even in this case, it could well be Oghma granting the power but maybe because of lack of education you're somehow unaware of them. That's the thing about not choosing a deity, you end up having to write screeds of backstory, that's why I seldom bother.
