Struggling to formulate my character’s mindset on this situation. Any advice?
Context. This is a Homebrew campaign, so the Gods work differently in that people didn’t think they existed until they started showing up to people in the party. My character has been able to contact three out of eight of the ones in the pantheon, one of which she befriended and who hangs out with her a large chunk of the time in the form of a small animal.
One of the NPCs in the party is a Priest who has been studying religion all his life and has been wanting to speak with the Gods. Like, the topic is a hyperfixation for him. My PC had been going to him for advice on the Gods and had talked about her communions with them. But it was all talk until recently.
In a previous session, my PC prayed to one of these Gods in front of this Priest, and the God in question appeared before them to provide information. Needless to say, Priest freaked out and wants to know how the hell my PC can “just summon the Gods” (mechanically it takes certain rolls and she’s just gotten lucky with them for some reason). She promises to explain everything when they next get a free moment. He then stepped away to scream “come on!” in the woods. That was sign number one that he wasn’t just essential about the topic.
That free moment came in the most recent session. My PC confronted the Priest to find him lost in thought, which is unlike him considering he wanted nothing but questions yesterday. Long story short, he’s kinda angry about my PC’s and it’s shaken his faith. He threw around phrases at her like “I don’t know what makes you special” and when she tried to apologise for this thing that’s beyond her control (she apologised for everything) he replied with “Sorry for what? Being a hero?”
Due to her shaky life as the daughter of a nobleman (which she keeps secret from most of the party), my PC never wanted to be seen as important or different, and this was a huge fear for her since she started talking to the Gods. In fact, she feels less important than the average person due to how her mother treated her back at home. But she was in a position where she couldn’t just step away to pray to this God in private, and she certainly didn’t expect the God to be so public about her appearance, especially when the others communicated in her head or in the form of an animal only she could hear. She not only feels responsible for shaking a Priest’s religious beliefs, but also now feels weird in this friendship, even after they kinda made up to study together.
But I otherwise don’t know how to proceed with this, since it’s not something I can research or navigate through. The Priest is still willing to be there for her, but I’m conflicted on whether my PC would still be willing to go to him for religious advice now. The Gods seem to prefer to be treated like any other being, so going to the “higher ups” for advice doesn’t solve that either. Any help?