"How does that work? Do I need to do anything?"

"That's one of the things I'm not sure of," he admits. "I haven't met a metamage who can give me a straight answer about it yet, so 'how exactly does my aura know what the person I'm gifting will need' is one of the greater mysteries."

"You don't have to do anything besides being present. I can't make a Boon for someone out of my range." 

"And you don't know what it'll do."

"Not for sure, no. I've gotten everything from a pocket watch which allows its holder to change their apparent age, to a cup which changes wine to water, to a lute which changes the emotions of the player. It won't hurt you, and if you don't like it for some reason you can just not use it."

"I might think about it. What's your world like, first pass?"

"The specifics will have changed since I left, but- 

"Shallow Gods are meant to take care of their followers, in return for their faith, which powers their aura. A human follower dedicates themself to a god in return for being sheltered in their range, having their prayers answered by that god, and receiving Boons - a dedicated person can receive as many as their god makes them. It varies a bit, but most gods will have their followers teach their children to dedicate themselves as soon as they're old enough to do so. How safe it is to undedicate yourself depends on the god and the court... some expect the young to do so, and either rededicate themselves as adults or find a new god. Some expect no one to undedicate themselves, and will get violent if anyone does. And of course there's courts with policies in between. A follower can theoretically break that bond at any time, but in practice of course the other followers will be displeased about this, usually. If a god loses all their followers, they die.

"So, at first glance, last I was there, the world is littered with religious city-states run by god-rulers. Policies depend on the god in question, but most of them rule by being generous with a side of more-or-less gentle propaganda. If you're cruel enough to your followers most of them will eventually leave, after all, and you might even be attacked by a court which objects to the way you treat them."

"Huh. Sounds - different. We don't have gods."

His shrug is something of a production, his wings lifting and fluttering along with his shoulders, "A lot of worlds don't," he says, "And I haven't run into many with gods anything like my home world has. It has its pros and cons, like most systems, I think. I haven't been back in some decades, and I don't intend to go back except by chance, so it's anyone's guess how much time has moved on while I was gone, and how much has changed. Ah, if you go to another world and don't intend to return, time might start passing again in yours," he adds.

"I'll want to return to mine, I bet. Has my family, if nothing else, but I don't want to just leave it the way it is, too."

He smiles, "Hm, I'd really hate to see that drive for change die due to a lack of resources," he muses. Shrugs, "Well, even if you don't want a Boon from me, there's every possibility you'll run into someone who makes an offer you like more, if you stick around. Just make sure you don't stick around for too long - a couple days is fine, but this place doesn't like people loitering for too long if they're not outright planning to live here."

She nods. "Some places are like that - what counts as loitering? If I go through the other doors, does that reset whatever clock?"

"Hm, it's not so much a clock... you can stretch your time by exploring, some, and by talking to a lot of people. It's not exactly easy to describe. I've been here often enough I have a bit of a feel for it." He considers for a moment, "I think so long as you don't stay for more than say four days you should be fine."

"Well, hopefully I'll be able to get everything in that time..."