skygiants

I'd argue that for Immakuk and Ennikar it was about survival, in a slightly different sense; saving a single devotee who is actively spreading knowledge of who they are by translating their works, and putting him where he can reach the most people who have never heard of them.

The Hephaestean gods would probably have survived a Mede invasion, but they'd become less, like it seemed Immakuk and Ennikar had; just a small part of a tapestry of different depreciated religious beliefs, maybe seen on the stage in 200 years, maybe a broken shrine here or there, but no real devotees.

But this is just me muddledly trying to come up with some justification for deus ex machina that was maybe... not the best plot usage.