On the Nature of Bargains
Truthfully I am going to ramble some here...
I created the Masks Dii Consentes for Bruce's game. It was a kind of wild "pulling it out of my ass" moment. As we roleplayed it we both became fascinated with these things. I have been working diligently to create the rules around these conduits to the Roman Gods. I have contemplated the question "Are they conduits to the REAL Gods? Or just conduits to power ascribing to the these Anthropomorphized Quarks in the Universe? Honestly I am not sure it matters, so I have put that on the back burner.
I decided that sufficient sacrifices to the Masks makes them more powerful. It widens the gateway to where the magic comes from. They feed from the Sacrifices, the users feed from the power they give. At some point the Mask either Possesses it's user, or the two of them strike a Bargain.
Lets be honest, I like the ideas put forth by Jim Butcher. The Elder Gods (or Fae) power is not given freely. At times they work to not give mortals a lot of choice. Take my power or die a terrible death. Take my power or watch your loved ones torn to shreds. Take my power or cease to exist.
The older and more powerful they are, the better they become at not giving the mortal a lot of wriggle room or time to consider. It's not easy to choose your three wishes with a stick of dynamite in your hand and the clock ticking down to seconds. The old bastards like it that way.
Are they evil? Maybe. In reality they mostly don't care about Humanity all that much. They have their own agenda, and it is ineffable. So where does that leave the recipient? Depends.
The bargain is immutable when struck. The God will keep it's end of the bargain (most likely literally). For the human...things could get dicey.
