A secret to theurgy mortals do not know

"What a man does in the name of the Nine tells us much more about the nature of that man that it does of the nature of the Nine."   -Priest Benek of the Cult of the Compact

      A theurgist is a mortal who can cast divine magic, channeling the power of the Nine directly.   All theurgists are pious people, but there are plenty of pious people who aren't theurgists. The Nine are mighty indeed, but their power is not infinite and it costs them slightly to empower a theurgist, so the common wisdom is that the the Nine only empower theurgists they believe they need. A holy person that can advance his/her deity's will without theurgy doesn't get theurgy, and they are still beloved by their deity.   Common wisdom is that to become a theurgist, a mortal needs three things. Strong focused piety, above average strength of will, and the hand of the Nine. The mortal then becomes one of anointed. This is technically true...most of the time.   The Nine can't normally empower just anyone as a theurgist (okay, they can but it's hard so they don't do it too often), but they can put a finger on the scale to make a theurgist when it suits their whims.   What is not commonly known is that is possible for someone to become a theurgist without one of the Nine putting a finger on the proverbial scale. If a mortal has not just an "above average" strength of will, but a phenomenal strength of will, he or she can unlock theurgy without the direct involvement of one of the Nine.   The Nine might have the power to block this, but they don't. They don't want to deny a mortal who shows faith that pure and strong, but this doesn't necessarily mean that the deity in question approves of everything the mortal does in his or her name.