The rest of the battle went well. Foes expecting prey don't react well to hunters, it turns out, and the enemy retreated across the board - though some killed livestock out of petty revenge.

It's as good an excuse for the Captain to throw a feast in honor of our shared victory. 

"A shame to waste that mutton," he says, to general hooting and applause. We Adventurers pool what rations we can towards the thing, knowing that ships will come to relieve us soon. 

So: We sit at a long table in a church.

Well, it looks like a church, anyway. No Jesus, but rather an armored goddess: dark skinned and fiery haired, with a golden halo and four arms. A spear, a sword, a torch, a cornucopia. 

Aurora, Alesha's patron as a Paladin. She makes the sign of the cross when she first sees it, almost wary.

Most of the adventurers are very happy at the party, though I notice the tiger-striped catte from earlier - her in the white robes and witch hat - with gloom written all over her features, and she's not the only one subdued. 

The farmers, also, join in the fun - bringing and cooking local drinks. There's a fierce pride in the things they make from the local sugar, which they express in the form of sweets and desserts aplenty; nougats, candied ginger, cakes. 

I lose count of the many toasts, of the times locals burn offerings in the brazier to Aurora and Scherzo, seeds planted for Eranda, and a few libations to Flamma and Delvar - and soon after, some of the playerbase joins them in making offerings, because what the hell can it hurt?

I am going to need to keep track of 14 of these gods and my head already hurts.

The last toast is from the Captain, who toasts his soldiers, the adventurers, the Queen, and the Gods, in that order - in order of importance, I think to myself. 

"All of you adventurers who shed blood and tears for us shall have a writ in my hand," he promises, "that will open castle gates in Viacruz. It is the least you deserve for such a magnificent battle on our behalf."

I nod, and smile, and thank him, and accept my prize, 

and slip away as soon as it's polite because this is way too many people making way too much noise and I want to avoid giving myself diabetes from the amount of cake and pork on display here. It's dark, and I'm cold, and other adventurers are starting to leave too.

This is... not what I was expecting from the NPCs here.

That's not what they are, anymore, though. Is it? These people from Mundus? There's something going on, more than canned welcome to Corneria! lines. And any Adventurer who forgets it is liable for that to bite them on the a--

"Fuck," I say, and look around.

I need to tell someone that some of the marauding pirates were players.

I seek out Hikaru as soon as I can, hauling myself to the roof of the town's lighthouse. He's backlit by the sweep of the great lantern when you see him, his small and winged silhouette another reminder that neither of you are home.

"Are you alright?" he asks, tilting his head towards you. "Your request seemed uncharacteristically clipped."

Steady that breathing. 

"At the first fight, outside the gate," I say - pausing as I realize I'm not winded from the effort.  "You remember I, uh, called my attack?"

"I do," he says, smiling. "I'm not sure your belt is quite ornate enough for it, but we can fix that in town, I'm sure."

"The pirate's tank didn't find it as funny," I say.

Hikaru shrugs. "Well, there's no according for -"

He stops, putting a hand to his chin, and turns to face me. Looking up at my face, and frowning.

"You're certain he got the reference," he says. It's not a question.

I nod.

He twirls his palm, slowly.  Go on, he means.  Elaborate.

"Why would a..." you struggle for the right word for a second. "...a local think that calling an attack is unusual? Adventurers use all sorts of incantations. But this guy turned to me in the middle of a fight to mouth 'seriously?' because I was referencing fucking Kikaiser."

Hikaru pinched the bridge of his nose and rubbed. "Players with the pirates." 

"That's what I thought, yeah," you say.

"That..." Hikaru exhales.  "That tremendously complicates an already delicate situation."

I bite back an oh, you think? and facepalm instead. "Aren't PC adventurers stronger than the guards?  And now we have some of us running around taking slaves," I hiss. 

Hikaru sighs.  "We're built as Elites in the code.  Midbosses.  Encounter calculations have one to every two ordinary guards.  It wouldn't surprise me if the Captain is an anointed Elite; it would surprise the hell out of me if any of the guards were."

I fold my arms.  "If players are responsible, then as players, we have to do something about this."

He holds up his hand. "However."

"We need to figure out what to do, together," I say, looking askance at him. It's something he's fond of saying before a raid, or other risky business.

"Exactly," he says. "Let's get the party on the line, and figure out what to tell the Captain - who absolutely needs to hear this from one of us - and what to do about these griefers."

I sigh, and nod. There's no logical objection you can muster.

It's been two days and I'm already tired of this.

"And Deedee."

I turn to him.

He sighs, and says, quite simply:

"Thank you for trusting me with this."

I give him a thumbs up and manage half a smile

Taliab

And we're back from hiatus, by thunder!

All of the God illustrations are by the very talented Ruka - who still has a slot at the same tier I use to commission the very Gods, go check them out.