Dave’s mind was reeling with what he’d been told, that some of the AI in the game were aware of their nature, and that Gid’s wife had been... a monster? or turned into one?. How did he manage to tolerate him after that had happened? Or was it because he knew that they were only simulated characters, that it was really all just an illusion. He couldn’t imagine what it must be like to wake up every day and know you weren’t real.

But before he could get to deep into philosophical though, or knock and try to find out what had happened to his wife exactly, a hand landed on his shoulder. Turning, he found Lindel smiling cheerfully at him.

“There you are! Finished talking to Gid?” she asked.

“Um... yeah I think we’re done for now.” He said, looking back to the door for a moment.

“Ha, yeah he’s not the most sociable person, but a nice enough boss. Now, if you’ve got the time, I’d like to introduce you to a few people. Or do you still have things to go and do today?”

He thought for a moment. “Other than maybe find a tailor later, I’m free til tonight.”

“Great! Come on then, their just down stairs.”

Following her down, they walked over to the table she’d been sitting at when he’d entered. Sitting around it were four other figures. While they dark cloaks covering most of themselves, he could see they were all wearing heavy armour, embossed with the same symbols as hers.

“Okay then! Guys, this is Dave, the bard who played last night and who’ll be sticking around for the foreseeable future. Dave, these are other members of the Paladins of Dawn, who also work here as security and a few other jobs. You’ll be seeing a lot of each other, so I felt like it would be good if you became friends sooner rather than later.”

All of us looked at each other, silently conveying that we knew that this wasn’t how friends worked, but going along with it anyway.

“So let’s, go around the table here... this is Marcus, who runs the door on busier nights, and generally runs the floor. If you need anything, he can generally help you out.”

Marcus, a large man, was seemingly human, with a large burn covering half his face, as well as costing him an ear. He didn’t seem bothered by it though, and had shaven his head completely, rather than try to cover it up. He offered a hand which Dave took, the man’s grip crushing him slightly, but it didn’t seem to be intentional.

“If you do need anything, try to sort it out yourself first. We don't have a lot of time to babysit bards in training.” He said in a deep voice.

“I don't know about “in training” Marcus, he was better than the last guy we had in here. The that lad got through half a song before leaping through a window, which we had to pay for.” A dwarf said from next to him. “Any way I'm Podlin Undergrow, and I run the bar when I'm not helping deal with the brawls.”

Podlin was short, but like most dwarves he’d seen so far, was almost as wide as he was tall, with a long ginger beard that he had tucked behind his belt to keep it out of the way. Various pieces of metal, bone and glass were woven into it at what seemed to him at random places. Either that or he’d just dragged his beard through a jewellers shelves.

“Thanks for the compliment Podlin.” Dave replied, shaking the dwarves hand as well.

“Graktho nioop shevna thraksu fi.” Podlin said solemnly, staring at him intently.

Dave hesitated, wondering what the dwarf had just said, then caught a glimpse of the expressions at the other people at the table, who while trying to keep a straight face, looked like they’d just heard a bad joke. Ah, that’s the game then, Dave thought before replying.

“Tegron gwee shap noly, boku greumsin wabe?”

Podlin stared at him for a moment longer, before bursting out laughing. “Ha! Been a while since that hasn’t worked on someone, usually people get all apologetic, saying they don’t know dwarfish.”

“Never heard dwarfish in my life, but I know gibberish when I hear it. A friend of mine liked to play the same trick on people.”

“I can’t speak it either actually, born and raised here in the city. Still, glad to see you won’t be a stick in the mud around here.” he said happily, clapping him on the shoulder.

“And I guess it means that it’s my turn.” Said the next person, a human woman, who seemed more interested in the book she was reading than the conversation. While she still wore a breastplate with the insignia, the rest of the armour was missing, leaving a grey, heavily embroidered robe in its place.

“Sophia Quin, the magical part our group, and you probably won’t see much of me here. Gid’s taken me as an apprentice, and study eats up most of my time, but I do still help out when things get busy, as well as repairs.”

“Well, nice to meet you anyway. And so finally we have...?”

That last figure sat silently, motionless with a hood obscuring their features.

“That’s Chip, he’s... well... Chip take off your hood for a minute.” Lindel said after a moment.

Reaching up, the figure pulled back the cloth covering their head, revealing an almost featureless block of marble. Someone had tried to carve facial features into it, but their success was limited, but there were at least enough indentations to tell it was supposed to be a face. The rest of him was the same, with what he’d taken to be armour just more engraved stone, with a bit of paint splashed on to make them match.

Podlin explained. “Chip here was someone’s attempt to make a religious golem... yeah we don't know why either. The going theory is an attempt to produce artificial followers, but it didn’t really work. Still, he always served the church unwaveringly, right up until he followed Lindel out with the rest of us.”

“Wait, you left the church?” Dave asked. “I thought that-”

“I'm thirsty. Are you thirsty? I’ll go get us some more drinks.” Lindel interrupted, before dashing off.

“...anyone going to explain that to me?” he asked after she’d gone.

Marcus sighed. “She’s still ashamed of what happened, even though she’s not the one who did anything, so try not to bring it up in front of her. Anyway, the long and short of it is that she made a few enemies in the church, people who weren’t happy or jealous with how quickly she was rising through the ranks.

Thing is though she wasn’t doing anything other than doing what everyone else preached. She gave shelter to the homeless, fed the hungry, clothed the poor...the whole thing. Everybody loved her for it, and she was damn near approaching saint hood, when some of the higher ups got fed up with how much she was costing the church. Turns out they only liked the idea of charity when it was money going to them, not the other way around. But since they could just kick her out or anything, not without people rioting against them, they created the “Paladins of Dawn”.

They “promoted” her to the top of a new order, but in doing so, cut her off from all resources thanks to some fine print. Suddenly she had no power to help people, and was sent far way to here, the city of Jarhiem. When we found out, the three of us decided to join the order as well, preferring to follow someone who actually did something useful instead of just talked. Chip apparently had the same thought, since he walked right through a church wall and headed in a pretty much straight line to where she was.”

“Made it real easy to find her.” Podlin added. “So now we do what we can, but we’re basically working here so we can keep off the streets ourselves. The church let us keep our equipment, or at least didn’t actively strip it from us, and Lindel refuses to let us join the adventurers guild. It would be good money, but she thinks it would mean she’s failed. She still thinks this is all just a test of her faith.”

“Speaking of which, there were no divine repercussions for what happened?” Dave asked as he digested the information. Gid was right, he though, they might be people, but there were definitely ones that the world could do without.”

Podlin snorted. “We serve Sana, Goddess of the sun, light, safety and forgiveness. It takes a lot to really bother her. But from what rumours I've heard, She apparently visited them in their dreams, warned them about their actions and possible repercussions.”

“And they didn’t do anything?”

“Apparently they thought it was just a case of bad shellfish, and when they spoke to each other and realized they’d all had the same dream, they decided not to do anything, since nothing had happened to them.”

“So that’s it then? They cut her off, She’s stuck trying to make ends meet, and the goddess just watches?” Dave said, shocked.

“The divine always have plans.” Lindel said, quietly returning. “Even if we can’t see it ourselves. I have faith that it’ll reveal itself in time, and we will feel blind for not having understood sooner. I know I am here for a reason, so for now I will do what I can.”

“What if you’re supposed to take the initiative and do something else?” he asked. He’d never been big on religion in his life, but this seemed excessive.

She smiled sadly. “I've received messages from the Divine Sana before. If She wishes me to do something else, I’ll know. But enough about us, what are you going to do?”

“Me?”

“You’re a newcomer, yes? Don't you all try and go on adventures?”

“Yes, I mean, some do? A lot of them I suppose, it’s a pretty attractive idea. Go out and seek treasure, save people, fight monsters... but I’m really just here to be able to sing, to perform.”

“Well, good luck doing that without adventuring.” Podlin said with a snort.

“What’s that supposed to mean.”

“We get plenty of hopeful bards coming through, but you think we’re their first choice? No, the best places only want the best bards, the ones with the image, the skill and the fancy instruments. I don't know how it works for you newcomers, but it seems like if you don't get stronger, you can’t do a lot of things, and music seems to be one of them.”

“Of course I have to...” Dave grumbled. They say “play your way” but what they mean is play your way out of a selection that we’ve decided. Level requirements in games were nothing new, but it sounded like fighting would be the only effective way to get anywhere soon. Although... killing players would give him experience as well, not at the same levels farming beasts in a forest would, but since it was already a necessary part of his day, maybe he just needed to put more work into it. Aim for higher level targets, or a few more important npcs.

“You said there’s an adventurer’s guild in town. Can anyone join?” he asked. If he was going to start picking his targets better, he was going to need to improve, and the guild would likely have a selection of targets inside it as well.

“Almost anyone.” Marcus answered. “No one with an active bounty in the city, and you need to pay an entry fee of five gold pieces. There’s also an exam you have to take to see what grade you’re given.”

“How do you know all that Marcus?” Lindel asked suspiciously. “I thought we talked about this.”

He shrugged. “I was collecting information for the next time I try and argue for it. Haven’t done anything yet, but we ran pretty close to not being able to pay to get our armour fixed last month.”

She hesitated. “Things will get better I'm sure. We just need to hold faith.”

“I don't see why you don't why you don't join.” Dave said.

“I was put in charge of the Paladins of Dawn. They may have done it to try and break me down, but it’s a sacred order dedicated to Her. I need to be able to make it work. I won’t let it become a group of mercenaries.”

“Then do jobs that help people.” He said. “I'm sure they have plenty of jobs requested by people in need. And if you make enough money to support yourselves along the way, even better.”

“That’s what I’ve been saying!” exclaimed Marcus. “There are people crying out for help to the guild, and we can be the ones who answer!”

She pouted, the idea fighting against her ideals. “....Ffffine. We’ll go and speak to them, see what their rules for groups are, how much they’re charging people for help, and if they’re on the level, we might join.”

“Yes!” Marcus said in triumph.

“What about you Dave?” Lindel continued.

“What about me?”

“Do you want come fight with the Paladins of Dawn?”