I looked over at Zet, she was fussing in her sleep again. It's been about 2 hours since she went unconscious after that fireball knocked her shield out and she whimpered occasionally in her sleep. What she dreamt of I couldn't even guess. She was on a wagon next to me while I waited to see some village leader.

After Zet fell unconscious I'd checked thrown a heal and tried to rouse her. No luck. We made landfall shortly after and were immediately approached by about 5 players. I knew they were players by the fear in their faces when they approached us. That fear stayed my hand from attacking on sight, a good move I guess as they informed me they were from some refuge against the pvp'ers. They had a wagon that I loaded Zet into and now I'm under guard while waiting on their leader to determine what comes next. While I waited I checked my stats for level ups. Apparently taking out 2 ships isn't worth much. I had a point to spend and popped it into Magic Affinity, nothing new in talents unfortunately.

The crunch of gravel informed me of a new arrival, closing my screen I looked up. Before me stood an elf with purple skin and wild green hair, her face bore a white tattoo of… butterfly wings I guess? "So you're the one my scouts found. I'm Eire."

Her voice was a bit odd in my ears, almost like she was strained when she spoke. Something to think on later, "I'm Frostina. In the wagon is Zetsumei. I don't remember this village. Is it part of the new expansion?"

Eire laughed, "I take it you haven't tried crafting over the past few weeks?" I shook my head no, "Its new but not from the expansion. We built it!"

I looked around at what appeared to be a full village complete with a wooden barrier wall, "In a month?!"

She shook her head with a bemused expression. "This isn't a very immersive crafting system. More like minecraft or ARK, click the item in your ui, wait for it to complete, click it in place. Easy peasy."

"That's still impressive, even with the few dozen you have."

"Few dozen? No sister, we have about 300 hundred living here. I expect that number to nearly double soon but maybe later we can discuss that. Why don't you tell me a little about yourself before I decide if I trust you or not."

So I did, I told her everything from the time we logged in until now. She looked at Zet with concern when told of her revival and raised an eyebrow at me when she heard of our fight club adventure. She saved questions for the end and didn't have much. Mostly questions about Zets change from masculine appearance to her new body and how she's managed. She offered a cabin to let Zet rest in while we discussed other matters but were interrupted.

"I'm fine, tis but a flesh wound…" Zet, of course, rose from the wagon looking like she'd been run over about a dozen times.

"You need rest…" I know I was probably over concerned but she's been unconscious for hours! I cast another heal on her but she waved off further attempts.

"Zetsumei, a pleasure to meet you. You've had quite an adventure so far."

"Likewise...Eire? Was it?" Eire nodded, "You've heard a lot about us but what about you? Where the hell are we?"

"Tearmann. A village I founded to serve as refuge to all who were being hunted by those religious idiots!"

Zet and I shared a look, "Religious idiots?"

Eire looked appalled, "How long were you two at sea… never mind. I believe your story, lets have lunch and discuss this further. Clearly you two are out of the loop."

Eire led us through the village, we passed a bustling market place filled with dozens of people. We passed identical cabin after identical cabin, oddly the roofs were changed color as we passed through the village. They had been green when we first met Eire, red near the market and now we stood in a block of purple roofed houses. The one Eire stopped before had a thin line of yellow around the edge of the roof. "This is my house, normally I'd done with the others in one of the dining halls but privacy would suit us better for this conversation."

We followed her inside and my curiosity won out, "Why are the roofs different colors?"

"We needed a way to mark districts, in the event of a fire or an invasion. It helps with directions too. If you need someone in charge look for the house with yellow on the roof." She'd been rummaging through a cupboard while she spoke and now produced some bread and a wedge of cheese. "It's not much I'm afraid."

"We love bread and cheese, " Zet said with a smile, I nodded my agreement. "You said you wanted privacy. What's so secretive?"

Eire broke a piece of bread off and passed to Zet as she sighed. "You two don't know about the religious nuts?" We shook our heads no, "they showed up almost immediately after the server announcement that we're all trapped here. Proclaiming we're suffering because of the 'freaks'. They've gone city to city looking for anyone who doesn't pass their test and executes them."

"Test? What are they looking for?"

"Anyone who doesn't fit their view. Anyone who's gay or lesbian. Transfolk get the worst, they've drawn the executions out. Anyone who protects or allies with those they've hunted get the same treatment…"

I was appalled, "How has anyone gone along with? They can't be that numerous that no one is stopping them!"

Eire scoffed, "Initially you were right. But they were joined by another group who believe that it's a test to prove who the best PVP'er is. They just want a reason to kill the kids too and call it justified. They drag people out of the cities safe zones to execute them. They call themselves 'The Church of the DEVine Will'. Idiots playing at puns while murdering my people!"

"So you built this village as a refuge…" Zet continued her thought aloud.

"Aye. For any who would stand with us, any who will defend the sanctity of life. We hope to bring the children soon but...I'm not satisfied with our defenses enough for that. So we have them hidden in the city, using the sewers to keep them mobile."

Zet nodded grimly, "Smart for now. Maybe we can help each other. We're trying to find out how to beat the game, if we work together to find out we can all get out of he-"

"Absolutely not! No." Eire appeared enraged, like an animal backed into a corner. "For many of us we're finally how we should always have been. We have a chance at a life here, you can't take that away."

"You're being hunted and killed. It's not safe here."

"It's not safe out there!" Tears brimmed her eyes but her voice grew more fierce, "Everyday someone threatens me. Every day someone denies my rights! Here...here I'm me, the way I should be! I'm sorry you're stuck here too but i won't help you end this."

"Our children are out there! They need us Eire! I know it's frightening. But I need to get home to them."

She shook her head sadly, "I'm sorry. Truly. This conversation is over, I'll show you to a cabin. You're welcome to stay but only if you don't try to clear the game, I can't lose this…"

Oh hell no, "Eire, people are dying-"

"That's all I'll speak on this. Follow me to your cabin, if you desire to pursue your quest it will be without our help." She stood to leave, "its nightfall soon, you should stay until morning at least."

Zet and I shared a look, this was not the turn we needed. We walked through the village in silence for awhile but finally I decided to break it. "Eire, we were attacked outside the city south of here. Fògarrach-fala. Are all the major cities being blockaded?"

Eire raised an eyebrow at me, "Fògarrach-fala? You're on the wrong coast for that one. The only major city near here is the Goblin Capitol. Looks like a bunch of mud huts. Sound about right?"

"That's what it looked like."

"Hmm. Last I heard every cities been taken, cept for Fògarrach-fala. The terrain seems to be protecting it from being taken. For now anyways." Eire returned to a brooding silence and continued her march.

I looked at Zet, who appeared a bit distant and decided to let my question go for now. I don’t understand how we ended up here but she looked pretty shitty right now. My question can wait. I took her hand in mine and moved closer to her. A few more minutes of silence and Eire stopped before a Rose roofed house. Nothing else looked different that I could tell.

“You can stay here for a while.” She spoke sternly but seemed to force herself to take a breath and I could see some tension leave her stance. “Listen. You won’t find help here in trying to clear this game. I get that you want to leave but I ask you to respect that while you stay here.”

She waited for us to nod understanding before continuing. "Why don't you two stay a few days at least. You've been through hell and could benefit from a safe place to recover. Just...don't try to fuck this up while your here. Bear will keep an eye on you tonight, so don’t worry about someone coming in on you.”

“Bear?” I was sure as fuck confused.

A lizard crawled up onto Eire’s shoulder and jumped to the ground before transforming into a very large, very hairy man. He’s gotta be almost 7 feet tall! His beard reached down to his waist! When he spoke it was with a deep and resonant voice. “That’s me. I’ll make sure no one bothers you.”

Zet was squinting at him, “So...Bear. Like, one of us ‘bear’?”

Bear stared at Zet with what I can only assume is sheer confusion. “What d’ya mean by that?”

“Uh…” Zet was at a loss for words, behind Bear Eire was frantically shaking her head ‘no’ and waving Zet down, “Never mind. Nice to meet you Bear.”

Bear growled a response. I have no idea what Zet was getting at but I don’t think it made her any friends just now. We exchanged farewells and made our way inside. Zet looked like she was about to collapse as she stood and took almost no coercion to lie down. She was asleep in minutes and for the first time since we entered this game, even when I awoke in the middle of the night to check on her, she slept.