In your dream, you find yourself back at the desk in the place you went to after you died on the road. Same desk, same two chairs. same single candle, same total lack of visible floor. This time however, the black-robed figure is sitting at the desk waiting for you. You walk over and sit down, wishing you had a footstool to kick your feet up on. One promptly appears, so you hook it in and kick your feet up.

The figure shakes its head at you. "Aris Aris Aris." It lets out a long exhalation. "This is why you humans terrify the Gods."

"Eh?"

The figure flips its hands up in a 'why me' gesture. "Your ability to do the most damaging thing possible at the most crucial of junctures just because something pissed you off. Good grief human, you had one Siren following you around because you were a new and possibly dangerous person in town, so you shook him off. Then you started asking questions. So far, nothing too unusual. Then you decide to smash their operations just because they are slavers. Again, not terribly unusual, most sentients don't like slavers."

The figure shakes its head. "But you didn't call for backup and kick down the door right then and there. You waited for some insane hour of the morning before you moved, like you were smashing a military outpost. And in doing so, you give the Sirens time to collect all of their 'product' in one place because your evasion spooked them. So when you did come crashing in, you not only squashed the Sirens, you also killed the cultist, freed two other pawns in the Game, and saved three future Queens from death or corruption."

The figure flicks a finger at the ring you wear. "The Meddler had not one but four plans unmade in one night by one angry human. A fifth plan is well on its way to the same fate, with several more now shriveling under the light of scrutiny."

You lean back and put your hands behind your head. "So? I was one man in the right place at the right time."

The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

The figure freezes in place before slowly folding its hands in its lap and leaning back. "By the gods, you really are blind. Alright, God-Sentient Relations 101. Sentients worship a divine being, which give it powers and constrains what it can and can't do. Most races stick to one or two gods, which is how you end up with so-and-so, God of the whosits. Humans are the exception. Humans tend to worship more than one God, but which gods vary wildly on an individual level. This can also include not worshiping any gods. This leaves Humans as 'balance-tippers', whose strength can be lent to any cause or belief. This means the Gods both love and fear Humans. The love you because they will always find one or two to lend that extra edge to their cause. They fear Humans because should you unite, your collective rage and varied beliefs would be enough to unmake a God. Add in the Human habit of jumping in with both feet wherever they think they are needed..."

You nod, "Team Hold my Ale, but we have way more power or leverage than we suspect."

The figure nods in return. "Which is why you never see more than a handful of humans in any one Game. We just can't stop you from getting involved. But actively recruiting humans to a conflict has never been done before because it's actively courting the unmaking of one or more Gods involved. Until the Meddler started doing it, that was the line no God would cross. For all of their fights and rivalries, none of them was willing to risk their own destruction."

You finger the ring. "So the Meddler has crossed a line of no return, forcing you to do the same. Which means that this affair is probably going to end up with a dead God."

The figure nods slowly.

You grin, "well, shit. Never thought I'd get to kill a God."

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Status Report:

Money: 5 Gold coins

Food and water: 10 days of hardtack rations

Equipment: in good condition

The Ring: obsidian band with one carbuncle gem and two empty settings

Total Deaths: 1