"Check. Some of it is probably gods negtiating about things but they don't publicize the details when they do that."

This is her worst weasel yet. "I'm still not confident there are gods here, so the thought of negotiations between them is an odd one to contemplate. Do they have diplomats, I wonder?"

"They have heralds but I don't know intergod diplomacy to be among their roles. Checkmate."

"What do you know about them, then?" She starts setting up the next game.

"When Iomedae was mortal her now-deceased god Aroden sent His herald Arazni to assist Iomedae's crusade against the lich-king Tar-Baphon. One occasionally hears about heralds appearing to deliver messages from gods, though gods can also grant visions and I'm not sure exactly when it's more cost-effective to send a herald instead of doing that."

"Once again, there's nothing nearly so organized happening on Earth, or at least not that I know of." She finishes setting up; she's given Blai white, this time.

Pawn go. "The curse sounds like someone must have been - fairly organized about it, maybe? Even if it was long ago."

"Either that or one specific witch really didn't want to get caught turning the village blacksmith into a rat."

"Would it not be... easier... to affect one village for one lifetime... than the entire planet indefinitely? - what is going to happen if it wears off suddenly, is anything set up to be a catastrophe if it does that?"

"It would be easier if you had exact control of what you were doing but most spellcasters, especially panicked ones reaching beyond their means, don't. To be clear, 'panicked village witch' is not my top theory here, it's just - in the range, and plausible in a way that I'm getting the impression it wouldn't be in your world." She's playing much more seriously this time around, at least so far.

"I'm sure stranger things have happened but that would be a remarkably strange thing and point to some other force intervening on the situation."

"Around here it's... still out of the ordinary, but less out of the ordinary than that."

"How do people become witches around the curse in the first place?"

"The curse doesn't seem to mind when individual people find out about magic because someone told them on purpose face to face, or because they survived a monster attack and managed not to rationalize it away as a weirdly bitey mugger. I'm not eager to test the boundaries extensively, but I'm comfortable telling one person at a time if I have a good reason. I'm planning to treat knowledge of your world the same way for now."

"Understood. How did you and your aunt first find out? I assume her boyfriend also knows if you were proposing having me cast Share Language for him."

"Yes. So—being the Slayer is inherited, but it doesn't pass through the family; every time a Slayer dies, some teenage girl somewhere in the world has a nightmare about vampires and wakes up with superpowers. If she didn't know beforehand, she does afterward. As it happens, though, we did know beforehand, because Chris has known about magic since... before I was born, I think? I'm not sure she's ever mentioned how she learned. It could've been someone she met, it could even have been through our family."

Nod. "And the boyfriend?"

"You know, I've never asked. I'd assume family connections, though. That's often how it is."

"What does that woman who was running away from those vampires likely think happened?"

"Most likely she has settled on 'assaulted by weirdly ugly people' by now, but it's possible she's one of the more observant or resilient ones and will manage to remember that they were vampires. Unlikely, though."

"She saw me, too, though I didn't cast any flashy spells so I suppose there might be nothing to curse away there."

"Yes, most people who see you in that outfit will assume you're wearing a strange costume for personal reasons."

"...well, the holy symbol really isn't optional and I don't have any money and the armor is pretty useful but I'm not attached to the clothes per se if that comes up."

"We can get you some clothes to wear in any non-combat situations where you might have to pass for an ordinary person from Earth. Nonmagical conveniences make clothes cheaper around here than I think you're probably used to. The holy symbol does come across as a pretty bold fashion statement but I think much less of one without the rest of it. Actually, speaking of nonmagical conveniences, I should explain showers and laundry now that we have better communication available - after we finish this game, maybe." She's doing much better than she was during her crazed knights phase.

"I can in principle cast from nearly any blade but this one is more orthodox both because -" rook up in your business, "- it's the more complete symbol and also because I don't know any of the theology that I would need to make sense of Lawful subterfuge. Also I sleep with it exposed, I've got it wrapped up so it doesn't stab me that way."