:For example, if a god is trying to kill you, you might be attacked at the worst possible moment by a creature that does not live in the area, which is what happened to us this most recent time, but in the past gods trying to kill Leareth have chosen more direct methods like just setting him on fire so we can be pretty suspicious any time something tries to kill him and it's weird at all:

:Fuck!: Marian accidentally knocks her pizza box onto the floor. :- Eeeek, uh, sorry! But - what - you got set on fire - how did you survive–: 

Privately to Belrun:

:- Should we explain...?:

:The short version is magic: Belrun tells Marian, and to Leareth, :I don't want to have to explain to people that you're a serial killer while you're still relying on them for care, do you have a version that doesn't mention that part?:

:Not a prepared version: (in Velgarth's he's learned to be VERY secretive about his immortality, :but - she knows little of Velgarth's magic, and she is familiar with the concept of reincarnation - if we claim that I reincarnate myself using magic I doubt she will question it: 

:Maybe if she decides she wants a less short version:

:That makes sense: 

Marian does not, immediately, seem to be demanding a less short version! 

:I, uh, right - I'm sorry... I, um, I don't think I've heard of things that...obvious...happening here: 

Marian is suddenly feeling VERY EMBARRASSED that she has not, personally, read up on all the original sources about the 'historical Jesus' and how plausible the miracles in the New Testament are. 

:Uh, I can say for sure that I personally haven't seen anything god-related or supernatural happen. Ever. And, uh: Even more sheepishness. :I tried really hard, once. To be religious. It...didn't work: 

:Why did you... try to be religious?: That seems like such a bizarre thing to do.

:...Because...I mean.... Well, if God and Jesus were real then that'd be the most important thing in the history of forever, right? And so it seemed worth it to - try to check -: 

A pause. 

:...Okay, fine, and I guess...part of it was that I was really good friends with this one girl, and - she was religious - and she had a group and community that just seemed so...happy, and healthy.... Sometimes people on the Internet talk about how the modern age is destroying communities, and, I don't know, I wasn't even born yet in the past they're talking about, but there was something good there...:

Helpless shrug. 

:But it didn't work. I - tried to pray to Jesus and sing and dance and - let the Holy Spirit take me, it turns out you can have weird psychological experiences - and it...didn't make me have faith in God, and I never saw any real convincing evidence either: 

:Huh. Why does the community work so well, do you know?:

:....I don't know. I think to some extent maybe it wasn't all as great as I thought, at first, and I was just - idealizing, and only looking at the best parts... And other than that, I guess they - all had something in common, something to built toward:

A helpless shrug. 

:But - I don't think it was a real thing. I don't think Jesus Christ was the son of God. So I couldn't stay, it would've been a lie...: 

:That makes sense. Anyway, where we're from there are gods and they have their partisans but as far as we're concerned are neutral at best:

Marian nods, slowly. 

:...I mean, if God were real - and the stories were true - then He'd be pretty horrible. I think there's, uh, a lot of evidence that most of the stories aren't true, though. And...not really a lot of unexplained mysteries. I guess I could get it up for you on Wikipedia - nevermind, you wouldn't be able to read it, would you: Shrug. :I'm not a complete expert on this or anything, but I did research it a bit, once: 

Leareth nods. :I understand. It does seem that, if your world contains any gods at all, They do not have very strong opinions on your civilization, or a tendency to intervene - and certainly They are not trying to hold technological progress to a standstill. That by itself would be a vast difference, from our world: 

:Yeah, we're nowhere close to this technological level and I don't think it's just that we haven't had time:

:I guess it could be that it's taken things a long time to recover after the Cataclysm? If there's a lot of land you still can't live on, and stuff: 

:Certainly the Cataclysm was a setback: Leareth's mindvoice is level, but he winces very slightly, probably only noticeable to Belrun. :I - am quite confident it is more than that, though: 

:Oh:

Marian seems unsure how to respond to this. She retrieves her pizza box and starts fidgeting by peeling a strip of cardboard apart around the rim. 

Leareth closes his eyes; this is a very inconvenient moment for exhaustion to be hitting him in waves again, but it sure does seem to be doing that. 

Belrun pets him. :He knows more about it than I do, if you wanted details, but that's about the high-level picture:

:Right: Marian stares into space for a long moment, then scowls. :That sounds awful. And...really hard to have to deal with. I'm sorry:

She hesitates. 

:I - I don't know if there's any way our world can help...? Or I can - I can't really promise help from other people - although I'm also not very good at very many things...:

:Trade alone - and a godless staging area - would do a lot:

:Right. I, uh...honestly I have no idea who you're supposed to talk to if you want to make a trade agreement or something, but I can try to find out?: 

:That would be helpful! Or we could just start trying to sell things and see if they swing by of their own accord, perhaps, I don't know if that would offend your tax collectors: