South of the Moonshadow Archipelago, off the coast of Kynes Island.
As the one handling this handoff with the Squid Collective, Retner showed none of a marshal's bearing. He lay sprawled on the deck in utter boredom, staring blankly up at the azure sky as he cursed, "Damn it! I knew these seafood bastards had no sense of time. If I'd known it'd be like this, I might as well have slept another round in Iron Fortress. Sigh, who said the women of Moonshadow Island were all beasts? They've got a wild flavor all their own."
Most of the Ffolk of the Moonshadow Archipelago were believers in Chauntea, the Earth Goddess.
They revered the land and believed in the sacred power contained within the islands' rushing streams, mysterious ponds, and mist-shrouded forests.
Thus, nearly all adult Ffolk warriors were druids selected through layer upon layer of trials, divided into three schools: Totemists, Shapeshifters, and Avengers.
Among them, Shapeshifters made up the majority of Ffolk warriors. However, they possessed only the form of "werewolves" and could not take on other transformations.
The beast school capable of transforming into other forms was called the Avengers. They were mostly extremist druids who had sworn to defend nature and take vengeance upon all who destroyed nature and balance.
Yet there were exceptions. Retner had discovered that among the savages inhabiting this untamed archipelago were even paladins who worshipped Tyr, the god of justice.
Heaven knew how thoroughly it had shattered Retner's worldview when he first saw these barbarians—who could not even scrape together a full suit of plate armor—actually summon holy light to strike their enemies.
Paladins were practically the class he hated most, without exception.
Back when he had still been a warrior, he had been crusaded against for evil every day by