At the ancient altar outside Joyfort, Anapeng-Sen told Charlotte and Annomyn the truth about Joyfort:
There was no joy in Joyfort.
Worship of Rogal Dorn had begun countless ages before Balduran arrived. Back then, Dorn could still awaken from time to time, speak with the villagers, learn about their lives, and teach them.
The settlement had not been called Joyfort then, but Werewolf Village. Its people had lived there in peace.
Balduran's arrival shattered that peace. He borrowed the god's power, weakening the god's seal and causing Dorn to sleep for increasingly long periods. After Balduran left, his crew initially lived in friendly harmony with the locals. But once they realized that Dorn's power was gradually waning, the crew's descendants, led by Joyfort's village chief, dropped their masks. They produced a Pirate Code and declared that, according to their glorious traditions since time immemorial, whoever discovered an island owned it.
The locals were furious. They challenged the crew's descendants, saying this was not the agreement Captain Balduran had made with their god.
The crew's descendants smiled contemptuously. "Historical documents have no bearing on present reality."
Eventually, conflict broke out between the locals of Werewolf Village and Balduran's crew.
"It was a bloody night," the young wolf boy told Charlotte and Annomyn.
The violent conflict ultimately drove native inhabitants like Anapeng-Sen out of Joyfort. As the locals gradually declined, the descendants of Balduran's crew began celebrating that date every year. They named it "Thanksgiving" to express their gratitude for the locals' "help," declaring that their bloodlines had now fully merged with those of the natives. There was no longer any distinction between them; lycanthropy made them all one family.
The wolf boy finished his story, but Charlotte and Annomyn still looked doubtful.
Seeing that they had not immediately believed him, Anapeng-Sen