you see bread kingdom people sometimes. in their red and golds, and their tall hats, saying prayers over bread and dipping hunks in beer with absurd reverence

you may have gone to the bread kingdom on business. you'll notice that most people worship the bread king, even if just casually. they go through the motions. they aren't fanatic. you talk to them. you get to know them. they're all fairly reasonable people. they all are fairly educated! but they still say these prayers.

but you know the bread king's history. he was a revolutionary. not even terribly amazingly long ago. when your parents were your age, he lead a popular uprising. established a well-run kingdom. declared himself a god. but he was born a normal letrax. propaganda. why would your friends fall for this propaganda? why would they worship someone who, honestly, is just a successful revolutionary?

is it the preachers? the rumors of the secret police that punish religious dissent? are we going to be round up for questioning him, you half jokingly, half worriedly ask your new friends.

oh no, they say. they aren't as serious into it, you know, as some. they just treat it as another part of their lives. but it's important to remember that He Fed Us, they say.

well, sure, he was an important leader, you say, he--

no, they say. he literally makes the land more fertile.

these were already really fertile islands, you try to explain, that's why they were so valuable

you don't understand, they say. come to the next gracing. come and see the bread king.

you agree, nervously. you decide to go. you expect an old letrax sitting on a balcony, talking up his importance. you expect preachers eyeing you suspiciously for the slightest sign of disrespect. brainwashed masses bowing and scraping. ah, you think. can i really do this? what if people get mad when I don't seem properly awed? i'll have to do my best to act it, you think

the cycle comes, and you go. thousands and thousands of people. tens of thousands. you're far in the back. you won't even see the bread king, you think

you can barely make out the balcony he's supposed to be on, on that distant building, at the edge of the great courtyard. honestly, you stop trying to look. the VOID is behind it. the VOID is above. you don't want to look up. it hurts you. you look at the crowd. you listen to the prayers. you hear murmurs. slowly the crowd becomes excited. you risk a glance back up at the balcony. the VOID looms over the building's roof, and you're momentarily aware of the terrifying Nothing that sits overhead

you see someone come out onto the balcony

and you see the VOID disappear

you see aurora spill into the air and flood the edges of the courtyard, glowing, burning wings reaching out to embrace tens of thousands of souls as a GOD rises above his people and everyone, you included, KNEEL

the bread king is a god

how could you have ever thought otherwise??

you say prayers before you eat now, and dip your bread in beer