I feel like today's comic might warrant an explanation. Thomas is blessing the militia and his party in the name of his god (The Arbiter). This is actually a spell which I find is often underrated. Bless has a wide area of effect, and provides all allies within range a +1 bonus on a wide variety of tasks.
Originally, I had used the traditional D&D pantheon when I was running my games, but I soon switched to a custom one. In the Vargetian pantheon there are 13 deities. Thomas is a cleric of the Arbiter, whose ideals include Justice and his teachings make the laws of man. His symbol is a chinese one meaning Justice, his favored weapon is the Warhammer, and his domains are Law, Protection, Knowledge, and Strength (all of that was quite important to anybody who wants to use the Arbiter and plays a cleric).
It might be hard to make out, but Thomas' shield says 'Vel Non' which is a legal term used when determining if a case actually has merit. Joseph had wanted his shield to have that written on it in Celestial, but instead of writing a whole new language I just co-opted Latin.
