Peek: More Freddie

Freddie does his best to keep his nerves in check as the wolfkin leads him through the church.  It's made a bit easier by the curious and friendly looks of the various people going about their business.  Some are praying, some cleaning, there even seems to be a small group quietly chatting and joking.

He's lead through a door, down a hall, through another door, up some stairs, down some stairs, through a kitchen (where the cook passes him a sweet roll with a wink), until the wolfkin stops before one last door, and knocks.

"High Priest?  I have a potential paladin initiate," he says, and after a few moments, a replay comes through the door.  Freddie can't quite make it out, but his guide seems to have no trouble.  He turns to the young orc and steps aside from the door.  

"Just be honest with him, and you should do just fine," he says before leaving.  Freddie takes a deep breath, and heads inside, where he finds a gnome sitting at a desk, a battered crystalline shield hanging on the wall behind him.

The gnome smiles and motions at a seat.  "Ah, you're the new aspirant?  A bit younger than most."

"Uh... is that a problem?" asks Freddie, stopping before getting into the seat.

The gnome shakes his head and motions for him to continue his intention to sit down.  "It's unusual, but not a problem.  What's your name?"

"Freddie?"

He smiles.  "Hello Freddie, I'm Torlon.  Why would you like to be a paladin?"

The young orc fidgets, uncertain if he should call the gnome just by his name or not.  "Well... I'm an orphan, and my friend is getting apprenticed to Old Staiven, so I figured I should try to get some training, too."

Torlon nods at that.  "An early start can make things much easier.  But why a paladin?  The guards always have need of new recruits, and the rangers are likewise always looking for new blood."

"Because I wanna help people, and that's what paladins do, right?  Help people, beat up badguys, and look cool doing it?"

The gnome laughs at that with a wide smile, and glances behind himself at the shield on the wall.  "That is the rough list of duties, in order, heh.  So why the Crystal Shield?"

"Because what's better at protecting people than a shield?" he replies honestly.

Torlon smiles like a proud grandparent.  "Ah, leave it to the youth to cut so cleanly to the heart of a solution.  Have you done any training or studying?" he asks, needing to gauge how far along the young orc is already.

"Rhonda and I delved the new dungeon!  We got some spell spores so she could get apprenticed!" he replies with excitement, and the gnome looks surprised at that.

"The new dungeon?"

"Yeah!  It's in that old manor in the center of town!  I... uh..." he calms quickly, uncertain if he should admit anything else, but he's already in pretty deep.  "...I don't think it's cleared for general delving just yet, but we were careful!  And it's not very strong yet!"

"That's fine, Freddie.  Just be careful.  Fourdock has had poor luck with dungeons."

"I know, but this one is really cool!"

Torlon chuckles, and brings the topic back to the original target.  "I don't see any reason why you can't train to be a paladin, Freddie.  You've been honest with me, and I can feel your determination.  I'll get you a copy of our scripture so you can get more familiar with the specifics of what the Crystal Shield asks of its followers.  Once you've read it, you can decide if you want to swear the acolyte oath and truly start on your chosen path."

"Does that mean you're gonna adopt me?"

"In the technical, legal term?  No.  You'll become a ward of the church, rather than of the kingdom," he says with a serious face, before it cracks into a more familial smile.  "In almost every other sense of the word, however... yes.  We are a family, Freddie.  Your brothers and sisters in The Shield will be here to help you as they can, even if you decide you don't want to swear the oaths.  Protecting and helping people very rarely actually involves deflecting physical blows, and The Shield asks us to protect as many as we can."

____________________

Freddie sits on his bed in his small room at the church, staring at the large spider he got from the dungeon.  What's he supposed to do with a big spider?!  Rhonda was the one who wanted a spider, not him!  If he didn't know better, he'd say the dungeon was messing with him on purpose!

As he grumbles, the spider wanders the small room, and he can feel curiosity through their bond.  At first, he tried to ignore the bond entirely, hoping he could somehow release the spider, but a visit to the rangers quashed that hope quickly.  He'll only be rid of her when she dies, and he can't bring himself to consider that thought for more than a few moments.

No matter how creepy she looks, he can feel her trust for him through the bond, and the idea of betraying that kind of trust makes him want to scrub himself in the river.  He watches her poke at the shutters to his small window for a few moments, the arachnid trying to figure out how it works, before he turns to his studies.

Unlike in school, he actually finds the scriptures and history of The Shield to be interesting.

____________________

"I will be the protection for those without it, a barrier to those who would do harm, and an inspiration so as to bring more to the aegis of The Shield," swears the young orc, his head down.  It's only the most basic of the paladin oaths, but also the foundation on which the others build.

He can feel a soft warmth inside him as The Shield accepts his promise, and gifts him a tiny fraction of Its power.

"Rise Paladin acolyte Freddie.  The Shield has heard your oath and found it to be true."  High Priest Torlon smiles as the atmosphere lightens, the ceremony complete.  "How do you feel?"

"I feel... I don't know," he admits, not knowing how to explain the feeling, and Torlon gives a knowing nod.

"Well, if you're feeling up to it, I have your first paladin duty," says the gnome, and Freddie jumps to his feet.  "I'll take that as you being ready, heh.  With Neverrest gone, the cemetery needs to be blessed.  Ordinarily, this would be a task for a more experienced and fully-fledged paladin, but I think the new dungeon has proven itself to be trustworthy.  I'd like you to escort the head acolyte and some other priests to the cemetery, and see that those laid to rest there stay at rest."