For a time, I did little but slowly gather power from the prayers of Altria, Madline and Jaune. The combined faith of the three was fervent and constant, due to minor...very minor miracles I cast when they were needed.
One instance was when a runaway horse nearly trampled my future champion while her mother was trying to haggle a decent price for some food. I, with great reluctance, waited until the last moment and briefly enveloped Altria in my powers, letting her become incorporeal just long enough for the horse to pass and leave her bewildered but unharmed. Madline's panicked sobs and tight hug were just what the shocked child needed...and the soft, aura-empowered pat on the kid's head might have helped reinforce her faith in me.
Similar instances where the kid would have been in minor danger or suffered any injuries were circumvented or denied with minute displays of power. Each expenditure returned threefold with the reinforcing of the faith of my champion and her mother.
And as for Jaune, he was shaping up to be a fine paladin of my faith. Already he had discarded the old robes of Denethis and taken to traveling about in robes of bright yellow and red trim. Armor of the same color was worn over the robes; a thick breastplate, gauntlets, pauldrons and a pair of armored boots. I...blessed his garb with minor enchantments of self-repair and grim-repulsion so that he'd always appear immaculate and...a little shiny.
If he was a great deal more respected and held in awe by the peasantry and other knights, well…
Jaune was...a really good catch. He had already begun penning a...brief set of prayers and chants for my faith. Some I answered subtly, letting him know I favored certain prayers over others while a pair of bloodthirsty war chants were not only ignored, but I briefly took away the blessings I bestowed upon him.
His armor and blade suddenly becoming heavy and burdensome were rather clear signs of my ill-favor. Needless to say, he got the message fast; I do enjoy a good battle in my name, but I do NOT want a blood hungry host of followers.
Right now, Jaune was in the midst of designing a symbol to represent my faith. I watched closely, providing him hints of approval or disapproval for his ideas.
Any symbols dealing with even numbers, wheels or singular stars were immediately vetoed.
Symbols of war were...acceptable, but I encouraged him to seek out better options.
Birds...particularly powerful or mythical ones were greatly encouraged. I kept prodding him closer and closer to the image I had in mind until…
...he got it.
A twin-headed bird with outstretched wings. It was missing a few things, so I suddenly withdrew my 'presence' from him. His startled face and frantic apologies and prayers were quickly answered by an intense flash of light that enveloped the clearing he was staying in. As he recovered from the sudden change in brightness, I hastily adjusted the symbol to the one I had in mind.
The twin-headed eagle with the left head's visible eye blinded and the talons holding a torch and sword, set upon the shield he carried.
My very own coat of arms...
Jaune marveled at the crest of my faith and I spoke to him.
"You have done well, First Blade of Kadmon. Bear witness to My Symbol, the Aquila, the twin headed eagle of wisdom and nobility. Look upon it and know its message.
One eye blinded, the other true. I, Kadmon, am not an all-seeing or all-knowing lord. I, once cursed with pride, learned the dreadful price of knowledge and gained great wisdom.
The talons are not bare, ready to strike...but hold My gifts to My faithful.
The first is Fire. Fire is the spark of opportunity, the possibility of a great future yet to come. Those who join My faith will be rewarded not only in this world, but the next. They will be blessed with great armor and the mightiest of arms to defend against the enemies of Man. And in death, they shall come before me to be judged for their service. The worthy shall be brought into My halls and held as heroes eternal.
The second is the Sword. The Sword is the oath I and all My faithful swear… An oath of valor, virtue, defense of the helpless, might which upholds the weak, words only of truth and a wrath that undoes the wicked. Let none break this oath, this sworn duty and they shall be rewarded in time eternal.
Bear this crest, Jaune of Arkos, First Blade of Kadmon. Bear this well and ready yourself for My Champion's arrival."
A little preachy and dramatic, but essentially what I wanted to get across. A peek into his mind and I could see he was already forming prayers from what I had told him. Pretty decent ones so far…
...whoa...suddenly...really...t-tired...what the he-...
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I woke up and suddenly was aware of...a huge influx of worship and belief coming from...Calth? Zooming in, I found little Altria...wait, not so little Altria.
She looked maybe eleven or twelve...I fell asleep for half a decade? Shit. I hope I didn't lose out on anything. Oh wait, she's...speaking to a large group of old priests bearing the symbols of Esme and four other deities.
"...-ou not see, child? The Pentagram is the answer. Five gods joined in one purpose to protect our fair cities. Esme, goddess of the Harvest and provider of great bounties."
"Jura, god of stonework and masonry. He who gave us these four cities to shelter us from the depredations of the world."
"Idna, goddess of justice. Her sword protects us from within against the darkness in our hearts."
"Kain, god of sanctity. He who shields us from the darkness outside our walls and heals our mind of all doubt."
"And greatest of all, Bount, ruler of the four and lord of the sun. He who begins each day and heralds the coming of night. How can a god greater than the sacred pentagram of divinity alone? Tell us, child."
Huh, they were either trying to learn more about me or convert my chosen...I was about to channel my power into her and speak when the kid started talking on her own.
"You say that none can surpass the five divines of our cities. You say that each one is powerful alone and lend great power in unity to one another.
I do not deny this.
But my lord is a righteous god. Once cursed with pride, he learned true wisdom after great loss. He does not claim superiority over his fellow gods nor does he wish to strike them down so that he remains our one true god. He is and shall forever be the Master of Mankind and Lord of the Stars above and beyond our skies. He came to me as a child just six namedays old and chose me as his champion, the herald of his coming kingdom. I have not forgotten my duty nor the message I will bring to our land and all lands beyond the horizon. You know of my duty and its arrival upon my coming nameday. You will not deter me from taking up my lord's banner nor convert me from His Light.
My lord protected me and my mother when we were weak and blind to His Light. He protected us when I was still feeble and ignorant of my duty; ignorant of my destiny. Now I have learned of this duty. I have learned of the responsibilities He will lay upon my shoulders. I will not falter nor flee from Him.
I will not turn away from His Light.
Stand aside and let me away from you all, for my lord is waiting for my emergence."
'Huh...eloquent, I guess. And when the hell did she find out about her destiny? Maybe...maybe Madline told her?' A quick peek into her mind and I found...Jaune kneeling before her years ago and placing a worn tome in her hands, the cover bearing my symbol. Damn, he must have sensed my mark upon her and knew she was my future champion.
He even got her ready before I was ready.
Definitely made the right choice in converting him.
I reached down and placed a comforting hand upon her shoulder as she walked down the path, the crowd parting before her like the Red Sea…
She looked up. I swear, she seemed to be looking right at me and she smiled softly. A surge of belief joined my suddenly immense pool of worship...how in existence did I acquire this much in six-ish years?
I decided to visit Jaune to see if he had anything to do with the huge stream of worship streaming towards me in a constant tide. A moment of thought and I found him standing before a large group of armored men, clad in the same colored armor as he. Jaune was...speaking to them all; he was telling them to prepare for a battle and that I was watching over them…
"You all stand before me, my brothers in arms, faith and duty. Take heart that today is one which we all shall remember in the trials to come. Today, we stand together not as a rabble of believers joined by the hope for the attentions of a distant god, but one body of faithful men joined in the surety that our god looks down upon us with favor!
Lord Kadmon is watching us! Lord Kadmon favors us! Lord Kadmon Has Chosen Us! Will we be found wanting?"
...I was watching over what appeared to be the very beginnings of my future armies.
What was he doing these past six-ish years?! I visually followed my First Blade back into his quarters at nightfall where he kneeled before an altar. An altar mostly unadorned except for the Aquila-crested shield and blessed sword I gave him years ago.
"Lord Kadmon, Master of Man and Lord of the Stars above and beyond our skies. I...I have done as best I could in your absence. I have gathered men of faith who have sworn themselves to your service. I have armed them with armor and swords of great make. I have given your message and symbol to your champion-to-be. Please, my lord. Send me a sign that what I have done is right. Send me a sign that I have done your will…"
Damn, he was really...he was on the verge of going down the same road after the departure of Denethis. I gathered a decent portion of belief and worship into my 'hands', molding it just right...and sent it to Jaune.
I watched as his blessed weapons and armor began to shine in the darkness of his room. He jerked in shock and stared with tearing eyes at the light emanating from the divine steel. I sent him a quiet whisper.
"Take up your sword, my faithful First Blade. Take up its sheathe and know you have done My Will."
Doing as directed, he took up the blade and scabbard. The gathered divine energy began molding to my will and the two items changed. The worn bastard sword, once fairly plain, became a mastercrafted greatsword with a golden hilt, handle and crossguard in one piece. The blade, once a shining silver, became dull steel in color. What once was a beautiful blade became a utilitarian weapon.
The scabbard merely became pristine and a single ruby-like jewel was placed on its side near the mouth.
Jaune's confusion was clear and I explained...still in the whispered tone.
"Your blade is not one of vanity or shining glory, but one of purpose and duty. Bear its weight and witness its power."
Indeed, he grabbed the blade and nearly stumbled under the added weight. It actually nearly as heavy as he was in armor. Careful swings and stances revealed to him that it was obviously too heavy for aggressive tactics and attacks.
"Your sword and oath to My service was one of valor and virtue. You have shown valor in holding your faith in my silence and the gathering of faithful men without my direction. You have shown virtue by holding to your vow and not straying from My Light.
Now, it is time for you truly become the First Blade of My Companions, Jaune of Arkos. You hold in your hands the great blade Ascalon - The Blessed Sword By Which Force is Slain. It is not a blade of war, but one that defends the helpless and takes great might to lift...might which shall uphold the weak."
Jaune's eyes widened with understanding, reciting an oath under his breath. The oath of the sword which I implanted into his mind when I granted him my crest.
"A Blade is sworn to valor. His heart knows only virtue. His blade defends the helpless. His might upholds the weak. His word speak only truth. His wrath undoes the wicked."
I smiled to myself and sent a feeling of pride and acknowledgement to him. I continued to explain the sword.
"...and should your vow of valor, virtue, protection and might fail...should words of truth not deter your enemies...then take up your sword and call upon My Power...cry out the name of the sword and it will grant you a wrath to undo the wicked, to beget retribution upon My enemies."
Just this once, I willed Ascalon to change forms from its purely defensive state...to discard its power to defend its user and others from all harm...and reversed it. It changed shaped to guardless greatsword bronze and steel, the tip sliced off at an angle. Ascalon, in this form…
"...it shall forgo all intent of protection and become solely a blade of power and might, capable of cutting through all forms of defense. No steel or stone may stand before it. It can never be turned aside once you set its course. Do not use Ascalon for an unworthy cause, My Blade."
With that, I retired back to my...area of influence in the skies above.
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I watched.
I watched and was amazed by what I had done; what I was doing!
Far below me, a fair few of the Hands of Kadmon (name pending*) marched down a well-maintained road through a mid-sized village. The peasantry watched in awe, their children trailing behind or marching alongside the paladins, who took it with good humor. One even allowed a boy to carry his sword. Jaune, at the very front, signaled my fledgling forces to halt and spoke to what seemed to be the village elder. I listened in, using my faithful as conduits.
"Elder Harl, I am Jaune of Arkos, First Blade and Sword of Lord Kadmon. You sent word of a blight that descended upon the neighboring village once called Nelb. We have come to your aid."
The (relatively) old man, maybe forty at best, began crying with relief.
"Aye, I sent word. A wizard has taken up roost in the forest and demanded tithes from each village in the area. Those of us that did were rewarded with a good harvest and healing. Those that didn't...well, Nelb was a warning, the wizard said."
Damn...I glanced over at what I assumed to be Nelb and found…
...what looked like a combination of a Tyranid Ripper and a Khornate Hellhound…
...oh, the Hands were readying themselves. As Jaune knelt in prayer, I decided to...fuck, I can't believe I'm doing this...make a prophecy.
And everyone knows prophecies are self-fulfilling.
"Lord Kadmon, Master of Mankind, Lord of the Stars Beyond the Skies, Champion of Man. I pray for guidance and protection for my men, men I have taken under my wing and into your Light. There is no doubt that some...will not return from this mission. I merely ask for you to continue to watch over us and grant the fallen passage into your Domain…"
Wow, pretty humble and...for his men, eh? That's a surety so long as they are actually followers of my faith. Let's do this prophecy thing…I expanded my awareness of the area, using the Hands as a relay point, taking knowledge of the area from them and the people in a twelve mile radius. Peering here and there, I got a very good idea on what they'd face but the wizard was protected by a rather blood-encrusted ward of divine protection…
...damn.
Returning to Jaune, I briefly took hold of his mind and spoke.
"Beware the hounds hungering for flesh. Shrouded by green, directed by man, they hunt. Twenty swords you have brought, five shall be sent. Fifteen remain and five shall falter.
Faith held true and twenty shall stand. Faith shall guide My Hands."
And I release him, hoping that that was enough. I enshrouded all fifteen men in my protection, blessing them with the basics, drawing inspiration from the Elder Scrolls series of games. I recreated Call to Arms, Rally and added a touch of Ebony Flesh with a dash of Resist 'Chaos' and Magic to be safe.
The resulting aura would last only two hours for now until I refined the blessing into one set miracle.
The men were elated at the visible blessings and a minor increase to the steady influx was well received. The villagers were equally amazed and even began their own prayers for safety. Some I actually heard being sent to me and in return, I used that faith to set up a perimeter ward around the village a mile out as an early warning system. There was a brief...tingle and I suddenly needed to check on Jaune again.
"...-der, tell me. Is there anyone in this village by the name of Faith? Or perhaps their name means 'faith' in another tongue?"
What was he doing? I was talking about prayer and belief not…
"Aye, a young lass that lost her parents in the fall of Nelb. She escaped and made her way here."
What the fuck?!
"My Lord has sent me a vision, one where this girl shall lead my men into the forest to face the wizard. Take me to her."
'Seriously, what the hell?! Jaune, what are you doing? Why are you taking a girl into the forest to face a fucking wizard? This is not part of my plans!!' I watched as the two men approached a young red haired girl, not much older than Altria, clad in a roughspun blue dress and worn boots.
"Faith, this is Sir Jaune, a paladin. He...he received a vision about solving our troubles." The woman looked at Jaune warily...at least until she started blushing deeply.
'Damn it Jaune!!'
"I...I'll answer your questions as best I can, sir." Jaune nodded and explained the vision he received (and interpreted wrongly!!) from me to the woman. She was doubtful at first, but then gained a peculiar look and I felt a tingle of divine presence. Looking about in the astral plane I existed in, I could sense the attentions of another deity...a good one, thank me.
Looking back down, I saw her clutch a symbol of some kind and nod once to Jaune. Together, the two joined another four men and they marched towards the forest. The other fifteen paladins-in-training began patrolling the village in shifts. Those not patrolling took up positions around the town center. Well disciplined for medieval troops; thanks, Jaune.
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