By divine law, Aavi had become a paladin the moment he had sworn his oath and received Lyrti's blessing. That he had asked no-one's permission and sworn it apparently unsupervised didn't seem to faze anybody - that was between him and the goddess. The healing magic he could now wield was evidence of his new status just in case there were any doubters, but no-one had asked for a demonstration just yet. They did expect a ceremony though.
Paladins were rare enough in the Abbey, but paladins of Lyrti, the goddess of mercy and charity, were practically unheard of. That alone would have been interesting enough, but it came the morning after six Seraph, including his friend, had gone missing. It wasn't hard to figure out that the two events were related, though only Aavi and Zarel knew quite how.
It meant a crowd, which made Aavi feel intensely awkward. He knelt between the three altars in the grand chapel wearing his slightly-too-small spare novice robe and tried to block out the quiet murmur of the faithful in the pews behind him. Even if the three senior Triarchy clerics weren't intimidating enough, he also had to pick his words very carefully so as not to lie to them. Come to think of it, he wasn't sure if he even
could
lie about his oath.
"My friend Zarel and five other Seraph were taken by dark forces last night."
That got him a grave nod from the cleric of Agraton to his left, a big man named Kaikos clad in shining armour and carrying the shield so favoured by the protector god.
"I joined the party that searched for them. I have gone down into the city many times as a novice, delivering alms to the people and supporting the elder priests."
Diligent, obedient, a good little novice. It earned him an encouraging smile from the cleric of Lyrti, a kindly older woman named Tillis who wore no symbol of office besides a threadbare brown robe.
"The plight of the cursed people in the city... moves me. I thought about it a lot, even before what happened."
Malcantor, the cleric of Scaevola, seemed unmoved behind his polished steel mask. Scaevola was the god of healing and purity. They were depicted as a thin sexless figure, often with a metallic body, as if to underscore the deity's incorruptibility in these times of disease and depravity.
"So I swear by Lyrti to help everyone like my friend."
Aavi hadn't actually been speaking about Zarel when he'd sworn that, but he didn't think these esteemed priests needed to know about his brush with the infected tiefling. He was quite proud of his dissembling.
"I swear to relieve their discomfort and pain. To bring mercy and the goddess's comfort. And to redeem my friend, and everyone that I can."
The words hung awkwardly in the air for a while. The crowd on the pews were murmuring, but the clerics were silent. Tillis looked thoughtful, while Malcantor's mask remained nonplussed. Finally Kaikos broke the silence.
"'Tis a good Oath, lad. And the goddess has heard it-" he glanced at Tillis, who nodded confirmation, "...has heard it well. Indeed."
"And how will you fulfill it?" Malcantor's voice was sharp and nasal. "How can you comfort someone infected with that curse? How can you redeem monsters?"
Aavi thought back to his previous encounters with the Itch. His magic and his actions had provided comfort, though probably not of a sort that anyone here would approve of. And none of it had been permanent.
"I'm not certain yet," he tried, "but I am sincere..."
"
Sincere?
You will need more than sincerity to go up against the most vile disease the world has ever known!"
"Lyrti has accepted his word," Tillis came to his rescue, "and that is enough, yes?"
Aavi had the sense that the masked priest had opened his mouth to object, but Kaikos spoke first. Most paladins swore to Agraton, naturally, so his word carried the most weight here.
"Yes. A good Oath," he repeated, and Aavi could hear the emphasis on the word. "There are some... practical details we shall need to discuss, but I am sure they can wait."
"Fine," Malcantor's assent came out like the rasp of a metal file. "You assume the rank of paladin, with the privileges and more importantly the grave responsibilities that entails. We will watch your career with
great
interest."
The formalities were soon over, thankfully. There was too much work involved in keeping the Abbey fed, clothed and protected to have people idle for long.
Kaikos took Aavi to be outfitted in the Abbey storerooms and was immediately dismayed by his choices. The new paladin wasn't much interested in shining plate armour or ancient silver helms. Instead, he selected a pale brown leather jerkin that was well made but definitely wouldn't stop an arrow. Some loose cotton shirts came next, then some good boots and light but rugged trousers. Aavi was more concerned with dust and heat than blades, he explained to the baffled warrior priest.
He found a fine backpack of oiled leather that he had to have, despite the cleric's assertion that carrying things was a job for novices. To this he added food, clothes, and as many herbs and medicines as the infirmary would let him take. To Kaikos's great consternation he also added a purse of ancient coins from the Abbey's vault. By the time they got to the subject of weapons Aavi thought the moustached cleric might just change his mind on the whole paladin thing.
Kaikos thought a paladin should have a fine sword, preferably silver, and definitely the former property of a storied hero from the past. Aavi asserted that he wanted no weapon, his goddess was known for the hand of friendship after all. Kaikos proclaimed that he would surely be devoured by a dragon or worse should he, a noble paladin, go unarmed. Aavi pointed out that nobody had seen a dragon in centuries and that with no weapon training he was as much danger to himself with a sword as he was to an enemy. Kaikos threatened to call the whole thing off.
They settled on an ancient dusty staff of some silvery coloured bark. It was light and it looked like it might break easily, but some judicious whacking against more noble and seemly weapons proved it was surprisingly hard and cooled both their tempers somewhat.
Aavi finally got free of Agraton's cleric, martial advice still ringing uselessly in his ears, as the sun was starting to make its way down the western sky. He was supposed to be moving into his new private quarters, but that was a privilege he'd have to put off for many more hours yet. Instead he headed for the gate, where he spent five minutes convincing the guards that yes he did want to go into the city alone, that this was in fact a thing that a paladin of Lyrti could do, and that no he definitely did not require an escort. He told them to get used to it. They told him it was nice knowing him.
With that final obstacle cleared and the sun dipping lower and lower, Aavi finally set off down the hill and into the city.
---------------------------------------------
"You sure he's coming?"
