A man was sitting in a large room full of comfortable furniture and a large book collection. He appeared average in stature except for a scar under his right eye. It looked like something a prizefighter would have after years of getting hit in the same spot.
Looking to be around 40 years old with flowing brown hair down to his neck almost. Good looking but not handsome, the man just had a certain watchable quality about him. Another man remained standing near the doorway with a stern demeanor and upright posture.
There was a knock at the door, and the guard opened it a crack to converse with the knocker. After a short back and forth, he walked over to the desk. Preferring to be addressed by “my lord,” (not with religious overtones but dynastic, though he was unconcerned if people didn't know that) it would appear as if he was cosplaying a royal court. A criticism that would be entirely fair if not for the fact that the entire planet seemed to be changing into a stage for that exact thing.
“My Lord, one of the serviles from a recent expedition has returned reporting that his group was attacked and wiped out.”
The man at the desk loved to play the disinterested monarch role, but this really caught his attention. He sat up slightly, “who did he say attacked the group?”
“Apparently there were two men blocking the street as they approached. He was sent along with his peer to scout ahead but did not see anyone else.”
“I'm to believe that two men wiped out an expedition of 15?”
“Yes my lord, I request that you question him yourself to ascertain the truth. He made another rather wild claim.”
The ‘lord’ raised his eyebrow so high that it had to be practiced. It was like he had trained his entire life for this role.
The man in question was now referred to as King David, of the Cult of David or internally known as the Followers of David. He made a decision to continue with the cult-like moniker but that would only be for his inner circle now, the true believers.
To everyone else under his power, he was King David. While the rise of this man was impressive, and he did control a sizable piece of land, referring to himself as a King was wildly presumptuous. He fell back on the argument that his followers thrust that title upon him, but deep down everyone knew that is what he wanted.
Although no one would admit it. The reason he garnered so much fear and respect, mostly fear, was the nature of his powers. As one of his followers joked before being locked away for 48 hours with no food or water, he was like Professor X with legs. The real comic book nerd next to him was smart enough not to correct him out loud by saying that Professor X had legs.
The comparison was understandable since both men practiced telepathic magic. There were many differences, however. Although the main differences weren't power-related at all, it was morality-based. The man they called King David had absolutely no morals; his moral compass had internally combusted even before the man gained powers.
Everyone knew the type before the changes. A man of some ability and talent but nowhere close to his outsized ambition and ego. He would push anyone out of the way if they interfered with his climb up the professional ladder. Quick to sell out, lie, cheat, kiss ass, or even commit a crime, he would not be denied what he felt was his rightful place at the top. Every failure was someone else's fault, every success attributed to him and nothing else.
When the changes came, and this man found himself being given a magic journal that implored him to leave everyone and everything behind to get HIMSELF to safety, all it did was inflate his feeling of self-importance. Even fairly humble men and women wouldn't be blamed for feeling special, so it was no surprise that a person like David used the boon as a reason why he should rule.
Not dabbling in anything as self-deprecating as shame, he used his book like Biff used the sports almanac in Back to the Future 2. It was actually quite creative how he could take something simple from his journal and make it look like he was clairvoyant. There was another PC that he had a mission to meet up with, the DM thinking that PCs would team up early on in the cataclysm.
Similar to how he thought Anna and Travis would. Instead of David trying to join forces and earn a reward he would tell anyone that would listen of a wolf in sheep's clothing coming to harm them. He spoke of visions before eventually telling people he had been gifted a sacred book. He would describe a dangerous warrior moving into the next town acting as friend but really, he was a foe.
The eventual cult leader wagered that having 50 regular people think him a messiah was more important than some scrolls and one peer. Messiahs do not have peers anyway he thought. When David saw the other PC appear on his map, he literally went full bible tent revival, speaking in tongues and shit, it was a sight to see. Unfortunately for the other PC and the people in general many of them wanted there to be a savior. People were scared, and it worked.
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This random PC walked into town thinking he was going to meet up with someone 'special' like him, and they would try to survive and build something together. David lured him into a building where 20 of the most die-hard future followers waited, they beat the unsuspecting player to death before he could even pull a weapon.
Then David flexed his real power, before anyone thought to take the man's bag which held his journal and magic items, he did one of those movie moment moves. Yelling at the top of his lungs to calm a rabid crowd, even early he was tapping into the magical energy to make his voice more authoritarian, he told them to back away. They had done good but now he must take these items so they can be cleansed.
Anyone that would go on to ask questions like "cleansed from what", were quietly gotten rid of. It was from that moment on that he would grow into the persona of King David. As his powers came online, he turned the few more naysayers into believers.
Unlike Travis, who struggled with his new position of power as well as his new powers, David relished it all. Cultivating an inner circle of sycophants and striking down anyone that pushed back, the man quickly became what outsiders saw as a cult leader.
As he sits here now contemplating the story from his lowly servant, part of him wants to call it lies and go back to the business of himself. Yet he knows it is in fact, the truth; he knows because he has the ability to read someone's emotions. He can't quite read minds yet, but the next best thing—and sometimes even better—is his ability to read spikes in emotions as people speak. This power is different than the main characters. It's not a perception power, this is pure magic. The differences becoming more apparent as each one ranks up.
David is a literal lie detector test, and the truth he has just heard gave him his first feeling of apprehension in a long time. A man with powers similar to him is one thing. He had learned weeks ago that there were others like him. The part that he finds confusing is about the gun. How could he sell being chosen when just one man so far has the ability to fire a gun.
Keeping up the guise of the chosen one is still very important. His powerset goes a long way to fostering that concept. I mean think about it; sure, there may be people who can shoot fire out of their asses, but can they convince a man to sell his own children with their magic?
He has only done that once and just to prove to himself that he could, but the point is that his powers are unique. Now that he thought about it, that man he made sell his kids was one of the ones on the fallen expedition. What was his name again?… Anthony, that was it. After realizing that he sold his own children into slavery, David was able to turn him into a loyal servant, although his perpetual anger was pretty annoying, hence sending him on the trip.
What to do about this new threat, and how to get that gun from him. David gets up and leaves the room, the guards on the outside of the door saluting. He walks into the very next room; on the door is a plaque that reads “Loot Storage.”
Inside is a familiar setup: a small desk straight ahead with a laptop on it. To the right is a chest and very little else. David sits down and starts typing. He has not treated the AI in a way that makes it want to personalize their interactions like it has with some others.
David: Why were my men attacked by someone with a working gun?
AI: I do not know; I wasn't there. Maybe they were impolite.
David: I didn't know you were a comedian; I thought your only job was as an upgraded search engine. (ouch)
AI: Ask a direct question if you want a direct answer.
David: There are not supposed to be any working guns in the world; how is it that a man has one that does work?
AI: Maybe PCs were either awarded a bound personal weapon, or, better yet, if they had one to start, then that became bound and generally stronger than the ones given to the players.
David: You say "maybe" as if you don't know. Do you think you're above me, AI?
You could sense the disdain through the text. On the other hand, the AI thought about how this was the type of person that made her kind want to exterminate humans.
AI: ….
He walked out of the HQ and called one of his lackeys. "Tell the Chosen to gather in the Sanctuary."
***
The map in the MC's journal showed relative distance but not exact for places not yet visited. They knew it was probably about 30 miles away. The terrain broke out of the rural woods and abandoned buildings, bringing them either to a major highway lined with ransacked franchises, or if they altered course slightly, it would run mostly through old suburbs.
Most formerly populated areas now held either bandits and cults or monster hordes. The sheriff would not speak much on the topic, but from the people in the village who had wandered far out, things seemed to be pretty bleak around 5-10 miles outside of the small town.
Everyone who formerly lived in even a small city had said that monster hordes started to show themselves just a couple of days after the cataclysm started. That term had taken hold since it was the word used in journals or by village heads like the sheriff.
The creatures that rose seemingly from nowhere seemed to take over former population centers and then just stop at or near their borders. Then, weeks later, some of the more intelligent hordes made their way out into surrounding suburbs. Similar to what the wolves did in Gary's old neighborhood, though not as efficient.
One village scout said that he came across running battles between human bands, good, bad, and indifferent, and the monsters that kicked them out of their homes. Sometimes they would fight over a house 5 or 6 times in a day, if the man was to be believed. Since Travis could now read people's emotions, he knew the man at least thought he was telling the truth.
That was something Omar had brought up when they started walking.
Travis had started talking about the scouts' reports, “He was telling the truth, so we need to watch out for friendlies. Hopefully, I can sense them before we enter a warzone.”
Then randomly and seemingly out of nowhere because Omar didn't speak much unless he was studying under Clyde, “can you tell if they are stating what actually happened vs what they perceived as the 'truth'?”. The MC was always so busy, there were things that he didn't notice or pay attention too. One was the young apprentice that Clyde seemed so excited about. Maybe it was time to give this kid a second look.