Name: Mark (Mark) Redding, Race: Human 

Ht: 5’10, Wt: 160, Sex: Male, Archetype: Wizard

HP: 4 / 5 Mana: 0 / 39 MCU: 0 / 300

Stats: 

Physical: 2, Moxie: 2, Spiritual: 2, Luck: 2, 

Agility: 2, Magic: 3, Mental: 3, Energy: 4. 

Relevant Skills: Gather Mana, Mental - Deduct Rationale

______________________

Mark's friends stood around him as he waited for an answer. Jax rubbed his chin in silence. Reggie was looking upward; hands held out. Todd was secretly trying to pick his nose; once successful, he pulled out a dark clump of blood and flicked it to the side. He glanced at Mark, "Nose was smashed during fight, damn thing clotted."

"Hey, no judgments, I'm not a Paladin or Cleric," Mark said. 

"NPC's can't pick up archetypes," Todd said after taking a deep breath through his clearing nostril.

"I agree," Mark paused and waved a hand in the general direction of the village. "NPC's can get something. Some of the ones I was training gained access to mana, and some gained healing like Reggie." 

"So there's an NPC class then they can take?" Todd said.

"Maybe a template or something," Jax said, still scratching his stubble. 

"Mark, what books did you have when preparing for this session?" Todd said.

Everyone looked at Mark; he pursed his lips as he mulled over the question.

"I didn't exactly have the game master guide," Mark said.

"Dammit! How the fu…." Todd said, but Jax raised a hand, silencing him.

"What did you have?" Jax said.

"I had a handbook, and some scanned pages of the bestiality and the guide." Mark shuffled his feet a little.

"How much of the guide?" Todd said, his jaw clenching.

"Maybe a third of it, the binder before I got it had something spilled on it. Some pages were not easily readable." Mark looked toward the ground. The trampled bits of grass lay at their feet.

"Dammit!" Todd turned and punched a tree.

"Hey, I didn't think I'd need information about NPC leveling," Mark said as he crossed his arms. "Even if I did, remembering it, after all this shit."

Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author.

"Guys, hang on, maybe there is a solution," Charisse said. She sat down on the dirt and closed her eyes. Everyone quieted as they waited. When she opened her eyes soon after, a few of them sighed. "Nope, can't pull up any other book beside the player book." 

"Fuckity… I guess we are doing this the hard way. We try to convert and train as best as we can, as many people, then sanctify everywhere we can." Mark said.

"Still doesn't cover the issue of starting a crusade. We know how well that went from our world." Jax said.

"But in our world, we didn't have divine beings that could be felt and help dictate moral rules. Here if we start with only paladins leading, it'll only pursue good." Mark said.

"Doesn't feel right," Jax rubbed the back of his neck as he looked down.

"What if you set up the leadership? Maybe some divine inspiration will help set the foundation for it. We'll stay out of the creation and policymaking." Mark said.

"Alright, I'll come up with leadership and guidelines, then goals. However, regarding this movement, you guys will have to accept my and other paladin authorities." Jax said.

"That we can do," Mark said.

"You aren't who I'm worried about," Jax looked directly at Charisse. "No assassinations, no stealing, if we do this we must take the high road and be the force of good." 

"Alright, I'll work within your constraints. I promise." Charisse said, lifting an arm to her chest.

Jax's arm darted out, like a snake striking. He grabbed Charisse's hand, his glowed white. Charisse's brow scrunched up as she clenched her jaw. 

"I promise," Charisse repeated through clenched teeth and her arm shaking. 

Jax released the arm, then quickly took a step backward. Mark promptly stepped up to Charisse and rested an arm on his friend's shoulder.

"I'm sorry I do not know what happened," Jax said as he brought his hand to his face and stared at it.

"I think I understand," Charisse said. "It felt like a giant eye was staring at me, scanning every cell for something." 

"Perhaps that type of scrutiny is needed. Would hopefully catch or alert us of spies from King Dick." Mark said. Taking a step toward Jax, he held out his right hand. "I promise no assassination, no stealing, and to pursue the high ground for this venture." 

As Jax gripped Mark's hand, the world faded into white light. Not too bright to look into, but he was unable to discern his surroundings. Turning around to get a full view, as far as his eye could see, it was white. Without any lines or objects, he couldn't work out the dimensions of the room. Mark turned around, struggling to locate something on which his eyes to focus. A shiver ran up his spine. With no reference, he couldn't tell if he turned all the way around. 

"Who are you? What do you want?" Mark said. His words disappeared once leaving his mouth. 

Time stretched on; the white void remained unchanged.

"I promise we will pursue the high ground for this venture. We'll only use this movement for the force of good," Mark said. He was back in the forest with his friends. Jax's hand was grasping his shaking arm.

"Are you ok?" Jax said, giving a glance over Mark.

Energy rushed into Mark, minor aches and pain disappeared. The image of a world with millions of people who could heal with a touch filled Mark's mind. He considered a utopia where disease and suffering didn't exist. A tiny dark thought also appeared, of how easily such people could be manipulated. A shiver ran through him as he squashed the idea. 

"Alright, are we ready to go?" Mark met the eyes of everyone. "Does everyone need to take the oath?" 

"Not sure. If it ensures we have the backing of the gods, we should do it." Jax turned toward Todd.

"Maybe we could also work on a better oath or thing to say, having everyone do it that joins will hopefully keep everyone working towards the same goal," Mark said. "Which god are you a paladin for?"

"None, Paladins in are a force of good and the three good gods back them. Laws can be perverted…"

"Ok, I can read up on it later; let's get going. We got a revolution to start." Mark said. 

Jax reached a hand out toward Todd. Todd repeated Mark's promise. A second later, Todd jerked as if he'd fallen asleep. Reggie followed.

"Charisse, can you lead us past the people you saw?" Mark said.

"I think so. Is Jax going to have an issue?" Charisse said.

"Again, I'm not lawful stupid. These soldiers have not harmed us, nor do I sense any evil." Jax threw a glare toward Charisse. 

Charisse backed up with both hands in the air. 

"I didn't mean it disrespectfully; as of now, you and whoever you choose to lead the revolution will be the leaders. I didn't know if you wanted to convert them to the cause or maybe detain them so they can't go back and report on our movements." Charisse kept both hands in the air.

Mark quickly threw a glance toward Charisse. Not allowing his gaze to linger in case someone else saw it. Her words felt sincere. Remembering the oath, Mark wondered if it prevents them from deviating from it. 

Closing his eyes for a moment, he envisioned the clearing. Across the clearing, he mentally marked several x's where the soldiers would be. Trying to draw the forest around it, he gauged what path he would need to take to circle them in order to… his mind stopped, the mental image started falling apart. Cursing to himself, he opened his eyes. None of his friends were looking at him; everyone was focused on Jax or Charisse.

"Let's avoid bloodshed for now. Until I can find people to fill the council of six, I'd rather not fully declare war." Jax sighed and started rubbing his forehead. 

After Charisse nodded, she walked into the woods. Mark followed and caught up to her.

"The oath may be problematic," Mark said.

"I hadn't noticed. Did you mean it when you said it?" Charisse said. 

"Well yeah," Mark said.

"I'm not sure; it could be my archetype, could be moral flexibility, not sure." 

"Will this work?" Mark sighed and glanced back toward Jax, Todd, and Reggie.

"I hope so." Charisse gave a thin smile.

"Since we know the world keeps going after we die, maybe we can leverage this, so if we fail, there is a support system in place to help us get back to this point," Mark said.

"Probably a good idea, however, wouldn't it also mean King Dick could find out where we respawn at, then station some guards to spawn camp?"

"Fuckity, fuck, fuck."