January 14th
2005 A.D.
Azer Cathedral
Judoc idles lazily in his pew, his head searching out the familiar faces all around him. Several seats down, Indrid Colt, his roomate and a self-important blowhard, has completely lost his attention and instead he is doodling on a scrap of paper that he has conjured to keep him entertained. Across the aisle, Alevius Cleppo and Andros Wilmer sit together, the latter upright and attentive with an air of smug self-satisfaction. Andros was the perpetual example of a student who would make it as a future Templar: handsome, talented, rich, noble... he had all the characteristics that the staff were looking for when making their selections. Alevius exhibited several of these also, though for some reason he had not earned the status of golden child and the constant effort without recognition seemed to be getting to him. He sat slightly slumped in his seat with the beginnings of hazy purple exhaustion developing under each eye. A few pews in front of them sat Wayne Irons, a student for whom Judoc had much more respect. Reserved, talented, and humble, Wayne represented for Judoc the one student who was constantly deserving praise and yet never received it, though he never once let on that the lack of attention disturbed him in the least. Even now, the lad set dutifully, his full attention on the cleric conducting the mass. Made somewhat aware of his own distracted attention by Wayne's example, Judoc refocuses to the front of the room, putting his attention back on the pulpit and the curate conducting the service. The young man was droning at best, condecending and judgemental at worst - he had made the better part of his argument in the sermon suggesting that true evil was all around them. Even the bishop seemed to be bobbing in and out of sleep as the man started in on his second quarter of an hour.
"As Mark says in our gospel, 'Do not be wise in your own eyes, fear the Lord and shun evil.' We are told to fear the Lord... to shun evil. But our gospel does not warn us of the dangers of intentional sin, rather the danger of 'being wise in our own eyes'. It warns us that self indulgence, that overconfidence, that complacency will blind us to the evils that are assailing us each and every day. I am reminded of Ezekiel twenty five, verse seventeen. 'The path of the righteous man is beset on all sides by the inequities of the selfish and the tyranny of evil men.' Each and every one of us must walk our own path, we are beset by our own evils, but how will we defend ourselves against that evil if we cannot even recognize it as evil? How do you fight that which you do not know exists?
In his mind, Judoc screams his frustration, impatience, and boredom. He had come here to the Cathedral for services this morning on more of a lark than anything... It was well known that to join the Templars, one must show his faith throughout the course of schooling and though Judoc was by no means the most devout of his peers, he was just beginning to get the impression, the vaguest possibility, that if he wanted it he could join the Templars when he left this school. He presses his thumb into the back of his ring, straightening it with the help of his pinky, something that he had been doing subconsciously since he had recieved the gift from the provost.
He had panicked at first, when he had returned from 'finishing' his last exam. He had wiped his staff clean and told
no one of the exchange or even taken the time to construct a story that would corroborate the fire in the city and the presumed death of Thresher. He had been terrified that he would be asked, that he would be investigated, that his mind would be probed in an effort to extract the truth... but to his great relief that event had not come to pass and instead he had walked in on a substancial gift and a short note from the provost himself.
Congratulations on your successful exam.
I expect great things out of you.
You'll find here a small reminder of the
needed qualities to become a Templar,
steel for the strength of character
and ruby for the fire that must burn
inside you and drive your every task.
B.G.
The note had come enclosed with the ring he was wearing now, and though he suspected the band was rather made of silver than steel, it was the gesture itself that had kindled the fire of greater accomplishment.
"Let us pray." The curate says from the pulpit, signaling a near end to his ministrations.
With reluctance, Judoc lowers his head and clasps his hands together mimicking the same motions of nearly everyone in the service.
"Dear Lord, give us the vision to detect the evil around us, the strength to stand together against it, and the true faith to banish evil with your omnipotent love. Amen."
Judoc did not leave the cathedral immediately after the service but instead wandered the nave, looking at all the stained glass and sculptures that dominate all around him. He could say without hesitation that this church was beautiful, perhaps more so than any he had seen before, though he had not seen many. Judoc stops a moment to nod at the curate, father Thomas, he had learned his name through the course of the service. Thomas smiles and nods back, walking the side aisle through the nave where he turns into the transcept. Here and there a few parishoners still mill about, though most have made their way out of the cathedral by now, likely standing in line to be recieved and blessed by the bishop as he does at the end of every sunday service. Judoc wonders just how long he will have to wait to avoid that process without being obvious... for while he was interested in the benefits of
seeming pious, he was not entirely sure he was ready for a total immersion just yet.
OOC: This thread is for Judoc. Sorry for the long winded and oddly ending post. I had to put in quite a bit of information getting us from the last thread to here and I wanted to give you a chance to play your actual character reactions before we started going too far down this path. Essentially I don't want to take too much for granted with how you would act/react. I assure you something will happen soon. Also, the ring you are wearing (the gift from the provost) is a 1 carat ruby mounted on silver which you managed to fit perfectly on your right hand ring finger. It also doubles as a 5 point powerstone and is worth about $500. Feel free to get me a quick PM if you want to use your money to buy any gear prior to this thread (we can do it during too). Let me know if you have any questions. Below is a diagram as to what the cathedral looks like, you are currently standing in the nave (where all the pews are and where the congregation observes mass). There are a handful of people still in the cathedral, likely waiting for confession or for family members to disrobe (choir members or such) before they head home.
Cathedral
This message was last edited by the GM at 03:40, Sun 26 May 2019.