While Thing and Rhonda get ready to work on the quartz pickups, I pay more attention to Larx and Freddie. I always find it interesting to listen to philosophy and how people think, but I’m also curious about how paladins actually work here.

In the games I’ve played and run, paladins are lawful good, meaning they have honor for agreements, and are good. The problem is that a lot of people don’t understand how that actually works, and end up playing lawful stupid instead. There’s no shortage of horror stories about people playing paladins and falling and being the only ones at the table confused about it, and there are also horror stories of people playing paladins being deliberately set up to fall by their DMs setting up situations where law and good conflict, and then simply forcing the paladin to fall no matter what they do.

But here, I don’t know the mechanics. Is falling even a thing? I dunno. But listening in, I might learn. And even if not, I’ll at least get a good idea of what kind of philosophy I’ve accidentally been teaching my ratkin. I may not appreciate the situation I’m in with them, but I do want to make sure they’re doing things right.

The ratkin elder simply sits on his stool, looking somewhere between being lost in thought, and remembering a joke. Freddie sits on his own stool, and fidgets as the silence drags on.

“So, uh… how do we start?” asks the young orc, and Larx finally focusses on him with a smile.

“Ah, a grander question than I think you realize,” he says with a chuckle, but mercifully continues quickly. “That’s what I was thinking on, actually. There’s a lot of things we could start with, and while beginning at the beginning is usually a good idea, I think it might drag on a bit, hmm?”

Freddie simply nods, and Larx continues. “We could compare writings and have a longwinded talk about people who are well known for how long their winds are, but there’s a bit of wisdom Lord Thedeim has given, and I think your Shield understands it as well: words are noise, actions are change. I’ve heard the Voice say this in many ways, and I’ve seen the truth of it myself. So let me ask you this, young Freddie: Why did the consecration of the cemetery go as it did?”

Freddie looks confused. “What?”

Larx smiles with a twinkle in his eyes. “Why did the consecration of the cemetery go as it did? Talk and think your way through it, lad. There was much more happening than a couple acolytes and an old rat.”

The orc doesn’t look very confident, but Larx hasn’t lead him astray yet. “Why? Uh…” He takes a few more seconds to get his mind into gear, then starts. “At the beginning? Well… High Priest Torlon said we should go consecrate it, and sent the Head Acolyte at the time to oversee it.”

“Good. Why?” prods Larx, and Freddie frowns as he actually thinks about the why of the mission, instead of just doing as asked.

“Because the Shield wanted it consecrated? It doesn’t like undead, so that makes sense, right? And it’s pretty plain why it wouldn’t like undead, right? I mean, Thedeim’s undead aren’t bad, and Miss Yvonne is a special case, but most undead are just mindless destroyers.”

Larx nods, glad Freddie is thinking things through now, and motions for him to continue.

“Ok uh… other whys… why send me? I was one of the people who’s delved in here the most, and part of the Church, so I could give advice and stuff. And the Head Acolyte… was the Head Acolyte, so he should have been able to do the consecration without any problem.”

“And yet there was a problem,” states Larx simply, and Freddie nods at that.

“Yeah. He tried to consecrate it, but that didn’t work, then he tried to attack Thedeim, I think? That didn’t work. Then you consecrated it just fine and he got mad. Then he tried to turn Grim…”

Larx chuckles at the memory and nods. “Do you know why the first try didn’t work to consecrate it?” Freddie just gives an awkward shrug.

“Not really? I know he did the wrong kind of consecration, but I don’t really know much about doing that kind of thing yet…” Freddie admits, and Larx simply nods.

“I’ve actually talked with the Voice about that many times, because it’s an interesting example of that wisdom I mentioned at the start of this. The consecration the acolyte tried was in the name of the Shield, but that cemetery is part of Lord Thedeim. Trying to dedicate it to the Shield would be forming a pact with the Shield, and Lord Thedeim declined.”

Freddie looks confused at that. “Why would he decline?”

Larx grins wide at that. “Why would he decline?” he fires back, wanting Freddie to think through his question.

Freddie looks lost for a few moments as he tries to gather his thoughts and reconcile the idea of me and the Shield being at odds. Thankfully, he’s not stupid, just inexperienced at thinking things through, but he gets there before too long. “...He’s not against the Shield, or he wouldn’t be helping us train with his undead, and the Head Acolyte probably wouldn’t have been allowed to leave the cemetery that day. So why wouldn’t he pact with the Shield…”

Larx relaxes and gives Freddie the time to think it through, and after a few minutes, the young orc brightens. “Oh! What kind of pact was it? If it’s anything like the paladin oaths, not everyone would want to take those. You don’t have to be against the Shield to not take those oaths. Rhonda is fine with the Shield, but I don’t think she’d even even take the initiate vows, let alone the paladin ones.” Freddie looks pretty confident, and Larx is looking pretty proud of the thought process.

“Exactly, Freddie. A bond is not to be taken lightly. While Lord Thedeim holds no ill will towards the Shield, he’s not going to bind himself to it. So why was the acolyte so upset?”

Freddie looks like he’s suffering a bit of second-hand embarrassment. “Well… I don’t think he really respected Thedeim. I don’t think he’s done much delving, so he really only knew Neverrest, which didn’t give him a very bright view on dungeons, I guess. When Thedeim rejected the consecration because of the pact, he must have thought he had another threat on his hands, and tried to attack with that exorcism.”

“And even you, Freddie, seem to feel Lord Thedeim would have been fully within his rights to strike him down on the spot. So why didn’t he?”

Freddie takes much less time to start talking it out. “Well… Thedeim doesn’t really do stuff like that. He’s not against punishment and stuff, like with that one group that attacked Poe, but he only knocked them out. So… he just doesn’t like killing people?” Freddie doesn’t look too confident in that, so Larx motions for him to keep going.

“...why doesn’t he like killing people? Huh.” Freddie pauses at that. “Miss Telar says that dungeons gain a lot of power for killing, but Thedeim doesn’t do that. I mean… I know killing people is wrong. A dungeon can know that, too?”

Larx laughs and nods. “I wouldn’t just worship any old hole in the ground, would I?” he asks, and Freddie shakes his head.

“Yeah, I guess not. So… he didn’t attack the acolyte because killing is wrong, and I think he wasn’t really a threat? If the pact and the exorcism didn’t work, I think the acolyte was pretty much out of tricks, even if he could have gotten special incense or whatever. And that’s even without the fact that Grim is immune to turning.”

“So what can you learn from that?”

Freddie thinks for a few moments, chewing over the memories in a new light. “To not jump to conclusions about someone, or even if they are a someone? I never really thought about it, but… Thedeim really is aware, isn’t he? I never thought dungeons were that smart.”

Larx just grins at him, and it takes Freddie a moment to realize he said he thought I was stupid right in the middle of a challenge I’ve given him. If I could, I’d be grinning too, and laughing as he tries to stammer out an apology. Thankfully, Larx calms him down and waves off the nervous stumbling over words.

“I think he knows what you meant, lad. I don’t think he takes it personally, either. Even the Dungeoneer’s Guild seems to be caught by surprise by him and what he does, so he can hardly blame you for doing the same. But I have one more question for you, Freddie. What happened to the Head Acolyte?”

“Well… he’s just a normal acolyte now?” Freddie pauses and mulls the question over, not even needing the prodding from Larx to examine the situation in more detail. The young orc’s eyes widen once he makes a few connections.

“Wait… Head Priest Torlon asked him to consecrate the cemetery. It might not be a direct mission from the Shield, but it’s at least something it would want done, right? But the acolyte failed. You consecrated it, not the acolyte. I mean, it still got consecrated, but the acolyte still failed to do what the Shield wanted…” Freddie trails off for a moment, before glancing upward and I can only assume he’s trying to look towards the maze. “...like Vernew failed to do what Thedeim asked.”

Larx beams with pride but doesn’t say anything, not wanting to distract Freddie from his train of thought. “They kinda both let their pride get in the way of doing their task. But the acolyte didn’t get kicked out. He just lost some privileges. He still has some anger issues, I think, but he’s also working to get past them. And… I think Vernew will also work to do better, too, like she promised.”

“And what can you learn from that, and how does it relate to the wisdom I shared with you at the start?”

“...don’t get a big head just because someone important asks you to do something? And don’t give up on someone if they fail?” Larx nods and motions for him to continue. “Because… it’s easy to just say you forgive someone for something, but that’s just noise. Giving them more chances is the action to let them change.”

I smile to myself at that. Freddie’s a good kid, and I think he’ll be a good paladin. I think, no matter what kind of system or situation, the honor of a paladin is about actually doing good, not just saying it.