[Channel Teaser]
Lawful Good Paladin Ends Up Signing A Warlock Pact
Hi everyone,
All Things DnD is back with a story.
It’s no secret lizard-folk are one of my favorite races, but this little guy has a
special place in my heart.
Tell us what your favorite race is after you listen to this tear jerker.
Years back, a local tribe of lizard folk were beginning to worry and enter into conflict
with various towns encroaching upon their swamp and hunting grounds.
Any attempt they made to ask the groups to leave, was met with violence from the town’s
folk.
To be fair, this tribe had been relatively hostile and was known to hunt and eat anyone
who went out alone in the wilderness.
Lizard folk are just kind of like that sometimes.
But this level of activity and industrial development was such that they could not just
raid to push the developing towns back.
In desperation they searched for ways to reclaim their home.
And eventually they happened upon a deity willing to help them.
It’s unclear which deity it was, but the Temple researchers knew from encounters and
recounts of the actions from scouts and survivors that the deal they struck basically hinged
on the Lizard folk capturing and sacrificing as many non-lizard folk as possible and specifically
to target the faithful of Pelor.
In return the Lizard folk would receive drastically increased birth rates, a steady supply of
warlocks, blessings of power, unholy weapons and other artifacts, and finally a chosen
champion who would be ascended into demigodhood.
After nearly a week of constant raids, dozens of trade caravans going missing and finally
a whole village being razed, the inhabitants sacrificed and eaten, the towns called to
the nearby cities and Temples.
After scouting and getting all the information, the cities declared that they had a very serious
problem, and it didn’t take much for the Temples to decide that something had to be
done about their priests and faithful being sacrificed to some horrible deity.
So a military force was put together along with what was almost declared to be a crusade.
The response was far more potent than the Lizard folk were prepared for, and the conflict
ended up being a very VERY short and bloody affair.
But, as the battles were dying out in small pockets of the swamp, a small collection of
paladins and clerics moved carefully through the buildings, extinguishing the surviving
Lizard folk and looking for any civilians who had yet to be sacrificed.
And it was here that they found something unique.
Deep within a muddy nest, a tiny hatchling growled and hissed fiercely, putting itself
between the crusaders and a small collection of silver emblems and holy symbols the small
creature appeared to have saved from being desecrated.
Looking at him, they could tell that the little creature had been badly beaten by the other
Lizard folk, and judging by the surroundings, it was likely because he was constantly running
to the pile of holy symbols that the raiders were defacing, desecrating and hanging up
for display, and stealing them, all to keep them safe somewhere else.
At first, this was just thought that it was being a greedy mindless creature that wanted
nothing but shiny objects, but knowing the lack of value Lizard folk instinctively place
on anything that is not directly linked to their own survival, they came to the conclusion
that this was a sign from the gods.
Instead of killing the little creature, they took time to lure him in and capture him to
be raised in the temple, naming him Chuu.
And while the local priests and nuns had a hard time taming the little guy, eventually
he became a very well behaved, extremely loyal and devout worshiper of all the gods of light.
It was all he cared about.
Growing up with other young squires and orphans, he developed dreams of someday becoming a
holy warrior like those who had spared and rescued him and introduced him to the temples
and the glorious salvation of the gods.
But alas, while he was endlessly dedicated, many feared what would happen if they gave
him any power or responsibility.
After all, despite his desire to be good, he still had base instincts from his lizard
folk biology, and to put it in a kinder than usual way… the young Chuu, sadly, was just
a bit simple.
Not stupid, but he certainly wasn’t very bright.
And eating a diet made for humans, elves, and dwarves, instead of the usual large quantities
of raw meat that any lizard folk would normally eat, he grew up scrawny and mildly malnourished.
But Chuu remained faithful and endlessly hoped for the day he would be chosen by one of the
many gods, to fulfill a destiny he did not yet know of.
He didn’t care which of the gods, or what he was called to do, only that he would be
called for a holy duty.
His dreams, bright in his eyes, was him doing his chores and attending the temple sessions
with the images of him upon a noble steed, charging into battle alongside fellow crusaders
to save the day against the unholy.
No amount of discouragement could kill his dreams; even as he became old enough to be
chosen as a squire, none approached him.
And even then he still remained hopeful and happy.
An unshakable enthusiasm and lack of self awareness combined with endless unshakable
faith to the divines, Chuu proved to be complicated to deal with as none wanted him to become
a Paladin or Cleric as they wouldn’t trust him to accomplish his duties properly, but
none had the heart to tell him this to his face and crush his dreams.
As the time wore on, Chuu reached adulthood and still kept his unshakable faith that some
day, any day now, the divines would speak to him and give him their divine touch, letting
him live his life and save the world.
And through no small amount of coincidence, and local trouble, he eventually got his wish
in a way that no one suspected.
On a dark dark night, one of the younger upstart knighted Paladins, a noble who thirsted for
power and who quickly grew to be mistrusted, made the final heretical choice to break his
oath.
Sneaking into a vault, a secretive location where the Temples stored magical artifacts
too dangerous to leave alone, and too powerful to be destroyed, he stole the heart of Wyrk.
A powerful item, originally connected to a cult who worshiped a god none had heard of
before, and to their knowledge, a god that they could find very little evidence to even
exist.
But the heart proved to be too powerful to destroy, so it was locked away to be kept
from the world until the end of days.
It was this heart that the oath breaker took.
He knew that maybe, just maybe, he could forge an oath with it and take the power he rightfully
was owed.
But so it was that he was quickly discovered, and nearly the whole Temple awoke to chase
him.
It was a dangerous fight, as his broken oath left him an only mildly talented fighter.
He struggled to find a way out, and eventually he found himself in the kitchens, desperate
to get out of the troubles, and starting to regret his foolish plan, he hid the heart
and fled.
But he was quickly caught and died fighting before he could reveal exactly what he took
from the vault or even where he hid it.
While the Temple went into a full blown panic, trying to find out what was taken and where
it wound up, Chuu returned from his chores late into the night and happily moved into
the kitchen for his dinner.
The kind nuns always left out some preserved meats or breads, sometimes even a soup.
Tired from a wholesome day’s work, he rummaged about until he found a dry lump of meat.
Happily, he gave thanks, swallowed it whole, and went to sleep.
But that night, a cold distant voice spoke out to him.
Images of the wars during the time the gods first came upon the world, driving out the
Aboleths and fighting each other, establishing the positions of all the current gods.
He saw there, a deity of law and duty, a god who sought only order and justice.
A god who had yet to truly cement his position in the world, speaking to gods everywhere.
He sought out and spoke with many until he came face to face with gods that Chuu knew
from his studies to avoid at all costs, gods known as Cyric and Orcus.
The images fuzzed with a palpable rage he could feel coming from the god as the events
replayed and the unknown god marched out.
Having been fed falsehoods and lies, he marched to face against none other than Pelor.
He was promptly struck down and sealed away forever.
Only his heart remained in this world and was collected and traded as the centuries
and milenia went by and he was to be nothing but a battery for evil cults to power up their
rituals.
He loathed this, his power and purpose beginning to change.
He was a god of duty and law, but slowly his mind boiled at his undying livid hate for
trickery and the undead as the two gods who had sent him to his doom at the hands of one
he would have never chosen to be his enemy.
The power flowed into Chuu’s mind and an offer was made: take up the mantle.
It was a dark painful vengeance, but it was a vengeance to be wrecked against liars, trickery,
and the undead.
The god, however, was slightly taken aback at the extremely joyous reaction of this mortal
being chosen.
The soul graciously accepted without even hearing what the deity wanted, nor of the
duties or powers to be given.
Chuu woke, feeling the swirling powers, and almost instantly the Temple took notice and
brought him before the highest councils of holy priests and warriors.
They could plainly feel the power within him and worried deeply.
They spoke amongst themselves and to his great confusion, they brought him to the center
of their hall of judgement, and read a strange rite he did not recognize.
He was confused that in his jubilation, those of the council looked worried and grim.
One even apologized to him before a massive golden light descended from the heavens, through
a hole in the ceiling and bathed him in holy light.
When the light faded, he looked around confused, but not as confused as the council who spoke
amongst each other and then performed the rite again.
And again, the golden light fell from the heavens and did nothing to the young Chuu.
Little did the young faithful Lizard folk know, the golden light would decimate the
physical form of any evil doer and judge the remaining soul, instantly sentencing it to
its fate.
And little did the Templars know, that despite the unholy heart of Wyrk being physically
inside of the young Lizard folk, and the obvious warlock pact he had, not even a single ounce
of evil resided in the pure hearted lawful good soul.
There was much deliberation of what to do, but many decided that one with such a simple
mind might fall if his ignorance was destroyed and his blind faith was compromised.
And so, he was assigned minor duties in the local temples, told to be secretive about
his deity, and to keep levying worship upon the Temple’s deities.
He obediently and happily agreed, but kept his eyes and ears open for rumours of the
undead and preached the value of truth and against lies and deception.
For to him and his dreams, he was the Paladin of the endless watch, a bright and shining
soul to guide and protect the innocent, and honestly… no one had the heart to tell him
that he was a warlock.
Lizard Folk may be my favorite race in all of DND.
Such a heartwarming tale!
I believe in you Chuu.
Please let us know what you think and comment below!
Don’t forget to subscribe to our channel, All Things DnD.
Our next video will be posted in 2 days, so stay tuned for more amazing Dungeons & Dragons
content!