A Paladin's Manifesto

Do you remember the first time you chose?

Of course you do. It was the first time that you knew that something was wrong. It was the first time that you watched an injustice, saw the strong harm the weak, saw the wicked harm the pure. It was the first time you knew good and evil.

Of course you remember it. You knew an evil that you could stand against, and felt the fire fill you. It was the first time you felt strong.

But that's not why you remember it. Those things can fade among other outrages and joys, they can pass unnoticed, they can be dulled by time. The thing that you remember, the thing that you can never forget, the thing that you will never forget, is the choice.

There's no power in this or any other world that can compel you to make a moral choice. That's the point. Becoming a paladin (or whatever you want to call it) isn't a compulsion, or an obligation, it's a choice.

The power that taps you in that moment - the power that asks you to stand your frail mortal form against an evil that can no longer be tolerated - that power does not want slaves. You can always say no. There's nothing wrong with saying no.

Saying no is the easiest thing in the world. That's also the point. You either choose to refuse the fire, or you choose to take it into yourself. You make it a part of you, let it warm you, let it eventually consume you. Just you and the fire, burning bright.

Saying yes or no is a choice that you make every moment of every day from the moment you first knew good and evil until the moment that you die.

I've met many other paladins (or whatever) in my travels -- we always recognize one another at a glance -- the fire always shows through. We find ourselves drawn to the same places. It's never an easy feeling to find the brothers and sisters who burn like you do gathered in numbers. It means death is coming.

Some of us are hard and sharp and pure. Some of us are kind and gentle and loving. Most are both.

It's a luxury we are afforded, to be the person we want to be so long as we continue to burn bright. There's only one real rule: whatever is placed in front of you, no questions asked.

You have to trust. You have to trust that the places you find when you wander are the places where you are needed most. You have to trust that the power that taps you and guides you will not waste the choice that you have made.

But most of all, you have to trust those others that you meet. Selfish or selfless, free or slave, wretched or righteous, if they stand against darkness, they stand with you. They've made their choice too, and there they are, at your side, every inch as holy in deed as you whether they let themselves believe it or not.

So, do you remember the choice now? Of course you do. Once you've known good and evil, you can't unlearn it, you can't forget, and you will never escape the first time you decided to let the darkness pass unchallenged.

It's okay -- that choice will come again.

And again

And again

Until you say yes.