Since I had seven eggs, I decided to place five of them in the kagura-den. I kept a blue and yellow egg. That meant four blue eggs and one yellow was left in their. I told the dancers what happened in the most tragic way that I could to garner sympathy. They certainly were. "When you raise the nagas, make sure you treat them as if they were a sibling or a adopted child. Also, make sure to look out for the blue ones. They are very venomous. The yellow one is a constrictor. I want everyone to be safe, so you have to be aware." They nodded and then got back to work. When I left, Inquisitor Ollie came to me for a debrief. I told him about what happened and a smirk had crossed his face. "Maybe I should make a visit. There seem to be a plethora of nagas that can be... converted if enough pressure is given. I wished him luck and moved on. I wouldn't mind if the blue, yellow and violet tribes were converted. I did not know what it would do for social cohesion in Fishbourne. They might even spark some resentment and discrimination in the city against them.
As we were walking away, the dancers came out to call us. We hurried inside to see the eggs start to crack. We waited patiently as the five baby nagas began to break a bit of the shell at the time. The five broke through and softly hissed as they started to slither. I thought it was pretty cute how small they all were. The dancers seemed to think so too as they cooed at them from afar. "Remember not to agitate them too much. No one knows how strong their venom is, even as infants." I told them. They nodded. I stayed at the shrine as my two eggs also hatched. I put them together with the others as it would be easier to observe them together. There was a male and female yellow naga. There were also three females and two males from the blue nagas. I decided to take one male from each group. I looked at them and said "I'm now your daddy come here." I fed and pet them with thick gauntlets on. They had trouble distinguishing between me and the food, so they bit us sometimes. We also allowed them free range to go hunt on their own with our supervision.
I found it nice and I named my new children Charlie and Marley. Marley was yellow. Eventually, I needed to move on. I took Marley and Charlie with the three paladins to the nearest base. When we got there, Daniel was there at the entrance waiting for us. Getting closer, we saw that he had a really rough looking scar running across his face. He was also missing a few teeth. 'Those extremists fucked him up.' I though to myself. He was holding up a letter in front of us. "After word of what all you guys did in Fishbourne reached us, Glenda gave us all a letter saying to promote you. Kneel." We did and were promoted on the spot. I was now a Templar and the squires were now knights. Daniel then took me aside to his room. "I'm sick and tired of this shit Canan. I'm a thief, not some holy knight. I got the shit beaten out of me for some shit I don't even really believe. Look at me." he said after a few moments of quiet. "I can't go back, but you can go. Take your money back from the bank and get a ship. You are automatically going back richer and a hero. Lean in." I said.
He really did have a point. I don't know what his true faith was, but he followed me here and know he is scarred for life. "What the hell are you talking about! What do you mean 'lean in!'?" he snapped at me. I said "Whether or not you wanted it, you are a paladin with the rank of standard bearer. You are a now considered a low noble. With your money, you can buy a good house good clothes and retire. You won't have to work aside from maybe a trade or two that you wanted to do if you got bored. Or you can invest in a business and leach off of their profits." He looked at me like he had never considered such a thing. "You really think a dumbass street kid recruit from a backwards thieve's guild can be a fucking noble?" I shrugged. "As long as you don't commit apostasy, you'll be good. Fuck, marry a noble's daughter using your money and name as a mighty paladin who fought in the conflict to establish a major shrine. Your scars is your own battle story. The rank you have is another story you can tell the others you meet back on Pollo Island.
Continuing, I say he was not convinced. "You went down into a crypt to destroy the undead and rescue children from a necromancer. We went out and stormed all those three bandit forts. You commanded a hospitaller fort full of squires and knights for months. You took care of the sick and injured from the conflicts. Clearing the extremists was a trial and a half. Daniel, you can even Lay on Hands!" I listed. He nodded and rolled his eyes. "You have seen more action and combat than most of the city guards on the island. You can even lead the guard if that's how you want to play it." He finally started to get it and his eyes went wide. "Holy shit! I can lead the guard. Those pussies on guard watch probably couldn't stand a chance against me. I think you're right." I nodded and said "Like I said, go get your money and then get a ship to take you to Pollo." He then smirked and said "I'm going to be a noble captain of the guard by the next time you see me." "I hope you set apart a replacement for you for when you when you leave the fort." I gently reminded him.
