Now that I was a paladin, I was able to access areas reserved for the minor nobility. I also had new ability trees. I now had healing magic and holy magic to use. That did wonders for my future prospects. It was also good for the party as a whole because I could now recommend the others to be paladins as well. It was all based on my funds. I only had enough for two, so I recommended Mikey and Jamie. Bishop Annabelle looked at me in consternation for a bit. "I understand that it is the proper process, but the Church is not a bank where you can invest in noble titles for you and your family." she snapped at me. It was the first time I saw her displeasure directed at me. "I'm sure that you have seen my children take out countless bounty hunters and assassins. They are strong. Why can't they serve the Church of the Sky with their gifts?" She looked at them and relented with a sigh. "Yes. I do see a grain of truth in your words." she conceded. They were made paladins the next day. I was also pretty broke. A week passed when she asked to see me, Sir Michell, and the militia in her chambers.
Dressed in her most official robes and veil, she addressed us. "Sir Michel, Knights of the Terri Family, and members of the Nimbus Militia: Greetings and salutations. It is not a difficult task to see that there is a great challenge in front of us. The Chegow Republic has sent wave after wave of murderers and thieves in our midst. Too many of our lives have been lost. We will stand for it no longer. I am assigning you all as a special envoy of the Church of the Sky. You will be escorting Father Micah and Father Nele as they escort the many prisoners we have back to the Chegow Republic with a message from me. We will let the king know that further attacks on Estlor will not be tolerated. Any further interference with the holy site or the members of this envoy will be met with force in the form of a crusade." Most of those gathered gasped in surprise. It was seemingly out of character. It was not really. If I was in charge of a holy site, I would be harsh in defending it too. I nodded and said "It will be done, and soon, Your Beatitude." She looked at us and said "Prepare yourselves now. You leave tomorrow."
Questioning this decision would only make me look bad. I just had to go along and slip away back to Arkton when the questline was finished. I could see what I wanted to do with the bandits then. I got everyone that was in my party ready. The Nimbus Militia was a group of young men that wanted to fight to protect their home. After the brown assassin, there were only 12 of them left. Those 12 were decently leveled from the fighting though. All of them were around level 14. Sir Michel was level 19 and eager to tell the Chegow Republic to go screw themselves. Father Nele was a cleric that I had not had contact with. As the cathedral related to a holy site, there were a dozen clerics and a score of monks stationed there. I just stuck to the ones that I knew. I did sometimes see them when they were performing rites and celebrating Mass on the days that I went. Other than that, I did not know them that well. Father Nele was a few years older than Micah. Both of them were very pleased to be given such a big role in this important mission. When we got into formation for the journey, it looked cool.
