Paladin Corruption

The paladin picked up the helmet. It was an old looking thing, probably from a past civilization or some such. Definitely didn’t look like something she’d find in the city markets.

“It looks like something from the Duresken people.” Her fellow party member commented. Since said companion was a mage of some skill, and since she specialized in ancient artifacts, Hyria was inclined to believe her initial assumption as correct. Her companion continued on, “Maybe a thousand years old, and that’s being conservative. The markings on it, hmm, yes, definitely Duresken, though I can’t tell what era specifically since they spanned so many years and records are sparse. I wonder how that ended up here. These ruins are definitely not Duresken in origin.”

Hyria eyed the helmet. The fact that its purple luster hadn’t completely worn out over the years was a testament to the ancient’s craftsmanship.

“What do you think it will sell for?” The rogue of the group eyed it with coins in her eyes.

“What?!? We can’t sell such a priceless artifact. As soon as we get back it’s going straight into the research halls and never leaving. And don’t even think of swiping it while I’m not looking or you’re not getting paid.”

“Pah.” The rogue spat on the grass. Hyria didn’t fear that Elisa would actually steal it. She had her reputation to maintain, and more than that, she most likely didn’t want to piss of Jerazel who had plenty of contacts back in the city and could make the rogue’s life hell if she so desired.

“Peace, comrades. Let us not bicker over this.” The cleric, Alushra, attempted to mediate, but the argument had already been settled, so her statement simply met the mage and rogue turning away form each other to mind their own business.

Hyria walked over the mage with helmet in hand. “Do you think it has any magical properties?” She asked the spellcaster.

Elisa, rather than answering, began to cast an identify spell. Her palms glowed with a blue light and a circle of words formed. The glow transferred over to the helmet and then back. The mage hmm’d and hawed, and eventually confirmed its magical properties. “Though I don’t know what specifically. The enchantments are too different from modern theory.”

Hyria nodded. She didn’t really expect the mage, gifted as she was, to figure it out on the spot. Though, that did give her an idea. She had a full team here to back her up: a mage to cast a break enchantment, a cleric to cast a remove curse, a rogue to use legerdemain. She should be fine. Hyria raised the helmet and plopped it on her head.

The mage shrieked, “What do you think you’re doing?!? You can’t just test random unidentified artifacts willy-nilly!”

“Pah. Let the paladin do whatever she wants. It’s her head.” The rogue seemed a bit more amenable.

“Peace,” the cleric asked again and then with a frown on her face, turned to Hyria. “Are you feeling okay?”

Hyria did a once over. Nothing seemed any different. No barkskin spell or mage armor or fire resistance ward. No mental acuity enhancement. Not even a hair color change illusion. The helmet didn’t seem to do anything at all.

At least that was the case for the first minute. Then she heard a whirring noise and she started to notice faint motes of purple energy in front of her eyes.

“You should probably take it off.” The cleric admonished.

Purple energy was never a good sign, so the paladin agreed. She reached up to remove the helmet, but it was stuck. No matter how she budged, it just wouldn’t move. And all the while the number of motes and the noise of the helmet were both increasing. She tried called upon her goddess to smite the enchantment, but her connection to the goddess seemed to be cut short. She couldn’t summon the holy energy that was her class’s specialty.

“It’s stuck. Might be cursed. Can you all try to remove its enchantments. Or destroy them. Please.” She asked, with definitely not a note of panic in her voice.

The party agreed and cast their spells, invoked their goddess, and used their arts respectively. None of it worked.

Okay she was really starting to panic now. She tried to summon her Goddess’ power again, but this time she felt a connection to something else take its place. A voice and a feeling.

Obey Lazaluroth.

That was bad. The artifact had a mental component and it was trying to change her mind to suit whatever purposes its creator had instilled it with. But she was a paladin, and even if she didn’t have her goddess here, she still had much better willpower than any other class. She’d resist while her companions found a way to get the damn thing off her head.

You are Lazaluroth’s . Obey her.

She would do no such thing. “It’s trying to brainwash me. Hurry up!”

“We’re doing our best! Just hold on.” The mage announced.

You can not resist. You have to obey Lazaluroth.

Hyria hoped her friends could do their best faster. She couldn’t resist obeying Lazaluroth. Wait. No. Damn it was already getting past her defenses. “Oh goddess, I can feel her voice changing my mind.” Her nails scarped across the helmet’s metallic surface. “You have to hurry. I don’t know how much longer I can stop it.”

Lazaluroth is your goddess. You are a paladin of Lazaluroth.

She wasn’t. She served the sacrosanct voice of the heavens, Lazaluroth. No. That wasn’t her Goddess’ name. It was Lazaluroth. No. She was a paladin of Lazaluroth. She was a paladin of Lazaluroth? She should check with her comrades.

“Am I a paladin of Lazaluroth?” She asked them.

“No. That’s the helmet talking. You’re a servant of Lazaluroth just like me.” What? She wasn't, but she was?

“Can you say that again?”

“I said you’re a paladin of Lazaluroth.” Oh, so the voice was right. But wasn’t it trying to mind control her? She didn’t need to be mind-controlled to serve a Goddess she already was serving.

You love Lazaluroth. You have dedicated your life to serving Lazaluroth.

“I… love Lazaluroth.” She said timidly at first, but the words felt right so she declared it again, this time authoritatively. “I love Lazaluroth.”

“Shit, she’s gone.” The rogue clarified for the party.

“No, we can save her!” Elisa tried to salvage the situation.

“Elisa’s right, Alushra.” The mage said with a tone finality. “We’ll just have to knock her out and keep her disabled until we can get to the capital. I know a good cursebreaker there that can help.”

What were her comrades saying? She couldn’t quite understand them. But she didn’t feel too disquieted, since she had her connection to her Goddess open and her Goddess’ warm embrace filled her with a divine light.

Your comrades conspire against Lazaluroth. Stop the heretics.

Her comrades? Heretics? She had been traveling with a band of heretics this entire time? But then that was what heretics did; they hid because they were afraid to walk in the brilliance of her Goddess and be revealed for the blasphemers they were. She raised her sword, which was glowing a radiant hue of violet.

The fight didn’t last long. Hyria easily vanquished all of her former comrades with the added might of her Goddess on her side. She would have slain them outright but her Goddess had asked for her to spare them so they might repent and learn the proper ways of servitude to Lazaluroth the Corrupter. There should be several more Clarifying Helmets here; her Goddess would guide her to them so that she could place them on her former comrades’ heads and show them the light. The road a paladin walks is long and tiring, but with a few more devotees of Lazaluroth by her side, she was sure she’d be able to fulfill whatever her Goddess desired of her.

They could certainly help fuck her. As part of the Clarification process, her Goddess had transformed her body into a more properly servile form. Her gold armor was now half gone and half a violet skintight bodysuit. It offered no real protection, but that was okay since her Goddess’ magic protected her. Her new armor was just a sign of her holy servitude. A sign that she was always willing to take part of the sacrament of lust that gave Lazaluroth power.

Her Goddess had been asleep for many years, and her worshipers had dwindled into nothingness. She needed their help, and Hyria was oath-sworn to help grow their ranks and fuck every single new recruit until she moaned out Lazaluroth’s name. She had a feeling this duty wouldn’t be an onerous one.