Robert Clerk II (Inciter: Age 23)

Everyone is bound to have a class eventually. It’s the natural conclusion of excellence in any field. Many will become farmers, some blacksmiths. The exact class you become is determined by your skills, however, you may or may not be an entirely different person when it happens. You see, once you have your class, once the magic in the world flows into you, you become like a different person as you are born anew, shaped by the circumstances of your growth. Beyond that, are your capabilities. A soldier’s might is nigh immutable compared to even the most talented of the classless. A blacksmith may be physically stronger even than him, though he probably shouldn’t go picking any fights. Some, like my eldest sister, will become acolytes, empty vessels to be filled with the beliefs and words of the gods, this emptiness allows them to channel, and eventually be filled with, miracles of faith. It’s also easier to ascend in strength as a class than it is to become one in the first place, especially should one spend time bathed in the magic of other classes. Eventually, a class can even transform into a powerful, specialized variant, like my crusader father and bishop mother. Ascensions.

Most pressing to me, however, is the woman in front of me. A record keeper that all learned classes must deal with. The librarian.

“I…” I began to speak at the woman behind the desk. “Am Robert Clerk II. Son of Melody Clerk and Robert Clerk I.” The librarian finished. She was young for her class. Barely a day over 25. I couldn’t help but look at her soft breasts as they squished against the table in front of her, her straight red hair perfectly framing them in the window of her blue dress. Well, I suppose I could help it, But I really didn’t want to. She looked over her glasses, which were almost falling off her cute short nose, at me. “Yes… I said, both entranced and intimidated by her. “Yes, I… I’d like...” With nary a movement, the room at one of the hallways to my right creaked open. “A study room. Yes. And look more respectfully, please. I may not have your family’s prestige, but you are not yet a citizen.”

I was beyond shocked. She shouldn’t know that much! She must take her job quite seriously to be where she is at her age. but I quickly shook myself out of it. This is a librarian’s power, after all. Everything and everyone in the building is the librarian’s to read, and the doors and halls respond to their will. But still, she shouldn’t have been able to read more than my name so easily yet. “Yes, Ma’am.” I replied sheepishly. I Imagined some rather uncouth things in my irritation, but I suppressed them, hoping she didn’t want to look up from her book again. “I- I’ll just be going now. Haha.” I stammered, as I retreated down the hallway and into the back room.

She was right, of course. I’m not a citizen until I earn my class. I shouldn’t think lowly of her, even in my mind. Although I have to wonder why I defer to her now, even in my mind. I may not be a citizen yet, but I’m still a noble by blood! As I crossed the threshold into the study room, I still couldn’t bring myself to rebel against her in my mind. She’s not even here to read me! I brushed the thoughts aside. I have studying to do.

I’m aiming to be a scholar. Or maybe orator. I never did place the same faith in the gods as my family did. I listened when my mother preached, and I do believe in the words of Shaia, the goddess of the hearth, and our family’s patron. But in truth, I was more interested in how she riled the people up during our sermons and made believers out of the masses. This is what I was studying. The language of decisions and belief, the study still in its infancy, and either unknown or considered nonsense by most. All the same, I had studied this for several years, now. There had to be specific mechanisms by which people’s hearts were stirred.

I was there for hours, with barely a break. Ultimately, it was getting I was getting ready to pack it up for dinner when suddenly I had a flash of… Strength? Yes, strength, but understanding, too. Understanding and exhaustion. The mother of all "Aha"s that stripped the strength from my bones and left me in a pathetic blob of eureka. Everything I studied until now suddenly clicked in a way I couldn’t have dreamed. The way actions and emotions play. How beliefs and reasons follow suit. Why I deferred to the librarian in my mind. I know it all, and better yet, I know what and who I am. I am Robert Clerk II. I am the propagandist. The mangler of reason. I am the twister of intent.

I am Robert the Inciter. I am tired as hell. And I need a nap.