So, in addition to his good deeds and helping improve church attendance; he trained hoping to be a holy warrior someday. A real true to life old-fashioned, fairy-tale Paladin of Austinian. Naturally, the only people in the world who are successful at training paladins are the Knights of Gareth's Keep.
No matter how pious or how hard he swung his shield around, he couldn't quite get the knack of the whole gig. None of the Austinians could really help him either, but for the pious part. So really what they had here was a very pious warrior who couldn't use two swords and dropped his shield a lot.
This sort of behavior could only lead to heartbreak, tragedy, and someone loosing an eye. So the Order's holy mother, Lioness, pulled a few strings, or strung up a few contacts, and got him enlisted in the Knighthood. Naturally knowing that (while he was a very nice, pious warrior, mind you) he would without a doubt run into some difficulties in an army, so she also convinced some renegade elvish crusader of Kwainin to shadow him.
Now, why some renegade elvish crusader of Kwainin was working for the Church, I don't know. No one appreciates a whistle blower on church corruption matters. Especially my grandmama Amberillo who whipped me good the time I took a pair of communion wafers and set them in over my eyes and then asked the high priest to cure my blind. If you think our resident Champion of Austinian's holy wrath is scary, you ain't never seen my grandmama's.
At any rate, the important part is now we have Hengst in the Knighthood, and some mercenary elf lurking about. We can also mention Sir Mogul at this point too, as he was the paladin that took Hengst on as a squire. Sir Mogul is one of the most handsomest, dashing, strongest palies who has ever lived and not taken a vow of chastity.
As you might have guessed, our hero was having difficulties with life in the clan. I also was having difficulties at this time and my church attendance really started to decline. An albino hermit druid by the name of Alyka also was having difficulties adjusting.
She rather enjoyed exploring, and regularly employed our hero as a partner in such endeavors while he was an Austinian. Being rather miffed that her companion had gone off to war instead of remaining around to help her with exploration of the world, she left in a huff, uttered the famous phase 'who needs him any ways?' and went to explore the savage lands by herself.
I'm no battle strategist or great tactician as any of the armies of darkness will vouch for me, but I'm sure we all see the potential danger in this situation.
Druids like to hug trees. Naturally the druidess climbed up the first tree she could.
Tri-kreen like to sacrifice people. Naturally the shaman slept the druid when she first set foot in his tree.
Being a hermit has a distinct disadvantage in that you don't get out and visit many social events where you can meet people. Another disadvantage to being a hermit is that if you get slept and left for dead, its not likely anyone will miss you. Fortunately the time alone had allowed the druidess to master the powers of the elements. So with all her might her sleeping mind called on the earth and air to send a message anyone who might help her.
Fortunately at this time Hengst was in the clan hall knocking the dust out of Sir Mogul's boots. The dirt fell onto the ground, spelling out a distress message:
'Fair warrior, I have been slept by the Tri-kreen shaman. Stop. Please aid me soon before I am sacrificed. Stop.'
I saw a similar sort of message in my holy beer once. It went kind of like this:
'Datai, you've had enough, Stop.'
Hengst, who by now was very sick of patrol with the knights, sprung into action. Rescues in exotic places are just the sort of thing he lived for, and lance and shield in hand, he raced off to the rescue. In his haste he hadn't bothered to take any counter measures against being slept himself. Mightily and full of holy fury he charged into the shaman's tree, and mightily and full of momentum he collapsed into sleep beside the druidess.
At this point we have to stop and point out that here we have not only a very deadly situation, but also one with the potential for scandal. There might be a delay in Hengst's training as a paladin should it get out in the improper sort of manner that Hengst has been slept with a woman.
Just when things were looking bleak, the mysterious renegade elven crusader arrived on the scene. Naturally he noticed what must have transpired, and took counter measures against being slept. He then soundly maladicted and beat Hengst on the head until he woke up. Now awake, out hero (Hengst, not the elf) gazed on the sleeping form of his friend. A new problem arose in that he had no idea how to rouse her.
Alyka was a monk of the winds, devout to her Goddess, she was granted safety from the attacks of most people. Tri-kreen don't qualify as people as they look like bugs. I don't know about you, but I mercilessly pound bugs with my boots. Nothing like bugs that can spoil an otherwise romantic continent like Tropica. Not that Hengst would rouse her in such the rude manner he was saved himself.
Of course, we all know the most perfect manner to rouse someone from a cursed sleep is love's first kiss. Even a good lustful one can yield many positive results. Nothing in the lands is near as magical or potentially powerful than a kiss. It can turn frogs into warlocks, mermaids into girls, wooden puppets into real boys, boys into men, and priests into sinners. With this one magical kiss, surely any spell or vow of chastity could break.
So our hero stared down at his sleeping friend and grew quiet (even for Hengst) and weak in the knees. He looked on her smooth snow white skin and long wispy hair. Leaning close he could feel her sweet gentle breaths. His mind filled with the glory and love that the gods have blessed us with. His lips parted slightly and he uttered the words, 'cancellation'.
And the spell broke!