POV: Jeol

  The meeting was not good for my heart. Revelation after revelation, and no time to process them. To top it all off, I needed to be apart of the next meeting as High Priest. A small part of me wanted Sterling to wait another 200 years or so before coming, but a greater part of me loves that I am to help write the First Book Of Sterling.

  Sterling looking like a worm was in his pants, “Let me start off with this first, I am deeply uncomfortable with the whole 'I'm a god now and people are going to worship me' thing. So the best answer I came up with is to give you tenets that I live by and explain it. You guys take it, teach it, and we deal with everything from there.”

  I spoke up, “I have a question first off.” He nodded at me, “Why do you find it uncomfortable? Isn't it natural to worship a god?”

  He sighed, “I don't know how much the other gods have told the world about themselves, but I will be frank, blunt and honest. For me a week ago, I was a normal 32 year old human man who enjoyed a game built into an illusion. We lived in a world without magic or multiple sapient races. I know what I said was kind of paradoxical but just remember I have experience with things beyond what was in the illusion game. Then I woke up in this body, in this world that I thought was only a fictitious illusion not a moment before. Now take that and finding out that I am not only respected and remembered without being here but worshiped and prayed to. So my mind still see me as the man I was, not the god I am now.”

  The revelation hit the room hard. It was equal parts painful and enlightening. The implications were both disturbing and comforting. Gods were just people too. Both the good and the bad. It made some perverse sense but as a man who follows such a being, it felt like he was trying to back out of it.

  Recomposing himself, Sterling started to explain his philosophy, “The first tenet is humility. Each person is a unique existence and is equivalent to any other. Just because you have a talent doesn't mean that others don't. Everyone is different and the same all in one package.

  “Second tenet, learning. For all anyone knows there is more to know. Never claim to know it all for those that do are themselves the most ignorant. For if knowledge is power, ignorance is weakness. Only through learning can we progress together.

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  “Third tenet, understanding. This come with two parts; you are not the only perspective and knowledge can't be used if understanding is not achieved.

  “Fourth, teaching. The world is not yours alone. Those that live next to us or after us, may have incites to what you know. Show them your understanding and they may enhance yours in return. Life is so much more fulfilling together.

  “Last is expression. We are not stones. We are living being. The intellectual mind is not without the fluid mind of creativity. Expressing yourself is not only enriching the environment that you live in but is keeps you well you. Don't reject yourself for yourself.”

  32 year old man my ass, he has more wisdom then most gods. He is not what we thought but he is more then he lets show. I am glad to believe in him, the myth, the man, and the god.

  “You claim to be a simple young man, but you drop the profound and the practical wisdom that many lose on gaining a hair of power. That speaks a lot to you as a man and as a god,” I smiled reassuringly. “While it may take a while we will craft the Book of Sterling. Obviously we will show it to you for review as it will be taken as your word. We don't wish to put the words in your mouth with out you.”

  POV: Victor Sterling

  That went smoothly, I think. As I watch the, no, my priests exit, I felt a weight slough off my shoulders. I guess I didn't realize how much I had been dreading this talk.

  I slowly walked to my personal area. I needed to decompress from all the heavy topics that I hit in such rapid succession.

  It may only be the size of a small house but I had made it a place to please my own eyes and no one else's. Cozy and homey. A study that held the lore books that I had picked up. They had helped with so many npc request. A simple dining area, no kitchen as a dumbwaiter lead to the main kitchens below. My bedroom, simple with trinkets I had made and found in game. They were useless but fun to poke. Last was my personal work area. I had used it for prototyping the creation away from the hustle of the main forge.

  Sitting down before the anvil, I grabbed an ingot of mithril. I wanted to make this personally. Iko the guard had given me the name of what I hope to be a great organization. So I lost myself into the process. The hammer shaping the magical metal and removed the clutter in my mind. The seemingly chaotic fire oddly soothing to my mind. Time became meaningless.

  A knock at the door, “Enter!”

  The seductive voice of Zellora cutting through the noise, “I thought I would find you here. Crafting was always your passion.”

  “Yea, I find it therapeutic. I need to finally deal with all that has happened.”

  Wrapping up the Honor Plate, I turned to look at her. My jaw promptly hit the floor. She had changed from the businesses cloths that reminded me of a suit with a matching long skirt, to a crop top and jeans.

  “So you like?”