Jack's Origins (From Dice Changers)

Jack was a pastor's kid. However, his dad wasn't a pastor in some reek-dinky church in nowhere. Nor did he pastor a mega church. No, instead he was a cult leader in a multi-story office building. Jack had always grown up going floor to floor seeing the different groups within the cult grow and shrink. He grew up with other kids whose parents were also a part of it. When they turned 12, each would be given a dice set containing a person's soul from another world. When it was Jack's turn it was a bittersweet moment seeing his father's eye gleam with pride as he gave a hexagonal box to Jack. When Jack opened it and saw the black and gray metal die surrounded and protected by black foam, he couldn't believe it. For years he had seen others get their dice and had waited until now to get his. His heart raced, his gaze lingered on the dice, and then he picked one up and felt the weight of it. He was surprised but didn't say anything so that he wouldn't embarrass him or his father. He took out the dice and remembered what he was taught: Put half in one hand, half in the other, concentrate on the soul inside, hear its calling, take deep breaths, and let your body and mind become one with the new soul. Jack repeated this after each step of the process. Even with half the set in his hand he still felt the weight of the dice in his hand, but shortly could feel the weight of them disappearing and fading into a deep slumber. Then he became Kamoss, a human cleric.

That was the last good memory Jack can remember. Everything else after that was mission after mission freeing sex slaves, killing drug dealers, and torturing criminals of various kinds. Sure there were good peaceful moments but they were so few and far between that Jack can only remember the context and darkness surrounding those fleeting bits of peace. He saw fellow members die in his arms as he tried to heal them. He saw the darkest of humanity and it hardened his heart to the rest of society. Then that fateful day.

While he was training the alarm went off which spooked him. He quickly took the stairs fearing the elevator would take him to the unknown threat. When he reached his dad's office he saw his dad standing and looking out the window, he turned to Jack with a face of fear. "I'm so glad you're here. A group of people just like us is attacking our base. Their powers are more advanced than I thought, I have to perform a forbidden ritual to survive. I need you to take the remaining members and stop them if you can, if not at least delay them for as long as possible. The ritual will take a while to set up and it will require a lot of concentration. I can't screw this up, but worst of all it pains me that I have to send you to the lions." Jack's dad walked over to Jack, hugged him, and said "I love you son, and may God give you the strength and courage to fight the enemy who dares attack our home." It would be the last moment they would share with each other.

Jack, now Kamoss dashed down the stairs. The deeper he went the louder the screams of pain could be heard, the sounds of spells and yells echoed through the stairway. Then as Kamoss was about to pass a door to the 5th floor the body of a cult member flew passed him and slammed into the stairs. Kamoss recognized that it was Mr Jones a middle-aged man and one of the strongest cult members Kamoss knew. To see him so weak and near death made Kamoss realize who they were fighting was much more dangerous than he expected. Kamoss was snapped back into the present moment after hearing the sounds of blades clashing, more yelling, and more screams of pain. Kamoss entered the hallway and saw it was filled with dead and dying cult members. Kamoss crouched as weaved his way through the bodies. Anger stirred in him as the bloodied faces of his spiritual family filled his eyes and mind. Then he came across another member being blasted by a spell of unknown origin and then stabbed by a half-orc. Then an elf paladin joined the half-orc and the two turned to Kamoss. "Great another one of these people. Do we want to team up and beat him or split up?" asked the elf. "Spilt. You have to stop the cult leader before he performs his ritual and frees the demon." said the half-orc. The elf nodded and left the half-orc.

"Why would your dad free a demon?" asked Kamoss to Jack. "That's not what's happening. He's performing a ritual that will protect us not lead to our deaths," said Jack. "Well neither of us knows the ritual your dad is performing, maybe he doesn't know that he's summoning a demon," said Kamoss. "My dad is too wise to not know that he would summon a demon. It's not like him to do such an evil thing. I bet these people are either falsely accusing him of such a thing or they are afraid of his power and want to take it." said Jack. "That's quite the leap, but considering the amount of death and destruction, we have to stop them," said Kamoss. "Agreed," said Jack.

Kamoss started with buff spells and tried to unleash a Divine Smite but it was dodged by the half-orc. The next few moves were a series of parries, blocks, and dodges by Kamoss as the half-orc went on offense. There were several close calls as one especially was close to grazing his neck. This was followed by more clashing of swords, but as the duel went on Kamoss noticed that his enemy was holding back, like he didn't want to kill him, either that or the half-orc was just challenging himself. He couldn't quite tell. However, as the duel progressed Kamoss was constantly on the retreat and had to watch out for his dead and dying comrades. Same for the half-orc. The two were trying their best not to step on the bodies while simultaneously losing their balance. Then another clash of swords, but they entered in a sword bind this time. The half-orc had superior strength but Kamoss had leverage and better footing. Thus a stalemate accrued. "Please stop fighting me, it's you I'm after." grunted the half-orc. "I know you're after Jack's dad, but why?" said Kamoss. "Because Jack's dad has been under the influence of a demon and is doing a ritual to free the demon, and if we don't stop him a lot of people are going to suffer and die because of him. At least that is what Nick thinks." said the half-orc. "Who's Nick?" asked Kamoss. "A brilliant, brave little boy. A faithful servant of the True God." said the half-orc. That term "True God". It was familiar yet unknown to both Kamoss and Jack, though for Kamoss it awakened a memory, it was too vague and felt more like a dream. Then Jack snapped back to reality as the half-orc stabbed Kamoss and the feeling of pain shot through Kamoss's body. He pulled the sword out staggered back and performed a healing spell on himself. "You a cleric or paladin?" asked the half-orc. "Paladin, why you ask?" answered Kamoss. "Because my elf friend is also a paladin. Of what god do you serve?" asked the half-orc. "The Great Lion Gods," said Kamoss, the answer came out instinctual, he had forgotten who these gods were but they were his masters and he would die before following a strange god, like the True God. Though memories of both divine beings flooded back, the adventures he went on, the evils he fought, the feeling like he was closer to home than ever before.

"The Great Lion Gods, have no power here. They can't help you, yet somehow you have the power of a paladin, do you know how that's possible?" asked the half-orc. The question confused Kamoss. He pondered until the building started shaking. Kamoss felt wave after wave of magic power coming from the upper floors. He felt that something was off. Had Jack's dad finished the ritual? That was the last thought he had before being knocked out by the half-orc. When he woke he was back to being Jack, who got up he saw that the roof of many floors made a crater in the floor and reached down to the last one. Jack looked down to see Jack's dad lying on the ground. Jack rushed down to Jack's dad. When he reached him, Jack knew he was dead. Shortly after the elf and the half-orc appeared. "Sorry for your loss. It needed to happen." said the elf. "What do you mean? He was a good man," said a confused Jack. "Your father stopped being himself when the demon took over. We tried to save him but were too weak." said the half-orc. Jack started tearing up. "I've been lied to, DANG-IT! I was an idiot. I need to know the truth. I need to know that not everything my father said was a lie, there's no way." said Jack. "Come with us." said the half-orc. "No, I need to do this on my own," said Jack. "Fine, however, the rest of the cult has scattered. We will be hunting them down and if you want to help us that would make everyone's lives a bit better." said the the elf. "No, I need to find my own path. I have to let God lead me and no one else. Sorry, but I have to do this." said Jack as he left the cult's compound. Where he left everything but his dice and his soul.