The Knights Templar is a powerful religious military order that sprung in Europe back in the early 12th Century. Its existence once started as a group who swore an oath of poverty, chastity, and obedience, with the mission to protect pilgrims going to the Holy Land.
With the Northern Light Shrine standing, his town has now become a Holy Land for the believers of the Goddess. Even if they can't necessarily protect the path of pilgrims, he can arrange an order to protect the Holy Land itself.
The order needs to be disciplined, focused, and answerable to him, the assigned figurehead of the religion. In order to do that, there must be some values and doctrines instilled unto them by him that "comes from the Divine".
Would he be smited for this? Maybe. Is it currently the only way to arrange protection for the town? Definitely yes. He can't depend on newly-accepted refugees and pilgrims to be a military force. They will not answer to his will. Even if they do, they are undisciplined, unmotivated, and might bail out if things get hard.
What he needs is a Templar Knight. They answer to the will of God that is spoken through him. They are motivated to protect the Holy Land and its cause through their doctrines. They are disciplined, good-mannered, and devout.
With that decided, he took out a wooden dip pen. Dipping it on a condensed Kalenberry ink, he began writing a lie that became the most elaborate truth in the world.
For the entire day, Alexis dove straight into the works, writing doctrines and "divine laws" under the will of the Goddess. He based from the religious ideals of his previous world, using doctrines to establish a moral compass and basic afterlife beliefs to forge faithfulness towards the religion.
When the sun once again rose from the east, Alexis went and got himself ready.
At the base of the pagoda, Alexis stood as straight as a pole, with Leisandra standing beside him. Having been the one who called the assembly, everyone had their gazes at her. Suddenly, Alexis cleared his throat and spoke, "Just a month ago, this land only had me and my wife. Now, we are more than three hundred strong. We have enough manpower to be a land that cannot be easily bullied in Habascus."
"Therefore, I ask of you, everyone who is here right now, to remain and have this humble land, blessed by the Goddess. As her representative here in this world, I hold the responsibility to keep her children safe. I do not wish to force everyone so, right now, I encourage everyone who does not wish to be under me to speak. I will not prevent you from going to the Holy Land despite choosing to do so."
Silence.
After a brief moment, one of the people in the background spoke, "We really don't have any problems being a part of your land, but what benefit can you give us? The forest has a lot of tribes and beasts. It wouldn't be easy existing here, especially since you still hadn't gone to introduce the Goddess' faith in Horbid."
Hearing "Horbid", Alexis replied, "We are not going to rely on Horbid."
Gasps echoed in the forest. Not relying on Horbid inside Habascus? That's tantamount to suicide!
"Then, what is your plan, Lord Alexis?" A brown-haired young man with a scroll and quill in hand, asked as his eyes laid on him.
"A fine question, Reimard." Alexis nodded in appreciation. Reimard, the man who spoke, was the founder and current editor of the Reim Records, a news agency established in the settlement. When Alexis found him, Reimard introduced himself as an adventurer and writer who got lost while exploring beyond the known lands for the southerners. After offering him some soup, Reimard obliged to live for a few months here.
"I will establish a realm separate from the system of Horbid. Their oppressive ways of life have stalled the development of the forest for too long." Alexis explained. "With the numerous kingdoms and domains laying beyond the South, it would only be a matter of time before the South sends its men to dominate the forest."
Clenching his fist, Alexis raised it, addressing every resident of the forest, "I am not one to wait for doom to come. I'd rather die fighting for the land I am raised in rather than die without much effort done in my life. Are the people of Habascus the latter kind of people?"
"No!"
"Absolutely not."
"I ain't all that."
Varying responses came from the crowd, yet Alexis addressed one. "No! None of the people of Habascus lives to die in the hands of foreign tyrants!"
"If so, let us fight! Let the people of Habascus scream in defiance of the looming threat. Let the people of Habascus shout in glory in the name of the Goddess of The Northern Lights."
"Let the name of the first city of the Goddess spread throughout the land. Let the people within and outside Habascus know the name of Vinya!"
"Vinya?"
"So, Vinya is the name of this place?"
"New Beginning, huh?" Suddenly, a weathered voice came from the crowd. When Alexis heard that remark, his back tingled and his hair stood.
The name Vinya came from a certain fictional language back in his old world. It's one thing to know a true Earthen language, but to know a fictional one?
He looked at the direction from where it came from, and saw a tall, almost seven-foot cloaked man. His eyes pierced through the vale of shadow that draped his face. "Who are you?" warily asked Alexis.
Confronted with that question, the man took off the hood of his green cloak and revealed himself. It was a somewhat middle-aged looking man, with greenish eyes, hair with the color of fall, and pale cream skin. His smile radiated a sense of calm and confidence that cannot be replicated even by wisdom-filled men. When Reimard saw what he looked like, one cannot determine from the radiance of his eyes if it was terror or excitement.
"I am but a relic of the past, a dew of life waiting to be scattered to fill the land with life. I am intrigued by your knowledge of the language of our kin, Young Lord. It has been more or less a thousand years since the last elf spake the last elven tongue." When the man spoke, his voice had a deep sense of flora, of life forgotten. It felt fresh yet finished at the same time.
The crowd murmured, wondering what the two were talking about, Ruze, who was standing on the side, said with a low but audible enough voice, "Look at his ears!"
When Alexis did, his eyes widened. The ear had a pointy tip, adorned with two rings of gold. Not minding the oddness of being intensely gazed at, the elf walked forward and bowed with his right hand on his chest, "This relic is insignificant, but in respect to the will of the Goddess' representative, it is only rightfully so that I introduce myself."
"I am Eluminon, the last earthly elf."