The Lips of Galador

[Alistair]

48th of Vhalar, Arc 716

"And now," he began, opening the black Grimoire given to his possession by the Lich Malgoth. Before him stood a line of students - younger ones, eager. Ne'haeren dissidents - people of disreputable taste in the land they came from, seeking for a new family among strangers. It wasn't all too different than in Rynmere, disenfranchised nobles and scholars ostracized by their colleagues filling the ranks. But - he couldn't help notice something quite, vastly different about the Naxos - or Apprentices - that came from Ne'haer. They were notably more . . . demented. Angrier. Something about the city around them drove them to wrath, despite the fact that they had plenty more rights than in Rynmere, and certainly more rights as mages.

Perhaps, he thought, it was theological oppression. Perhaps it was the rise of civil and international anxiety. Perhaps they needed to have more intimate sexual conduct. He could make no fair estimation, and so this lived solely as an observation.

He continued to speak, as he was obliged to do so. Alistair was a Sotrosei, a middle-ranking individual within the Coven. To train apprentices was a thing he needed to do - and soon, if he were to become a Sae'a'fei, a Black One, he would be required to take on apprentices full-time. It was best to begin his search now for individuals that caught his attention.

"The tenets of the Coven are as follows: firstly - only tangible power is power, and power is authority. There is one force meant to rule, the others pretenders. Theological reinforcement of power - such as enforcing standards of morality and piety to maintain control of a civilization - is a false form of power, and it is what we see to some degree in Ne'haer. We see it further in lands led by Immortals in the flesh, such as Desnind, Ivorian, the Empire, even Rharne to some degree." And that was only one form of false power. He didn't even need to read the Grimoire to explain this, as it was sacred in the Coven. If there was one thing Alistair agreed with his peers on, it was the truth of false power and the need for real authority, rather than the projection of authority.

[Alistair]

"Then, there is ideological or political power, which is another form of false power. It is, like theological power, a projection. How does one enforce political or ideological power? By asserting, much as with the theological kind, fear of breaching dignity, honor and moral standards. While theological power tends to focus on making one fear for their life after life, political and ideological power compels the current life. Governments and ideologues enforce strict codes of morality that cannot be broken lest they result in your shunning by other members of society. Take, for example, the word 'responsibility'. The word 'honor', the word 'chivalry', the word 'duty'. These are generally tangible things enforced by social constructs. They-"

A hand rose. He didn't recall this being one of his lectures at the University of Andaris, and thus having the option to permit raised hands, but one rose nonetheless. He called on them - it was a young man with fair eyes, black hair and a handsome face. One that didn't look all too demented, frankly, which was not the norm in coven gatherings.

"Do you not believe that society would collapse without social responsibilities?" the man asked.

Alistair nodded, acknowledging his question. It was a fair point. "Yes, it likely would," he confirmed. "However - social responsibilities, in our societies, are taken to the extreme. Things are added as responsibilities - such as civic duty - that compel others into subordination. Questioning governments is called treason, anarchism, ideological radicalism. Questioning policy and beliefs, much the same. Many of us have been disenfranchised by the societies we were born into - and that is why we become members of the Coven. But we do not need to overturn all society. We seek to change it for the better. "True Power" - what we want to see reigning in government - is more than just the domination of others by means of magical superiority. True Power is truth. It is the compulsion of the masses not by subversion or intentional misinformation, but by the merit of honesty and reality. Truth, correctness, and liberation from the arbitrary tethers of social conformity. That is what the Coven offers to those who would see our vision become real." He paused, opening the Grimoire to explore the second tenet. The words came easily to him, but to be able to see them in print helped to guide his thoughts.

As he did so, however, another hand rose. This time, a red haired woman of similar youth.

"You say that people such as us are called anarchists - as if that's a false thing. But it isn't false, really, right? Is not one of the major goals of the Coven to abolish the hierarchies set in place by Immortals and other powerless individuals? Such a thing would lead to . . . well, anarchy."

[Alistair]

To those words, the Sotrosei shook his head. "Anarchist is what they want to call Ellasin - for her vision is one that would indeed change the hierarchies and structures established across Idalos. However, it is not anarchism. It is a revolution we have in mind - for people to rise against the control of false structures of power and plant new ones. In truth, though, it is the rise of a Mageocracy that we really seek. A society not led by politicians, but by people with tangible power. Mages tend to be some of the worldliest and wises individuals, and they also tend to speak with truth. There is of course the belief that we are powermongering sociopaths at heart, but in the Mageocracy that we wish implanted upon society, such individuals would be rooted out and destroyed. What we want is to establish a hierarchy based on true merit. If the immortals have undeniable reign over mankind, why not mages? We are far above the norm." Of course, this in itself was generally appealing to mages, but not a concept your average individual enjoyed. This was a large part of why the Coven was hated - for their dissident viewpoints on rulership. Their desire to take over civilizations, to conquer and subvert them from within.

He could already see some of the new apprentices - those not yet initiated into magic - with a sort of fear in their eyes. Even the ones who appeared demented from their exterior facade. This idea of Mageocracy would never be popular with the average person, but it was the line they pursued. It was a form of government that - to their knowledge - had never been tried, or at least successfully implemented.

The questions ceased shortly after that explanation. The first tenet was always the most contentious of them, after all. He began to explain the further tenets - the Coven Is All, Revere the Necromantress, Abolish the Hierarchies. By the end of it, his duties as Sotrosei were completed for the evening, and he remained in the instructional room within the Coven's base of operations. One of the students spoke to him, calling upon his name. It was the young man from earlier, with the black hair and silvery-blue eyes.

"I've seen you before," the young man told him. "From before the Coven. You were with the Seekers."

Looking at him strangely, Alistair bit his lower lip and raised a brow. "Uh... yes," he replied. "I was an apprentice of Lucas Geliadal," he stated. It was the master he never wanted - a dying old man who only theoretically enjoyed Necromancy. Alistair had far surpassed him in all areas as a mage since joining the Coven, one of the primary reasons he remained, despite their ideological differences that numbered in the thousands.

[Alistair]

"Nathaniel, right?" he asked. It was the man's Coven alias - beginning with the Seekers. It was his middle name, with the rest of his name never divulged to any but the leadership of both factions.

Alistair merely nodded, acknowledging that the man was authentic. He'd known his alias, and knew he was with the Seekers. The Sotrosei was curious to see what, exactly, he wanted. "I'm a former member as well," he admitted. It was clear at this point, with or without his confirmation. "My name is Galador. I learned under a very interesting lady, closely connected to Sect. You know, the old one with the knack for Attunement. She taught me about the Fists of Arcanis, the rogue organization that had fallen into the Coven, joining in Ellasin's ideals of a proper world. She taught me of the hubris of the Coven, showing me who they are - who they really are. And I have to ask . . ."

Alistair tensed up. He did not know where this conversation was going, nor did he know if he'd enjoy the results. This was bordering on 'treachery', a thing Ellasin did not regard well. Her own word for treason, considering she'd taken an ideologically adversarial position against the term.

"Don't you think that what you learned in the Seekers, about the Coven, was right?" he asked. Alistair immediately frowned. He didn't wish for this conversation to progress, not without at least a hundred meters between them and the rest of the members of the Coven. But he knew he was just being paranoid. He was a Rupturer, and would know if another was practicing scrying into the room. He had awareness. But the idea of condemning the coven while within the coven was terrifying. He only did so with Damien, who was a very prominent member, one who others wouldn't question. Who was this man? Just a Naxos. An apprentice.

"Is that how you really feel?" he asked. The man nodded his head.

"Then let's talk about it," he said with an affirmative look. Power began to swell within him, interacting with his conduit. The area around them seemed to swell with intensity as the mage focused his energies. A line drawn into the wind, invisible to all, was cast; and from it a blazing doorway teared through space. It was a rupture - a portal. Alistair's mimicked Ellasin's in appearance, with their fiery swirls and the center that churned like a black hole. The sound was absolute. It would puncture through this room and others would hear it from across the establishment.

But this was the Coven. Usage of a rupture would not raise an eyebrow. And words would be concealed by the portal's spawning. The noise of the tear in space, swirling about, emanating energy made into a perfect sound, would muffle their voices. And he could know what words would come from Galador's lips.

[Alistair]

"Where does this portal lead to?" the mage, Galador, asked. Alistair looked to it.

"It's a compression portal, leading out of the city," the nobleman replied, staring into the depths of the swirling monstrosity. It continued to roar and pulsate as it caressed the room. Considering Alistair's skill, he'd be able to hold it for quite some time - especially considering it was his sole concentration - but their time of muffled voices were not long. That was why, as an alternative, he'd had the portal lead into the woods outside of the city walls - if Galador wished to engage in conversation away from the eyes of their peers altogether.

And apparently, he did. "Where exactly?" he asked, again. Alistair responded in turn.

"The Willow Woods."

Without many more words, the man stepped through, and he was gone. Shortly afterwards, Alistair followed, unsure of just how sensitive his thoughts had to be if he really wished to whisk them an hour's walk away from Ellasin's sanctum. "You must understand something, Nathaniel," he started, "the Coven's a danger to this entire world. I know why you left the Seekers - you did it because you were disenfranchised by their policy of regulating Necromancy and treating your interests as inhumane. You don't need to come back to us. I don't ask that of you. But to side with the Coven against the Seekers is to ask for the demonization of mages for centuries to come. The Coven will destroy the people's perception of magic if it succeeds against the Seekers. It's a mad ideology," he explained, passionately. His arms extended as he leaned forward to exclaim his words. Galador said all of this with risk. He said it with truth, and compassion. He said it hoping that Alistair would understand.

And he did - but only to an extent. Because the larger part of him - the part that cared - was one also petrified by fear. It was a fringe within his psyche to consider seriously opposing the doctrine of the Coven. To consider leaving. Ellasin was the one who had initiated him into Rupturing - he would always be able to find her, and she would always be able to find him. That bond had essentially bound him to her for life, one way or the other. He couldn't simply join the Seekers, or leave, or betray them. She would seek him out and crush him.

"These words are dangerous," he told him. "Ellasin will pursue Seraas en Avellach for as long as whatever she wants to acquire lays within. No one within the Seekers can deal with her, and no one in the Coven either. I don't know why you've come to me. It's a pointless thing to invoke my help. I'm not even one of the Black Ones. My influence is minor."

And it was draining on him. The focus required to maintain a compression portal for this duration of time was . . . difficult. It was a precise equation running throughout the mind, one in lines and algorithims. Galador would have to get to the point, and Alistair's expression suggested that.

"It's not pointless," he said. "There is more to this world than just power, contrary to what Ellasin claims. There is subterfuge. There is morale. There is alliances and bonds of trust. I ask that you take me as your apprentice. We can work from within the Coven against Ellasin's interests. We--"

"No," he replied. "Not now. Not here. Ellasin has wanted nothing more in her life than this thing that she seeks now. Any who oppose her - even in rhetoric alone - will be destroyed. Even me, for as strange of a bond as we share. There is nothing I can do. You must find someone else, Galador," he looked to his eyes. And the man looked back, and said,

"When the time comes, we will remember the ones who yielded in terror. To the Dark Magics. To the Lich Queen."

[Anomaly]

Review: Completed!

I'm Anomaly, and I come bearing gifts in the form of a thread review. The thread has been thoroughly combed and all participants have been alloted their rewards, listed below. If you can't find your name, please see the closing comments at the end of the post. Thank you!

Alistair

Skills

Story: 5/5
Collaboration: 0/5
Structure: 5/5

These points may be spent towards magic.

Knowledge

Malgoth: Lich of the Coven
Coven of Ellasin: Hierarchy
Coven of Ellasin: Naxos, the Orphaned
Coven of Ellasin: Sotrosei, the Corrupted
Coven of Ellasin: Sae'a'fei, the Black
Philosophy: Only tangible Power is Power
Philosophy: Power is Authority
Politics: Control through theological reinforcement
Philosophy: Morality is Self-Enforcement
Politics: Using rules to alienate dissenters
Politics: Power through Peer-Enforcement
Politics: Power through Fear
Politics: Conceptual glorification of Words of Power
Philosophy: True Power is Honesty and Reality
Politics: Social responsibility is the lifeblood of Society
Politics: Mageocracy, a Society ruled by Mages
Coven of Ellasin: Establish a Governance of Mages
Coven of Ellasin: Mages stand above the rest
Philosophy: Mages and Immortals have equal claim to Authority
Coven of Ellasin: The Tenets
Lucas Geliadal: Former Master
Galador: Mage and Member of the Seekers
Galador: Recognized You
Galador: Knew your Seeker Alias
Rupturing: Using a Compression Portal for a Secret Conversation
Ellasin: Seeks "Seraas en Avellach"
Galador: Asked to be Your Apprentice
Galador: Conspirator Against Ellasin
The Seekers: Will remember those who Yielded in Terror

Other

-2 Fame (Acts of Magic)

Notes

I struggled to keep up at times because a lot of things weren't really explained or explored in any greater depth, but I think I managed to navigate my way through it in the end. Otherwise, no notes anywhere. It was well written, and once I'd sorted out the information in my head, I enjoyed it!

Closing comments: There you go! I know you spoke about the Fame issue in Chat just now, so I apologize. This one time, though, you were indeed using it in front of other people. Some of which were left with a lasting impression. That sort of impression doesn't necessarily warrant the positive kind of attention in the long run, hence the deduction to Fame. Elsewise, if I could suggest something... Consider trying to flesh out some parts of where you present lore, titles or names. Not only does it help the reviewer get their information straight, but it also makes it a lot easier to award you appropriately when it comes to Knowledges to see more explanation and exploration of certain topics. Makes it easier to figure out where to look to read up on it, as well. I hope you got what you wanted out of the thread, though. I'm sorry if any of the Knowledges are duplicates. I swear I tried to comb through your CS to see what you already had, but I'm sure I must've missed something.

Lastly, if there are any questions or concerns about your review, send me a message as soon as you're able so we can sort it out if need be.

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