Sunken Tower (IC)

[Thelonius]

Atelier Solaris

Seat of Ritual [11]

Grand Astrologist: "I may have some RES, though we do not have much time to spare."

[HerbieRAI]

Hospitium

Executive Council

Heralds
He didn't seem like a bringer of doom, but we met a mage that called himself Old Jim in the Spirit World. He was a very well mannered, if not back woods, man. He didn't appear to have any mallace or ill intentions, but he could shift himself into and out of a tree seemingly at will.

Prisoners
I say we take prisoners, that could help with our situation in the world, and if the majority of the Ironcloaks were against the attack it could lighten the tension between us.

Spirit Spells (PM)

Ah, you do not fully understand the concept of mortality. Humans die with time, and with groups like the tower mages, others take their place in the leadership to provide direction. There isn't a way to contact those that have died, just as there is no way to contact those that haven't been born, so we have no way of talking with those mages that built the devices in the vault and they have no way to talk with us. It is hard to make a comparison with the spirit world, but if other spirits had to take turns leading the Silver Court, eventually a spirit not originally part of the Silver court would have to take the lead. It would still be called the silver court, but the goals and desires of could change drastically. That is how all human groups and kingdoms work, as time rolls on their goals and priorities change with those in charge.

I know Hidelburg would be willing to talk with them, and I believe the tower leadership would as well, but it takes a willingness from both sides to talk and we will not be able to contact you after our attempt. We believe they won't stop their onslaught to talk, instead they will take advantage of our attempt at peace and kill us. If they had cared to talk they would have done so before the invasion and killing started.

[Ascaloth]

Atelier Solaris
MAN: 3

Executive Council

Warmagic

"So... is it just me, or is the Department of Warmagic looking a tad vulnerable at the moment? I didn't have much forces to spare in the end, but what I am able to send, I've equipped with alchemist's fire. That should even the odds against their Black-Iron, assuming we can match their numbers with our own."

Vault Guard: Mister Warner, I'm going to lay this out in as much detail as I can. I might be able to secure some reinforcements for the Council Archives, from the Seat of Shadow. However, Warmagic is under duress, and has called to us for aid.

I will equip your forces with alchemist's fire to use against their Black-Iron, and I'll see if it's possible to boost your forces' firepower on top of that. For the moment, I'll like whoever you have stationed at the Archives to hold still... but should the forces from Shadow arrive, please consider handing over the security of the Archives to them, and have your Mages assist Warmagic. Similarly, once mister Fuller has set his Wards in our Seat and has determined that no one coming to attack us, please consider the same thing for your Mages guarding us here as well.

Grand Astrologist: Indeed, mister Fuller. Which is why we should start at once. The fate of the Tower may yet count on every little thing we can do.

[Thelonius]

Executive Council

Shadow Mask: "It's Warmagic. If there's a Department capable of taking care of itself, that would be them. With your support, they should be able to hold the enemy off."

Hospitium

Spirit Spells [11]

"I see. So you are not the true Tower Mages, but have merely replaced them. You are something else - for what is a being, but it's desires and goals? Wouldn't it make your opponents the true masters of the Tower? Thus, are they not reclaiming their home, from you, who have occupied it? There's explanation to their actions and righteousness to their cause, though blood spilled washes it away. Had you tried to understand it, perhaps you would have seen a way for peace. Such path is never easy, yet you are unwilling to make even a single step on it. Think not that we do not condemn your opponents for the same faults we lay before you. Certainly, they could have sought to resolve this conflict peacefully as well. Yet do not seek us to support senseless bloodshed."


Atelier Solaris

Seat of Ritual [11]

Vault Master: "Well, we'll see how it goes."

[Nemesis67]

Lorekeepers

"Grand Inquestor, take prisoners and interrogate them for information on the Ironcloak's plan.

I think Day wants to free the demon bound in the Door. As the Eye of the North said, he cares for power only. Cripple our army and diplomats, accuse us of unleashing the horror for whatever reason, and save the North from us. The Iron Lords would win our millenia long struggle.

Warders are stuck in a standoff at the Door. The Ironcloaks want a presence there, but don't have immediate reason to fight to take it yet.

If this is the case, the Seat of Power force may be looking for something from the Towermakers to help break things.

It sounds like the former Tower Council found Archmage Turion himself in the Shards of Shadow, then tortured him to gain information they could use to stop the Troubles. Worst case scenario, they wanted the location of the Key in order to utilize the Door as a way to fight Sourceburn. The Heralds are hunting them down right now. Are we willing to gamble the world on the Chancellors not having the Key with them?"

Shade Lords, Shadow Walkers (11)
"Shadow Mask mentioned your task may be keeping the Executive Council alive. My spies are working on that as well. We should coordinate in the Upper Floors Access."

Department of History (11)
The Tower is under attack. Ser Murin will coordinate whatever forces our department has to protect ourselves.

We're querying the Council Archives for information on past invasions. [RES] would be appreciated, or whatever you have on hand pertaining to that or related matters.

Is there anything else our Department can provide?

Soul Alchemists (11)
The Heralds are hunting down the Chancellors. I can't use my people to save them, lest I get accused of putting politics ahead of the Tower. I need a favor. Get them out of there. You just need to take the two of them with your teleportation. It also sets up inviting the Transcendence Party to assist them. If they survive.

Shadow may assist, but they are enigmatic as ever.

If you don't think you can do that alone, which is completely understandable, then help me save the Executive Council.

Lightning Mage (11)
My people will help you take down the Ironcloaks. They don't know our home like we do. If we can force them to chase us deeper into the Corridors, you can use the Armatures to snipe smaller squads. My spies will cloak our movements and shake their resolve. Mr. Shaan will coordinate with you.

Orders (PM)
1 DES and Ser Murin defends History with whatever other factions provide assistance.

10 MAN, 1 CRE, and Kyris Shaan assist Lightning Mage in the Upper Floors Access. Lure some reasonable portion of the Ironcloaks on a chase through the deeper corridors, where I doubt they'll know their way around and we do. Use illusions and mind magic to break them up into smaller groups, by giving false orders from their officers or faking a sighting of Mages or whatever, while the Armatures and my spies conduct hit and run tactics on more isolated pursuers. Cloak my actions and attacks, keep the Mage forces together so we hit small groups of Ironcloaks with overwhelming force. That and the ambush tactics should let my ESP fight decently, as I think they'd be worst at fair fights.

Kyris plans and coordinates this operation. His experience as a spy should help with the psy ops and keeping the Ironcloaks from being able to make it into a straight fight.

6 RES and Book query the Council Archives for information on Tower defense. Past attacks, what flaws they exploited, how we countered them, what countermeasures we put in place... Anything we can use now.

2 POL rallies the Soul Alchemists.

Ask Soul Alchemists to use ESP and their teleportation magic to save the Chancellors. If not able to, then have them help in the Upper Floors Access.

Ask Shadow to help hold the Upper Floors Access.

Ask History to help as they can. At least to protect ourselves.

[Thelonius]

Diplomacy

Soul Alchemists to Lorekeepers [11]

Shadow would be trying to come on top. Manipulative bastards, but we need them - Angelo warned me Summerscent is likely planning a coup. If we control the Chancellors, Shadow will have to take our terms.

I’d help with Executive Council - but with Solaris and her flunkies ready to strike, we need to guard our rear. Try to stay alive. Once we consolidate our forces and secure our position against traitors, we are coming after Ironcloaks.


Atelier Solaris [PM]

[3 MAN, Roll (1,2,4): 6] [Failed]

Unfortunately you are unable to locate Shane’s deposit box.

Reinforcement-Warding Ritual was successfully cast on Vault Guard.


Lorekeepers [PM]

You find Tower Wards Codes.

You can spend 3 CRE to activate defensive Wards against the intruders.

Department of History

Lyhoday orders your forces to surrender - you are confident your battlemages can inflict some damage on the enemy, but victory is quite impossible. There are too just too many of them.



Ironcloaks Invasion

Initiations

Inquest opts to proceed slow and steady, weakening the Ironcloaks defences. Inquest’s and Waker’s forces are about equal to those of Ironcloaks, though the former have advantage of wards. Due to some overeager and perhaps somewhat inexperienced Waker’s battlemages, they overextend and are lured from the Wards, allowing Ironcloaks to deal some serious damage.

Ironcloaks lose 2 DES, 1 DES is wounded.
Wakers lose 1 DES, 1 DES is wounded.

History

Lorekeepers Battlemages patrol the Department against Ironcloaks attacks. They are however not prepared to face former Supreme Chancellor Lyhoday's forces, who sweeps in the Department and captures the Hall of Ancient Ages.

World Affairs

The Ironcloaks in the World Affairs are met by Dawnguard reinforced by the Dawn Knights and supported by the Eye of the North. The agents manage to neutralize the bombs, that Ironcloaks were planning to deploy and inform the Dawnguard, that Ironcloaks are relying on relatively weak anti-magic, rather than Black-Iron. The Dawnguard moves swiftly to prevent the Ironcloaks from dealing any damage to the Department and they succeed. Sigma and IntSec forces under command of Guilford and Seris arrive to finish off the remaining Ironcloaks, many of whom are captured. The joint forces then move to upper floors, though their progress is impeded by Ironcloaks control of the Corridors.

Dawnguard loses 1 DES.
Ironcloaks lose 1 DES, 2 DES are wounded and have been captured.

Seat of Power

In the Seat of Power, Uplift and Purifiers grow proactive, as they fight the Ironcloaks. Both factions deploy usual for Power overwhelming power, that overcomes the Ironcloaks anti-magic and destroys them. The Seat has suffered some collateral damage.

[-2 Limit Damage to Seat of Power, Riftwatch]

Uplift has 1 Wounded and 1 Fatigue.
Ironcloaks lose 3 and have 1 Wounded.

Turion’s Door

There are no reports from the Turion’s Door.

Corridors

Peacekeepers and Ironcloaks bleed each other in an intense battle for the corridors. Neither side manages to pin the other in a desisive battle, so it turns into many small skirmishes. The two forces are about equally matched, but Ironcloaks come on top, if only barely, keeping control over the corridors.

Ironcloaks lose 1 DES, have 1 DES Wounded and 1 DES Fatigued
Peacekeepers lose 1 DES and have 2 DES Wounded

Tower Archives

The forces from Seat of Shadow seucre the Archives, so Vault Guard moves to support Warmagic.

Seat of Rituals

Soul Alchemists and Vault Guard patrol the Seat of Rituals to prevent Ironcloaks attacks.

Seat of Shadows

In a daring mission, the Shadow's forces manage to retrieve Source Chancellor Victoria Merlin.

Department of Warmagic

In the Department of Warmagic, the Ritual Guard attacks Ironcloaks, but quickly finds itself outnumbered and before it can retreat, the Ironcloaks anihilate the brave battlemages. This victory doesn't come without cost to Ironcloaks, as they lose many in fighting. The Ironcloaks proceed to destroy Order of the Shield and Order of the Staff.

Vault Guard loses 2 DES.
Ironcloaks lose 2 DES.
Crimson Staves faction has been destroyed.

Upper Floors Access

Ironcloaks are fully focused on breaching the Council Chambers and much of their Black-Iron is concentrated on burning out the wards.

The Lorekeepers lead a powerful campaign of distraction against the Ironcloaks, however their attempts to lure the enemy forces away run into significant difficulties. The Ironcloaks have strong [Discipline II] and clear cut orders - take the Executive Council. The chase off the spies and strike teams, but almost never give chase, to the point of accepting losses, as long as they can breach the defences.

The Magitech Mages are outnumbered, but the Chamber Wards and Ironcloaks feverish focus on breaking into the Executive Council mean, they are relatively open. Lightning Mage makes forays from the Council Chambers, launching powerful lightning attacks and using alchemist's fire, brewed by Solaris to make trouble for the Ironcloaks on both fronts. He is supported by Angelo, who feeds Lighting Mage vast amounts of pure essence. With this energy Lightning Mage conjures great storms, risking backlash, but actually overcoming some of the Ironcloaks magic resistance through sheer power.

A heated battle ensues, where armatures and automata pack a heavy punch. However, the morale soon plummets, as Magitech Mages realize, that apart from Lorekeepers shadowy support, the only ones bleeding for the Executive Council are they. While Council’s image recovered somewhat, Magitech Department is still wary of EC - and now it seems they are being used as expendable pawns to soften up the enemy. Their tactics soon become more conservative, focused on preserving their fellow Mages lives over winning.

In the end the wards are breached and Ironcloaks seize Executive Council.

Ironcloaks are 6 Killed, 1 is Wounded, 1 is Fatigued
Cult loses 50% of their Automata.
Lorekeepers lose 2 MAN.
Lightning Mage is wounded.
Lightning Mage forces have 1 Wounded and 1 Fatigued.


Executive Council

Summerscent leaves the Council Chambers shortly after Lightning Mage arrives. Shadow Mask follows soon after, disappearing into darkness. The remaining Mages lacking means to escape - or preferring to fight to the last, remain and fortify.

When Council defenses are breached, the Ironcloaks pour in. Most of the remaining Mages are not fit for battle and the enemy's numbers are too great for any hope of victory.

Lightning Mage seem willing to fight the hopeless fight, though his wounds make it a difficult prospect for him. He leans on his staff, his wounds bleeding through his robe, facing the enemy.

Mage Angelo sends a message, entrusting control of Transcendence Party to Michael Orsini. It seems he is prepared to face his death fighting, same as Lightning Mage. The essence writhe beneath his skin - when Mage has nothing to lose, some begin to draw on the Sources without regard for consequences...

Sir Rupert Grand looks crashed, quietly contemplating his end, an expression of sadness on his face, while Ruby Marshal remains stoic, her expression betraying nothing.

[Ascaloth]

Atelier Solaris
MAN: 3

Parting Words

"Well, I've done all I could for them. The rest, I suppose, is up to them now."

Soul Alchemists

Oh, Soul Alchemists! You guys were up and about after all!

Alright, we've had our differences, but this is a little bigger than either of us for the time being. You all up for working together for the time being, to keep our mutual holdings safe?

Purifers

Well, you guys want to save your mister Angelo? If so, I figure you're out of options save working together with the rest of us Ritualists. Let's cut the paranoia bullcrap and start putting our heads together to turn this thing around, shall we?

Vault Guard

I'm sorry to hear of your loss, mister Warner. Your Mages fought with valour.

Now, I think we're going to have to take stock of the situation. What do we have left in the way of assets?

Grand Astrologist

How goes the Wards you're setting up, mister Fuller?

[Thelonius]

The Council & Ironcloaks: For The New Day

The front lines of Ironcloaks part and a figure clad in Black-Iron Armor steps forward, a tall, strongly built man, with red hair and clear green eyes. “Councilors.” he speaks. “I offer you mercy, if you surrender. No one needs to die now.” Several figure step from behind him - Mages. Heralds. Traitors. One of them speaks “It’s hard to set up without interference, but Tower Council’s spell engines can handle it.” The red-haired man nods and accepts a floating sphere, that traitor Mage has brought. He speaks and his words are carried out through the Sunken Tower.

“Mages of the Sunken Tower. Tower and Executive Councils are in my power. The Control is in our hands and with it the mastery of the Tower.”

“You may have heard much lies about us - for generations your leaders have indoctrinated you to fear and misunderstand us, the Ironcloaks. They made you think we seek destruction of magic - when the only thing we opposed were it’s use for evil.”

“I am Commander Marcos Day and I’m here to save and unite, not destroy. Your Tower Council are the ones, who have unleashed the true danger - a threat, that would require unity and sacrifice to stop. They have rid you of Backlash, by using the forbidden Source - by accessing the dark demonic powers, that are locked away behind the Turion’s Door. We have interrogated one of the so-called Harbingers - Mages, that have through ancient powers, passed through Ages, from the time, when Turion’s Door was made. Those, who knew how to open it. I know that your old Tower Council made use of another Harbinger to access the Door - dying in the attempt. Do not think, that you can take gifts from pure evil - and nothing else, that if you crack the door to the Abyss even the tiniest bit open, nothing would slither outside. Darkness has been unleashed upon our world, even if it for now hides in the shadows. Under my command, we can stop it.”

“I’m no fanatic, no extremist. The magic will not be forbidden - only necessary controls and precautions would be put against corruption and danger. The Iron Lords shall reunify with Dawn Empire as Ironcloaks will unite with Sunken Tower - so that magic can once more serve the mankind, the hand that wields the Sources, protected by the hand in the black-iron glove. A new order, that shall be stronger for it. We shall unite other magical orders - Elreath, Yen Council, Lodge and Al-Makim. We shall forge a power that will smite demons, cleanse the Madlands and restore order to the world. A new Age of Iron and Magic, a time of peace and prosperity to surpass the Age of Magic shall come.”

“I regret the bloodshed that has come to pass, yet I fear, my message would have been ignored otherwise. Put down your Staffs and let us end this fight. For the new day and age.”

[Murska]

Weymond steps next to Lightning Mage, staring at the entrance. His lips do not move, but all the Councillors still hear a whisper.

"Reinforcements are almost here. Everyone, work together. Collapse the entrance, delay them for a few crucial minutes. They have no interest in peace, or they would have spoken before attacking."

---

Hearing the fighting and the announcement by Day, Guilford encourages his detachment to move more rapidly. A few more steps and corridors. The cornered Ironcloaks would fight like rats, but this wasn't their home. The bloody-minded fools had shown their hand, and now their assault would fall, their alliances would crumble and their entire nation would eventually be liberated from the hands of terrorists and fanatics. There was no other option now. The Tower had tried to play nice, and it had gotten them a knife in the back. The time for diplomacy was over.

[Imperial Psycho]

Internal Security

Internal [PM]
Damn, I think I missed the Tower Guard I rallied. If a counter attack is being made to relieve the Exec Council, i would like to commit them to that fight.

[Thelonius]

Executive Council

Lightning Mage looks up, pondering. "To collapse the roof... yes, I wouldn't mind going down in a grand explosion. What do you say?" He turns to Angelo. The Mage shrugs. "Might as well." Lightning Mage next question goes to Marshall "You know about energy and Tower - how do we go about exploding this place, so we take as many of the bastards with us, as we can?"
Ruby Marshall seems to ponder the question. "I'm not certain I'm willing to go out this way." It seems she wavers. Sir Grand stands up worried "Do we actually plan to do it?"


Tower Council: Hope From Ashes

An announcement is made - though it's reach is much more limited as current Tower Council lacks the proper communication systems.

"I'm Victoria Merlin and Source Channcellor of the Tower Council, declare that Tower Council stands firm, despite the claims of our enemies. With me, in this time of great evil, Michael Orsini stands as Tower Chancellor, Lord Excrucio as Tower-Staff and Pathbinder as Lawspeaker. Do not heed the lies of the Ironcloaks - what they promise is chains around our necks, the slavery of magic."

Transcendence Party, Seat of Shadows, Dawnguard and Lightning Mage forces are gathering together into a force of around 20-30 [DES], preparing to move.

Atelier Solaris

Seat of Rituals [6]

Orsini pulls away all Battlemages -- his and Purifier's, leaving the Ritual Seat. He also approaches Grand Astrologist - apparently seeking to recruit his support.

Soul Alchemists

"I do not plan to cower in the Ritual Seat - the Ironcloaks shall be vanquished by authority of the Tower Council."

Purifers

"We had little reason to trust you - but now we have military support to exact a fitting retribution, should you attempt to seize our Hall. Keep Seat of Rituals safe."

Vault Guard

"Ah, my lads made the enemy bleed. I'll remember their sacrifice. Well, half of my forces in the Seat of Rituals - protected and reinforced. It will be hard for enemy to get us here. But I'm less confident about operating outside."

Grand Astrologist

All done.

[Murska]

We don't need to kill ourselves so long as we can delay them with the collapse of the entryway. This is nowhere near over, we've got troops incoming from World Affairs as I speak, and Mages are rallying further in the Tower. If we don't surrender now, the Ironcloaks are doomed.

[Ascaloth]

Atelier Solaris
MAN: 3

"Huh."

She said with a tone of mild surprise, that quickly shifted into an upwards quirk of her lips.

"Well-played. My turn now."

Tell me your loremasters found something in the Council Archives? Things are getting worse by the minute.

Grand Astrologist: Thank you, mister Fuller. Where does your path go from here?

Dagger Brotherhood: Hey there! As you may have noticed, I've secured our entire Seat for all of us Ritualists, including yourselves and your own Hall. Feeling up to coming out of your turtle shell and fighting the good fight yet? If so, you've got an invitation to tea from yours truly.

Vault Guard: Well, it seems we've been left high and dry by the brash and the impatient, mister Warner. In the mood for some coffee? Let's have a tete-a-tete.

If both Vault Guard and Dagger Brotherhood accept, use Nicholas to set up a three-way PM between them and Solaris.

[Murska]

Olritz. Marshall. You know about engineering and the Tower itself. We need to create an explosion that collapses the roof on the Ironcloaks, but hopefully leaves us a pocket at the back so we can be dug out once the reinforcements finish the stragglers. I can provide some assistance with the Spirit Mana Lightning Mage here brought us, if we align a plane of Force in a suitable way to angle the collapse towards the front. We'll also need to have sufficient air in the pocket for an hour or two, just in case.

Everyone else, pitch in what you have. Aegis and ward knowledge should help shaping the explosion, and raw power is of course necessary. We don't have much time, but no fight is unwinnable before it's fought and I'll be damned if I give up before I'm dead.

[Imperial Psycho]

Internal Security

"This is hardly my specialty, but I have a great of mana stored for such an occasion. And I suppose I can manage an explosion."

GM
5 Mana to the plan to extract the EC.

On second thought, commit the 3 Tower Guard DES to the Corridors. We need to finish that fight as soon as we can to relieve Warmagic

I also have 1 rally left. I'd like to rally Arsenal Master. He shouldn't provoke the Ironcloaks in Warmagic, but if he can help he should.

[HerbieRAI]

Hospitium

EC

I'm in.

Doomed (Hidelburg PM)

"I worry about them opening the door as much as a worried mage opening it as a last ditch attempt to push them out. Have you seen them place anything around the room? They tried to use some bombs upstairs, and they may try the same thing down here in the darkness. The last council may have used the door, but they died in the process. So if there was any corruption it should be gone now.

I don't fully believe their story, although parts do have merit. They could have used the Harolds to tell the rest of the tower, or at least you, about last councils actions. Coming in sword first means they have other plans that require control of the Sunken Tower.

If they haven't placed anything around the room, then we need to split our and their focus between eachother and the entrances. I don't think they will make a break for the door, but something could come in and make an attempt. Something besided the Ironcloaks could have used this attack to gain entrance to the tower."

[Thelonius]

Executive Council

[OOC: I'll wait for input from other Councilors, if any - then the exploding roof plan will be executed.]

Department of Warmagic

Arsenal Master gathers his forces [5 DES] and personally leads them against the Ironcloaks attacking the Warmagic Department.

IntSec

Matters [PM]

It seems the Ironcloaks in the Corridors are moving to the Upper Levels - a position that would offer them significant tactical advantages, if they reach them.

[OOC: You do realize Arsenal Master would have been highly useful before :)]


Atelier Solaris

Grand Astrologist [3]

"Hmm... I'm pondering certain opportunities, that are usual, bundled with risks."


Discussions [PM]

Dagger Brotherhood: "This caught us off guard - what do you wish?"
Vault Guard: "We are ready."

[OOC: Dagger Brotherhood is un-Rallied, but depending on your plans & fluff & investments, certain things may be possible.]



Hospitium

Doomed [PM]

"Bombs" Thomas laughs. "It'd take Lost Age Magic to make a dent here." An illumination spell nearby reveals an ugly rupture in the floors. "All the wounds here are from the time, when Door was closed." Thomas tone turns somber. He observes the Ironcloaks. "Sure they'd have plans. Damn politics plague us - why not them. And controlling the Tower is what they want to do. No surprises there."

Thomas raises an eyebrow. "Something may have made it's way into the Tower? You have seen something?" He waves to the group of the Ironcloaks. "Oi there. How about we redeploy, so we can cover all angles?" He gestures to his men to get them moving. "We plan to stay down here, until the gents up there solve the question of who's going to be running the Tower. Make certain nobody uses the chaos to mess with the Door. The side that loses - well, they'll surrender peacefully. You want to keep us company, while we wait?"

[Imperial Psycho]

GM
I had intended to rally him before, but it seems I forgot to add it to my post. A little late now.

Since his forces are significant, I will send the 3 DES of the Tower Guard to support him. 8 DES should be enough to turn the tide.

[HerbieRAI]

Hospitium

Doomed (PM)

"I haven't seen anything, but if there is someone who wants the door open, now would be the time to get in the tower. Some of the Ironcloaks are mercenaries, so there is no telling how safe the door is, even after they surrender. I'll stay down with you guys, I'd like to have a talk with them before the fighting is done. If they think there going to win they may give more information on what they think they know about the old council.

Do you think the door is damaged from the old councils spell? There is spirit magic involved with the door, and since spirits are immortal we may be able to find one of its creators to help fix it if needed."


Internal (PM)

Do you want us using the sheet for the second round of the fight? I'm going to deploy some healers to some of the fights around the tower.

[Ascaloth]

Atelier Solaris
MAN: 3

Fair enough, mister Fuller. Just remember to exercise your usual caution, and remember what they say about deals that seem too good to be true.

"It seems we have found ourselves on the same boat, between a rock and a hard place. On one hand, we have the Ironcloaks. And they pretty much speak for themselves, don't you agree?"

"On the other, we have the pretenders to the Tower Council. Because of their existence, even should the Tower succeed in beating back the Ironcloaks, it will bode equally ill for all of us here nonetheless. My... grievances with Orsini are unfortunately well-documented, you might say. I know mister Warner is part of the Magic-Conservatives, and as such the rise of the Transcendence Party threatens his interests."

"As for this Lord Excrucio and Pathbinder... with names like these, I can only assume that the sort of Mages who would choose such monikers for themselves are from the Seat of Shadow. And you did just knock over a couple of their Halls, didn't you Dagger Brotherhood? Should those two secure their positions as the next Tower Council, I'd wager you'll be facing reprisals before long."

"So the way I see it, we're all equally invested in making sure the pretenders never succeed in installing themselves as the Tower Council, assuming the Ironcloaks are defeated. Can I say that I am accurate in my assessment?"

(OOC: Still considering what my plan of action will be, so I'll use this time to get both of them on the same page for now. Is Dagger Brotherhood able to utilize Subtle Weapons?)

[Thelonius]

Hospitium

Doomed [PM]

"Damaged?" Thomas shakes his head. "I sincerely doubt it could be damaged - maybe with some artefacts from the Forbidden Vault, but I doubt it would have been only senior Council members who would have perished, if that was the case."

He ponders Hidelburg's words. "Spirit Magic? Huh, interesting. Didn't know that Spirits were involved, but it makes sense. They do have some power over Demons. I personally never was against contact with Spirit Courts, too bad most Mages think of Spirits in relation to the Age of Iron."

[OOC: I'll be updating the Ironclaosk Invasion doc today. Feel free to use it.]


Atelier Solaris

Discussions [PM]

Vault Master: "Well, you are the legitimate authority as member of the Executive Council. If these pretenders are deal with, you certainly would be in charge of the Tower."

Dagger Brotherhood: "We can take some steps to deal with this rogue Tower Council - Subtle Weapons aren't completely ready, but I believe they would suffice."

[Ascaloth]

Atelier Solaris
MAN: 3

"Thank you both, for being on the same page as I am. I know that, together, we may yet prevail over this situation."

"We may be backed into a corner, but we still have cards up our sleeves to play yet. As was evidenced by the Dagger Brotherhood themselves; Brother Tian, I am glad to hear of that. Please arrange for the comeuppance of the pretenders to the Tower Council with Subtle Weapons."

"For that matter, I too have another card in reserve, which may perhaps be used as a complement or a backup plan. However, it hinges on the ability to perform the Transference Ritual. So Vault Guard, Dagger Brotherhood... I would not normally make such demanding requests otherwise. But these are deadly times, and our mutual survival may well depend on it."

"To that effect, would the both of you be willing to lend whatever aid you can, to ensure that a Transference Ritual can be performed as and when needed? Knowledge of the right Reagents, Equations, and Essences. Reagents and Essences from the Vault if need be; I know I've asked much of you already, and I would not ask for more if the danger to us both was any less than this, but I reckon this is the sort of emergency the Vault was constructed for in the first place. Or RES to research whatever details about the Transference Ritual we do not already possess between us, and maybe CRE to produce the Reagents that we otherwise might not have in our hands."

"Whatever aid you render here, I will remember and reciprocate."

Is Cecilia still able to pull any Smuggling tricks? Alternatively, could Dagger's Subtle Weapons be capable of putting Solaris in the right place at the right time?

[Thelonius]

Atelier Solaris

Discussions [PM]

Vault Guard "We can try - but we are not exactly the best choice for rituals. Ours was the job to guard - not to perform. And most of the wards on the Vault are still intact - we can hardly pool much out of it."

Dagger Brotherhood: "I fear in our humility we have never pursued the path of knowledge, being content merely to serve. But as for retribution for the pretenders - you can count on us."


Questions [PM]

You can try use Cecelia's VIP action to help get Summerscent in one piece. As for Subtle Weapons, to a certain degree yes, but it's not project's primary specialty.

[ArcaneStomper]

Executive Council
Olritz had very little to say. Architecture was not her specialty. Demolitions were not her specialty. No her specialty was building magitech devices. She could have made a magitech device to hold off the rubble. She could have made one to bring down the roof. But not without time. Time she didn't have.

So she worked as quickly as she could. Modifying this mana resistance setting. Altering that shield relays. Overriding the safety limits on the capacitors. She did not think this was the best course of action, but nothing was at this point. So she did the best she could in the time available to rebuild her armature into a makeshift shield generator.

Clockwork Front Lines
Mary's exuberance for battle had not been dampened by the fierce resistance from the Ironcloaks. Nor had the realization that no non magitech forces were in the fight. She lived for battle, and finally she could prove her worth to the dusty artisans of the rest of the clockmakers. She was a bit miffed when the Lightning Mages's forces regrouped elsewhere.

The fight was here damn it. The main Ironcloak force was here. The Council was here. If nothing else she was pretty sure she had heard the other battlemages mention something about the Lightning Mage being in the council chambers. That was not very impressive loyalty right there.

The Clockmakers weren't like that. The rest of the Tower might view Artificer Olritz as crazy, but she was the leader of the Clockmakers for a reason. She had turned an informal society of theorists into a real power. Something other halls respected. And the Mary would get her out of the Ironcloak clutches or die trying.

Still it would help if she had more assistance. A few more battlemages had trickled in, but her own brethren had more to contribute she was sure of it. So she sent a little magitech messenger orb buzzing back down to the labs.

[Ascaloth]

Atelier Solaris
MAN: 3

Vault Guard: "In that case, I will handle performing the Rituals, mister Warner. And I'll be grateful for whatever you can give, even if it's just the last of your available Reagents or CRE. This is the point where we need to go all-in, I reckon."

Dagger Brotherhood: "I see. Thank you for that, Brother Tian; I will indeed count on your Dagger Brotherhood to exact retribution on the pretenders."

"Incidentally, the Red Dream Powder I sold you last month. Are those ideal for Transference Rituals, from your experience? I figured it's probably the case, given how you went for everything I could sell."

I'm trying to put together a renewed effort to fight the Ironcloaks, but I need help. Would it be possible for you to lend me some CRE or RES? I've got our entire Seat secured, so your people should be able to come out from behind your barricades.

[HerbieRAI]

Hospitium

Doomed(PM)

"I understand their worry. The spirits are significantly stronger than the tower mages, and know signficantly more than us do due to their immortality. Both things that mages pride themselves on out in the world. Any threat spirits pose would be from another taking advantage of their separation from the rest of the world, not a spirit's desire for power. Do you know the leader of this force? I'd like to talk with him for a bit before the fighting ends."

After getting the name, if it's known, Hidelburg will put down the spear and walk to the Ironcloaks with open arms, and ask to talk to the leader.

"My name is Patrik Hidelburg. I was hoping to talk with you for a bit before the fighting upstairs ends, however it will end."

[Thelonius]

Executive Council

Orlitz is hampered considerably, by the fact that nothing in the original Armature design was meant to project powerful shields. Still, given what she has and time constraints, Orlitz does a remarkable job of it.

Sir Rupert Grand stands up, apparently reaching a decision. "My apologies, but this plan is just too dangerous. I shall surrender. There may be some chance to put my talents to use then - persuade the Ironcloaks into a course that will serve the Tower."

Frontlines

The Ironcloaks have refocused their full attention on holding the positions they have just taken. The figures of the Heralds have been spotted, apparently working on reactivating the same wards, that just recently held Ironcloaks back. Of course with their reliance on the anti-magic, even if Heralds succeed, the wards wouldn't be as efficient. More troubling is deployment of the Ironcloaks special forces - that seem intent on hunting down the leaders of the assault. As controller of the Automata, there's little doubt that they would seek to eliminate Mary to disable Cult's warmachines.

Atelier Solaris

Discussions [PM]

Vault Guard "We'll support you, but our knowledge of the rituals is limited - an old and outdated design, to prevent temptation, that I've not had chance to remedy.

Dagger Brotherhood: "We shall do our best. As for your question, we will naturally reply, once the scales of wisdom are balanced by comparable knowledge or favor."


Hospitium

Fleshcrafters [3]

What's your plan? Executive Council is lost and this new Tower Council are ambitious opportunists... maybe we should just sit tight, the Sunken Tower is a as good as lost...

[OOC: Your REP with Fleshcrafters + Securing Seat are favorable. Let's see if your fluff can back you up.]


Doomed [PM]

"I'm Elias Bell. What do you wish to discuss?" the leader of ironcloaks asks.

[Ascaloth]

Atelier Solaris
MAN: 3

Vault Guard: "Nevertheless, I am grateful for whatever support is within your power. Have you got any more Hard Liquid at hand? Or Reagents you know would work in the Transference Ritual?"

Dagger Brotherhood: "That's fair. But this is not the time to ask for information that may not be helpful in this very situation, so I will settle for whatever knowledge of an ideal component for the Transference Ritual you can tell me. In return, I can tell you what Ritual is Hard Liquid ideal for, or alternatively Amber Glass. Or is there something else you have in mind? Please indicate your preferences."

(OOC: If they choose either, give the information to them in exchange for the information I want about the Transference Ritual (preferably Equation), and/or Red Dream Powder.

If we do give up all hope and sit on our hands, the Tower would indeed be lost... and us Ritualists along with it. Make no mistake, the Seat of Rituals will not last forever against the full might of the Ironcloaks alone, no matter how strong our wards are. Our best chance of prevailing is to take action to save ourselves, in whatever way we can.

And perhaps you're forgetting, but we are Ritualists. At our best, it's not that we win the game by force of arms alone, but that we change the game altogether. And I have just such a game-changer in mind; I just need the resources to pull it off. If you're interested in knowing more about just what I have planned... well, I suppose you'll have to join me, mister Warner and Brother Tian for tea then.

(OOC: If Fleshcrafters accept Solaris' invitation to join the Discussions PM, fill them in on what she has told the Vault Guard and Dagger Brotherhood so far.)

[HerbieRAI]

Hospitium

Doomed (PM)

OOC: I'd like to be out of earshot of Thomas for this talk.

First, we heard rumors you have mercenaries among the attack. If you do, how did you come by them? We normally protect the tower from many external threats, and mercenaries could easily have brought some in with them.

Second, would you be willing to share the information you got out of the harbringer you had captured, preferably before this fighting ends? You learned of the last council tapping into the demons behind the gate, but surely he told you a lot more to earn his freedom from your chains. It would be covering your bases, so even if the Ironcloaks fail to take the tower, the tower itself could still work to solve whatever problems you know are coming our way.

[Imperial Psycho]

Internal Security
MAN:10 (Lorekeepers)


"That is your choice, Sir Rupert. After all, we are free mages, and we do not force people to act against their will."

"But know that once you have made this choice, you will not find it so easy to go back. "

"They would not be the first conqueror to offer honeyed words to tempt their foe. I have never met a mage with a good word to say of their treatment by the Ironcloaks"

"But if it is your wish to place your life in their hands, instead of with us, I wish you good fortune."

To Bursar Laurie
"My friend, I hope you remain safe still. Truly, the Tower has fallen to madness."

"Not only are the enemies at our gates, but too many see their arrival as an opportunity to draw the knives on one another."

"I ask you to join me in calling for Unity. To rally those we can to defend what is ours. I truly fear that if we do not stand strong now, the Tower could fall."

Rally the Banners [GM]

Tristan Bradley and the DES with him are with Sigma, off to relieve the Exec Council, yes? Tristan will use his illusions to help the Council escape, if he can. He's very good at decoys, but any number of illusions could distract the Ironcloaks long enough for the Council to get to safety. It is a priority that Buras is able to link up with IntSec forces. Don't go in alone though, I expect we're moving as part of a larger force.

Yasmin is to dig in her heels. The fight isn't going our way, but we need to hold them in the corridors as long as we can. Keep them busy, don't do anything too risky. It's about outlasting, not high risk high damage.

(3) POL [Peacekeepers 3]: Rally Union. The Tower has never needed Unity like it has now. If every mage doesn't come together on this, the Tower may be doomed. Union must do it's part.

(3) POL [Warmagic Rights Defender] [Peacekeeper 3] Duelists Club: Warmagic itself is under threat. Anti-mages walk through the halls, destroying and killing Battlemages. Are you really going to let them get away with that? Are you going to let them say that it was the other Departments who saved the Tower, while the Battlemages crumbled easily, for all their bluster, a mere paper tiger? We need to fight.

(4) POL [Warmagic Rights Defender] [Peacekeeper 3] Storm Riders. More or less as above. We need them. They are the warriors of the Tower. This is a fight unlike any other. A fight worth having, and a department worth defending.

If successfully rallied, Duelists and Storm Riders will join the Warmagic front. Union the Corridor fight. The moment one fight ends, push into the other.

[ArcaneStomper]

Clockwork Cult

Lorekeepers
To Lightning Mage, Energy Technicians, Mana Survey Corps
Do any of you have access to a ley line running into Executive Council chambers?

[Thelonius]

Atelier Solaris

Discussion [PM]

Vault Guard: “I fear we lack that.”

Dagger Brotherhood: “Deal. The Transference runs alongside the blood - you need the Ceremony of Knife.”

Fleshcrafters: “You list many reasons for why the struggle would be futile, without explaining the exact nature of your plan. You have reputation for complicated schemes, but we prefer to know, what we are getting into. What do you want to do with our resources and this Transference Ritual?”


Hospitium

Doom [PM]

“We are all Ironcloaks. You shall not shatter our unity by your talk.” sharply replies Bell. “As for Harbringer, his identity is no secret. Baylin Split, the so-called mage lord ruler of Telamore, before we deposed him. A madman. He spoke of horrors trapped beyond the Turion’s Door - that your Council chose to unleash even a fraction of their influence upon the world is incontrovertible proof of your corruption. The cultists and demons plot to break the Black-Iron Seals, and Turion’s Key is in your weak hands. How long before temptation calls you Mages to seek more power from the Door? This is the greatest threat to the world and one we are sworn to prevent.”


IntSec

Brusar Laurie [10]

[There is no response - whether because Brusar is dead, unable to answer or chooses not to.]


Rally The Banners [PM]

Union

You are unable to organize Union’s DES, however their Towermakers [CRE] are prepared to direct their power in support of the war effort. They can create vast quantities of matter - which can be useful to make fortifications, plug corridors or get some stuff like siege shields. It may also be possible to deconstruct stuff in the Tower, though it would be more difficult.

[OOC: Basically, they have some possibilities of making useful traits.]

Duelist Club

We’ll assist Arsenal Master in defence of the Warmagic!

[OOC: Not rallied, but would support Arsenal Master]

Stormriders - Rallied

Stormriders unfortunately have only 1 DES, the rest fighting in the North. However, they apparently have been gathering intelligence about Tower’s enemies, including Ironcloaks. The information can be used by Strategist/Tactician/General VIP to devise a plan to exploit Ironcloaks weaknesses (automatic critical success) or permit more efficient espionage operations (MAN) to undermine their strength.


Clockwork Cult

Energy Technicians, Lightning Mage, Mana Survey [10]

The key to everything are Energy Technicians - and fortunately they agree to provide access, based on Clockwork Cult’s political allegiance and reputation as methodical clocksmiths - implying they are less likely to wreck stuff. They still require [2 RES] to make certain, the use of the laylines wouldn’t damage the Tower.

Lightning Mage’s Hall agrees to deploy certain techniques to “package” Mana in a way, that would allow for vast quantities to be sent quickly and safely. Mana Survey provides some harried consultation and advice.

[OOC: So 2 RES and you can send Mana to Council Chamber.]

Lightning Mage's Hall: "Whether it works or not, that's how Lightning Mage would have wished to go out."
+1 Reputation with Lightning Mage

[HerbieRAI]

Hospitium

Doomed(PM)

I'm part of the same deal between you and the Warders over there. I'm not seeking to split you, just worried about some outside cultists getting in through being mercenaries. If you are all Ironcloaks my immediate worries are gone.

I am with you on keeping the door closed at all costs. I don't think any in the tower had any idea what they did before they died, one of my most trusted friends replaced one of them and I can vouch he had no idea until today. I can also say, that if your goal is to safeguard the door, you need a contingency in place should this attack fail. Do you have any information on who has the key, I agree we need to get it far from this tower in a safe location. And if you know what cultists and where they are working on the Black-Iron seals, let me know so we can continue to work on safeguarding it. I agree it is the biggest threat I know of, and we cannot rely on the outcome of this battle to save the world.

OOC: Can I also take an estimate of the DES strengths down here? I'd like to know what the Warders are using, and what their up against.

[Ascaloth]

Atelier Solaris
MAN: 3

Vault Guard: "Then how about CRE? Or RES? I can attempt to figure it out and produce them myself, if necessary. That means you too Dagger Brotherhood, Fleshcrafters."

Dagger Brotherhood: "Thank you. Which Reagent would you like to know about from the choices I presented to you?"

Fleshcrafters: "I understand your worries, yet the chances of success depends on the plan not being leaked. If you swear an oath - you too mister Warner, Brother Tian - that whatever i'm about to say does not leave this room from any of us, I will share the details accordingly."

"Alright, so you may have heard that the traitor Heralds are attempting to suborn the Tower Wards for their own purposes. Not ideal for the Tower as a whole... but I feel much better that I'll be pulling this against a sure enemy."

"Alright, as a Magic-Conservative, the presence of mister Orsini - and thus the Transcendence Party - in the group of pretenders to the Tower Council is inimical to your interests, is it not? I figured the same goes for your fellow Party member mister Warner anyway. So the deal is this; if and when the Heralds manage to activate the Tower Wards, I'm planning to perform the Transference Ritual to snatch control of the Wards from them. I'll perform a Reinforcement Ritual at the same time to boost the former's power, so with any luck it should work."

"With control of the Tower Wards, we should be able to deal with the Ironcloaks, and our mutual enemies within the Tower itself. I still need a few more pieces to fall in place to complete the puzzle, but this is by far the most impactful move I figure we can pull off, while we're still ensconced in here."

Isaac (Level 2 Diviner) will use his Action and Reagents Expertise I to figure out an ideal Reagent for Transference, preferably from the Atelier's current inventory.

Invest 1 POL to obtain the Ceremony of Knife Equation.

Is there a name for the Fleshcrafters' VIP?

[ArcaneStomper]

To Transcendence Party, Seat of Shadows, Dawnguard and Lightning Mage [10]
Where are you planning to attack. We would suggest the Ironcloaks in the upper levels. As their leader appears to be their as well as their most elite forces. Breaking them there will allow the rest to be mopped up easily. And with all our forces combined it should be entirely possible.

Internal (PM)
Have Allison Dalton and my new as yet unamed Vip, who will be some kind of automata handler, move to help Mary and my DES.

Overcharge "No Designation" and send it to repair my DES automata.

Daniel Dalton will go liaison with the Lightning Mage's forces, and hopefully through them the other DES up there.

Alagant will take 3 RES and oversee the mana transfer process. Spend up to 20 mana. Stop if it looks like the ley line is going to break. Olritz will spend the mana on CRE boosts until she has a proper shield, and then convert the rest into DES. Probably half and half.

(I'll try to get fluff for these tomorrow.)

[Nemesis67]

Lorekeepers

"Mr. Grand, Commander Day has gambled everything on gaining a Chained Tower from this invasion. The Traditionalists lost Baylin Split. If this succeeds, his faction will take command of the Iron Lords, the Dawn Empire, and the Sunken Tower. But even in this dark hour, the world is going our way. This is the Iron Lords last chance to not lose the North. Maybe even the world. If Day fails, then he's finished. And we can't reason with a desperate man. As the Eye reported, he doesn't care for philosophy or morality. Simply power. His troops didn't deal with the Storm Lords, nor the Surge. While we enact his claimed vision of mages as defenders of the world, he plays games of blood and lies. His words are intentionally chosen to appeal to us, from what the Heralds have reported to him. Promising a unified Circle, a new Age of Magic, Mages protecting humanity... He will accept nothing less than our servitude, cloaked in whatever pleasantries will make the poison easier to swallow. You know what the Iron Lords are. Even if an Iron Tower rebuilt the Circle, would it be worth it? Mages corrupted to serve as pawns of the Iron Lords, enforcing their beliefs on the world? Being hounded and Chained like a slave by Ironcloaks? Selling the Dawn Empire, our closest allies who have stood by our side through everything, to tyrants who've waged war upon them for millenia?

I understand your frustration. I trusted the Heralds as well. And, as a personable Shadow Mage, I also am not of much use here. I don't like the plan that we have. But we can't talk our way out of this. There's no cutting a deal. We can't give the might of the Tower to a madman who wants to conquer the world. Handing him the Forbidden Vault and its artifacts would condemn tens of thousands, if not more. And we haven't lost yet."

Tower Council (9)
This is Kyris Shaan, assuming command of the Lorekeepers. The Hall of Whispers and our lines are at your command.

Book found Tower Codes in your Archives. I don't have the [CRE] to activate them, hopefully ones of you does.

We need to get Barus out. The rest of the Councilors too, of course. That also is the largest force of Ironcloaks, the location of the traitor Mages, and their commander. If we want to win back the Tower and prevent morale collapse, that's where we have to go.

[OOC: Share knowledge of Tower Codes.]

Iron and Rust (PM)
Ser Murin stands down, surrendering the Archives to Lyhoday. Cailen Harris talks with the former Supreme Chancellor to try to convince him the Lorekeepers are not Ironcloaks. Point to acquiring the Tower Wards Codes from the Tower Archives with Book as the invasion is ongoing as evidence. My search for the Mindcrafters. Handing the Mysterious Note over to the Grand Astrologist, which allowed for some factions to be rallied. Warning Shadow and the Warders. Helping build Record Keeping. And the fact that Barus is currently indisposed and captured, which would be an unoptimal moveif I were aware of the invasion. Lyhoday can use his Search Favor to sweep my Halls. There will be nothing there to find.

He should be fighting Ironcloaks. If he does, he can gain some friends and power again. Some protection, because the Bursar and Chancellor Merlin are going to need to kill him. He knows that. Taking out me is a first step in that plan. But I've never disagreed with his philosophy. Or his goals. Simply some of his actions. I can help him. I have the ear of the new Tower Council. But, well, maybe only if Barus survives.

[OOC: I'll add a bit of RP to this if I have the time before you process the turn tomorrow. I need to sleep for now.]

Orders (GM)
Barus Turen survives, to the best of his ability. And tries to keep Mr. Angelo and Mr. Grand alive as well. But that's secondary. I'd rather both them die if it lets me live. Rest of the EC is a tertiery concern. It'd be nice if I can help save them. But, again, don't die.

1 DES, 8 MAN, 1 CRE, Kyris Shaan, and Ser Murin helps in saving Barus. Preferably also Mr. Angelo and Mr. Grand, then the rest of the EC, but priority is my VIP. This could be more combat assistance to the TC force heading to the EC, but I'm not certain that is their plan. Get Barus out alive.

Cailen Harris talks with Lyhoday.

[Thelonius]

Executive Council

Sir Rupert Grand: "Well... I see. His words are indeed a perfect honey, carefully chosen to appeal to us. The stress of the situation has made me miss it. I shall still go - there's nothing I can do to help with your plan, but perhaps in though chained in body, I shall be able to use my words to lay truth and deception, that shall sow discord in the camp of our enemies. Should it come to it, I do not wish to be used as hostage - trade nothing for my life, for I chose to give it in service to the Tower."

Internal Security

Lyhoday [10]

"First, to dispel your concerns, my actions against Lorekeepers were due to their involvement with Heralds. I have nearly fallen into the hands of the traitors, because of the Lorekeepers plots and the fact that they organized my removal that paved path for this invasion led me to believe their treachery. Their control over communications of the defenders... well if they were traitors, you'd all be ****ed beyond measure, so I had to act. They've proven to be dangerous, manipulative schemers, but I do not believe them pawns of Ironcloaks."

"Now to business. My forces will reinforce you in the Corridors. Ironcloaks need to be dealt with - and the question of this new Tower Council addressed. They'll seek to purge all threats to their authority and that includes both of us. Let us work together - and establish the true Tower Council, that shall not allow Tower to be layed so low ever again."


Clockwork Cult

Tower Council [7]

"We have discovered means to weaken Black Iron in the Archives, but it will take some effort to execute. Keep Ironcloaks contained and wait for our signal to commence full assault."


Lorekeepers

Lyhoday [PM]

Lyhoday actually has the pledge - and his forces seem quite intent on following the protocol, treating it as official Tower business. His agents check records, interrogate Mages and preform divination magic. In the end Lyhoday seems satisfied in that Lorekeepers are not Ironcloak pawns, though he clearly doesn't hold Lorekeepers in high esteem.

"After everything you've pulled, I do not trust you. Luckily for you - I don't have many options. you had a hand in this mess - and do not think you'll come up on top as chaos reigns. Power and Shadow will turn on each other, they are both power hungry *******s. I can make certain they don't ruin the Tower before self-destructing."


Tower Council [10]

"Excellent. Keep the Ironcloaks contained, but do not press too hard. We have a plan to gravely weaken them - wait for our signal for decisive assault. As for the Council, the odds of them still being alive a too slim. We need to act on the assumption, that they perished as heroes. Their sacrifice shall not be forgotten."


Soul Alchemists [10]

Michael Orsini: "Listen Shaan. We won't make it in time to save the Council - though I hope we can still rescue Barus, if he's still alive. We have a plan. Shadow Mask managed to get it all - the cause of Troubles, information from the Archives and well, the key to it all from Victoria Merlin. Turion's Key. We are going to the Turion's Door - to finish what the old Council started. The Door's bindings have interfered with the Sources - main reason for the Iron Age. We just need to correct the flaw in the binding and we shall have all the power we need to truly restore the Age of Magic. Do not fear, this won't unleash the horrors beyond the door and we'll not make the same mistake, that killed old Council. As an added bonus, the workings would temporarily disrupt the power of the Black-Iron, allowing us to take out Ironcloaks with little effort.

I need Lorekeepers support. Angelo warned that Summerscent is plotting a coup, to strike at us under cover of Ironcloaks attack. Shadow has guarded us against it so far, but I do not like relying on them - it's an alliance of convenience and we both know it. Besides, it seems Ironcloaks and Warders have joined forces to guard Turion's Door - we'll need to fight them. If you could secure my flanks, we shall lead the Tower together to the new Age of Magic. Alone... I fear either Summerscent or Shadow will prevail and it would bode ill for all.


Pathbinder [10]

"We are working on getting rid of Ironcloaks, but you need to watch for anybody stabbing us in the back and ensure that others would come under our authority. Be wary of Dagger Brotherhood and Inquest - both could present a danger. As for our allies in Power, there's a weakness in them. Once we've won, if we could together on phasing them out of governance and freeing a spot for our good allies in History."


Hospitium

Doom [PM]

"We have no cultists in our ranks. As for the Key - you would have it, wouldn't you? I expect it's in the hands of the Tower Council, hopefully Commander Day managed to secure it."

[OOC: Hard to tell due to darkness, but it's about 3-4 DES on both sides.]


Atelier Solaris

Discussions [PM]

Vault Guard: "We lack either CRE or RES."
Dagger Brotherhood: "Our skilled crafters are unfortunately away."
Fleshcrafters: "We have CRE and RES. We have some knowledge of Transference and Reinforcement as well."

Dagger Brotherhood: "Hard Liquid."

Ada Flay: "If what you speak is not treason against Tower and Law, I'm prepared to swear."

[OOC: Hmm... okay, your plan can be viewed as treasonous from a certain point of view. Depends on how faction views the events in the Tower. Do you proceed to tell Fleshcrafters?]

[Ascaloth]

Atelier Solaris
MAN: 3

Vault Guard: "I see, alright. Then mister Warner, in order to maximise the chances of the Ritual succeeding, perhaps you might consider having some of your own apprentices assisting me in the casting? Or would you like to take a hand personally?"

Dagger Brotherhood: "Alright. Then, please focus on dealing with the pretenders, Brother Tian."

"Hard Liquid is an ideal Reagent for the Reinforcement Ritual, from my own experiments. I trust this is an equivalent exchange?"

Yes, Solaris will go ahead and tell them the plan. She will even be expecting that the Fleshcrafters will have certain objections, and will have the appropriate responses ready as below;

Treason against Tower: "Is it really? We are, after all, talking about pretenders who illegitimately declared themselves Tower Councillors without acquiring the mandate beforehand. Yes, that includes miss Merlin, for her status was pending ratification by the Grand Circle. Who is she to unilaterally decide her legitimacy as a Chancellor? What they are doing here is a coup in every way, and we are justified in taking action against them for it."

Treason against Law: "Apart from the legitimacy of the pretenders, you may have had a point that it is not our place to act; that in normal circumstances, it would be for the Grand Circle to decide. However, as you may have noticed, these are not normal times. The Ironcloaks have laid siege to the Tower, and the Grand Circle cannot convene. And the pretenders will be moving to consolidate their position even as we speak; they will succeed, even against the tenets of Tower Law, if they are not stopped. In such times, is it not the duty of every Mage of the Tower - ourselves included - to take action where others are otherwise unable to?"

It is magicide: "Yes, it is. I pose this question; should the Transcendence Party succeed in establishing themselves at the top of the Tower's hierarchy, do you think they will hesitate to do likewise to you and your compatriots, the Magic-Conservatives, their direct opposition and rivals? You yourself have witnessed how quick mister Orsini himself was to resort to lethal means. This is no longer a question about ethics; it is now a matter of self-preservation."

I am wary about trusting you: "Then let me ask this; between the demon who is all but guaranteed to seek your demise, or the devil who at least has its own stake in promoting your mutual interests, which would you choose?"

It would make us complicit in a criminal act: "Then think of it this way, that I'm getting my hands dirty so you can keep your own clean. And if you seek to have me face justice after the fact, so be it; it is a price I gladly pay for the survival of the Tower itself."

[HerbieRAI]

Hospitium

Doomed (pm)

Do you know what cults ate working to pen the gate? I've already told the warders to watch out for anyone coming down here. If your compatriots above begin to win we can expect whoever has the key to do something desperate.

[Thelonius]

Hospitium

Doom [PM]

"You mean, you Mages would use the Key? What side will you be on, should it happen?"

"The cults grow like mushrooms and there are those who worship Harbingers openly in Mulden. Though of course the more dangerous ones would hide their agenda. Aren't you Tower allied with ShadowMancers, the Demonworshipers? And Al-Makim, who with their insane religion? I've heard rumors of Theists inside the Tower, are they true?"


Atelier Solaris

Discussions [PM]

Vault Guard: "Well, I can provide my second in command Mage Whistler, to ensure security during your works. "

[OOC: You can spend 1-4 POL on Fleshcrafters to recieve their support. Best case scenario they Rally. Worst case, you receive a small amount of CRE/RES].

Fleshcrafters: "We agree mostly because Transcendence Part is in fact dangerous... and your points on legitimacy of the Tower Council are valid as well. Our condition is that we take part in the ritual and only non-lethal wards are used to incapacitate Mages. Let the Law decide their ultimate fate."

[OOC 2: You should probably run the plan through me to work out it's feasibility. There are ways to pull something like this off, but you are playing with fire here.]

[HerbieRAI]

Hospitium

Doomed (pm)

If mages come down trying to open the door, I would fight with you. That does not mean I support this attack. If your leader had really been trying to stop the apocalypse he would have told us of the threat before attacking.

That is the type of information I am looking for. The thiests haven't given any indication they want the demons free, but I wouldn't be shocked. Many groups that would hide their true colors from us might show you their intent. Thank you.

Ooc: heidelburg will have a plan ready ic the key holder sneaks down. He will kill the one teeing to pen the door, then take the key and flee the tower, hopefully bringing some of the warders with him. The key won't be safe anywhere in the tower, so it must be taken away.

[Ascaloth]

Atelier Solaris
MAN: 3

You may have noticed that the Heralds are attempting to suborn the Tower Wards. If you've found anything in the Archives that could reactivate them, please pass it on to me. I can do something to counteract their efforts.

Vault Guard: "That would be helpful mister Warner, thank you. Do you have any POL at hand to Rally the Fleshcrafters? How about the Dagger Brotherhood, Brother Tian?"


In this case, I'll have to take back my POL investment, and instead invest 1 DES into the Ceremony of Knife Equation. I'll use that 1 POL to receive support from the Fleshcrafters instead, hopefully Vault Guard can add more to that being an Ally of mine.

Fleshcrafters: "Does that include the Heralds as well? After all, the fact they are traitors isn't exactly in doubt at this point. And honestly, what misters Orsini and Angelo are doing isn't exactly all that much better; not to mention the way they've abandoned their Seat in the pursuit of their own ambitions, I'd dare say that's worthy of some retributive justice in its own right. Otherwise, I have no problems with it."

So they're setting conditions that I have to follow, but aren't offering any assistance in return unless I spend POL as well? Wow, that sounds like a bum deal.

My plan is basically what I said; get together the pieces for a Transference Ritual, then boost with with a Reinforcement Ritual to snatch control of the Tower Wards. There must be at least some of them in the Seat of Rituals - even if inactive - so that's what I'll use as the focus for the combined Ritual. If Heralds are having to put effort towards reactivating the Wards, they can't possibly exert too much control over it; in which case, the Ritual should work to wrest control from them. If Turen falls for my ruse, all the better; that's one more thing I can use as a focus.

Dagger Brotherhood: "Oh, while we're at it... I am now reasonably certain, after putting things together, that Barus Turen and his Lorekeepers are the hidden hand behind the pretenders to the Tower Council. Some of his actions and certain events have convinced me of the fact, and that makes him just as much of an enemy of the Tower as the pretenders themselves. Please consider him as such, and if at all possible, take measures to deal with him as well."

Because **** Turen in every way possible. :p

[ArcaneStomper]

The Automata Labs
After some very hurried preparations the Clockmakers were ready. Loremaster Alagant himself was presiding over the equipment. Mages from the energy technicians and the lightning mage's apprentices were helping make last minute adjustments. Below the control room was the Mana Vault. Rank after rank of mana cells stood ready to accept mana. Unfortunately only a tiny portion were alive with power and light. Their dark and silent kind stretched out for a vast distance in the vault. Testimony to the quantities of the mana the Tower had once commanded, and its far inferior modern condition.

But that wasn't a concern at the moment. For now the mana was needed elsewhere. A mage technician hurried up with the final calculations and after looking them over Alagant gave a sharp nod. With his word and his will he activated the ley line receivers. Mana poured into the strange devices and was cast out into the Tower network. It was headed to someplace where it would be far more useful.

Executive Council Chambers
Olritz suddenly looked up. She had felt a ping off the ambient mana fields. A tiny packet of mana had just burst with a set of encoded frequencies that the clockmakers often used. It indicated something was up. She turned to the Lightning Mage and Ruby Marshall. "I will likely need your help with this."

Last Minute Parley
Mary Dalton decides to take a bit of a gamble. She calls out to the Ironcloak lines. "We heard your commanders speech, but we need some proof that we won't all be killed. Give us some assurance that Artificer Olritz is still alive, and we'll negotiate"

To Tower Council [10]
Unfortunately the Ironcloaks are not going to be contained with our current forces. Surely you don't need battlemages to activate whatever you have discovered. In fact we can send our researchers and artisans to help put it in motion.

Internal
It certainly seems as if the Tower Council intend for the current forces to bleed and die to hold the line against the Ironcloaks, then they'll swoop in to save the day and steal the credit. I'm not going to stand for that. I inform the other mages in the Upper Levels of what is going on.

If the Tower Council does not send reinforcements, then Mary and Allison Dalton will attempt to bait the Ironcloak kill squads into following them. And lead them right to wherever the Tower Council forces have gathered. Maybe I can get some use out of that lazy bunch.

Preferably I would also hold the line in such a way that if the Ironcloaks attempt to break out they will be set on a path leading towards the Tower Council. Maybe leave an apparent weak spot in my lines.

[Imperial Psycho]

Internal Security

To Lihoday[10]
Prove your fidelity, here, now, by helping us save the Tower, and we will discuss what comes next when the Ironcloaks are gone.

To Sigma, GM [10]
Passing the information on Ironcloaks to be used by Sigma's leader VIP relieving the council.

Murska: "The Storm Riders apparently have been gathering intelligence about Tower’s enemies, including Ironcloaks. The information can be used by Strategist/Tactician/General VIP to devise a plan to exploit Ironcloaks weaknesses (automatic critical success) or permit more efficient espionage operations (MAN) to undermine their strength. ".

[Murska]

Internal Security, GM

The forces headed towards the Upper Level Access march on, with battlemages passing staves and amulets to others along the line.

Edwyn Guilford listens to the information provided, glancing occasionally at the three-dimensional mock-up of the entrance that was floating alongside him.

"I see. They've made a mistake in their deployment. They were expecting to surprise us, so they've got much of their true line infantry at the Corridors and Warmagic. The force here was meant to be a hammer crushing through our defenses with the Heralds allowing them to bypass defenses and make good time, but they've padded the elites with lower-quality troops who were meant to garrison strongpoints. Since they got bogged down in Initiation and the Corridors, they've had to prioritize.

They'll have sent good troops to the Council itself, which leaves their backs momentarily open before they get the Wards up against us. We should be able to hit them as they try doing that, collapsing the line on the Heralds while they're busy. And if we get a significant force through this entrance, we can move sideways to cut off communications - their garrisons will just sit there until they realize what's going on, allowing us to get in and cut off the head of the snake.

They also haven't seen or expected the Armatures - they lost a great deal to them in the first clash, and while I'm sure the veterans among them are coming up with good tactics to counteract, those same veterans are spread too thin right now.

If we can do this well enough, we might be able to hit their lead unit in the back by surprise before they capture the Council. And, well, it's do or die now for us, so we'd better do it well.

Seris, link with the others who can create barriers and other defenses, transmuters and the like. Once we come to view of the first group, we need to strike like a hammer before they can react properly - they'll take our first hits, be left in some disarray and the vets among them will reply with everything they've got to halt our momentum - your job is to stop that attack. After that, we should be able to mop up. Then you need to grab the others, and go in small groups, transmuting barriers among the side passages and trying to trap enemies. Use gas warfare if you think it'll help. Cut them off and confuse them. Our main force will be headed by the Armatures, we'll try to crash into their leadership before they can react and push a hole for the Council to escape."

He banishes the image and raises his voice, turning to the ranks of Mages alongside. "You have your orders. They wish to see us in chains, to strike at us while we have expended our strength defending the world against the Surges. They are too weak and cowardly to face the Tower head-on, and today we'll show them why. We are the light of the world, and we will end this darkness that surrounds us, no matter the cost."

The groups are briefed and preparations finished, as they momentarily stop, just one hallway from the enemy front pickets.

"It is time. To battle!"

[Thelonius]

Tower Counil

[Lighting Mage: Check Fail]
[Angelo: Check Fail]
[Ruby Marshall: Check Success]
[Death Rolls: 4]
[Artificer Orlitz: Spirit Mana Re-Rolls +3 Re-Rolls. Fail. Fail. Fail. Success].
[Death Rolls: 2]

Unexpectedly, through a layline, Spirit Mana begins to arrive to the Council Chambers. Orlitz moves quickly to utilize it - as Spirit Mana proves ideal for use in the shield that she is making.

Together Lightning Mage and Angelo cast the spell, while Marshall works to optimize their energy construct. In the end, it’s through her efforts the whole thing blows up in a way, that doesn’t kill everybody involved. The shield brought by the Orlitz prevents the exploding walls and the backlash of destroyed wards from annihilating the Councilmembers. Most of them at least.

[Death Roll: 1 - Lighting Mage]
[Death Roll: 10 - None]

Lightning Mage gets hit hard - already wounded, he bleeds to death, buried under the rubble. His face holding a small smile of contentment as mighty powers he has conjured to destroy the Council Chamber warm him to his last breath.

Warmagic

The battle in the Warmagic is quick and brutal. Arsenal Master proves to be an able commander, organizing his forces to encircle and strike at the Ironcloaks simultaneously. It’s clear, that veterans were sent to Warmagic, as Ironcloaks fight with great ferocity, nearly breaking the encirclement and inflicting as much damage as they take.

Ironcloaks: 3 Killed, 1 Wounded
Arsenal Master: 1 Killed
TC Remnant: 1 Killed
Stormriders: 1 Wounded

Treachery - Initiations

The Inquest switches sides in the Initiation, releasing the Ironcloaks from the anti-infiltration Wards and marching to reinforce Ironcloaks in the Corridors.

Corridors

Hospitium deploys it’s healers to mend the Mages wounds. Dr. Zenpheri employs a tonic brewed by Dragonkin to put Mages on their feet. Together their efforts restore 2 DES, that were previously wounded.

The Union Enchanters led by Customs guides create veritable death zones of brambles, poisonous gases and impassible walls to block the retreat of the Ironcloak forces in the Corridors, slowing the enemy down. The Peacekeepers Stun Wands also prove to be more effective as a tool to slow the enemy down and commanding officer of Peacekeepers takes advantage of Stormriders intel to improve his tactics.

Lyhoday’s forces leave Hall of Ancient History to support Peacekeepers in the corridors, giving them an initial numerical superiority. Unfortunately the treacherous Inquest and Ironcloaks soon arrive to balance the scales one more - [DES 16] of Tower against [DES 18] of Ironcloaks. Their attack comes as a surprise to the Tower Loyalists and as Peacekeepers and Lyhoday struggle to shift battlemages to prevent being overrun by attack in the rear. the Ironcloaks are able to secure access to the Upper Floors and rejoin their comrades there.

Ironcloaks: 2 Wounded, 1 Killed
Peacekeepers: 2 Killed

Civil War

Atelier Solaris and it’s allies - Dagger Brotherhood, Vault Guard and Fleshcrafters declare Tower Council to be illegitimate pretenders and unleash mighty ritual magic from the Subtle Weapons Project to eliminate those, they claim to be traitors to the Tower. The Tower Council claims treachery and incontrovertible proof that Atelier Solaris was plotting from the start to execute a coup, taking advantage of the Ironclaoks invasion to come in power. A bloody battle rages between the two forces, as Atelier Solaris works to subvert the Tower Wards to turn against Tower Council’s forces, while Assassins eliminate the leadership of Tower Council. Then the rumors start arriving of Dagger Brotherhood drawing upon the Sources - their power making them into terrifying creatures of murder. The Twin-Source Mages feel the Sources roil and draw near - a sure sign of powerful Backlash. Whatever force Dagger Brotherhood has conjured to devastate Tower Council, it’s now coming to claim it’s price.

The outcome is bloody. Bodies of the Mages are piled up in the corridors of the Seat of Power and Shadow. The Choir and Sensori are caught in the crossfire, their leadership slain. The Dagger Brotherhood takes control of their Halls, Hall of Bonds and the Grafters, however their own forces have taken a severe beating and Backlash burns them terribly.

Dagger Brotherhood: 7 DES Killed
Tower Council: 4 DES Killed, 5 DES Fatigued
Lord Excrucio is killed. Shade Lords faction destroyed.
Choir Faction destroyed.
Sensori Faction destroyed.
Victoria Merlin is killed.
Michael Orsini is deadly injured.
Anise Fortescue is missing.
Pathbinder is missing.

[Tower Council forces have been destroyed. The survivors rally around Lorekeepers.]

Upper Floors Access

Clockwork Cult brings Automata, that seem dangerously out of control, until Cult’s tech-mages adjust some parameters and make the “No Designation” comply. The Automata do quick fixes restoring 2 Patroller Automata to operation, though repairs are far from perfect [Patroller Automata has Damaged Trait].

Mary Dalton accuses Tower Council of sending only token reinforcements - letting her forces bleed, while Tower Council stands back. Tower Council sends some of Lightning Mage forces, and then Daniel Dalton of Clockwork Cult manages to persuade more of Tower Council’s battlemages to join in. Her cautious tactics aim to draw the Ironcloaks out of their defensible positions - the same strategy that Lorekeepers deployed earlier. It proves to be as ineffective. It seems Ironcloaks seem intent on entrenching themselves in the Upper Floors and all attempts to lure them fail.

The Ironcloaks do send their strike teams to take out Mary Dalton, but she is backed by Stormriders own elite teams - Ironcloaks and Mary fight against enemy, driving them back. It seems the Heralds don’t yet have proper access to Tower Control as they are unable to fully deploy Tower Wards against Mages. Though of course the longer the remain in control, the more dire situation would grow. With Tower Council wards gone, the full effects of Black-Iron weapons are felt, providing a major disadvantage to the Mages. Many Automata fizzle out as they come close to BI-wielders and even Armature tends to malfunction.

The forces led by Series of Sigma on other hand adopt an aggressive approach, apparently taking advantage of some intel provided by IntSec. Their commander is unfortunately inexperienced, but even basic knowledge of tactics allows her to employ the intel with good effect.

The battle is extremely close and it seems Ironcloaks will carry the day, before Fleshcrafters sent by Atelier Solaris arrive. While fighting in the corridors have slowed them down, they fight ferociously. And they serve as conduit for the magic Atelier Solaris works to activate the wards of the Tower. While the effort should have been easily shut down, the Heralds unfamiliarity with the Tower Controls prevents them from quickly countering the magic and it gives Tower forces a brief edge. It proves sufficient. The Mages force their way into the Upper Levels, securing the Council Chamber - the rubble sealing access to it.

The Ironcloaks are cornered - if Mages are victorious in the next battle, they’ll be pushed to the walls and destroyed. However, should they succeed in pushing the Mages out of the Upper Levels, they stand a chance of sealing access and gaining control of the Tower Engines with disastrous consequences.

Meanwhile, some ancient Mind activates, making a loud announcement. “Unauthorized Access to Tower Wards Detected. Perpetrators Have Been Identified. Information on Criminals Have Been Collected and Submitted To Authorities.”

Ironcloaks: 2 Killed, 1 Wounded, 2 Fatigued
Mages: 1 Killed, 2 Wounded.

Turion’s Door

No news arrives from the Door.

Hospitium [PM]

The Mages arrived - most from Shadow and Power, though with some from Magitech and World Affairs as well. Pathbinder of Shadow Walkers led them and in her hand the shining light of the Turion’s Key dispelled the perpetual darkness of the place.

“The Executive Council and Tower Council are all dead by hands of invaders and traitors.” She spoke loudly to the Mages. “I’m the Tower’s new Supreme Chancellor by virtue of survival and my accomplishments.” Her hand moved to display the Key. “The time has come to save the Tower and all Magic. Step aside.” Firgures of roiling shadows followed her - Mages, that seemed to be consumed by Sources.

Neither Hospitium, nor Warders complied. And thus the battle for Turion’s Door begun. The Warders and Ironcloaks used the advantage of anti-magic, yet the light of Turion’s Key seemed to counter the anti-magic of the place. Hidelburg rushes Pathbinder, seeking to skewer her with his spear, yet it seems the place saps it’s power. Pathbinder seemingly immune to all effects of Black-Iron phases to the side and delivers a blow to Hidelburg’s back. Battlemages bind him and carry close enough to nearby Obelisk to remove his powers.

It is a close battle - but in the end the Mages, their superior numbers and the power of their seemingly possessed shadowy, crow-like allies, carry the day. From the back of the fighters, Grand Astrologist emerges.

“Please, I insist on mercy for our fellow Mages.” he pleads. Pathbinder scowls.
“The Warders I can understand, but the Spiritborn have betrayed us once more. They destroyed the Age of Magic - I do not wish them to prevent the birth of the new one.”
Grand Astrologist shakes his head, concealed in a deep cowl. “In the Stars the importance of Spiritborn is written. He may be helpful for the spellwork.”
Pathbinder’s eyes show suspicion. “Orisni trusted your crap, but I personally never put much stock in it.”
“I was wise enough to foresee the attack. Do you believe Mage Orsini to be a fool for trusting me?” Grand Astrologist raises his voice just a little bit. The Mages pause to turn their attention to the argument - a decent number of them members of the Seat of Power.
“Very well.” Pathbinder seems to force anger from her voice. “Take Hidleburg with us - and watch to make certain he does not sabotage the workings. We do not wish this spellwork to go wrong.” She turns to Hidelburg “I trust you are sane enough not to interfere - disrupting our work will have grave consequences.”

Two more Mages arrive - one a prisoner, another Councilwoman Anise Fortescue. The prisoner is a Mage, however one who doesn’t seem to belong to the Tower. She wears a featureless Mask, broken into two parts - White and Black. Her hands are bound behind her and several Mages keep a constant watch for her every movement.

Pathbinder, Grand Astrologist, Hidlebrug, Masked Mage and Anise Fortescue, accompanied by guards, keeping watch over two prisoners, begin their walk towards the Turion’s Door, while the rest form a protective barrier. Pathbinder seems to consider something, before giving order to her source-inflicted allies to remain. As they walk, it seems that she is the only one capable of using magic this close to the Door. The walk to the ancient artefact is a long one and illumination from the Turion’s Key reveal increasingly devastated landscape. Something seems to be going with environment, the temperature dropping down and air acquiring a strange taste. It feels like the is group is no longer in the Tower. The prisoner speaks:
“We approach the last line. The Circle has deployed every Mage capable of fighting. They even opened the locked cells, releasing criminals of the Life Wars - promising them pardons, if they could help seal the Prime Evil. They were deployed in the front. I can count survivors on one hand. And then, when the Door shut, everybody at the Last Line was locked up as well, on the other side.”
“Thank you.” smiles Pathbinder. “I believe we’ll stay directly at the line. No need to get any closer.”
“I know a story about the Door, different, then one commonly accepted.” speaks up Fortescue. “The stories in official historical archives, they made Turion into a hero and this Door as a great accomplishment. Well, I’ve heard Turion was madly in love with Hierophant. The She-Elf half-priestess. Maybe it was magic, maybe just male foolishness, but this whole grand war against Demons, was nothing more than a manipulated love-struck fools attempt to protect the Elves. A trick the Elves played on the Tower - corrupting our access to the Sources, casting us down into the Age of Iron, all so they could take over. The Turion’s Door… it has Elvish Magic about it. Elvish deception. Elvish evil.”
“A nice story. That I’m compelled to balance by one of my own.” the Masked Mage answers. “A story of poor, foolish elvish Hierophant, seduced by the cunning Archmage of the Tower into supplying him the magic of her Goddess for the grand ambition of casting down the Great Demons and taking their power for the Tower. An attempt that nearly killed the elvish Divinity and soured them forever for trusting the humans.”
“Spirit Tales are sure entertaining.” Fortescue scoffs.
“Maybe less stories and more useful information. Harbringer.” Pathbinder speaks to both, sounding annoyed. “You don’t want me to get something wrong.” She produces books from her satchel, with seal of the Council Archives and begins the spellwork.

And the Turion’s Door cracks open...

Hospitium [PM]

Hidelburg feels spirit magic - somehow Turion’s Key is counting anti-magic by… some sort of spirit magic. He strives to understand, to maybe use this to somehow turn the battle. But understanding does not come.

[VIP Check: Failed]



Lorekeepers [PM]

The Atelier Solaris executes the attack - Dagger Brotherhood, backed by the Equalist mercenaries swarms the Power and Shadow. Of course on the surface, they are outnumbered in every conceivable way. Except that they deploy the Tower Project - Subtle Weapons, sending powerful ritualistic attacks against the Twin-Sources leaders and Tower Council. Only three leaders are exempt - Shaan, not being member of the Council, Anise Fortescue seems to have some protection against ritual magic and Pathbinder - who seems guarded by the Turion’s Key.

Even with the full power of the ritual project, the Dagger Brotherhood may have stood no chance, despite proving to be extremely skilled assassins. But they unleash their true power - the Dualist Magic - a combination of Power and Shadow, long considered criminal and dangerous by the Tower. The onslaught catches Tower Council by surprise, even as Backlash begins to claim Dagger Brotherhood, twisting them into something possessed of great power and malice. As Lorekeepers fight against the attackers the Shadow Binder opens a path, that was thought to be impossible to open - one that leads to Turion’s Door.

“The Anti-Magic of the place shall shake off the ritual attack. We’ll come back, once the ritual is finished.” She speaks confidently, as Victoria Merlin coughs blood on the floor, victim of the Ritual spell. Orsini stands, it seems that the enemy failed to procure a foci to direct the ritual’s strength against him.

Then the Dagger Brotherhood and Equalists break in. They are led by a female Mage, wearing a Black and White Mask, wielding two Daggers. “The Tower is unbalanced.” she pronounces. “I sense it, the Turion’s Key. Every action has consequence. The Duality of the World is absolute. Male and Female. Mage and Mundane. Power and Shadow. Demon and Elf. Give me the Key, for you do not know, what to do.”
“Sounds like Cultish rubbish.” Pathbinder laughs. “Unlike you, I’m not crazy to relinquish the future of the Tower.”
“If you shall not be swayed by words, then let my Daggers speak.”

The Mage seems to possess monstrous strength - as she fights Pathbinder, Orsini, Fortescue and Shaan singlehandedly, while his cohorts hold off the battlemages. She delivers a potent blow to Orsini and only Shaan’s intervention saves the wounded Mage. But before the intruder has chance to take the Key, she is assaulted by the Dagger Brotherhood - her allies.
“They are in the thores of Backlash - the Sources hold them now.” hisses Pathbinder triumphantly. “The Sources, that I hear through the Turion’s Key. Kill Her, I command you, under authority of the Sources!” she screams.
The Twin Dagger Mage fights off the Dagger Brotherhood assassins, but it saps her strength and Pathbinder delivers a blow, that drops her. “Bind - don’t kill.” She commands Battlemages. “It may be one of the Harbringers. We need what she knows.” The Pathbinder finishes the spell, and Shadow Path opens. The Battlemages follow to the Turion’s Door.

Orsini looks pale and weak. “Go after her. I’ll give you authority over my Battlemages. If I die, then it’s… your turn. Don’t let Pathbinder take all the power…. Can’t trust her with it… Go… I’ll… try to endure... ”

[You can read Turion’s Door/Hospitium spoiler and join the group there with your VIP.]
[5 DES and 3 MAN of the Tower Council forces remain rallied with Lorekeepers.]

[Nemesis67]

Lorekeepers

Among the Dead and Dying (GM)
Hands covered in the Ritualist's blood, Kyris stares at his handiwork, a makeshift tourniquet that had mostly stopped the bleeding. Grimly, he looks the Soul Alchemist in the eye.

"The Tower needs you, Mr. Orsini. I forbid you to die. And the Tower needs me as well. Chas, you're in command. Save the Tower. I'll save Magic."

The Mage Knight nods, saluting his superior officer. As the Shadow Mage steps through the Path, Ser Murin turns to address the soldiers.

"Mages, I won't lie to you. Things don't look good. Ironcloaks march through our halls as cowards take advantage of the chaos for their own gain. But through all this, we have a chance here! To save the Tower! To save the Sources! To save the world! And by the Circle, we'll make sure that happens!"

The Door to Salvation [Hospitium, Lorekeepers] (PM)
Stepping out from the shadows, Kyris Shaan of the Lorekeepers quickly scans the procession. Covered in blood, less from his own wounds than others, the Shadow Mage casually holds a gray dagger in his hand, it moving with him as it was an extension of his body. Wisps of darkness peel off him, drawing the eye more than warranted, as he calmly address the gathered Mages.

"I would remind you, Pathbinder, you are only here because of the Grand Astrologist. I relayed his warning to you and the Shade Lords."

He turns to the cowled Ritualist.

"A warning that only came because the Lorekeepers trusted Lady Summerscent with the Mysterious Note we received, I may add."

His voice turns to ice and the darkness burns off him faster.

"A warning she decided to withhold, for her own benefit. And now here we stand..."

Collecting himself with a breath, the spy continues evenly.

"Doctor Hidelburg, the Door is broken. It has been since its creation. The bindings are wrong, and interfere with the Sources. They caused the Age of Iron, the collapse of the Circle, and will cause the Age of Rust if we do nothing. The former Tower Council attempted to patch it, but failed, dying in the act. We're here to fix it right. By doing so, we will also cripple the Black Iron of the Ironcloaks, and save the Tower from their chain."

Eyeing the motley assembly of Spiritborn, Mages, Harbingers, Battlemages, and prisoners, he wryly asks.

"Any objections?"

[Ascaloth]

Atelier Solaris
MAN: 3

Fleshcrafters: "Thank you so very much for the assistance of your Fleshcrafters, miss Flay. We could not have turned the tables on the Ironcloaks, were it not for the valiance of your Mages."

Vault Guard: "Same goes for your Vault Guard, mister Warner. I could only have given my all in the Ritual, knowing you have my back. For this and other instances of your invaluable assistance, you have my utmost gratitude."

Dagger Brotherhood: "And last but in no way least, my gratitude to your brothers for their sacrifice, Brother Tian. I mourn their lives, yet with it they have struck a mighty blow against the pretenders indeed. If I may ask, would you know the details behind what has transpired?"

I may have one more card to play. Is Solaris able to Mentor Cecilia the Potion of Preservation trait?

So, what exactly happened with the Fleshcrafters? I take it the Rally attempt was successful, but how did it affect me?

[HerbieRAI]

Hospitium

The Door to Salvation my rear end (Hospitium, Lorekeepers)(PM)

You all are fools. I'm sure there are tons of stories about the door, but one common theme are powerful demons locked behind it. Demons you could release if done improperly.

If some tower mages like the Herolds are willing to be enslaved by the iron cloaks, don't you think there are some working to release the demons behind the door? That is why I was down here, to stop them from succeeding. But why should they need to risk anything when they can play you like a matador plays a power hungry bull.

I will not interfere, but I will be here to try and fix this mistake and stop whoever is planning on betraying you to release the demons.


Internal (PM)

Has the door actually opened yet?

What resources can Hidelburg bring? I still have 2 MAN, 3 CRE, and 18 mana unused.

I assume I cannot use my RES to get another attempt at that VIP check.

I also have unused POL, can that be used down there?

[Thelonius]

Atelier Solaris

Discussions [PM]

Vault Guard: "Should we continue to guard Ritual? The protective rituals give us strong edge, but if all the enemies that remain are Ironcloaks in Upper Floors, it may be safe to leave."

Fleshcrafters: "We are prepared to support you with out Battlemages and Agents. Be careful with Dagger Brotherhood - we suspect they may be affected by potent Backlash from the magic they've unleashed! It can cloud one's mind, make a person dangerous. Such allies can be very dangerous."

Dagger: No reply comes.


Turion’s Door

Events [PM]

Grand Astrologist raises an eyebrow. “I believe Lady Summerscent did warn the Council.” He sighs. “So much energy wasted in fighting each other. I’m here to observe the flow of Fate and seek to steer it to the good of all.”

Anise Fortescue: “I concur with Mage Shaan. We must fix the mistakes of the past.”

Masked Equalist Mage: “You are wise spirit born. All things are balanced. You can’t hope to reap benefits, without consequences. And the being locked away behind this door is… pure evil.”

The bindings of the Turion’s Door relax, though the remain a potent seal of whatever lies beyond it. It seems that the effect of accessing the Door is weakening its anti-magic. Though no spells can be cast near the Door - apart from those of the wielder of the Turion’s Key, the anti-magic fields projected by the Black Iron Obelisks further out slowly shrink down.

Pathbind smiles. “The Ironcloaks are in for a surprise. Let us hope those fools haven’t wiped themselves before they could take advantage of it.”

Turion’s Door

The center of the Turion’s Door is indeed a Gate. A large, black arch with smooth surface. It size seems to shift - as if it grows smaller and larger at a blink of an eye. The Gate is certainly Lost Age Magic, that maybe an expert of such time could recognize. There is something very unsettling about this Gate and it feels cold and empty.

The second piece of the grand spell-work that draws attention is a crystal sphere, surrounded by what looks to be rough, stone blocks, that seem out of place in this domain of sleek, ancient magic. The sphere cackles with power - despite powerful spells of containment and energy laylines made with skill, lost with time, all Mages present can feel great power contained in it. It feels like a glas globe containing a miniature sun - that will probably take out the whole Tower and Dawn Empire, leaving a smoking crater, if the energy were to be released all at once. This is undoubtedly the power core of the spellwork. Compared to the majesty of the Sphere, the rocks seem completely ordinary - broken remnants of some old structure, maybe from ancient ages. The only thing special about grey stone is script in some unknown language written on them. The only whole and graceful looking thing about the ruins is a fountain basin, that is filled with some liquid-like substance.

It is amazing to think, that a Demon would be only third most noteworthy thing to see anywhere. The creature is powerful, a coiled mass of flesh and teeth, that once sported tentacles, now all cut off. The Demon’s hundred eyes, spread around it’s body have had nails run through it - though of course all such damage is superficial, something these powerful beings could regenerate quickly enough. For a moment the Demon looks dead, but something about it… doesn’t seem quite still. The Mages almost fail to recognize it as part of the Turion’s Door working - the mere thought that any spell would actually use a living demon in it is absurd and terrifying. Two spears pierce the Demon - one a black roiling shadow, another a golden trident, shining with bright aura. The Demon seems almost unconnected to the rest of the Door’s workings, but a thin line of layline seems to direct power to the inscribed circle around it and there’s a hum of active spell around it.

Ten statues encircle the Turion’s Door and the Mages faintly recognize spirit Magic about them. The statues depict Mages and their postures are that of vigil - their staffs at hand and in ready position. The complex enchantments around them run like lines through the whole of the Door area, with knots of power and small Obelisks, where they intersect. A small plaque with an inscription reads in language, for once understood by all present. “We honor the sacrifice of Mages and our Allies.”

At the edges of the circle, but deeper than Statues, nine smaller Gates stand. Unlike the Gate in the center those are definitely Mage made - potent workings of the Age of Magic, lost in the present era. Laylines and infused paths of enchantment run to them from the central Gate - and a symbol commonly recognized by mages as “Seal” is engraved on top of each of them. The inscriptions below seem to name each Gate individually. The Gates hum with power and it feels like different air comes from each of them - salty, warm, humid. One of the Gates seems to be more active - almost cackling with power. The inscription there reads "Malafune's Incident"

A grand circle, that Power and Shadow Mages recognize as a Rift to the Sources - albeit one unlike any other, howevers opposite the Gate. It seems frozen by a thick, incredibly complex web of spells. There is an array of Gems and Infused Artefacts around it that the Mages, who read the Stormwatcher report recognize as the device, that Mages of the old used to monitor and even influence the Sources. The power from the Sphere flows to it. And then the most odd things about it becomes apparent. The Rift connects to both Power and Shadow at the same time - something thought to be impossible.

It comes as a shock, for Mages to realize, that a figure stands at the Gate, one that wasn’t there before - or was it? Nobody saw it emerge, a faint human-shaped shadow, two eyes giving off a dim light. Some Battlemages reflexively raise their Staffs - though Magic doesn’t answer their call. Pathbinder calls them off angrily. “Don’t be fooled. It’s nothing - can’t you feel it lacks power. A little bit of an illusion to catch us off balance. I haven’t released the Door. The Demons are safely locked.” The shadow figure stands at the same spot, not moving or doing anything - perhaps unable, perhaps unwilling.

The Equalist Mage looks at the figure. “One. There’s only one Demon there. I don’t think there can be more than one. The Prime Evil. And it’s not like any regular demon. It’s different.” Her voice wavers - a momentary break in composure.

Pathbinder shrugs. “Well, I say we treat it as any Shade. It’s powerless, unless we give it power. Ignore the thing. If it starts to whisper in your mind, don’t fall for easy lies. We have a job to do - don’t get suckered into playing its games.” Pathbinder moves towards the Rift. “It accesses both Power and Shadow at the same time.” She sounds incredulous - “Both Power and Shadow.” She gestures to battlemages and Shaan. “Keep an eye on that Dualist crazy there. We don’t want her to do anything foolish. Fortescue. I need you as Power Mage. This whole arrangement makes no sense.” Pathbinder starts to rifle through the Archive papers. “I can understand the instructions on how we fix it, but I don’t understand, how does it work.”

Grand Astrologists sits, carefully examining the whole of the Turion’s Door. The Equalist Mage seems to be weighing its elements as well, though her eyes constantly stray to the shadow figure. Fortescue and Pathbinder are preoccupied by Twinsource Rift.

Lorekeepers [PM]

You recognize some of the “Spirit Statues”. They are shaped as great and honored Archmages of old.

Some of the inscriptions on the Seal Gates seem to refer to demonic attacks, though others refer to magical incidents or natural catastrophes, even discord within Circle. Malafune's Incident refers to an attempted coup against Circle, in the early days of Unification, where conspirators have called forth massive amount of Elementals and Shades to execute the attack. You don't have concrete details unfortunately. The Incident happened on what is today known as "Cross Island", that several years ago had an incident, some connect to the Harbrigners.


Hospitium [PM]

You can use your resources, if you succeed at MAN check to acquire information of the attack. Black Iron interferes with the communications. You can use POL down there - I can assume it to be the political capital of your Faction.

You recognize the markings of the Purple Court in the Spirit-Statues. It seems their magic was used almost exclusively to craft the Turion’s Door - no other Court shows its presence. Something seems to be happening with them, as if the spirit-magic is weakening, with every minute spent there. As Spirit-Born you can actually try to affect the spirit-magic, even though you do not hold Turion’s Key.


[Okay, you have number of actions equal to your VIP Level - feel free to do what you want, though others present may interfere. Don’t forget you can’t do magic here though.]

[Ascaloth]

Atelier Solaris
MAN: 3

Vault Guard: "Yes, if the Ironcloaks were the only enemy we need be concerned about, that much would be true. However, with the manner in which we've wrecked the ambitions of mister Angelo and mister Orsini, it's likely the Purifiers and the Soul Alchemists may assume that retribution against us is the only course of action they have left to them. I will ultimately leave it to your judgement, mister Warner, but I will say that it would give me ease of mind to know that your Battlemages would be on hand to keep them from causing mischief at the worst possible moment."

Fleshcrafters: "Indeed? Thank you for the timely warning, miss Flay. I will keep that in mind."

Plan of Action

"Mister Warner, miss Flay. I find myself at a crossroads as to what we should do next, and thus I would like to hear your thoughts on the next steps we should take."

"Although much has been done to counter the depredations of the Ironcloaks, the fate of the Tower still hangs in the balance. If we are to tip it in our favour, the obvious choice would be to join forces with the other Mages assailing the Ironcloaks, and make a final push to defeat them once and for all. It would be especially helpful if the Fleshcrafters' Battlemages focus on opening a path to the Tower Controls as far as that is possible; the closer we get, the higher the likelihood that the Ritual I've cast would strengthen its grasp on the Tower Wards. If we can succeed in this, that would likely win the day for the Tower."

"Yet, I find myself curious about the fate of our Dagger brethren, as well as that of the pretenders to the Tower Council. With no news forthcoming from Brother Tian, the only other option is to lay eyes upon the scene ourselves. Thus, it may be just as important if not even more so that we make our way down to the Seat of Shadow, and witness the aftermath for ourselves. Perhaps to clean up and finish the job where the Dagger could not, too."

"Your thoughts?"

Whatever offers that mister Orsini may have made you, mister Fuller, I don't think he's in a state to follow through on them presently. So if you'd like to work with me again to address the Ironcloaks situation, please do not hesitate to drop me a note.

[Imperial Psycho]

Internal Security

The Final Battle [GM]
Assuming the forces in Corridors are moving to the Upper Floors, Peacekeepers and Lihoday, if willing, should pursue, and hit them from their rear as they advance.

All forces in Warmagic willing to do so, should finish off the remaining 1 wounded Ironcloaks DES, then march to assist Upper Floors and the EC.

Yasmin Nasher will command the Peacekeepers and allied forces. Tristan Bradley will assist in his unique way. Audra Kendall will assist in any MAN attacks being made.

[Thelonius]

Atelier Solaris

Discussions [PM]

Vault Master Warner: "I'm concerned that Dagger Brotherhood have taken out many neutral factions in Shadow and Power in their attacks. I have allies there and having somebody control both Power and Shadow can prove dangerous."


Grand Astrologist [3]

"I'm Julian, an apprentice to the Grand Master. He was in the Seat of Power, during the recent events. I sincerely hope, that your allies have left him unharmed, for we would have problems, if something has befallen him."

[Ascaloth]

Atelier Solaris
MAN: 3

"Agreed. In any other circumstances, that would warrant immediate investigation. Yet, the Ironcloaks are arguably a more pressing matter at the moment..."

"...alright, I've decided. Even if the Purifiers and Soul Alchemists have the intent to cause mischief at the moment, their Battlemages are - or were - out there, so they probably can't get up to much right now even if they want to. We're moving out from here, but we'll be splitting up."

"Fleshcrafters, the rest of the Mages are massing to retake the Upper Levels from the Ironcloaks. Commit your forces, all of them that you can spare, to helping them do so. If at all possible, direct the main thrust of your Battlemages towards seizing the Tower Controls from the Heralds. The closer you can get to that objective, the stronger the grasp my Ritual should have on the Tower Wards. If we can secure control of these, it should be immensely helpful in saving the day for the Tower."

"As for the Source Seats, the actions of fellow Ritualists are a more direct responsibility to me as Department Head. So, I will focus on investigating the matter; taking a personal hand in it, if necessary. Mister Warner, I'll appreciate it if your Vault Guard could join Cecilia and I on a foray down there. Mister Fuller was apparently in the area too, and his disciples are worried about his safety, so I'll see if they'll like to join in and make this a search party as well."

Now what was mister Fuller doing there, I wonder? Actually I don't, I have a fairly good idea of why, but that's besides the point.

Anyway, I'm putting together a recon party to see what exactly happened in the Source Seats for ourselves. You're welcome to have some of your fellow disciples join us, if you're worried about mister Fuller's safety. Although I'm sure he won't be in any real danger, if he lives up to his name. Probably saw it coming after all.

Okay, if Solaris cannot Mentor Cecilia, no sense letting that Free Action go to waste. I'll use that Free Action to Mentor Hilde instead. As an Apothecary, she should be close enough to be compatible with the Potion of Preservation.

Equip Cecilia with a set of Black Iron Weapons. If she can't use magic, she may be the only one around who can actually make use of these.

Cecilia will, if possible, Escort Solaris to the Source Seats to see the aftermath of the Dagger-Pretenders battle for themselves. If it's not possible, or if Solaris needs to stay put at the Ritual Seat to make sure the Tower Wards subversion Ritual keeps working, Cecilia will go alone. If they're agreeable, the Vault Guard and whoever the Grand Astrologist's faction can send will come as well. Cecilia (and maybe Solaris) will keep some distance behind them, so that the Black Iron won't interfere with their magic. While they're at it, Cecilia will look out for Orsini's whereabouts; if the search party comes across him, Cecilia will question Orsini about what happened, and then she will kill him. If they face any resistance from Tower Council remnants or berserk Dagger Brotherhood, the search party will disengage and retreat as soon as possible.

Post-Invasion EoT

At this point, I think I'll only have Tower Markets left to direct. If the Tower survives, Reynaldo will be asked if he thinks Mulden will try to snatch market dominance of the Dawn Empire from the Tower again. If so, Tower Markets will counter their efforts yet again. If not, Tower Markets will follow his advice to invest in weapons production facilities, since he said those offer great potential returns.

[HerbieRAI]

Hospitium

Internal (PM)

Actions:
Top of the tower: Since my CRE and MAN are without leadership, they will mainly be used by others to help fight the Iron Cloaks. They will help heal any wounded.

Bottom of the Tower.
Hidelburg will use his first action to secretly attempt to stop the flow of power leaving the gate. His assumption is that it is feeding the key, but if he feels it going toward the creeper he will warn the others.

If Pathfinder is killed and drops the key (I'm thinking the creeper or betrayer in our midst), Hidelburg will us another action to pick up the key and close the gate. If successful he will then lead the mages to the top of the tower, saying we will fix the gate later when the tower is secure and we can understand what we are doing.

[Thelonius]

Atelier Solaris

Discussion [PM]

The plan proves agreeable to all.


Grand Astrologist [3]

“I shall conduct an independent examination. It seems that should any authority survive and we are not put to sword by Ironcloaks, many questions would be directed towards Ritual. It’s better to have two independent accounts.”


Lorekeepers

Shaan [PM]

[OOC: A minor correction. Statues around Turion’s Door are made of Black Iron]

Shaan feels presence at the Source Rift at the Turion’s Door - the Shades of the Shadow Court. They surround the Rift on the other side and whisper. Only two Mages seem to be aware of their presence - Pathbinder and Shaan. He can pick out some of their conversation with Pathbinder - she is furiously querying them on the operation of the Source Rift and wards around it - how they can be fixed. The Shades seem to offer the most obvious solution of shutting down the Sourcewatcher, though it would apparently “may allow some influence from the one beyond the Door”. There’s a mention of the Sourcewatcher operation manuals.

The Shades whisper to Shaan as well. “We are the Shadow of the Tower, yet your Council’s bindings are weak. The words and treaties haven’t been properly reestablished. We can barely reach you. So you shall have but one favor of us. Ask for it. Though some things about the Turion’s Door are hidden even from us.”


Hospitium

Perception of Truth [PM]

[Hidelburg 2/3 Actions Remain]
[OOC: A minor correction. Statues around Turion’s Door are made of Black Iron]

The attempt to divert power from flowing towards the Key quickly establishes, that no flow exists. No flow to the Key. It’s the Turion’s Gate that is drawing in Power. For a second Hidelburg can see the fields of Anti-Magic for what they are - incredibly complex and thick webs of spirit-magic, that are being drawn into the Black-Iron - most of it flows into the statues around Turion’s Door, but it seems all Black-Iron objects are currently exhibiting this pull. Hidelburg blinks, his head exploding with headache and his perception of anti-magic is gone.

[Ascaloth]

Atelier Solaris
MAN: 3

"Everyone's good with the plan? Wonderful. Right then, no more time to waste. Let's beat feet everyone, chop chop!"

That's good thinking, Julian. Very well, carry on. May we be faced with the problem of having to field difficult questions from the rest of the Tower, if only because the alternative would be far worse.

[Nemesis67]

Lorekeepers

The Door to Damnation? (PM)
Lorekeepers (PM)
"I need everything you have on the Blood Combine. They've killed some of our people in the North, and I would suspect the sixth Harbinger is their leader. The cult and symbols one. The Power Mage with us gave Ritual defense against Soul Transference to an outside power and uses unknown soul magic. Barus pulled those words out of her head, but we don't have context. If they're modern ShadowMancers, things are about to go rather poorly. Even if not, I don't want her meddling with the Door to put Power over us. I need to know where her loyalties lie."

[OOC: Actions detailed in EoT]

"Some of these Statues are archmages of old. The seals are past magic crises of the world. Demon incursions, natural disasters, even an attempted coup in the Circle...

Hidelburg, I'm sure you have additional insight.

Daggers, I recall the Cross Island incident involved you Harbingers. Care to enlighten us?"

[HerbieRAI]

Hospitium

Door to Damnation (PM)

I have the same insight that I had moments ago. Do the work and lets get out of here. If they ancients were able to hold back the evil with the door open they wouldn't have locked it. The Shade doesn't need to manipulate us, just wait for us to try to understand what we are incapable of understanding while it earns it's freedom. We do not have the time to understand and abuse the power here, get what you came down here for done and lets be on our way.

[Thelonius]

Pre-Turn Update

Ironcloaks Invasion

The forces on both sides gather for the fight, but Sigma, backed by IntSec and Lorekeepers offers a truce to collect the wounded. The truce is accepted by the Ironcloaks - no doubt seeing their own benefits in delaying the battle. The wounded are cared for, the preparations and shadow moves are done. And then something unexpected happens. The Black-Iron Weapons lose their potency, lending several easy victories in initial clashes.

After that the demand for surrender is met with acceptance. It seems that Sir Rupert Grand, who surrendered during Council assault, from his position as prisoner, managed to persuade Ironcloaks and their allied Mages, to end the struggle, before more lives were lost. The anti-magic of Black-Iron returns with time, but at that point all the fighting has ended.

Soon Mages led by Pathbinder and Kyris Shaan of Lorekeepers arrives - a part of the New Tower Council, that apparently slipped through the carnage of Dagger Brotherhood’s attack. They reveal manipulations at the Turion’s Door that both disabled Black-Iron and “fixed the Sources”. The Mages drunk at their victory let the horrifying concerns of tampering with door that leads to a horde of demons slide and celebrate victory. Min Willow, Sir Rupert Grand and Pathbinder, as well as their respective factions are seen as masterminds of success, though some whisper that IntSec backing Sigma and Lorekeepers hand in Turion’s Door were also essential.

Soon Blood Binder’s Host arrives and Battlemages fill the Tower, restoring the order and securing the prisoners. The intelligence reports of movements at the Iron Lords borders - no doubt the reinforcements that would have marched on the Tower, should Ironcloaks succeeded in taking control of it.


Global Events

Yen Diplomacy

Yen Council invites Tower’s top diplomats to negotiate new treaties of friendship and cooperation.

North

Tower succeeds in discrediting the Ironcloaks in the North, demonstrating their strength and how Ironcloaks chose to attack, instead of dealing with the Surge. The Ironcloaks shouldn’t be an issue for a time now - and some even speak of retaliation and conquest of Iron Lords.

Terraforming

Magic is used to bring up useful minerals from the depths of Earth to the surface, where they can be easily mind. Several major roads are established & repaired, firmly connecting Dawn Empire with Mulden and land is renewed for better farming. The popularity of the Tower in Dawn Empire raises - the conservatives have a field day pushing against the liberal pro-Mulden factions, claiming that Tower is still the foundation of Dawn Empire’s strength. Trade grows more balanced as Dawn Empire is less dependent on Mulden for food and raw materials and benefiting from the tariff agreements, now that it’s exporting.

Dawn Empire 3
- Trade & Reforms +1
- Terraforming +1
- Mundane Technology +0 (growing)
- Tower +1
Dawn Empire Loyalties
- Tower: 3
- Mulden: 2 (growing)

Ritual Knowledge Restored

On the tip from Lorekeepers the Tower agents in Dominion recover a cache of Ritual Books. The Great Library is already requesting for the books to be restored to their rightful place.

ECT thanks Lorekeepers profusely for their assistance.

Tower Markets Weapons Investment

Tower invests heavily in mundane weapons manufacture, using magic to assist in creation of weapons factories. Mulden’s Bankers provide financing and their universities crank out specialists, while resources and labor are supplied by Dawn Empire. All sides are about to grow very rich indeed by peddling the weapons to the North and South, where all it takes is a little spark to spark a new war.

Technology in Dawn Empire

Tower sponsors education and sciences in Dawn Empire, assisted by teachers and scientists from Mulden. It promises to further advance Dawn Empire, bringing an “industrial revolution” to it, though there’s some disturbing talk about technology replacing magic, that seems to be spreading among the young, impressionable minds.

Warlock Hunts

The timing is good on hunting the rogue Warlocks - it seems they are rapidly growing in magical power, but yet inexperienced in using it. A successful operation eliminates Calamity Circle - where strange bedfellows of Purge Knights help in destroying one of the most vile Warlock groups. The subsequent attempt to eliminate the hated Purge Knights is thwarted by Church of Endless Ocean extending protection to them. It seems the High Priest has an ambition of having a pet order of Mages serving the Church.

In Asimaar the agents of the Tower observe the plot of Emerald Lodge to put a pro-Mage King on the throne. If assisted, Emerald Lodge promise to ally with Tower. Of course such move will likely provoke anti-mage response. Agents are waiting for orders.

In the North the warlocks and those seeking power of the Surges are dealt with - though Dragonblood slavers manage to snatch some. The battle against Dragonblood Slavers is only partially successful. The Dragonblood agents are cunning and sneaky. It seems that Dragonblood Empire is throwing enormous amount of resources into securing every Gifted without protection and chaining them. The Agents estimate that Dragonblood Empire may have doubled the number of their Chained Mages just from these harvests.

Scholarium

Tower delegates most of the effort to mop up Surge effects to Scholarium Arcana, who accept it enthusiastically. They prove efficient in tracking down warlocks and infused artefacts, turning those to Tower for disposal. The whole effort allows them to piggyback on the Tower’s reputation surge, greatly enhancing their own prestige. The name of Scholarium Arcana grows known in the North.

Dominion

The orders to the Agents in the Dominion are somewhat contradictory as several factions in Sigma with about equal influence on Tower spies give conflicting directions. The Tower works with Mulden Bankers - who indeed seem intent on keeping the realm together. However, they are undercut by weapons merchants and banks that back them in Mulden, who now clearly favor generating a bit of demand for guns by invoking a spirit of new war in the north.

The outreach to Telamorian factions proves futile - they seem to favor war. The push to direct Churches against each other produces more instability as Tower’s agents are unable to contain the growing ripples of chaos it produces. The alliance with Sentinels on other hand provides a number of good opportunities, as they clearly wish for peace. Unfortunately, the operation is too disorganized. A number of Dragonblood agents are eliminated, but they seem to be laying low and hard to find. At this point the biggest question is how exactly Dominion is still holding together?

[Thelonius]

Turn 8


Tower Council

The need for a centralized, powerful government is brought up by various prominent political figures in the aftermath of the invasion. The Tower Council needs to be restored once more - but the institute has lost much of it's power and prestige. A number of figures seem to have already indicated their interest in acquiring this position of power.

Brusar: 4
- 3 INF [Position]
- 1 INF [Tradition]

Lyhoday: 3
2 INF [Properly Paranoid][T]
1 INF [Tradition]

Pathbinder: 12
1 INF [Department Head]
1 INF [Territory]
9 INF [Age of Magic]
1 INF [Hero of Invasion]
? INF [Turion Door Meddling]

Sir Rupert Grand: 6
3 INF [Department Head]
1 INF [Territory]
2 INF [Hero of Invasion][T]
? INF [Herald’s Dupe]

Turen: 11
3 INF [Department Head]
3 INF [Territory]
4 INF [Age of Magic]
1 INF [Turion’s Key]
? INF [Turion Door Meddling]

Caldwin Buras: 8
3 INF [Department Head]
2 INF [Territory]
2 INF [Savvy Politics][T]
1 INF [Peacekeepers][T]

Blake: 11
3 INF [Department Head]
6 INF [Territory]
1 INF
1 INF [Hero of Invasion][T]
? INF [Anti-Infiltration Inquiry]

Solaris Summerscent: 6
3 INF [Department Head]
2 INF [Territory]
1 INF [Mysterious & Dangerous][T]
? INF [Dagger Brotherhood’s Ties]

Politics

The Magic-Conservatives are aghast at events at Turion's Door: "You messed with one thing, holding the most vicious demons of the Age of Magic, that took the whole might of the Circle at the height of it's power to subdue and you think there will be no consequences? Insanity! The Turion's Door must be restored. We've consulted with Grand Astrologist and he says there's a way. Even if it will affect our power we mustn't risk the fate of the world!"

The Transcendence Party on other hand backs the new status quo. "We fixed the great ill that befell the Tower and now we are in position to restore the Age of Magic. There's merit in caution, but not when it chains and shackles our potential."


Tower News

Freedom of Sources

The effects on the Sources are felt by all - Power and Shadow respond easily, giving Mages an unprecedented amount of power. Pathbinder is hailed as a hero by many - yet there are also voices of concern - did her meddling with Turion's Door weaken the bindings. It seems that Grand Astrologist may have some insight, as his reputation of great mystical knowledge grows.

[I]Tower gains Stable Sources Trait
1.
Shadow & Power: +1 Bonus Hall Limit per 3 Hall Limit
Magitech, Tower, Warmagic: +1 Bonus Hall Limit per 4 Hall Limit
All Other: +1 Bonus Hall Limit per 5 Hall Limit
2.
All factions gain -2 Sourceburn

Martial Law

Many are calling for Bloodbinder to position the Hosts in the Tower to ensure peace and order, until things normalize. This would reduce Tower's military presence outside of Tower, but there's merit in having some safeguards, especially with Equalists and Dagger Brotherhood issue. That is if Bloodbinder could be trusted not to exploit the situation to her benefit of course.

Equalists & Dagger Brotherhood

Grand Astrologists delivers a grave warning - Dagger Brotherhood have been secretly a Dualist sect, using both Power and Shadow for great power boost, yet risking insanity and terrible backlash. Despite suffering great losses in the fighting, Brotherhood's control over Shadow and Power Halls gives them access to a lot of Source power, making many wary to oppose them.

An unexpected ambassador of Equalists arrives to deliver an offer:

"We have practiced the Way of Balance, you call "Dualism", finding ways to gain insight and power without succumbing to the madness of imbalance. When Dagger Brotherhood contacted us, they presented themselves as our brothers, practicing the same path of inner peace. Yet we see now, that we have been deceived - they lack the proper force of will and patience to properly practice the Way. We offer to remove Dagger Brotherhood and join out power to Tower in reconciliation. The Dualism carries terrible risks, but the Way we practice negates them. We ask that you give us to Halls one in Power and one in Shadow and pledge not to expand out influence out of them. We shall also submit to evaluations to prove, that the Way keeps us from becoming unbalanced. You also hold out leader - Mage Amerlain, whom we ask you to release."

Yen Delegation

Yen Council has requested an official meeting in the Tower to discuss future of cooperation between the two magical organizations. If whatever authority in the Tower emerges, agrees, then the Gates will be used for the first time in centuries to bring former members of the Circle to the Sunken Tower.

Message from the North

A garbled Shadow Whisper arrives from the North: "Supplies run... Dragon... Help..."

A quick check reveals that Tower used to have an observation post in the harsh, unlivable wasteland of the North, where even Magic grows weak and unreliable. Nobody realized that it was manned - it seems that knowledge died with the old Tower Council.

Prisoners

A large number of Ironcloaks, their weapons, including Black-Iron are held by the Tower. A decision must be reached about them, as well as Heralds and Inquest Mages, who turned traitor.

Sir Rupert Grand has pledged their safety, though the hardliners insist on harsher terms now, that victory is secured.

Soul Alchemists

The news of Michael Orsini's death arrives, presumably from Dagger Brotherhood's knives, though some point to Atelier Solaris group visiting the Power Department at the time. The Soul Alchemists after long discussion chose to pledge to Lorekeepers, though many retire from the faction, once it's absorbed.

Sir Rupert Grand & Architect

Sir Rupert Grand managed to recover from his disastrous connection with Heralds and his nearly defunct political party merged with Warhawks of the Architect.

Blitz Brotherhood

The supporters of Lightning Mage have decided to continue his work, declaring themselves to be Blitz Brotherhood, dedicated to power and force. Lightning Mage has become a fallen hero of the Ironcloaks Invasion as rumor has him collapse Council Chambers on the heads of Ironcloaks, saving Executive Council. So far nobody contradicted this version, that gives Mages a heroic figure, useful for political purposes.

Sigma's Conquest

Sigma's forces, backed by Wakers have occupied Office of Initiate Affairs, taking it under control.

Uplift Absorbed

Purifiers have absorbed the Uplift faction, as Mage Angelo declared Anise Fortesuce has opted to withdraw, due to the stress of the events at the Turion's Door.

Unaligned Halls

The former Halls of Heralds and Crimson Staves find themselves without a Faction to represent their interests. Many are eyeing them now with covetous eyes.

Strange Messages

A spirit-bird arrives to the Tower carrying a short, odd message. "Heya there Tower Folks. I'm Old Man Jim and I want to ask you for that doodad, Turion's Key. You see, Spirits are mighty unhappy with all the things you folks did, and it'd be mighty wise of you to give them the Key for safekeeping."

Elemental Shade of Murder

Something new and terrible now walks the halls and corridors of the Tower - a creature born both of Shadow and Power. They say it's manifestation of the backlash of Dagger Brotherhood or Orsini's Shade or something that escaped the Turion's Door... The creature is here to stay and to slay.

1. Elemental Shade will murder 2 VIPs every turn or 1 VIP, if given a "contract" via Shadow Court (anybody can do it, in spoiler to GM)
2. Defenses against Elemental Shade may cause it to switch targets. But as long as it exists it will murder.
3. Only VIPs can oppose Elemental Shade, though it will seek to slay those, who attempt to hunt it.


Territory Projects

The invasion of Ironcloaks has delayed many of the projects, but some Halls have managed to make significant advancements nevertheless.

Conspiracies of the North

Eye of the North proudly reports of "having figured out" the conspiracies running the North. They seem serious about it.

Goblin Unions

FIGL has roused the goblin population of the Tower, rallying thousands upon thousands of the creatures, usually content to sweep floors and scurry out of Mages way, or being used in the magical experiments. FIGL is demanding that Mages confirm certain rights of goblins, making them into proper "servants", rather then "slave/experiment material". The promise increase in productivity, security and greater support, however many Mages are concerned that it would require costly investment in improving goblin's living conditions and impact research.

The Shatter Swarm

The Architect has announced testing of a new weapon the Shatter Swarm. Composed of hundreds, potentially thousands autonomous magitech mini-automata, the Shatter Swarm specializes in destruction of Gems, making it a potent anti-Magitech weapon. Architect believes Shatter Swarm will be invaluable in any conflict against Elreath or may be used against Pylons of the Madlands, as long as Swarm could be guarded against Corruption.

Lightbringers

Lightbringers had considerable success in gaining anti-slavery support against Dragonblood Empire. A number of sympathizers both in Dragonblood Empire and outside of it are willing to work on liberation of the poor souls, caught and chained. The liberated Mages undergo psychological treatment and support to allow them to recover their sense of self and dignity, stripped by the cruel lash of the Dragonblood slavemasters.


World News

The Conclave

There are rumors of New Conclave - a meeting of major Warlock groups to discuss a possibility of alliance. If such meeting were to succeed, the Sunken Tower may acquire a powerful rival or ally, as Warlocks have been growing more numerous and stronger in the recent years. With Ironcloaks discredited, the Warlock organizations around the world are rapidly growing in power and in some cases, beginning to challenge mundane authorities.

Elreath continues it's diplomacy - as it representatives contact many Warlock organizations with offers of alliance and cooperation.

Elreath

Tower's recent victories seem to have given its diplomats a temporary edge, as they successfully blocked Elreath once more in Mulden and Telamore. Though memories of such things fade fast, for now Elreath holds no foothold in the North. It's unknown how successful their efforts have been in the East with Dragonblood Empire.

The Lightbringers surprisingly have something to say on the matter: "We are growing concerned about Elreath. They seem desperate to present themselves as good friends to others. And they go to great lengths to avoid meeting any Tower Mages, as if they fear us."

Sir Rupert Grand writes a short report, that can be summed up in following: We have been blocking Elreath at every turn. If they are not fools, they would recognize our hand in it by now. I predict Elreath will grow more hostile and act to weaken us in the coming days."

Al-Makim

The Al-Makim are progressing in construction of their interplanetary ship. The reports indicate that the whole things is going to be massive - it's less of an exploratory vessel, and more of a cargo one.

The Holy Army

Church of Endless Ocean has long followed a path of militant faith and now it has gathered thousands upon thousands of faithful, ready to fight and die to bring the Name of the God Beyond Ocean to the heretics and atheists. It seems High Priests Madero plans for a Holy War.

The Pilgrimage of The Rose

There are rumors, that the great Prophetess of the Rose has left her palace to walk the Earth, heeding the Prophetic Call.

Glen Republic

There have been increased skirmishes between the fleets of Glen Republic and Dawn Empire in the recent days. Admiral Ray’s Fleet has demonstrated its capacity against powerful foreign navy.

The Opposition in the Glen Republic is using the results of recent skirmishes to force re-election and depose the current War Party, claiming the war would be a bloody stupid idea. It is expected that Justicars aligned with War Party would enact harsh methods to deal with dissidents and a number of the newspapers and radio stations have been shut down for treasonous propaganda.

Meanwhile Glen begun to test range of airships and planes to see, whether they’d be able to reach Dawn Empire from Red Continent without need for resupply, as Dawn Empire has successfully denied them easy conquest of islands, that could have served as supply bases.

Dominon War Cometh

There is a sense of inevitability in the Dominion... the uprising is coming, one that even the Seal of Peace won't be able to hold. The armies of foreign vultures prepare at he borders, ready to snatch a big piece for themselves.

Cults & Prophesy

In the Mulden a word of new prophesy spreads - one that involves a creature known as Devouring Worm and One-Eyed Hunter, who carries Dragon-Blood Spear.

Elemental Surge

The Elemental Surge that could have devastated North is over, with sacrifices made by the Tower. The energies of the Sources retreat and with effects of the Stable Source from Turion's Door, the Tower may have a unique opportunity to descend into the Rift. Tower Binders warn that even with Sources calmer, the Rift shall soon become dangerous once more and implore for an expedition to be sent into the deep bowels of earth.

Weapons Trade

Mulden has been quick in pouring coin into weapon factories to manufacture guns. Inferior to the craftsmanship of the Glen, they still represent a potent tool of warfare. The Northern Nations are spending fortunes to acquire as many rifles and cannons as they can, in fear that their neighbors would gain an edge otherwise. The Sandarian Republic is openly preparing for warfare, while Telamore is instituting reforms and recruiting riflemen regiments. Even Dominion has went as far as purchase guns, if only to make certain they wouldn’t go towards their warlike neighbors. The war fever has gripped the North - and the only question is which shot would break the peace.

This has played to the economy of Dawn Empire, whose raw materials, land and labor Mulden is using for the gunpowder mills and munitions factories. The Dawn Navy has the first pick of new gunpowder weapons, though land army is slower to adopt the new weapons, due to conservatism of its generals.

In the South Malvoc Consortium seems to be losing in their long trade war with Mulden as access to Dawn Empire and new technologies gave them significant edge. The Free Cities suddenly find themselves with large number of unemployed mercenary companies - as usual northern employers have opted to buy guns to hiring mercs.

Sandarian Directorate

War Director Francois Valade led a coup that deposed the incumbent and increasingly unpopular parliament, announcing formation of Sandarian Directorate, that shall reclaim the glories of Sandaria. This development seems to have caught many by surprise. Valade has support of the army, that essentially put him in charge and considered one of the brilliant strategic minds of the north.

Spirit Courts

A fleet of Glen ships has arrived to the Spirit Isle, setting anchor in its peaceful waters. Their emissaries have disembarked and petitioned the Courts to grant the Boon of Blessing, allowing Spirits to empower gunpowder weapons with anti-magic effects. It this Boon is granted, the world will experience a great paradigm shift in warfare, where a peasant with spirit-blessed boomstick could bring down even the mightiest Battlemage.

Telamorian Lodge

Telamorian Lodge has been secluded for so long, that some have started to think, they have died out in some magical mishap. Yet several of their numbers have emerged from the deep warrens beneath Primval, to their usually unoccupied Tower above. This caused considerable stir in the political circles, as well as question - what could have drawn members of the second most powerful magical organization in the world to become active once more.

Emperor Reeve The Chainmaster

A sudden end to the Imperial Succession Games comes with victory of the Reeve The Chainmaster. The other candidates kneel and pledge their support to the master of the Chained Mages. The Empire prepares for the rule of it’s new powerful and cruel master.

[HerbieRAI]

Hospitium

EC

keeping away from the major topics, Passtrum brings up two small points

Black Iron Weapons
I propose we give the black iron weapons we collected to Pentacle, so they use it to look into countermeasures.

Spirit Issues
I feel there is something going on with the spirits that we need to discover before making any moves on their request for the key or in dealing with Glen's arrival on the island. Give me 2 days to gather information.

To Warders (PM)

Is the door currently fully closed and secure? If it is I may be able to get the key out of the tower, which would do a lot to keep it from opening again.


To the Hunters (MAN 3)

As I'm sure you've heard, there is a beast roaming the tower killing other mages. There is a new member of the Hall of Spirits that is looking to hunt the creature, would any of you like to join the hunt close to home?


To the Purple Court (PM)

Dr. Neilsman approaches the court, attempting to look mage-like, although it is obvious he is not a mage
"My name is Ralph Neilsman, I come from the Sunken tower. We recently noticed your magic is heavily involved in Turion's Door, what is the purpose of the spirit web?"


To Shadow Walkers (MAN 3)

When we went on a trip a few months ago into the Dragonblood empire the shadow paths were collapsing. Do you have any records on why this is happening?


Internal (PM)

Forgot the new VIP, and didn't realize I also get a trait
for the VIP, can he be
Hammond Viktors, a spirit born that has been brought in to help unravel the spirit relations. Hammond doesn't have much interaction with the courts yet, but is a bit of a survivalist. Can we say he spent his last turn in combat training?
For the trait, can it be Empathy II? It would give us insight into other mages and people's motiviations, and help decern lies.

In my EOT it says the warders are at 4, but my faction document says 3. Is this a mistake or do they mean different things. Does getting their help every turn hurt the relations?

Is Shylla the Wyrvn dead, or can I still talk to her?

[Ascaloth]

Atelier Solaris, Hall of Alchemy & Acquisitions

Solaris sat in utter silence at her desk, in the gloom of the dimly-lit Atelier which was more used to the light, noise and bustle that came with the business of practising Alchemy. Tear streaks marred her downcast face, as she ran her hands over a sword that was placed on the desk. Cecilia's sword, the weapon she had used to save Solaris' life on so many occasions before. Which she always had on her person, up until Solaris had told her to equip herself with a new set of gear. And Cecilia had obeyed, and the new gear had functioned as intended... right up until it didn't.

Morose and taciturn in her solitude, Solaris reminisced about days long past. As a mere Initiate and apprenticing at the Life Vats at the time - were the Fleshcrafters already in charge then, or was it the group that came before them? - she had needed to produce an eye-catching thesis project in order to graduate as a full Mage of the Tower. And Cecilia had been her thesis.

She was a Ritualborn Homonculus, created and decanted from the Life Vats. Designed to be the closest thing possible to the perfect warrior and protector. That had required that Solaris build into Cecilia the capability to learn from experience, so that she could eventually develop into her intended role from the start. It eventually turned out to be the case that instilling a glimmer of sentience was the only practical way of achieving this, and that had been skirting perilously close to the forbidden Mageborn magic... so Solaris took great care not to go overboard, leaving Cecilia with only that glimmer.

Even so, it was touch-and-go at the best of times... but seeing the depths of her potential, the senior Mages of the time had chosen to induct Solaris as a full Mage in her own right, so long as she never went any further on that particular path. Solaris had to choose another path of study to embark upon, and it was her mentor - her predecessor as the resident Alchemist of the Sunken Tower - who had eventually set her on the course that had led her where she is today.

And through it all, Cecilia had been her constant companion, safeguarding her from all the various pitfalls that could have so easily befallen her throughout her tenure in the Tower. And, much to Solaris' surprise, Cecilia had grown even further on her own, her glimmer of sentience beginning to bud into something more. Beyond Solaris' wildest expectations, Cecilia was showing signs of developing into a fully cognizant Mageborn on her own. There was so much potential there...

...but that didn't matter so much now, did it?

She sighed, and wiped away the last traces of her tears. Her guardian, her saviour, her constant companion for all these years is no longer by her side. So now she must move forward on her own. Solaris Summerscent needed the time to mourn the loss of her most reliable friend, and she had taken the time she needed.

But now, the Alchemist of the Sunken Tower has work to do. And time waited for no one.



Atelier Solaris
MAN: 3

Executive Council

"I do believe that this is the time for words to be exchanged, and for the deliberations as to the formation of the next Tower Council to commence. However, there are current events that will not wait, and so it is necessary that some semblance of leadership on our part be practised. If only for the sake of keeping the Tower functioning and involved in both internal and external matters, even as we work to put a more permanent leadership structure into place."

"So, my fellow Mages of the Tower, how do you propose we should go about it?"



PCs

Good day, mister Weymond. This is Solaris.

Thank you for the work you have done, and the sacrifices you have made, to liberate the Tower from the clutches of the Ironcloaks. With any luck, the Tower shall be able to return to business as usual soon enough.

And business is what I wish to discuss today. As you may recall, my Seat has rendered a certain level of assistance towards improving the operations of your Department of Initiations upon your request. In return, I recall that you'd assist us likewise, in ensuring that my Seat will be guaranteed an intake of promising Initiates whose potential would best be brought out as Ritualists. I would like to enquire as to the progress in this particular matter.

On a related note, I would like to ask if there have been any especially promising recruits that have come into your Department lately? Are there any you could recommend to my service? (OOC: VIPs)

P.S. If I may ask, mister Weymond, what is your opinion in the matter of the Sources?

Good day, mister Buras. This is Solaris.

Thank you for the work you have done, and the sacrifices you have made, to liberate the Tower from the clutches of the Ironcloaks. With any luck, the Tower shall be able to return to business as usual soon enough.

As you may be aware, I am known as a Friend of the Department of Warmagic. Rest assured that I remain a friend of your Department still, and will be happy to render any assistance that I may if you should need it. Also, I regard you as a personal friend as well, mister Buras, and I hope you'll be so kind as to consider me likewise. Please do not hesitate to tell me, if there is anything you might need.

P.S. If I may ask, mister Buras, what is your opinion in the matter of the Sources?

Good day, Dr Passtrum. This is Solaris.

You may be interested to know that I have recently come across a tome, that holds some undoubtedly intriguing secrets. I have tried to decipher the formula detailed in its pages, but it seems that they incorporate significant elements of some sort of Fringe Magic.

As such, I would like to ask if Dr Hidelburg happens to be available? If so, and if he is willing to spare some time in assisting me once again, it would be much appreciated. I'm certain this could be of great mutual benefit to the both of us, just as it has before.

P.S. If I may ask, Dr Passtrum, what is your opinion in the matter of the Sources?



NPCs

I hear your concerns, and I'm inclined to share in your alarm at the apparent meddling that has occurred at Turion's Door. However, I am not entirely aware of the details, and I would like to hear more if you have any to share.

Shall we convene a private meeting? I believe it is necessary that we discuss this, and various other matters, that presently concern the fate of the Tower itself.

(OOC: If they agree, use Nicholas' VIP action to create a "Ritualist's Cabal" PM.)

I am glad all of you have come out of the Ironcloaks incursion relatively unscathed. Now it's time to rebuild the strength of the Tower, and I believe our Party must do our part in that regard.

Shall we discuss the direction our Party should take from here on out? I'm thinking we should consolidate what our preferred objectives should be, and what we should do in service of them. Any suggestions, before I put forth mine?

I am glad the both of you have come out of this Ironcloaks incursion relatively unscathed. The Tower has suffered much damage from their depredations, and I believe we should resume our work post-haste so the Tower may have what it needs to rebuild.

For our first order of business, this is what I propose. Mister Reinaldo Escobane has been an invaluable asset to the Tower and to our Tower Markets Project, yet his contract with us ends as of this month. I recommend that we renew our contract with him, with the same terms as before. 2 CRE from the both of you, and 2 CRE from myself. Is that fine?

Hey there, Sir Grand. Solaris here.

Do not blame yourself overmuch for the Heralds' duplicity, if I may say so. There is none amongst us who can say with complete certainty what goes on in the minds of our fellow Mages, even those who may intend to betray us. All that can be done is to take this for the learning experience that it is, and move forward from here.

As such, it seems I have missed some events in the course of rearranging the terrain within the Tower to make it more favourable for our Battlemages, and less so for the Ironcloaks. Would you be so kind as to catch me up on what has transpired? And what your opinion is on them, while you're at it?

Greetings. I am Solaris Summerscent, Department Head of the Seat of Ritual Magic. The Dagger Brotherhood were nominally a subordinate of mine given their membership in the Seat, and I was one of those who recommended that they be the Tower's liaison to yourselves. Thus, I deeply and sincerely apologize for their duplicity towards yourselves, and I hope that their deeds have not caused undue harm towards your people, nor soured your opinion of the Tower as a whole.

I have heard of the imprisonment of your leader, Mage Amerlain, by my fellow Mages. If I may ask, how did that come about, and how is it that I may assist you in this regard?

[Thelonius]

EC

Sir Rupert Grand: ”I doubt Pentacle would need all of the Black-Iron. What shall be done with the rest of them?”

[OOC: I’ll wait for PCs suggestions on Tower Council issue.]

Hospitium

Warders [PM]

Closed yes. Who knows what impact the recent events had. But getting the Key out would be a wise move - until those who hold it decide to tinker some more.


Hunter [3]

“Well… it’s not exactly Beast, from what I hear. But I guess it’ll have to do. I think I’ll join in.”


Spirit Courts [PM]

Dr. Neilsman walks along the seemingly endless wall of the Spirit-City, leaving behind the Silver Gate, passing Azure Gate, until he arrives to the Purple Gate, that leads to the Purple Court part of the city. His knock is answered by an appearance of a figure clothed in many layers of azure-colored cloth, her face hidden by black veil. “Visitor. The Purple Court is Silent. I have been appointed as it’s Gatekeeper. You have questions for them. Are they important enough for me to let you pass and disturb the Silence?”


Shadow Walkers [3]

“It has been so for centuries. You should inquire at the Libraries, as the truth is buried in ancient history.”


Internal [PM]

You can talk to Shylla.

Faction Sheet things fixed.


Atelier Solaris

Grand Astrologists, Fleshcrafters, Vault Guard [3]

All agree for the meeting.


Mercantile Party [3]

Merchants of Wonder: “What must be done is Mulden must be brought to heel.
The economic power of Dawn Empire has grown and we have prospered, but we must avoid becoming culturally and economically dominated by our neighbor. It’s Sunken Tower and Dawn Empire, that should be senior business partners of this arrangement.”

Lightbringers: “We are growing concerned about the weapons trade. A war is brewing in the North, that will be fought with machine guns, chemical weapons and bombs. Let us not be Merchants of Death - and for a start examine, just how deadly these inventions would make warfare.”

Reclaimers: “We should persuade the Tower, it needs to begin restoration of the ancient magical infrastructure. Now that Turion’s Door is fixed, we can start bringing back the Age of Magic. ”


Tower Markets [3]

Both Factions agree to extend the contract, however Mr Escobane seems to wish to discuss new terms.


Sir Rupert Grand [3]

“We have both suffered from misplacing our trust - I in Heralds, you in Dagger Brotherhood. What exactly do you wish to know?”


Equalists [3]

“We thank you for your support. Our leader is held by the one Pathbinder - captured during the unfortunate events in the Tower, when we were deceived by Dagger Brotherhood. Can you secure her release?”

[Murska]

Sigma

Tower Council

"The right way to go about it is to quickly hold the Grand Council vote that we already confirmed would happen, before the invasion. We need a fresh start for the central authority in Tower, to use our common struggle to mend factionalism and restore the lost faith in the Councils. Until then, the Executive Council needs to keep the Tower functioning, but the vote needs to be held without delay."

Turion's Gate

"It is common, yet effective wisdom that if something looks too good to be true, it often isn't. However, sometimes it is, and throwing away good fortune surely leads to ending up with just the ill. I want a detailed report on what exactly happened at the Door, what has been done to it and what it was supposed to achieve."

World Politics

"I personally believe our chief concern is the Dragonblood situation and our foreign policy in the short term should revolve around that. The victory of Reeve is terrible for us, and we need to leverage what assets we can to handle the coming war while our military recovers from the recent struggles. I believe IntSec has already began forming new Projects to that effect.

We need to take the Yen meeting and convince them to ally with us. We may be able to use their contacts to sway the Glen, especially if we use our agents to help the opposition to prosper - if the Glen used their might against the Dragonbloods, with their traditionally weak navy, that would be a great boon to us, while if they invade while we are busy elsewhere it may prove disastrous.

We should be lenient to the Ironcloaks - the extremist faction they represent has been thoroughly discredited by their disaster of an invasion, and if we can prop up our image as benevolent and diplomatic we can pacify their front for the time being, while we deal with Dragonbloods, Glen and Elreath. As for traitors, that is worse - we should deal harshly with the top leadership, but allow the rank and file to return to their duties under more loyal management, in my opinion.

We need to bolster the anti-slavery movement - it's exactly what we need, portraying the Tower as saving Gifted from slavery under the yoke of the Dragonbloods and allowing them to learn to control their gifts and direct them to peaceful pursuits rather than endless war.

As for the Elreath, we must speak with them and try to understand what their recent advances have been about. If they fear us, they may lash out at the most inopportune time, and that is something we could resolve with a conversation. If they fear something else... well, that too is something we must know about."

Dominion

"It's probably time to admit that propping up the Domina won't work. Would it be possible to avoid a drawn-out war by using our political clout in the North to hold a conference of major nations to partition some of the territory and set up proper reforms to placate the rest or at least keep them busy, so that once the war comes with Dragonbloods we can count on Telamore not to be stuck in a quagmire?"

Black Iron

"Until we have a countermeasure, allowing so much of it back into circulation would not be wise in the long run. Unless we truly need it against the Chained, we should leave the rest in our Vaults, possibly used to bolster Turion's Door if such a measure is necessary."

Dagger Brotherhood

"I do not presume to know the exact details of what transpired, though I would dearly love to hear it. But meddling in Dualism, failing in containing it while striking out at Tower Mages in the midst of an outside invasion of Ironcloaks is unacceptable. I vote we accept the offer of the Equalists and remove the Dagger Brotherhood. And hunt down that vile creature they have wrought."

Message from the North

"It is past time we investigate what is going on up there. And after the shame of losing track of our outpost, we must not add injury to insult by not relieving them when they are in trouble."

Spirits

"It's better not to piss them off. Let's wait for Hospitium."

Northern Conspiracies

"Well then. Let's hear it."

Goblin Unions

"I suppose while we're fighting slavery outside, we may as well look to reforming ourselves within. See what reasonable measures can be made without undue loss of efficiency at least until the Tower has recovered from the recent troubles.


--- ---

GM

Sigma will spread the true story of what happened in the Council Chambers during the invasion - not denying Lightning Mage's heroism, but also noting that it was Weymond's idea and many others contributed. The Tower needs to see unity and factions working together to get rid of factionalism. I doubt anyone who was there will directly contradict the truthful version of events, so it should be confirmed rather quickly.

[Thelonius]

EC

Turion’s Door

Mage Angelo: “I would suggest, that Grand Astrologist and Kyris Shaan are called to report on situation with Turion’s Door as impartial witnesses.”

World Politics

Sir Rupert Grand: “I agree in that we have an opportunity to neutralize Glen Republic as a threat. If we fail to do it now, we may face war on two fronts. I should also correct respected Councilman. The Ironcloaks we’ve defeated belong to the moderate faction - hence their willingness to work with Mages and attempt to conquer the Tower, rather than destroy it. I should add, that if situation with Turion’s Door becomes known, we may face considerable diplomatic reversal. Hopefully, it won’t happen. As for Elreath, you know my position - I believe we should be bringing them to heel through force.”

Ruby Marshall: “We seem to have an abundance of enemies. Though the fact that Elreath plundered us, makes me lean in favor of Sir Grand’s view of things.”

Pathbinder: “We can start with diplomacy regarding Elreath - there are enemies, who deserve our attention far more - like Dragonbloods. But I believe the most dangerous ones to the Tower right now are Spirits. The whole north is arming themselves with guns. If those acquired anti-magic properties, it’ll be a blow, we may not survive. Do we trust Hospitium not to side against us with the Spirits?”

Dominion

Sir Rupert Grand: “At this point a conference is the only thing, that has a shot of succeeding. We’ll expend all of our political capital to pull it off - but if we succeed, it may cement our influence in the North and may succeed in drawing upon its power against Dragonblood Empire and if need be Glen Republic. Mulden will agree. We have some good contacts in Telamore to push them to attend. If we get either Sandarians or Clovis, the rest will have to join in as well. A good question is whether Shok’An should be invited - he is a warlord of Free Lands. Not exactly a reputable figure - but one with a large army, dare we leave him out of it? And of course there’s Red Anslem and their undead horrors.”

Dagger Brotherhood

Pathbinder: “I agree that Dagger Brotherhood must be removed. But do we invite a wolf to get rid of a fox? Equalists are an insane cult, that practices Dualism. They claim, that they can control it, but so would any madmen claim sanity.”

Message from North

Ruby Marshall: “Our brothers and sisters must be rescued. What resources can we command to send North?”

Goblin Unions

Sir Rupert Grand: “We may as well.”

Ruby Marshall: “It will cost us and relaxing the leash on them may give gobbos dangerous ideas, though there’s some merit in giving them better training and incentives. If they can be trained. I’m not as certain of that as FIGL is of the creatures potential.”

Pathbinder: “Those creatures were made by us. They are artificial constructs, machines of flesh, that got their patterns messed up, so they make trouble. FIGL are naive fools. We should correct the obedience and performance issues that exists in goblins, rather than letting their errancy run rampant.”

Mage Angelo: “Mageborn are our creation, but perhaps we have been treating them too much as tools. As Soulless they are an order below us, who belong to the Human Oversoul. However, our exalted status imposes on us certain obligations in how we should treat our client races. I say we follow FIGL’s suggestion, but make it clear, reasonable limits exists. Perhaps FIGL can dedicate their efforts into researching possibility of Mageborn races ascending.”

Northern Conspiracies

Mage Ocram Olgier of Northen Eye presents the report.

Mulden: Scholars Society

The Scholars Society appears to be an organization of powerful and intelligent individuals in Mulden. They come from all corners of society - industrialists, scientists, cult leaders and merchant princes. The inner circle seems to be a small group, led by “Golden Grandmaster”. The Scholars Society appears to have as its goal prosperity of Mulden and it has been using its economic, cultural and political power to prevent outside threats. Olgier suspects that some of the revolutionary troubles in Sandaria has been due to old Monarchy considering conquest of Mulden and it's previous revolutionary government was backed by the Society. It’s likely the Scholars Society would be seeking domination over Dawn Empire through economic and cultural means.

Free Lands/Telamore: Red Anslem

Red Anslem has full backing of Scholarium Arcana and several lesser factions in Telamore. Whatever Red Anslem and Scholarium are plotting, it’s not invasion of Dominion or conquest of Free Lands. They have been unusually successful in keeping their intention secret, but the two are clearly accumulating power for something big.

North: Dragonblood Empire

The Dragonblood Empire has an extensive and powerful network of spies in the North. They can destabilize countries and provoke wars under right circumstances. The only place, that is likely to be free of their influence is Mulden, where Scholars Society poured considerable resources in blocking them.

House Tercel

The Eye is confident, that House Tercel of the Telamorian Southern Lords is plotting something, though the crafty Duke succeeded in concealing his moves. It’s possible that Tercels are considering changes in how Telamorian Monarchy manages things, perhaps seeking to increase input in government decisions from Southern Lords. However, Tercel is greatly kept in check by Silver Shields - a powerful order of law-enforcers in Telamore. Duke’s heir has been in negotiations with Maesters of Silver Shields for a long time, but clearly no arrangement has been reached so far. He's also been seeking allies with Zexxani Consortium and Night Guild, likely for financial backing and information access respectively.

North: Sentinels/Elves

A negative conspiracy - Sentinels seem to receive no orders from the Elves. The Eye is growing convinced that Elves have truly retreated to their Kingdom and even recent re-opening of trade with Telamore is a very limited contact.

Dominion

Things there are extremely complicated and confusing. The Eye is very concerned of what exactly is happening in Dominion.

[Nemesis67]

Lorekeepers

Turion’s Door

A fine idea. I'll summon Mr. Shaan and Mr. Fuller. Unless there are any objections?

[OOC: I'll write that up and address everything else later. For now, I need to get to sleep.]

Purifiers (12)
Mr. Angelo,

I am deeply sorry for the loss of Mr. Orsini. He was a good man, someone I considered a friend and ally in the Tower. I know you and I have not had many interactions, but to honor his memory, I'd like to continue working together. Especially to oppose whatever new scheme Solaris is brewing. She has opted to start consulting about the fate of the Tower with many major players, but not myself. I imagine my inheritance of the Silver Masks has shown my hand in her recent troubles. As well, given that Mr. Orsini was alive prior to her arrival in the Seat of Power, I suspect his death was murder on her part. Grand Astrologist's apprentice was a witness in the Seat. They may have answers. However, Mr. Fuller, the Vault Guard, the Fleshcrafters, and Summerscent are meeting behind closed doors to discuss their plans. I don't think that will turn out well for either of us, as the remaining Halls of Ritual. Well, not including the Dagger Brotherhood, who she has quickly tried to distangle herself from.

Society of Worldly Affairs (12)
We obviously have much to discuss. But first and foremost. Well done, Mr. Grand. I am quite happy to see you alive, not clad in Iron, and saving the Tower.

While it's on my mind. The Ritual books retrieved from Dominara are part of a larger set that were stolen from the Tower. Mulden seized the rest. They are seeking to recruit Ritualists to take advantage of this knowledge, it seems. If they become magically self sufficient, we may lose them as an ally, and potentially the Dawn Empire with it. I think negotiating some deal where your Contract Mages provide that assistance in exchange for the books is the most prudent course to deal with that. I would like to bring the Vault Guard in on this, but I also would rather not have them go off and try to seize the books through force. Or turn this action into a proxy for the Tower Council. Given that the Churches of the Endless Ocean and Rose are both also pursuing Rituals, it may be prudent to expand the plan to include them as well, or only one or neither. Alternatively, instead of Contract Mages, it could be possible for the Seat of Ritual to handle this directly, but again. Solaris is likely to use that to her advantage.

Now. Change is coming, and we must be prepared. What is it that you want, my friend?

Pathbinder (12)
I think it would be prudent if we met for Teatime. If you're willing, of course. We may also need to have some new guests as well.

Grand Astrologist (12)
Mr. Fuller,

My report from Mr. Shaan raises a number of concerns and questions in me. I don't like the outcome, and I hope there is a way to remedy the situation. As the Master of Ancient Ages, my inclination would be to attempt to rebuild the Stormwatcher. Obviously, that would be an extremely difficult challenge requiring coordination between a number, if not all, of the Seats for an indeterminate amount of time. You have claimed you have a solution though. Considering you were the source of the original warning of invasion, the clarification as to it involving Black Iron, and were a voice of reason at the Door, I trust your opinion. I would like to hear it, along with the rest of the Executive Council, if you're willing to share.

In addition, I was wondering if you could speak to what happened in the Seat of Power after Mr. Shaan's departure. I know your apprentice was there investigating your own disappearance. I know that Mr. Orsini was alive, if barely, when Kyris left for the Door, as he was the one to patch up the bleeding caused by the attack of the Equalists and Dagger Brotherhood. And I know that Lady Summerscent has had it in for the Soul Alchemists since their duel. I highly suspect she murdered him in cold blood, even if you don't count her unleashing Subtle Weapons on the self-claimed Tower Council already.

I was also curious if you had any idea as to the source of the Mysterious Note. I have no information on who delivered it to me, and it potentially means we have a friend somewhere out there.

And, finally, I have the Climate Survey from the Merchants of Wonder. Any interest in a copy? I'm no Ritualist, so I'm not entirely certain how much it could factor in to your Astrology, but if it helps, we can discuss a deal.

Red Binder (12)
Welcome back to the Tower, Blood Binder. I'm sorry that we were unable to assist your campaign as much as we would have liked. I hope the partial Surge Maps were of some benefit.

I was wondering your opinion on current affairs. This business with the Door and the Tower Council. And I'm sure you've heard talk of deploying your Elemental Hosts to secure the Tower against further chaos. What do you think is best for the Tower?

Architect (12)
Well done on the Shatter Swarm. It looks to be a potent addition to our arsenal. I also notice it seems to be a refinement of the armor you gave Mr. Orsini all those months ago? Very impressive.

Do you know the current plans of the Department of Warmagic? I'm hoping we can find a way to fund an air fleet based on the Skyship we found those months ago, crafted by you. If not from Warmagic, than maybe from the Tower's purse.

Tower Archivist (12)
Salutations Tower Archivist,

I acquired the Lower Level Schematics from the Merchants of Wonder. If you were not the original source, I was wondering if you'd have an interest in cutting a deal for a copy?

Descend (12)
Greetings,

I acquired the Lower Level Schematics from the Merchants of Wonder. If you were not the original source, I was wondering if you'd have an interest in cutting a deal for a copy?

Energy Technicians (12)
The reason I previously contacted you asking if you had been the source of the Lower Level Schematics was I proceeded to purchase it and now I wonder if you'd have an interest in trading for it?

Union (12)
A quite impressive job with the Dawn Empire as well as defending the Tower. Thank you for your service.

I acquired the Climate Survey from the Merchants of Wonder, prior to all this chaos. I imagine this may of some benefit to your plans? I admit, as a Shadow Mage, I'm not entirely certain how terraforming works. Would you be interested in striking a deal?

Demiurges (12)
I acquired the Climate Survey from the Merchants of Wonder, prior to all this chaos. I imagine this may of some benefit to your faction? Data points to optimize your magics? Anything you'd care to trade for it?

[Ascaloth]

Atelier Solaris
MAN: 3

Executive Council

Tower Matters

Tower Council

"Quite. I'm in full agreement with mister Weymond on this matter."

Turion's Door

"Fair. Then while we're waiting for the testimonies of misters Fuller and Shaan, I'll like to call upon Pathbinder to testify as well. What did she mean when she claims to have 'fixed the Sources'? If the rumours about Demons being involved are true, what has she done? If Pathbinder has put us all in danger by those actions, I do believe we deserve to know about it."

Black Iron Weapons

"I'd recommend limited distribution to anyone, who thinks they may have the capability to conduct research and develop countermeasures against them. As for the remainder, I believe they should be used to either bolster Turion's Door, or given over to the safekeeping of the Forbidden Vault."

Dagger Brotherhood

"Dualists they may be, but unlike the Dagger they have at least been open about the fact, so we know where they stand. Yet the fact that they themselves, have not bought into the reckless approach to Dualism practised by the Dagger Brotherhood - as evidenced by the lack of any Backlash on their part - stands as a point in their favour. In addition, they're volunteering to remove their wayward counterparts, and to submit themselves to any tests we may wish to administer. All so that they may voluntarily rejoin the Circle, may I add."

"They are deserving of having a chance taken on them, so I say we accept their offer."

Goblin Unions

"Can we get from them more precise details of the rights they are asking for, and the promises they'll make to us in return? We should be fully aware of what is being asked of us, before we make a decision either way."

(OOC: aka changes in game mechanics)

World Politics

Yen and Glen

"We had our fears about the Red Continent unifying, but recent days have seen Yen surprisingly reaching out to us in the Tower. No doubt that the Yen Council will have their motives for doing so, but this presents an opportunity to bring them back into the Circle; as such, I say we should take it. And if we sway Glen towards us as well, that would be a bonus. It would remove one possible front of conflict the Tower might have to deal with, and keep Mulden in check as well on our terms."

Ironcloaks

"If these were the moderates as you claim, Sir Grand, then why were they led by a known radical as Commander Day? Wasn't it noted before that Day's main motivation is the pursuit of power, or something of the sort? There seems to be some missing context there, Sir Grand; would you be so kind as to fill us in?"

Elreath

"I am sympathetic to Sir Grand's position... but I still think we should extend communications with them at this point. Since they should be aware of the Tower's hands in the reversals they've suffered over the past few months according to Sir Grand's reckoning, it would explain why they appear to fear us so, according to the Lightbringers. Think about it from their point of view; the Tower has shown that it still has strength enough to counter every move they can make, and they may be fearing what would happen to them should we get serious about our hostile attitude thus far."

"As such, if we open parley with them at this point, we'll be likely to do so from an advantageous position from the start. They may prove more eager than expected to appease us, if only to stave off whatever attack they think the Tower might be preparing to mount against them. And if they prove recalcitrant... we can always go back to beating them with sticks again."

"I suggest this simply out of pragmatism; with the recent Ironcloak move, and the rise of the Chainmaster, the Tower will need to focus all the resources it can afford to spare on the Dragonblood Empire. It'll be best to avoid a war on multiple fronts, if at all possible."

Dominion

"A conference... may be workable, but to what end? The troubles revolving around Dominion is essentially local players seeing blood in the water, and jostling for a slice of the pie. It may be possible for us to try and persuade everyone in the North to play nice, but can we do it in time to get them ready for the Dragonblood threat?"

"I say we make lemonade, once again. Everyone's expecting war in the North, and are arming themselves up for it? We'll let them have their war... but we'll prime them to expect it coming from the East. Let's play up the fears of an aggressive Dragonblood Empire, under the direction of its new Emperor Reeve."

"They've been snatching up and Chaining every Warlock and Mage they can get their hands on in the North, aren't they? Then it'll be easy to convince them that they're not going to stop until all the North has been bound by their chains. It's probably even true to boot. And the Tower's recent victory over the Ironcloaks proves we're a hard target, so the Empire will go for the low-hanging fruit. And that's them, in the North. They just have to realize it."

"...come to think of it, we can do that with Elreath as well, can we not? And probably with this New Conclave of the Warlocks, while we're at it."

Message from the North

"Is there a possibility of getting the Scholarium Arcana to look into it, on our behalf?"

Telamorian Lodge

"As the Mages of the Sunken Tower, we should not leave this development ignored and unremarked upon. They could prove to become a dangerous enemy to the Tower... or a powerful ally. Can we initiate communications with them?"

Northern Conspiracies

Scholars Society

"Well. Let this be a reminder that though Mulden may be a good trade partner and business ally, they are not a friend of the Tower. We, along with the Dawn Empire has benefited much from our partnership, but the pro-Mulden sentiments gaining traction in the Dawn Empire is clearly their work. It's about time we institute measures to counter their efforts, I believe."

Scholarium and Red Anselm

"We should prioritize finding out what the Scholarium and Red Anselm are up to. In the worst-case scenario, they may be making preparations for an attack on the Dawn Empire and the Tower; which seems unlikely to me, but we should make preparations of our own on the off-chance this is the case. In the best-case scenario, they are preparing for a mutual defense against the other Northern nations, or maybe even from the Dragonblood Empire. In which case, we should make haste to join our cause to theirs."

Dragonblood Spies

"...and I said we should make the effort to counter the Scholars Society, and yet they've proven to be the one bulwark against the primary enemy of the Tower at the moment. A conundrum, this. We may need to figure out how make common cause with the Society to push back the Dragonbloods, while not giving them an opportunity to make further inroads into Dawn."

House Tercel

"Could we get our former Marshall Cross to send us a report on House Tercel? He may know something, being in the vicinity."



"Thank you for coming today, everyone. There are some matters of grave import, and others thankfully not so grave, that we need to discuss going forward.

Turion's Door

"The news that Pathbinder and mister Shaan has perpetuated... something at Turion's Door sends shivers up my spine. I fear to know what has transpired there... yet it's probably something we all need to know about, for our own good. Mister Fuller, you said there is a way to restore Turion's Door to what it was before. What do you know about the situation, and how can we do it?"

Dagger Brotherhood

"I have been... remiss in my judgement. I was aware that they possessed a degree of ambition underneath their veneer of humility, and considered it of negligible concern. Nothing wrong with ambition after all; I of all people here should know. But what they have done here is... beyond the pale. As their enabler, I hereby personally apologize to each and every one of you for allowing this to pass."

"To mitigate this error of mine, I am seriously considering enlisting the help that the Equalists have offered, and welcoming them as one of our own in place of the Dagger Brotherhood. Before I go ahead with that, are there any objections?"

Enemy Within

"I will not mince words here. There are certain... undesirable elements within our Seat, and I feel that it is about time they were... retired from their positions."

"The Dagger Brotherhood... speaks for themselves, really. I've already suggested what should be done about them."

"The Purifiers. It is known that mister Angelo is strongly linked to the late, and not at all lamented mister Orsini... and thus through the latter, he is linked to the erstwhile pretenders to the Tower Council. If that is not suspicious enough, he has also essentially taken over the Seat of Power at this point, absorbing miss Fortescue and her Uplift, and making himself effectively Department Head of Power in perpetuity. It is clear that mister Angelo no longer has the best interests of our Seat at heart, so I would like it if his Purifiers are no longer capable of causing mischief from within our Seat."

"And last but not least, the Lorekeepers who have inherited the Silver Circle from the Soul Alchemists. Allow me to share a revelation with you, mister Warner; I am all but certain at this point, that mister Turen and his Lorekeepers are the hidden hand behind the pretenders."

"Allow me to explain. It is mister Turen alone of all the EC members who argued in favour of the ex-Chancellors' interest, not to mention his Lorekeepers liberated them from the Iron Floors in the first place. Secondly, mister Orsini's escape was achieved with the use of advanced mental magic; something well within the scope of a master Mindbender like mister Turen."

"Thirdly, mister Turen once made the mistake of making me aware that he is capable of reading my correspondence. While we took all reasonable precautions in the way we phrased our words, mister Warner, it stands to reason that if mister Turen managed to intercept and decipher our letters, it would explain the unexpected... obstacle that cropped up during one of our joint ventures. And fourth, the Pathbinder was one of the pretenders to the Tower Council... and who should emerge as the meddlers of Turion's Door than her, along with one of mister Turen's subordinates, mister Kyris Shaan."

"Mister Turen and his Lorekeepers have, for some reason, decided to be my enemy. As such, I will not countenance their foothold in our Seat."

"I intend to deliver their eviction notices from the Seat of Ritual Magic, by whatever means I can bring to bear. So I ask, are you with me?"

Elemental Shade of Murder

"This is a truly distressing matter... and I intend to protect our Seat from its depredations, to the best of my ability. What I have in mind is to cast a Reinforced Warding Ritual over our respective Halls, as our defense against this Shade. Is this acceptable for all of you, and would you assist me in this work?"

Reagents

"And finally, I can turn my attention to lighter matters."

"Are any of you interested in acquiring any particular Reagents from the Southern Markets this month? I can do so on your behalf. In exchange, I'll take as payment the equivalent number of RES, what you would otherwise have had to pay in CRE. Any takers?"

Merchants of Wonder: "A reasonable concern. And recent reports may have pinpointed a possible source of Mulden's attempt at dominating the Dawn Empire culturally and economically. Rest assured I will push the Tower to act to preserve our advantage in this regard."

"On another note, it seems your Seat is presently led by a Department Head who's not even a Power faction. I believe it would be prudent for you to challenge this state of affairs, at this point in time?"

Lightbringers: "Very much understandable. That war is about to break out in the North indeed seems to be the case at first glance... but, I have my suspicions it would not be a civil war as expected, but a war of defense against Dragonblood aggression instead. These weapons of war may indeed prove to be excessively deadly... but if those circumstances come to pass, would you not rather that the Northern nations possess them to use against the Dragonbloods?"

Reclaimers: "Right. I understand the enthusiasm with which you have greeted this particular development... but it is said that Turion's Door holds Demons back from the Tower and the world, and that whatever happened there may have loosed one of them in our midst. Does this not concern you?"

"Thank you. By the way, Collectors of Woe, your Seat seems to be presently led by a Head who may have meddled with Turion's Door, and possibly unleashed as-yet unknown consequences on us. Are you not worried about this?"



"Ah, mister Escobane. My gratitude for all the assistance you have rendered upon us thus far. I understand you wish to renegotiate the terms of your contract?"

Please bring me up to date on what transpired during the Ironcloaks invasion from your point of view if you'd please, Sir Grand. There are things I might have missed, and I'd appreciate it if you could fill me in there.

As I understand, you are also advocating for the welfare of the Ironcloaks. Is there anything interesting in particular that you have learned from them?

On another note, may I ask what your opinion is on the revelation that the Pathbinder has done... something to Turion's Door? Do you believe it a matter for serious concern?

Pathbinder... she is presently one of the top contenders for the position of overall leader within the Tower. As such, this presents a significant challenge. There is a possible weakness to be exploited, in whatever role she might have had at the happenings in Turion's Door... but I do not have any concrete details on those events. If at all possible, could you tell me anything about what happened there, and why your leader was there with the Dagger Brotherhood in the first place?

On another note, you call your Dualist practice the 'Way of Balance'. This intrigues me, as there was once a group by that very name here in my Seat. Would you be so kind as to tell me whatever you can about your group and its overall goals, as well as this Way of Balance of yours?

Hilde (Level 1 Apothecary)

Having had a natural inclination for the arts of the apothecary and magic alike from an early age, Hilde joined the Tower at an Initiate in the hopes of learning the secrets of healing magic, and combining it with apothecary to create healing medicines beyond. Her studies eventually led Hilde to the Greenheart, where she had the opportunity to get her hands muddy in the soil on a daily basis. However, it proved a disappointment for her, as the Gardners had no knowledge of healing magic to teach Hilde. However, when Hilde heard that the Alchemist of the Sunken Tower has created the very sort of tincture she sought to brew, the apothecary-Mageling opted to change her course, for the opportunity to study under Solaris Summerscent.

[HerbieRAI]

Hospitium

EC

Turion's Door

I think another set of eyes would be a good thing.

Black Iron Weapons

Putting more black iron near the door would be like dumping a bucket in a lake. Also, unless we forge them into something else we would be putting weapons near the door that our enemies can use better than us, and further dampen our abilities near the door. I like the idea of the Vault for any weapons Pentacle does not want.

Dagger Brotherhood and Duelists
I believe we should let the duelists in, they are agreeing to heavy monitoring and probably whatever other stipulations we have. we need allies, and they are offering us whatever they want

To Solaris (MAN 3)

I'm not sure Hidelburg will be available this month. We do not know enough about the spirit courts right now, and Glen and request for the Key are "all hands on deck" problems. If we can get a handle on that situation without his help he may be able to take a look.

And what do you mean opinion of the Sources? I regard them similar to that of explosives. Able to do great feats, but also cause massive devastation if misused


Spirit Courts (PM)

Why are they Silent, and how long have they been silent? I believe it is important enough to merit breaking their silence. There are forces at work trying to open Turion's Door, and the Tower mages need assistance in stopping them.

[Ascaloth]

Atelier Solaris
MAN: 3

Ah, I see. More's the pity. In that case, seeing as I have as yet no idea what sort of Fringe Magic I'm looking at here... is there anyone in your Seat whom you think might be best equipped to identify the type of Fringe magic it might be?

And as for what I mean by the Sources... why, the changes that have been wrought in them recently, of course. Is it a good thing in your opinion, or do you believe the price that must have been paid in equivalent exchange to achieve such an effect must have been too high to be worth it?

[Thelonius]

Hospitium

Purple Court [PM]

“Time...” the spirit moves and in it’s clothes bells ring. “A little while ago.” There’s a weight to that sentence. “They are Silent because of you, Tower Mage” the Spirit answers. “Most gone. Those who remain slumber. I shouldn’t let you disturb them with your questions.” At the mention of Turion’s Door, the Spirit moves its hand to face, once again, it’s movement causing sounds of bells. “Turion. Yes. He was going to marry on the Isle. I’ve come here for that. A joyous wedding it was supposed to be. Or a tragic one. Probably the latter. But he never returned. And I took duties of the Gatekeeper. It is painful to be here, but I endure. Tell me all” The Spirit ASKS. And Neilsman finds himself explaining everything that happened around the Turion’s Door, to the last detail, compelled to speak by a force he can’t deny, the sounds of bells ringing in his ears. Then the compulsion leaves him and he inhales deeply, feeling a bit out of breath. “I’m of the Azure Court.” the Spirit speaks. “We can’t interfere with Turion’s Door. Thus I can’t permit you to enter.”


Atelier Solaris

Ritualist’s Cabal [PM]

Turion's Door

Grand Astrologist: Let me begin by describing the Door.

The center of the Turion’s Door is indeed a Gate. A large, black arch with smooth surface. It size seems to shift - as if it grows smaller and larger at a blink of an eye. The Gate is certainly Lost Age Magic, that maybe an expert of such time could recognize. There is something very unsettling about this Gate and it feels cold and empty.

The second piece of the grand spell-work that draws attention is a crystal sphere, surrounded by what looks to be rough, stone blocks, that seem out of place in this domain of sleek, ancient magic. The sphere cackles with power - despite powerful spells of containment and energy laylines made with skill, lost with time, all Mages present can feel great power contained in it. It feels like a glas globe containing a miniature sun - that will probably take out the whole Tower and Dawn Empire, leaving a smoking crater, if the energy were to be released all at once. This is undoubtedly the power core of the spellwork. Compared to the majesty of the Sphere, the rocks seem completely ordinary - broken remnants of some old structure, maybe from ancient ages. The only thing special about grey stone is script in some unknown language written on them. The only whole and graceful looking thing about the ruins is a fountain basin, that is filled with some liquid-like substance.

It is amazing to think, that a Demon would be only third most noteworthy thing to see anywhere. The creature is powerful, a coiled mass of flesh and teeth, that once sported tentacles, now all cut off. The Demon’s hundred eyes, spread around it’s body have had nails run through it - though of course all such damage is superficial, something these powerful beings could regenerate quickly enough. For a moment the Demon looks dead, but something about it… doesn’t seem quite still. The Mages almost fail to recognize it as part of the Turion’s Door working - the mere thought that any spell would actually use a living demon in it is absurd and terrifying. Two spears pierce the Demon - one a black roiling shadow, another a golden trident, shining with bright aura. The Demon seems almost unconnected to the rest of the Door’s workings, but a thin line of layline seems to direct power to the inscribed circle around it and there’s a hum of active spell around it.

Ten statues encircle the Turion’s Door and the Mages faintly recognize spirit Magic about them. The statues depict Mages and their postures are that of vigil - their staffs at hand and in ready position. The complex enchantments around them run like lines through the whole of the Door area, with knots of power and small Obelisks, where they intersect. A small plaque with an inscription reads in language, for once understood by all present. “We honor the sacrifice of Mages and our Allies.”

At the edges of the circle, but deeper than Statues, nine smaller Gates stand. Unlike the Gate in the center those are definitely Mage made - potent workings of the Age of Magic, lost in the present era. Laylines and infused paths of enchantment run to them from the central Gate - and a symbol commonly recognized by mages as “Seal” is engraved on top of each of them. The inscriptions below seem to name each Gate individually. The Gates hum with power and it feels like different air comes from each of them - salty, warm, humid.

A grand circle, that Power and Shadow Mages recognize as a Rift to the Sources - albeit one unlike any other, howevers opposite the Gate. It seems frozen by a thick, incredibly complex web of spells. There is an array of Gems and Infused Artefacts around it that the Mages, who read the Stormwatcher report recognize as the device, that Mages of the old used to monitor and even influence the Sources. The power from the Sphere flows to it. And then the most odd things about it becomes apparent. The Rift connects to both Power and Shadow at the same time - something thought to be impossible.

Grand Astrologist adds: “A figure of shadow appeared before the Door and observed us. It did nothing of significance. Pathbinder "fixed" the door, on advice of the Equalist Mage, by destroying the Stormwatcher.”

Dagger Brotherhood

Grand Astrologist: “I admit, my Divinations come short of Equalists. They are skilled in concealing their paths.”

Vault Master: “I’m in favor of their deal. Naturally - with heavy scrutiny. Even if they are enemies - well, keep them close enough for a fireball.”

Fleshcrafters: “They are Dualists. Drawing on two Sources invites madness - and sometimes madness can masquarade as clarity. We are against inviting them in.”

Enemy Within

Grand Astrologist: “I fear, I’ll keep to my neutrality in this one. Your feud is true, yet no crime was done against the Seat itself. The fact that Angelo controls Power doesn’t make him traitor to Ritual.”

Vault Guard: “All’s plain to see. I’m with you Solaris.”

Fleshcrafters: “We’d prefer Purifiers evicted, but can you explain your plan to accomplish it. They are not likely to accept eviction.”

Elemental Shade of Murder

Grand Astrologist: “To protect all of our Halls, against a creature of such power… It’ll take a very potent ritual. What resources can you command for it?”

Reagents

Vault Guard: “I have no need.”
Fleshcrafters: “We need out RES at the moment.”
Grand Astrologist: “I fear my RES is working on crucial task of untangling mysteries of Turion’s Door.”


Mercantile Party

Merchants of Wonder: “Well, if we could act about that source in Mulden, any information on it would be useful.”

Lightbringers: “Well… for defence against Dragonblood Empire - those monsters. Though of course it would be their pawns slain on battlefield. Regrettable, but it prevents further enslavement and misery. Yes, that would be acceptable, though with deep regret.”

Reclaimers: “One demon? If it’s just one, I’m certain the Tower will deal with it. We’ve dealt with demonic invasions since the Turion Door - haven’t lost in the Age of Demons against them. Though we did have Forbidden Vault back then. So sure, it’s bad, but that’s why we should work to get as much good out of this situation, as possible.”


Collectors of Woe [3]

“We certainly don’t like it. Pathbinder is power-mad and foolish.”


Sir Rupert Grand [3]

Grand “Ah, well, I fear I’ve missed most of the action - being in Council Chambers or imprisoned. But again, what exactly is your interest here?”

“As for Turion’s Door, it’s a matter of grave concern - but I trust the Council will solve it.”


Equalists [8]

“Dagger Brotherhood called us in to assist with dealing with renegades, trying to take over the Sunken Tower. We have assisted them, until it became apparent, that they were affected by Backlash. During this time, our leader was captured - we suspect due to Brotherhood going out of control, for her skills were too great to be cornered other than through treachery.”

“We do not know of this group… but our truths are universal. It’s possible others have stumbled upon them in their search for enlightenment. All in the world exists in balance - Power and Shadow, Demons and Elves, Male and Female, Mages and Mundanes.”


Lorekeepers

Purifiers [12]

It’s indeed very troubling. Solaris failed to have us all killed during the Ironcloaks Invasion. It looks like she plans to keep on trying. We must expose her treachery and prepare our defences against new attacks.


Sir Rupert Grand [12]

“So, we negotiate with Mulden to get the books back? That may be a prudent course of action.”

“Personally, I believe the new Tower Council should have a firmer hand in foreign politics. We have been too insular, too focused inward, to the point that no position for diplomatic relations have existed for a long time. What we need is a Junior Councilman in charge of foreign relations. We must also go forward with conquest of Elreath and unification with Yen Hegemony. The latter seems to be happening, but all this talk of diplomacy, I fear it hides indecisiveness, rather than prudence. The Tower must carry both Book and Staff to command respect.”


Pathbinder [12]

“A tet-a-tet, now that everybody else in our little conspiracy is dead, isn’t it? Well, let’s talk. We have accomplished something great - and now comes the difficult part, making certain vultures don’t steal our accomplishments.”


Grand Astrologist [12]

“It may not be as difficult to restore Stormwatcher - as long as we have the Key. The nature of the Turion’s Door is complex, it’s a Spellwork capable of mending itself. Perhaps Turion wished to ease repairs, would something were to go wrong.”

“I believe Dagger Brotherhood subverted the Subtle Weapons without Solaris awareness. After all, if it was under her orders, she would be guilty of treason. My apprentice has senses Solaris arriving to the location, where you’ve left Orsini and flurry of magical activity there. It’s possible, that they both were attacked by Brotherhood. It’s possible, that murder happened. We both know they had a blood feud. The evidence is not definitive. I know many in the Executive Council aren’t raising too much fuss over the matter, because the know, the New Tower Council would have certainly eliminated Executive Council, were they to survive being buried. I see this as a case of self-defence both for Atelier and for legitimate authority of EC. There’s much mistrust between Purifiers and Atelier - but I believe it’s misplaced. The history between Purifiers and Atelier is not as tainted. It’s not too late to reconcile - further strife just weakens us.”

[OOC: Partially it’s from your information, partially verification by Grand Astrologist The note has originated with Herald Mages, who had doubts about their cause.]

“The Survey… It may be of some limited use to me. I’ll pay 3 Mana for it.”


Red Binder [12]

“The order must be restored as soon as possible. If politicians fail to provide it, it is my duty to step in.”


Architect [12]

“Ah yes, Orsini had an early prototype. I’ve seen moved in a new direction from it.”

“The research into Skyships finishes soon [this turn]. We would have had it done twice as fast, if Executive Council hasn’t insisted on using that Waxtum Alloy in it’s design. Sure it looks good on paper, but Power Mages were going crazy, trying to think of powerful enough Engines to pump enough energy into the Alloy to make it viable.”

“What we need to do is prepare to get Elreath. Granted, without a Sky Fleet, we’d be hard pressed to do it.”


Tower Archivist [12]

“I’m not interested. If you could find better schematics, we could talk.”


Descend [12]

“Thank you, but we know the lower levels well enough.”


Energy Technicians [12]

Could be useful. What do you want for it?


Union [12]

“It could be useful. We’ll pay 3 Mana.”


Demiurges [12]

“We could use that… let’s say 4 Mana.”


Executive Council

Let Equalists Join
Sigma: Aye
Atelier: Aye
Hospitium: Aye
Sir Rupert Grand: Aye
Pathbinder: Nay
Angelo: Nay
Ruby Marshall: Nay

Black-Iron Weapons

Ruby Marshall: “I doubt anyone, but Pentacle would have a shot of researching Black-Iron. Frankly, I doubt even they would have any luck.”

Sir Rupert Grand: “Yes, Forbidden Vault would make sense - and give us an opening to negotiate with Last Age Guard. We need control over Forbidden Vault. They must recognize our authority.”

Shadow Mask = Pathbinder

Pathbinder: “I shall begin by revealing my identity as Shadow Mask. There’s no more need for secrecy.”

Ruby Marshall: “How unfortunate, that so many Shadow factions have been destroyed, so they can’t verify your identity. Same as Mage Angelo’s position here is based on Fortescue’s resignation.”

Angelo: “Would it be wise to raise these points before the Tower Mages?”

Ruby Marshall: “Perhaps. Perhaps not.”

Turion’s Door

Pathbinder: “No danger. The Sources are free of distortion and it’s Backlash - though their natural danger remains. We are already reaping the benefits. The ancients have made a mistake with the Source Seal, one that I have corrected. The Door stands strong still and it’s prisoner safely secure.”

Grand Astrologist: “My examination of the Door has led me to believe, that it is composed of eight-twelve Seals, both independent of each other, and working in concert to keep the Door closed. Two of the Seals have been affected - the Seal of Sources removed.”

Ruby Marshall: “Two Seals?”

Grand Astrologist: “I believe Turion’s Key itself is a Seal, some sort of symbolic component to the whole structure of the spellwork, representing a Choice of opening the Door. Every time it’s used on the Turion’s Door, the Seal it represents weakens. Though I believe it can be used several times more, without undue danger. Unless of course there have been previous uses, I’m unaware of.”

Ruby Marshall: “Can the Seal be repaired?”

Grand Astrologist: “The Seal of Sources, yes. It’s actually something you know - Stormwatcher. We have Stormwatcher and if we had means to control it, it can be replaced.”

Purifier Angelo: “What other Seals have you identified?”

Grand Astrologist: “Ah. Now, here I’m not fully certain. An access to old records, perhaps Harbringer Prophecies and those new prophets would help me immensely. As far as I could see there was Energy Sphere, ancient stone relics…, Black-Iron Statues and a Demon. I’ll need time and resources to determine their significance.”

Goblin Unions

FIGL believes investment of 16 CRE would be needed. They believe it would lead to advances in the Hall projects from more competent helpers, especially in Tower, Fringe and Ritual. Tower may also gain access to higher level [Goblin Traits].

Of course crashing the whole goblin independence thing may lead to certain gains from more obedient Goblins at lesser cost.

Yen Hegemony

Sir Rupert Grand: “Clearly, we need to designate ambassadors for the negotiations. Naturally decide if we are willing to provide concessions, maybe get some information on Yen, that may help with negotiations.”

[OOC: You can designate a group of 1-3 primary ambassadors and up to 4 assistants. The whole group shouldn’t be more than 5 VIPs.]

Ironcloaks

Sir Rupert Grand: “Ah, a problem with my language I fear. We look at each other in reverse. A radical for an Ironcloak would be seen as moderate to us. Their normal stance is elimination of magic, after all. And pursuit of power doesn’t imply radical views about Mages. ”

Elreath

Sir Rupert Grand: “I’m keeping my position. No negotiations.”
Ruby Marshall: “I may abstain on this one… or support Sir Grand.”
Pathbinder: “We can do diplomacy - why deny ourselves options?”
Mage Angelo: “I have no strong feelings on this one - but, I guess why not diplomacy.”

Dominion & Dragonblood

Sir Rupert Grand: “We can try to alert the North to the danger of Dragonblood Empire, though it may be hard to get their attention, with blood in the water, so to speak.”
Pathbinder: “Turning North to East… it would be an excellent move.”
Ruby Marshall: “I’ll abstain.”
Mage Angelo: “I’m undecided yet.”

Message from the North

Sir Rupert Grand: “It may be possible. They might even agree to do it for the prestige of rescue.”

Telamorian Lodge

Sir Rupert Grand: “We can certainly open communications. We’ll need to send somebody to probe them. Though if we are negotiating with Yen and Elreath, I hope we’ll still have competent diplomats.”

[Thelonius]

Atelier Solaris

Mercantile Party [3]

Merchants of Wonder: "I'm certain proper accommodations with Purifiers could be reached."

Lightbringers: "It wouldn't be prudent to challenge Purifiers simply due to their origins - it's this sort of factionalism, that has been weakening the Tower."

Reclaimers: "Well, clearly re-elections in Seat of Power are indeed in order."


Escobane Negotiations [3]

"Thank you Mistress Alchemist. I merely wish to point to the fact, that my expertise has grown and I believe that the services I provide deserve an extra [1 CRE] of compensation."

[HerbieRAI]

Hospitium

EC

Turion's Door

We believe the black iron statues are a spirit magic seal. It may be directly linked to one of the spirit courts.

Spirit Courts (PM)

When hearing that they went to sleep recently makes Neilsman lower his head. He quickly assumes the door opening caused them to use their power to stop the demon from escaping. "I assume they are in slumber because of the Door. Can the other courts interfere with the door, or only the Purple? Who was Turion going to marry?"


Internal (PM)

before the battle, there was 3 limit that the EC could distribute. Is that still around or is it gone?

[ArcaneStomper]

The Clockwork Cult

Executive Council
Yen
Olritz: "The Reclaimers did the majority of the work in opening ties with Yen. They are already familiar with the current situation, and the Yen are familiar with them. They should be the ones to lead further negotiations."

Northern Outpost
Olritz: "We should send whatever aid we can to help our compatriots in the far north."

Equalizers:
Olritz: "They can't really be any worse than what the Dagger Brotherhood have already proven to be. As long as they are willing to abide by our monitoring for backlash I vote Aye. Unless someone has some evidence that they are significantly worse than they appear."

To the Architect [3]
We would like to examine the Shatter Swarm weapon.

To the Magitech Department [3]
The chaos of the invasion meant we had to postpone our regular meeting, but it is now time once again to discuss the affairs of the Department.

As our first order of business we would like to take a moment to honor the Lightning Mage. He responded to one of the greatest crisis the Tower has had with alacrity, and put up a valiant defense against the Ironcloaks. And I can personally attest that though he gave up his life, in the end he went out with a smile. We will make sure he is remembered as a hero.

Second good work everyone on the Armatures. We may not have expected them to be field tested so quickly. But even the prototypes were of great use. We have spent some effort refining them, and we encourage anyone who wishes to continue working on the project with us.

Third, it seems in all the chaos we have gotten enough funding to support a third project. Apparently the bureaucracy never stops. As promised this will be the Apprentice Magitech, led by the Logicians.

Next we must discuss the Shade of Murder. I don't want to see anyone from Magitech fall to its depredations. We should see what we can do to ward it away. Or kill it. Or preferably capture and study it.

Last do any of you know of any developments that the rest of us should be aware of.

[Mabn]

Dragon Friends


Did you ever find a fourth member to create a political block with us? The dramatic recent actions by FIGL, our faction having its otherwise successful attempts at creating a lasting alliance with the Elders Sages of Al-Makim that would have prevented the dragonbloods from again becoming a threat being literally ignored by the department heads and executive council except to latter serve as justification to question dragonkin loyalty to the tower, and the delicate negotiations you no doubt now have do do regarding spirit courts all indicate that our window of opportunity is closing and missing it would be unwise.

[Ascaloth]

Atelier Solaris
MAN: 3

Executive Council

Black Iron Weapons

"Sir Grand makes a good point. The Last Age Guard have explicitly stated that they would not recognize the authority of any Council that has not been extant for more than a year. We need to negotiate new terms of their acceptance, and offering to give the Black Iron Weapons taken from the Ironcloaks into their keeping could be a start."

Turion's Door

"I say we give mister Fuller whatever resources he may need to determine the nature of the Seals in full; it is, after all, important that we regain full and complete understanding of the nature of Turion's Door itself down the line. Mister Fuller, if you could state which of the Tower's resources currently at hand would be of use in your study?"

"Regarding Turion's Key... that sounds like an Artifact that should not have been used in a cavalier fashion. In fact, its very nature suggests it should have been stashed away within nothing less secure than the Forbidden Vault. May I call upon Pathbinder to answer how it is that she has acquired the Key to use on the Door? It seems far too dangerous to remain in the hands of this Council as a whole, much less a single Mage's."

"Last, but not least. Pathbinder, you claimed to have fixed the Sources by removing the Seal of Sources, which as you have informed us is the Sourcewatcher device itself. However, I have it on good authority that what actually happened is that you destroyed the Stormwatcher."

"What have you done, Pathbinder? Are the Sources truly Stable, or is what we are experiencing merely the calm before the Sourcestorm?"

Goblin Unions

"Interesting. 16 CRE seems like a large number, but I surmise it's easily affordable if we pool our collective resources together. If we meet their demands, the benefits we would receive is not insignificant, plus it would resolve the present undercurrent of resentment amongst the Mageborn Goblins for good. I'm inclined to take their deal, unless anyone else has a point to raise in objection?"

Yen Hegemony

"Miss Olritz's suggestion makes sense. I'm in favour of assigning this task to the Reclaimers in this case."

Ironcloaks

"Oh. That makes sense, I suppose. In that case, let's give them new terms to avoid further confusion. I suggest we call Day's faction 'Chainers' to reflect their intentions towards us, as opposed to the traditionalists who would prefer to eliminate us altogether - let's call them 'Killers'. A quick and intuitive reference to their respective approaches, don't you think?"

"Now, I'd second mister Weymond's stance to practise leniency towards the Chainers. For practical reasons; should we come down hard on the Chainers, it'll only serve to justify the Killers' perspective that all Mages should be eliminated out of hand. Eye for an eye, after all. On the other side of the coin, we undermine the Killers' rhetoric should we treat our imprisoned Chainers honourably. And greater Chainers influence will improve our chances of survival should we ever get subjugated by the Ironcloaks, as we came all too close to not long ago."

"Secondly, our imprisoned Chainers may well prove to be a valuable source of information about the Ironcloaks themselves. What their plans for the Tower are, what they plan to do about the other Mages and Warlocks, their methods of operation, the Iron Lords and how they manage their lands, so on and so forth. We treat them relatively fairly, and I think they'll be more inclined to tell us more than we could get out of them otherwise."

Elreath

"If we can manage to turn Elreath against the Dragonblood Empire, I'd say it's worth a shot. Aye for diplomacy."

Dominion and Dragonblood

"How about a touch of shenanigans at the border between the Northern region and the Dragonbloods? Make it look like the Empire is planning something big, and cause the Northern nations to think the invasion is happening imminently. They might just forget about their hunger for pie, if we make them soil their pants in fear."

Message from the North

"Then I say it's worth asking at the very least, Sir Grand. They get the prestige, and we get to save our resources for other matters."

Telamorian Lodge

"That much is true. Any suggestions?"



Turion's Door

"Fascinating! No wonder you took an interest in studying the Door itself, mister Fuller. Do keep me updated on anything new you may discover about it, okay?"

"Also, the Pathbinder did what? And there was an Equalist Mage there? Not to mention the latter was the one who gave that advice in the first place... this raises more questions than answers. And concerns, to boot. Please tell us more about what happened at the Door and the events leading up to it, mister Fuller."

Equalists & Dagger Brotherhood

"So they are not any less secretive and potentially dangerous than the Dagger Brotherhood. I see... and yet, they are but a potential hazard, compared to the clear and present danger that the Dagger has developed into."

"I understand your concerns miss Flay, and I have more of my own regarding them. However, if we do not accept their assistance against the Dagger Brotherhood... what other alternatives do we have? The Equalists may be the only group around with the skill to match the Dagger by themselves at this point, and if we decide to deal with the Dagger without their help... I will not say it's beyond our ability, but I'm sure it will come at a heavy cost."

"For what it's worth, the Equalists are not asking for very much in the grand scheme of things; much less than the Dagger Brotherhood has taken, at any rate. If they are indeed an enemy, keeping them close will at least make it easier for us keeping an eye on them. And I will not repeat the mistake I made the last time; I will not give Subtle Weapons to the Equalists, not unless they prove themselves trustworthy beyond all reasonable doubt. I was thinking of discontinuing funding for Subtle Weapons at any rate."

Enemy Within

Grand Astrologist: "I understand and respect your decision in this matter, mister Fuller. Rest assured that I think no less of you for it. And I concede that your assessment is the correct one, yet I have no confidence that mister Angelo will not attempt to make a move against me at this rate. A pity, I had extended an olive branch to him not too long ago... and then he had to go and pull his stunt. Well, no matter now."

Vault Guard: "Thank you once again for your stalwart support, mister Warner. I truly appreciate it."

Fleshcrafters: "True, they are indeed not likely to go quietly just because I order it so. As such, I believe it's going to take a coordinated strike to remove them all in one go."

"This is another reason that I wish to invite the Equalists, for that matter. They would be of much use in reclaiming the Hall of Acolytes from the Dagger Brotherhood."

"Miss Flay, I understand the Fleshcrafters were working on a fighting force of Ritualborn last we talked? Are they ready for deployment? If so, I'll like to leave the reclamation of the Silver Circle from the Lorekeepers to you. I'd wager your Fleshcrafting arts may benefit from knowledge of the Soulcraft, at any rate."

"As for myself... I know there's quite a few mercenaries in need of work down South this month. I may hire a small force of them to help me take back the Hall of Essences, especially since I hold certain... assets that may even the odds against the Purifiers' Battle-Infusions."

Elemental Shade of Murder

"The Hall of Order & Chaos makes it such that dual Rituals can be cast in complementary fashion, without incurring any increased chances of failure. Mister Warner can attest to that, I'm certain. As long as I can gather the necessary components, it should be possible to cast both Reinforcement and Warding, to put an Empowered Ward in place around our Seat..."

Reagents

"...oh, and that is why I offered to buy you all Reagents for RES, by the way. I was intending to use that RES to improve the power of those two Rituals as far as possible, before I cast it. So now that I've mentioned this, anyone here want to consider humouring me?"

Merchants of Wonder: "Indeed. Here's what I learned about them from the Executive Council, for what it's worth."



Mulden: Scholars Society

The Scholars Society appears to be an organization of powerful and intelligent individuals in Mulden. They come from all corners of society - industrialists, scientists, cult leaders and merchant princes. The inner circle seems to be a small group, led by “Golden Grandmaster”. The Scholars Society appears to have as its goal prosperity of Mulden and it has been using its economic, cultural and political power to prevent outside threats. Olgier suspects that some of the revolutionary troubles in Sandaria has been due to old Monarchy considering conquest of Mulden and it's previous revolutionary government was backed by the Society. It’s likely the Scholars Society would be seeking domination over Dawn Empire through economic and cultural means.

Lightbringers: "A sentiment I share. Yet since we are faced with an inevitability, let us do what good we still may in the circumstances."

Reclaimers: "Well, I said it's one on the assumption that this Elemental Shade of Murder may well be it... but there is no guarantee that it's just the one. Rather, it should be said that there may be an unknown number of Demons running around the Tower as we speak, as yet unseen if not for long. Only Pathbinder knows for sure what happened there."



Department Head Angelo

Merchants of Wonder: "That may be so. But I bring this up because, as I recall, your group was the strongest contender against miss Fortescue's Uplift for the position of Department Head back then. And now mister Angelo and his Purifiers hold that position, having absorbed the Uplift and announcing that miss Fortescue has 'retired' due to 'exhaustion'... suspicious, isn't it? I'd wager that now would be ripe for a second attempt, since you'll be going up against a rival who got where he is by some rather shady means. I'm sure other factions in the Power Seat is thinking likewise."

Lightbringers: "A fair point. But to leave mister Angelo where he is now would likewise set an unfavourable, even unacceptable precedent. I figure the Power factions are even now muttering about the manner in which mister Angelo became the Department Head; not challenging him would not stave off factionalist sentiments, but only leave it to fester and explode at an inconvenient moment. Better to lance the boil before it has a chance to grow worse, I say."

"Oh? So you're asking 5 CRE for 2 more [Turns] of service, mister Reinaldo? Seems fair enough, and you did provide an invaluable service to the Tower these past two months. If I may ask, would it be fine if part of that payment was in Coin instead?"

"Cause for much concern, that's for sure. Not to mention that so many of your fellow Shadow Mages have met an untimely end under her reign, precisely because of her excessive ambition. Have you considered challenging her position as the Department Head of your Seat?"

"I presume that of the Tower Mages, you were closest in proximity to Commander Day and his Chainer Ironcloaks themselves. I was wondering, did you get any particular insights into their motivations behind their invasion of the Tower because of that?"

"Specifically, what was it they were planning to achieve by doing so... and when they claimed this was to stop us from meddling with Turion's Door, were they actually sincere about it? Especially given the context of what Pathbinder did afterwards, did they have a point?"

"Ah... I see. In that case, you should probably know that I have it on good authority, that one of your number was present at Turion's Door when the Pathbinder 'fixed' the Sources. Specifically, she has supposedly done so by destroying the device known as the Stormwatcher... on the advice of said Equalist, whom I presume is your leader Mage Amerlain. If you would, please explain that one?"

"Interesting. The Way of Balance group is now defunct, but they used to oversee the Hall of Order and Chaos, which studied the balance of Order and Chaos amongst the known Rituals. That Hall is now under my administration, just so you know. I'm aware that you asked for one Hall each from Power and Shadow, but I was wondering if this particular Hall in my Seat would not serve you better?"

[Thelonius]

Tower News

Unity

Sigma releases account of the events in the Council Chambers. They emphasize different Councilmen working together and urging unity within the Tower. Overall the message seems welcome in the Tower, with the sole exception of Magitech Department, where some Artificers seem to view the account as meant to diminish the accomplishments and heroism of Lightning Mage - and with it the dignity and pride of Magitech Department. It’s yet uncertain, if something will come of it.

[Hope of Unity: 10 POL can be spent to give +1 Unity to Tower for 2 Turns (max. Possible unity is 5)]
[Political situation in Magitech Department grows more complicated.]

Executive Council

Forbidden Vault

Sir Rupert Grand: “I believe it was less issue with time and more about lack of respect for our character and institution. Perhaps our successful defence against Ironcloaks can serve as proof that we should be taken seriously.”

Purifier Angelo: “If we do not recover control over the Vault, we couldn’t be certain it would be available, were Demons, Dragons or Elves threaten humanity. It is our most potent weapon - and a mighty deterrent.”

Turion’s Door

Grand Astrologist: “I would need to have original text of the Harbinger Prophecy - this means research in Ancient Archives or Great Library. It would also be useful to have one of those Prophets, Fringe Magic spoke about. An access to a Harbringer - I believe Pathbinder has one as prisoner. And identifying the Seals - Hospitium mentioned the Spirit Seal. Unfortunately, Warders refuse to consult me on the Demon. I don’t know what those ancient stones and script on them was about or Energy Sphere.”

Pathbinder: “The Council is advocating legitimizing Dualism, which all our records show, leads to murderous madness. Clearly, some risks are acceptable, if rewards are enticing enough. I aquired the Key from Chancellor Merlin - bequeathed by her to me, as Dualist Assassins and ritual magic killed her. The old Tower Council has used the Key to open a future for us. Who here can say, they did wrong? We’d be under Glen’s heel or Dragonblood chains, if it weren’t for their sacrifice. I merely finished the job, they started. Who here agrees with Ironcloaks, that magic should have remained a pale shadow of what it could be?”

“Anyway, Lorekeepers have the Key now. I have surrendered it to them, to demonstrate, that I do not hold to power, but use to for benefit of all. And until we know, that we can command Order of Last Age, giving them the Key would be too dangerous.”

Goblin Unions

Atelier Solaris: Aye
Sir Rupert Grand: Aye
Purifier Angelo: Aye
Pathbinder: Nay
Ruby Marshall: Undecided.

Telamorian Lodge

Sir Rupert Grand: “I admit, this is something, I would best trust myself to do. Telamorians are proud and depending on their situation, may prove to be very powerful. I hold high enough rank for them to meet with me and experience to match their cunning.” Grand seems uncertain - visiting Telamore would put him out of Sunken Tower for this month. “Well, on the same principle Illarius Waymond or Caldwin Buras may work. All skilled chaps. And Pathbinder.”

Pathbinder shakes her head. “I fear my work is here in the Tower.”

Ironcloaks

Sir Rupert Grand: “If we keep Ironcloaks imprisoned… well, we’ll need an extra facility for all of them - Iron Floors have their limits. If we release them, we’ll need to negotiate - possibly with faction, that wishes us dead. Unless release is unconditional, as gesture of goodwill. Granted it may send a wrong message.”

Ruby Marshall: “Do I understand that we execute leaders of Traitors - yet leave Mages, who willingly followed them into treachery off? Had they no responsibility to refuse to follow orders that were blatantly criminal and treasonous?”

Yen Ambassadors

Sir Rupert Grand: “I think it’s reasonable to appoint Reclaimer as main Ambassador. Yen are familiar with him from Lore Exchange. If there are no objections, should another main Ambassador be present or should we discuss the best assistants? I would say Western Winds can provide cultural information and perhaps somebody familiar with Mundanes, like Lightbringers.”
Ritualist Angelo: “All reasonable suggestions - but we should also consider somebody with firm resolve. We need to strike a balance between accommodating Yen and asserting our authority.”

Northern Outpost

Sir Rupert Grand: “So, may I hear, who is in favor of sending our own expedition and who thinks we should delegate it to Scholarium Arcana? If we do it ourselves, we’ll need to arrange for resources - travel there in this season will require [12-18 stats] for a reasonable chance of success. Assuming we’ll have to deal only with harsh nature of the Frozen Wastes. Didn’t that message mention something like Dragon?”

Atelier Solaris

Ritualist Cabal [PM]

Grand Astrologist: “The Equalist Mage arrived with others - to kill the New Tower Council” Grand Astrologist’s eye linger on Solaris. “Pathbinder got better of him somehow, I don’t know the details. We were opposed by Ironcloaks and Hospitium at the Door, but made our way to it. Kaylie Shaan of Lorekeepers joined us as well, and Ansie Fortsecue. Shaan was actually concerned about the Door, but Fortescue and Equalist Mage persuaded Pathbinder. Ah, and of course Dr. Hidleburg was there with warnings of Doom - clearly he may have seen something, only spiritborn would.”

Equalists

Fleshcrafter Flay: “Well… how exactly Equalists be scrutinized? Who shall watch them?”

Enemy Within

Grand Astrologist: “Is there no place for a second chance? Perhaps peace is still possible?”

Fleshcrafters: “You propose war… Purifiers are dangerous, yet the fact that you would use Dualists, is it so we can watch over them or due to convenience they present? Do we replace reckless radicals for possible murderous psychopaths? Perhaps Orsini and Fortescue were the bad apples and Angelo would prove to be a moderate - or the Tower shall apply law to mend Turion’s Door and prevent further abuses, if we do not discredit our cause by committing the first strike?”

[OOC: Both Fleshcrafters and Collectors of Woe are Magic-Conservatives. They are pretty much natural allies against Pathbinder/Transcendence, if you weren’t advocating Dualism, which they hate almost as much.]

Elemental Shade of Murder & Reagents

Grand Astrologists: “Getting murdered would get in the way of my research… yet I’m loath to be distracted from it, considering circumstances.”

Vault Guard: “Well… I can try to barter my forces for RES. And wasn’t there something about Lorekeepers recovering Ritual Books? That should help, shouldn’t it?”


Mercantile Party [3]

Scholars Society

Merchants of Wonder: “Interesting. What do you believe would be the best way to deal with them - are we to treat them as enemies, directly oppose them or prop up pawns. Or perhaps seek a way for a common ground?”

Reclaimers: “Grand Astrologist was there as well. Certainly, he’d raise an alarm, same as he warned us of Ironcloaks, were we in mortal peril.”

Department Head Angelo

Merchants of Wonder: “Perhaps, but it’s a matter of Department.”

Reclaimers: “Is it? Merchants of Wonder and you are important parts of Mercantile Party. If you engage in political war, that given times can turn into a regular one, wouldn’t Mercantile Party’s strength be sapped - and perhaps we may even get dragged into it? If Transcendence Party was moving against us, it’s one thing, but offense against other Parties is something that should be decided by all of us.”

Merchants of Wonder: “You are exaggerating - this is purely Departmental issue, that will not touch party politics.”

Lightbringers: “Many have muttered about our beliefs and choices too. It seems that Purifiers are setting up a good example. Departments have been too insular - too mistrusting of outsiders. We should not undermine, but support positive changes.”



Merchants of Wonder [3]

“We may talk in a more private setting? It does not do good to involve others in certain type of discussions. Give people a hole, and they’ll stick a nose in it. We can improve message security to [8] if needed, or perhaps meet personally.”



Escobane [3]

Coin would actually be preferable. Oh, and if you decide to hire other specialists, feel free to consult me. I have some connections and a good eye for the people.


Collectors of Woe [3]

Many of our fellow Shadow Mages died from the attack of the Dualists assassins and Tower Project they subverted. Do you think you hold not a bit of responsibility for it, to use their deaths as a point in your persuasion? You actually advocate for Dualist madman to join Tower.

You do not need to say anything to convince us, that Pathbinder crossed all lines and must be opposed. That is obvious. Yet your persuasion makes us consider your own character.

[-1 Reputation with Collectors of Woe]


Sir Rupert Grand [3]

Power. Righteousness. Fear. The same forces driving us. The dream of unification, from the perspective of Ironcloaks, concern about Turion’s Door, desire to rule world’s most powerful organization and Empire. I do not think Commander Day actually thought us capable of opening Turion’s Door - perhaps he thought better of us, then we proved to be, eh? A number of his commanders on other hand saw it as a real concern. It seems their capture of Baylin Split proved to be a powerful catalysts for fear.


Equalists [8]

“The wisdom of our leader exceeds our own. But if she acted - it was to bring something into Balance. That Stormwatcher - perhaps it was causing some ill?”

“We are followers of the Sources. Yet, one of the reasons we put our trust in Dagger Brotherhood was knowledge of Ritual Magic - for clearly it is Magic of Balance. We would dearly wish to learn it - but we must be in tune with the Sources to keep balance between Power and Shadow.”


Clockwork Cult

Architect [3]

“Naturally, I must ask, what is my gain? If you have some knowledge, I may access - for example if you could persuade Arsenal Master to allow me to examine him, we can have a deal.”


Magitech Department [5]

The gathered Mages hold a minute of silence to honor the death of Lightning Mage and Ervin Redford seems to fight hard, to hold back the tears. There’s discussion of establishing a memorial and loud insistence, that he should be buried in the Silver Levels of Crypts, reserved for Mages of great prominence, some even arguing for the Golden.

The passion for the armature project has cooled somewhat. (You should negotiate with individual factions for assistance).

It seems only Blitz Brotherhood is seriously considering possibility of hunting down Elemental Shade. The rest would be content with defences - such as Automata guard. If Orlitz could supply them, the factions of Magitech Department would be willing to compensate him.


Logicians [PM]

Zell Lancaster of Logicians arrives personally to discuss matters with Clockwork Cult.

“Artificer Orlitz. You represent the interests of Magitech Department in the Council. I believe our department had fought hard and sacrificed much in the recent battles and we deserve recognition for it. The Source Departments and Ritualists are weakened by Dagger Brotherhood and ongoing conflicts between their Heads. Much of the Tower’s instability and problems are coming from the power hungry, irresponsible Source Mages. We should take them under control - if only to act as guardians against their chaotic nature. I can bring up the heat on the Magitech Department dissatisfaction with the Executive Council - and you can propose that Halls of Dagger Brotherhood are given under control of Magitech Department as means to resolve tensions. I believe we could secure support of Magic-Conservatives, if we block Equalists and Warhawks, if we pledge support to conquer Elreath. You’ve seen the results of Source Departments and Ritualists infighting - they need a firm hand, our hand.”


Hospitium

Purple Court [PM]

“Other Courts may interfere. It was to be a marriage between Turion and an Elf.”


Internal [PM]

The resources are still available - they were never assigned in the chaos.

[Murska]

Elreath Diplomacy

"If we choose to at least attempt to talk with the Elreath, if for no other reason then because we'd rather deal with them in a more permanent manner after the coming war with Dragonbloods than during, we will also need senior diplomats there. I can go, and leave Blake to oversee Initiation's interests on this council.

As an aside, while we speak of diplomacy, perhaps we may find some common ground with this 'Scholar's Society'. What is the Sunken Tower more than a cradle of education and enlightenment, after all. Some sort of common ground where we do not waste efforts against each other while we've so many other foes to look upon might be achievable."

[HerbieRAI]

Hospitium

EC

Black Iron Weapons
Who currently has the weapons? We are planning on trying to hunt the assassin creature, and if it is a remnant of the dagger brotherhood then a black iron weapon may hurt it more than it hurts us.

Dragonblood problems
I think opening up talks cannot do any harm, unless you believe they will kill the diplomats. I am willing to go on the trip to Telamore if everyone else would rather be around for the elections. If we are opening diplomacy with the other towers to help counteract the dragonblood empire, I would like to bring up the Al-Makim as another potential envoy. The Dragon Friends already have good relations with them, and they probably fear the Dragonblood as much as we do. Even if we do not trust them, they are the enemy of our enemy and they do not seem to be against us.

Funding Increase
Before the Iron Cloaks attacked, there was an extra (3 stat limit) funding to distribute. Part of the deal that allowed us to implement the anti-infiltration project was the Fringe department took an extra funding hit with the promise that we get repaid at the first chance. I believe it would be fair to give 2 of the limit to Fringe, and 1 to the department of Warmagic.

Goblin Unions
I agree to their request.

Yen Hegemony
I am also in favor of the Reclaimers heading that up

Iron Cloaks
I like the idea of diplomacy for the release of the Iron Cloak Prisoners, but what would we ask for? Money? I am also willing to head up that negotiation, but I will back down from leading if Pathbinder would like.
I am against executing the low ranking mages that were following orders, but I will follow Mr. Buras' vote in that matter, a soldiers priority, chain of command or commitment to the tower, isn't known to me.

Spirit Courts (PM)

Perhaps you can help me for a little, if for nothing else than take your mind of being here. It wouldn't require you to leave your station.

The tower got a request to give Turion's Key to the Spirit Courts, do you know which courts are making the request? I am not against giving the key, but we would need some things in return from the courts, mostly information and non-interference with mortal kingdoms. The details would need to be worked out.

There is an envoy from a mortal realm that calls itself Glen, do you know which Courts they would be speaking to?

Lastly, the purple court had the largest hand in creating Turion's Door, which other Court would know the most about the Door itself?


To the Arbiters (MAN 3)

Your mission resonates with us, and we would like to help you with your missions. I know your general goal of fighting injustices, but do you currently have a specific mission?


To Dragon Friends (MAN 3)

I have brought up the Al-Makim, and with the efforts to reach out to other towers it may get somewhere. I may be able to get you to be the main diplomats in the interaction if you would like.

Unfortunately I have not found another group as dedicated to "half breeds". I am agreeing to FIGL's request. With the recent developments in the Seat of Power you may have a shot at joining the EC, if you see that as a goal.


Internal (PM)

Was the trait meant for the new VIP? I'd rather have Passtrum have the empathy if it needs to be on a VIP. If they new trait needs to be on the new VIP I'd like it to be "Survivor". I plan on putting him in the line of fire a lot.

[Ascaloth]

Atelier Solaris
MAN: 3

Executive Council

Unity

"It's unfortunate that the distrust of Magitech towards our Council has reached such an extent, miss Olritz. I believe we must take great care to avoid downplaying the Lightning Mage's courage and sacrifice, even as we strive to promote unity amongst the whole of the Tower. I propose that we honour the Lightning Mage with a posthumous award; his service to the Tower is no less than that of the Blood Binder or the Warders, and almost certainly more given that he gave his life for it."

Forbidden Vault

"Alright, so I take it we're all agreed that we absolutely need to get the Forbidden Vault's Order of Last Age on our side. And it's recommended that we use our turning back of the Ironcloaks, as well as giving over the Black-Iron Weapons taken from the Ironcloaks to their care, to demonstrate we are deserving of the Order's allegiance. All in favour?"

Turion's Door

Grand Astrologist: "I see. In that case, I call for mister Turen to provide access to either or both of those Halls in his Department, and for Pathbinder to provide access to the imprisoned Harbinger, so that mister Fuller may commence with his research; it is imperative that we come to understand the full nature of Turion's Door as soon as possible, and mister Fuller has been gracious in volunteering to do the ground work for us here. We should probably attempt to convince the Warders of the need as well."

Pathbinder: "I can't say I'm any more reassured by the fact that it's mister Turen currently holding the Key. But I'd say the same of any other Mage, and I'd think it quite reasonable if similar concerns were raised should it have been in my hands. So fair, I'll take that gesture for what you say it is."

"You claim you merely finished the job started by the old Tower Council, Pathbinder. This I ask, how can you be certain you knew what you were doing? Were you going off instructions left behind by the old Tower Council, if those even existed? Or were you simply playing it by ear as you went along? I'm inclined to think the latter more likely, given I also have it on good authority that you were advised in the act by one of the very same Dualists you decry even now."

"How much did you know about Turion's Door before you tried your hand at fixing it, Pathbinder? How do you know you haven't done exactly what the Dualists wanted? For that matter, how do we know you haven't loosed a Demon on the Tower, unwittingly and unaware?"

Ironcloaks

Grand: "I'm given to understand that the Descend has uncovered additional space in the depths of the Tower recently. Could they not be corralled there, especially in the understanding that it would be a temporary measure before release? As for what we might ask from them in return for their fellows... yeah, reparations in Coin would be simplest, I figure."

Marshall: "Well, I was speaking mainly of the Ironcloaks themselves. As for the Traitor Mages, I am as yet undecided as to their relative culpability or the punishments they should receive for it. I'm all ears for suggestions."

Funding Increase

"I second Dr Passtrum's recommendation."

Northern Outpost

"I'm leaning towards making the request to the Scholarium Arcana myself. After recent events, we need to consolidate our own resources as far as that is possible."



Dr Passtrum, I write to you again regarding the joint research project I had proposed earlier. Is there anyone else in your Seat you can think of, who might be skilled at determining the type of Fringe Magic that has been incorporated into the unknown Rituals? Alternatively, would you have any RES to spare in order to decipher its pages? That could help as well.

On another matter, I was informed that Dr Hidelburg was present at certain recent events, and had warned of Doom relating to said events. Would you be so kind as to tell me more about it?



Turion's Door

Solaris met the Grand Astrologist's gaze with her own, eyebrow raised slightly. Two could play at that game.

But as he continued speaking, the Alchemist looked increasingly concerned as she pondered the implications.

"Ironcloaks were one thing, but Hospitium was in cahoots with them? Now how in the world did we miss that one? Or wait... if the Ironcloaks were truly worried about the prospect of us meddling with the Door, maybe Hospitium merely shared the same concerns. It could well be just an alliance of convenience, rather than a betrayal. Given Dr Hidelburg's warnings, that certainly seemed like the case. Perhaps I'd better sound him out."

"Mister Shaan being wary of meddling with the Door... now that's a surprise. Miss Fortescue being in favour, not so much. But the real concern here is the Equalist Mage persuading Pathbinder to break the Stormwatcher... hmm. The more I know about them, the less I like what I'm hearing."

Equalists

"Pertinent questions I admit, miss Flay. And it's probably not a simple prospect, given their skills at covering their tracks surpass even mister Fuller's at observation. That, coupled with the shady things they've been doing that I'm only just now learning about..."

Enemy Within

The Grand Astrologist's plea, along with the Fleshcrafter Flay's criticism, actually left Solaris silent for once. Instead of responding immediately, the Alchemist crossed her arms and lowered her head, closing her eyes in deep thought. She stayed like that for some moments, clearly digesting the remonstrating words of her fellow Ritualists.

At length, she nodded slightly, staying in the same posture.

"Yes. This is precisely why."

Solaris looked up, and gestured towards the Grand Astrologist and Fleshcrafter Flay.

"This, right here, is exactly why I need people like you two by my side, mister Fuller, miss Flay. I know very well that I tend to err towards the side of risk-taking in many matters, and as such the possibility that I may go too far is a very real danger. If not for your sound advice and wisdom, I might well have."

"Thank you, mister Fuller, miss Flay. Thanks to your vigilance, you have both saved me from going off the cliff. It is my wish that the both of you continue to remain vigilant of my actions, in the days to come."

Solaris straightened up, and returned to her usual posture.

"You're both right, of course. Mister Angelo and his Purifiers may have been my long-time rivals, but as far as I can tell, he has not directly raised his hand against me to date. His link to mister Orsini and the pretenders does not necessarily mean he has personally done me wrong, and as for the things he did do... well, I might have done much the same were I in his position. I said that there is nothing wrong with being ambitious, and I really should have applied the same principle to mister Angelo in all fairness. I will do so now, and refrain from persecuting him for the time being. The door remains open for him to reconcile our differences; mister Angelo may distrust me my intentions still, and he has reason to do so, but that's how it goes."

"As for mister Turen and his Lorekeepers, it is hardly in doubt they plan to oppose me every step of the way at this point. However, though the Lorekeepers seem to have attempted to hinder me from the shadows at every opportunity, they too have not struck directly against me. It does not appear to be mister Turen's style to oppose me in an overt fashion, so while I still intend to evict him from our Seat at some point... it does not have to be immediately, nor in such bloody fashion. The question of the Lorekeepers can be tabled for a later time."

Equalists and Dagger Brotherhood

"Which leaves the Dagger Brotherhood. They still present a clear and present danger, one which should be neutralized at once if possible. I will admit that I may not know as much about the Equalists and their Dualist practice as I should have, and was vouching for them on the basis that they were sincere in offering their service in exchange for voluntarily rejoining the Circle. However, I had not fully accounted for the danger they posed, and after hearing what they have been up to in the short time their presence has been apparent in the Tower... I profess that I now have serious doubts about them. I'm probably going to change my mind about inviting the Equalists, at this stage."

"So there's that. But either way, the Dagger Brotherhood remains a problem to be dealt with. Assuming we're going to veto bringing in the Equalists to do the dirty work for us, what suggestions do you all have for casting the Dagger out of our Seat?"

Elemental Shade of Murder & Reagents

"Ha. After everything I've learned, I'll be surprised if mister Turen invests anything less than his full effort in preventing me from gaining access to those Ritual books. I suppose I could talk to the ECT about it though, maybe I could convince them to give us access if I help them pressure the Lorekeepers to give up the good."

"On the other hand, I know I asked for RES. But now I'm wondering if I couldn't achieve much the same with Mana instead..."

(OOC: What exactly does "10 Mana: +3 Stats (can’t exceed boosted stat)" mean? Would it be possible for me to blow 20 Mana for a temporary +6 RES all at once?)

Cult of Contemplative Insight

"Oh, and now that you've reminded me. How goes the effort to retrieve the remaining missing Ritual books from Mulden, mister Warner?"

Office of Travel

"Here's an idle thought. Would any of you have an interest in making a move for the former Hall of the traitor Heralds? Looking at you in particular, miss Flay."

Department Projects

"Alright. Since I'm all but decided to take the prospect of inviting the Equalists off the table entirely, that also answers the question of what to do with Subtle Weapons as well. I'm going to discontinue it, and put those funds to an alternative Department Project."

"For his invaluable service in warning the Tower of the Ironcloaks invasion, and his mediation at Turion's Door, I was planning to appoint the Grand Astrologist as the Project Leader for Astrological Charts. But before I do that, first I'll have to hear from mister Fuller. Given that you seem to be preoccupied with your newfound interest in the study of Turion's Door, would you see management of the Project as a boon or a burden?"

Scholars Society

Merchants of Wonder: "I'm still pondering my options, to be fair. You did raise some concerns about Mulden attempting to dominate the Dawn Empire economically and culturally, and here we have concrete evidence of a Mulden-based group explicitly aiming to do just that. Yet at the same time, their circle of influence in the North is relatively free of Dragonblood Empire espionage, and the latter is arguably the greater threat for the time being. So there's something to be said for seeking common ground with the Society as well. What is your opinion on the matter?"

Turion's Door

Reclaimers: "I'm sure he would, and his skill in Divining the presence of impending threats to the Tower is also not in doubt. However, mister Fuller's skill does not make him omniscient, as he himself has been at pains to teach me so. Still, you may have a point there."

Department Head Angelo

"Alright, I suppose this means it's not a good idea for our Party to meddle in Power's Departmental issues then. Noted, then we will not do so. Let's focus once again on our Party's primary objectives. We're discussing the Society, and we've talked about the matter of the weapons trade, so that leaves..."

Restoration of Ancient Infrastructure

"...the Reclaimers' statement that we should persuade the Tower to make hay while the sun shines. How do you propose we go about doing that, Reclaimers? What sort of arguments should I make in the Executive Council? What sort of political situation should our Party be looking to foster in order to facilitate that goal? Merchants of Wonder, Lightbringers, are you both in agreement with the Reclaimers that we should pursue this objective?"

"Yes, let's do that. I am terribly sorry about bringing the matter up in the Party discussions, for what it's worth. I was hoping that they could be convinced to come on board, for the sake of strengthening the Party's influence on Tower politics... clearly, I have miscalculated."

(OOC: Let's make it a PM, I'll use Hilde's action to pay for it.)

"Understood, I'll keep that well in mind. I'll be arranging for your payment according to the new terms shortly."

"You're right, I did advocate for the Dualists to join the Tower... that is before I learned, just recently, that Pathbinder may have been influenced to cross the lines she did by one of their number. I may have been willing to give the Equalists a chance, but now that I know this, that is no longer the case. I will be announcing my change of mind shortly."

"And yes, I do accept responsibility for having enabled the Dualists like I did, and I sincerely apologize for my lapse in judgement. The common charge against Dualists that they are prone to madness is now, I understand, justified on some level."

"Nevertheless, the fact remains that Pathbinder has to be checked. I would still like to offer you any assistance I can spare to that effect, if you'd accept it. Consider this my attempt to make amends, if you will."

"I have undertaken negotiations with mister Escobane, and he has requested that he be paid [5 CRE] for an additional [2 Turns] of his service. I have accepted, and I intend to cover the extra [1 CRE] he was asking for. I trust this is acceptable for the both of you?"

"Hey there! I'm glad to hear that some of the missing Ritual books have been retrieved. Would you, by any chance, be willing to give me access to said books? I was the one who discovered they were missing in the first place, after all."

"Their capture of Baylin Split? As I understand, he has recently escaped their custody, has he not?"

"I see. So their motivations are ultimately not that different from ours, save being on the other side. Thank you for the insight, Sir Grand."

"I was given to understand that the traitor Heralds working with Day's Chainers was attempting to do something about the Tower Council's spell engines. Have you any clue about what that might be, Sir Grand?"

"I see. Thank you for telling me all of this."

"I will level with you; there is much distrust within the Tower for your group, and I am not certain such distrust can be easily mitigated. I will do what I can to have your leader Amerlain freed, but he may have to answer some questions my colleagues have. As for your other offer regarding the Dagger... I'll be straight, it's not entirely likely the Tower would be willing to accept it. I'd recommend that you not keep your hopes too high."

[HerbieRAI]

Hospitium

To Solaris (MAN 3)

He was present for at the Door, but he... was not on Pathbinders good side during the event, so doesn't know many of the details. The Warders and He had made a deal with the Iron Cloaks down there to not fight eachother and the losing side would surrender. Both groups were there to protect the door, so it was a good agreement. When Pathbinder came down we fought eachother, and because of the Key we lost. It was thanks to the Grand Astrologist that he is still alive.

Other than that, the stories you've heard have been true to the point as far as we know. Except that the Duelist mage was also a prisoner of Pathbinder for trying to keep her from opening the door. Once the door was open we all had the same goal as to get it closed as swiftly as possible.


To Sir Grand (MAN 3)

I would like to offer my support for you to join the Tower Council. While I'm not making it a requirement, giving us 1 POL would make siginficant headway in our ability to bring the Fringe department to support you as well.


Internal (PM)

Since I have 1 REP with Twins, if I get "Fringe Like Us" to II then would we become allies (because a total REP of 3), right?

[Thelonius]

EC

Scholar’s Society

Sir Rupert Grand: “I’m in favor of dialog and diplomacy.”

Ruby Marshall: “If we deal with this Society, it will require concessions to the Mulden interests. Will we not be betraying the Dawn Lords, who have faithfully supported us all this time, by siding with Mulden and their ways?”

Pathbinder: “I say we deal with them.”

Purifier Angelo: “I’m undecided - we shouldn’t let them have an upper hand, but perhaps we can best them without fighting.”

Unity

Sir Rupert Grand: “Certainly, some recognition would be in order. Artificer Orlitz, what is your opinion on the matter?”

Black Iron Weapons

The weapons are currently gathered in Council Guard armory, a temporary solution.

Purifier Angelo: “Well… if Hospitium plans to hunt it, then perhaps we can make a loan of weapons, to fight it.”

Diplomacy

Sir Rupert Grand: “A lot of diplomacy is needed. Hopefully we can find enough diplomats. I believe it would be better for Waymond to visit Telamorian Lodge. Now, unless there’s disagreement on Forbidden Vault, who shall negotiate on behalf of the Council? I may do it, if needed.”

Purifier Angelo: “I wish to offer myself for the task of negotiations with Order of Last Age.”

Pathbinder: “I do not believe, it would be wise for Hospitium to conduct negotiations with Ironcloaks. Their allegiance to cause of Magic is after all somewhat uncertain.”

Diplomats
Yen Council: Leon Shimmers
Telamorian Lodge: Illarius Waymond
Elreath: ?
Al-Makim: ?
Ironcloaks: ?
Scholar’s Society: ?
Forbidden Vault: ?

Funding

Pathbinder: “With Dragonblood Empire’s thread, would it not be wiser to commit resources to Warmagic Department, that suffered most damage during the attack?”

Sir Rupert Grand: “I admit, the Tower’s need right now would be in a strong military force.”

Turion’s Door

Pathbinder: “I shall grant access to this Equalist. As for your question - in fact I did. You have provided access to them in the Council Archives and I have received additional information from Source Chancellor Merlin. And to be double-certain, I’ve even convinced Michael Orsini to invite Grand Astrologist, a respected and trusted member of your Department to oversee the operation. Certainly, we can trust the unsung hero of Ironcloaks Invasion, who managed to divine the attack, saving us from iron chains. I was indeed advised by the leader of Equalists - but one doesn’t ignore information sources, even if one does not like who they are. We have gained much and lost nothing Summerscent. Sometimes, things just work out. I understand the fears - but I believe the Council would do good to dismiss them and reassure the Halls, that all is good. Do we wish for panic and for our brethren, driven by fear to lose all reason and do something, we’d all regret?

Turion’s Key

Pathbinder: “Certainly, Mage Turen is a temporary holder, until we can decide, what should be done with the Key. I believe it would serve as powerful symbol of the office for the Source Chancellor of the Tower Council.”

Ironcloaks

Sir Rupert Grand: “That is correct. We may be able to construct the prison, if we decide to keep prisoners. It will not be without cost, but it will be cheaper, with Descend’s work.”

Hospitium

Spirit Courts [PM]

“I have explained, I shall not interfere with matters pertaining to Turion’s Door.”

“As for the humans of Red Continent, they petition all the Courts. Soon, the Convocation shall make a choice.”

“Azure Court knows the most.”


Arbiters [3]

We seek freedom and justice for the Sandarians, as blood and politics tear their land apart. Once more the war drums beat to march people to the slaughter of war, while executioner’s hand cuts the throats of those, who think differently.


Internal [PM]

It could be for any VIP - I just assumed you wanted it for new NPC. So - you want it for Passtrum? Or did you want it to be Faction trait?


Atelier Solaris

Ritualist Cabal [PM]

Turion’s Door

Grand Astrologist: “That is my assumption as well, and reason why Pathbinder isn’t insisting on censuring Hospitium… yet. My impression of the Equalist Mage… Cultish. I’m not certain if her madness was of Sources or of Religious kind. I believe her logical, under her own set of rules.”

Equalists

Flay: “I’m glad you are beginning to see the reason. ”

Enemy Within

Flay: It’s indeed wise to consider options first. How likely do you believe censure and pushback against Transcendence Party? Who do you believe will be on the Tower Council - if they’d share our ideals, then we’ll be able to fix this mess.

Werner: "I can't say, some caution isn't in order. Can we truly trust Lorekeepers not to strike first?"

Dagger Brotherhood

Flay: “The best way to deal with them is call upon Magic-Conservatives. If we purge Dagger Brotherhood, we’ll show the Tower our strength. Perhaps Hospitium and their supporters could help as well?”

Cult of Contemplative Insight

Werner: “By the end of this month, my agents will have proof of who in the Mulden government is involved with ritual knowledge trafficking. We’d be able to resolve issue through state diplomacy or Staff after that.”

Herald’s Hall

Fley: Not I. But Collectors of Woe may consider it.

Department Projects

Grand Astrologist: “Certainly, the project that was used against Tower Mages… it would be better to quietly shift funds from it. I have trusted Apprentice, who may be ready to graduate to Master.”


Tower Markets [3]

This seems acceptable.


Mercantile Party [3]

Merchants of Wonder, Mage Corpul Wisher: “I’ll speak frankly. I admire Mulden. They are a speck of a nation, on barren, northern lands, surrounded by powerful nations, yet they dare to seek to dominate us. Coming close to succeeding at that. Clearly, they are doing something right. I believe we must see a Merger, make our interests, their interests.”

Lightbringers: “We admire Mulden’s progressive society.”

Reclaimers: “Well… if the rest of the Party is in favor, we would not be against.”

Turion’s Door

Merchants of Wonder: “I certainly can’t complain about the new calmness of Sources.”
Lightbringers: “We should probably fix the Door and make certain, nothing escaped it.”
Reclaimers: “Our gains are significant. We don’t need to do nothing.”

Infrastructure

Reclaimers: “I say, we propose a joint project with Mulden - they negotiate with rulers of the North to invite us to fix infrastructure. We have some goodwill there right now and Mulden is trusted. The Tower benefits and our standing in the North improves. If Tower supports Magitech Department, we’ll agree to do repairs for a song to earn people’s trust. Then we’ll start designing new Magitech projects, not just rebuilding ancient husks, doing something new. This is where we’ll start recouping our investments and since northerners would need us to operate Magitech, they’ll fall under our power as specialists and technicians, rather than warlords. A conquest without any bloodshed - through pure knowledge. Sigh, it’s a pit Sir Grand is a bit bloodthirsty - he seems to be advocating for investment in war projects, when what we need is good reputation. I mean, why are we picking a fight with Elreath, when we could try to cooperate - with their magitech expertise, we’d achieve wonders.”


Merchants of Wonder [PM]

Mage Corpul Wisher is a large man, his body fat, yet clearly powerful. His robes are expensive and bright with light of precious gems and jewelry.

“Ah, Solaris, you have not framed your proposal as strengthening the Party. You have spoken of involving Mercantile Party in empowering my position. Lightbringers are not fond of tradition, so your words fell flat on their ears, while Relcaimers got a big head from their recent successes and they are concerned, not to jeopardize their political standing. I’m certain they could be persuaded about the good of the party and mine coinciding, but now it’s a bit more difficult.”

“Now about your propositions. Let me tell you a bit of my work. You know what my Hall does, The Forge. We go into the Power and we wish for Things to BE. And Power grants our wishes. Now, what separates Apprentices, from Masters is understanding, that, when Wishing from Power, you must be honest, with your desires. Dilettantes, they often frame their wishes to clothe their naked desires in a garment of virtue or deny their true desires out of some misplaced social fears. So when Power grants their wishes… well, it gives them what they asked for, not what they wanted.”

“So, I personally do not desire to be Department Head. Too much responsibility. I’ll sell my vote to the highest bidder, collect promises and pledges and when I need something, I will get, what I want without needed to hold the Staff of the Office. So, if you wanted to strengthen my faction and Mercantile Party, your wish is granted. We’ll grow more powerful, from the deals we’ll make in Power Department. Is that what you truly wanted?”

“Solaris. Mercantile Party can accomplish so much right now - in Mulden, the opportunities opened between us can create a legacy for the ages. The Magic shall spread through trade across the world - not War Staffs. If we pool our resources and work together. But, if you have other priorities, I’m here to listen to your concerns.”


Collectors of Woe [3]

Well… For starters, what are the odds of Executive Council acting on the Pathbinder and Turion’s Door situation? Can we count Tower Council that will enforce law?


ECT [3]

“Well… we can give you a one-time super discount, so for price of [RES 1], you can access the Great Library.”


Sir Rupert Grand [3]

As I understand it, yes. He’s at large at the moment. As for Engines, I admit, I’m not very well versed in Tower operations.


Equalists [3]

Out offer is in good faith. But if Tower does not accept our strength… others will.

[Murska]

Diplomacy

"My apprentice, Min Willow, is experienced enough by now that she could be sent either as an assistant in important discussions, such as with the Yen Council, or to handle preliminary or more minor talks like the ones with Scholar's Society.

As for myself, I believe I would be best discussing with the Elreath. The relations between us two are currently highly sensitive and we need enough authority to be taken seriously along with sufficient experience to not touch upon any sore points. We also need to succeed in those talks to avoid a two-front war - I still believe focusing our efforts on one threat at a time to the best of our ability is the correct way to proceed. The Telamorian Lodge, while important, have only just become active and we do not have any immediately specifically relevant topic to speak on."

Funding

"Hospitium's selfless assistance to our Department allowed us to set up a defense just in time to at least hinder the Ironcloaks instead of being caught totally in the open. In addition their healing was critically important to keeping our Mages on the front able to continue the fight. While rebuilding the damaged Warmagic territories is something we must do as soon as possible, I would agree to the proposed split of funding between Warmagic and Fringe."

Turion's Door

"The Door is not the sort of thing we should tamper with. There is very few crises that would be dire enough to make it acceptable to risk uncreating the world. I am honestly worried that such a thing was done, with no oversight or even knowledge of most of the Tower's Mages. If you overdraw from a Source and happen to end up more powerful for it, that doesn't mean it was the smart thing to do nor that the backlash couldn't still result in terrible destruction even if everything looks fine in the moment."

Elemental Surge

"As an aside, we have a possibly unique opportunity right now to send an expedition to the depths of a Rift. Should we make the attempt despite all the other things vying for our attention, or risk never having the chance again?"

[HerbieRAI]

Hospitium

EC

Diplomacy
I believe we can use the Dragon Friends to be the diplomats with the Al-Makim. They already have a good relationship with them.

Northern Outpost
I'm in favor of asking the Scholarium Arcana.

Spirit Matters
I think I have enough information to bring this up to the Council. Like most things, there is an easy way and a hard way.
The easy way would involve use making a pact with the spirits giving them Turion's Key as part of the pact. We should be able to negotiate them keeping away from human kingdoms and provide us with some of their knowledge. They are immortal creatures, so many knew Turion himself along with many of the ancient magi. befriending them could make a lot of headway in what the tower knows of magic.

The hard way would involve Hospitium negotiating for the spirits to refuse Glen's request. Normally this would be easy, but someone decided to open Turion's door last month. On the Spirit Isle the spirits can read your mind and force you to speak the truth, so they will know you had no idea what you were doing when you opened the door, and it was only the equalist's aid that allowed you to be successful. I can still make a good case against it, but that will significantly hurt our cause.

To the Spirit Courts (PM)

Is there a way for a mortal to speak before a Convocation, or is that not allowed?


To the Old Masters (MAN 3)

(ooc: This message is only sent if mortals are allowed at the Convocation)
You are a group that has a good relationship with spirits. They are going to be holding a Convocation to decide on giving the empire of Glen much of the power they bestowed during the beginning of the Iron Age. We would like to hire one of your number to accompany us and help dissuade the spirits from doing that.


To Sir Grand (MAN 3)

(ooc: this is a retype in case you missed the above post)
I would like to offer my support for you to join the Tower Council. While I'm not making it a requirement, giving us 1 POL would make significant headway in our ability to bring the Fringe department to support you as well.


Internal (PM)

If I get "Fringe Like Us" to level 2, will I be allies with Hunters and Twins, since the total REP would be 3?

Only a VIP can fight the shadow beast, but can I use DES and MAN through the VIP?

[Imperial Psycho]

Internal Security

Turion's Door

"I must register my disapproval of this tampering with Turion's Door in the strongest possible terms. "

"You haunt us with the spectre of agreeing with Ironcloak's restriction's of magic, Pathbinder, but this kind of reckless action plays directly into the hands of those who fear and hate us. Those who believe that a mage is an explosion waiting to happen, and that the moment a mage is backed into a corner, they will reach for the most dangerous, most world-destabilizing force they can muster, and unleash it upon the world, let the consequences be damned."

"I believe, truly and strongly, that magic, that the Tower, can be a force for good and stability in this world. That my men live and die to protect something important. We must be the responsible guardians of knowledge I know us to be, and not the reckless power-graspers others fear us to be."

"We have no idea what the long term repercussions of removing the Stormwatcher will be. Source-Storms seem to be a likely consequence, growing worse with time. But beyond that, who can say. Our only course as responsible holders of the power granted us by fate, is to do everything we can to restore order, and the Seal that was Broken."

Scholar’s Society

"I am not inherently opposed to diplomacy, of course. But as Marshall says, wherever we must chose between the interests of Mulden and the Dawn Empire, the Dawn Empire must always come first. We are symbiotic, and we do best when we work in concord."

IronCloaks

We should be rid of these prisoners as soon as is practicable. If we can secure concessions from the Ironcloaks in exchange for them, that might work. Perhaps one of the nations that assaults the Iron Lords might pay us for them as well, to keep them from joining the fight.

"As for the traitor mages, the leaders must be punished in the harshest possible manner. There is no excuse for joining Ironcloak against mage. That is the highest crime I can imagine."

"As for their followers, it would not to practical to harshly punish them all. However, they also knew they were fighting with the Ironcloaks, and chose to continue the fight. I think this is a matter for our future Lawspeaker to judge."

Funding

"While I admit I am not without bias in these matters, perhaps a compromise? (2 Limit) to Warmagic,and (1) to Fringe?"

To the Peacekeepers [3]
This is a day for mourning, and for celebration. I am truly grateful for all that all members of this party contributed to the defence of the Tower. We showed that we are not mages of empty rhetoric, but that we will fight for the Tower and the mages within it.

However, the fight was long, and brutal, and it was perhaps inevitable that such a traumatic time would open rifts between us. I believe now must be a time for coming together, not disputes.

Please, I once again ask you all to air your concerns and grievances, or any matters you would ask me to raise to the Council. I wish this party to remain a solid force for the stability and safety of the Tower.

I believe our first aim in this regard must be to restore the Crimson Staves to their seat in Warmagic, and to allow them to resume their post at our side.


To Solaris Summerscent[3]
"My dear Solaris, my continued friendship was never in question."

"The Ironcloak invasion did indeed exact a brutal toll on the halls of Warmagic. I thank you for the Alchemists Fire you provided in our time for need."

"If in fact I can ask a favour, it will take [4 CRE] to repair the halls in which I reside. If there is any amount you can offer towards this goal, I will be most grateful".

"I will of course, endeavour to contribute myself, but matters of Creation are not my expertise."

"Your Friend"

"Caldwin Buras"

"P.S. I hope my words in the Executive Council will make my opinion on this matter very clear. I look forward to your own views on the matter."

[Ascaloth]

Atelier Solaris
MAN: 3

Executive Council

Scholar's Society

"Technically the Lady-Protector Ray has always been pro-Mulden to begin with, so dealing with the Society will probably not be seen as a betrayal by the Dawn Lords, at least not at the top level. Of course, there are probably more conservative factions within the Dawn Empire that might not look so favourably on this move, so there's that."

"So... wild idea here. This one's actually pretty far out there as wild ideas go, so take what I say next with a pinch of salt if you'd please. The Eye of the North say it's likely that the Society will be aiming for cultural and economic domination of the Dawn Empire, but we know their main motivation is the prosperity of Mulden itself. Something for the Tower to be concerned about, no doubt; it would not do to have Mulden influence overwhelm the Tower's in the Dawn Empire. I believe this is why we've been taking a quasi-adversarial stance towards Mulden ideas in the first place."

"Here's the wild idea. What if we give the Society leeway to introduce Mulden ideas to the Dawn Empire... on the condition that they give equal focus and work together with us to introduce the magical knowledge and wisdom of the Tower to Mulden in turn? I figure the Society would have an open mind towards anything that could be of benefit of Mulden... and with the Tower's recent victories over the Surge and the Ironcloaks, it should not be hard to convince them of the utility of magic in that regard. We trade some of our influence in the Dawn Empire for the sake of extending some of our own to Mulden itself, in effect. Equivalent exchange, after all."

"We've been working on the assumption that it's a zero-sum game between Mulden and the Tower all this time, so I figure I might as well ask. Need this necessarily be the case, if there's the possibility of creating a whole that's more than the sum of its parts?"

Black Iron Weapons

"Ahhh, right. If that's the case, then I know we've said we'll use the Black Iron Weapons as a chip for negotiating with the Order of Last Age. But maybe we should keep a small stash in the Council Guard armory, just in case? Not that I'm saying your Hospitium won't be up to the task, Dr Passtrum... but it's better to have a backup for this and similar matters in the future, just in case."

Funding

"I understand Warmagic's needs at the moment, but those fund have already been promised to Fringe beforehand. If we renege on our promises now, isn't that only going to hurt us greatly in the eyes of the Fringe Seat? A Magitech Seat distrustful of this Council is bad enough, we certainly don't need to give a second Department grounds for questioning our authority at this stage."

Turion's Door

"This may or may not be in your field of study, Pathbinder, but are you aware of Equivalent Exchange? The scales must be balanced, accounts must be settled, the piper must be paid. As an Alchemist by training, this is a concept that's been drilled into my head since I was but an Initiate. It doesn't just apply to money, you know. It's applicable not just to Alchemy, not just to Ritual magic, but to magic itself in general. So when you say we've gained much and lost nothing, what I'm hearing from you is that we're getting something from nothing. You'd forgive me if I seem a little... skeptical of that claim, Pathbinder."

"If you've done your due diligence in minimizing the consequences of opening Turion's Door, then I'm sure you'll have no issues of showing us the proof of such, Pathbinder. Let's have those instructions you've claimed to have obtained from the Council Archives; it should be easy to cross-check the records thereof. Add what you say the late miss Merlin had taught you about the Door, as well. You've yet to argue against the possibility that the Equalist Mage may have influenced your actions for his own ends, much less answered why you need his information to begin with if you went in with full knowledge of what you're about to do; let's hear it. And last but not least, if the Grand Astrologist has indeed observed the process without protest, why have you not called upon him to argue in your defense?"

"In fact, my fellow Mages. Why don't we call upon mister Fuller to testify? As well as any other Mages who were there to witness it happening; you know who you are."

Equalists

"Speaking of which. Recent revelations about the Equalists' role in recent events has made me question the sincerity of their offer. I can no longer trust that they simply wish to rejoin the Circle, and as such I have to change my vote on their offer to Nay. I still say we release their leader, if only so they would not continue to haunt the Tower in an attempt to free their leader by themselves and cause damage to us in the attempt... but they should be shown the door out of the Tower afterwards. We will have to deal with the Dagger Brotherhood ourselves."

Turion's Key

"Assuming we don't give it into the hands of the Spirits, like that Old Man Jim was asking for, whoever he was. They clearly had some idea of what went down at Turion's Door, and aren't exactly happy about it. It does make me wonder though, what interest exactly did they have in the Key in the first place. Dr Passtrum, do you have any light to shed on that?"

Ironcloaks

"I'm all for not keeping the captive Ironcloaks longer than we absolutely need to; it's simply a bleed on our resources otherwise. But who else might have an interest in buying their lives off of our hands? Profit motive aside, if at least one such interested buyer exists, that's one point we can use to negotiate against the Iron Lords."

Elemental Surge

"It may be worth a look, but I feel I'd better point one thing out. The Rift is in the North; how would it look if we had Mages and resources to spare in an expedition to the Rift, but not for a rescue party to the distant outpost?"



I see. It seems the story checks out so far, at least as I've heard it.

Dr Hidelburg is not the only one in the Council - much less the Tower - who has reservations about the events at Turion's Door, Dr Passtrum. Far from it, in fact. Would either him or you be interested in discussing this privately, with like-minded friends?

It goes without question, of course, that any contribution of CRE to repair the Warmagic Halls that were damaged in your Department's defense against the Ironcloak invaders is only reasonable. Give me some time to put my accounts in order, mister Buras, and I will inform you how much I can contribute to that end in due time.

P.S. I trust that my own words in the Council are sufficiently indicative of the matter. We are not the only ones in the Tower concerned about what has transpired, mister Buras; far from it. Would you be interested in discussing the matter privately, with like-minded friends?

We seem to share similar concerns over what has transpired at Turion's Door, mister Weymond. Would you be interested in discussing the matter privately, with like-minded friends?



Turion's Door

"Alright. I guess that's the final nail in the coffin of any possibility that we could trust the Equalists. I'll be disavowing them officially in the Council."


Enemy Within

Flay: "I'll have to be blunt here. Pathfinder and mister Turen's Lorekeepers are riding a high on their 'fixing' of the Sources, and they seem to be indelibly linked at this point. Just the two of them working together will form a Tower Council the rest of the Mages would be willing to accept, and as you can imagine, that will not go very well for any of us here."

"However, all is not lost from my reckoning. It seems like we're hardly the only ones who are concerned about Pathbinder meddling with Turion's Door. We know for a fact now that Dr Hidelburg was against opening the Door, and it seems that mister Weymond of Sigma and mister Buras of Internal Security share the same sentiments. If we can get everyone of like mind to coordinate our efforts, and work together towards forming an alternative Tower Council, it's not impossible for us to overturn the advantage that Pathbinder and mister Turen currently enjoys."

"To that effect, I'm thinking of bringing our like-minded friends into this little tea party we're having here, to work out a strategy to that end. For now, that involves inviting Sigma, Internal Security, and Hospitium. Is there anyone else whom you think we should consider bringing in as well? For that matter, are you all on board with this?"


Warner: "I don't believe so, if mister Turen's methods up to this point is any indication. He seems to avoid taking direct action, and everything he's done to hinder me has been by various proxies in his stead. If he intends to strike us first, it's more likely to come from anyone else other than his Lorekeepers. Probably mister Angelo and his Purifiers, if only due to proximity. Another reason for why I want to get that Ward up over our Seat, for what it's worth."

"That said, I'm agreed on the part about exercising caution... but what are we to do about the Lorekeepers in the Silver Circle, in that case? I don't believe the Lorekeepers have a significant DES force, so a Conquest attempt would stand the highest chance of pushing him out of our Seat... except miss Flay and mister Fuller have already spoken out against starting a war, so what can you do. That leaves either a Subversion or Vote attempt, but the Silver Circle apparently loathes me enough that they have more Loyalty to the Lorekeepers than to their fellow Ritualists. So that makes it tricky; it might be possible, but not unless a whole lot of MAN was directed to that effect. Even so, would that be something you'll all be willing to help me with?"

Dagger Brotherhood

"It seems that Dr Passtrum appears to be focusing on taking down the Elemental Shade, actually. He may want to focus wholly on that alone, and frankly I'd be inclined to leave him to it considering it's the Elemental Shade. I can ask him nonetheless, if you think it's worth trying."

Cult of Contemplative Insight

"Thank you, mister Warner. Please update me again next month, when the work on this is done."

Herald's Hall

"The Collectors well might consider it, I wouldn't know. But actually, obtaining the Office of Travel itself wasn't actually the point when I brought it up; it's that it's a Hall of the Department of History. So, mister Turen's backyard, in effect. I figure he would be about as unhappy with a Ritualist faction in his Department, as I presently am with his Lorekeepers' presence in my Seat. So if you can get ahold of it, I might be able to negotiate with mister Turen to trade the Silver Circle back to you in return for the Office of Travel."

Department Project

"That's good to know. In that case, I will be expecting regular updates from you, the Project Leader, on the status and progress made by the Astrological Charts Project. Congratulations mister Fuller, or to whichever Apprentice you'd prefer I give that responsibility to. I will be making the necessary arrangements shortly, and if you'd be willing to bring my apprentice Isaac onto it so that he may learn something, as and when I can spare him, I will take it as a personal favour."


"Very well. I'll arrange the new terms with mister Escobane shortly."

Scholars Society

"Interesting... I wouldn't be adverse to bringing Mulden even closer to the Tower's bosom, myself. That said, there's plenty of other Mages in the Tower who would look askance at the idea. Alright, it's still worth a shot though... I'll suggest a wild idea to the Council, and let's see how they take to it for now."

Turion's Door

"Very well, then this Party as a whole will not speak up about the events around Turion's Door. Lightbringers, if you remain concerned about this matter, please discuss it personally with me."

Infrastructure

"What do the rest of you think of the Reclaimers' proposal?"

"For my part, this sounds like something that should involve miss Olritz as well, since it has to most to do with her Seat after all. Would you like me to bring it up with her?"

"Personally, I think Sir Grand may have a point about increasing investment in our military capability; the Ironcloaks are proof of that. On the other hand I'm agreed that he seems to have it in for Elreath to an unnecessary extent. Still, he didn't react well at all the last time I questioned him about his stance, so you'd forgive me if I'm not especially inclined in poking that beehive again."

"Oh, that was most informative, mister Wisher! My thanks for teaching me all about the Forge."

"Right, so. I understand your stance and wishes on the matter, mister Wisher. Yet, I cannot help but recall how your Merchants of Wonder posed the greatest competition to miss Fortescue's Uplift, during the Power elections. That doesn't seem to square with your personal disinclination to be Department Head, at least it seems to me. Were your Merchants not actually running in earnest against miss Fortescue back then, or are they simply popular enough in the Power Seat to accrue that many votes without really trying?"

"As for me, my priorities were indeed much the same as yours when I invited your Merchants of Wonder to join my Atelier in establishing the Mercantile Party. It still very much is, as a matter of fact. If it looks like my priorities have changed recently to you, mister Wisher, that's only because I'm responding to a threat to our original purpose. Which is mister Angelo and his Purifiers, to be specific. He is unhealthily paranoid of me and mine, and in his position as Head of Power, he is unfortunately in a position to wreck all the leverage and interests you have so carefully built up within your own Seat."

"Which is why although mister Angelo is a fellow Ritualist of mine, I'd be inclined to support you in taking back the Seat of Power from him if only you yourself were interested, mister Wisher. And quite honestly, the responsibility of Department Head isn't so bad; it does give you leverage to make deals at a higher level than before. I mean, just look at me."

"I'll have to be blunt here. Pathfinder and mister Turen's Lorekeepers are riding a high on their 'fixing' of the Sources, and they seem to be indelibly linked at this point. Just the two of them working together will form a Tower Council the rest of the Mages would be willing to accept, and as you can imagine, that would not be a Tower Council with our best interests at mind."

"Still, all is not lost. There's plenty of Mages who are unhappy about Turion's Door, and I'm speaking to some of them privately about the matter, including a couple of your fellow Magic-Conservatives. Would you be interested in joining those discussions?"

(OOC: I actually don't know what to make of this particular offer. 1 RES to access the Great Library sounds really good, but is that a guarantee I can get to the Ritual books that were retrieved? And if so, since Solaris should know where to go looking for said Books at this point, would I still need to spend RES on top of it?)

"I see. Thanks for your assistance, Sir Grand."

"Truth, Sir Grand. How much confidence do you have that the Executive Council, or whatever sort of Tower Council that's going to be formed within the month, will do the right thing regarding Turion's Door?"

"I understand. Thank you once again, for the offer."

"Mister Escobane, you mentioned your connections to other specialists earlier. As a matter of fact, do you have any specialists in mind who might be able improve the efficiency of Tower Markets even further? Maybe an Accountant who can optimize the finances of the Project to the fullest, perhaps prevent any skimming of the profits or at least keep it hidden? Perhaps with some skill at financial forensics on top of that, that would be the cherry on the cake."

What exactly does "10 Mana: +3 Stats (can’t exceed boosted stat)" mean? Would it be possible for me to blow 20 Mana for a temporary +6 RES all at once?

Actions

Nicholas (Level 2 Ambassador) arranges the Ritualist's Cabal PM.

Hilde (Level 1 Apothecary) arranges the PM with Merchants of Wonder

Sell 4 CRE to Demand: Factories Construction in exchange for 6 Coin.

Pay 3 Coin, along with 2 CRE from MoW/CoW, to extend Escobane's contact for another 2 Turns.

[Thelonius]

Tower Council

The talk of elections gets started and both candidates and political parties begin to speak out.

[OOC: Anybody wishing to join running / start politicking is welcome to start]

Source Chancellor

Candidates
Pathbinder
- Leave Source Seal broken
- No to Dualism
Lydia Watcher
- Fix Source Seal
- No to Dualism

Issues

The Source Chancellor elections are dominated by the issue of Turion’s Door - should it be fixed or left as it is.

The secondary question is about Dualism and Equalists - should their offer be accepted or rejected?

Parties
Transcendence Party favors candidate, who would not restore Source Seal on Turion’s Door.
Magic-Conservatives favor candidate, who would restore Source Seal.
Mercantile Party seems to be leaning in favor of leaving Source Seal broken.
Warhawks favor broken Source Seal.
Peacekeepers haven’t announced their stance yet.
Theists are undecided.
Conservatives favor restoration of Source Seal.

Tower Chancellor

Candidates
Sir Rupert Grand
- Strengthen Military and Diplomacy.
- Alliances with Yen and Al-Makim
- War with Elareath and strong stance against Telamorian Lodge
- Interests of Dawn Empire over Mulden
Lyhoday
- Focus on Intelligence Networks, Military and Tower Defenses
- Interests of Dawn Empire over Mulden

Issues
The main questions around the Tower Chancellor election revolve around providing security against internal and external enemies.

There’s also a question of Mulden and Dawn Empire. Some believe in cultural exchange, while others prefer to favor conservative “loyalist” factions of the Dawn Empire. For now both candidates seem to belong to the second camp.

Political Parties
Warhawks: support Sir Rupert Grand
Conservatives: undecided
Transcendence Party: seem to be leaning in favor of Sir Rupert Grand
Magic-Conservatives: seem to be leaning in favor of Lyhoday
Theists: seem to dislike both candidates
Mercantile Party: seems dissatisfied with both Candidates due to Mulden issue
Peacekeepers: unknown

EC

Diplomats
Yen Council: Leon Shimmers, Min Willow (?)
Telamorian Lodge: ?
Elreath: Illarius Waymond
Al-Makim: ?
Ironcloaks: ?
Scholar’s Society: Min Willow (?)
Forbidden Vault: ?

Dawn Empire & Mulden

Sir Rupert Grand: “I believe Councilwoman Summerscent offers the best course of action. We’ll gain strength from Mulden’s culture, while they gain strength from our strong values.”

Ruby Marshall: “This is the betrayal I’m speaking of. This will rip the foundations of Dawn Empire and bury our loyalists. The Mulden’s greed driven Bankers and Industrialists will replace the honorable dawn lords, who stood by us all this time.”

Purifier Angelo: “I admit… this will destroy much, yet it may make Dawn Empire more powerful in the long run.”

Pathbinder: “Hmm… Certainly, I can see, why Councilwoman Solaris would propose this.”

Black-Iron

Ruby Marshall: “Keep it in armory to be used by whom exactly?”
Ironcloaks

Sir Rupert Grand: “Then we favor release of Ironcloaks through negotiations, execution of traitor’s leaders and shelving the punishment for rank & file to be resolved by new Lawspeaker. Any objections?”

Spirit Courts

Sir Rupert Grand: “Perhaps it would be wise to win trust of the Spirit Courts by giving them Turion’s Key for safekeeping. We can’t afford to have them as enemies right now and I admit I’d sleep safer, were it out of Tower. As long as they permit its use, should we decide to fix Turion’s Door.”

Pathbinder: “Give key to our enemies - the Spirit Court? Madness.”

Purifier Angelo: “I’m against giving away something so important to the Tower and world. Are there no options to force the Spirits, rather than grovel before them?”

Ruby Marshall: “Hmm… I don’t know, Hospitium are experts here, but giving away Turion’s Key seems a bit extreme.”

Diplomacy

Sir Rupert Grand: “I can concede to use of Dragon Friends, if they could present to the Council, a report on their dealings with Al-Makim. We must be certain, that they are on our side.”

Purifier Angelo: “I’m inclined to err on the side of trust with Dragon Friends.”

Pathbinder: “I wouldn’t trust Dragonkin.”

Northern Outpost

Sir Rupert Grand: “Well, unless there are strong objections, we’ll ask Scholarium to handle the matter.”

Funding

Sir Rupert Grand: “Well, it seems to be I and Councilman Buras favor 2 to Warmagic, 1 to Hospitium split, while Councilman Waymond and Councilman Hidelburg favor the reverse.”

Turion’s Door

Purifier Angelo: “Certainly, saving Magic is worth a measured amount of risk? The effects on the Black-Iron gave us bloodless victory and Tower gained greatly in strength, now, that we so desperately need it. Councilman Waymond, have your Department not benefit from the advances of Wakers? While many in the Tower believe their methods are too dangerous and should be discontinued. Sources are dangerous - but to shy away from all risk is not to live.”

Ruby Marshall: “Yes… Certainly, the risk of unleashing new demonic invasion, that may as well destroy everything can be balanced. Thousands of years nobody tried to touch the thing, but clearly we know better.”

Sir Rupert Grand: “I believe the matter of Turion’s Door requires Source Chancellor to resolve.”

Judgments

Pathbinder: “I see. Well, in that case I’m not against summoning Grand Astrologist. As he can testify about Subtle Weapons Project being used against Tower Mages - a foul treachery, that allowed crazed Dualists to slaughter scores of our fellow Mages. How is it, that you, the Department Head, permitted Subtle Weapons to be so corrupted?”

[OOC: Grand Astrologist is summoned - you can pose questions to him.]

Equalists

Pathbinder: “I believe we can release this Equalist Leader… my only concern is that she is a powerful Mage. Are we comfortable with her walking free?”

Elemental Surge

Purifier Angelo: “The promised power and knowledge can greatly serve the Tower. Let us send our Hosts to secure the area so our research teams could investigate. And Scholarium can handle the North - we are not abandoning them.”

Ruby Marshall: “We may find something useful in the ancient facilities below.”

Pathbinder: “I think we have better things to focus on.”

Sir Rupert Grand: “Treasure hunting is good and all, but we have not resources to spare right now.”


Atelier Solaris

Ritualists Cabal [PM]

Werner: “I can spare some MAN for a good cause.”

Office of Travel

Flay: “Well, I doubt nobody else would make a move on the Hall - our resources are limited to fight against major factions.”

Apprentices

Grand Astrologist: “Ah, certainly, send the boy. I’ll take care of him.”


Mercantile Party [3]

Corpul Wisher: “This is what I’m talking Solaris. I have my sources and your speech for the Council is right what is needed. But, a bit of a problem, that current Tower Chancellor candidates seem to ignore the issue. Should we persuade Sir Grand to change his mind or find a candidate, who’d be in favor of progressive view over Mulden-Dawn Empire relations?”

Lightbrigners: “We may need to increase Tower Defences, but as for Military, do we truly need much of it? Glen is kept in check by Dawn Empire and Mulden. And Dragonbloods are hated - if we rally the world against them, why, even Dragonbloods can’t take on both North, South and West.”

[OOC: Military & Tower Defences are a bit different. In case of Ironcloaks invasion, you needed the second more.]


Merchants of Wonder [PM]

“A clever Merchant finds a way to sell his goods at premium. And if I wasn’t threatening Fortescue, would she agree to as much as she did?”

“Now, how dangerous are Purifiers? Do you believe they would strike against you? I can try to act as intermediary between you two or we can discuss, how your position can be secured. We are allies after all and your work in the Council is most useful for Mercantile Party.”


Collectors of Woe [3]

“We are less certain of Lorekeepers role, they may have been a moderating influence for all we know. But Pathbinder yes… she must be stopped. Perhaps you could back Lydia Watcher? If we control Source Chancellor position, then we can fix the Door and see about prosecuting Pathbinder for her crimes against the Tower. For certainly, interfering with Turion’s Door and endangering the world is a crime, that warrants most serious punishment.”


ECT [PM]

[In this case, it’s guaranteed, that you’d find the books.]


Sir Rupert Grand [3]

“I’m certain it would. The Source Chancellor will carry out the will of the Tower. ”


Escobane [PM]

[Fluff wise, Escobane actually has a staff of assistants helping him. Talented subordinates are part of the VIP package. You can’t optimize efficiency of the project, unless you hire higher level VIP. But if your objective is preventing project abuses, then you can get an extra VIP to keep an eye on things.]


Internal [PM]

You can boost stat +3 for 10 and further boost it for 1 per 5 Mana, but no more then your RES stat.


IntSec

Peacekeepers [3]

Union: “We agree to support restoration of Crimson Staves. ”
Customs: “So do we. Is there any danger, somebody would attempt to claim their Hall? And what are your opinions on Chancellor elections?”


Hospitium

Spirit Courts [PM]

“You can certainly speak to them.” [This will count as 1 of your visits to the Courts.]


Old Masters [3]

“How interesting! We’ve consulted the Spirits and they confirm your words. Yet, why should we advocate for you, Tower Mages? It sounds like this will do world much good. We are more inclined to persuade Green Court to grant their blessing. Unless you have good arguments, why we shouldn’t.”


Sir Rupert Grand [3]

“Why, that’s excellent news! Maybe we should meet and hash out my election campaign and how we can work together?”


Internal [PM]

Fringe Like Us is a special trait, so boosting it is difficult.

VIPs & Traits only, unfortunately.

[HerbieRAI]

Hospitium

EC

Spirit Courts

As I said, We will be present with or without the key to work against the request. We are also looking into what other assistance we can get. As I said, we are willing to go about this the hard way. But if you want to be sure of success, giving the key is the only way.

To Old Masters (3)

I don't think you fully understand what Glen is asking for. They are a people steeped in technology, and they do not have a large quantity of mages. They are asking for this to get an edge against other countries of the world that have more magic so they can being conquering. If they are granted this boon they will quickly become like the Iron Cloaks and begin trying to purge the world of all magic so their advanced technology can replace it. As a fellow group of mages I cannot see how you would want this.


To Sir Rupert Grand (3)

I'm afraid with the current issues among the spirit court we will not be able to meet in person.


To Solaris (3)

Yes, I will. (ooc: I'm going to be out of town, so talking through hipchat will work a lot better than the IC thread.)

[Thelonius]

Hospitium

Old Masters [3]

“Now, if Glen Republic plans to enact some sort of purge against Mages, maybe we should get worried. But what proof do you have of that? Glen are known for their honesty - why should we believe your word, over theirs?”

“As for Spirits empowering technology, we, Old Masters, live in harmony with Spirits and know their ways. You, Tower Mages, who are enemies of the Spirits, may suffer from this, but we will certainly prosper - would mundanes not come to us, to work spirit magic into their new weapons? Perhaps you should think not of preventing this change, but persuading the Spirits not to infuse weapons of Glen Republic specifically.”

[Ascaloth]

Atelier Solaris
MAN: 3

Executive Council

Dawn Empire & Mulden

"Betrayal of the Dawn Lords? Why would it necessarily be tantamount to that? The way I see it, all we need to do is negotiate an admittance of representatives from the Tower and the Dawn Empire respectively, into the Society as members. That way, they can best advise and direct the dissemination of Dawn Empire and Tower values to Mulden in turn. Or in the worst-case scenario, they can at least give early warning if the Society intends to renege on such an agreement."

Black Iron Weapons

"Sources willing, the Hospitium would be successful in ridding us of the Elemental Shade. But touch wood, should his attempt fail to... achieve its goals, we would do well to have reserves for anyone planning a second attempt."

Turion's Key

"Turion's Key is a key artifact of the Tower, so I can understand the sentiments against giving it away to the Spirits so easily. On the other hand, it would be an object of temptation as long as it remains in the Tower, and we have already demonstrated that some of us here aren't exactly equal to the challenge. Not an easy decision to make either way... Dr Passtrum, what manner of concessions can we expect the Spirits to agree to in exchange for the Key, if we agree to it?"

Diplomacy

"The Dragon Friends have not given me reason to mistrust them, but I'll second Sir Grand's call for a report on Al-Makim from them as well. Not that I don't trust the Dragon Friends, but simply just that it's worth knowing more about Al-Makim."

Funding

"Sorry mister Buras, but I'm going to go with Dr Passtrum as well. A promise is a promise, and this Council does have to do right by the Fringe Seat. I'll see if future profits from Tower Markets cannot go towards rebuilding your Department if at all possible."

Turion's Door

"What did we need to save Magic itself from? It's not like there was an increasing frequency of Sourcestorms, nor did it seem like Magic was fading away altogether, at the time when the Door was opened. Nor any other phenomenon approaching the severity of those two scenarios, for that matter. All we've heard so far are platitudes about 'fixing the Sources', with no concrete details as to what exactly needed fixing."

Judgement

"Simple; because the Dagger Brotherhood gave no indication whatsoever that they were that strongly inclined to corrupt the Project to their own ends. They were a group exceptionally skilled at concealing their tracks and hiding their intentions, as evidenced by how the Grand Astrologist never did give his warning about the Dagger's true nature until after the fact. If their skill at subterfuge passes even mister Fuller's skill at Divination, how can I - not being a master Diviner myself - be reasonably expected to do better than him?"

"As such, it has never been the case that I dealt with Dualists knowingly. That's more than can be said for yourself, Pathbinder, who knew very well that you were treating with a Dualist, yet acted on the advice given by the latter regardless with seemingly no thought as to the motivations behind said advice."

Equalists

"If we let the Equalist leader walk free, the Equalists would then have no beef with the Tower to speak of. It should not be too much of a problem."

Elemental Surge

"I'd be concerned that we'll be stretching our resources a little too thin, at this rate."



Enemy Within

Warner: "That much be much appreciated, mister Warner. But even with your assistance, we'd be facing an uphill battle if we insist on removing Lorekeepers from the Silver Circle via Subversion. We'd need an overwhelming amount of MAN to be sure of pulling it off, but how would we be able to put together that much?"

Office of Travel

"I see. Would you prefer to help me directly in turfing the Lorekeepers out of our Seat, then?"

Apprentices

"Much appreciated, mister Fuller."

Tower Council

"I'll have to be blunt here. Pathfinder and mister Turen's Lorekeepers are riding a high on their 'fixing' of the Sources, and they seem to be strongly allied at this point. Just the two of them working together will form a Tower Council the rest of the Mages would be willing to accept, and as you can imagine, that will not go very well for any of us here."

"However, all is not lost from my reckoning. It seems like we're hardly the only ones who are concerned about Pathbinder meddling with Turion's Door. We know for a fact now that Dr Hidelburg was against opening the Door, and it seems that mister Weymond of Sigma and mister Buras of Internal Security share the same sentiments. If we can get everyone of like mind to coordinate our efforts, and work together towards forming an alternative Tower Council, it's not impossible for us to overturn the advantage that Pathbinder and mister Turen currently enjoys."

"To that effect, I'm thinking of bringing our like-minded friends into this little tea party we're having here, to work out a strategy to that end. For now, that involves inviting Sigma, Internal Security, and Hospitium. Maybe Sir Rupert Grand, the Collectors of Woe and the Lightbringers as well. Is there anyone else whom you think we should consider bringing in as well? For that matter, are you all on board with this?"

Merchants of Wonder: "It's still very much possible that there will be a few more announcing their candidacy for Tower Chancellor in the next few days, and there's bound to be at least one whose views on Mulden would coincide with ours. I say we bide our time, and we probably wouldn't even have to wait too long at that."

Lightbringers: "Let the plight of the Dominion serve as a example to learn from, Lightbringers. They had what is arguably one of the best defenses possible in the Seal of Peace, yet their over-reliance on it now sees them besieged from all sides, and faltering despite the Seal. The demonstrated ability to hurt an enemy back is as much of a defense for the Tower, as are the actual defenses themselves. And let's not forget, the ability to wage war is not an end in itself, but a means of extending diplomacy via alternative means. If nothing else, any prospective allies of the Tower would be best assured to have a friend who could lend its strength to their defense in times of need."

"So the run for Department Head was but to acquire leverage? Very clever indeed mister Wisher, I agree."

"Now, for the question of how dangerous the Purifiers are... they did subsume your previous Department Head and her Uplift through dubious means, so that answers the question I believe. As for whether they would strike against me... not if he was acting of his own volition, no. But I have reason to believe that mister Angelo is liable to have his strings pulled by the Lorekeepers, and may well be influenced to undermine me by targeting those associated with me. Being part of his Seat and a member of my Party, that would be you and your Merchants, mister Wisher."

"Mister Angelo could easily attempt to make life difficult for you, mister Wisher. And you may attempt to mediate between him and I, but assuming that Lorekeepers is pulling his strings, I'm not confident that it would lead anywhere."

"As for securing my position, well... two seats on the Executive Council would be better than one, naturally. Especially so, since I am considering putting myself into contention for Source Chancellor. I could use someone helping to watch out for our Party's interests in the Executive Council should I succeed in that, after all."

"Miss Watcher may be an eligible candidate for Source Chancellor, but her standing pales in comparison with that of the Pathbinder's. I could back her, but I don't believe she has much of a chance against the latter."

"That said, there may be another candidate for Source Chancellor who is equally in line with our mutual interests, and has a better chance against the Pathbinder to boot. I would mention who, but that is why I invited you to the private discussion in the first place. Mister Turen and his Lorekeepers has a bad habit of reading other people's correspondence - I should know - and I'd rather that he doesn't get to feed any more details back to the Pathbinder than necessary."

"That would depend on who ends up being the Source Chancellor in the first place, but I agree. Would you by any chance be interested in a candidate for the position, who can be trusted not to act rashly where the Door is concerned?"

Okay. In that case, spend 1 RES to activate Great Tower Library, to obtain the books that ECT have retrieved.

[Murska]

Tower Chancellor

Maester Blake declares his intent to run for the position.

His platform rests on the principle of measured response.
- The Tower's Military needs to be restored after the recent losses, yet focus needs to be on the diplomatic aspects to prevent having to waste our efforts in multiple struggles.
The sword is intrinsically bound to the pen in this world of ours. Any fool who relies on just one or the other will fail, without question. We must be powerful as only we can be, but also able to use that power freely without fear of being struck from behind.

- Alliance with Yen, treaties with other major groups insofar as they are reasonable and we can push our position of strength.
We are not weak, and so must not appear so. But we are not so strong as to be able to waste our strength. We have differences with the Elreath that may call for use of force, but not while we're threatened by the Dragonbloods. We are being tested by the Glen, but to stave off that fight leaves us with a Dawn Empire better prepared to face it. Divide and conquer.

- Secure the Tower itself and promote unity to prevent treachery such as that which we have just seen.
Sometimes, harsh punishment is necessary. Sometimes, it just makes the enemy to fight all the harder to stave off their defeat. We must not let each other becomes our enemies, when the world is so intent on providing us with disasters and tyrants to focus on.

- Focus our efforts into securing alliances and at least temporary peace on all other fronts to focus on the coming war with the Dragonbloods - the Chainmaster has to fall.
The Dragonbloods stand because they are large and powerful, and everyone fears them. They have no friends, yet they conquer lands adjacent to theirs at least once a generation. If we keep letting this happen, if we think it's not our problem, eventually they'll come for us and there will be nobody left to come to our aid.

- Free the Chained, prevent the enslaving of Gifted and show both them and the world itself that joining the Tower is the correct thing to do for Mages.
The Chained are us, as we might have been if not for chance and good fortune in us reaching the sanctuary of the Tower, and they being left adrift. Our brothers and sisters are in chains, our friends and colleagues who could have helped us to usher in a new Age of Magic. Can we accept this? No!

- Slow and steady integration of new Mulden influences within the Dawn Empire, ensuring that there is no political instability and that the current ruling class has time to adapt and pick the best of the new practices.
Let this be the seed of a new Empire...

[Thelonius]

Tower Chancellor

Maester Blake
- Diplomacy first, then Military
- Tower Unity and Defence
- Alliances with Yen
- Victory over Dragonbloods through Alliances
- Free the Chained
- Cultural Integration with Mulden
Sir Rupert Grand
- Strengthen Military and Diplomacy.
- Alliances with Yen and Al-Makim
- War with Elareath and strong stance against Telamorian Lodge
- Interests of Dawn Empire over Mulden
Lyhoday
- Focus on Intelligence Networks, Military and Tower Defenses
- Interests of Dawn Empire over Mulden

Political Parties
Warhawks: support Sir Rupert Grand
Conservatives: undecided between Grand and Lyhoday
Transcendence Party: support Sir Rupert Grand
Magic-Conservatives: support Lyhoday
Theists: undecided
Mercantile Party: favorable towards Maester Blake
Peacekeepers: unknown

Executive Council

Turion’s Door

Pathbinder: “Well… as Ritualist you may have not felt it as strongly, but can anyone here, in this room deny, that Sunken Tower grew stronger as a result of my actions? We command greater magic and power, than ever.”

Judgement

Pathbinder: “So you admit your incompetence as Head of Ritualist Department? “I wasn’t good enough for the job” is a terrible excuse, when it results in hundreds of Mages losing their lives to the Dualists.”

Atelier Solaris

Ritualist Cabal [PM]

Enemy Within

Master Werner: “I admit I do not know, where we can get such support - mercenaries? Trading favors?”

Office of Travel

Fleshcrafters: “We can provide some limited assistance.”

[OOC: They fall short of being your allies & not quite convinced about Lorekeepers. You can invest some POL to get more support. Right now it hovers at 1 MAN. Or request it as Favor.]

Tower Council

Mrs. Flay: “It sounds like we have four Councilmen in support of our ideals - certainly it they go public, their opinions will sway the votes and new Source Chancellor would not be Pathbinder. I do not mind others joining this discussion.”


Mercantile Party [3]

Corpul Wisher: “Well, what is your opinion of Maester Blake. It seems he promises integration. Should we trust and back him?”

Lightbringers: “Wise words - indeed, there’s a good example for military strength. So should we persuade Sir Grand or side with Blake - who seems to favor some military investment as well?”


Merchants of Wonder [PM]

“It seems that Lorekeepers are the root of your problems. Do they have weak points? Certainly, the more complex the web, such schemers weave, the greater chance of weakness in its threads. And what of other Councilmembers, can we not secure leverage with them? Certainly, we can find things to entice them with. You know them from your work in the Council, what is your read on them?”


Collectors of Woe [3]

“Very well, we can discuss it privately.”


Sir Rupert Grand [3]

“Is there not such candidate in the Lydia Watcher?”

[HerbieRAI]

Hospitium

EC

Spirit Courts

There would be two requirements that would be in place as long as they have the key. One is the courts will not bestow their antimagic blessings to mortals. Two would be information on the past. Spirits are immortal creatures so were alive during much of the history that we have forgotten or lost, abs could give a lot of insight into the past.

The last three requestseasons I am willing to drop, but could be very helpful. One is assistance in further understanding of magic. I'm not fully aware of what benefit we could get, but I'm sure their knowledge wouldn't hurt. Third would be worldly information. Again, with lesser spirits tendencies to have poor attention to detail this may not be that helpful, but with spirits all over the world there is a potential for information gathering. Lastly I'll be making a request to awaken a member of the purple court. In ancient times they were a close ally of the tower and had a heavy hand in creating turions door. They went into a hibernation in a past age for a currently unknown reason, but having one awakened could be significantly beneficial

To the old masters (man 3)

The spirits don't know the difference between the mortal countries of the world, and their concepts of time is significantly different. Let's just say Glen had no ill intentions, but you know that is not true of every country. How long until the dragonblood empire, or a southern warlord starts using those blessings. They will use the spirit magic to enslave mages. We could limit it to a specific continent, but with that kind of power every country would be invading the blessed continent for that power and the spirits wont be able to tell who was who.

I know you've been working with spirits a long time, so you must realize how hard it would be to keep them on the right side of every conflict. It's not that spirits getting more involved in the world is a bad thing, but there is still too much evil that will abuse their power. They need to continue their light touch until humans are more trustworthy.

We don't want to buy your loyalty, we want you to agree with us in the negotiations, but we will be giving you [1 coin] as compensation.

[Thelonius]

Executive Council

Spirit Courts

Pathbinder: “Spirits who were our allies? Preposterous! The pests have done everything to weaken and destroy us since dawn of time. Tricksters. Do we simply believe everything they say to us? Certainly, you can see the folly.”

Purifier Angelo: “Hmm… a better understanding of magic could be useful… if we could trust them. This is a matter of grave importance, I will need assurances, that interests of the Tower are paramount in this matter. That there are no divided allegiances or personal agendas that would leave us with nothing.”

Sir Rupert Grand: “I believe diplomatic solution is for the best - though instead of information, maybe we can play this for diplomatic benefit. The mundanes revere the Spirits - if we demonstrate our reconciliation and that Spirits support us, we’ll be able to sway the masses in our support.”

Hospitium

Old Masters [3]

The Southern Warlords are children, hiding in their stone castles. They are too trapped in their webs of lies and fears to be a threat to the strong children of the Jolox. Dragonblood Empire’s slavers are more dangerous, but there are few spirits in the East and Dragonbloods are ignorant of the ways of the spirits. They won’t be able to truly wield this power.

Tower Mage - you fear, that the Spirits would be on the opposite side to you and your Tower’s plots. That is what you call evil, is it not? But good and evil, they often are a matter of perspective. Perhaps what you believe to be ignorance of such matter in Spirits is but greater understanding, than our limited, human view. We Old Masters wish for Spirit's presence to grow. Were it not Spirits, who saved the world, when power mad Mages of the Tower burned it with their mighty magic? Many odd things are happening now - perhaps once more the Tower weaves something dark and dangerous and we need Spirits for protection. But if you prove to us, that it will not be a good thing for us and Spirits, we’ll take your side. We can’t accept your Coin, for this is a vital matter for our brotherhood.

[OOC: In theory if Tower’s Reputation improves, Old Masters may be more inclined to believe you. You did enjoy boost to goodwill, but it’s limited to the North.]

[Ascaloth]

Atelier Solaris
MAN: 3

Executive Council

Turion's Door

"At what cost, Pathbinder? Again, equivalent exchange. What price have you forced us all into paying, with no say in it?"

Judgement

"There is a difference between 'reasonable measures' and 'incompetence', Pathbinder. Keep in mind, that the Grand Astrologist is a member of my Seat. As such, being that he has always been by my side, I trust mister Fuller to alert me if he sensed anything amiss."

"Yet I would not consider him incompetent, simply because of one instance where he failed to notice the secret of one group which had some actual skill at concealing secrets. Do you call him incompetent, Pathbinder? He who was instrumental in our victory over the Ironcloaks, by virtue of noticing their incursion before anyone else here?"

Spirit Courts

Passtrum: "You say the spirits were once our allies, Dr Passtrum? Hmm. Most interesting! But Pathbinder does have a point in that their word alone is not enough, given the probability of perfidy. Do you have any proof of your claims that this purple court was the Tower's ally, and helped to create Turion's Door?"

Grand: "Why diplomatic benefit instead of information, Sir Grand? Why not both? Turion's Key is a pretty big deal after all. If we're going to even consider giving it up, we really should be getting significant concessions for it in turn."



Good morn, my lovelies! I'll like to invite you all to a tea party I'm planning on holding. Care to join me for a sup and some intellectual discussion?

Love,
Solaris

Please go ahead and read the "Invitations" PM. If there are any changes or disagreements, please feedback to Thel in the same PM.



Enemy Within

Warner: "We have been left with only this option by others here after all, mister Warner. So before we consider outside options, let's see whether they'll put their money where their mouth is."

Lorekeepers & Silver Circle

Flay: "Alright. How about if it's not about your Fleshcrafters helping me to turf the Lorekeepers out of the Silver Circle... but us helping you to take over the Silver Circle for the Fleshcrafters?"

"After all, the Silver Circle was and still is an important part of the Seat of Ritual Magic. But since it's established that mister Turen will attempt to hinder me any way he can, he'll probably deny me the services of the Silver Circle simply out of spite. And the Silver Circle themselves probably wouldn't take too kindly to my personally managing them."

"If they were placed under the Fleshcrafters' instead... well, they'll probably hate you less than they would me. And at least I know you're willing to work with me."

(OOC: Basically let's try bribing the Fleshcrafters with the Hall first, before I go the POL or Favor route.)

Tower Council

"Very well. I'll start sending out the invitations to our little tea party here, in that case."

Sigma, Internal Security, and Hospitium will be invited into the "Ritualist's Cabal" PM. They will be privy to all discussions within the PM starting from the next update, but not before. Whether they need to pay for the PM is up to your discretion, Thel.

Solaris currently has no IC reason to invite Clockwork, but assume that Sigma suggested they be invited as well, and Atelier agreed. So add Clockwork Cult to the invitations accordingly.

Invite the following NPCs as well: Mercantile Party, Collectors of Woe. Future invitations are open to suggestion.

Change name of PM from "Ritualist's Cabal" to "The Cabal".

Assume that all discussions in the Hipchat group "Tower Council" has occurred IC (subject to agreement by Sigma, IntSec and Hospitium; I'll ask them to confirm with you separately).

Topics of discussion: Blake will run for TC. Solaris and Olritz will both announce their intentions to run for SC, and make it clear they're not competing per se, but cooperating to keep Pathbinder from the position; as such, they're gauging their respective chances. Buras will be appointed as Tower-Staff. Either Solaris or Olritz will be appointed as Bursar if the other is determined to have the better chance of winning SC and runs accordingly. Hidelburg will be appointed as Lawspeaker. Everyone involved, if in agreement with this plan, should vote Blake and Solaris/Olritz to that end.

Wisher: "Yes, I am inclined to back mister Blake. The current state of the Department of Initiation is testament to his administrative capabilities, and I personally feel his talents would be wasted if confined to that one Department. Plus as you said, his policies are in line with our mutual interests, and tend to be quite reasonable in other matters. So yes, I'm leaning towards backing him, and I do hope this Party thinks likewise."

Lightbringers: "Well, Sir Grand's focus on military investment seems to be a result of his aggressive tendencies; which I presume is not at all to your tastes, and frankly isn't really my cup of tea either. Mister Blake's policy seems to be much more in line with our stance in contrast, so it's my belief he should be our choice."

"Indeed, mister Turen's scheming does have its weaknesses; as a matter of fact, they're already suffering from the repercussions. The Lorekeepers have had their loyalties to Pathbinder exposed by Turion's Door, and while the both of them together command much influence in the Tower, this has also isolated them."

"After all, the other Councillors are not so blind as to overlook their ties, along with the implications. They're gathering for a tea party to discuss the matter even now; speaking of which, remind me to send you the invitation to said party later, so you can see for yourself how it's going. It is indeed possible to secure leverage with them; it's happening even now as we speak."

"But understand, mister Wisher. At the end of the day, the Executive Council is essentially a numbers game. Every seat counts, especially if it's at the expense of the opposing side. And think of it this way; with a seat on the Council itself, you can bargain directly with the other Seats and Departments. Surely, you can find some opportunities in that?"

"Very good. Here's an invitation to the tea party. Don't be late, now."

"She is indeed one, but her standing in the Tower pales greatly in comparison to that of Pathbinder's. As such, her viability as an opposing candidate is, sad to say, not all that great. However, there may be another candidate who has a similar stance, but stands a better chance against the Pathbinder."

"On another note, Sir Grand. What is your opinion on mister Blake throwing in his hat for Tower Chancellor? It does kind of make him your rival, after all."

[Nemesis67]

Lorekeepers

Pathbinder (PM)
Kyris Shaan, clad in his usual tunic now covered in knife wounds and stained dark with blood, arrives to the Teatime Chambers. Somberly, he looks at the near empty room, before launching into business.

"Lady Summerscent is going to war. Meetings with the Collectors of Woe to oppose you, Merchants of Wonder to oppose Mr. Angelo, the Vault Guard, Fleshcrafters, and Grand Astrologist to likely conquer Ritual. Hospitium, Clockwork Cult, Sigma, and Internal Security all together to probably turn the EC against us. And trying to sway Mr. Grand to herself. Along with her own Mercantile Party. Things are looking rather dark in our future. Or, at least, bloody.

But yes. Matter at hand. The Tower has a real chance to reclaim the Age of Magic. We can't let Rust take us. Obviously, we need to hold as many Tower and Executive Council positions as we can, or ensure those who agree with us take them. What do you think we should do?"

Society of World Affairs (12)
I agree on all points. A Tower Book to oversee unified, global diplomacy. Though I do wonder, if you take the position of Tower Chancellor, would there be a need for a new role? And do you have anyone in mind to hold it?

Ah. And I do have some assistance to offer. I received a Mysterious Note before the invasion. It warned of danger to the Tower. Without it, the Grand Astrologist would not have been able divine the Black Iron, nor would a number of factions, the Shade Lords and Shadow Walkers to name a few, been rallied. The source was the Heralds. I believe their interactions with yourself shook their beliefs enough to give us some warning. That may help counter any attacks on your relationship.

My nets have only grown in time. Every whisper comes through. Is there anything I can offer to help?

And it actually may be prudent for us to have a private discussion of the future. Of everyone in the Tower, you are the most aligned with my goals. I'd like to see that those are achieved, in one way or another.

Energy Technicians (12)
I'm not exactly sure. There is a great deal going on that I don't know how to best respond to yet.

Tell me, what is your opinion on current affairs?

Union (12)
Deal.

[Climate Survey Data for 3 Mana]

Demiurges (12)
Deal.

[Climate Survey Data for 4 Mana]

Bloodbinder (12)
As one of those politicians, I quite agree. Tower Mages need to pull together. Kicking and screaming, if need be.

But, tell me, what is it that you want? You've been one of the most successful Project Leaders, and likely one of the strongest Mages, in the Tower. I'd like to hear your opinions on everything.

Dagger Brotherhood (12)
It seems your allies are quick to abandon you. The Equalists are offering to put you down, and Councilor Summerscent is jumping at the deal. Before I join the horde inviting Warlocks into the Tower, I'd like to give you an opportunity to present your side of the story. Mr. Shaan experienced your attack firsthand, but I would like to think you consider yourself loyal Tower Mages. I imagine you had your reasons, even if I may disagree with them.

Purifiers (12)
During the invasion, Mr. Orsini knew Solaris was planning a coup. How did you he come about that knowledge? We need evidence on our side, for whatever is to come.

As a warning, she is plotting with the Merchants of Wonder to remove you from your position. And the Fleshcrafters, Vault Guard, and Mr. Fuller are meeting with her presumably to parcel our Halls between them. I think war is coming. We need to be prepared.

Grand Astrologist (12)
To clarify, are you referring to Turion's Key, or the Stormwatcher's?

And we have a deal on the Data.

[Climate Survey Data for 3 Mana]

It may not be too late to reconcile, but that requires some level of trust between all parties. From Mr. Angelo's perspective, four factions of Ritual are meeting behind closed doors. He's just lost his closest ally under suspicious circumstances. The Exchanges, your Seat's opportunity for discussion and collaboration to all members has not been called, in favor of this secretive cabal. Personally, I can see her weaving webs across the Tower, and my assistance to Mr. Orsini has led me to inherit that blood feud. She is consulting nearly every major player in the Tower, again privately, except myself. Everything points to her going to war. I cannot in good faith advise extending an olive branch when we'll get a knife in return.

You have heard her plans and you have her ear. If you can honestly tell me that I'm wrong, that she isn't preparing some scheme to eliminate the last bastions of her enemies, and if you can convince her to truly offer a compromise, instead of some false placation to lull us into a sense of complacency, then I will gladly help talk to the Purifiers. For the good of Ritual, and for the Tower. But, as it stands, I think Mr. Angelo and I are already too tainted in her eyes.

Internal (GM)
How does one do the Elemental Shade thing?

Anywho. Ascaloth is going to war with me. I need to crush him. Hopefully, I can flip the Grand Astrologist to my side. I also may be able to get the Dagger Brotherhood to testify that Solaris gave the order to subvert Subtle Weapons. Which, as Mr. Fuller said, is treason. Grounds for a Censure, maybe enough votes to remove her as Department Head... Doesn't stop her from plotting, or from killing me, but it makes things harder while I build an army.

Transcendence Party, Warhawks, and Blood Binder together should be enough to oppose the gravely weakened Warmagic Department. I am considering cutting a deal with the Dagger Brotherhood. Having the Key means they are not a threat to my people, at least.

[ArcaneStomper]

The Clockwork Cult

Executive Council
Olritz nods at the appropriate times and sides with Ruby Marshall in most matters. She is especially clear that she will not support allowing the Society free access to the Dawn Empire. Undermining an ally for whatever reason is never a good idea. But it's clear that something is distracting her, as she fiddles with the mechanisms in front of her.

She does regain focus briefly when the topic of the Magitech Department and the Lightning Mage comes up, "We request that the Lightning Mage be buried on the on the Silver level of the Crypts. If not for him many more of us would be dead after all, and the Ironcloaks would have been in a much stronger position."

To the Architect [3]
The Arsenal Master is the most advanced automata remaining in the tower. We will only agree if you agree only to non invasive examination, and even then it will be the Arsenal Master's decision.

Alternatively we can give you access to our own research notes on Automata. They are quite extensive, and contain our own records of our own examination of the Arsenal Master.

Magitech Department [5]
(OOC: What do you mean that they would agree to compensation. Would I have to build the automata now and then be paid for it next turn or what?)

Logicians (PM)
"It will take more than just words to deal with the dagger brotherhood. Do you have a plan to deal with a cabal of power mad dualists?"

To the Magic-Conservatives [3]
We would like to continue our discussion of the political future of the Tower we started before the recent unfortunate events.

To the Conservatives [3]
I believe it is time to meet once again to discuss our current plans.


To the Dagger Brotherhood [3]
We wish to meet with whoever leads you now.

[Thelonius]

Tower

Politics

The news spread, that most Councilmen are against the undoing of the Turion’s Door Seal. While EC hasn’t made a formal statement yet, the doubts begin to grow, of whether meddling with the ancient artefact was such a good idea.

Sir Rupert Grand has made several speeches, where he told Tower Mages, that some of the Heralds, persuaded by the Tower values, sent a covert warning, that helped Grand Astrologist anticipate the attack. He’s been calling for greater unity and balancing praise for military and diplomats. As a result his political opponents have been finding it difficult to attack Grand’s record with trusting Heralds.

[Sir Grand is less likely to lose Influence due to association with Heralds]

[Pathbinder and Lorekeepers are more likely to lose Influence from meddling with Turion’s Door.]

Tower Chancellor

Sir Rupert Grand has made a first attack on his political opponents Maester Blake by claiming that Department of Initiation has been less focused on advancing education of prospective Warmages. “I believe Maester Blake would be a perfect leader in the peaceful time - to grow and nurture Tower. But right now we need somebody, who could give Dragonblood Empire a bloody nose.”

There are rumors Grand is courting Red Binder for endorsement. Red Binder, mistress of the Hosts is highly respected as a commander and would establish Grand’s credentials in military area, if she were to publicly support him.

Meanwhile Lyhoday’s been cautious, his status somewhat uncertain, after deposition by grand vote. It seems those most discontent with EC are flocking to him and he’s been arguing, that without his control Tower went to pieces, with spies and secret societies wreaking havoc. A sentiment, that is falling on fertile soil.

Mercantile Party has made a statement of support for Master Blake. Corpul Wisher of Merchants of Wonder praised his approach towards Dawn-Mulden integration.

Hospitium

The Chaos Theory have announced that Hospitium has removed them from the Acceptance Project, despite having pledged the position to them. If removal of Believers is proven to be without ground, Hospitium stands to be seens as forsworn. The Theists are watching the situation intently - clearly, they would be greatly upset with Councilmen, were they to vote in favor of Hospitium.

Projects

There’s a growing debate about the Projects - as Diplomacy and Military are favored by most candidates, wouldn’t it be reasonable to shift resources to War Mobilization, Weapons of War, Tower Wards, Demonic Extermination, Culling, Age of Elves. Or rework other projects to they would act as Diplomatic/Military.

Executive Council

Turion’s Door

Pathbinder: “Have we not being paying the cost, since the Iron Age? Must we continue to suffer for nothing?”

Hospitium & Spirits

Ruby Marshall: “Hospitium must explain situation around Believers. One who breaks pledges, can’t be trusted by this Council.”

Judgements

Pathbinder: “So, it was failure of Grand Astrologist. I agree, that in light of his service to the Tower, we should not censure him for that lapse of judgement. All men are fallible and sometimes their successes and failures are merely a matter of luck.”

Sir Rupert Grand: “It may be so - perhaps the note warning of invasion has played greater role, in uncovering the truth of the matter.”

Ruby Marshall: “We may have been too hasty to trust judgements of Grand Astrologist. Turion’s Door situation may be far more dangerous, than he led us to believe.”

Purifier Angelo: "A vicious slander against Grand Astrologist."

Heralds

Sir Rupert Grand makes an announcement: “It seems that Heralds have been influenced by Sunken Tower, holding doubts about their cause. Their interactions with me and others, showing them, that we were no evil as their misguided ideology told them. Those, who had doubts sent a note of warning, though caught between two allegiances, they didn’t make it explicit. I am going to make this information public to demonstrate the power of our values - that they reach even hearts of our enemies. We have agreed to show leniency to rank and file and I believe, many Heralds can be led to embrace Sunken Tower.”

Silver Burial

It seems Councilmen would not deny the request to bury Lightning Mage in Silver Level. Unless anybody raises an objection, the motion will be passed.

[You can send VIP to the burial ceremony.]

Atelier Solaris

Merchants of Wonder [PM]

“Hmm… okay. So, let’s say I get interested. What can you do to give me the Seat of Power?”


Sir Rupert Grand [3]

Perhaps. But many are concerned about Pathbinder’s actions - her standing is based on temporary euphoria. Once gravity of situation begins to sink in, how many of them would vote for her?

I’m all ready for some good political competition.


Ritualist Cabal [PM]

Silver Circle

Ms. Flay: “We would like to have access to Silver Circle, but we lack greed of so many, to control more Halls, then they can manage. Our resources are focused on advancing our own Hall. We’ll investigate situation - if Lorekeepers plan to advance dangerous research, then we’ll move.”


Clockwork Cult

Arsenal Master [3]

This deal would be acceptable.


Logicians [PM]

“Certainly, we could rally enough allies and deploy magitech weapons to deal with them.”


Magic-Conservatives [3]

Of course. We can organize a private meeting, if you wish.


Magitech Department [3]

[They’d be willing to provide you with Mana/CRE/RES, if you secure the Department.]


Conservatives [3]

Ruby Marshall: “Certainly, it’s time to meet and discuss our strategies. We need to consider, who we should back for the Source and Tower Chancellors. Should we improve security of this meeting, so it’s not spied on?”


Dagger Brotherhood [3]

Come.

[OOC: You’ll need to specify VIP for the PM.]


Lorekeepers

Fleshcrafters [12]

Can we ask, what your plans regarding Silver Circle are? As we craft aritfical bodies and you study the Souls, there’s some connection between the two.


Pathbinder [PM]

Pathbinder seems to be relaxed and unperturbed by the missing people. “Clearly we need to do something, so we would live to enjoy the new Age of Magic. Deal with Solaris - and ensure, that I get elected as Source Chancellor. With Dualists in the Tower, certainly they could be blamed, were something to happen to our enemies.”


Society of WG [12]

“Well… I will of course be preoccupied with the big picture, so I’d need somebody to rely on. Right now, I’m considering candidates - one would need to be capable and respected, command votes and share my ideals.”

“Thank you. That indeed would be most helpful. Have you considered joining the Tower Council? You are certainly rumored to have access to intelligence and recent operation in Dominion proves it. I could use any help in getting Parties to vote for me, perhaps you may help with it?”

“We could meet privately.”

[+1 REP with SoWG]


Dagger Brotherhood [12]

“We shall talk face to face or not at all.”


Purifiers [12]

“It was clear - you’ve heard how Solaris offered to take over my territory under some weak justification. She had means of escaping the Executive Council - I didn’t. Were I to die, she would have gotten it all.”

“I’ll be watching out for Merchants, but I doubt they’d act without profit for themselves. They won’t risk a costly engagement. Vault are her creatures, I don’t know whether Fleshcrafters would back her. But this is indeed very troubling - do you have a plan of how she can be stopped?”

[Nemesis67]

Lorekeepers

Eldritch Collections Team (12)
I'm glad to see we retrieved a portion of the ritual books lost. I am working on acquiring the rest. If there are any other artifacts missing from the Great Library, or any of the Tower's Halls for that matter, that you are aware of please inform me. It is my job to retrieve them, after all.

I'm curious, what are your opinions of current affairs? The state of the Tower and magic as a whole?

Pathbinder (PM)
"She seems to have a candidate in mind aside from Lydia Watcher that she wishes to support. I can't imagine she'd suggest herself, but it's possible. Or maybe she'll name Artificer Olritz, to win the Conservative Party to her coalition? That may be prudent for her. Anyways, Barus is pursuing some political maneuvers. We could also always cut a deal with the Court of Shadows and the Elemental Shade to eliminate her. But that can horribly backfire.

But before we discuss grand strategy, let's talk Shadow. All that remains are the Collectors of Woe, Seventh Circle, the Shadow Walkers, the Lorekeepers, and the Dagger Brotherhood. Two Magic Conservatives, a Dualist criminal, and the remnants of our Teatime. Mr. Witters is gone. Lord Excrucio is gone. The Sensori and Jaunters are gone. As of this moment, you hold both Project Leader positions as well as Department Head. Summerscent is testing this Seat for weaknesses, in order to remove you and put her patsy in charge. And even aside from that, with this shift towards Military and Reputation, those Projects may need to be reconsidered. Shadow Paths could have prevented our Military being out of position during the invasion, as an example. Of course, as Shadow Mages, it's rather our task to provide and act on Tower Intelligence. What are your plans for our Seat, my friend?"

[OOC: Obviously, I want a Project Leader position of a useful Project. I realize our arrangement is built on mutual benefit instead of trust, but I feel this manipulative partnership is what Shadow does. She wants my support, and by extension my web of friends, I want something helpful to my interests. I think my ideal situation would be given command of Shadow Agents? Shadow Whispers would be fine, but I'd prefer assets that can take action.]

Society of Worldly Affairs (PM)
"Mr. Turen does indeed seek a spot on the Tower Council. Actually, he had planned to run for Tower Chancellor, but due to your own candidacy, we saw no reason to declare. As he has stated, you have our complete backing. If we can do anything to help you beat Blake and Lyhoday, then do not hesitate to ask.

Unfortunately, we are slightly tainted in terms of politics. Councilor Summerscent has realized that we had been the ones protecting and aiding Mr. Orsini all these months since the duel. She has brought together the Clockwork Cult, Hospitium, Sigma, and Internal Security to decide the future of the Tower, and the Fleshcrafters, Grand Astrologist, and Vault Guard to decide the future of Ritual. I imagine my own, Mr. Angelo's, and the Dagger Brotherhood's Halls are being parceled out between their cabal. She seems to be preparing for war, with plans to seize both Councils. Removing all those sympathetic to the Lorekeepers.

As such... Well, we'll do everything we can to help your candidacy. Someone needs to be able to lead the Tower to rebuilding the Circle and Age of Magic. It doesn't seem like we'll be able to come through unscathed, but you might be able to. It may be prudent for you to keep some distance publicly, at least until after the election.

We'll speak with the Transcendence Party to have them support you. If you defend Chaos Principle, you can probably sway the Theists to you as well. You already have their favor by backing spirit diplomacy. I'll use my ties with the ECT to move them in your direction. Obviously you already have the Warhawks. The Peacekeepers and Mercantile Party are likely to back Sigma. Hospitium... I feel tends towards you, but they're always a wildcard. And you may have to choose between them or the Theists.

The Conservatives are who you need to fight for. I would suggest considering that you name the Reclaimers as Tower Book, which may help swing the Clockwork Cult to your side, them being Project Leaders of Magitech. Aside from yourself, they're the best diplomats of the Tower. Their work with Yan is nothing short of amazing. And with Elreath bribing nations with Magitech repairs, they are needed. Their role in the Mercantile Party may help put some cracks into that coalition, and maybe turn the Party towards you over Blake. Unfortunately, the Lorekeeper's foray into the Madlands soured our relations. We may be able to help, but not as much as we'd like. Dawn Mages, despite being your former rivals, may be able to be turned. We inherited some channels from the Soul Alchemists. Blake's support of favoring Mulden can be used against him there. Elder Sages, obviously being our competitor for History, may be reluctant, but we're working on building some favor in our Department. Energy Technicians we have a minor thing to start a conversation, but we'll see.

Blood Binder may also be convinced. We plumbed our Archives for a Map of the Surges, so we have some favors there. We'd suggest her as Tower Staff, if Mr. Buras sides with Lady Summerscent. Her machinations make it hard to trust him to be impartial.

We also noticed your discussions with Lady Summerscent seem to indicate a preference towards Lydia Watcher as Source Chancellor? Or at least a distaste with Pathbinder? While I can understand that opinion, her beliefs do partially align with yours in reviving the Age of Magic. I would appreciate some clarification. Whatever your choice, we're with you to the end.

As for what we want... Well, obviously Tower Staff or Book are not our expertise. Bursar is within our talents, but still isn't a perfect match. We would suggest revitalizing the role of Lawspeaker into Tower Eye. A spymaster, to centralize Tower Intelligence and also include monitoring internal threats. We would investigate accusations of treason, crime, or incompetence, and provide a report directly to you. Similarly, the state of the world would be observed and your agenda would be undertaken.

Of course, we realize Tower Intelligence is not the priority in your regime. We're not asking for additional funding, just authority over the Intelligence Projects already maintained, as well as our own assets. Our Military and Reputation have suffered for an admitted over-reliance on subterfuge. However, there are a great deal of Halls that tend towards the covert. Having a Junior Council position would show that you are not neglecting their contributons, as well as offer some protection against plots or machinations by Tower Mages. This may also cut the legs out from Lyhoday. I suspect Lydia Watcher has been cooperating with him since his coup, given the circumstances of her removal. The Magic Conservatives support for him makes sense in that context."

Purifiers (12)
A vague plan of Censuring her for treason, swaying the Fleshcrafters or Grand Astrologist to vote with us to remove her, and then placing someone trustworthy as Head of Ritual. I'm working on it, as well as a number of other avenues. Any help would be appreciated.

Would you be willing to meet privately, along with Lady Fortescue? There are some things I must know from her, and our plans need to be put into place.

Fleshcrafters (12)
I have delegated the role of Master of the Silver Masks to a Ritual Theorist by the name Kervos Morgan, recruited to the Lorekeepers from the recent wave of Initiates to ensure a qualified Ritualist would lead the Hall. My suggestion to him is to first focus on unraveling the nature of souls of humans, mundanes and Mages. Eventually, a Souled Mageborn sounds very interesting, but there are a great deal of concerns pertaining to that. Though Mr. Morgan has expressed an interest in learning from the more established Ritualists the deeper intricacies of your craft. I am sure he would be eager to hear suggestions or proposals of cooperation for such a purpose.

I'm curious, what is your opinion on FIGL's demands? You are the experts on Mageborn. I imagine most, if not all, of the Goblins nowadays have come from your vats.

Dagger Brotherhood (12)
So be it.

Dagger Brotherhood (PM)
Abhas Rex, Subtle Knife of the Soul Alchemists and now the Lorekeepers slinks to the Hall of Acolytes. Ritualist to Ritualist, assassin to assassin. They had no one else to turn to, after all. At least, those were the reassurances Mr. Turen had offered... He did not have to walk into the lair of criminal Dualists who had murdered his brothers in arms. But it was the only way to see justice brought against the hand that bore the Dagger. To avenge his old friend's exile and murder. To see Balance brought again to Ritual. Order to balance Summerscent's Chaos.

[ArcaneStomper]

Clockwork Cult

Executive Council

Dagger Brotherhood
Olritz: A messenger arrives and gives Olritz a note, which seems to be what she has been waiting for. "If we can't trust the Equalists, then the Dagger Brotherhood still needs to be dealt with. We volunteer to organize the matter."

Architect [3]
(OOC: Am I still talking to the Architect, or did the Arsenal Master get included at some point? Does he mean the deal with me sharing the lore?)

Logicians [PM]
"And then there will be fighting in the Halls once again. Except this time it will be mage against mage. The prospect is distasteful, not least because it will inevitably result in more mage deaths."

"I don't rule out the possibility. Dualists are notoriously unstable, and we can't let the Dagger Brotherhood keep running around unchecked. But we won't go into this unprepared. You suggested it. So get me a list of magitech weapons we have access to. I'll see about gathering allies, and pushing this through the Council."

To the Magic Conservatives [PM]
The most obvious thing we wish to discuss is the matter of the Chancellors. First of course is that you are running for Source Chancellor. We are interested in more than just the most pressing issues. What are your plans for the Tower after Turion's Door and the Dagger Brotherhood have been dealt with.

Second who do you favor for the Tower Chancellor position.

Magitech Department [3]
(OOC: I mean are they going to supply that stuff now in order to help with the operations. Or are they going to supply that once they have seen that I can secure the department. Because honestly I'm not sure if I can secure the Department wholly with my own resources.

Also what counts as securing the department in the first place?)

Conservatives [3]
We certainly should.

Conservatives [PM]
Olritz? (I'm not sure if she can be available for this or if I need to use another VIP.)

First do we wish to support one of the current candidates for each position, or do we want to put forward our own. We are not in the front runners, but with our combined support we might be able to secure a candidacy.

Dagger Brotherhood [PM]
Mary Dalton is the one chosen to meet with the Dagger Brotherhood leadership. The choice is obvious as she is a combat veteran and the one most likely to be able to deal with mages who have gone mad with Source touch.

She arrives wearing an armature. The same one she fought the Ironcloaks in. Partially this is because a potentially dangerous meeting requires precautions. And partially because for all that has happened the Clockwork Cult is still enamored with their new invention and takes every opportunity to try one out.

Once she has arrived Dalton calls out, "I come in good faith. To make an effort to see if your brotherhood is still in sound mind despite the rumors."

[Thelonius]

Discussions

Ritualists Cabal Too

Tower Chancellor

Silence (Collectors of Woe): “I do not see a reason to shift our support from Lyhoday.”

Corpul Wishes (Merchants of Wonder): “Clearly, Sigma should control the post.”

Source Chancellor

Silence (Collectors of Woe): “Why should we withdraw support from Lydia Watcher?”

Corpul Wishes (Merchants of Wonder): “What would be your political programs for the post of Source Chancellor?”

Lawspeaker

Silence: “In light of recent events, are we certain of Hospitium? Though of course Theists are not to be trusted - if Hildeburg were to demonstrate due cause, the issue should be resolved.”

Corpul Wisher: “Bah, certainly, you do not plan on appointing forsworn to Lawspeaker post?”

Brusar

Silence: “Is our current Brusar lacking?”

Corpul Wisher: “Wouldn't he conflict with Lyhoday, Silence? Well, here the answer is clear - Solaris has a mind for finance. We need her in charge.”

Tower-Staff

Silence: “A reasonable choice for IntSec.”

Corpul Wisher: “I find no fault with candidate.”


Clockwork Cult

Architect [PM]

Still Architect - did I confuse name?


Logicians [PM]

"Well, we are dealing with Assassins - that is what Brotherhood essentially is. So what we need is magitech that can counter their advantages. You are [Arms Master] - what sort of Patterns would we need to oppose Mages, relying on stealth, quick powerful strikes and dark methods of paid killers?"


Dagger Brotherhood [PM]

The effects of the Backlash still evident. The Brotherhood is not rampaging, but there's something off, about the black clad figures, who watch Dalton intently. Perhaps in another month, their minds will be restored. Perhaps, they have been permanently altered. "Our minds are sharp and clear." answers one of the figure - indistinguishable from others. Cold sweat appears on the back of Dalton's neck - a feeling of being surrounded by dangerous predators.


Magitech Department [3]

[Basically - tell them what you can do to secure department, and they'll confirm, how much they are willing to contribute. A single Automata would do - but of course the more, the better.]


Conservatives [PM]

Ruby Marshall: "We do not have a candidate, we can be certain to elect. Unless you can command loyalty of the Magitech Department? As it is both Grand and Lyhoday seem viable. It seems both are willing to grant us concessions, such as Junior Councilman position to a member of our party, if we were to back them."

Dawn Mages: "Grand has a vision and will - he's proven himself capable."

Elder Sages: "We favor Lyhoday - a proper Chancellor to bring order and unity, so we won't be besieged by those cults, spies and traitors."


Magic-Conservatives [PM]

We wish to follow a safe path of advancement - researching potential implications of advancing projects, before unleashing them on the world. We'd also focus on Projects that counter magical threats world wide - so next time Elemental Surge is dealt with, before it grows strong enough to threaten our forces.


Lorekeepers

ECT [12]

We'll be certain to tell you. As for what we do... interesting times. We are considering theological implications of the Turion's Door.


Pathbinder [PM]

"Hmm... I see. Well, if you can deliver me support for Source Chancellor, I can shift Shadow Agents project under your supervision. The rest of the Seat should come under our control - though touching Magic-Conservatives may be dangerous at the moment."

"Personally, I favor a deal with Shadow Court. Let Elemental Shade eliminate our enemies."


Society of WG [PM]

"Why, do you believe they plan for war? Will they subvert the vote and attempt coup? If need be, we can negotiate - I'm certain certain amount of MIL or MAN could be traded for other favors."

"Theists - I admit I'm reluctant. They are somewhat cultish. But perhaps I could gain their support, without becoming associated with them too deeply. I'll offer conservatives a Junior Councilman position. Seems like we could use their levelheadedness."

"Oh, spying on my communications? Well, that is to be expected, yet to be so cavalier about it is a good tone. Frankly, I do not like Pathbinder. I suspect, if that New Tower Council wasn't destroyed, they'd have us removed as threat to their power. Regular Tower politics. But I' would not say, I support Lydia Watcher either."

"I'll see that Tower Intelligence doesn't suffer - it's value is great. We do have finances for more Projects."


Purifers [12]

"Naturally, I'll support you against Solaris. We can meet with Fortescue."


Fleshcrafters [12]

"And to what purpuse, do you seek to study the souls?"


Grand Astrologist [12]

We need Stormwatchers Key. I believe we can fix Turion's Door without Turion's Key, as long as we bring Stormwatcher and it's Key, it would be absorbed into spellwork.

I believe, that you are both working out of fear, that the other one would strike, trying to divine other's motives and plots. Perhaps if you could speak to each other, the matter yet could be resolved.


Energy Technicians [12]

Can you clarify, what affairs you mean?


Dagger Brotherhood [PM]

The Dagger Brotherhood Mages, all clad in black, surround Abhas Rex. He can feel the urge to kill in them, the essence of the assassins, made manifest. Curiously, it makes him more confident. It seems that Dagger Brotherhood will speak only of matters murder, but a paid killer is no mad animal and would not attack without cause. As long as Rex doesn't give one, he'll be safe.

"Speak" the Dagger Brotherhood Mage whispers.

[ArcaneStomper]

Architect [3]
(Yes, you said Arsenal Master in your last post.)

Logicians [PM]
Olritz considers, "Hmmm, well to counter those three I would say sensors of all sorts that can detect any form of object, life, or magic. Shields which are extremely powerful, but short lived. Linked to the sensors in order to detect and react to attacks. And lastly medical patterns to detect exactly what is wrong with a victim should they be poisoned or cursed and keep them alive."

Magitech [3]
(Well I'll have to think about it. I'm just responding here to keep the conversation up.)

Conservatives [PM]
Olritz: All of the Magitech perhaps not, but I could likely sway most of them to support a candidate. It may be more worthwhile to direct that support at another candidate of our choice however.

Perhaps we should approach each candidate to see what they have to say.

Magic-Conservatives [PM]
What is your plan for repairing Turion's door then.

Dagger Brotherhood [PM]
Dalton shakes off the fear and makes a note to include emotional dampeners in the next batch of armatures. She's faced monsters before, so likely this is a result of some sort of aura the brotherhood is projecting.

"Good, then we can negotiate. Our first offer is that the Brotherhood join the magitech department. You may think it a strange match, but we wish to study the effects of dual sourcing. Especially in how you are able to access them both simultaneously. We offer you legitimacy. A chance to prove you are still mages and not monsters."

"And if that does not interest you, then we are also willing to provide mana, equipment, and resources."

[Murska]

Tower Chancellor

"War is to be avoided if possible, and decisively won if not. I believe I have adequately represented this concept in my life and career so far, most recently by helping drive back the Ironcloaks in the Upper Floors and rescuing the Executive Council."

Blake, in his riposte, does not outright mention Grand's surrender, but of course it does rise to mind in contrast. Sigma mages were also in the majority when the Council was dug up, the effort organized by Blake himself, which may colour perceptions of those saved from certain death - after all, the plan for the collapse itself was also thought up and organized by Sigma.

Heralds

"While I would of course prefer a civilized resolution, perhaps someone other than Sir Grand should assess the Heralds as well - his track record for knowing whether they're up to no good isn't great."

Transcendence Party

We'd like to talk to our friends and allies regarding the political situation and what outcome we should push for. Sigma would of course like Transcendence's backing for Tower Chancellor - we're sure our political acumen can be used to further the cause of magic, and a broad coalition would result in a government benefiting from a strong mandate to do what must be done regarding world affairs.

Red Binder

"There's a lot the Tower must act on in quick order, and it benefits us all to deal with the requisite politics quickly. I wish to ask whether you would be willing to back me for Tower Chancellor, and regardless of the answer to that, what you as one of the foremost experts believe to be our main priorities regarding readying the Tower's military."

Ironcloak Prisoners

I wish to speak with the prisoners regarding their situation and hopefully to work out solutions for their possible future release.

Atelier Solaris

We shall of course attend.

Northern Eye

Congratulations on the success of your efforts in the North. Your information is going to be crucial for the Tower.

We are considering organizing a major conference in the North of the various nations to resolve the situation in the Dominion. Would you, as the foremost experts on the intrigues of the region, act alongside the Tower's central resources to shift the agendas of the various factions towards cooperation in our upcoming campaign against the Dragonbloods?

Ritualist's Cabal [PM]


Tower Chancellor
"There are reasons for not supporting Lihoday. Chief among them is the fact that his powerbase is rooted in sectarianists, who favour the dissolution or at least devolvement of Executive Council authority - keeping in mind that it is the Executive Council that has kept the Tower at least somewhat responsive in the recent chaos, rather than our dysfunctional Tower Council. Lihoday is, in a word, gathering his powerbase from people entirely opposed in long-term principle to what he brings to the table - he wants strong centralized leadership with himself in charge, and it is amply proven that such a form of governance will not flourish in the current Tower. No wave of centralization is strong enough to direct the varying interests of the Tower Mages by force at this time, without a military crackdown and purges that would weaken us terribly just when we cannot afford such. And when his central governance turns out too weak to enforce his promises, his powerbase will erode while those calling for a more egalitarian structure will be emboldened. He was already deposed once. And that brings me to the second important point - the last time he was anywhere near power, he orchestrated a coup, took charge and gathered a coalition of factions against him, ending up in him getting deposed by a Grand Circle vote. What sort of message would it send to choose such a man for a leadership position again? And how long until he attempts to reinstate his Supreme Chancellorship?

There is a third, more pragmatic reason to avoid him - he will not win. He has too little influence himself to provide a stable platform on the Council, and his only potential backers are the two Conservative groups, not enough to push through any sort of decisive vote."

Source Chancellor
"The key here is amassing a broad enough coalition to stop Pathbinder's ambitions, without compromizing the integrity and freedom to act of the Chancellor, whomever it ends up being."

[Ascaloth]

Atelier Solaris
MAN: 3

Executive Council

Turion's Door

"Is the prevention of another round of Sourcestorms nothing to you, Pathbinder? It would seem so, seeing how you so blithely destroyed the Stormwatcher. Recall the report from the Department of History; such is what brought about the Age of Iron in the first place."

Judgements

"Well, you're the one who said it's the Grand Astrologist's fault, Pathbinder. Not me. On another note... by your standards, the Councillors here who would be incompetent in your eyes would include mister Weymond, Sir Grand, and miss Olritz. A serious charge, to be sure. Have you a justification for your statement, or alternatively an apology and retraction?"

Heralds

"Seems fair enough, Sir Grand. If I may ask, would you have an idea as to why, exactly, the Heralds adopted such a treasonous ideology to begin with?"



Source Chancellor

Collectors of Woe: "For much the same reasons as mister Weymond has already laid out for not backing mister Lihoday for Tower Chancellor, actually. Not all of them, but chiefly that miss Watcher's support base is limited to the two Conservative Parties at best, and her policies would not garner enough support to force a decisive vote against the Pathbinder. The fact that she has been out of the Tower Council longer than mister Lihoday has doesn't really help, in terms of perception. And I sincerely believe that miss Watcher won't really be able to rally much support beyond her support base either, given that her stance is a little more... punitive than most other factions in the Tower would be comfortable with."

"The Source Chancellor needs to be someone who can negotiate the interests of all the Seats. I'm of the honest opinion that miss Watcher is a little too rigid for that."

Merchants of Wonder: "My policies as Source Chancellor will be as follows."

"On the matter of Turion's Door, I am of the opinion that the Source Seal - the Stormwatcher, which has been instrumental in calming the Sourcestorms of the distant past - must be restored as soon as reasonably possible. As the Grand Astrologist states that he knows of a way to achieve this, I will consult with him - as well as others - as to a means of doing just that. However, if there is a way to restore the Source Seal without reintroducing the apparent flaw that limited the Tower's ability to draw upon the Sources, and without introducing other undesirable side-effects, then such a course of action must be explored. The policies of the Source Chancellor should be to the maximum benefit to us Tower Mages with the lowest risk achievable, after all."

"Regarding Turion's Key, it must be retained in the hands of the Tower at least up until the Source Seal has been restored, if it's true that it is necessary for the restoration of the Stormwatcher. After that... well, we've all seen for ourselves how the Key poses far too much of a temptation for the overly-ambitious among us. So, assuming we can convince the Order of the Last Age to give its undivided allegiance to the Tower Council, it is my intent to pass it into the safekeeping of the Forbidden Vault. A reasonable compromise, I reckon."

"Last but not least, the issue of Dualism and the Equalists. It has been impressed upon me how dangerous the forbidden art of Dualism is, and as such my policy would be to forbid its practice in the Tower. Because of this, it naturally follows that the offer of the Equalists will have to be rejected. I would recommend that their leader be released from our custody - if only so they will not mount an attack and cause the Tower more damage in an attempt to repatriate him - but beyond that, the Tower should end relations with the Equalists as amicably as possible."

Lawspeaker

"To be fair, the Hospitium has not been forsworn as yet, have they?"

Seat of Shadow

Collectors of Woe: "A question if I may, Silence. Do you plan on challenging Pathbinder for Head of the Shadow Seat?"

"For starters, I can give you some tips for approaching this. Mister Angelo did take control of your Seat in an unorthodox manner, announcing that miss Fortescue 'retired' under mysterious circumstances. I would suggest that you play it up, and demand a proper vote for the next Department Head if not an outright Censure of the Purifiers. Sow enough doubts, and you might get even those who voted for the Uplift to start asking questions about miss Fortescue's fate; that might well be enough to tip their support over to your Merchants."

"Beyond that, I'm sorry that our Mercantile Party was mostly a wash. However as I recall, the factions who voted for you last time includes the Union and the Striders - of the Peacekeepers and Magic-Conservatives Parties respectively, both of whom I have ties to. I will speak with them, and see if they can be convinced to contribute POL to your cause. We can bring that up at the tea party if you'd like, even."

"Even with that, I believe the Pathbinder can still gather enough support that miss Watcher will find it difficult, if not impossible to surpass her. After all, she did not achieve the position of Shadow Mask for no reason. Also, if their involvement in the breaking of the Stormwatcher isn't indication enough, there's plenty of signs pointing to Pathbinder having the clandestine backing of the Lorekeepers. No doubt mister Turen would be reading my correspondence, and preparing a riposte even as we speak."

"He will be doing everything in his power to secure Pathbinder as the Source Chancellor, Sir Grand. And trust me, if he succeeds, it will bode ill for us all."

"That said, on to other matters. I realise you're relishing the coming political battle with mister Blake, Sir Grand; yet, from what I can tell, your policies aren't too terribly different from that of his, save a couple of exceptions. Your stance regarding Elreath is well-known, but I was wondering what your view of the Dragonblood Empire is? And for that matter, your stance on Mulden has me curious. I didn't realise you were quite so wary about Mulden, unless my recall has failed me."

[Thelonius]

EC

Turion's Door

Pathbinder: "An improperly used Stormwatcher caused Age of Iron - the one I destroyed to free the Sources, from the corruption of the mistake, our elders made a long, long time ago."

Judgements

Pathbinder: "You have said, that he failed to notice Dualist's corruption of the Subtle Weapons. Not I. And I don't know what you mean by calling Waymond, Orlitz and Grand incompetent?"

Heralds

Sir Grand: "A long term infiltration project I believe. They have been a result of decades of Ironcloaks carefully inserting their agents into Tower - until the Troubles gave them opportunity to take positions of authority."

Tower

The recent exchange between Sir Rupert Grand and Master Blake leaves both on equal ground. Both candidates gain and lose about the same amount of standing with Tower Mages.

But the second round ensues. Master Blake’s mention of Heralds reminds the Tower of Grand’s failure of recognizing their treachery. In response Grand speaks of strengthening Tower’s defenses against spies, mentioning how projects like Anti-Infiltration are vital to security and must be run by skilled professionals, a dig at rumors, that Sigma mismanaged the project during invasion. The tempers are heating and political struggle is escalating, both candidates making serious attacks on each other’s reputation.

Lyhoday seems to have latched on the opening about the Anti-Infiltration - to the detriment of both candidates, as he stresses, how his investigations would have exposed Herald’s treachery, if he wasn’t removed from power.

Clockwork Cult

Logicians [PM]

“We can develop [Mage Sensors III] - short-ranged detection of mix of life and magic and [Reflexive Shields II] that provide a quick and powerful shield - sufficient to deflect assassins strike. As long as your men deliver quick counter-strike, the assassins won’t have a chance for a second one. As for making them work in perfect synchrony, those skilled in Magitech should be able to handle it.”


Conservatives [PM]

Ruby Marshall: “Perhaps you could talk with the candidates and gauge, how suitable they are. Sir Rupert Grand supports Dawn Lords and seems reasonable. Lyhoday promises stability to the Tower. Master Blake has proven as capable administrator of Initiation, though we disagree on his stance regarding Dawn-Mulden relations.”

“What is your stance on Elreath and do you believe we should embrace Mulden’s capitalist culture, that may lead to destitution of conservative Dawn Lords or act against it?”


Magic-Conservatives [PM]

“We need to retrieve Stormwatcher Key - next month an expedition will be dispatched to the Vault to clear the way for the retrieval teams. We can also negotiate with Elreath for access, so we wouldn’t need to fight Vault’s guardians.”

“At the same time in the Tower, a thorough research will be conducted into how Turion’s Door was made. The documents from the Council Archives and Libraries will be examined to find the answers. There’s been talk of finding way to seal Turion’s Door without weakening the Sources once more - having the cake and eating it, so to speak. We will restore the Seal, whether such way exists or not - every day that Seal isn’t in place, we are at danger. For all we know - something is already reaching through the weakened Seals into our world.”


Dagger Brotherhood [PM]

“So, to be your lab goblins to be researched? Is that all that you require of us?”


Ritualist Cabal

Discussions [PM]

Tower Chancellor

Silence: “Personally, as conservative sectarianist, I have seen Executive Council dominated by Source Departments, manipulated to carry out their agenda. EC has managed - but did it truly do good, when we were nearly destroyed by Ironcloaks and Turion’s Door has been weakened? Would that have happened, if Lyhoday wasn’t deposed? I do not favor all this democracy - we need a strong leader. I admit, there’s some truth about his legitimacy - but who will be better at the job - a man of convictions like Lyhoday or crowd pleasing democrats like Blake and Grand?”

Source Chancellor

Silence: “I fear your words only reaffirm our support for Lydia Watcher. We do not vote for the “winners”, Magic-Conservatives vote for candidates, whom we believe to be the best choice for the Tower.”

Corpul Wisher: “Well… I believe it’s a reasonable policy. We should probably discuss how your policies as Source Chancellor could benefit Seat of Power.”

Lawspeaker

Silence: “Hospitium certainly weren’t tried and I believe a simple statement from them would dispel these allegations. Though I’m curious, that you would recommend Mage Hidelburg for Lawspeaker, while rejecting his advice on Turion’s Key. Do you believe he is mistaken in giving the Key to Spirits for safekeeping?”

Seat of Shadow

Silence: “If Lydia Watcher wins, Pathbinder would be tried and prosecuted for meddling with the Turion’s Door. The Seat of Shadow will go to the best candidate after that.”


Atelier Solaris

Merchants of Wonder [PM]

“If you manage to secure me POL with the advice, then I can make my move. Perhaps some ESP can be useful, to investigate the matter with Fortescue?”


Sir Rupert Grand [3]

Pathbinder is a schemer - not politician. She may excel in shadows, but there are not that many of them left, after the recent turmoil.

Dragonblood Empire must be destroyed. I favor a mix of military and diplomacy. With resources of Elreath at our command, we’ll have a powerful edge. We both neutralize Wyverns and other flying dragonkin, the Empire enslaves for it’s military and have unprecedented logistical advantage.

I do not hate Mulden and I respect it’s power. But right now it’s strength is directed as erasing many of our core values. It is my belief, that we should reinforce the conservative circles of the Dawn Empire, who stand as our base of power. If we rush into economic and cultural integration, we risk massive societal changes and instability. What I plan to do is to cool things down, without breaking ties that are already in place. After our victorious military campaigns we will command prestige and resources to continue integration between our nations, on terms more favorable to Dawn Lords. It is my belief, that preservation of the military class, rather than replacement of it with capitalist one, would serve well, against future threats. We live in a dangerous world, after all.


Sigma

Transcendence Party [3]

Angelo: “Certainly, let’s talk. You speak of furthering the cause of magic, may I ask, whom you will support for the Source Chancellor? And what is your stance exact on Elreath and Dragonblood Empire?”


Red Binder [3]

“Well, both you and Sir Grand have very similar policies. Can you tell me, why you are better choice, than him? As for advice, we need more military projects - and we need to be certain of our allies. How many of them will actually fight by our side, when the time comes? And it is coming. Reeve the Chainmaster will move against us… how exactly did the Executive Council miss this development?”


Iron Floors [3]

Warden Brooks: “Do you have authority to conduct the visits? I’ll need confirmation from the Executive Council.”


Northern Eye [3]

“We’ll of course do what we can - but how exactly do you propose to shift attention from the sweet pie of Dominion to Dragonblood Empire? We are currently popular in the North, but it’s damn hard to persuade nations from what they see is their interest.”

[Murska]

Tower

"As one would note, there would not have been an Anti-Infiltration Project without the efforts of myself, Sigma and Hospitium's graceful assistance at the final moment. Initiation, properly administered as it is, has been by far the most prosperous department and thus capable of supporting more Projects - even though I did specifically ask the Executive Council to allocate temporary Tower funds for Anti-Infiltration immediately so it could have been operating for much longer.

Unfortunately the Inquest turned out to be traitors, having sabotaged the Department at every turn, and released the Ironcloaks from the Wards."

Ironcloaks

"We still need someone for the negotiations regarding the prisoners. I would like the Council's permission to conduct visits to the dungeons and see what sort of preliminary work we can do regarding their situation."

Ritualist Cabal

Tower Chancellor
Do not your words about central authority betray specifically anti-sectarianism? You, like us, would prefer the Tower united.

Blake has his convictions, as evidenced by his decades of service and Sigma's strong stances on issues faced by the Council. Grand also does, whatever one might think of him. But having a leader with strong convictions only works if those convictions are the correct ones. Lihoday is not the man to lead the Tower to prosperity - his election would leave us divided when we need to be united, and weakened by internal purges when we need to be strengthened by military projects and inspiring leadership.

The Executive Council has been terribly flawed and weakened, but this is because it has taken a role it isn't meant for. The Tower Council, which mostly due to Lihoday's coup has been defunct and entirely ineffective, has done essentially nothing regarding the crises the Tower has faced. This has forced the Executive Council to do so. But now that we can recreate the Tower Council, we can hope for truly effective leadership again.

Transcendence Party

"We have no locked opinions regarding the Source Chancellor, though it is our hope that a few more candidates may appear soon. We don't trust the Pathbinder's scheming, but Watcher isn't exactly a better option. I was originally hoping to help Fortescue or another of the Transcendence to the seat, but things are getting more muddled now with the need to garner a broad coalition behind whoever ends up winning.

As for the Elreath and Dragonbloods, my opinion is that we must focus on Reeve first. Form a coalition, take out the Dragonbloods once and for all if possible, or at least prevent him from starting his Emperorship with a triumph and thus weaken his future position.

Elreath, we can deal with later. I'm hoping to negotiate some sort of an agreement to ensure they won't stab us in the back whilst we're busy. They seem worried, even afraid - maybe we can force them to return the knowledge they stole."

Red Binder

"I believe myself to be more suitable because Sir Grand is too set in his ways to amass a truly broad level of support. We need a Tower Council with a strong mandate to make the hard decisions necessary to set us on war footing. Also, more specifically, Grand wants us to go to war with Elreath immediately, hoping to subdue them and use their resources against the Dragonbloods. But Reeve won't wait for that, he'll strike when we're occupied in the completely opposite direction. I want us to pacify the Elreath with diplomacy and focus our efforts on the Dragonbloods. Every time they choose an Emperor, he begins his reign with a triumphant war - that's the tradition. He's very clearly stated his sights are set on the Dawn Empire.

The Executive Council was informed of Reeve's success, and I pushed for us to deploy our agents to weaken him. Due to the politicking of various actors, 'Shadow Mask' among them, they ended up supporting the Wyvern - evidently unsuccessfully."

Northern Eye

"We organize a conference and split the pie as quickly and efficiently as possible. Everyone wants a piece, but everyone is also wary of getting dragged into a problematic war, and everyone is justly wary of the Dragonbloods. With our influence we might, and I stress the difficulty involved, be able to handle the inevitable collapse of the Dominion through diplomacy and so give us the tools to form a coalition against the Dragonbloods."

[ArcaneStomper]

Clockwork Cult

Turion's Door
Olritz: "I have heard it said that the destruction of the Stormwatcher was necessary due to past mistakes before. What I want to know is how you know it was a mistake. Do you have a schematic of the seal. Do you know what the intended effects were. Perhaps it was intentionally tuned to disrupt magic as it did."

"After all its destruction seems to have caused black iron weapons to falter. And Turion's Door is made of Black Iron. Perhaps it's intended purpose was to reinforce the rest of the door's workings."

Logicians [PM]
(Definitly don't want this under a security 3 message when I'm discussing taking out a high MAN faction. :P )

"And how quickly could you research these patterns and put them into production? This is beginning to seem like an endavor that would take some time to organize."

Conservatives [PM]
"We have reservations about all the candidates. Grand is obsessed with fighting Elreath. Lyhoday will likely attempt to become Supreme Chancellor again. And probably move against us personally since we were on the Executive Council that deposed him. Blake as you say is more open to cultural integration than we would prefer."

"Personally we do not see anything inherently wrong with Mulden's values as such except perhaps for them being a bit too fluid. But they are clearly intent on subverting the Dawn Lords. Any cultural amalgamation should be both voluntary and slow."

"As for Elreath we are not certain. We would support sending a contact to at least try and initiate diplomatic contact. Something Grand has opposed at all points."

"As for the Source Chancellor we are currently considering either supporting Lydia Watcher or running ourselves on a similar, but less restrictive platform."

Magic-Conservatives [PM]
"We completely agree on both points. An expedition would be of great value, and contact with Elreath even more so."

"And Turion's Door must be repaired. We would be the first to volunteer our lore expertise and artificers to that end. It is something that must take the top priority."

"Our only point of disagreement seems to be your plans regarding long term magical research. We can understand the dangers of radical magic experiments, but research must still be done if we are ever to restore the world from all the calamities that have befallen it since the Age of Magic. And sometimes risks would have to be taken. Perhaps a high risk research tower could be established away from here."

Dagger Brotherhood [PM]
"We would not put it in those terms. We wish to study your achievements not dissect you. And in any case no. We would be foolish to disregard your expertise."

"You are clearly potent warriors and spies. Something which the Magitech Department lacks in great numbers, and which are necessary in the world we find ourselves in. We would ask that you turn your abilities to aid us those areas."

"However I have been remiss. I have stated what we offer, but I have not asked what you yourselves desire. Surely you had some goal that led you to obtain your current powers. We would be willing to help with that as well."

The Cabal [PM]
Source Chancellor
Olritz: "We are also considering running for Source Chancellor. Our intent is very close to that of Lydia Watcher. We would see to the immediate repair of Turion's Door and deal with the Dagger Brotherhood. However we believe that she is a slightly too stringent in regards to magic and magical experimentation. Though she does make good points. We would implement a program of more cautious research, but not shut down everything beyond certain limits entirely."

[Ascaloth]

Atelier Solaris
MAN: 3

Executive Council

Turion's Door

"And your idea of freeing the Sources is to destroy the Stormwatcher, instead of fixing it? On the advice of a Dualist, at that? What, was it beyond your skill to rectify the flaw - or at least render it inert until that can be done - even with Turion's Key in your hand?"

Judgement

"That I did, and I do not blame him, nor call him incompetent for it. That's your charge against him, Pathbinder. And if you're going to call me incompetent for the Dagger Brotherhood, Pathbinder, you're also saying the same thing of mister Weymond for the Inquest, Sir Grand for the Heralds, and miss Olritz for the Mindcrafters. So I've got to ask, are you really planning to go there?"

You know, this is going in circles. Pathbinder's getting a tad desperate, isn't she? :smallcool:

Heralds

"Ah. Hmmm. If that's the case, how certain are we that the rank and file of the Heralds are to be absolved of all blame? Would it not be the case that they were willing agents as well, as opposed to unwitting dupes?"

Source Chancellor

Collectors of Woe: "And that is entirely your prerogative and your right, of course. I will simply note that you may have to reconsider what the term "best choice" actually means. Would that be a candidate whose values most align with yours, but has little chance of achieving the top position where they could be put into practice? Or would that be one who doesn't agree with all of your interests, but is far more likely to make it there, and could be trusted to fight for the interests you do share?"

"That said, if we go by the assumption that you'll see the point in the latter statement... if you believe I'm the right person for the task, I trust you'll know what needs to be done. However, if you believe that miss Olritz is the one... that's fine, too. After all miss Olritz and I are in agreement that the Pathbinder is not the right person for the job."

"And that is why the both of us are announcing our interest in running for Source Chancellor; we're doing this to gauge which of us has the better chance of succeeding against Pathbinder, according to the rest of you. Miss Olritz and I have agreed that whichever of us has the better chance will announce her campaign, and we're hoping you'll all agree to vote for whoever the eventual candidate between us will be. In return, the other will be appointed as the new Bursar."

Merchants of Wonder: "Certainly. What points, in particular, would you like to focus on?"

Lawspeaker

"Like I've mentioned in the Executive Council, Turion's Key is still a really big deal for the Tower. As such, it should not be given up lightly simply because the Spirits asked. I am personally amenable to giving the Key to the Spirits for safekeeping in exchange for significant concessions to the Tower, but I'm also well aware that this would not be acceptable to many of our fellow Mages for any reason. As such, my suggestion that the Key be given to the Forbidden Vault for safekeeping, assuming the guaranteed allegiance of the Order of the Last Age, is what I reckon to be a reasonable compromise between that, and leaving it to continue acting as a temptation in the hands of the Source Chancellor."

Seat of Shadow

"If I were to win, I will do much the same. How about you, miss Olritz?"

"But the reason I'm asking is this; if you were to mount a timely challenge to the position of Department Head at this point, it would serve to distract the Pathbinder. And that, in turn, will improve the chances of whoever ends up challenging her for Source Chancellor; which would loop right back into a new and more suitable candidate for the Head of the Shadow Seat. So, mister Silence, would you be interested in helping us out?"

"It might. That would depend on how much the Peacekeepers and Magic-Conservatives are willing to contribute, however. Plus, the Lorekeepers boast a strong force of MAN, which is how they've been reading peoples' correspondence in the first place, so I'm uncertain as to how such an investigation will succeed should mister Turen direct his resources into blocking it."

"I can certainly ask nevertheless. Would you like me to bring it up at the tea party now, mister Wisher?"

"Even so, she remains dangerous still, Sir Grand. Just because the Pathbinder is weakened, does not mean the Tower can afford to lower its guard around her. And to put up a relatively weak candidate as miss Watcher would count as such, the way I see it."

"I'm glad we're in agreement when it comes to the Dragonblood Empire, Sir Grand. However, Reeve the Chainmaster is now the Emperor. Should the Tower turns its resources against Elreath, how likely do you think it is that he will not take the opportunity to strike with the full might of his Empire, while we are preoccupied?"

"As for Mulden, I can see your point. But then again, you did approve of my suggestion that we deal with the Scholars Society to trade influence between Dawn Empire and Mulden, so I'm not too certain how this squares with your view."

[Thelonius]

Tower

Tower Chancellor

Sigma seems to have an upper hand in the debates against Sir Grand for now. Meanwhile support is strengthening for Lyhoday among the independents, as his hammers the points of traitors that may still be lurking in the Tower.

The Conservatives seem to be shifting towards Lyhoday, while Transcendence Party sent a few signals, that it may consider Sigma as viable candidate. Theists remain a joker.

Political Parties
Warhawks: support Sir Rupert Grand
Conservatives: favoring Lyhoday between him and Grand
Transcendence Party: support Sir Rupert Grand, but may support Blake
Magic-Conservatives: support Lyhoday
Theists: undecided
Mercantile Party: favorable towards Maester Blake
Peacekeepers: unknown

Source/Tower Chancellor

The rumors that Grand Astrologist has failed to recognize Dagger Brotherhood’s subversion of Subtle Weapons spread around the Tower. Sir Rupert Grand latches to the fact to emphasize the importance of renegades within Heralds warning of invasion, to recover his position.

Lydia Watcher’s positions strengthen as she renews rhetoric of unknown consequences of meddling with Turion’s Door - stoking fears, that have been somewhat soothed by Grand Astrologists report.

Grand Astrologist remains celebrated for warning of the invasion, but much of the prestige and trust he acquired after it is lost to the scandal.

EC

Diplomats
Yen Council: Leon Shimmers, Min Willow (?)
Telamorian Lodge: ?
Elreath: Illarius Waymond
Al-Makim: ?
Ironcloaks: ?
Scholar’s Society: Min Willow (?)
Forbidden Vault: ?

Ironcloaks

Sir Rupert Grand: “Ah, if Sigma takes responsibility of sending diplomat for negotiation with Ironcloaks, then certainly access will be granted - if no one objects.”

Heralds

Sir Rupert Grand: “Unwitting dupes? Hardly. I would think those who fought against us, alongside Ironcloaks knew what they were doing. They made a choice to follow criminal, treasonous orders.”

Turion’s Door

Pathbinder: “The disruption of the Sources is the proof, that Stormwatcher was wrong and needed to be removed. There was no other option - Turion’s Key didn’t work on it. We were besieged by Ironcloaks - and empowerment of Sources may have been vital to our defences - I had no means of knowing how bad things were upstairs. Certainly, the benefits Tower reaped from it are apparent to all? As for Black Iron Weapons that was actually effect of the Turion’s Key interaction with the Door - not Stormwatcher. Stormwatcher was a backup energy source for the Seals - one that proved to be not only unneeded, but harmful to us all.”

Sir Rupert Grand: “Ahem. This discussion has been going for quite a time. I propose that, either Solaris calls a vote of censure against Pathbinder or we wait for the appointment of Source Chancellor to resolve the issue.”

Judgements

Pathbinder: “Well, in none of those cases, the Tower Projects were so misused - how much did the Tower lose, because it’s resources were not only wasted, but used against it? But, let us put this to rest. I will not call for censure of Grand Astrologist in recognition of his recent service to the Tower.”

Clockwork Cult

Logicians [PM]

[OOC: Sigh, sorry about message security. I’ve fixed it to PM]

“This can be accomplished quickly, if we dedicate our full [RES] to it.”

[You can have Patterns at your EoT - so you can rush production of Magitech (which will require Sourceburn Check, I doubt would be problematic) to have it for action in the same EoT.]


Conservatives [PM]

Ruby Marshall: “We’ll support you for Source Chancellor, if you chose to run. Perhaps Magic-Conservatives could be persuaded as well.”

Dawn Guard: “Perhaps we should back Lyhoday. While some have painted him as dangerously paranoid - is that really the truth or merely political slander? He certainly fought for the Tower against Ironcloaks.”


Magic-Conservatives [PM]

Silence: “We are no Ironcloaks to see all magic as evil. Certainly, as long as all due precautions are taken, our knowledge should be advanced. There are means of conducting safe research - such as Shards, removed from Prime Reality. A knowledge sadly lost - but one we can recover. Or dedicated lower floors of the Tower, with proper countermeasures installed.”

*[Of things that may affect PCs, Magic Conservatives may interfere with advancement of Ascension Labs, as “Dangerous Project” in Initiations. No Dualism - like Dagger Brotherhood.]


Dagger Brotherhood [PM]

“Our skills are that of Death. Do you wish for somebody to die? Would you need for somebody to die?”


Ritualist Cabal

Discussions [PM]

Tower Chancellor

Silence: “Well, isn’t the solution simple? Ally with Lyhoday. Then the Tower wouldn’t be divided. You have shown yourself as talented administrator - the position of Tower Brusar would be a natural fit.”

Source Chancellor

Silence: “If we were truly driven into a corner - with one choice being Pathbinder, then maybe, but Lydia Watcher will win. As for Artificer Orlitz, I have not heard confirmation, that she would run for Source Chancellor.”

Lawspeaker

Silence: “Certainly it wouldn’t be wise to leave Turion’s Key and it’s temptation so close. Artificer Orlitz - do you believe, that we should not heed Hospitium and trust Turion’s Key to the Spirits as well?”

Seat of Shadows

Silence: “Unless Dagger Brotherhood is removed or Pathbinder is censured, I can hardly do anything in that regard.”


Atelier Solaris

Merchants of Wonder [PM]

“Perhaps you should - if we stand a chance of gathering support from others present.”


Sir Rupert Grand [3]

“Perhaps. Perhaps. We’ll see what can be done about it.”

“As for military strategy - we just need to move faster than Dragonblood Empire. A blitzassault.”

“Ah, as for Mulden, I was talking of keeping tabs on them, besides I’m not against eventual integration. We just need to prepare ground first.”


Sigma

Transcendence Party [3]

Angelo: “Ah, well, there are reasons to support your bid, but you know, things are indeed somewhat muddled. There’s a need for careful political moves to secure the future of the Tower.”


Red Binder [3]

“Dragonblood’s cunning is well known. Shadow’s attempt to outfox them was bound to fail. Yours and Grand’s military plans - it’s hard to judge the big picture. But he is backed by Warhawks part - certainly the support of Warmages indicates their trust in his military strategy?”


Northern Eye [3]

“A conference. Well, might work, might end up a huge mess. What help do you need?”

[Murska]

Ironcloaks

We can do that, but we don't exactly have limitless diplomats to spare. I suppose Edwyn Guilford, while not exactly a diplomat, is capable of negotiations regarding their prisoners from a position of strength, unless we have better options.

Tower Chancellor

Now is a good time for both Blake and Grand to disentangle their campaigns slightly and take some swings at Lihoday. Insinuations are made regarding his failure to keep the Tower behind him after his coup, resulting in an abject humiliation and, indeed, a cowardly escape (while stealing Tower resources) while (not even after, but while) a Grand Circle vote was behind held against him. It is also noted how his campaign relies on complaining from the sidelines that he could've done better than those who've toiled to handle various crises striking the Tower, while having himself squandered his chance to affect things, and how he keeps going on about potential traitors in the Tower, none of which he managed to suss out before they struck despite his witch-hunts, in a preparatory move to instigate purges within the Tower if he is chosen just when there is a great need for internal unity to face the coming war. Sure, he fought the Ironcloaks - so did literally everyone else, and from an earlier stage during the invasion, and with greater success and more impact. Maybe if he hadn't weakened the Tower Guard the Ironcloaks wouldn't have been able to push to the Door and to the Upper Floors.

Ritualist's Cabal [PM]

Tower Chancellor
You must be overestimating my influence in the Tower. If all of us here were to ally with Lihoday, we might be able to push him through, if barely. But the Grand Circle vote that deposed him shows that the majority of the Tower distrusts him and wants him gone. He would immediately set upon those and purge them, and at least Sigma would oppose this, so we would lose our heads as well.

Seat of Shadows
We should remove the Dagger Brotherhood no matter what. They're deranged Dualist assassins who've attacked and endangered the Tower during an Ironcloak invasion.


Transcendence Party

There is indeed. Do you have some reason to believe Sir Grand is more likely to be able to deliver such?

Red Binder

Grand's plan is literally 'attack the Elreath quickly before the Dragonbloods can react, then use the resources gained from this attack to fight the Dragonbloods'. I'm sure any real planning would be left to actual military people, but since when does waging war strengthen either side in the short term, let alone allow us to quickly annex and wield Elreath weapons before Reeve invades? I strongly believe the Warhawks to support Sir Grand for their political agenda, of making themselves more relevant in comparison to the Peacekeepers who are almost certain to end up backing Sigma. He has many old connections through Dawn Empire nobility to such factions as well.

Northern Eye

Your knowledge at the disposal of the Tower's Reputation in trying to tilt things the former way, rather than the latter. It's a risk, but if we don't take it Dominion will collapse regardless and leave us with no base to pull on in the North against the Dragonbloods.

The key will be to neuter the Telamorian militarists with the Dragonblood threat as a stick and the easy Dominion spoils and possible medium-term temporary neutering of the Dragonbloods as a carrot, to appease the new Sandarian regime's thirst for military victory with free land and the economic boons needed for stabilizing his rule, and an important role in the coming war on the Coalition's side should they wish to join and to prevent Shok'An and his ilk from destabilizing the region. He will almost certainly want to use this opportunity to legitimize his rule. The religious issue is going to be thorny, and the enemy's spies are going to do their best to poison the well, but if we can catch them at it we can use that to strengthen our position.

Theists

Greetings. I would like to ask for your opinions regarding the choosing of the new Chancellors. What do you seek in the candidates?

Architect, Techburners, Stormriders (individually)

Blake sends a message asking for these factions' opinions on how logistically feasible a rapid campaign to subdue and annex the Elreath and then use the spoils to turn and hit the Dragonbloods under Reeve Chainmaster's invading armies is. The question picks into consideration factors such as logistical maneuvering, Dragonblood intelligence superiority and recent massive upsurges in their magical capabilities, the unknown strength of the Elreath and the historical fact that subjugating even a beaten nation, let alone annexing their resources to wage war with, is heinously difficult and time-intensive, as well as the fact that the Tower is currently militarily depleted and weak.

The messages are somewhat personalized with wording that fits the recipient better - discussing the technological side of things with the Architect, stressing the need to break the Dragonblood hegemony before they industrialize to the Techburners and questioning the logistical feasibility of massive army movements across the known world in two rapid lightning campaigns to the Stormriders.

[HerbieRAI]

Hospitium

EC

Spirit Courts
Yes, the spirits were our allies at one point in history. They had a heavy influence in Turion's Door. We can trust them to keep the key safe, I believe they have more of a stake in this world continuing than we do. Wherever a mortal soul goes when it dies I doubt the immortal spirits have a better fate.

Public
"For the past three months Chaos Theory has been in charge of the Acceptance Project, a project that should bring the tower together and ease many tensions in the tower. Since then tensions have only increased, and when asked for a simple progress update the responses have been to the effect of "soon" with no details of what they were actually doing with the funds. This gives the impression of incompetence to run the project, or ,as a leader of a major political party and the hall's requirement of having contacts of questionable morals, something significantly worse. Normally this is an issue that would be handled by the Lawspeaker, but since the council position has been empty for so long we have been forced to step in and remove them from the project, least more of the precious tower resources go to waste. Instead we have implemented the X-Hunt project to help cull dangerous creatures around the world, like any demons that might have escaped when the door was open or the assassin shade that is currently haunting the halls of this very tower.

The Cabal (PM)

I hope my public explanation was acceptable enough. We believe there was due cause for their removal, and once a lawspeaker is appointed an investigation.


To the Warders (MAN 3)

Could you lend us [3 MAN] this month to help us manage the Fringe Reports work? We are diverting our ability to work on the spirit courts.


To a Master Smith of Dawn Empire

I would like to commission some arrows to be made with a specific amount of a very precious substance, Black Iron. We have the iron currently, and we will need to be able to account for all the substance used in the work. We are currently offering [1 coin] for the work

ooc: I will also be using my 4 RES to look into how much black iron will affect an area of about 3 feet. The idea is to make black iron arrows that would only hamper the person/ being shot with the arrow.


To the Hunters (MAN 3)

I feel it is a good time to present our plan for the hunt. First, with the elections taking place it is redoubtable that someone will persuade the creature to target one of the candidates, so we should be able to narrow our hunt. We are working to create some black Iron arrows, that should only dampen magic for a being hit with the arrow. When we find the creature, our agent will engage while yours shoots the creature with the arrow, which should give us enough of an advantage to finish it off. We believe you to be a better shot. Does this sound like a good plan?

[ArcaneStomper]

Clockwork Cult

Executive Council
Turion's Door
Olritz: "We are willing to wait for the appointment of the Source Chancellor. But if anyone does have information on the Seals they should present it. We will need everything we can get to evaluate and repair any damage done. Either with this most recent move or if the Pathbinder is correct as our predecessor's caused."

Logicians [PM]
"You can provide the patterns, and we can put them into production. But who will provide the magepower needed? We can produce automatas, but they are not the best fighters when dealing with assassins."

"In any case we will bring these plans before the rest of the department. To conceal our full intent, for no doubt the Dagger Brotherhood have spies everywhere, we will indicate that this effort is part of our plans to defend against the Elemental Shade of Murder. Indeed many of the same precautions would need to be taken for it anyway."

"That should at least put our preparations into motion while we consider who would be best suited to wielding these devices."

(Can I also rush production of my automatas?)

The Cabal[PM]
Source Chancellor:
Olritz: "Indeed I have decided to run for the position of Source Chancellor. And I would also appoint Solaris to Bursar if we were to win as she has graciously agreed to do for us."

To Silence: "As for Watcher we are currently in talks with her and the Magic-Conservatives. In fact another of the members of your hall is likely there now."

Lawspeaker:
"We have no feelings about the Spirits one way or another. Perhaps Hospitium is right and the Spirits can be trusted, and perhaps not. But Turion's Door must be repaired. Would we even be able to open it to do so without possession of the Key."

Seat of Shadow:
To Silence: "We are not as familiar with Tower Law as we might be. What law did the Pathbinder break by meddling with Turion's door? Oh no doubt it was a horrible mistake, and she should be censured for it. But a trial is a serious consequence."

To the Magitech Department [3]
Security
We have devised a plan for the security of the department. We will be repairing our current battle automata and producing a new one. The Logicians have graciously agreed to provide patterns for shields and sensors to help secure the department. So we will also be putting them into production. All our additional magitech manufacturing capability will be put towards producing more Armatures to provide additional protection to individual mages.

Who would be willing to help with this.

Source Chancellor
After some consideration we have decided that neither Watcher nor Pathbinder will be beneficial to the continued growth of Magitech. As such we will will be running for Source Chancellor, and will be announcing our position shortly. We hope that you will support us in this effort to gain a greater say in the Tower for our department.

Conservatives [PM]
Source Chancellor: Then I will run. I am already talking with the Magic-Conservatives. I am unsure if Watcher will be willing to concede the support of that faction, but it is worth a shot.

Lyohday: The man imprisoned the previous chancellors and took control of the Tower Council. When he was ousted from his position by a Grand Circle he fled the Tower with most of the Tower Guard. He did fight for the Tower in its time of need, and that should certainly be taken into account. But if he hadn't fled in the first place we would have been better prepared for an invasion. We do not believe he can be trusted on the Tower Council at this time.

Currently we are leaning towards Blake. If only because Grand is obsessed with a war with Elreath that we cannot currently afford.

Magic-Conservatives [PM]
In that case it might be worth providing the Demiurges additional funding. They seem to be making progress towards the creation of new realities. Although we would be wary of conducting experiments in the lower Tower. Those areas are already filled with unstable magic.

In any case that is a matter for the future. Back to the matter at hand. We must admit that Artificer Olritz is also considering running for Source Chancellor. Our policies seem much aligned. So much so that if we were both to run it would almost certainly split the Magic-Conservatives and Conservatives in two. Which would benefit neither of our factions.

However we do have the additional advantage of support in the Magitech department and various other halls around the Tower. And thus consider Olritz's chances slightly superior.

So we ask what it would take to convince you to support Olritz instead?

Dagger Brotherhood [PM]
In fact yes. We have two targets in mind. First the Elemental Shade of Murder. It is a threat to the Tower and needs to be dealt with. Plus destroying it would help your own standing as many suspect it to be a backlash caused by your use of dualism. Second the Mindcrafters. Call it a personal grudge, but they stole from the Magitech Department. We want them hunted down.

[Ascaloth]

Atelier Solaris
MAN: 3

Executive Council

Ironcloaks

"No objections here."

Turion's Door

"Very well. Sir Grand has the right of it; we have indeed belaboured the point long enough. Let us leave this matter to whoever the Source Chancellor shall eventually be, as should be the case."

Judgements

"Agreed. Let us put it to rest."

Spirit Courts

"Interesting. If the Spirits were such an important part of the Tower's history - to the extent that they had a big part in Turion's Door - how did it come to pass that they're so vilified by our fellow Mages today? I guess newer memories are fresher in our minds, and the Spirits are better known for getting in our eye for the most part these days, I suppose."

"As for the Key... well, if it's decided that the Source Seal should be restored, we're going to need to hold onto the Key at least until then. Do you think this Old Man Jim could be convinced of that, Dr Passtrum?"

Tower Chancellor

"Let me be the first to say that I, for one, would not back mister Lihoday as the next Tower Chancellor. And that is for pretty much the reasons that mister Blake has laid out. I do not see any way that mister Lihoday is anything other than a bad investment, and as such I highly doubt my Mercantile Party could be convinced to give their votes to him either. There is, simply, no way that mister Lihoday could unite the Tower from what I see."

Source Chancellor

"I would like to confirm what miss Olritz has said about appointing me Bursar if she succeeds in becoming Source Chancellor, and vice versa."

Seat of Shadows

"That's another thing we can take the opportunity to discuss in private as well, right now. What forces can we collectively leverage at this moment, in order to remove the threat of the Dagger Brotherhood?"

Seat of Power

"On another note, I would like to bring up the matter of mister Angelo's present position as the Head of the Seat of Power. As you all might be aware, his ascension to Head of Power was a questionable one, what with him taking over as the 'interim' Head after miss Fortescue apparently 'stepped back' in order to 'focus on her research', and then making the position permanent after his Purifiers absorbed the Uplift. In addition, he is known to have ties with the Lorekeepers and Pathbinder, and it's more than likely that he acquired his position with their backing."

"Truly this is a dubious state of affairs, and mister Wisher here is in the best position to mount a political challenge to it, seeing as how his Merchants of Wonder are part of the same Seat. If that is something he is interested in, I was wondering if anyone here may be interested in helping him out with MAN or POL contributions?"

"I'm sure there will be a response towards the Pathbinder's candidacy soon enough, Sir Grand. You'll probably notice when it happens."

"A blitzzault against Elreath sounds nice and all, but is that truly feasible for the Tower at the moment, Sir Grand? We did just come off the receiving end of one from the Ironcloaks after all, and our warmaking capabilities have yet to be fully replenished because of it. The Tower military is strong, but it does still have its limits."

"You speak sense regarding Mulden and eventual integration, Sir Grand. I believe that is something you could find common ground with mister Blake, though? It does not seem to me that he would be inclined to disagree with your analysis."

I might have a need for a lot of Reagents this month, mister Warner. Would you be able to loan me more if I paid extra?

(OOC: This was already mentioned in Hipchat, but I'm just making it IC.)

On another note, I hope our joint venture had helped you make good progress on the unlocking of the Vault. I was wondering what you'd ask in return, if I wanted to access the strongboxes in there?

[Thelonius]

Tower

Spirits

Sir Grand: “Ah. The Spirits have led to Tower’s defeat in Iron Age. Without their anti-magic, the Mundanes would have never been able to end Circle of Mages and Age of Magic. Let’s be clear, even our current forces can conquer most mundane nations easily enough. We are kept in check by Ironcloaks, Dragonblood Empire, Renegades and to a lesser degree Glen Republic, due to their potent spirit-weapons and powerful military. Right now, Ironcloaks are weakened and we have plans to deal with Renegades - by Staff and Book. If Dragonblood Empire falls, we will be in a position to rule the world once more.”

’’Unless’’ Grand makes a pause. ’’Spirits empower new weapons. Sniper Rifles to take out Warmages from a safe distance, machineguns and artillery to stop our bound Sourceborn, maybe even spirit-bombs. Now that would be hard to defend against. The mundanes outnumber us heavily. If they have spirit-guns, we will not win a war of attrition. So, there’s a good reason, why certain animosity towards Spirits exists among those of us, who wish restoration of the Age of Magic.’’

Politics

Sigma vs. Lihoday

Lihoday takes some blows as his loss of leadership is brought up by political attacks, but makes a comeback as discussion turns to traitors and Ironcloak Invasion. He claims that the EC failed at all turns to protect the Tower and only through heroism of the regular Tower Mages and very dangerous manipulations of Turion’s Door, was the tide turned. The Unity in the upcoming war is essential - so Tower can’t afford to have traitors in it’s ranks. The only choice for safety and security is Lihoday.

For now it seems Tower Mages begin to view Lihoday as a legitimate candidate with a chance for victory.

Grand’s Reforms

Sir Grand announced that if elected, he’d reform the Junior Councilmen positions - Tower-Staff and Lawspeaker positions would be merged, giving Lawspeaker authority over Tower Guard. Brusar’s position would be shifted into new Tower Book post, that would deal with diplomacy and trade. Finally, Tower Eye position will handle Intelligence, charged with keeping the Tower informed of the state of the world. The reforms clearly change the Tower Council’s focus from inward to outward and give greater influence and power to Junior Councilmen.

Grand has approached Leon Shimmer of Reclaimers with offer of making him Tower Book. A move clearly designed to gain loyalties of Magitech Department and Mercantile Party.

Theists

Grand Astrologists have broken with his principles of neutrality to join Theists. The part remains enigmatic, but it seems they have a growing interest in the Turion’s Door.

Chaos Theory

There are discussions on importance of personal word and whether Hospitium had the right. Many recognize that with absence of Lawspeaker, it’s indeed up to Department Head to judge, if faction has been fulfilling their duties efficiently. All in all, it seems most agree, Hospitium could dismiss Chaos Principle and they are not forsworn, but there’s enough uncertainty to sow some mistrust of spiritborn faction.

Hospitium gains Reputation: Untrustworthy 1

Cabal

Discussions [PM]

Tower Chancellor

Silence: “Lihoday’s alleged paranoia is based on testimony of Brusar. He may be skilled in finances, but the man never seemed trustworthy to me. And wasn’t call for Lihoday’s removal initiated by Lorekeepers? The whole Grand Assembly was misled and manipulated - I remember the proceedings, you can’t deny they were irregular. The Mages were forced to cast votes with no time to think and consider, what they were voting for.”

Hospitium

Silence: “I’m satisfied. But there was talk of your appointment as Lawspeaker - why exactly you and present leaders believe, you would be a good fit for the position?”

Seat of Shadows

Silence: “It seems we are in agreement about Dagger Brotherhood. We’ll of course do our best to restore our Seat. What can you provide?’’

“As for what law Pathbinder broke - why, that would be prohibition on calling forth demons. A capital crime. By endangering integrity of Turion’s Door, she knowingly gave chance for Demons to enter our world. For all we know - something may have slipped through. Frankly, if outside world learns of this - we’ll be on very thin ice with mundanes.”

Seat of Power

Silence: “Our focus in on Seat of Shadows and political campaign. Though dealing with Dagger Brotherhood may benefit this cause.”


Clockwork Cult

Magitech Department [3]

Defence

Blitz Brotherhood: “We’ll protect Magitech Department. What is needed?”
Ervin Redford: “I’ll help, as Lightning Mage would have wanted.”

Source Chancellor

Logicians: ”Certainly, being both Source Chancellor and member of Executive Council would be a conflict of interests. You will need to resign from Council - and need a capable replacement. Somebody, who’ll represent Magitech Department.”

Reclaimers: “Ah. Why, we’ll of course support our fellow Magitech Mage.”

Blitz Brotherhood: “We’ll support you, though what would be your positions?”
Ervin Redford: “I’ll need to hear your platform.”
Arsenal Master: “My Hall will support you.”
Academic Board: “We want to learn of your plans.”


Conservatives [PM]

“Certainly, if Lihoday didn’t flee, the Tower Guard would have been purged of his loyalists and situation would have been the same, if not worse.”


Dagger Brotherhood [PM]

“Two Contracts… We’ll take one. Whom do you hate more?”


Atelier Solaris

Sir Rupert Grand [3]

“Why, the most brilliant minds of Warmagic believe it’s possible - who am I to doubt them, eh? As for Master Blake, maybe he can support me. Better than Tower electing Lihoday, certainly.”


Vault Guard [3]

“I can provide 2 more reagents, for [1 CRE]. Let’s say, you can access strongboxes freely this month, but I trust you’ll help us reach deeper levels of the Vault. Right now we at levels that do not hold it’s true treasures.”


Hospitium

Warders [3]

“We certainly would support our good friends in Hospitium.”


Smiths of Dawn Empire [3]

“Why sir Mage, a commission from the Tower and to work with the legendary Black Iron. We’d be honored. All will be done to the best of our ability.”

[OOC: You’ll need Black Iron for said actions.]


Hunters [3]

“Ah. Well, you are in luck, in that some of our Mages can use bow. I’ve heard rumors, that handling Black Iron weapons can make Mage lose connection to Sources. We’ll need [1 CRE], to compensate for the time, our Mages will be recovering from handling Black Iron.”

[OOC: Heh. Most Mages can’t tie shoes without spells, and you want them to shoot bows? Hunters are among few in the Tower, who wouldn’t shoot themselves in the nether regions.]


Clockwork Cult

Logicians [PM]

“Well… One option is that Warhawks may sell their warmages for votes. Or we can probably rally some mercenary DES/MAN, for CRE. Or we can try to get Blitz Brotherhood and Redford on board. Whatever method you prefer.”

[OOC: You can rush Automata manufacturing - this will add +1 to Sourceburn per rushed thing.]


Magic-Conservatives [PM]

“Well… first, if we were to consider it, we’d prefer Lydia Watcher as Lawspeaker. Or at least someone, whose integrity and convictions we could trust. At this point, it’s highly unclear, why Hospitium should be Lawspeaker. It feels like this “Cabal” is simply placing factions, it think it can manipulate in positions of power. Prove to us, you are not beholden to their commands. Second, we want Dagger Brotherhood removed - you have shown yourself as capable fighter. Help us regain control of the Halls in the Seat of Shadow.”

“We’d also want you to announce your candidacy - if your support proves to be too weak, it will make no sense for us to back you over Lydia Watcher.”


Sigma

Red Binder [3]

“I find myself trusting the Warhawks more than Peacekeepers. The latter a valiant defenders of the Tower, but we need to be on offensive.”


Transcendence Party [3]

“Well, Grand seems to have a more open mind regarding Sources and perhaps he will be wise in the choice of Junior Councilmen. Can I ask you, how do you plan to defeat Dragonblood Empire?”


Northern Eye [3]

“Well… In Telamore, House Tercel has always put priority on Dragonblood Empire. However, it’s currently out of favor. If balance was to shift to them, then perhaps something could be done.“

“This will be a fine balancing act. We’ll do what we can.”

[OOC: So… you want them to lend use of their Trait for diplomacy action in northern conference? If so, they’ll provide.]


Theists [3]

“We’d like to know, what Tower Chancellor would do for the Tower.”


Architect [3]

“The Tower can manage - as long as we have leaders, with guts to go on offensive.”


Techburners [3]

“Can I ask, how is it, that Warmages training programs have been lagging in the Department of Initiations?”


Stormriders [3]

“The plan is feasible. We hit them hard and fast. We win. Once Grand is elected you’ll see, that your concerns are unfounded.”

[Murska]

Spirits

"But since trying to fight the Spirits would be foolish, perhaps animosity, while understandable, isn't the best institutional approach to take towards ensuring that the Spirits never do assist the mundanes."

Tower Chancellor

Heroism of Tower Mages such as those of us running against him, and not in particular Lihoday himself who didn't do anything very impressive while joining way too late, utilizing troops he had diverted away from the most important battles himself. The Door was in no way necessary for the victory, and the careless manipulations therein are made all the more damning because of that.

Lihoday is constantly jumping on the topic of traitors in the Tower. Surely an esteemed Mage such as him would not make such an accusation without evidence. Who exactly are these traitors he intends to punish and what have they done? Why does he expect any other candidate would not be as capable of detaining them? After all, when he was the Supreme Chancellor of his own making, he never caught any traitors, not even the ones we all now know were present in the Tower. He had plenty of time to make the attempt.

In fact, isn't it strange that he claimed there to be traitors, never did anything about them but gather secret information, then disappeared from sight with the Tower's own guards fleeing a Grand Circle vote. The interim government was left with a Tower in ruins after his rule and were soon after attacked by all these traitors and Ironcloaks that he had done nothing to ward off but had clearly anticipated, as his forces then immediately gathered, waited for the Ironcloaks to take the Upper Floors and decapitate the Tower's leadership and stepped in to try and 'save the day'. Fortunately, the ordinary Mages of the Tower were heroic enough that his assistance proved unnecessary and the Executive Council survived, despite him specifically removing the guards who were meant to protect the wards and checkpoints leading to the Upper Floors and the Door.

Regardless of such interesting coincidences, such internal investigations and witch-hunts would clearly paralyze the Tower's foreign policy for the time being - what does Lihoday intend to do against the very clear and imminent invasion of Reeve the Chainmaster in the meantime?


As for Grand's reforms, what a fancy way to, without thought, preparation or consultation with anyone else, destroy centuries of Tower tradition to gain short-term political points. While having something like an advisory position on Tower diplomacy and espionage is sound, uniting Lawspeaker and Tower Staff is putting together two entirely different and even contradictory tasks - the upholding of the Law and the interpretation thereof should not be under the same person's plaque. And uniting internal Tower finances with diplomacy means doing exactly what Sir Grand has specifically spoken against - putting the short-term interests of capital ahead of the long-term cultivation of honour, integrity and diplomatic fortitude. And delegating power from the Chancellors to the Juniors weakens the leadership of the Tower even further when it is already eroded, leaving three interconnected levels of power in the Chancellors, Juniors and the Executive Council without any clear structure of order.

Cabal Discussions [PM]

Tower Chancellor
The argument isn't particularly strong - had Lihoday held the trust of the Mages, would they not have voted to retain him? No misleading information was ever released, after all. But another more pertinent question would be, what good did Lihoday ever do for the Tower? His image for 'strong leadership' seems to be based on him having grabbed the title of Supreme Chancellor, but he never actually rooted out any traitors, reformed any of the other Tower institutions, clamped down on inter-departmental disputes or took a stand regarding foreign policy matters.

Lawspeaker
I believe that the role of the Lawspeaker is going to be redefined by the commission that will form the new codes of Tower Law. Hospitium, in my opinion, would make for a good advisory Lawspeaker, specifically because they have been the front and center of the movement to oppose factionalism and sectarianism in the Tower, stressing unity of purpose and acceptance and compromize regarding our varying values.

Seat of Shadows
We will provide some 2-4 DES, though many of our Mages are wounded from the battle - healing from the Hospitium would assist us greatly. But as they are assassins, you can probably also find an use for 4 MAN.


Red Binder

Offensive certainly, but I believe we would be better off attacking the Dragonbloods rather than waiting for them to consolidate after their election games and send their forces against us. The Tower has no clue what the Elreath's stance truly is or what sort of military they might have - nothing. There is no indication that striking at them right now would be necessary, nor do we know how difficult the campaign would prove to be. And regardless of what we do with the Elreath, we will still need to fight the Dragonbloods. A show of aggression would most likely ensure we will gain no aid from any nation in the South and weaken our diplomatic position in the North - why would the Northern nations support the Tower against the Dragonbloods if the Tower doesn't even fight them?

I believe that the correct way to win a conflict is to first prudently choose a target, then aggressively and decisively defeat it. Aggressively choosing targets leads to disarray and weakness, while prudence when on the offensive loses initiative and decisiveness, bogs down and is outmaneuvered.

Transcendence Party

I see. What's to say that other candidates might not also choose the Junior members wisely? While unifying Lawspeaker and Tower Staff seems to me to be a terrible decision, Tower Eye is definitely a post we need and including diplomacy with intelligence seems more reasonable than combining internal Tower finances with it.

As for the Dragonbloods. We currently have quite some esteem in many parts of the world, specifically the North. We've got contacts with the Yen. And we have a very strong argument for banding together Mages from all over the world in opposing Reeve's slavery, which in turn will let the Tower absorb Warlocks for the conflict. We will make this a war of freedom and liberation against the oppressive, expansionistic and tyrannical Dragonblood Empire. We will gather our forces and strike while the new Emperor is still consolidating all the diverse hierarchies from the Games, and pin them into a frontline of our choosing. We will augment the forces of the Dawn Empire with modern technology, and possibly magitech or other magical aid - it will be easier to push through such reforms and grant funding into advanced magical research. We will attempt to decisively resolve the Northern tangle of Dominion with diplomacy, use threats of Dragonblood spies and provocateurs and the weakness of the Ironcloaks to draw them in on our side. We will pacify the Elreath temporarily with diplomacy, and absorb them and their knowledge into the Tower afterwards. And we will convince Yen to back us while aiding the success of the opposition in Glen to prevent them from opportunistic attacks.

The world is a large place, but it is getting ever smaller and more connected. We cannot expect any move to only affect its target - an attack on the Elreath will convince those in the North we aren't serious about defeating the Dragonbloods, a show of weakness against the Dragonbloods will trigger a Glen invasion and a lack of diplomatic leadership will draw Warlocks into forming more powerful groups of their own, independent of Tower control. On the other hand, inflicting a defeat on the Dragonbloods will most likely cause Al Makim to leap in if they don't immediately do so regardless.

Northern Eye

"Sometimes, one has to roll the dice. I trust you will do your best, and that is all I will ever expect."

Theists

"The Tower needs healing and unity after the recent conflicts. Once the remnants of the traitors are rooted out, we need to replace the current culture of violent altercations and silencing of political opponents with one of conversation. There are many viewpoints, creeds and ideals within the Tower, but they need not constantly war among each other.

As a Tower Chancellor, I would offer internal stability and security to repair the damage of the Troubles and the Invasion and come into our own true strength. Externally, I offer the firm, guiding hand of the Tower in world politics, strong leadership against Reeve the Slaver and his tyrannical regime and the gradual unification of the Mages of the world under the Tower's auspices."

Architect

An offensive is necessary. Against the Dragonbloods, trying to defend, especially with much of the military elsewhere, is liable to offer defeat. We need to strike at the heart of the slavers and free the Chained once and for all.

Techburners

OOC: Please explain this to me more clearly - I've gotten a bunch of responses like this from NPCs and I don't really understand the situation. I've attained several Crit Successes in Education and managed to boost the Project so that it is advancing significantly ahead of schedule in many parts, and nowhere behind schedule. The fact that some Departments are benefiting more than others is natural and obvious - not everything happens at the exact same pace. Regardless, everyone is benefiting. Do the NPCs operate on secret mechanical knowledge on how things are prioritized, or do they just really think that because the amount of new Mages they are receiving is relatively smaller than some other Department, that's grounds to suspect favouritism or mismanagement in Initiation? Even the lagging-behind Departments are advancing as fast as any Project, after all. Plus, I've literally only skewed a single turn's output, meaning two Departments are one turn ahead of the others in a system where every Department is on average one turn ahead of the projected speed.

EDIT: IC: Well, as you may recall, Sigma was not in control of most of the Department scant months ago. We've had our share of troubles wresting departments over from the traitorous Inquest who were doing their best to sabotage all progress. Unfortunately some training systems have had less time to be upgraded than others. Regardless, Education as a whole in the Tower has been taking great strides and I have it on good authority Warmagic will be receiving a boost in quality and quantity of apprentices soon.

[HerbieRAI]

Hospitium

EC

Spirits
Yes, the spirits did give the power that caused the Age of Iron, but it was asked for by humans and used by humans against us. Much like we have many groups on the councils, there are 10 different courts in the Spirit Courts. I believe part of creating Turion's Door required the Court closest to us to go into a hibernation, which they are still in today. Losing their voice in the Court allowed non-magical humans to sway the discussion about gifting the power against us. I have slowly been bringing some of the courts to our side, but it is very difficult to change a spirits opinion. Giving them the Key would make this process significantly easier.

Cabal (PM)

There are many reasons to have me be the lawspeaker. First, there are few in the tower that know the law as well as us. Since spirit born are looked on as traitors by birth, we have had to know the law by heart to keep from getting prosecuted by the many inquisitor groups that have recently been active in the tower like Inquest and Lihoday. We also have demonstrated our loyalty through our healing support in the fight and allowing Fringe to take a pay cut to initiate Anti Infiltration. Lastly we have demonstrated exceptional foresight through searching out the Spirit Courts. Whether you believe they are against us or not, 6 months ago we would not have known the courts exist and Glen would be getting their anti-magic without a fight. Fighting Glen's current request will be the Spirit Courts putting the Tower mages on trial, and if successful I will have proven my ability to persuade the truth. I have stated to the others that my Lawspeaker appointment relies on the Spirits not granting Glen's request, because if they do I will have too much work to accomplish the Lawspeaker tasks.


To the Hunters (MAN 3)

We can give you the 1 CRE. We'd also like to ask your views on the election. We know you are part of the transcendence party and they are one of the groups that hasn't made a strong decision. We'd like to ask to consider switching for Blake, he would do a lot more for helping the Fringe Department, as he shows through supporting keeping the promise of restoring the extra cut Fringe funding as promised. Grand has stated it should go elsewhere.


To the Twins (MAN 3)

What are your views on the election, and who do you think you will be voting for? We'd like to ask to consider voting for Blake, he would do a lot more for helping the Fringe Department, as he shows through supporting keeping the promise of restoring the extra cut Fringe funding as promised. Grand and Pathbinder have stated it should go elsewhere.


To FIGIL (MAN 3)

What are your views on the election, and who do you think you will be voting for? If you aren't already on Blake's side, we like you to consider him. More importantly we'd like to attempt to persuade you not to vote for Pathbinder. Through his votes and actions on the Executive council he has shown cares about the sources and has a distaste for non-humans.


To the Gardeners (MAN 3)

What are your views on the election, and who do you think you will be voting for? We'd also like to ask if one of our doctors can come spend some time in the gardens. He has a good knack for Herbalism.


To the Warders (MAN 3)

What are your views on the election, and who do you think you will be voting for? We'd like to ask to consider voting for Blake, he would do a lot more for helping the Fringe Department, as he shows through supporting keeping the promise of restoring the extra cut Fringe funding as promised. Grand and Pathbinder have stated it should go elsewhere.


To Pentacle (MAN 3)

What are your views on the election, and who do you think you will be voting for? We'd like to ask to consider voting for Blake, he would do a lot more for helping the Fringe Department, as he shows through supporting keeping the promise of restoring the extra cut Fringe funding as promised. Grand and Pathbinder have it should go elsewhere.


To the Crusaders (MAN 3)

What are your views on the election, and who do you think you will be voting for? We'd like to ask to consider voting for Blake, he would do a lot more for helping the Fringe Department, as he shows through supporting keeping the promise of restoring the extra cut Fringe funding as promised. Grand and Pathbinder have it should go elsewhere.


Internal (PM)

I believe the EC has already voted to allow me access to a couple weapons for fighting the shadow beast. I was going to use that metal for the arrows. Do you think my new VIP would be better with a bow than the Hunters?

[Ascaloth]

Atelier Solaris
MAN: 3

Executive Council

Spirits

"Ah. Hmmm. Well, that just strengthens my view that if the Spirits want the Key, it should only be given with significant concessions on their part. Extracting a promise that not a single one of their Courts will give their power to any humans that are not Mages, for starters? Maybe we can get them to share lore that has long been lost to the Tower, on top of that. Perhaps some knowledge or help with Turion's Door itself, as well."

Tower Chancellor

"To add onto what mister Blake said, mister Lihoday talks a good game of uniting the Tower and rooting out the traitors within. But if he was focusing on his duties as the Tower-Staff back then, instead of spending all his energies on pulling off a coup against the then-Chancellors, shouldn't he have rooted them out long before they popped up? At best, it sounds like he was sidetracked by his ambition; at worst, there's no indication he would have been any more successful at taking out the traitors had he remained Tower-Staff or even Supreme Chancellor any longer than he did. I'm afraid mister Lihoday hasn't got the deeds to back up his talk, if you look at his track record closely."

Source Chancellor

"Oh, on another note. I hope that whoever of us is determined to have the better chance of becoming Source Chancellor, that everyone who would otherwise prefer the other candidate be willing to give their votes to the eventual nominee. We need to put aside whatever differences we have and band together, if we are to have any chance of defeating the real opponent; Pathbinder."

Seat of Shadows

"Magic-Conservatives, have you any DES or MAN to lend a fellow Party member in need?"

Seat of Power

"Mercantiles? Same question. Magic-Conservatives and Conservatives? This would be a good chance to take your rival Transcendence Party down a peg."

"Ah. Well Sir Grand, if you had suggested this just a little earlier, I might have considered passing on the suggestion to mister Blake..."

"...but the thing is, I honestly feel your Tower Council reform proposal was something of a tactical error. Putting it forth like that, unasked for by the Tower Mages, that seems like the kind of thing that will lose you the two Conservative factions in the Tower outright. Not to mention leaving you open to attack, and what do you know, mister Blake has already pounced upon it. That's going to cost you in the political arena, I fear."

"Still, that's not so bad... but then you went and offered mister Shimmers the position of Tower Book behind my back. Diplomacy and trade; why, it's almost like you're trying to undermine my standing in my own Party, Sir Grand. Did mister Turen put you up to this? I'll bet good money that's the case. Calculated to split my Party, no doubt."

"So you know, you're kind of pushing me into being inclined towards supporting mister Blake, Sir Grand. Maybe I'll go talk to him instead, he probably wouldn't mind buying my vote in exchange for Bursar or something. For that matter, mister Blake apparently sees the importance of having someone in charge of diplomacy, so I bet I can get him to offer that mister Shimmers as well."

"And last but not least, you may not be aware of this, Sir Grand. But the Reclaimers have been burned by the Lorekeepers before. I wonder how mister Shimmers would react, if I told him your offer was likely influenced by the latter...?"

"Hey, there, mister Shimmers! So I heard you got a pretty tempting offer from Sir Grand. Just so you know, you're aware that the Lorekeepers probably put him up to it, do you?"

"Oh, but of course. You know me by now mister Warner, have I ever done anything less? The Ritual Vault is key to the strength of the Ritual Seat, after all. Rest assured, I'll continue to help you any way I can."

(OOC: Okay, so free access to Vault strongboxes this turn, how does that work? I need to spend a VIP action or something?)

[ArcaneStomper]

Source Chancellor
Artificer Olritz announces her candidacy for the Source Chancellor position. Her stance is one of moderation falling between Pathbinder and Watcher. She calls for a Tower wide project to examine and repair Turion's Door of any damage it may have.

She also calls for a path of research into the patterns of the Age of Magic, but also caution in its application. "The power of our predecessors in the Tower was mighty and their knowledge of the secrets of the world unmatched. Both would benefit us in these new and chaotic times. However we should also take care. The wise mage does not start with copying the spells of an archmage. For going directly to the highest patterns bypasses all the understanding and control that those archmages of old once had. We should gain a thorough foundation and learn the ways of the Age of Magic step by step. So that one day we will not only match their accomplishments, but have the knowledge to surpass them."

Cabal [PM]
Tower Chancellor
Silence: "If being forced into a Grand Circle after a month was irregular then, then what about now?"

Magitech Department [3]
Defense:
What we need currently are either battle mages to patrol the department or artificers to help create more equipment.

Source Chancellor
Logicians: "There will be another vote for department head of course."

Plans:
In general we want to improve Magitech's position and also repair the Tower's magitech, which is not in the best condition.

However we also have three main goals.
1. Repair Turion's Door. I think we can all agree that making modifications without the correct schematics was reckless. The Tower needs to examine it and fix any damage that might be weakening the seal. We would promote a Tower wide project to that end.

2. Deal with the Dagger Brotherhood. Dualism is dangerous and leads to madness and worse. We need to contain them before they bring harm to the Tower.

3. Establish a research center for projects that are high risk. There are many forms of magic that can lead to extreme danger if handled improperly. But at the same time simply turning our back on such things not only cuts off potentially promising lines of research, but also ensures that only those who are already renegade will know how to use it. We would establish a secure facility, likely outside the Tower somewhere, where such projects can be examined and researched without risking the Tower as a whole.

Conservatives [PM]
A fair point, but we have to ask how making Lihoday Tower Chancellor would actually benefit the Tower. His primary argument seems to be that the EC has failed, which might or might not be true, but does not contain much information on what he plans to do if he were to win.

Dagger Brotherhood [PM]
"If you can only deal with one, then we would prefer you deal with the Mindcrafters. They have a foreign backer as well. Who we want information on if you can find it."

"It would also be useful as it is out of the Tower. If you are not in the Tower proper we will likely have more success in managing the outcry to your use of dualism."

Logicians [PM]
"If the plan is to increase the influence of the Seat of Magitech, then the Blitz Brotherhood and Redford are the best solution. We should keep it internal."

Magic-Conservatives [PM]
We would prefer Watcher for Lawspeaker as well. We don't entirely agree with the Cabal on this matter. Though we are unsure how we would prove that to you.

As for the Dagger Brotherhood we are already working on a plan to deal with them. We will likely follow through whether we gain the Chancellorship or not.

And speaking of the Chancellorship we have announced Olritz's Candidacy. We shall see how things go.

[Thelonius]

Executive Council

Spirits

Angelo: “Why would trying to fight spirits would be foolish? I’m curious to hear your reasons, Councilor.”

Pathbinder & Angelo: “We are against giving Key to Spirits.”

Sir Grand: “I think we trust Hospitium on this.”

Ruby Marshall: “I’d prefer the Key to be safe and secure. Perhaps there’s merit with this plan. But - I insist, that two trusted factions sends representatives alongside Hospitium. Clearly the matter is very important to leave it just to them. ”

Tower

Source Chancellor

The recent momentum against Pathbinder benefits the moderates of Clockwork Cult, that seems to have a good chance. However, Lydia Watcher has begun to press the attack with the D word. Demons. Demons behind the Turion’s Door. The memories of the Age of Demons haven’t faded yet and the word creates much fear. While Watcher presses her attack on Pathbinder, it’s clear, that her objective is fear and if fear prevails, Mages may decide that moderate is not enough - and that they need somebody strongly in favor of magic control.

Tower Chancellor

Lihoday fires back:
“The Tower was left unguarded, because the Interim Government that Executive Council appointed was incompetent. Chancellors Victoria and Reese had time to gather guards and restore Tower security, after EC arranged for my removal from power. The Executive Council has supported those, I deposed for incompetence, to protect the Tower. Unsurprisingly, they failed.”

“Ironcloaks initial successes were because Reese has called on Heralds to reinforce Tower Guard, instead of vetting loyal Mages. Because forces of Peacekeepers were sent to patrol corridors, instead of vital guard stations. There are even rumors of Councilwoman Solaris fighting Tower Guard at the Archives. You yourself left untrustworthy Inquest to guard trapped Ironcloaks. If Executive Council have done anything to secure Tower - why just appointing IntSec as interim Tower-Stuff, it would have stopped that invasion in it’s tracks.”

The Blake and Executive Council stand under heavy accusations of leaving Tower security in hands of “incompetent” Chancellors, both of whom are dead and unable to defend themselves. The Tower Mages are waiting to hear a response.

Meanwhile Lihoday offers a support for the idea of conquering Elreath and using it to defeat Dragonblood Empire, a clear move to win support of the Warhawks from Sir Grand. He also stresses, that he’ll root out any Dragonblood spies, that may be present in the Tower.

Cabal

Discussions [PM]

Tower Chancellor

Silence: “Grand Circle at the time was done too quickly, with surprise testimonies and calls for immediate voting. Now it’s proceeding in proper fashion.

Silence to Blake “It seems Lihoday offers arguments for your lack of leadership. Refute him decisively and my party will consider shifting support to you.”

Wisher: “At this point, I believe it would be prudent of you, Master Blake, to announce, that you would appoint Reclaimers to the Junior Council position, when you are elected. Certainly, you would not value their considerable diplomatic achievements, less, then Sir Grand does. Reclaimers have strong reputation as diplomats - and their endorsement would sway many voters, considering both yours and Grand’s policies strongly emphasize diplomacy.”

Lawspeaker

Silence: “My concern is that Hospitium would be so to say “advisory” Lawspeaker. One who is permitted to give advice, but not much else. If you could provide Turion’s Key to Spirit Courts, certainly they would reject Glen’s proposal and you could assume role of Lawspeaker - yet both Source Chancellor candidates here either don’t support or ambivalent about your proposal for the Key. A Lawspeaker must place Law above all else - I trust your good intentions, but I need to see that you possess fortitude of will to stand by your convictions, instead of compromising them, if I am to support you.”

Seat of Shadows

Silence: “We certainly would support our members.”


Red Binder [3]

“If Tower has some strong points right now, would it not be Intelligence? Even with Subtle Weapons being subverted and disbanded, it was sufficient to severely weaken Glen Republic. Certainly it would be sufficient to investigate Elreath for strengths and weaknesses…”

“Your strategy is based on complicated diplomacy. I’m no expert in such matters - if those with knowledge of foreign affairs back up your words, I’ll consider supporting you.”


Transcendence Party [3]

Angelo: “So, we get support of those petty warlock organizations… a bold strategy, that may hold some promise. I see how it could work.”

“I must say, you are not making it easy to support you with public statements about Turion’s Door. Some among our ranks think, Grand would be a safer variant for the Transcendence Party, then Tower Chancellor, who holds somewhat anti-Source views.”


Theists [3]

“Your tolerance is appreciated and indeed Tower needs to heal.”

“So, you believe Turion’s Door had no effect on the victory over Ironcloaks? Certainly, the disruption of the Black Iron at the very least made the victory bloodless.”


Architect [3]

“I know the state of Tower’s military - at it’s current strength, I doubt we could beat Dragonblood Empire. We need an edge.”


Techburners [3]

“So, more troubles from traitors… It increasingly sounds that Lihoday does have a point.’’


Clockwork Cult

Magitech [3]

Blitz Brotherhood: “We’ll provide DES for patrols.”
Redford: “I can provide a little bit of CRE, though I do not have much.”

Academic Board: “We’ll need to deliberate on it.”
Blitz Brotherhood: “Hmm… we may support you, though sometimes you need to take risks.”
Redford: “I’m uncertain - it would be easy to use regulations to deny projects based on political preferences, by claiming they are “too dangerous”. And wouldn’t restoring the Seal cause considerable loss of power to the Tower?”


Conservatives [PM]

Ruby Marshall: “Well… his recent statements are most interesting. Personally, I think that certain figures on the Executive Council prefered to have weak Chancellors, which is why Conrad and Victoria Merlin were left in control of Tower Council. I’m inclined to believe Lihoday in that the two were incompetent and shouldn’t have been in charge.”


Dagger Brotherhood [PM]

’’Yessss’’ the Dagger Brotherhood Mages hiss in unison. “The Contract is made. We. shall. Kill.” Around them, suddenly are dozens of Shades, not quite present. They wear robes of Mages and scribe in scrolls - the Shades of the Shadow Court. Waves of magic roil, as bespectacled Shade gives a parchment to the Dagger Mage and a small nod to Dalton. Then everything fades away and Dalton finds herself alone in the hall, feeling cold and shaken.


Logicians [PM]

“I agree. And I believe both would find this plan acceptable, though we’ll need to consider, how to divide spoils.”


Magic-Conservatives [PM]

“Very well. If you prove a stronger candidate, we’ll back you.”


Atelier Solaris

Sir Rupert Grand [3]

“Why, I have assumed that as member of Mercantile Party, you have already been supporting Blake. I do not see, how providing a member of your party with position of power and influence would undermine your standing.”


Reclaimers [3]

’’Ah. A move to win support of Mercantile Party for Grand no doubt.”


Mercantile Party [PM]

Reclaimers: “Well, Grand has raised the stakes. I believe we should point to Mage Blake, that it would be wise to match the ante. What position on the Tower Council, would he pledge for our support. If not, well, with Conservatives beginning to gravitate towards Lihoday, we could push Grand to adopt a more “nuanced” Mulden policy.”

Wisher: “I must say… Reclaimers are making a good point. If Grand wins, our part gains a Junior Council seat. Blake stands to lose much, if we withdraw our support - let’s play on it. I trust, Lady Summerscent would back me up in communicating it to him. I must say I prefer Blake - but it would prudent, to seek better terms for our party.”


Vault Guard [PM]

[OOC: You can spend CRE or MAN to break wards on strongboxes. There’s luck involved - you can great considerable treasures or mere trinkets.]


Hospitium

Hunters [3]

’’Blake’s not bad, but he’s too conservative regarding the Sources. They can be pain in the ass, but we need Shadow and Power. He’s pretty much the same in his Tower policies as Grand, so it comes down to whoever would be best for Transcendence. And it seems that Blake would side with Magic-Conservatives against us. So why should we support him?”


Twins [3]

“Hmm… a good point. We’ll consider voting for Blake.”


FIGL [3]

Our vote depends entirely on whether the Executive Council votes aye on goblin rights. If motion passes we’ll back Blake.


Gardners [3]

“We are undecided. And sure, send him to us.”


Warders [3]

Okay, we’ll vote Blake.


Pentacle [3]

“A tough choice. We’ll think on it.”


Crusaders [3]

“Him or Grand. We’ll think on it - there are some people we’d like to consult before making our decision.”


Internal [PM]

Ah, then ok.
If that’s Spirit Talker, then no, Hunters would be better.

[Murska]

Spirits

"Well, I would expect that the instant we begin a war against the Spirits they will empower the weapons of not only Glen but any other enemies we face, and simultaneously instigate mundane populations against us. It doesn't sound like a smart move while we're about to fight the Dragonbloods."


Tower Chancellor

Nice job shifting blame. The Tower was left unguarded because you left it unguarded. It was your job as Tower Staff to uncover traitors, but you didn't even try, instead deposing the Chancellors. Even if they had been incompetent, no proof of which was ever uncovered, you did not choose a new Tower Staff to replace yourself, hold a Grand Circle to find new Chancellors or do anything at all about any traitors in the Tower. You had the time to prove to the Mages of the Tower that you were more competent than previous leadership, yet you did nothing but hide in your chambers. So you were deposed, fled while crippling the Tower Guard intentionally to prove a point and then the traitors you supposedly knew about ahead of time struck while we were in the process of fixing your mistakes. As you may recall, it was I who pushed for a new Tower Council to replace Victoria and Reese.

Would you respond to the question, 'who exactly are the traitors in the Tower right now that you want to cleanse'? Do you have any evidence that you are competent enough to find any Dragonblood spies, given your track record as Tower Staff so far?

(Why is Blake under accusations? It isn't as though he has held a position in the Tower that could have affected the situation. Grand was on the EC, and might have.)

Blake announces his plan for the Dragonbloods:

" We currently have quite some esteem in many parts of the world, specifically the North. We've got contacts with the Yen. And we have a very strong argument for banding together Mages from all over the world in opposing Reeve's slavery, which in turn will let the Tower absorb Warlocks for the conflict. We will make this a war of freedom and liberation against the oppressive, expansionistic and tyrannical Dragonblood Empire. We will gather our forces and strike while the new Emperor is still consolidating all the diverse hierarchies from the Games, and pin them into a frontline of our choosing. We will augment the forces of the Dawn Empire with modern technology, and possibly magitech or other magical aid - it will be easier to push through such reforms and grant funding into advanced magical research. We will attempt to decisively resolve the Northern tangle of Dominion with diplomacy, use threats of Dragonblood spies and provocateurs and the weakness of the Ironcloaks to draw them in on our side. We will pacify the Elreath temporarily with diplomacy, and absorb them and their knowledge into the Tower afterwards. And we will convince Yen to back us while aiding the success of the opposition in Glen to prevent them from opportunistic attacks.

The world is a large place, but it is getting ever smaller and more connected. We cannot expect any move to only affect its target - an attack on the Elreath will convince those in the North we aren't serious about defeating the Dragonbloods, a show of weakness against the Dragonbloods will trigger a Glen invasion and a lack of diplomatic leadership will draw Warlocks into forming more powerful groups of their own, independent of Tower control. On the other hand, inflicting a defeat on the Dragonbloods will most likely cause Al Makim to leap in if they don't immediately do so regardless."


Cabal Discussions [PM]

Tower Chancellor
The Junior Council currently has positions for Security, as Tower Staff, Budget, as Bursar and Law as Lawspeaker. I believe adding trade and economics to the Bursar's role is fine, and in addition we might want Diplomacy and Intelligence, either separately or together. I personally believe they are different enough to warrant separate positions.


Red Binder

Intelligence on Elreath would be the one thing that might sway us to that plan. However, we don't have any, and gathering it would take time that we don't have. This is why I wish to send a negotiator to them - it's a good way to find out the basics of their capabilities and attitudes. Maybe they are weak, and will bend under pressure. Maybe they're confident in their defenses - that'll also tell us something.

Transcendence Party

You of all people know by my actions that I am not against the progress of magic. I've encouraged and assisted the Wakers in their experiments, trusting that they are sufficiently prudent while working for the betterment of us all. I've done my part in strengthening the ability of the Tower as a whole to advance into this new Age. I am not anti-Source.

What I don't trust, is Pathbinder. Had someone come to me explaining a plan to study Turion's Door, find out what our elders did and perhaps tweak things to make them work better, if they had the proper understanding to do so, I would have backed them. Pathbinder, however, strode to the Door with some unknown Dualist advising him and did something to it with no research nor any precautions, then expects us to simply believe that everything went perfectly with no side-effects. Even if the latter were true, someone like that is not someone to hold authority over the Sources, and I would still demand an extensive study of what has been done and what the effects are. If everything is fine, there is no need to return the Door to how it was, but if not... I enjoy the newly found stability in the Sources as much as anyone, but I would rather give up that than see a new demonic invasion in my lifetime.

Of course, an investigation into the Door will take time. Unless we find clear evidence of side-effects, we should be at least able to make use of our current strength for the coming war. And things that become status quo have an inertia of their own, they become more difficult to change.

Theists

No effect is going too far. Certainly it shook the confidence of the Ironcloaks and led to a much easier task in convincing them to surrender. But it was not necessary. We would have defeated the Ironcloaks in the Upper Floors - we had the numbers, the leadership and the tactical position. It would have cost Mages before they would have surrendered, however, but there are risks worth taking and I would say those to do with the Door are not of that kind.

[Imperial Psycho]

Internal Security

To Sir Rupert Grand [3]
Greetings, Sir Rupert.

I must say, I am truly grateful for the circumstances under which I write this note. When last we spoke, I admit I feared it would be for the last time.

I am interested to learn what your intentions are for the new position of Lawspeaker, combined with Tower Staff. Did you have a candidate in mind for such a post?

Given the nature of my department and my own duties as leader of IntSec, I hope you understand I have a professional interest in this matter.


Lihoday[3]
You have my thanks, Lihoday, for your contributions to the efforts against the Ironcloaks.

I said that if you gave your support, I would hear out your proposal, to bring order to the Tower.

So, here I am.

To the Peacekeepers[3]
As of yet, the Peacekeepers have not spoken in this election. Who do you all favor? Are there any worthy of our endorsement?

To the Duelist Club [3]
I understand the Duelist Club is no longer associating itself with the Peacekeepers, after the confusion in the battle to protect the Tower.

I believe that, more than ever, the Peacekeepers are needed in the Tower. The cause we both fought for cannot die.

Please, help me understand your concerns with the Peacekeepers as they stand, so that they can be addressed.

[Ascaloth]

Atelier Solaris
MAN: 3

Spirits

"If we're going with miss Marshall's suggestion, maybe one of them should be a Mercantile Party member. We'd need someone who can get us the best possible deal in exchange for the Key, after all."

Tower Chancellor

"In that case mister Blake, why not adopt a portion of Sir Grand's ideas, and establish Tower Book and Tower Eye for Diplomacy and Espionage respectively? Those wouldn't need excessive reforms to set up, and in the case of Tower Book, the Reclaimers have the ideal track record in any case."

Seat of Shadow

"Alright, so to recap. Magic-Conservatives will help Collectors to remove the Dagger Brotherhood presence from the Shadow Seat, and Sigma will contribute as well; after which the Collectors may be able to challenge Pathbinder for Department Head, perhaps citing her failure to perform her duties in that regard. Is there anyone else who might want to help out as well?"

"That's simple, Sir Grand; because I founded the Party, and invited the Reclaimers to become a member of it. That is something you could have deduced easily, seeing as how the Reclaimers don't quite have the Reputation for mercantilism that I or even the Merchants of Wonder have. And yet you didn't even see fit to at least give me a heads-up about your intentions beforehand... which is why yeah, I'm pretty certain you did it on mister Turen's suggestion."

"Nevertheless, thank you for doing that anyway Sir Grand; it's exactly what I needed to obtain superior concessions from mister Blake, in exchange for my Party's support. And if I may offer a sincere word of advice? Think twice before listening to mister Turen next time. After all, he had the ear of the former Chancellors Reese and Merlin, the late mister Orsini, and in all likelihood the late Lord Excrucio and now Pathbinder. Things sure didn't work out very well for them, did they? Beware the honeyed venom that he's trying to pour into your ears, Sir Grand; I truly respect everything you've done for the Tower, and would hate to see you end up as the next disposable pawn in his schemes."

"Agreed. Mister Blake seems to be in agreement that someone needs to be in charge of Tower diplomacy and espionage, actually. So what I think our plan should be, is that we persuade him to add Tower Book and Tower Eye as new additions to the present Junior Councillors. I've pretty much got Bursar in the bag at this rate, and I'll push for mister Blake to match Sir Grand's offer by promising Tower Book to Reclaimers as well. This way, we've got both the one bird in hand, as well as a good shot at two in the bush."

[HerbieRAI]

Hospitium

EC

Spirits
Do you know of any groups with experience in negotiating with Spirits, outside of us? They are very confusing creatures and I am fine having other groups join me, but I cannot be babysitting mages that have never negotiated with a powerful immortal being or spirit before.

Cabal (PM)

Lawspeaker
How have I not held to my convictions or to Tower Law? Giving an artifact like the Key is not the right of the Lawspeaker, and only a right of the Executive Council when there is no Tower Council. How is me trying to convince the group that has the power to do something I see as beneficial to the tower somehow going against the law or giving up on my convictions?

Or are you suggesting that I should vote for a candidate that is for giving the Key to the Spirits? There is no candidate on my side, and with the Spirit Court's debate coming up I do not have the time to run myself.


To FIGIL (MAN 3)

I can tell you he has voted to pass the measure, and if it fails it will not be because of the two of us.


Internal (PM)

You said you want EOTs in this weekend, any specific time? I have it mostly written but if an NPC has to tag along for the spirit debate I may have to change some things.

[ArcaneStomper]

Clockwork Cult

Executive Council
Dagger Brotherhood
Olritz again raises the fact that Magitech is willing to deal with the Dagger Brotherhood. Since no one commented before.

Funding
Olritz supports a 2 to 1 split in favor of the Fringe in recognition for the fact that their investment helped fund Anti-Infiltration.

Northern Outpost
(Did this get resolved.)

Tower
Source Chancellor
Olritz presents a rebuttal to the panic that is spreading and demanding increased magic controls.

"Demons are dangerous. They are likely the most dangerous thing any of us will ever know, but we cannot be blind to methods to combat those dangers. Our ancestors killed demons. They erected the wards that keep us safe today. And in doing so they proved that demons are not invincible. They can be defeated. The knowledge of how to do so has been buried and scattered among disparate archives. But that is precisely why we must not restrict our research. We must be willing to examine every facet and aspect of magic in order to advance our knowledge. We cannot simply forbid the most dangerous lines of research and hope that all will be well."

"For we are not the only mages in the world. Warlocks research these forbidden magics heedless of our warnings. Spirits whisper in the ears of mortals. The demons constantly claw at the walls of reality seeking a way in. As such we must constantly prepare and arm ourselves. We must push ourselves farther and higher so that when, not if, calamity occurs we will be prepared and we will overcome anything that stands against us."

"Caution is warranted. Embracing the paths of magic without hesitation will cost us our very humanity as the sources twist and change us. But at the same time if are too wary, too restrictive in our research, then we will become weak and powerless in the face of foes that are ever changing and probing us for chinks in our wards."

"It is a fine line we face. One that weaves between the boldness to seek out new knowledge, and the caution to know what we are not ready for. But we can walk that line. We can set out on this path and rise to heights that we cannot even imagine now. For we are the mages of the Tower. Heirs to its greatness and we have proven time and time again that we can overcome any challenge. From incursions of monsters and warlocks in the world around us to the very invasion of our homes."

Magitech [3]
Security
In that case we invite you both to meet us for further discussions as to the details. (To the PM.)

Source Chancellor
Blitz Brotherhood: "Which is why we are planning to establish a separate facility for high energy projects. So the risks can be taken without endangering the rest of the Tower."

Redford: "Again we don't want any line of research to be outright denied. This is our main point of contention with Lydia Watcher. Stopping research on a line of thought denies all chance of advancing it to the point where it is safe. And will not stop our enemies from researching it at all. If a project is too dangerous for the Tower, then they will simply be moved to the auxilary facility until a point in time where it can be made safe enough for general use."

"As for restoring the seal. We said repair it not restore. You may not be aware, but the Pathbinder claims that she destroyed it because it had been broken the whole time. A fault caused by our predecessors. So we feel that it must be examined and studied. If it was damaged by the Pathbinder or it was damaged centuries ago either way it should be repaired. And if it turns out that there is nothing broken and leaving it will not allow demons to enter into our reality, then it will be fine with us to leave it the way it is."

Conservatives [PM]
Possibly, but they shouldn't have been ousted through force either. If someone is incompetent, then we are certainly in favor ofa trial being conducted and if necessary replacing them with someone competent.

But simply using military force to usurp power leaves that power in the hands of whoever can throw the biggest fireball. Which is not an adequate measure for competence and leadership overall.

Dagger Brotherhood [PM]
Dalton sighs and loosens muscles she hadn't known were tense until just now. She heads back to the Automata Labs to get something hot to drink and shake off the guilt for setting assassins after people who were once her colleagues in Magitech.

Logicians [PM]
That may be getting ahead of ourselves. Dealing with the Dagger Brotherhood is one thing, but the rest of the Tower may not look kindly on us simply usurping their halls for ourselves. We know the Shadow Department want their own halls back if nothing else. We should get a guarantee before we commit ourselves to action.

Cabal [PM]
Seat of Shadow
We are in fact working to remove the Dagger Brotherhood ourselves.

[Thelonius]

Executive Council

Spirits

Ruby Marshall: “A rather low opinion of your fellow Mages. As my condition is unsatisfactory to Hospitium, I’m voting Nay.”

Sir Grand: “Different as Spirits may be, I’m surprised you would think factions of World Affairs be as foolish as to hinder diplomats in their field of specialty. I’ll keep my vote as Aye, but I do not think that Marshall’s suggestion is unworthy, even if it has been presented in her typical acidic fashion.”

Ruby Marshall: “I do not have your diplomatic training to endure the reckless schemes our Council typically engages in.”

Northern Outpost

Sir Grand: “We’ve agreed to ask Scholarium Arcana to handle the matter.”

Tower

Tower Chancellor

[OOC: Responsibility shared by faction - politically it’s what Sigma did on EC.]

Lihoday: “Heralds, Inquest, Mindcrafters - traitors. Do you know that Inquest was persuading me to appoint them as Tower-Staff? Was I paranoid not to do it? Or reasonable. I didn’t rush to put Tower’s security into hands of faction, I couldn’t be certain of. You did that. You put Inquest in charge of guarding Ironcloaks safely trapped by the Wards. Conrad Reese entrusted Heralds with reinforcing Tower Guard and they slaughtered them instead. You present my prudence and caution as incompetence, but have I not been vindicated by history?”

War Plans

The plan Blake presents is seen favorably by many Mages, mostly those deliberating between him and Grand.

Sir Grand's plan is close to Blake's - gathering of allies to defeat Dragonblood Empire, but he insists, that Tower can quickly capture Elreath and use it as strategic asset. He's also ambitious in arming Dawn Empire with technology and magi-tech, believing Tower should focus it's resources on empowering Warmages.

Lihoday favors capture of Elreath. He puts low emphasis on allies, believing that few could be relied on. Instead he stresses focus on counter-intelligence to stop Dragonblood spy networks and bolstering of Tower military.

Source Chancellor

As discussion shifts to the lines drawn in dangerous magical research, the questions about the Tower’s most dangerous projects are raised.

In the focus are the Ascension Labs experimentations on the Souls to strengthen magical Gifts. Many believe that Winters already went too far - for who knows, what consequences would be for meddling with human Souls. Pathbinder is willing to take the risk, Watcher will freeze project advancement and conduct an inquiry into its current state, with worst case scenario of project and it’s benefits being sealed. What will Orlitz do?

To a lesser degree are concerns about Descends quest into lower levels of the Tower - is there a risk of damaging it or triggering some ancient malign enchantment. Some whisper whether Theists could be trusted with dewling into the depths of Tower at all - what would happen if they locate a cache of Lost Age Magic? Will they turn it over to the Tower or keep it for themselves? Recent Polygon’s advancements have brought worry of whether his Gem-Shatter Swarm could be turned against Tower or go on rampage, if control were to be lost. Finally, Grafters are highly controversial due to Sourceburn infusion of Source Essence into the body can cause.

Sigma

Red Binder [3]

[OOC: Mechanically, you do have time to gather intelligence on Elreath - though of course those agents may be better used elsewhere.]
I don’t think it would be bad to send an envoy - in this Sir Grand is somewhat unreasonable.


Transcendence Party [3]

“A fairly progressive view - seeing how Orlitz and Watcher would seal the Turion’s Door, before conducting a proper study of whether it’s necessary or if other solutions may be present.”
“Then, can I ask you about something related to Tower Chancellor duties. The Dagger Brotherhood in Source Departments would need to be removed. So, who will gain control of the Halls?”



Theists [3]

“Ah. A hyperbola, to appeal to your voters. May I ask your opinion on the Cults? We ourselves have been called such. Do you believe in fate? Destiny? Forces, grander than us, that set course for events and human lives?”


IntSec

Sir Rupert Grand [3]

“I think I have a man for the job. A brave defender of the Tower, whose valiant efforts against Ironcloaks ended up saving all of our lives in the end.”


Lihoday [3]

“The two of us can bring order and unity to the Tower. If I’m elected, I’ll appoint you as Tower-Staff and we’ll work together to root out the remaining traitors in the Tower. You have seen the Ironcloaks Invasion - if Tower factions were working together, instead of fighting for power, we would have won quick and without such losses and reckless actions. Blake is right that we need unity, but his methods - diplomacy, compromise and consensus are what got us in trouble in the first place. Tower needs a firm leadership and leaders dedicated to its protection, not personal power.”


Peacekeepers [3]

[They are waiting to here your opinion as party leader]

Customs: ”A difficult choice - Lihoday or Blake. Lihoday was removed from power once - didn’t see that coming, did he? But Blake… I’m not certain, whether he’d keep Tower secure either.”

Union: “Lihoday or Grand. Both have good and bad points. Blake… well, don’t like his pro-Mulden policies. Dawn Empire’s traditions are important.”


Duelist Club [3]

“We’d be willing to rejoin, but we are no frontline fighters. Peacekeepers are a proactive party - unlike most that just talk, we actually fight. So, if you confirm, that we’d act in support roles only, we can work together again.”


Cabal

Discussions [PM]

Lawspeaker

Lawspeaker: “A well spoken rebuttal. It’s true that fate of Turion’s Key is indeed not up to Lawspeaker to decide. Then allow me to present another question. Your healers were present, when Red Binder and Internal Security had their duel for control of the Warmagic. As we know, the factions of Warmagic got upset at issue with Duelist Club, where Tower Council was considering a claim against it by Michael Orsini.
The factions believed Red Binder to be siding with Tower Council in prosecution of Duelist Club. They broke the duel rules, interfering in the fighting and openly supporting Internal Security. As Lawspeaker - what would be your opinion on the matter?”


Hospitium

FIGL [3]

“We’ll wait and see.”


Clockwork Cult

Magitech [3]

[Which PM are you inviting them to?]

Blitz Brotherhood: “You would be a better choice, than Watcher as Source Chancellor...”

Redford: “I admit I don’t particularly like Pathbinder. And I hope you would not restrict Magitech Projects without cause.”


Conservatives [PM]

Ruby Marshall: “True. Though when Lihoday was removed by a vote, we’ve ended up with a greater mess, than his own, bloodless coup. I admit none of the candidates look particularly good.”

"Well, the war plans of theirs are what we need to consider. One is to quickly capture Elreath and use it's resources to strike against Dragonblood Empire. The second relies on uniting the squabbling northerners. Which do you think is less reckless and thoughtless?"


Logicians [PM]

“I’m certain, that leaving Source Halls to either magic-conservatives or magic-radicals would be far more troublesome. The Shadow and Power should be under control of intelligent and logical leaders, such as us. We should not shirk our responsibility to guide Tower’s magic with steady hand - certainly as Source Chancellor candidate you would not deny it.”

[Murska]

Tower Chancellor

Had you chosen a reliable and trustworthy Mage as Tower Staff, had you bolstered the Tower Guard and the Wards with loyal factions, had you found out the treachery of the Heralds, Inquest or Mindcrafters and informed the Tower, your words would have merit. Of course you didn't trust in any traitors - you trusted in no-one and did nothing. You didn't put traitors in charge of Tower Security, nor loyalists, and so the Tower was not secured. Of course you avoid any missteps if you never move, but that isn't exactly the way to lead the Tower either.

I knew the Inquest to be ambitious and untrustworthy. My faction also had a responsibility over the safety of Initiates and Apprentices, with most of us being teachers, scholars and diplomats. The Inquest outnumbered our forces greatly, and the situation in the Upper Floors was dire, so the choice was made to give Inquest an opportunity to redeem themselves while we gathered what willing fighters we could find to save the critical infrastructure of the Tower and the Executive Council. We pushed through the Wards and checkpoints the enemy had turned against us, relieving World Affairs on the way. We dug out the Council, and defended the Tower Engines. The choice was made to take a risk with the Inquest and place the forces we had into the most decisive, fulcrum point of the conflict, where we could tip the scales and turn away the invasion. The Inquest turned out to be worse traitors than imagined, but the strategic choice was valid and resulted in us being free of the Ironcloaks today.

Transcendence Party

Those halls are a complex question at the moment. Those who participate in the effort to cleanse them will ask for that to be recognized. And with so many territories, imbalancing the politics of those Departments is an issue. Lastly, the new owner needs to be someone capable of administering them properly and accepted by the Mages therein. Power contains good candidates that fill these requirements, of course, such as your own. But finding enough trustworthy and loyal factions in the Shadow Department is more difficult. Specifically as the consensus seems to be to disallow the Equalists from joining - a stance I disagree with.

Perhaps we can yet resurrect some of the factions lost in the fighting, there.

Theists

"I will be honest with you. I am not a religious man, in the organized sense. I do not think the fundamental secrets of our world are known in full by any particular Cult. But I do not deny that there is much I do not know, many powers above my ken and that the world does work based on many principles of ritual and enlightenment. I think all Cults start by reaching for those answers as best they can, and while many of them end up stuck in dogma rather than finding such understanding, they do generally find something.

As for the other questions, I do not believe in Fate. Or, more accurately, I do not believe in immutable fate. There are paths the World takes, stories that it weaves, but the endings have not yet been written and the author or authors have yet to decide the result of their grand experiment. Maybe we are steered, given hints and clues, pointed to a path. Perhaps not. But it is I who choose whether to take a step.

'I am the master of my fate, I am the captain of my soul.'"

Prisoners

(I have EC permission now, then? I go to meet them.)

[Ascaloth]

Atelier Solaris
MAN: 3

Executive Council

Diplomats

"Oh, on another note. I support mister Blake's plan for dealing with the Dragonblood Empire, by rallying the Mages of the world against a common threat. To that effect, I'll like to volunteer my apprentice, Nicholas to act as the Tower's diplomatic envoy for the Northern Conference. He has served faithfully and competently as an Ambassador of the Atelier throughout his tenure, and this is a good opportunity for him to spread his wings and exercise his talents in the wider world."

Tower

Source Chancellor

"I, Alchemist Solaris Summerscent, hereby announce the Atelier Solaris' backing of Artificer Madeline Olritz of the Clockwork Cult for the position of Source Chancellor. Artificer Olritz espouses the ideal balance between the need for caution and for innovation in the Tower, and offers a viable... nay, superior alternative to the imprudent attitude of Pathbinder to the prospect of Demonic incursion from the compromised Turion's Door, as well as the excessively uptight approach of Watcher that can only hinder us all in the cause of developing the necessary countermeasures for such an eventuality. The Artificer's stance presents the most pragmatic approach to the study of magic by far, and that is why I am supporting Olritz as the next Source Chancellor."

Seat of Shadow

"Ah. In that case miss Olritz, perhaps it would be best to coordinate your efforts with the Magic-Conservatives and Sigma then? I might be able to help out somewhat in my own little way as well."

OOC: Hipchat conversation, with a deal negotiated where Hospitium contributes 3 RES to Atelier, and in return Atelier shares Leviathan's Call lore with Hospitium, plus foot the 5 Mana bill for a Divination from Grand Astrologist on any topic Hospitium desires.

"Before I forget mister Escobane, what in your opinion is the greatest investment opportunity available to the Tower at present? Alternatively, is there anything offering a significant threat to the Tower's financial well-being at the moment, that can be mitigated with Tower Markets?"

Retconjuration

Nicholas (Level 2 Ambassador) Isaac (Level 2 Diviner) arranges the Ritualist's Cabal PM.

[HerbieRAI]

Hospitium

EC

Spirits
Your right Sir Grand, I was just taken back by the wording. Whom would you like to send with us? I imagine some from World Affairs would be best.

Cabal (PM)

Lawspeaker
That is not exactly how I remember the situation. The other departments were allowed to bring in up to [1 DES] into the melee, so the fact they all joined Int Sec was not breaking the rules. Unless they can prove they provided more support than [1 DES] I would not give the allegation merit.

To Sir Grand (MAN 3)

I came to you early in the election and gave you my non public backing, and I cannot back you currently. We have been offered something by one of your opponents that would be too beneficial to pass up. We hope you do not take affront to this knowledge, we still consider you our friend and hope to continue to work with you in the future.

[Thelonius]

Executive Council

Spirits

Sir Grand: “Well, my suggestion would be a member of my Department - my faction or Lightbringers. And perhaps a historian from Age of Magic - if indeed at that time, the relations between Mages and spirits were better, than they are now.”

Sigma

Transcendence [3]

“You seem to share evasiveness with Grand, when it comes to certain controversial issues.”


Theists [3]

“It is not unexpected, that you would hold the traditional view on matters of fate. Well, as long as we do not condemn those with other beliefs, it’s all good.”


Iron Floors [PM]

The guards at Iron Floors let your Mages pass - Mages and Ironcloaks are put in separate section of the prison and it’s currently heavily overcrowded with poor conditions due to the sheer numbers overwhelming the Iron Floors resources. The guards seem on edge and somewhat tired.


Atelier Solaris

Merchants of Wonder [PM]

“I was wondering - do you believe it would be possible for Artificer Orlitz to soften the stance on Turions Door seal. I’m all for stopping demonic invasions, but losing the stability of the Sources to the Seal seems wasteful to me. ”


Escobane [3]

“Munitions are on the raise at the moment. Also mines in Dawn Empire - as I understand your Mages have recently enriched land with useful minerals. And all in all, Dawn Empire has tremendous potential in industrialization - if your nobles become more open to changes.”


Hospitium

Internal [PM]

It’s closer to Silence’s version, with factions of Warmagic Department providing more than 1 DES of support. Of course history can always be redefined.


Sir Grand [3]

“It saddens me, that I do not have your support, but I understand. Do not worry, political disagreements aren’t base for personal vendettas.”

[Murska]

Transcendence Party

"I thought I was being reasonably clear on the matter. First, I would not have the full power to choose whatever I wish in the situation and whoever has actually sent boots on the ground to take it, or managed to convince the Mages of the Hall to back them, has a certain level of say in the situation. However, preliminarily speaking, if I were the one to choose I would split the Halls of Subordination and Surges with one to Purifiers and another to a suitable supporter, maybe the Merchants of Wonder. In Shadow, I would need to look for suitable candidates - I would probably attempt to reorganize the Sensori, give Alternation to Collectors of Woe and keep Shadow Court under Sigma. Assuming we don't have Equalists to take one hall from each Department.

This is something to be considered more in depth, however, as the situation on the ground becomes apparent."

Iron Floors

First, I seek to find the highest-ranking living Ironcloak, or whoever is their leader at this time.

[ArcaneStomper]

Clockwork Cult

Source Chancellor
Sticking to her middle ground moderate platform Olritz would also conduct the inquiry into the current state of the Ascension project. However she would allow them to continue research for now.

As for the Descend Olritz feels that the Tower's lower levels are more than just worth the risk, but also vital to be explored and renovated. How can the Tower claim to the be the authority on magic in the world when its own workings are a mystery to it. And if mages of other halls want to be a part of that, then they should give their assistance to the Descend rather than demand that those who take the risks not receive the benefits.

The Gem-Shatter swarm is worrying in its potential for destruction, but then so are Greater Elementals, power bombs, and even the humble fireball pattern. She trusts that the Architect will be suitably cautious in its storage and deployment just as she trusts every mage of the Tower to be careful in their own research until they display signs that would prove that trust unwarranted.

She admits to finding the idea of infusing a mage's body with source essence to be pushing that line of trust quite a bit, and she will certainly want such risky research moved into her proposed high energy labs as soon as possible. But they haven't done anything to threaten the tower yet or shown signs of descending into source madness so far.

She finishes by saying that if anyone has evidence of a mage who has pushed their research too far, or gone mad with power, then they are welcome to come to her, and she will see it is dealt with. Whether she becomes the Source Chancellor or not.

Magitech[3]
(To the Logician PM. Assume that I get them up to speed on the plan as it currently stands.)

Reford: "Of course not. In fact one of my primary reasons to put myself forward as a candidate is to prevent the suppression of projects whose only fault lie in not being traditionally supported. If a project does not present a clear danger to the Tower then I would have no reason to even suggest moving it, much less shut it down."

Conservatives [PM]
"I believe the answer is obvious. Anything whose strategic underpinnings rely on a quick war is far too reckless. No war of any substantial size has ever been quick."

"Consider the fact that if Elreach actually has the resources necessary to fuel a war against the Dragonblood then by that very definition they also have the resources to stand up to us. At best we will have to destroy most of their capacity in the first strike in order to bring them to the negotiating table before the Dragonblood took advantage of our inattention, which would render the war largely pointless. At worst we would become embroiled in a war in the south, which would only sap our resources and leave us vulnerable."

"I imagine that the Ironcloaks thought they would have a quick war too. They may have even planned the same overall goal of taking over and then turning our resources against the Dragonblood. And look where that got them."

"To be frank I doubt that the northern plan will work either. But at least if that fails we will have only wasted political capital and the time of our diplomats rather than military assets."

[Ascaloth]

Atelier Solaris
MAN: 3

Executive Council

Spirits

"In that case, I would recommend that you take a representative from the Lightbringers with you, Dr Passtrum. I believe they have what it takes to help you convince the Spirits of the benefits of allying with the Tower, while also getting the best deal possible for us at the same time."

"Miss Olritz's stance on Turion's Door is that it should be examined and repaired of any damage it might have suffered, and I'm certain we can subtly nudge her into working towards retaining the stability of the Sources while she's at it. That is, assuming she has become the Source Chancellor by then. I don't see her as being so conservative that she'll sacrifice the stability of the Sources without a second thought; she would not be Magitech, much less its Department Head, if she was."

"However, I'd recommend that we not push her on this topic during her Source Chancellor campaign itself. If we persuade miss Olritz to outright espouse your preferred approach, she'll only lose ground to both Pathbinder and Watcher; the former because it could be seen as a concession to Pathbinder's stance, and the latter because Watcher can exploit it to portray miss Olrtiz as weak on the threat of Demonic invasion."

"As such, the rewards would not be worth the risk - whether of losing Source Chancellor to Pathbinder or Watcher, or of an outright Demonic outbreak- of doing so. We can always attempt to influence miss Olritz after the fact."

"Alright, it's better to secure our own backyard first; let's focus on the Dawn Empire. And I see what you mean about its potential for industrialization, but convincing its nobles is likely going to be a slow process, meaning we can't quite capitalize on it at the moment. So, let's keep our eyes on the low-hanging fruit for now."

"I will be directing Tower Markets to invest in the terraforming-enriched mines of the Dawn Empire this month, mister Escobane. I trust in your expertise to see this through as successfully and profitably as always, of course."

[Thelonius]

Sigma

Transcendence [3]

"Well, it's indeed clearer now."


Iron Floors [10]

Commander Day is housed with certain amenities, the high ranking prisoners are afforded. He invites Sigma's men with a wry smile, as if the room is his house, and not prison cell.


Atelier Solaris

Merchants of Wonder [PM]

Wisher: "We are taking some risks in electing Source Chancellor, who may end up weakening the Sources. Rather then siding with Magic-Conservatives, I would have preferred somebody more open minded for the position. But... I guess we are out of time at this point."


Clockwork Cult

Conservatives [PM]

Dawn Mages: "Sigh... Indeed. The Ironcloaks Invasion showed folly of such actions. While I think that allowing Mulden bankers free reign is a betrayal of Dawn Nobles, who have been our steadfast allies, so would be allowing Dragonblood Empire to win. We'll have to go with more sensible war plan."

Ruby Marshall: "Blake is an oily snake of a politician, but he is competent in running Initiations. Conservatives will back him. "

[Murska]

Transcendence Party
Do you have any suggestions for improvements? You should know the conditions of the Departments in question better.

Iron Floors
Greetings. I see you are doing well.

I am here to talk with you regarding the obvious question - what to do next. We face a number of foreign policy decisions to make, and I am sure the Iron Lords have their own.

Cabal [PM]

I do believe the Reclaimers would be very suitable for a position as the diplomatic advisors and executives of the Tower.

[Ascaloth]

Atelier Solaris
MAN: 3

Tower

Tower Chancellor

"I, Alchemist Solaris Summerscent, hereby announce the Atelier Solaris' backing of Maester Edmund Blake of Sigma for the position of Tower Chancellor. Maester Blake boasts an unrivalled track record as an administrator, as evidenced by the rapid and unparalleled growth of the Department of Initiations since he began his tenure as Department Head."

"He also epitomizes the ideal balance in all of his policies; the iron fist of military power within the velvet glove of diplomatic suasion, and the wisdom of pragmatic improvement over the folly of disruptive restructuring for its own sake. And last but certainly not in the least, Maester Blake demonstrates his leadership qualities as first amongst peers, as opposed to the mere imposition of willpower by force."

"As such, Maester Blake is by far the most ideal Mage to lead the Tower back to its days of glory. That is why I am supporting him as the next Tower Chancellor."

"I am glad to hear that you think so as well, mister Blake. I'm sure the Reclaimers will justify your faith in their abilities."

"That we are, unfortunately. I concede that miss Olritz is not the most ideal when it comes to our interests, but at least she is flexible enough that persuasion and negotiation with her is possible at all. That still makes her the better option by far, compared with the one who would definitely choose to revert the stability of the Sources with no compromise, and the one who more likely than not would unleash Demons upon the Tower."

"Still, it's not too bad. Assuming all goes as planned, our Party should secure both Bursar and Tower Book; that's nearly half of the Junior Councillors in the next Tower Council, assuming our tea party achieves all its goals. Surely, we can work with that."

MoW, CoW: "Just a heads-up; assuming my Seat of Ritual Magic continues to grow at its current pace, it should gain enough capacity to support a third Department Project by next month. At that time, I intend to take Tower Markets off Tower funding, and fund it internally as a Department Project."

"I trust you're both fine with this? And while we're at it, thank you very much for the work you've put in all these months for the good and the profit of the Tower."

[Thelonius]

Diplomacy

Yen Negotiations

The Reclaimers report some success in negotiations with the Yen Council, though the news that in Glen Republic, the Warhawks have successfully managed to suppress pro-Peace party throw a wrench in the works - clearly Yen Hegemony would prefer not to reignite war with Glen Republic, by siding with Dawn Empire. However, this doesn’t appear to be a deal breaker. Leon Shimmers believes, that Yen Council is observing other negotiations of the Tower - especially those with Warlocks, Spirits and Elreath to determine, if they wish to join Sunken Tower.

Warlock Alliance

The Warlocks arrive to Primval, Telamore, where Scholarium Arcana hosts the conference, as a neutral party. Most clearly hate Dragonblood Empire, but they are also wary of the Sunken Tower. The following issues arise:

Scholarium Arcana

Scholarium professes support of the Sunken Tower in private, but they maintain a more neutral stance in public, perhaps not to appear too biased.

Old Masters

Old Masters seem aware of the negotiations between Sunken Tower and Spirit Courts - and they want Sunken Tower to allow empowerment of the mundane weapons - so they could be used to subdue Dragonblood Empire’s chained mages. They claim to be able to rouse the White Court Spirits to fight against Dragonbloods. The plan is not favored by other Warlocks.

Magisters Lodge

The Magisters have ill reputation of using mind control magic - though they claim not to abuse it, but merely employ mental tricks to survive. There’s discussion, whether they should be part of the alliance or kicked out. They wish to clear their reputation by joining the fight against Dragonblood Empire.

Emerald Lodge

Emerald Lodge will back Tower, if they receive support in their bid to control Asimar - while there are considerable shifts in global politics, such support may damage Tower’s reputation, if Emerald Lodge fails to take power smoothly. Clearly, they are also expecting certain benefits of economic and political nature, if military campaign against Dragonblood Empire succeeds.

Red Anslem

Red Anslem is another faction, that inspires concern, due to their use of necromancy and the size of their undead army. Few doubt, that Red Anslem would establish some sort of Necrocracy in Dragonblood Empire, if given free reign.

Myrmidons

The Myrmidons are willing to provide support against Dragonblood Empire. They are hoping of establishment of a small independent nation in the western provinces of Empire and expect the war to be that of liberation.

Runner’s Circle

The Runner’s Circle has been most reserved and somewhat mercenary in their presence - clearly viewing Tower’s initiative with suspicion and questioning, what their group would gain from joining.

Status of Chained Mages & Warlocks

There’s also discussion of what happens with the liberated Chained Mages - will they be absorbed by the individual Warlock groups & Tower or given opportunity to chose.

A few of the groups like Red Anslem, Myrmidons and Emerald Lodge are raising the issue of “Warlocks” - will Sunken Tower acknowledge all present Warlock groups as legitimate - free to recruit Gifted, engage in magical experiments and all in all practice magic, or will the Tower insist on its monopoly on magic use.

Scholar’s Circle

The negotiations with Scholar’s Circle prove successful as the Circle agrees to cooperate and even work to soften the social changes in Dawn Empire, to preserve some status for the conservative nobility. In exchange they wish to get permission to employ mages with fairly relaxed control from the Tower, to strengthen Mulden. All in all it seems quite reasonable - though of course it’ll take ratification by Chancellors to make the deal into reality.

Sigma [PM]

After some negotiations through proxies, Min Willow is invited to meet Scholar’s Society. It’s members are masked and the place seems warded against magic, but the meeting itself goes fairly good. The Society agrees to cooperate and they are willing to bankroll the military campaign against Dragonblood Empire. They have a number of requests - such as Tower being more permissive with spread of magical lore in Mulden - as long as it’s controlled by Scholar’s Society, to prevent abuses and reinforcement of standing free trade and guarantees of independence, should Mulden be attacked. All in all Willow seems to have achieved her purpose and Scholar’s Society is willing to help guide changes to Dawn Empire - so they are not too disruptive to nobility.


Ironcloaks

The Ironcloaks leadership is highly suspicious of the Tower and it’s victory. Sigma's Guilford is faced with questions about the Turion’s Door and it seems Ironcloaks are considering possibility, that their forces were defeated by Tower invoking dark powers of the Demons. While prisoner ransom may alleviate such fears, Ironcloaks prove to be difficult to negotiate on this point as well - though Scholar’s Society hints, that this may have to do with very bad economic situation in the Iron Lords lands - even a small ransom may be too high for them. All in all, there seems to be too much mistrust and words alone aren’t sufficient to overcome it. Guilford has a bad feeling about Ironcloaks - they seem desperate and afraid.

Elreath Negotiations

The news arrive from Elreath. After a week of negotiations an attack by crazed Dualists known as “Dagger Brotherhood” has slaughtered all of the Mindcrafters, who indeed were hiding on the floating island. The Elreathians suspect the Tower’s embassy to be involved in the attack - by somehow providing access to Dualists to the Island. They demand immediate ejection of Embassy - lest they be imprisoned and tried as spies. There’s a shadow of war between Elreath and Sunken Tower, but there may yet be a chance to avert it, by placating Elreathians. The Sky Marshall Rimwald of Elreath proposes that Tower sends Mages from Magitech Department to work and study in Elreath for two years. If Sunken Tower commits further acts of aggression, their lives would be forfeit.

[*This will create negative stat growth in Magitech Department for one turn.]

Sigma [PM]

It takes significant effort to persuade Elreath to accept Embassy - bordering on implied threats by Weymond, that rejection of dialog would be seen as proof of hostility. In the end he gets his way and arrives to Elreath. Elreath shines with ancient Magic and it’s hard to describe the splendour and majesty of a flying island - the sheer energy and efficiency of the Engines required to keep it afloat and smooth operation of its mechanisms. Certainly somebody from Magitech Departments could have far greater understanding and appreciation of this marvel of magic, but even Weymond is impressed. It seems Elreath has been actively working to try to open embassies and establish good relations in the world - the Tower delegation is ushered into a veritable palace, where they are showered with luxuries and served by servants, who seem to be immigrants from Southern Cities. The negotiations proceed slowly - Waymond gets an impression he inspires certain fear in the Elreathians, who take great pains not to offend him. Still, not to the point of agreeing to return Mindcrafter secrets, they claim they do not posses. As if to compensate, they are far more amenable to offering support against Dragonblood Empire.
Then unexpected happens - the answer to where Dagger Brotherhood went. Somehow - though answer is probably magic - very, very powerful magic, they have gained access to Elareath. Weymond manages to learn their target - Mindcrafters, whose presence Elreathians steadfastly denied. One of the Mindcrafters actually flees to the Tower embassy, banging on the door to be let in - but he is killed before, Weymond, a politician, rather than battlemage can act. The Dagger Brotherhood disappears, having slain all of Mindcrafters.


Spies in the North

The Sunken Tower’s intelligence strength proves insufficient to oppose the powerful, well-entrenched agents of the Dragonblood Empire. They infest all levels of society, patiently executing operations, conceived months or even years in the past, whispering to the ears of wealthy and powerful, subtly steering the northern nations towards their agenda. It's clear that Dragonblood Empire has been working on subverting northern politics for a long time now - Tower may succeed in countering their influence in one nation, but not overcoming Dragonblood's completely.

[*Pick one nation, where Tower's intelligence operation has effect.]

Northern Conference

It would ordinary not take much to unite North against the hated Dragonblood Empire, but the situation is far from ordinary. The treasures of Dominion present an almost irresistible lure to the northerners and even Tower’s ambassadors realize, that the only way to proceed is to carve Dominion out for northern nations, as quickly and painlessly as possible.

Dominion

Dominar, a man of powerful physique, clad in expensive clothes and regalia of the ancient Dominion proves to be hard to approach, as he is constantly surrounded by a court of advisors and favorites. He seems to agree to most propositions, yet never decisively and finally, skillfully deflecting attempts to make him commit to a course of action.

Francois Valade

Valade, wearing military style dress, seem open to negotiations of peace, but raises an eyebrow at suggestion of fighting Dragonblood Empire. “Certainly, you see how difficult the logistics would be of such campaign, considering how removed we are from the Dragonbloods. For one thing Dominion and Telamore would need to agree to let our troops pass. A grand coalition to combat tyranny of the Empire you say? Well, that require a unified North.”

The mention of Madlands draws a look bemused disbelief. “I’m a learned men - even in the height of Tower’s power, in the Age of Magic, you could not accomplish such feat. The only sane thing one can do about Madlands is to stay away.” It seems the suggestion has left Valade unconvinced of Tower’s reliability.

Telamore

Telamore seems interested in partitioning Dominion - as long as it gets the major share of it, a point other nations are reluctant to accept. It's likely, that if Telamore fails to get what it wants, it will march to war. The Scholarium is reluctant to take sides on this issue - many of its members are children of nobility on both sides of the issue and to take one side, may create a dangerous schism within.

Clovis

Clovis has been far more aggressive in negotiations, despite being arguably weaker than Telamore and Sadaria. However, they clearly believe that with Prophetess on their side, they can’t lose in a conflict and thus demand a share of Dominion protectorate, that other nations view far in excess to their power. The Tower struggles to find right approach to Clovis and negotiations mostly petter out.

However, the proposition of Madlands reclamation seems to draw interest of the Clovis ambassador - Sir Lucentio Delgado. “Show me proof, you are capable of such feat and we’ll talk further.”

Madero & Church of Endless Ocean

Madero seems willing to consider possibility of Crusade against Dragonblood, but in private conversations with Tower’s ambassadors, he speaks of dangers such course of action would lead to - and what will Church win? While never directly stating it, Madero seems to imply, that were Dawn Empire to embrace the faith, it could find significant support of the Church.

Shok’An

Shok’An looks the part of the brutal warlord, but there’s an undeniable shrewdness in his eyes. At least two of his followers are clearly learned men, one from Southern Cities and another one from Dragonblood Empire. He is direct in his response. “Give me coin as well as those Mages that can turn land fertile and fill my mines with metals. Then you’ll have a deal.” His request is considerable, but with support of Mulden, Dawn Empire’s revitalization and Terraforming Project in advanced stages, it’s actually something Tower can afford.

Al-Makim

Al-Makim have a representative at the Conference, though not being of the North, they are mostly there as sign of interest and diplomatic courtesy. As such their representative - Elder Ishtaven mostly keeps quiet and maintains small talk. He is surprisingly difficult to approach about military campaign against Dragonblood Empire.

Telamorian Lodge

The Telamorian Lodge has sent a tall, pale woman of haunting beauty and powerful magical presence. High Lady Millicent moves through the delegations, commanding attention, yet saying little. It’s unclear what exactly Telamorian Lodge is up to, but it seems they have some scheme, related to the conference. The mundanes present are clearly unnerved by her presence.

Sentinels

The Sentinels are represented by a sullen half-elvish woman, Liara Sun. It's easy to recognize the otherworldly beauty of elves in her sharp features and she is without doubt among the most powerful of the Sentinel Mages.

Mulden

The Mulden dignitaries present are clearly serving the interests of the powerful groups within Mulden, such as Scholar’s Circle. They are fully prepared to cooperate with Tower.

Spirit Courts

The Spirit Circle is held in the center of the Spirit Isle, at the ancient dias with ten sections, each dedicated to a single Court. The purple section of the dias is empty - only nine of the Courts are present for the meeting.

The Glen ambassador is there a spiritborn woman with eyes of fire and hair of smoke. She greets Dr. Hidelberg with a polite bow. “I am Shiena. I have heard much of you and Hospitium. I hope that despite being on opposite sides, you will not think of me as enemy. I do not agree with policies of my government. They would not succeed against Dawn Empire’s navy with Mulden’s support - yet warhawks proceed with this foolishness out of sheer stubbornness and willful-blindness to the truth. But I am here, because I believe, that spirits empowering technology is a good thing. A necessary thing. This will give power to all of humanity - free it from the grasp of the few with magical gifts, who may turn tyrannical and dangerous with time, corrupted by dogmatism and belief that they are chosen.”

Old Man Jim waves to both Spiritborn, while finding a comfortable spot at the base of a tree, near the Green Court’s side of the dias. It seems he is somebody the present Spirits hold in some esteem.

After Hidelburg’s speech, Shiena offers a rebuttal: “You say, that Mages are the first line of defence against demons and surges. But this is exactly, why technology must be empowered. So that humanity as a whole could stand against threats to our existence. True, in the past, the champions armed with spirit-arms fought against Demons and Elementals, but by the nature of the weapons, it was still only few. With spirit-guns, the whole power of the nation could work on the war effort against new demonic invasion, were it ever to come.”

Blue (Glen)
A swirling mass of color, that seems to lack substance.

“We must create time, not kill it”

White (Undecided)
There's a spatial distortion as the massive white worm should by all accounts occupied all of the dais and then some.

“...”

Green (Undecided)
A large, powerful, black Panther, it's teeth sharp, it's eyes showing keen intelligence and cunning.

“I am uncertain. This can bring much foolish destruction, if mishandled. But perhaps it will make humans stronger.”

Red (Glen)
Molten, a child-sized spirit, that seems to be a collection of super-heated liquid metal.

“The humans should be given chance to express their power - let us empower technology to test magic’s mettle.”

Grey (Tower)
A human figure, wearing a paper dress, with words swirling around it

“Hidelburg is right. Many will suffer and die.”

Black (Glen)
A hooded, human-shaped figure.

“Yes. Let the guns boom. Let the fires bloom.”

Silver (Tower)
A beautiful woman, with doll-like features.

“We must not add to suffering.”

Gold (Glen)
A large, animated golden armor.

“Progress is good. Let them tinker. Let them build.”

Azure (Undecided)
A veiled feminine figure, bearing a silver, gem-encrusted cup in her hands.

“Killing has dual nature.”

Purple (Unrepresented)

[Ascaloth]

Atelier Solaris
MAN: 3

Nicholas will use his Political Insight trait to get further insight into the Telamorian Lodge's and Al-Makim's motivations. He will also liaise with the Eye of the North VIP for their insights first.

[Nemesis67]

Lorekeepers

Sigma (12)
Mulden currently holds a cache of Ritual Books stolen from the Tower. They intercepted it from going to the group in Dominara our Agents raided last month. I would highly suggest we arrange for a return of the materials as part of our negotiations. That is why the Republic was seeking Ritualists recently. Offering magic support ourselves as part of our exchange should assist this.

Allow me to check my records to see if I have anything of use in these current conferences.

Hospitium (12)
I would advise you push against Glen by rightly pointing out that any weapons given will be used to quell any resistance to the Warhawks in their Republic, then be turned against the Dawn Empire, Mulden, and ourselves. Their own diplomat does not support them, and handing Spirit Imbued guns will secure a tyrannical regime. Their fear of us is that we will become such a government. The Warhawks already are.

Internal (GM)
Check Memory Curators II and Archives of Ancient Ages II (not the active ability as that went to Grand Astrologist's Harbinger Prophecy quest, simply the passive "I know slightly more things than others") on all of the conferences.

Lore: Bloodlines of Telamorian Lodge I
Telamorian Lodge is bound by blood - it’s membership low and highly exclusive, with new Mages being married into the Lodge and only their descendants being considered full-fledged Lodge members. It’s a highly insular society, with its members often appearing eccentric and strange.

[Thelonius]

Negotiations

[You can just post arguments and questions to the NPCs at negotiations. The use of VIP levels is to gain some insight or make a statement with impact.]

Warlocks Alliance

Chained Choice

Scholarium raises a question, with a subtle node to Magisters Lodge, likely due to rumors of their use of Mind Magic. “Whoever liberates Chained Mages, would be in position to influence their choices.”

Runner’s Circle: “If we dedicate our resources to policing each other, we may not have enough power to beat Dragonblood Empire.”

Scholarium Arcana (Private)

“Red Anslem has ambitions - a desire for status and power. However, they are not excessive - he’ll be content to serve a civilian government as general. A noble title and authority would buy Anslem’s loyalty. Of course, with magic feared as it is, the so-called Mage Lords are very much an exception. If no other outlet is given... it's possible Red Anslem would indeed seek to make a nation himself. Tower can persuade the world, to allow Mages to wield power in the mundane society, that may work. Of course, depending on how things go in Asimaar, there’s either a chance of new acceptance or considerable backlash.”

Limited Weapon Empowerment

Old Masters: “Restrict Empowerment of Weapons? Yes. That is an excellent suggestion. Keep em out of bad hands.”

Red Anslen: “So, who will hold the power to Empower Spirit Weapons? Naturally, we’d require pledges, that said Spirit Weapons would never be used against members of this conference. Then maybe, we’ll concede to such possibility.”

Old Masters: “With the Spirit-Magic it’s actually fairly easy to place restrictions. Normal spells need advanced patterns to recognize rightful wielders or when they are used improperly - with spirit artefacts, well, they just know. And, as both neutral side and one skilled in dealing with spirits, we can handle Empowerment - with all present members receiving a set number of empowered weapons, plus agreements, under which we could supply them to Mundanes, such as to fight back demonic invasions and Surges.”

Magisters Lodge: “This will make you very powerful indeed. Certainly, the benefits of such arrangement should be more shared, to prevent one side from wielding too much influence?”

Old Masters: “Well, can Tower actually negotiate such a deal - if we are not doing the Empowerment? Spirits trust us. I doubt they’ll agree to work with others.”

Northern Conference

Eye of the North[/SIZE]

The Eye is in agreement with Sigma, in that Valade wishes for conquest to cement his position. He believes that Sandarian Directorate may have some plan.

There's actually a good reason for Shok'An to want a piece of Dominion. Free Lands are destitute and on verge of complete desolation. They pretty much survive by raiding other nations and Shok'An has no hope of holding his forces together, unless he gains an economic base, to support them. He is pretty much asking Tower to build him such support, which would remove need for him to invade. Or he could use the resources to strengthen his army further and go to war, in which case established nations of the North would blame Tower for sponsoring a dangerous warlord in their backyard.

Telamorian Lodge

Nicolas has a suspicion, that Telamorian Lodge is driven by something other than politics. The North can bleed in the war or be at peace for all they care. But there’s something at the Conference, that Millicent wishes to accomplish, probably related to one of the delegations.

Al-Makim

The Al-Makim’s primary interest in the North is about Dragonblood Empire, so their detachment is indeed strange. It seems their representative is here in purely ceremonial role - with no intent to affect politics. However, Al-Makim clearly still hates Dragonblood Empire, so perhaps persuading them to be more active could be possible. Ishtavan has also been talking with Telamorian delegation - which is understandable, as Telamore has a large Al-Makim minority.

Church of Endless Ocean

The Church is likely to finance opening of Churches themselves. The issue is that under influence of Tower, Dawn Empire is highly atheistic - Cults, Churches, there’s general perception of them as dangerous and foolish. The only thing to trust in the world is logic and reason of magic. So, what Endless Ocean wants is acknowledgment of their beliefs by Tower and not to interfere with their polythestizing. They’ll do the work of converting the population themselves.

Shok’An

Tower can pretty much afford to buy support of Shok’An. Tower Markets Projects means, there are skilled negotiators so the price tag wouldn't be too excessive.

Madlands
[You may consider gathering Lore in Libraries. The account below may not be full or factually incorrect.]

The Adori civilization used a highly advanced blend of Magitech and Shadow, creating powerful Minds, with unmatched processing power and ability to examine Shadows to evaluate countless possibilities. Their Orbital Nodes supplied massive amounts of Mana, sophisticated Automata catered to their every need, allowing citizens to concentrate on pure pursuit of knowledge.

Adori Civilization ended with demonic attacks, that somehow corrupted their Pylon Network, driving their Minds mad. The Shadow-enhanced Magitech proved to be susceptible to corruption - and as it was implemented into every aspect of Adori life, with shadow gems woven into land themselves and Alternation Engines overlaying Shadows on Prime Realty, the effect was birth of Madlands.

The Circle’s war to cleanse Madlands have been costly and in the end the policy of containment was implemented. Long-term projects were initiated to carefully study corruption and find means of destroying it. None reached completion as Iron Age came and Circle had other problems.

Currently, some believe that Backlash may have damaged the corrupted magic in Adori Lands, weakening it, but there’s no proof of that. There’s a theory, that if corrupted Adori Minds could be shut down or even cleansed, the remaining effects could be dealt with. There have been plans proposing to put Tower Minds against Adori Minds - that all agreed to be highly risky. Others see no hope to preserve ancient magitech infrastructure - and believe the only way to deal with it is complete destruction. The use of Tower’s Forbidden weapons was certainly discussed, behind closed doors. The Black-Iron was considered as well - but as Mages wouldn’t be able to wield it, a mundane Legion would need to be employed. No Tower Council trusted a large mundane army with weapons that can bring down the Tower.

Lorekeepers

Internal [PM]

Can you clarify, what information you are checking?

Also, SG is present at Spirit Courts - you can act through them directly, if you wish.

[Thelonius]

Investigations at Northern Conference

Rook’s snooping allows him to notice coming and goings of a Sandarian servant, who seems a bit too… graceful to be a mere servant. In consultation with the Olgier (EoN) he manages to identify her - Countess Jacqueline de Lamont. One of the nobles, who escaped revolution in Sandaria. She has ties to the leaders of the exiled Sandarian nobility in Telamore.

A further investigation allows Rook a quick peek at certain documents and to overhear a few words. As Rook does the legwork, Olgier connects the facts. Valade is collecting information about the Crimson Coup, that overthrew the Sandarian Monarchy and ushered the Republic. I’ve always wondered about that. “People’s revolution”. Ha. Clearly, somebody was behind it! comments Olgier. But it doesn’t seem that Valade is a secret monarchist - and if he is, he’ll have trouble restoring the old order.

[Murska]

General Diplomatic Strategy

This is written under the assumption that Blake becomes Tower Chancellor and Olritz becomes the Source Chancellor.

Warlocks
Old Masters: Allowing them to handle the Empowerments, with oversight by others into the selection process, and also trying to see if the Spirits would agree to representatives of the Tower to also have a hand in the process, what with our letting them have the Key.
Magisters: Accept
Emerald: Accept if it doesn't drain Tower resources too much. We can provide funding and diplomats (econ and rep) for soft power. We won't support military attacks or assassinations.
Red Anslem: Does Telamore think it worthwhile to attain his services? He would be a general, subordinate to mundane government, after all. So long as he doesn't get too ambitious, we've no issue with him.
Myrmidons: Accept
Runner's Circle: They'd gain legitimacy and resources, I'd say. If they want to be mercs, maybe we can offer them some payment. If they are too difficult to work with, let's not work with them.

Treatment of the Chained
Liberated Chained Mages, during the conflict itself, will be kept in Telamore and Dawn Empire under Scholarium Arcana and the Tower. Each faction is allowed a representative to keep an eye on the situation. After the war, they will be given all possible care and then allowed to, without pressure by any party, choose their own path in the future. Each faction is allowed to make an open recruitment pitch.

Warlocks in the Future
The Tower wishes to step into a guiding and teaching role. This Circle of various Mage groups could form into a regulatory body, under Tower leadership, which can accede permits for magical research and study. However, there must be responsible oversight over such efforts to prevent terrible disasters - the Tower is unwilling to allow such groups to act on their own that don't agree to work with, and within the guidelines set by, this gathering of responsible Mage groups. Allude to demonic summoning, blood, mind and soul magic and other such dangers that the unwary face.


Northern Conference
Dominion: If they don't start to act, we will bypass them. Prevarication and deflection is something we have no patience nor time for.
Francois Valade: Stress the long-term nature of any plans regarding the Madlands, but also show some of the potential progress we've made with terraforming and magitech automata, spirit antimagic and newly enlargened black iron caches. Then, after the listeners' curiosity has been awakened, wave aside the Madlands and return to the focus of the matter. We suggest he bring a small-ish expeditionary force and that he is also given command of a fair number of auxiliaries from other forces (ostensibly to make his force capable of individual action, but obviously also to make any renegade movements difficult). He can prove himself to the Coalition and can be given trade and diplomatic concessions in return. Alternatively, if he is unwilling to fight, the Sandarians can provide logistical support.

We'll privately offer him what knowledge the Tower's agents in the North have regarding the information he seeks on the Crimson Coup. We should have a fair amount of background knowledge of goings-on in the region, what with the Eye of North's project success. Maybe our knowledge combined with his can uncover something.

Telamore: Moderate their demands insofar as we can, using our allies in the nation and our specific espionage focus on countering the Dragonbloods in Telamore: We're friendly with Scholarium, we're friendly with the Southern Nobility (who are friendly with a fair amount of other nobility), we've got plenty of political capital in the north, we've got ok relations with the Church. We will give Telamore a fair share of Dominion.
Clovis: Same as with Sandaria regarding the Madlands. Also, we hope that we can force Clovis to the table with the carrot - we can offer a fair share in Dominion and the opportunity to spread their religion further - and the stick - the Coalition will exist, whether they're in it or not, and if they're not they might miss out on Dominion, there'll be support for the Endless Ocean instead of them and they'll lose the diplomatic relations they need to counter Madero's plans.
Church of Endless Ocean: We won't interfere with their proselytizing. Also, if the Dragonblood Empire is broken and liberated into various smaller nations, there's also a lot of fertile ground for their religion to spread.
Shok'An: Negotiators negotiate, we're okay with helping him nation-build in exchange, if that means he won't go power-mad and start invading our allies.
Al-Makim: Signal our interest in having them assist against the Dragonbloods, and if they give us the message that they wish to speak with higher-placed representatives on their own land, that's fine. Even better if they just agree.
Telamorian Lodge: Would be interesting to know what they're up to. So long as they're not hostile, we won't bother them.
Sentinels: We should have some pull here what with our sacrifices against the Surges.
Mulden: Yay. Cooperation.

Espionage Focus
Focus on Telamore, and specifically the Conference itself. Find and prevent Dragonblood influence.

Scholar's Circle
We are quite willing to agree to such a deal. As an aside, we've been informed that Mulden has recently found a number of Ritual books that were stolen from the Tower some time ago. We'd want those returned, with fair reimbursement of course. We'll agree to spreading magical knowledge in a controlled manner - they can make much more use of our Ritualists' expertise than trying to learn on their own from incomplete tomes.

Ironcloaks
Guilford will arrange for a high-level meeting with the Ironcloak leadership behind closed doors. There he will open with acknowledging that he is under a spell of Truth, which makes it difficult if not impossible for him to attempt to lie or obfuscate the truth. He reserves the right to not answer, but he wants to take this opportunity to clear the air and really get to the bottom of the issues between the Ironcloaks and the Tower. The Tower is willing to forgo ransom demands in currency, and would agree to, for example, fixed-term mining rights or black iron shipments (and even then willing to accept rather minor sums). The Tower is willing to give Turion's Key to the Spirits for safekeeping and use that same opportunity to sign a formal, binding peace treaty between the Iron Lords and the Dawn Empire, the Ironcloaks and the Tower. If they have economic or political trouble, perhaps we can help - the Dawn Empire is growing in prosperity and the Ironcloaks have much wealth underneath their lands. For example, the development of Ironcloak resources rented to Dawn Empire merchants would, in time, enrich the Ironcloaks as well as the newly built-up logistics networks are returned to them, and fair taxes paid for the goods produced in the meantime.

We are concerned about misuse of magic, and wish we could rather work together to curtail abuses and defeat the worst threats than look upon each other with suspicion. In the best possible case, they'd be willing to assist in liberating the Chained Mages.

If pressed, Guilford will admit that there was a question during and immediately in the aftermath of the Ironcloak Invasion about whether the Door's power should be used, and that the conservatives decisively won the ensuing debate, with censure to those heading the radical element and the promise of immediate inquiry into the status of and potential need for repairs to the Door's seals.

Elreath
Weymond is willing to testify, under a truth-telling effect if necessary, that he is honest and fortright in his desire to negotiate a peaceful settlement, that he had no foreknowledge of the Dagger Brotherhood attack, he has in no way knowingly aided or abetted their entry into Elreath and that the Tower leadership is taking steps to curtail the Dagger Brotherhood as dangerous Dualists.

After that is done, he will be very curious about how these Mindcrafters whom he was very clearly informed were not present in Elreath managed to get killed in Elreath.

The Tower does wish for Elreath support against the Dragonbloods, and Elreath participation in the diplomatic efforts to reconcile Mage groups all over the world. The Department of Magitech would be very willing to work and study alongside the experts in Elreath - their mastery of the art is clearly magnificent - but only volunteers will be sent and they won't be hostages. If hostilities were to erupt between the Tower and Elreath, they must be treated like any honoured prisoners of war, interned to wait for a diplomatic resolution to the conflict, not barbarically executed. But there is no reason to expect any hostilities, if we can find common ground here.

Spirit Courts

The Key should buy us a fair bit of goodwill. More so as we try to steer things so that we're not against the empowerment of weapons entirely, but we hope for the Old Masters and other qualified and responsible candidates to direct the process.

Do note that the Glen Warhawks are very likely to foolishly mishandle such a boon. What have they done so far? Suppressed their own populace, weakened their diplomatic ties to the Yen, tried to attack everyone they could reach for no conceivable reason and been stymied at every turn. They're throwing a tantrum, like a child denied a toy, demanding the Spirits help them to victory in a war they've first themselves provoked and then bungled.

[Ascaloth]

Atelier Solaris

Nicholas (Level 2 Ambassador) will use his 2 designated actions on Telamore and Al-Makim, speaking to them with the goal of influencing them as per Sigma's plans for both parties respectively.

[HerbieRAI]

Hospitium

To Shiena

ooc: Not an action here, just like having built up contacts in other countries
"I will not think of you as an enemy, but I fundamentally disagree. Men would not use this to develop the world into a greater place, they would create weapons to kill those who do not agree with them.. mostly each other. You worry of future mages being tyrannical, there are plenty of non-magical tyrants right now, and this empowerment would only make it harder to free those oppressed and enslaved."


Old Man Jim

Can I hear what you think about this vote?
ooc: I want to hear his side before attempting to convince him


White Court

Let me start with an example of the problem at hand, right now there is a country ruled by mundane men that is enslaving mages around the world. The issue isn't that the mundane are leading, in fact that is normally a boon to mages so we can focus on larger problems, like healing the wounds to the world. The problem is that those enslaved cannot use their power and knowledge to help with these large problems because their masters care only for their own power and the problems they themselves can see and understand. Empowering the weapons will give those kind of rulers more power, and other kingdoms will quickly follow suit. The chances of a mage having the power or knowledge to help or heal the world wounds is low already, empowering these devices will only decrease that chance as time continues.

We can also look at the land mortals call the Madlands. I'm unsure if that is considered a world wound, but the mage circle was investigating ways of healing that problem until the last time spirits gave a similar blessing to mortals. We were forced to turn away from the work while trying to survive. It is still an uninhabitable cursed land.


To George Corwin

Can you try to work on the Gold Court? I believe they are interested in technological progress of humanity, although I'm not fully sure on that. If you come at the problem from the angle that humanity will use this as a crutch and will use the spirit power instead developing solutions to their problems.

ooc: What level is Corwin, can he talk to another group as well?


OOC (PM)

I got to pick the Azure court for the favor
How much exp do you need to level up?


To Lorekeepers (MAN 3)

That is a good option, but spirits being immortal means they do not know what "Glen" is. They call them the people from the Red continent.

OOC: that was part of my EOT speech, that along with this being a back handed attempt to wipe out mages and conquer the world. Hence Black and Red's responses.

[Thelonius]

Hospitium

Shiena [PM]

“There are good and evil Mages. There are good and evil Mundanes. We are all human. But Mages hold power, where Mundanes do not. Do they not deserve to stand with us on equal footing? Many Mages think themselves chosen - that somehow they were given the Gift, because they are somehow special. I think it’s false thinking. We all should have equal potential to hold power - hopefully for good, though sometimes regretfully for evil. The empowerment of spirit weapons is a step in that direction. ”


Jim [PM]

“Well, usually them guys are much nice to you Tower folk. It seems you handled them wrong in the past, got them upset. I think them boomsticks could be fun, but people will go overboard with it. That’s how people are. I say, give them Key, so they see that they can trust you and Courts will side with you.”


George Corwin [PM]

Certainly! They seem more… clear in how they talk. I’ll try to persuade them, that it’s a crutch.

[He’s Level 2]


White Court [PM]

“Madlands… It is not a wound. It is a lesson. They were too small a fish, so they failed. Now, what remains can only be learned or forgiven. Such malice was not before. But it is now.”

It seems only mention of Madlands has registered with the spirit of the White Court.


Spirit Courts

Turion's Key

[I’ll need Lorekeepers confirmation of provision of Key or that it’s holder travels to Spirit Isle.]

Golden Court

Corwin takes a line, that use of Spirit magic will stifle technological progress, as it would become a crutch.
The spirit of Golden Court seems to consider the issue seriously: “There hasn’t been any significant developments for a long time.” As if to underscore the point, the spirit produces a large , golden watch on a chain. “Against entities with dimensional capability, non-Source, current level of technology can’t achieve energy conversion and manipulation properties, sufficient to ensure annihilation of the malicious entities. More than thousand years of complete stagnation, thanks to HER and THEM.” A slight tension seems to raise in the Court at Golden Court’s spirit words, perceptible only to the spiritborn. “Maybe even Tower - all that fear, the mundanes think about weapon development only in terms of it's anti-magic capability - if that's solved, maybe they'll think of other areas of improvement. Now Reds have finally advanced - can we truly stifle them?”

“But technology has spread, didn’t it?” offers Corwin. “The progress is already in motion, even if the weapons remain non-empowered. Perhaps it would lead to search for further improvement?”
Golden Court spirit glances at the watch again. “If there’s time for that.” But it seems thoughtful and his vote now uncertain.

Scholar’s Circle

Scholar's Society agrees and pledges that Ritual books will be in the Tower in a week's time. They warn of the society that held the books. “The books were held by dupes, that were controlled by a dangerous and powerful cult. We do not know their objectives, but they have been smuggling jars, filled with blood to the Free Lands. Clearly, their aim was some dangerous ritual.”

Ironcloaks

Economic Note

Right now Iron Lords are blocking trade routes to the North, so all trade needs to be done through Mulden. If trade treaty with Ironcloaks is passed, then it would have considerable positive economic impact and make Dawn Empire less reliant on Mulden. Iron Lords would naturally gain much from the merchant traffic.

Negotiations

The Ironcloaks leaders are caught off-guard by the offer to deliver the key to the Spirits and request that their observers are present to witness it. Perhaps due to these shocking news, Guilford faces only light scrutiny and few really uncomfortable questions. The situation is balanced on the tip of a needle and Iron Lords clearly expect some trick at any moment. However, there may be some chance of positive outcome as well.

Elreath

[Okay, I’ll need Clockwork Cult as Head of Magitech to weight on the matter. Many in his department hold rather dim view on the “Mindcrafter Traitors” and see Tower as having no obligation to Elreath.]

Northern Conference

Dominion

The Dominion delegation is increasingly ignored by the major players at the table - or perhaps such moves are made subtly, in the shadows. In public Dominar seems to be growing annoyed and increasingly demanding attention with growing public displays.

Sandarian Directorate

The enlarged Black-Iron reserves bring Valade’s attention. “So, would Tower be willing to equip our northern garrisons stationed to repel the madness of Madlands, with Black-Iron Weapons? The Tower had great magic in the past, yet it never worked to fix Madlands. But they never tried to address the problem with use of Black-Iron weapons. Will you? The Madlands are a blight, that has threatened my people for a very long time. I’ll consider aquiseing to your plan for this conference, if you give us tools to fight back against it. If we are not threatened from the north, perhaps resources could be sent into this crusade of yours.”

The Eye of the North seem reluctant to part with knowledge - though without logical explanation. It seems they simply much prefer accumulating secrets to sharing them. Valade’s interest seems piqued - clearly he desires the information.

Telamore

The Dragonblood influence in Telamore is subtle and pervasive - it’s a credit to the legendary skill of Dragonblood spies, that they are able to wield as much influence in the nation that pretty much hates them. The mood in Telamore is simple - Dragonblood Empire under control of Chainmaster would undoubtedly attack Dawn Empire. The two shall weaken each other and then, the Kingdom shall march, to fight the weakened Empire. The things are complicated by struggle between monarchy and nobility - the war against Dragonblood Empire can go either way, while conquest of Dominion will be undoubtedly easier and will put the loyalty of militant and military powerful Eastern Lords firmly in king's hands. It may also secure support of the Church, if Dominion is converted to their worship. Clearly, King Aiden wishes to secure his throne and dispose with opposition by having a quick and successful war.

The Dragonblood agents are likely working on two fronts - promoting idea of Dominion’s conquest and feeding into the conflict between monarchy and nobility. Tower’s agents can cut one of these operations.

The efforts of Nicholas (Atelier) prove effective in putting some restraint into Telamorian demands. It seems they are willing to accept Sandaria’s claims, but Clovis remains a problem. Telamorians are refusing to let them have as much territory, as they are demanding.

Shok’An

The Warlord smiles. “Certainly, I’m prepared to play nice and even provide my troops for your crusade, for a reasonable fee or permission to collect trophies.”

Al-Makim

Ishtvan explains: “I fear we will not be of much use to you against Dragonbloods, as vile as they are. The fate takes us elsewhere. We have been allies of convenience for a long time, the old wounds and treacheries dividing us. Well… in these days the Dragonfriends have done much to help us, so perhaps Sunken Tower has changed. I believe we can provide you with a gift. Do you wish to have access to some of our Orbital Nodes and Magitech? For us to persuade dragonborn to aid the Tower in the war, if you pledge to release those, held as slaves by it? Or share our wisdom with you?”

Telamorian Lodge

Lady Millicent smiles a cold smile. “I’m not here to enlighten the ignorant. If you are not worth my time, I have no reason to speak to you. Ah, but please pass my best regards to Descend. What generation are they at now?”

Sentinels

The Sentinels are somewhat wary of the Tower Mages, but it seems Tower’s objective of keeping the peace in Dominion is shared by them. Their leader makes a proposal: “Whatever happens, the Seal of Peace must survive. Will you include that provision in the treaty? Will you pledge to help protect it? What will be the fate of the worshipers of the Goddess?”

Church of Endless Ocean

The Church agrees to sway Telamore, if they are given access to Dawn Empire. Madero also raises issue with worship in the potentially divided Dominion. It's clear, he wishes for advantageous terms for the Church, that would give him upper hand in converting Dominion to the worship of the Endless Ocean.

[Murska]

Ironcloaks

(OOC: Yeah, I recall the plan was to have the Spirits affirm our peace negotiations along with the Key transfer. Just to make sure that both sides know not to attempt trickery, and that we can extend enough trust to maybe have things work out.)

If the negotiations proceed apace, we'll ask for the full text of the Harbinger's Prophecy from them.

Elreath

(OOC: Not giving up to their demands, just turning their demands around on them and allowing volunteer Magitech personnel to go study Elreath technology. I really want to find out why they're so afraid of us though.)

Dominion

Until they give us some signal that they're willing to negotiate in good faith, we shall just humor their childish displays. And get on to real business elsewhere.

Sandarian Directorate

Tower signals potential willingness to transfer limited Black Iron reserves to Sandaria, Clovis and Telamore, contingent on their behaviour in the negotiations. The unspoken intent is that these three will keep each other in check and not have enough black iron to pose a threat to the Tower. However, this is just alluded to for now, until I've a better knowledge of how the Tower Mages themselves would view such a move. A possible workaround would be, if the negotiations with the Ironcloaks work out, getting them to act as a proxy.

Other assistance, such as Magitech, ordinary technology from Dawn Empire and Mulden and Contract Mages, are promised to assist against the Madlands as well, and future development towards a lasting solution is of course a hope.

We can share the information in exchange for them sharing their information regarding the matter, and hopefully this'll increase their cooperation in the negotiations as well.

Telamore

We will defeat the Dragonblood operation to promote a conquest of Dominion. And we will use it as a political bludgeon. Anyone advocating focus on Dominion instead of Dragonbloods can be easily painted as a Dragonblood symphatizer now that it's proven the Dragonbloods were behind that sentiment, and we've got prominent support from Adrian Cross, Madero and Lord Tercel. With the negotiations proceeding apace, we'll try to convince both Clovis and Telamore to come to a compromize solution.

Sentinels

The survival of the Seal of Peace is an objective we can agree on. Inclusion of that in the treaty seems fine. We can provide help if there's a specific threat to it and we're called for. As for the Goddess, our official stance is for freedom of religion, it's up to any religion to peacefully convince people to join it and the responsibility of nations to stop persecution of minorities.

Endless Ocean

I'm sure they'll have a good chance to spread their religion in the area Telamore receives, and they won't be blocked in the remainder of Dominion either. We can't speak for Sandaria or Clovis.

[Nemesis67]

Lorekeepers

Department of History (12)
The negotiations being undertaken by the Tower will decide the future of the world. I would like our Department to ensure that the negotiators have as much information to act on as possible. If there is any Lore on hand that could be of use, please provide it to me. If you are willing to contribute from your Halls, then we'll discuss what the best topic to query would be among ourselves and with the diplomats. Everything gathered will be credited to our Department, as aid to the Sunken Tower.

Grand Astrologist (12)
This prophecy is troubling. I will request we obtain the true text of it from the Iron Lords in our negotiations with them. There is a Harbinger on the Spirit Isle, and the Courts may know useful information. And I theorize there is a Harbinger in the Adori Enclave, nestled in the Madlands. Interesting how they crop up in everything, isn't it?

Daggerman (Equalist), Treeman (Old Man Jim), Craftsman (Adori Enclave), Madman (Baylin Split), and Keyman (Turion) are known quantities. The unnamed one is of concern. The world is being troubled by cults. I think she has a hand in the worst of them. The Northern Ritual in the Free Lands has some backer. She may be it.

Sigma (12)
It would be very helpful to the Tower if we could obtain the complete, original text of the Harbinger Prophecy from the Ironcloaks. I believe part of the motivation of their invasion was to secure Turion's Door because of it.

Chaos Principle (12)
If I may ask, what are your plans pertaining to the Office of Archaeology?

[OOC: Will be asking for their help to take it in exchange for whatever.]

Hidden Eye (12)
I would like to provide our negotiators with your Old Hidden Eye Reports. I believe it will assist the Tower in crafting an informed global strategy. Would you permit it? Or provide the information yourself, if you wish. They are yours, of course. You deserve the credit, if you want it.

Eye of the North (12)
You seem reluctant to speak about the Crimson Revolt with the Directorate. What are you afraid that Sandaria will do with the knowledge?

Tower Negotiators (12)
Powerful Shadow Whispers touch the minds of the Mages in charge of negotiations, bearing the distinctive imprint of Barus Turen, the Dean of History.

"The Department of History has information that may be of use, and will be seeking out more. What knowledge would be most beneficial to the Tower?"

Lore, Shattered Circle II [Bronze]
Yen Council: The Yen Mages have long favored greater cooperation with Mundanes, defying Tower’s conviction, that magic must stay in hands of Mages, capable of handling it safely. During the Iron Age, they left the Circle, voluntarily giving power to the Yen Hegemony. As such, today, they are beholden to the will of the mundane administration.

Telamorian Lodge: The Telamorian Lodge was long under suspicion of hiding Lost Magic from the rest of the Circle. It’s likely, that a forceful inquest would have been performed, if not for the Iron Lords rebellion. Telamorian Lodge took advantage of it to proclaim their independence. They brutally suppressed any Iron dissidents in Telamore, preserving power of Mages in the northern kingdom, almost until the end of the Iron Age.

Elder Council: The relations with Circle and Al-Makim were already strained, considering their unique stance on Turion’s Door and Lamashal Plot. The Al-Makim society, lacking the tensions between mages and mundanes, was an odd one out in the Iron Age. The circumstances of their break with the Circle are covered under SB Minutes.

Elreath: The Elreath leave for their third Beyond Voyage was at the beginning of the Iron Age. The records are unclear, whether the Circle issued a firm order for them to remain and support the Tower against rebels. The documents contradict each other, whether Elreath realized the extent of coming trouble and how it was weighted against gains of the long-planned and prepared expedition. Their questioning of the legitimacy of the Sunken Tower’s orders, when they returned during the second half of Iron Age is less ambiguous.

Lore: Bloodlines of Telamorian Lodge I

Telamorian Lodge is bound by blood - it’s membership low and highly exclusive, with new Mages being married into the Lodge and only their descendants being considered full-fledged Lodge members. It’s a highly insular society, with its members often appearing eccentric and strange.

Northern Ritual Report

1. There are four types of blood essence. Human, Elf, Demon, and Dragon. Given this was being shipped from the South to the North, Dragonblood is the most likely.

2. The amount of the Dragonblood Essence that could be contained in pots, indicates that it’s not pure-Dragon Blood, as the amount would be too great. It could be either severely diluted essence or one harvested from greater Dragonkin, such as Drakes or Serpents.

3. The Dragonblood Essence is best suited for “Strengthening Rituals”, that empower and refine one’s ability. However, its potency and astrological alignments can make it suitable for other rituals given the stars at the time.

4. It is theoretically possible to substitute quantity for quality to produce effects of pure-Dragonblood using dragonblood essence. However, it would require highly advanced Ritual Knowledge and great skill.

5. It would be possible to empower a mundane army with strengthening rituals, greatly increasing it’s power. However, it won’t allow it to overcome the Seal of Peace, if that is the target.

6. It would be theoretically possible to empower the Spirit-Beasts of the Broken-Back Mountains, possibly triggering a massive assault on the surrounding lands.

7. It also may be possible to use the essence in calling and binding Elementals and Shades. The Peace Seal works better against the latter, but a Power Surge can temporarily overwhelm it.


Society of Worldly Gentlemen (12)
Is there anything I can do to be of assistance at this moment, past what I have done?

Internal (GM)
If he can, Barus Turen travels to the Spirit Isle to deliver the Key.

If it would be appropriate, I take the unworn Ring of Ocean Spirits in a box as a gift. To demonstrate we are sincere in working with the spirits, I am giving them the ability to destroy (or whatever) something that binds their will. We come in good faith.

[Ascaloth]

Atelier Solaris
MAN: 3

Mister Blake, this is about what the Scholars' Society told you about the cult that stole the Ritual books. What they said about the smuggling of blood, that is something that has actually been known by myself for some time. I've been pursuing this lead as best as I was able, but this is the first I've heard of said cult also being involved in the theft of the Ritual books that have gone missing from the Great Tower Library. As such, here is some more information that you may find pertinent.


2. The following books were definitely shipped North:

A failed research into Transference of Soul & Mind from one human body into another. You’ve heard of it and the author concluded, that it’s impossible with current level of theory (might be possible with Project Level 5 or maybe some Lost Age lore, which is basically magic-magic to modern Mages).

And a number of books that detail ways one can protect himself against Transference rituals.

The other books were sent to Mulden, into hands of a Cult of Contemplative Insight, a fairly small group of scholarly minded cultists, seeking truth in the self-examination and meditation. You don’t have detailed information, but according to rumors, that was one of the few cults to actually be put down by Mulden’s guard, for some infraction, involving stealing trade secrets. It’s core members actually committed suicide, before they could be taken, while lower ranks serve their sentences.

Whatever the identity of the cult responsible for the book thefts and the blood smuggling, they are also known to have collaborators within the Tower itself.


1. The culprit is a faction from the Source Seats - Power or Shadow. Of those, you are confident, the following are innocent:

Power - Union, Sourcespeakers, Striders, the Choir
Shadow - Sensori, Jaunters, Shadow Scribes, Seventh Circle

Mister Blake, if at all possible, I would like for you to seek the Scholars' Society's assistance in investigating this lead. They may have enough influence to persuade the Mulden authorities to cooperate with the Tower, and that could be invaluable in bringing the matter to light. You might also want to recruit the warlord Shok'An's assistance in the matter, for it apparently concerns his territory in the Free Lands.

[Nemesis67]

Lorekeepers

Sigma (12)
To prevent waste of Tower resources, the thief Councilor Summerscent is mentioning has been dealt with. All that remains missing is the Transference Ritual report, which I am tracking down. I do fear that we may be interfering with a shadow war between powers as great as ourselves, however, and not on the side that is more akin to us in philosophy.

[Thelonius]

Spirit Isle

Turen Barus arrives to the Spirit Isle via a Shadowpath appearing on a small island. It seems the Spirits actually had it watched, but they allow the Mage a safe passage. With him, he carries the Turion’s Key. Additionally, Barus presents a box, containing Ring of Ocean Spirits, offering to the artefact for the Courts to destroy, so no spirit would be compelled by it. This seems to cause considerable confusion among the Spirits. “Why would we need it?” asks Blue Court representative curiously. They take the ring, but clearly see it as a poor gift of little value.

A Mulden ship with Ironcloak representatives arrives at a later date.

Lorekeepers

Grand Astrologist

You suspect a major ritual in the North be connected to a Harbinger? If only we would know the nature of the ritual. And what role does this Old Man Jim play at the Spirit Isle?


Chaos Principle

In the light of your recent actions regarding Descend, we can do it as a minor favor. A display of our goodwill. If wrong people get elected, with wrong understanding of Turion's Door, we'll need to stick together.


Eye of the North

Well, the fact that Valade is looking for this information, implies he either plans to use it or remove all evidence, so nobody would ever find the truth.


Society of WG

I believe at the moment, we can just sit and wait, how the dice would roll.


Hidden Eyes

If it would help the Tower, then certainly, you can disclose it.

[Nemesis67]

Lorekeepers

Hospitium (12)
What is Old Man Jim's role in the Spirit Isle and their Courts?

Grand Astrologist (12)
We know blood and ritual Lore were being shipped from the South to North for something in the Free Lands by a rather potent cult. A safehouse in Dominara had been established. The Lore has been retrieved, thankfully, but the blood is still out there. Whether it is a Harbinger or not is unknown. What is does is also unknown, but I have a report that provides some theories. It's an organization capable of remaining hidden from us, which is ominous on its own.

Old Man Jim seems to be a figure of respect, but aside from that, I'm not certain.


Northern Ritual Report

1. There are four types of blood essence. Human, Elf, Demon, and Dragon. Given this was being shipped from the South to the North, Dragonblood is the most likely.

2. The amount of the Dragonblood Essence that could be contained in pots, indicates that it’s not pure-Dragon Blood, as the amount would be too great. It could be either severely diluted essence or one harvested from greater Dragonkin, such as Drakes or Serpents.

3. The Dragonblood Essence is best suited for “Strengthening Rituals”, that empower and refine one’s ability. However, its potency and astrological alignments can make it suitable for other rituals given the stars at the time.

4. It is theoretically possible to substitute quantity for quality to produce effects of pure-Dragonblood using dragonblood essence. However, it would require highly advanced Ritual Knowledge and great skill.

5. It would be possible to empower a mundane army with strengthening rituals, greatly increasing it’s power. However, it won’t allow it to overcome the Seal of Peace, if that is the target.

6. It would be theoretically possible to empower the Spirit-Beasts of the Broken-Back Mountains, possibly triggering a massive assault on the surrounding lands.

7. It also may be possible to use the essence in calling and binding Elementals and Shades. The Peace Seal works better against the latter, but a Power Surge can temporarily overwhelm it.

Chaos Principle (12)
Thank you. We certainly do need to stick together to ensure this Tower Council is not as secretive and dictatorial as the old ones.

Tower Negotiators (12)
"Possibly outdated information, but some may of use."

Lore, Old Hidden Eye Reports II [Iron]
North
Sandaria: The place is riddled with spies and agents. The Monarchy is losing popularity and they may turn to any source for support.

Dominion: The last Dominar shows no willingness to engage in reforms. It’s a rich cow, reliant on protection of the Seal of Peace, while too dull and weak to defend itself. When the Seal fails, there will be war.

Telamore: Unfortunately, we can’t obtain evidence of Telamorian Lodge action against Dragonblood Empire. Have they acted so subtly, our agents failed to spot it or have the Lodge chose to remain neutral. The reasons for latter are hard to guess.

Clovis: Clovis remains a backwater, slowly sliding to the Free Lands, under pressure of nobility’s intrigues and general unrest.

Free Lands: We are growing concerned with number of Warlocks that seek to establish themselves in the Free Lands. However, for now it’s a scorpion pit, with vermin too busy eating each other, rather than us.

Elves & Sentinels: The Dragonblood Empire invasion clearly rattled the Elves or was it some hidden move of theirs. We can’t discern their actions and movements, but there was a reaction.

South
Malvoc Consortium: Our inability to acquire information on the Guild indicates strong magical support. The Guild may traffic in magical items and have in-house Warlocks on payroll.

Southern Cities: It’s consistently difficult to establish reliable networks, due to the chaotic nature of the local culture and politics. Every city has a dozen factions and the one’s on top today may be in the gutters tomorrow.

Kingdom of Asimar: We are monitoring the Al-Makim influence on the kingdom, but for now it appears stable.

West
Mulden: The republic is playing with fire, serving as creditors to the Sandarian Monarchy. It’s clear that their intent is to prevent it from considering invasion through mountain passes, but Monarchy’s growing problems may lead them to declare war, simply to cancel their debts. Their policy of tolerance has also invited growing number of cults, that may lead to great instability.

Yen Hegemony/Glen Republic: We are growing concerned about the prolonged negotiations between the two countries. Their animosity has balanced both nations, preventing them from engaging in outside politics. Yen’s magic and defensible position against Glen’s discipline and technology. If peace accord is reached, it may change geopolitical situation. The Glen’s Justicars rhetoric is growing dangerous, but they are also radicalizing the opposition.

East
Dragonblood Empire: The Empire’s spy network possesses considerable strength and any strategy they would employ, no doubt would rely on it. We are investigating rumors of the Blood Vault’s crisis, but it can be misinformation, fed to our agents.

Al-Makim: The Al-Makim situation remains unchanged.

Hidden Eye (12)
Thank you.

Eye of the North (12)
While I don't disagree with your assessment, I do believe the gamble is worth it. A North unified against the Dragonbloods will force Reeve from his planned invasion of the Dawn Empire, and buy us time to start pruning their spies from those nations we call allies. Sandaria needs to go along with it, and appeasing their dictator will help. If for no other reason than he'll be focused on whatever schemes he has, instead of potentially backstabbing the coalition.

Internal (GM)
Query the Department of History (my archives and whomever else I can get along with it) for as much info on the Spirits and their Courts as I can.

[ArcaneStomper]

Elreath Issue
The Clockwork Cult's stance is that they wish to know why the Mindcrafters were in Elreath before they take any action regarding the sky islanders. After all if Elreath was behind the mindcrafter's theft of Tower secrets, then they are not the ones who need to be placated.