From: bshsiung@quip.eecs.umich.edu (Bernard Hsiung)
Newsgroups: alt.pub.dragons-inn
Subject: [MG] the long-awaited, long-winded meeting of the Archmagi
Date: 4 May 1993 20:13:03 GMT
Message-ID: <1s6iof$cmf@zip.eecs.umich.edu>

ADMIN:  Here we are!  The talking heads posting of the millenia.  Sorry
for taking such an insanely long time to write this (two months?!); I was
alternately busy and uninspired.  Thanks to Hutch (hutch@ibeam.intel.com)
for writing a big chunk of it, looking it over, and allowing me to
borrow 'Raelf.  And, oh yeah, thanks to Pete Calvert (pcalvert@economics.
adelaide.edu.au) for ...sage's guest appearance.  After this, I think
I have to disappear again and cram my nose back into a monstrous pile of
books for the next week or so.  (Studying for qualifying exams, doncha
know?)  Unless someone gives me a really good image to play with...
----

     Nescie sat in his chair in the Council Chamber, waiting patiently
for the start of the first authentic meeting of the Archmage Council
since Delalle's seclusion.  Things had changed a lot in the last twenty
years, he reflected.  Half of the seats were be held by new Archmagi,
the almost unprecedented turnover resulting from the reawakening of the
Archliche a decade ago and the deaths of four Archmagi and much of the
Guild afterwards.  That would undoubtedly be one of the incidents they
would discuss.

     Nescie looked around the room.  Leonaco had arrived already,
sitting across from him.  He was looking bored, idly sketching runes of
power in the thick dust on the circular marble table with his finger.
Rivy was there also, sitting to Nescie's immediate left, buffing her
nails while reading a thick sheaf of forms.  She threw him a quick smile
and a "hi" when she noticed him watching her, then returned her
attention to the papers.

     Fauteuil appeared from a glowing doorway, did a double take at
Nescie, shrugged, and sat down, leaning over to talk to Leonaco.  Thorn
materialized then, in his chair to Nescie's right.  He surveyed the
room with an air of satisfaction, raising his eyebrows in surprise when
he saw Nescie.

     "You're looking very well today, Nescie," he said pleasantly.

     "Why, thank you, Thorn," Nescie replied.  "How are things for you?"

     Thorn pursed his lips.  "Well, they could be better, could be
better.  But, tell me, I understand that we have nearly enough faculty
to return to the classroom style of education?"

     "Why yes..."  Nescie was excited that Thorn was interested.  He
was still talking to him a few minutes later when Dasham arrived.  She
regarded Nescie from directly across the table.  Her eyes widened, then
narrowed, and her mouth made a tight line, but she took her seat
without saying a word to him.  Instead, she complained to Rivy about
the sudden increase in the amount of paperwork circulating in the
Research Department and the ridiculously poor scheduling and shoddy
workmanship of her apartment renovations.

     Rivy made her papers disappear, tossed her hair out of her eyes,
and said, "Gee, Dasham, Research is, like, such an experimenting-type
department that I kind of hoped you'd want to try out the new and
improved stuff that some of my boys thought up."  She shrugged
innocently.  "And I don't know what the hold-up could be on your
apartment.  I mean, I'm having mine done at the same time, so it's not
like I don't know what it's like, but my service is pretty good.  I'll
take a look into it, okay?"

     Dasham crossed her arms and growled her acceptance.  Leonaco
muttered something to Fauteuil that Nescie didn't catch, then blew
sharply on the table; all of the dust and grime disappeared magically
from the room, leaving it shiny and clean.  Urcohea showed up, sitting
on the other side of Rivy from Nescie.  He smiled widely at her,
looked over the rest of the Archmagi, and said "It's good to see that
everyone's here.  Delalle will be a few minutes late."

     "I don't believe this," Thorn said in an exasperated tone of voice.
"He warns us all to be here on time, then he's late for his own meeting.
Who does he think he is?"

     "He's in consultation with somebody called Dariel," Urcohea said.
Nescie felt a bout of dizziness at the mention of the name, but it
subsided rapidly.  Urcohea was still talking.  "It seems that this
Dariel is deeply tied into what Delalle has been doing.  Delalle said
that he would be present at the meeting and be available to answer
questions."  Nescie felt as if a heavy burden had been lifted from his
shoulders, and his head felt clearer.  He didn't know why.

     "What Delalle has been doing?" Thorn asked with apparent disbelief.
"As far as I can tell, Urcohea, Delalle's been doing absolutely nothing
for the past twenty years."

     Before Urcohea could answer, Leonaco raised his head and said, "I
concur.  Prior to his withdrawal from our affairs, Delalle had shown
himself to favor a very laissez-faire, 'hands-off' style of
management.  However, I find this excessive, bordering on negligence.
He wouldn't leave his shell to assist us against the Archliche.  _He_
might have been safe, but I am sure that his knowledge and skill would
have been invaluable.  At the least, they would have saved many lives."

     "That troubles me also," Urcohea admitted.  "Still, I expect that
he will explain his reasons soon enough."

     "You remember Sargoth, don't you?" Dasham said.

     "Yes, but Delalle isn't--" Urcohea began.

     "Who was Sargoth?" Fauteuil interrupted.

     Urcohea looked at Dasham and Leonaco, then answered "Supreme
Archmage before Delalle."

     "A much more active and influential leader," Leonaco supplied.

     "If I remember correctly, Leonaco," Urcohea said.  "You used to
complain about the amount of control he exerted over your department."

     "All of this ancient history is fascinating," Thorn said drily,
"but doesn't do anything to solve our problem.  The point is that the
Guild has been, in effect, without a Supreme Archmage for the last two
decades.  We've had no sense of focus or direction.  Delalle may have
left you in charge, Urcohea, but you don't actually have the authority
to implement policy.  I think we need a new Supreme Archmage.  Delalle
can follow his own pursuits on his own time."

     The room exploded with voices as everyone started talking at the
same time.

     "I think that Delalle--"

     "--doesn't excuse him from--"

     "Sargoth never would have--"

     "I'm the newest here, but--"

     "Urcohea hasn't been such--"

     "Thorn makes a good point--"

     There was a bright flash as Delalle appeared, his long white hair
blowing in an unseen tempest.  He looked like the grim prophet of a
vengeful god, and his voice was thunder.  "ENOUGH!  Enough of this
bickering!  I am here!"  His words echoed around the suddenly silent
room.

     But as Delalle took his chair, he seemed to change somehow into a
tired-looking old man.  "This is Dariel," he said more softly,
indicating the clear-eyed young man who stood behind him, slightly to
one side.  "He is here to observe.  Later, he will answer any questions
you might have about him.  In its proper time."

     Dariel bowed.  "I am honored to appear before the Council of
Archmagi of the Generican Mage Guild."  His voice was gentle, but
pleasant and respectful.

     "This entity is not human," Dasham protested.  "And it doesn't
scan to me.  How do we know its intentions are compatible with ours?"

     "Indeed, Archmage Dasham, you are most perceptive," Dariel said
good-naturely.  "However, I assure you that I mean you no harm."

     "In all my years in Extraplanar Contacts, I don't think I've seen
anything quite like this," Fauteuil said, a puzzled frown creeping
across his face.  "Will you submit to a binding?" he asked Dariel.

     Delalle harrumphed before Dariel could answer.  "That will be
unnecessary.  I invoke Archmage's privilege to include him in the
meeting as a witness, and as a concerned party.  I take full
responsibility for his actions during the meeting.  Are there any
objections?"  He looked around the table.

     There was a general murmur of assent.  Nescie noticed that Thorn
was studying Dariel intently through multiple scan filters.  Dasham
seemed about to say something, but she wilted uncharacteristically
under Dariel's watchful yet somehow reassuring gaze.  "Uh, would you
like a chair?" she asked instead.

     Dariel smiled.  "Thank you, but one will not be necessary.  As
you have already observed, I am not human."  He shifted until he was
about the same level as the Archmagi, taking something like a seated
position, but with no visible support.

     "All right," Delalle said.  "We had best get started.  We have a
lot of ground to cover today."  He addressed Urcohea, seated at his
right hand.  "Is the Chamber secure?"

     Urcohea created a magical representation of the room's wards for
all to see.  As they watched, he activated and tested each of them.
"The Chamber is sealed and secure, Supreme Archmage."

     "Good," Delalle said.   "Recording begins now.  On this day, by
the power vested in me as Supreme Archmage, I call the Council of
Archmagi of the Generican Guild of Mages to order.  The first item on
the agenda, as always, is roll-call and verification of identity.
I see that all Department Heads are present.  Verification is in reverse
order of seniority.  For those of you who haven't done this before,
please remember to relax your personal wards so that the verifier can
take a blood sample and an influence reading."

     The verifier, a wide cylinder with a single slot carved on its
side, rose out of the center of the table.  It spun on its axis, then
slid before Nescie, turning its slot to point at exactly the angle
comfortable for Nescie's right hand.  Nescie put it into the slot, a
little nervously.  It went in up to his wrist and the stone flowed
around it so as to lock it into a solid block.  Nescie built his
sigil-spell, covered it with his private encoding, wrapped it in the
layers of encryption required by the Mage's Guild, cross-indexed it
through his Truename, and crystallized it into his free hand.  He
fitted the spell-disk into the recess on the top of the verifier.

     There was a muted click, then a mild tingling feeling as the
verifier took a biopsych imprint, checking his whole physical, genetic,
mental and spiritual makeup while simultaneously looking for coercive
magic or general impairment, and comparing his spell package with the
one he had on record.  The process took a little less than fifteen
seconds, then the verifier released his hand and shifted in front of
Rivy.

     It cleared her, Fauteuil, Thorn, and Urcohea.  Then it failed to
authenticate Leonaco.  Not just one, but twice, then three times.
Urcohea examined the readings and made the accusation.  "You're not
Leonaco.  Your pass-spell is correct and your genetic and mental
pattern fall within acceptable deviations, but your soul-scan is off
and you have inserted structures which are not standard.  Explain."

     The Leonaco-imitator smiled and said, "Too bad.  He was hoping so
much that it would have worked.  You had better unseal the Chamber.
He's in his lab."

     Dasham rolled her eyes.  "It didn't work the last time he tried
this, either.  Although I suppose he has had some time to improve."

     "Open a line to Leonaco's lab, Urcohea," Delalle said.

     Leonaco answered right away with a mild expletive.  "I'll be right
over," he said.  The copy of Leonaco got out of the chair, its hand
still caught in the verifier, and moved out of the way.  What looked
like an exact duplicate materialized where it had been sitting.  The
newly-arrived Leonaco put his hand on the other one's shoulder and it
collapsed into motes of light that swirled around and into him.
Leonaco blinked and said, "Well, maybe I'll have the golem working
right by next meeting."  He put his hand in the verifier and started to
cast his pass-spell.

     "Don't count on it," Urcohea told him.  "The Chamber is sealed
again, Supreme Archmage."

     "Thank you, Urcohea," Delalle said.  "Now, if there are no other
surprises, perhaps we can get on with things?"  This time, Leonaco was
confirmed, then Delalle and Dasham were cleared.  The verifier let go
of Dasham's hand, moved back to the center of the table and sank into
it, disappearing without a trace.

     The next order of business was the review of the records from the
last meeting.  The lights dimmed and an image of the Council Chamber in
discussion began to form over the table.  Nescie paid little attention
to the issues of twenty years ago until the very end, where Delalle
announced that he was planning to take some time off to meditate in
seclusion.  He said that Urcohea would be in charge until he returned,
brushed off questions about how long he would be gone, and closed the
meeting.

     The lights came back up and Delalle asked, "Are there any comments
or complaints regarding the minutes?"

     Fauteuil asked, "Why didn't you say how long you would be gone?"

     "I'll explain that later," Delalle answered.  "The short answer is
that I didn't know.  The long answer will have to wait.  Does anybody
have anything to say about the minutes themselves?"

     Dasham asked, "Exactly what power did you give to Urcohea?  There
wasn't a transfer as far as I know, and the records don't show anything
but an informal statement of intent."

     "I meant for Urcohea to act to maintain the Guild according to his
best judgement, but we're getting off subject again."

     Dasham nodded.  "I have no objections to the record."

     "Nor I," Leonaco said.

     "I am satisfied," Urcohea said.

     "And I accept them also.  The rest of you were not present.  Very
well.  The records pass.  The next items on the agenda are departmental
reports.  I'd like to depart from the agenda for a moment, though.
I've been given a thorough historical recap by Urcohea and Thorn, and
we'll enter it into the records later, so please don't feel obliged to
give full details on all the various crises and disasters - just go
over your current status and ongoing projects, leaving out _all_
interdepartmental issues for later, and we'll deal with open issues at
the end."  Delalle sat back in his chair, with a slight wince as his
bones creaked against the hard chair back.

     "You, Bureaucracy, please begin, then we'll rotate clockwise.  I
believe you are Rivy, you were Xandre's just-appointed Guildmaster,
correct?"

     Rivy smiled her beauty-queen smile, breaking out in dimples, and
nodded.  "I took over when Xandre was killed in the struggle with
the ArchLiche.  At that time, we had four full Mages and myself, the
treasury was in ruins, and half the building had been leveled.  At
current staffing, we have eight full mages, sixteen journeymen, myself,
and Guildmaster Gwaliostrok, and we expect to be able to raise two of
the mages, including Gwaliostrok, to archmage rank within five years
time.  Treasury has been restored to the required 100 years of
estimated operating funds, and the building emergency fund has been
half-replenished, with Archmage Thorn in charge of generating
sufficient additional funds to restore it to full-replacement levels.

     "Bureaucracy department now handles all records searches, in-world
registry, records maintenance and entry for all departments, and we
expect to be adding off-world registry and records searches with
appropriate routing through Extraplanar Affairs and Internal Security
within the year.  We also provide mundane staff for all purposes, and
of course we're understaffed there."

     "Thank you.  Urcohea, please report on Internal Security."

     "Well, after the ArchLiche incident, ISD assumed broad powers for
oversight, and as a result the fledgling department of Necromantics
was dismantled and folded into Research and Production, with some
continuing oversight by ISD.  This was approved in a general consensus
meeting between the surviving members of the Council and was largely
due to the death of all members of Necromantics in the combat.  We have
held off re-establishing that department until the Supreme Archmage
should choose to convene a general assembly.

     "ISD established a secure access for the building five years ago,
and has now taken charge of maintaining building power systems, with the
recent stability problems.  We have isolated the cause of those
stability problems, and they have been locked down.  Supreme Archmage
Delalle and I both know the method used, and are satisfied that it is
secure against further tampering, accidental or intentional;
information on what was done can be gotten on a need-to-know basis from
either me or the Supreme Archmage.

     "At present, my department has ten fully trained mages, seven
journeymen, and one mage-applicant examining for archmage.  We
intend to establish, with the unanimous agreement of this Council and
the majority agreement of all Mages currently active and paid, a
general system of wards and accesses, and an upgraded aura-identity
examination department.

     "Incidentally, after the ArchLiche incident, ISD took over the
management of the Medical department also.  We would like to have
Medical reinstated as its own department, so we can free up our funds
for more critical purposes."

     "So noted.  Added to the agenda."  Delalle sighed.  This was still
painful and long.  He nodded to Urcohea.  "Anything else?"

     "Not at this time.  I do have an open-issue for later."

     "Very well.  Dasham, please update us on Research."

     "I'm afraid Research has been a denigrated operation since the
disaster with the ArchLiche.  While nobody seems to want to admit to
it, my department has been slighted at every turn, in some sort of
accidental or deliberate attempt to punish me personally for my
shortsightedness in releasing the entity.  However, this is a
rat-hole."  She sighed, releasing stress.

     "For whatever reasons, I have been seriously understaffed.  I have
exactly one mage in my department, and three contract-mages.  I have no
candidates for archmage, frankly, and over the last four years Research
has had three competent candidates for apprentice.  All chose to go
into Security.  Rivy has been kind enough to take over the library
research portion of my group's work while Leonaco has been steadily
absorbing my laboratory capacity.

     "As a result, our Research department has had only four
breakthroughs on any front in the last ten years, down 80% from the
previous ten years.  This has resulted in our Guild being ranked down
four points in our most recent Audit by MetaPlanar; I'm surprised
Fauteuil did not bother to mention that fact; and our overall
attractiveness to students has only been due to Nescie's very good
reputation as a theoretician and teacher."

     Nescie blushed self-consciously at the unexpected praise, but
Delalle was speaking already.  "Thank you, Dasham.  We'll look into
your staffing situation later.  Now, Leonaco, since you've bothered to
join us in person, perhaps you can give your report?"

     "Delalle, you old coot, you did the same thing yourself when you
were in charge of my department."  Leonaco folded his arms,
unrepentant.

     "Regardless."

     "All right.  The five additional foundries I added in the
discarded and empty laboratory suite abandoned by Research each came
online as expected.  In the department, there are now fourteen
journeymen and six mages, one of which I expect to be ready for
archmage-candidacy within three years.  We now produce the standard
potions, amulets, wards, keys, and weaponry almost as fast as demand
comes in for them.  There is a one week turnaround for standard items,
and our custom service can generally carry up to five requests at one
time with average turnaround for weapons, which are our longest-
turnaround item, at no more than three months."

     "Impressive."

     "Thank you.  We've added a small special-interest research group
since Dasham has been so severely swamped, which specializes in
enchantment and in automation of procedures.  We HAVE been registering
our results with her department on a regular basis."

    "Right, once every three years or so," Dasham said under her
breath.  Leonaco ignored the comment and continued.

     "Current plans, well, we need that sixth foundry.  Oh, and we had
several strings of failures, the latest earlier this week - mostly
high-grade enchantments have gone bad, and we've had to scrap the
materials and start over.  It hasn't happened since then.  Our best
dwerrow is on it, though, she'll find the cause."

     "Good.  Fauteuil?  You are now in charge of Extraplanar Contacts?
Please give your report."

     The sour-faced man gestured, and a pattern, a gridwork of lines,
appeared in the air above the table.

     "This is the current connectivity map for the Guild network.  The
blue at the center represents our connectivity as of the last meeting,
under my predecessor.  After she absconded with the Extraplanar budget
eight years ago, we determined that our failure to locate her before
extradition was impolitic was due to the narrowness of our contacts.
Therefore, I made a number of expansions; these are the additional
connections shown in green.  The yellow lines indicate connections to
guilds who are not registered with the MetaPlanar Mages Guild and
Registry to which we subscribe, and incidentally, who have raised our
fees again this year.  Red lines indicate those guilds which we have
contacts in but who have allied with one of the four competing
organizations.  After discussion with Archmage Thorn, I have also
located a network of contact groups operating along the WorldGate
channels, and we have been accepted as a member in periphery of that
organization as well; I wish to raise the issue of our joining as a
full member later in the meeting."

     "So noted, added to the agenda."

     "Thank you.  Our extraplanar traffic has been growing linearly
for the past ten years following the unfortunate cessation of all
contact work after the ArchLiche incident.  When I took over, I began
increasing that traffic for training and for cross-fertilization of
membership, resulting in our acquisition of both Nescie and
Gwaliostrok, as well as a number of other very good recruits.  We were
also able to send fourteen candidates to other worlds more fitted to
their magical talents.  However, to handle future operations, I require
the establishment of a class five Worldgate within the next ten years.
The bulk of our export traffic is currently going via WorldGate on a
per-use fee basis, and while our full membership in their organization
will reduce that fee, we would end up paying more than a third of the
profits from our shipments in transit fees."

     Fauteuil gestured, and the glowing-line pattern vanished.  "At the
moment, my department has four mages and four journeymen, which
appears adequate.  None of these have shown any signs of progressing to
archmage within the decade."

     "Thank you for your report.  Thorn?"

     "Well, the Politics department really doesn't do a whole lot, but
we HAVE had a few successes lately.  With the fortuitous rise to power
of the current Shaheran of Rameshan, we now have a friend in that court,
and we have been making arrangements via trade, and via influence on
the Merchants, to keep that friend.  We sent advisors to assist in the
recent Lizard Wars, gaining the Guild considerable authority and
autonomy in the sight of the Mercantile and the Principate.  As you
know, we sent an advisor to Magira to mediate in the ongoing power
struggles there; while he wasn't my personal best choice, he certainly
has the skill to carry it off.  Finally, I've been working closely with
Fauteuil to build our interfaces with the other Guilds in neighboring
dimensions.

     "Currently, my department has ten full mages, none of which have
shown signs of the talent required to rise to archmage, but still very
competent.  I personally have no staffing problems."

     "Glad to hear it."  Delalle cut him off as he was beginning to
inhale for what the omens indicated would be a LONG boring speech.
"You, Nescie, is it?"

     "Yes, sir."

     "I seem to recall you were an older man.  Well, tell us about all
you've done for Education."

     "Certainly.  With the death of my predecessor, I was forced to
return to administration from teaching.  Since at that time, we had
only two other teaching-qualified mages, and the students, while
reduced in number, still constituted the bulk of the Guild, I chose to
implement a programmed independent studies course with study and peer
review groups, strictly overseen by the full Mages and with random
testing, calibrated examination.  Only then was apprenticeship to the
full mages and archmages in each department approved.  Each student
was required to rotate between all the departments.  I regret to say
that the reason they kept cycling out of Research had more to do with
the equipment available there; since Leonaco had a better budget, they
tended to go to his group at their first opportunity.  At any rate,
just this last month I have managed to increase the number of faculty
to six mages and twelve journeymen.  We're now at the point that the
journeymen can begin teaching basic theory to the applicants again,
and I can possibly revive the colloquium series.  At present, about
two-thirds of the mages in the Guild have been assigned apprentices.
There are currently thirty-five apprentices and one hundred and six
registered students."

     "Thank you, Nescie.  Now, I expect the Interdepartmental portion
of this meeting will be nothing but squabbling and infighting,
given what I have seen so far.  Therefore, I request that you each
submit to me a written description of all problems you have with any
other department, and in addition, a description of which departments
have been most helpful to you, and how.  Have them to me by the end of
the day tomorrow, and we will meet in smaller groups to solve any
problems you might have, by the end of the week.  No further discussion
on that topic will be accepted at this meeting.  Now then, are there
any open issues before I start my presentation?  Ah, yes, Fauteuil.
Please give us your analysis and recommendation concerning the
WorldGate network."

     Fauteuil's talk was brief and to the point, much to Nescie's
relief.  His chair was starting to feel rather very hard.  The benefits
and responsibilities of joining the network were swiftly laid out, and
the voting was just as quick:  unanimously in favor.

     Dasham brought up her staffing problems a second time.  There was
slightly more resistance on this topic, but with Delalle's firm support,
the motion to allocate more funding, resources, and mages to her
department passed with all votes in favor and only Urcohea abstaining.

     Urcohea spoke next.  "I actually have two separate issues," he
said.  "The first is the separation of the Necromantics and Medical
departments from the ISD..."  The discussion went on for another half
hour, the general consensus being that the re-establishments of the old
departments would require archmages to head them.  Since neither the
Necromantics nor Medical departments were critical areas, they could
wait until more archmages were certified.  However, in what looked to
Nescie like a concession to Dasham and an effort to apologize for her
previous treatment, Delalle pushed for the shifting of the remnants of
the Necromantics department entirely under the wing of Research until
such time that a new archmage was interested in taking it over.
Dasham seemed genuinely pleased; although Leonaco and Urcohea both
voted against it, and Fauteuil and Rivy abstained, this change in
policy passed also.

     Before Urcohea could bring up his second issue, Nescie cleared
his throat, feeling nervous as eight pairs of eyes turned to watch
him.  "Um.  I'm sorry to interrupt, but since we've been talking about
personnel, I think this may be the best time to mention it.  As you all
know, of the twenty years I've spent in the Guild, I spent ten of them
teaching, then was boosted to Archmage a little sooner than I expected
after Linonius fell against the ArchLiche.  As I said earlier in my
summary, it has taken us ten more years to lift the Education
Department back to its previous status, but now it looks like we will
be able to hold regular classes for the first time in a decade.

     "So, I've been thinking about taking a leave of absence.
Charblon can handle my position while I'm gone.  I still have some
matters to tie up, so I'll submit my specific request at a later time,
but I though it would be best to let everybody know early."

     "All right, Nescie," Delalle said.  "When you have finalized your
arrangements, bring it up at the next meeting, and we'll see what we
can do.  Urcohea?"

     "Recently, some of you may have noticed anomalous readings and
results in the mystical processes and rituals we all use.  If you
checked our firmament representations for the next month and compared
them to what is actually happening, you would have found that they are
slightly mistaken; the heavenly influences are in imbalance.  It is
quite small at the moment, but I ran some projections.  It does not
appear to be stabilizing.  It might only be a minor burble -- or we
might have to prepare for the sky falling on our heads.  Literally.
Unfortunately, some information that I have received recently is
leading me to suspect the latter.

     "Of course, you have also noticed the devastating and unnatural
storm that stuck Generica.  I strongly believe that this is also tied
somehow into what is happening.

     "It would appear that there is a force which is actively creating
new gods, of natures that are inimical to life and happiness.  I see
that many of you are looking at me with expressions of disbelief.  I'm
afraid to say that it certainly appears to be true.  Delalle, I would
like to present the evidence of one journeyman master 'Raelf.  The
journeyman has been a contract mage working for Archmage Dasham, and
has completed some confidential consulting work for ISD; I can vouch
for the accuracy of his information, and Dasham can give her
assessment also."

     Dasham looked a little irate, but nodded.  "Yes, he's competent.
He has some unusual methods."

     "Very good.  Supreme Archmage, I'd like permission to open the
security wards to admit the journeyman and I think we should change the
room configuration to presentation mode."

     "Granted."

     The table disappeared and reappeared in a different format as the
Archmagi and their chairs blinked into new positions.  They were now
seated in a shallow arc, facing an empty half-room.  Urcohea performed
the disassembly gestures and opened a small portal.  "Please send in
my guest."

     A gust of wind blew through the portal, and solidified into a
solidly built blond man in his early twenties, wearing an clothing from
an odd mix of cultures.  "Uhm.  Archmage Urcohea probably told you who
I am and why I'm here.  I carry a personal recording device.  This is a
translation into standard threespace annotation of an encounter I had
in Low Town."

     He placed a box on the table, a cube about three inches on a side,
with a smooth-polished blue-green gemstone set in the center top.  The
gem began glowing faintly, and projected in the air above it a sphere
about three feet on a side, showing an image of a section of Low Town.

     Leonaco sat up, paying more attention to the playback device than
to the image it was showing.

     The image changed.  A group of four people walked into view, their
auras a crackling ripple around them.  They froze in place.

     "I'm displaying the emotive segment, as you can see.  The color
keys are the usual ones: green for desires rising from hungers, red for
aggressive, blue for mystic, yellow for physical lusts and hungers,
various shadings in between.  Notice the change in tenor ..."

     The image unfroze.  A wash of something pale green and red, like
squid ink, washed across.  Where it touched the four people, their auras
were slowly changed, the colors becoming more brittle, the subtle
interplay of emotions coarser, going deeper into each, then washing out
leaving hollow shells of color behind.  The image changed, sounds of
shouting were heard.  The focus point for the picture moved, rapidly,
down the Plaza of Unforgotten Heroes towards a crowd, thirty or more
people, all with the same hollow emotion-auras.  The inky wash was more
intense.

     The crowd parted, showing a young child whose aura was not hollowed,
but which was bleeding together in the way that dying people's did.  He
had several livid bruises, broken bones, contusions.  The image changed,
and the child was gone, the crowd moving away with a tinge of fear.

     The murk solidified, assuming a humanlike body - a mime with a mask,
a design of rage and decadent apathy.  The image froze.

     "This is the thing itself.  The display changes between physical
and primarily conceptual imaging from time to time."

     The image unfroze.  The mime was moving, obscenely, depicting a man
in a box being slowly crushed between invisible walls, blood spurting
and bones snapping.  The point of view moved behind the mime and showed
it from reverse.  It was hollow in back, clockwork and thin delicate
metal parts like an umbrella.  It moved, and the people all moved with
it, color leaching from them and into IT.  It pushed them and pulled
them, making them do things which should have raised horror and
rebellion in them, things that even made Thorn blanch, then it fed on
the emotions, leaving husks behind.

     A shower of glowing sparks sprayed out towards it, and collected
into it with the colors.  They lodged in the mechanism, landed burning
in the cloth and mask.  There were thin fine hooks attached to them,
and the mime was forced to perform a small dance, disembowelling
itself and reading entrails.  At the end, it was yanked, like a puppet,
off the "stage" and up into the wings.

     "That's it."  'Raelf picked up the box and pocketed it.  "The thing
was sent off to Pantheon, which at least keeps it from directly feeding
on its victims.  Since I reported this to Urcohea, my mate has
encountered another of the things, twisting two residents of the
waterfront into monstrosities - it had eaten most of their souls.
Since my mate doesn't carry a recorder around, I don't have any kind
of analysis of the kind of god it is."

     "I do," a voice said softly from behind Delalle.  "This is the time
to say why I am here, here and now," Dariel continued as he rose and
walked before the Archmagi.  "Feel free to ask questions."

     "I come from a Place very distant from here, yet its influence is
always very near.  The struggle in which my siblings and I are involved
is vast and every self-aware creature plays a role, yet it is as much
locked within each one as without.  Now will I stop speaking in riddles.

     "All of you here are skilled mages.  You deal with magic.  There
are many, many forms of magic, but at its heart, magic is the force that
causes the universe to follow your will.  And what are the forces that
drive your will?  Hopes, fears, dreams, desires, and needs.

     "I am a Seeker, a Servant of the Keeper of the Beacon of Hope.  I
see that my words strike resonances within you, although you might not
be familiar with their meaning.  You are all greatly knowledgeable
about structures, magical and mundane, real and unreal.  In a very
strong sense, my Master is the embodiment of Hope, one of the bridges
between the body and the soul.

     "It would not be necessary to bring this to your attention, except
that there is one who is set against us.  He is the Reaver, and He
desires the ending of all things.  Where my Master sees possibility and
potential, He sees only failure and ending, and works to hasten the day
when all creation is unmade.

     "However, unmaking or not, He is currently in ascension.  I was sent
to this Place to recover some of my siblings who had been corrupted by
His influence.  I stay because none can be spared to recover one such as
I; I am not all that important overall, and I am the last devoted Seeker.

     "Most recently, it has become ever more obvious to me that one of
the Reaver's Servants, a Reaverschild, walks in this Place and puts his
will upon it.  The malevolent new gods are of his creation.  The
imbalance of natural forces is his doing.  At this time, I am seeking for
him hither and yonder, but have not found him.  It is because our essence
is tied so deeply into what is and what is not that no scrying or augury
reveals us; only the effects of our actions appear.

     "One way to look at it is as if I were a light, and he a light of a
different color, and we were to be projected upon a screen that is this
Place.  What results depends on my actions, on his actions, and on the
texture of the Place itself.  With help from a native, I can read a
future of mine, and he can read a future of his, but I am certain that
they would not be the same, nor the same as that read by any native
alone:  our views are biased by what we are.  In summary, you are not
likely to find him except by direct contact or by tracing his actions.

     "This brings us back to the subject of the gods.  The Reaverschild
is fabricating and scattering god cores.  Fortunately and unfortunately
he has left them to develop on their own; he is not empowering them
himself.  Fortunate, because this means that the gods, though troublesome,
are newborn and unaware of their potentials and limits.  Unfortunate,
because I am not able to use them to find where he is hiding.

     "The god that 'Raelf ae het 25 spoke of is a god of murder, but
has fallen to my hand; it is dust and nothing more.  The marid within
the storm was a major projection of another god, of disasters.   It
also has since been destroyed, picked apart by its brethren after it
overextended itself supporting the storm.  There are still others who
are awakening even as we speak, and he is continuing to create more."

     Leonaco indicated he had a question.  "Where is the energy to build
these gods coming from?"

     "He is murdering old gods and taking their power.  I have verified
the disappearance of several pantheons of ancient deities, and if my
observations are correct, he has the ability to construct perhaps a dozen
more gods.  Assuming that, as before, he does not back them himself and
that he continues to reserve a portion of the strength for his own use."

     "How can he hide power manipulations of this magnitude?" Dasham asked.

     "First, recall that we are hidden.  Even gods can die natural deaths.
It is only extremely unusual that several score unrelated powers should
all choose to do so within such a short time frame.  Secondly, it is not
as difficult as you might imagine to create a god.  If conditions are
appropriate, gods can be generated spontaneously.  The problem is to
induce the appropriate conditions.  This does not have to require a large
flux of energy, only -- how would you put it? -- a shifting that results
in a deific conception.  Also, he has been crafting cores, rather than
full divinities.  These act as seeds, if you would, slowly gathering to
themselves the power they need to become fully active, at which point
they can influence sentients to worship and sacrifice.  Finally, it is
probable that he is working at a location strongly charged with Power
that would mask the few energy expenditures that would occur.  Any temple
or your World Gate would suffice.  This Guild would be ideal."

     "What does the Reaverschild gain by creating gods?" inquired Urcohea.

     "There are several advantages.  By drawing new gods, he can contest
the older ones without needing to confront each and every one himself:
something that would definitely lead to my knowing and finding him.  If
he makes enough influential gods, there will be strife in the heavens.
Chaos there will be reflected by chaos here, a state that he can use to
further his goals.  Further, the new gods we have seen are harmful to
life.  If any of them should gain a substantial following, it inclines
the basic nature of this Place to support him.  Finally, his creation of
these gods is proving an effective distraction.  I am dividing my time
between seeking him out and stopping the predations of his gods."

     Urcohea absorbed this, then asked "What are his motives?"

     "Ah.  A good question.  This Reaverschild must be a lowly Servant
indeed if he needs to hide from me.  If a full Servant had invaded this
Place, our positions would have been reversed.  But he hides, so I know
that he knows I am here.  He very likely knows who I am, but I do not
know who he is.  It is certain that he fears to move against me directly,
or he would have done so already.  All of these say to me that we are
dealing with a minor Servant, probably one who is not in contact with
the Reaver; perhaps it entered this Place by accident rather than design.

     "As to his ultimate goals, there are only two such for Reaver's
Servants.  The first type are the purer kind, closer to the will of
their Master; these exist only for destruction.  The second kind are the
ones who have been corrupted by their own abilities and seek to rule
rather than destroy.  These are tolerated by the Reaver because they
serve his purposes well enough for a time.  It is too early to say for
certain what this particular Reaverschild wishes, but neither goal is
desirable for the inhabitants of a Place.  A choice between complete
destruction and absolute slavery is not much of a choice at all."

     "You are called Dariel--" Fauteuil said.

     "No," he interrupted.  "I _am_ Dariel.  There is a difference.  For
example, you are only called Fauteuil, but who you are is half again
something different.  I see there is a name that you have given yourself
for power -- do not worry, I will not say it.  Please continue."

     "What is this Reaver's Servant, this Reaverschild, named?"

     "I do not know.  If I did know, I would know also who he is and
probably where to find him.  I warn you:  if you should learn his name,
do not speak it, and especially do not conjure with it.  To use a
Servant's name with knowledge is to give an opening to that Servant to
to reach you and bind you.  There is no power in the naming of
Servants, only danger for the unwary.

     "What, then, can we do to assist you?" Thorn wanted to know.

     "Whatever you will.  Watch the changes.  Tell me of the imbalances.
Listen for his gods and oppose them however you are able.  And if you
come across the faintest sign of his presence, let me know."

     "How will we know him if we meet him?" Nescie asked.

     "Believe me, if he shows himself to you, you will _know_.  Just
as you see me, hear me, smell me, taste me, and know what I am, you
will know him if he reveals himself.  If he does not, even I might not
see him, but he must show himself to invoke his nature."

     "The two of you are, like, opposites, right?" said Rivy.

     Dariel tilted his head to one side as if looking at her from a
different angle.  "In a way, yes."

     "So what happens when you find him?  Who's going to win?  What
happens if you do?  And what happens if he does?"

     "We are fated to meet, he and I, though I do not know the conditions
nor the time.  There will be a confrontation, and I do not see the ending.
I suppose we will fight; that is part of the way things seem to be.  If I
defeat him, life continues as it has and as it does:  it always does.  If
he overcomes me, then he will no longer be hidden, nor need to be.  In
that case, the portents will be clear, and you will have to do what you
can, save what you can, and hold to what you hope for as long as you can.
Perhaps one will come to fetch me back; perhaps not.

     "It should not come to that; I feel in my marrow I can take him.
The only question is, at what cost?"

     The room was silent.

     "If there is nothing else, I will step down so Delalle can make his
presentation.  I will stay in contact with the Guild.  If you wish to
speak to me later, call me and I will come."

     There were no further questions.  Dariel moved to one side as Delalle
came forward.  "This matter begins nearly eight decades ago, when I first
received indications that could conceivably be interpreted as my death,
followed shortly by large-scale disaster.  Very vague indications, nothing
that would warrant an investigation, but indications none the less.

     "Over the next sixty years, I attempted to clarify the visions,
sometimes successfully, sometimes unsuccessfully.  Now that we are at the
brink of the time I foresaw, I can see why:  we have been or are about to
be struck by at least six distinct near-cataclysms, all within the decade.
It is no wonder that the signs were so confused.

     "As any of you who served as Archmagi during those years will recall,
I did not consider this the most pressing of tasks, although I did
continue my researches in my spare time.  Twenty years ago, my efforts
were rewarded.  I found direct evidence of Dariel's Master, the Keeper,
and I knew that the rest of my life and my death were linked to His
struggle.  I went into seclusion to winnow out the distracting effects of
other disasters at this time, to meditate on the implications of what
would occur, and to prepare myself fully to educate one of His Servants,
should one come and require my knowledge.  One has come, and I have
passed on what I know, and have considered, to the best of my ability."

     "You mean that you sealed yourself away to save yourself so that
when Dariel arrived, he would have someone to talk to?"

     "I don't think you appreciate the seriousness of the situation,
Thorn.  I regret that I was not able to assist you against the ArchLiche.
I very much regret every death.  Every one.  But this was, and is, more
important still."

     "You said you foresaw your death.  Have you done anything to attempt
to change it?  Are you still going to die?"

     "I think so.  I don't seem to survive to the end of this situation,
I'm afraid.  That does not seem to change, whatever I do.  However, I do
not know when it will happen.  Some of my visions placed it several
years ago.  Others, several years hence."

     "Delalle," Leonaco said, "I think you have shown admirable
foresight in planning for this eventuality.  I can also see that you made
a very difficult choice about which catastrophe to prepare for, and it
does seem that you picked one with extremely important consequences; this
is exactly what Supreme Archmages are for.  However, I would have thought
that you might have informed the rest of us about what you were doing and
also resigned as Supreme Archmage when you decided to withdraw from this
plane, and certainly when you learned that your death was imminent.

     "Because you did not, and because you still think you will die
before this is resolved, I wish to call for a vote of non-confidence."

     "I support that," Thorn said unhesitantly.

     "And I also," said Fauteuil.

     Delalle looked surprised.  "Very well.  You have enough votes to
make this an issue.  I would like to say in my defense that the reason
I did not tell any of you was because it appeared to be an important
factor in my readings that I did not.  I did not resign as Supreme
Archmage for the same reason -- it was necessary to keep both my
activities and my location hidden, and this seemed the best way.

     "I would also have it known that Urcohea would be my choice for my
successor; I do understand that twenty years of his unofficial leadership
may have soured some of you a little about him, but I urge you to give
him a fair consideration."

     "That's a different thing altogether, Delalle.  May we get on with
the voting?" Thorn suggested.

     "Yes," Delalle said begrudgingly.  "The proposition is a motion of
non-confidence in me as Supreme Archmage.  I believe that the most senior
Archmage who does not hold the position is empowered to preside over this
vote.  Dasham?"

     "I see you still remember the procedures after twenty years'
absence," Dasham said.  "The vote is as Delalle states.  A vote for the
motion is a vote to remove Delalle from his position.  A vote against
the motion is a vote to allow him to continue as he would.  Is that
clear?  Any final questions for Delalle?

     "All right.  Then, as the most senior Archmage, I open the voting
with a vote for the motion."

     Delalle looked slightly hurt, but of course voted against the
motion.  Leonaco cancelled out the Supreme Archmage's double-weighted
vote by adding his vote to Dasham's.

     Unsurprisingly, Urcohea and Thorn's votes cancelled each other out,
Urcohea voting against and Thorn voting for.  Fauteuil followed Thorn's
lead, tipping the balance towards the non-confidence motion.  Rivy
mischievously balanced the total by voting against, leaving the deciding
vote in Nescie's hands.

     Nescie was flustered as he realized that everyone in the room was
staring at him again.  He snatched at his first gut feeling desperately
and stammered "For.  I vote for the non-confidence motion."

     "That's it," Thorn said triumphantly.  "We need to decide on a new
Supreme Archmage."

     "Not so fast, Thorn," Urcohea said.  "There is one more Archmage
who must be consulted, and a deadlocked vote maintains the status quo."

     "Who?" Fauteuil asked.

     "The Keeper of the Generican Library is an Archmage and has a voice
on the Council, although he rarely uses it.  I think this is something
that will concern him."  Urcohea made a motion that opened a visual link
elsewhere.  "...sage, we have a Council issue that requires your
attention."

     The albino dark elf looked into the link curiously.  It was
peculiar: he wore a blindfold that covered his eyes, but he appeared to
be looking right at the Archmagi as he spoke.  "What is it, Urcohea?"
he said.

     Urcohea and Leonaco summarized the issue leading up the vote and the
way the vote had gone.  ...sage appeared to consider, then said, "I will
come through to vote."  Urcohea nodded, and briefly lowered the
transport-ward guarding the chamber.

     ...sage materialized in front of the table, as the verifier once
more rose out of the center of the table.  It moved to him.  The dark elf
slid his hand into its opening and wove a humming copper-colored disk.
Oddly enough, the verifier released his hand as soon as the disk lodged
into its spell-receptacle.

     "I support Delalle and vote against the motion of non-confidence,"
he said.

     "Wait," Thorn said.  "Take off your blindfold."

     "I--" ...sage started.

     Thorn stood suddenly and pointed.  The blindfold blew off in a gust
of wind, revealing normal eyes.  "A trick!  This is not ...sage!"

     "The genetic-scan matches perfectly and the others are slightly off,"
Leonaco said, "but within acceptable variations.  Perhaps he finally found
a solution for his curse and had his sight restored."

     Then ...sage moved his arms in a casting that Nescie recognized as
the preliminaries of a spell causing the transmutation of blood to acid.
Chair clattered to the floor as all the Archmagi rose out of their seats,
strengthening personal wards and raising powers.  'Raelf did something
that made him look relaxed but dangerous; Dariel seemed unconcerned.

     Urcohea acted first.  He flicked his wrist, and a spray of blue lines
sprang from his hand and struck ...sage with a single clear tone.

     The rest of the Archmagi held their preparations in check as ...sage
was knocked back into the wall and fell to the ground, screaming, consumed
by fires that burned from within.  In scarcely half a minute, the remains
were charred almost beyond recognition.

     "Now do you believe me?" Thorn asked.

     "Yes," said Dasham drily.  "...sage has much better defenses.  He
couldn't have been affected to that degree by such a simple spell."

     "Somebody did a better job than I did," Leonaco observed, frowning.
He rubbed his chin and went over to study the ashes.

     "What do you have to say for yourself, Urcohea?" Thorn asked.

     "I didn't have anything to do with this," Urcohea protested.

     "And why not?" accused Thorn.  "You called ...sage in.  You know the
verifier better than any of the rest of us:  you would know best how it
could be misled, fed incorrect information, perhaps even reprogrammed on
the fly by a carefully arranged pass-spell encoding.  You have a lot to
gain by having Delalle stay in power long enough to appoint you his
successor.  And you were the one who destroyed the evidence."

     "My spell was intended to be a binding, as you should know if you
had paid any attention at all during your student years," Urcohea said
through gritted teeth.  "It looks to me as if any spell cast on that
imitation of ...sage would have triggered that reaction and 'destroyed
the evidence', as you put it.  This requires a full investigation."

     "Ah, yes.  An 'investigation', headed by you, also known as a
'cover-up'--"

     "Of course not, you, you--"

     "Stop!" Delalle shouted.  "The vote stands as it is.  I am no longer
Supreme Archmage, and we must hold an election for that position.
However, it should be clear to everyone that we are not going to get
anything else done in this atmosphere of recrimination.  Therefore, I
suggest we adjourn the meeting to give everyone some time to calm down
and think things over, and to have an analysis run on the remains."

     "That makes sense," Dasham said.  "And as our guidelines state,
I will serve as Supreme Archmage-in-interim, although I do not want the
position on a permanent basis.  The election will be the first thing on
the agenda of the next meeting."

     The adjournment of the meeting went smoothly, although Urcohea
glared at Thorn the whole time, and then started a vehement argument
with him about his possible motives and ability to set up a duplicate
of ...sage as soon as the meeting was officially declared to be ended.

     Leonaco called several mages in his department to preserve and
examine further what was left of the counterfeit ...sage.  Dasham swept
out to carry out the changes in Guild policy with respect to her
department, and Rivy disappeared also.  Delalle and Fauteuil stopped to
talk with Dariel and 'Raelf.

     Thorn and Urcohea were still yelling at each other when Nescie
finally left the room.
--
Comments, compliments, and complaints can be conveyed to:
Bernie Hsiung (bshsiung@eecs.umich.edu)