[Bureau Office] The Many Talents of the Mind (Private Sheng)

[Atl Myrsa]

The Offices of the Lord Imperial Magus could be found on the top floor of the Arcane Bureau. The stairs lead to a solid oak door that was rather plain except for a circle in the middle that was divided into seven sections each showing a symbol of a different sphere of arcane. The only other future of the room was a man standing outside of the door. He appeared to be youngish in his twenties and human. The man was dressed in red and black with the crest of the Imperial Magus on his breast. Underneath his surecoat was a set of armor and a blade at his other side. The Guards was the physical defense and the a field against spell casting was the primary arcane defense.

The room beyond was a large and comfortable. The primary feature of the room was a large desk. Made of solid oak there were strange images carved along the sides that from the door were hard to see. The light in the room seemed to mostly be drawn there. The desk itself was clean except for a couple folders that were placed into a pile right next to were the occupant worked.

Behind the desk was a large window that took up the whole of the wall. Images showing the last battle of Diana seemed to dance across the glass. Placed in the center of the large window was a map of the Empire with markings for all of the cities and mountians and major rivers of the Empire.

Two more desks occupied the room. Located next to the door. Situated so that the occupents could look at the main desk these two were also carved from rich oak. One was completely clean and another was covered in folders and papers.

One of the remaining walls was completely covered in book selves. They seemed to be almost groaning from the weight of all of the books. Most were normal sized that one would expect to find any were else. A few were small things, and some were so large children could be squashed by them.

The last wall held a fire place that was currently ablaze giving off light and warmth in the cold winter. Four chairs were positioned around the fire each with a little end table between them. They were richly embroidered with geometric patterns on them. One last table sat next to the fire place with a pot of tea, glasses, and a couple bodels sitting on it.

The nimlani secratary blinked at Sheng and then rang a bell. "Oh course Sir. Let me see if he is has some time." She quickly looked down at a book at seemed to have the appointments for everyone in the building, but was writen in her native Nimalni. The page boy, a young human by the look of him entered the room. He nodded towards the receptionist. "Inform His Imperial Excellency that Inspector Imperatis Sheng Kaldres would like to see him." The page nodded his head and turned to hurry towards back of the room. The page moved at a serious pace hurring around his choirs but not chaotically. She turned back to the Master Mystic. "Please take a seat. We should have word in a moment."

The page returned a few moments later. "His Imperial Excellency will see you now." The page said formally to Sheng. He waited to see if the mage would follow him before leading him to the top floor.

It only took a moment them to arrive at the door and enter the room. Atl was standing behind his desk speaking with a human. Atl was dressed in fairly common black pants and a white shirt with an open green robe. His fair was, strangle for a elf, cut short so that his ears were clearly visable. The long hours in the office were begining to show as his tann was well on its way to being faded. His light grey skin which spoke clearly of his nimalni heritage.

He nodded towards them and handed a parchment over to the human who returned a nod and then left the room. Atl walked over to the fire place. "Please have a seat." He said indicating to one of the chairs by the fire. "Would you like some tea or wine?" Atl said as he poured himself a cup. "How may I help you?"

[Sheng Kaldres]

“Tea, please.” Sheng said with an appreciative nod and then sat down as Atl had indicated a chair. Yes, tea was the preferred drink as Sheng would need his wits about him as he lay out his plans.

Taking a sip out of his cup, Sheng pondered how he was going to approach the matter with Atl. The main reason that Sheng was here today was to get some advice on some mages matters with regards to the Imperial Army and perhaps even the Imperial Forces. But how to start?

Deciding to go easy, Sheng decided that a relating of the recent events would be a good start.

“What do you know of the Paxia and Narim wars?” Sheng said and looked intensely at Atl.

[Atl Myrsa]

Atl poured his guest a cup of tea and handed it over before taking his own seat. Atl sipped at his own tea for a moment. He was interested why a Inspector Imperatis was paying him a call. He had been in office for about three months and the only legionarians he had visited with were the guards on the building.

Atl was a little curious when the Imperatis asked about the recent orc attacks. "I know that the Herald was told not to report on them until after the attacks. Their were large amounts of orcs. I know that some magic was used, but honestly I haven't been able to get to reading any of the old reports." He looked at his guest. "I am guessing that there is something related to thoughts tragic events that you wish to talk about."

[Sheng Kaldres]

Sheng listened carefully to what Atl had to say, noting the body language and intonation of his words to get a feel of what Atl thought of the wars. From what Sheng could see and hear, Atl was neutral and perhaps a bit curious. Sheng needed to know of Atl’s views and attitude before he could outline his plans in finer details to Atl.

“Yes, one of the reasons that I’m here is because of what had happened there. But before I go on, I must ask you a question; what is your view of magic being used in conflicts like the wars fought in Narim and Paxia?” Then, Sheng pondered on his choices depending on Atl’s views.

[Atl Myrsa]

Atl sat and a amused amused expression tugged at his lips. He sipped his tea one more time. Sheng wanted something. Atl wasn't sure exactly what but something. Atl set his cup down his expression one of curiosity. "I feel that magic has its place in everything." He said. "Part of the problem in answering that question is I haven't read the reports in detail enough to know what magic was used."

He paused getting the drift of the question though. "Do I support the use of magic in combat. Yes. Something to keep in mind is originally I was a battle druid." Atl said picking up his cup again.

[Sheng Kaldres]

“Then, I think it’ll be safe that what I am going to detail here should be no affront to your moral values.” Sheng said with he nodded with a satisfied look on his face. Atl’s views were to Sheng’s liking.

“The main reason that I am talking about Narim and Paxia is that magic was used in those two wars. At many times, the Imperial Forces faced grave dangers because of the casting of spells. Mages themselves are contradicting. They are vital to the efforts of the Imperial Forces as they can cast powerful spells to assist the Imperial Forces to victory. But at the same time, they are vital assets to the Imperial Forces for there are enough mages to go around. Most Legions have only a handful of mages to assist them in their daily tasks.” Then, Sheng frowned as the memory of how arcana was used in the wars.

“If there’re enemy mages, this complicates matters more. On one hand, the mages need to push to the front to engage the enemy but at the same time; the Imperial Forces cannot risk putting the mages’ lives at risk. Thus, their effectiveness is affected. And if the enemy mage is an Archmage and have a few Master disciples….The Imperial Forces will be greatly challenged.”

Taking a sip of tea to calm himself as he goes on. “This is what happened in Paxia and Narim. An Archmage in Necromancy was suspected to be involved in these two wars, and there are strong evidences that there were at least a Master in Necromancy and Mysticism involved too.”

“The Imperial Forces need to eliminate such threads. So is there a way?”

The last statement is perhaps a good sum up of why Sheng was here, in Atl’s office and Sheng paused to let Atl speak.

[Atl Myrsa]

Atl paused as he held the tea half way up to mouth and looked at the man. He wondered what this man thought the Bureau could do. People to often didn't realizes that controling mages was like controling a swordsman. The only thing you can do is bind them or arrest them. Either way you first have to catch them.

Atl paused for only a moment before finishing his current action off sipping. "The Bureau is going to install a number of requirements upon the mages of the empire that hopefully will help to limanate the number of rogue mages." He said after a moment. "As for in direct battle, I would need to know the details. I have a few ideas that could work, but they are only quickly thought out at this moment." He looked at Sheng. "You could answer me as to some of the conditions of the mages the Legions use. Besides magical training, is there any other training given, equipment?" Atl got the impression that Sheng had some ideas.

[Sheng Kaldres]

No definite answer and no suggestions, it looked like Sheng had to give his thoughts and ideas, however radical they might seem.

“I have a few ideas in mind…..” Sheng said, trailing off for some dramatic effect. “The first being can we produce something along the line of a Binding Stone? An artifact that can effectively cut off the mages’ access to ara? I know that the previous government during the former Imperial Regent Alexander Nighthawk had produced an Unbinding Stone…so by that reason, we can assume that we can produce a Binding Stone that temporary cut off mages’ access to the ara….Of course, this may mean that our own mages will be affected, but in a straight on physical fight, the Legions will have a greater chance of winning.”

Then, pausing slightly to gather his thoughts, Sheng continued with another line of thought, “We must also have a detailed account of who are the mages. As the first line of contact with mages, we must have a way of control the various academies and institutes. All mages that come through these institutes must be registered and their progress monitored. If anyone is showing any inappropriate behavior, they must be taken in and if needed, binded. And if possible, mages of any level must serve in come capacity for the government. Some control must be maintained. Of course, there will be problems in maintaining surveillance over mages that are in the wild and the various Archmages. Some areas like Silrosia may also be hard to get accurate numbers but we must try. After all, this is what the Empire is paying to do; to do what we can in the best interest of the Empire.”

With the radical thoughts out, Sheng leaned back and tried to predict Atl’s response and what would they entail.

[Atl Myrsa]

Atl listened his face remaining calm and blank. Some of his ideas were good but others were clearly not thought out. He did noticed that Sheng avoided his questions about the training of the Mages in the army and their equiping. Atl spoke after Sheng was finished. "We can do something along thoughts lines. The Bureau would never aggree with binding stones since the act of binding to a mage is like cutting a fighters arm off. Binding means that any mage bound would require to be unbounded." He finished. "We can do Anti-Magic fields. These will achieve the same purpose. The Bureau would be willing to help in providing these stones. How would you like the handle of that."

"As for the other ideas. I have already published an announcement that the Arcane schools and academies will be reived to make sure they are up to standards. The appointments of City and Province Magus are going to be watch to make sure the schools follow the standards." He wondered where the man came from. If he walked into the military offices and said that they HAD to do something. "As for what MUST be done, the Bureau doesn't see any of thoughts things. We are looking into provdiding scholarships that will require work in the goverment for a time to pay off, but the empire doesn't have that type of income to pay for every mage in the empire to work for it and to also lisences them. We are going to license the Mage instructors, and this will range from actually academy teachers to Masters who take apprentices. The schools will watch their students activities, and if need be bind them again."

[Sheng Kaldres]

Not all of what Sheng suggested went down well with Atl. Atl did not showed his feelings on his face but from the tone and the words that he chose, Sheng could feel that what Sheng suggested might have been too radical for his liking. Atl might even feel that Sheng had encroached into Atl’s area of control. If Sheng continued, this might turn ugly. Sheng had to pull back.

“I guess tha Anti-magic fields may work but we need to work out the details of how to make this Anti-magic field portable and what training is needed for this field to work.” Sheng said, being practical. “Of course, that may be times when a Anti-magic field may not be enough…” The ending was to hint to Atl that the idea of a Binding Stone was still in Sheng’s mind. Being a mage, a Binding Stone might be repulsive to Atl, but to a military mind, a Binding Stone would be very practical and perhaps essential in future warfare.

Just another sip of the tea, Sheng would continue patiently, “Yes, I had heard of some of the measures that you are going to take. But maybe you have some misunderstanding of what I had suggested. The main idea is this; mages must serve the Empire, and they should volunteer part of their time to do so. And every mage in the Empire must be registered with the Empire. As I understand it, only one out of ten thousands can ever become a mage. That makes them a valuable asset to the Empire.” And for tactful measure, “Of course, whether you accept these suggestions or not are up to you.” A nod of head indicated Atl’s authority was given.

“Besides what I had suggested, there are other ways that we can cooperate. For example, the researches on equipment that can help us communicate over long distances. Another example would be on the researches on transportation over long distances. Right now, all these required Sorcery mages of high levels and frankly speaking, there are not many of them and not enough of them to produce this equipment in sufficient numbers. The employment of other crafts also seemed to be lacking in the military. For example, there is no alchemist that I know of that works in the military.”

New information on top of what Sheng had given was supplied. Hopefully, this would bring some light to Sheng’s plans.

[Atl Myrsa]

Atl set his cup down and his eyes took on the look of a teacher. "Let me explain somethings about the arcane and mages. An anti magic feild achieves all of the same effects as binding. Within a anti magic feild mages are unable to even touch clara. A binding stone can only work against someone of lower levels, and doesn't cover an area but a single person. In the end you would have to have a lot more of the Binding Stones then of the anti magic feilds." Atl had run into people like this before who thought they know whats best but don't actually do the research. "Not to mention the hours spent trying to unbind your own mages could very well be detremental."

"You seemed to be throwing that must around a lot." Atl said bluntly. "Its closer to one out of a thousand. I do agree that the mages are asset to the Empire, but so are fighters and merchants. Are you expecting them to volunter their time." His saphire eyes turned cold reflecting the light that came out of stones of similar colors. "The moment we MAKE any citzen of the Empire volunter for goverment services we begin to ignore the Three sacred Principiles that the Empire is built upon. Law, Order and Justices."

Atl brief flash of passion faded and returned to the Nimalni cool. "I must agree that we need to create methods of communications beyond just what is open to by spells. I have a few ideas about these and have been working with some people towards creating such objects for the betterment of the Empire." He thought for a moment. "I think the first order of buisness is to establish some way for the military and the Bureau to work together to provided these resources."

[Sheng Kaldres]

Atl seemed to take offense at every thing that Sheng said or was it that Sheng imagined the almost hostile tone that Atl was using? Was Atl being threatened by Sheng’s presence here? Perhaps so. Atl might feel that Sheng was overstepping his authority but Sheng was giving his opinions and plans that he hoped that Atl might accept. More tact needed to be used.

As Atl went on with his admonishment on Sheng’s ideas, Sheng stayed silent. It was obvious that Atl did not see the issues from the other side, that of the non-mages. It was true that fighters and merchants are valuable assets to the Empire but they do not have the power or potential to destroy cities with a spell, or to kill thousands with a few well places spells. And the mages are hard to stop, especially those that are highly ranked. Sometimes, desperate measures are needed to control the power and might that mages have in their hands. If this meant that all mages on a battlefield must be bind, then so be it.

Maintaining his cool, Sheng went on with elaboration on the idea of how Atl’s Ministry could cooperate with the Imperial Army and Navy.

“Definitely.” Sheng said to confirm the idea of the two working together. “The two Ministries must work together to develop the idea of producing some items in large quantities. The funding for such research must be provided. So we’ll also need to speak to the Treasury. Then, a location needs to be determined of where the various people can meet to discuss and to do research. Perhaps, the Academy in Prime can be used. And then, of course, we need to decide who shall lead this process.”

An appropriate response was given and now an appropriate reply was expected.

[Atl Myrsa]

"I think the academy would be a good location. It is in the capital and easy access by both ministries. They will need to be given some warning before full residances could be taken since they aren't yet ready for it." Atl personally suspected an aditional wing would need to be added, mostly because secerity these potential artifacts getting out could be bad and costly. "As for leadership. I noticed these things usually go better when both departments appoint someone together. Right now I can think of a few potential canidates, but the appointing of canidates would need more thought." Atl said tapping his chin in thought. "How big of a project do you have in mind, such as number of mages and so forth?"