[Bureau Office] What Black Wings (Wessex)

[Atl Myrsa]

The offices of the Bureau of the Arcane and home to the Lord Imperial Magus is located along the southern edge of the Imperial Forum. The Bureau is a large three story building that grants the impression of grandeur. Sheathed in white marble the building presented a impressive image to all visitor. The ground floor was dominated by the entrance to the stately building. A large half circler porch extended outward the outer edge of the porch were made of large marble columns that supported a ceiling for the porch. Resting atop the porches roof is a large statue that the causal observer appeared to be little more than abstract art. To the trained eye one could see the bore the symbols of the arcane fields.

The front of the second floor was faced with large windows that appeared to be curtained against the unwanted eyes. Along the third floor was a large stained glass window that recreated the image of Diana’s final battle. From the ground though it was hard to tell all of the details of the finally crafted window. The doors to the Bureau were large oak that considering the building the belonged to were strangle plain.

The entrance to the Bureau was designed to greet visitors. Polished wooden boards covered the floor. On the floor was a soft and large black and red silk carpet that stretched down the middle of the chamber towards the back of the room. Located in the center of the carpet was the crest of the bureau of the Arcane. Either side of the carpet was flanked by a couch made of cherry wood and polished till they gleamed. The couches were also over stuffed and had flora patterns in reds and gold.

At the end of the carpet was a large desk also made of the same polished cherry wood as the couches. The owner of the desk was a young elf female. She was sitting behind the desk filling out paper work seeming to be very bus but as visitor approached the desk she would stand and bow to them. While clearly and elf, she lacked the elven beauty that so marked the race, she wasn’t ugly, but almost plain looking. Her skin a dark grey that was off set by her black hair and light brown eyes.

"Serale Visitor. How may I help you?"

*********

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.

Rachrot looked at the newest arrival with more then a little suprise. Her eyes widened, but only for a moment before she recovered. Picking up a bell from her desk she rang it twice and set it back down. A human male about the age of sixteen or seventeen walked out from a back room before stopping to stare at the aeylrian. His mouth feel open and for the first time in his carrer as a page stood perfectly still. Rachrot cleared her throat, and he snapped to attention.

"Please inform that one Wessex de Evile, is here to see him." The page turned and bolted for the stairs. What is was that was told to the Imperial Magus could only be guest at because a moment latter the page showed up looking a little terrified. "Please follow me Sir." He said in a voice that was reverced back to early puberty.

The Imperial Magus was behind his desk sitting. The desk was clean and only one of his secrataries was at their desk. Atl stood up his face showing suprise at the actual appareance of the vister but only for a moment. Suprises were part of his job and he was learning to take them in stride. "Serale and welcome to my office. I am sorry none of our furniture is designed for wings let me have a better seat fetched for you." The human looked up from his desk and slipped out the door. "How may I help you." Atl was now curious as to the purpose behind the visit.

[Wessex de Evile IV]

The Ancient Aelyrian took the reactions in stride; he was a member of a race reputed to be all but extinct, and even when there were more of his kind in the Empire he had been something of a strange sight. He gave the page a gracious nod and followed the page at the request. It was not worth the breath to tell anybody in this day and age what forms of address would actually be applicable in his case.

The Duke of Arium assessed the office as he was ushered in, feeling a small tingle as he walked in the range of a ward against arcana. Most fields thus generated took the approach of preventing a caster from achieving clara, a much more economic approach than trying to actually confound and nullify casting, but one that was easily noticed and circumvented by a creature that lives in a perpetual state of clara. Wessex decided to tune out the slight humming sensation the ward generated in him, as it is rather impolite to break a ward somebody had went through the trouble of placing there.

He noted the reaction of the Imperial Magus with a slight tinge of amusement even as he assessed the elf. It was with some approval that he privately noted the man wasn't an Archmage; these mortal Archmages generally consumed so much time and energy in maintaining themselves at the pinnacle of their art that they almost invariably had made poor administrators in the past.

Wessex nodded his head graciously as the man was sent out to fetch more appropriate seating. Hopefully they had kept a low-backed chair of some sort in the building, although a stool might have to do. He certainly hoped they weren't going to go fish for a classical reclinium, which would have been patently inappropriate for an office meeting such as this anyway.

"Serale, your Imperial Excellency," he began in his quiet voice. "The accommodation is greatly appreciated, considering my inconsiderate interruption into what is no doubt an already overfilled schedule. My apologies if this is rather too straightforward of me to say so, but it seems that a number of issues involving the arcane are coming to a head here in the Empire, and as I am coming out of retirement I decided that it was either here or at the War Minister's disposal that I would want to place some of my knowledge of these matters. I had hoped that given enough time, matters would sort themselves and it would not come to this, but it seems that some prodding may indeed be in order."

Wessex had decided before arriving that laying out the situation with some candor and honesty and seeing where the discussion went from there would be the best way to proceed. The poor elf probably had half the Empire pounding on his doorstep to do something about the "Mage Issue"; hopefully at this point he would be amenable to some assistance.

If not, after all, there was always the War Ministry.

[Atl Myrsa]

Atl's lips turned up into a small smile. It was a friendly smile, but still a small one. "I have lived long enough and served in enough positions to be grateful for help were every it may arrive." He was about to say please be seated but remember that the chair was still forth coming. He remainded standing though while his guest did. Luckly the chair arrived shortly. Atl had served for a time as Thane of Mystique and that had taught him anyone or thing could show up. It was a low back chair designed for Dracon guest who came in their true form. "Please be seated."

Atl sat back in his chair and looked at his guest. "I, and it appears a large chunk of the empire agree that there is a mage issue and it needs to be delt with. I have since discovered thought that few actually see eye to eye on were exactly the mage problem lies. Most of them have valid points, but I have since learned that I need to understand were one is coming from. I would be curious to understand how you define the mage problem, or as I like to compare it to what would you define as the cause of the dieses?" Atl was grateful for any help. He had walked into a job that was frankle a mess. He some times almost missed the collapsing city walls and balanceing the budget, but this job was opening up new avenues. So he sat listing to one of the founders of the empire, open and sincer interest on his face.

[Wessex de Evile IV]

The Aelyrian accepted the proffered chair with a slight, gracious nod and sat as the Magus did, his eyes not leaving the elf's face. He nodded as the elf closed his introduction to the issue and, leaning back in the chair, steepling the fingers of his gloved hands in front of him, the former Consul spoke in his quiet, sonorous voice.

"The likening of the matter to a disease is very much an apt characterization, I would agree. You no doubt have had many differing viewpoints converge here, concerned citizens scrambling for solutions even as calculating individuals seek to subvert the state for their own seditious means. Thus it has always been, as this is a political institution."

"Many idealists are under the illusion that the higher in office you attain, the more pure, rarefied the air you breathe is. They have not experienced this for themselves, or else they would know that the higher you go, the more enclosed and suffocated you become. You become crowded in. Surrounded by many and for many reasons. The eager seek to provide what aid they can, the subversive to drag you and possibly the Empire down. Many of these people think that, given the same powers and responsibilities, they could perform the tasks better. The result is stifling."

"I am under no illusions and would have you under no illusions either. The time for my race passed as we did from this world. I am here because I was charged to do what I could in the name of stability for the Imperium, and if that too is now entirely an illusion... well then, the effort is in vain and there are others avenues for my stewardship. I would assure you, therefore, that at this time I have no intention of doing anything that would harm the Empire, and thus that I do not seek to undermine your position or use you for the intent of damaging that which we built ages ago."

"To return to the direct matter... your characterization of this as a disease is apt, primarily because to identify a disease, we generally view the symptoms. I think that many of these advisors, good or ill in intention, have come before you to describe these symptoms. Ultimately it is for you, as one of the physicians of this ailing Empire -- not literally, of course -- to decide where the rot lies and what to do about it. I can offer only my own observations, experiences, and thoughts."

"Many of those you have spoken with have no doubt hit on many symptoms. They speak of rogue magi, discuss how there is no standard for learning, or teaching. Stories of cities razed between the time the sun has fallen and risen again over them have no doubt come to your ears, and it has occurred that it seems the tide of darkness could very well overwhelm the outskirts of the Empire, and even sweep in and finish its heart off."

"For the mortal races, the Aetherfracture changed everything in regards to the arcane. The races who did not require the Aethergem's intervention in interfacing with the planes are all but dead, and with us went much of the knowledge and power that in ancient times balanced the forces that now threaten to cripple and even devour this Empire. Learning something of the true language of the universe has opened new avenues for those that live here and now, but not all of them are pleasant. Forgotten lies the knowledge of the means by which all was safeguarded previously, when armies had magi and the fabric of reality itself bent and twisted in torment at their whim and desire."

"Some seek to reclaim this knowledge, or to at least find a method by which some manner of stability could be regained, but fundamental facts remain largely ignored, whether consciously or even in the subconscious flow of thought. Some things must be made clear to these people."

"The ancient races of this world have vast and broad powers to alter reality. It is our gift, our curse, our stigma and our charge. It must be remembered when the attempts are made to duplicate our feats that our minds are not partitioned in our awareness of other planes. While our facilities differ and our proficiencies varied, any of us -- all of us -- could access many planes and draw upon them in our work. In order to duplicate our feats, it is integral that today's magi learn to combine their resources, to bring together the various planes and use them in concert and in harmony."

"And so it comes to what I see is the fundamental issue, the core of the situation... a lack of cooperation, of consensus. There will always be the rogues and the rebels, yes, but even they had their contributions to make. But currently, there is no consensus. No cooperation. Fiefdoms and territories and boundaries aplenty, but no unifying force to bind them together in hegemony."

"And that, your Imperial Excellency, is the duty of the Empire. To bind together these disparate peoples and viewpoints and agendas. What began as the Empire of Constantine has become an Empire for all of its citizens. But alas, no force seeks to bind them together."

"Perhaps it is fear. Perhaps it is simply a fundamental inability to acknowledge the problem. I long ago discarded the notion that I could reliably steer mortals in any direction. Sometimes they are contrary simply for the sake of being contrary. Diverse for the sake of being diverse, being in diversity we can appreciate more."

"I do not claim to have a panacea, but I can only lay before you the knowledge that, working together, the magi of this Empire can accomplish wondrous and terrible things. Something must be done in order to bring them together before they drift even further apart."

"A call to duty must also be issued. I understand and appreciate the utter disaster that attempting to coerce the arcane community would cause. It would precipitate the darkness that we fear will come to pass anyway. But out there must be magi who, in their hearts, still feel some spark of loyalty to something. We must see what can be done to have that loyalty be to the Empire."

"The very face of warfare is now altered by the current situation. All manner of offense has been discovered, but bizarrely enough, defensive measures are few. Some constructions which we considered simple are now simply out of the reach of the current Empire. Until some consensus is achieved, we may never again see these simple items made manifest in the defense of the Empire."

"This is all in vain, of course, without the consensus of the Imperium's leaders themselves, of course. Public works, the military, the bureaucracy; all of these can be better served by what magi can provide. And thus it is that I am here first instead of in the Minister of War's office. This office has the mandate over something that can affect sweeping change across all other aspects of life and death in the Empire."

"I am aware that you have made an effort to put together a council of advisors. I can only implore you to assemble them posthaste, to build momentum while the moment is within your grasp and before it passes into the hands of the rogues and upstarts. Bringing some semblance of unity to the Empire begins here, with what you can accomplish. If that fails, I fear there is no hope from any other source short of the Gods, and from my own experiences... I would not seek unity from Them. In fact, opening a window for Their intervention is, at this point, probably the greatest disaster of all."

Wessex quietly observed the elf as he himself fell silent. Now was to see what penetrated and what went astray. His eyes, fluctuating from grey to steel blue to an open sky blue and now back to steel grey over the course of his words, were locked onto the elf.

[Atl Myrsa]

Atls looked at the Allerian listening to each and every word. There was much depth to what he said. It was beautifully simple, but so very profound. Atl had not understood the depth of the Allerians connections to the other planes. He was after all a Nimalni elf, the race that had forsaken magic for logic. Atl had learned the arcane by tooth and nail. He could have debated styles of music as a child, but understanding of the arcane was lost to his people.

Wessex did hit on several things that Atl himself had thought about. It was like pulling teeth these days to get to the groups of magi to work together or even magi and non magi. Atl blues eye grew lost in thought for a moment before turning back to his guest. He nodded and listened to the rest. Yes while Atl had thought about all of them deeply they were true.

A call to the empire was needed and in more then just the arcane. It seemed more and more that people were demanding of the Empire and not returning. The mages wanted the peace to study, merchants to trade their wares, and when something occured to disturbe that peaces. The first call is for goverment, but when help is asked for the voices vanish.

Atl sat for a moment longer looking at his guest his blues eyes meeting the color changing onces in front of him. "You speak truth. In truth you have nailed it on the head. The dieses isn't the renegade magi or warriors, it isn't even the influences of the evil gods. It is peoples lack of copperation. Or possible even their pride. They ask why they should have to help or be bothered. What they foget it that as you said it is now an empire of the people."

Atl pulled out a picture from his desk. It was a simple drawing, but it showed a tree that had been formed into a tree house. "I keep this drawing for a reasons. In my time as a Thane I managed to create cooperation between the druids, politicians, even merchants of the city. One of the results of that was this Tree house. It wasn't anything big, but through the cooperation, magic from the mages, backing from the politicans and merchants that has become a permant attachment of Mystique. I agree that cooperation is crusial. With just a little minor wonders are possible."