"Yes, it would have required you to act differently. Which is why you're going through training now. We're not saying you failed, we're saying you could have accomplished the mission with far less casualties, both literal and figurative. You could have accomplished all of what you did with less deaths and less exposure. If we wanted to just end slavery through brute force, then Andril could have marched an army on them. But we wanted to do something else, something that did not have such a high cost and that would create a better society from within that which already existed instead of replacing it. Take this example. Say your mission is to get a house under your control, and right now it's occupied by an enemy. What you did was bust down the door, blow up the house, and then rebuild. What we do is pull some strings to make them leave on their own. You did a good thing, that's not being argued and we're all glad to have slavery heading towards extinction, but it could have been done more effectively."
Heff shrugs off the accusations as if Toramin mentioned it was going to rain. "All you've really gotten right is that I keep secrets from you. Beyond that, you're so far out of your league that you're grasping at straws."
Älia turns her head slightly. "I agree with Heff on this matter. We value truth, but that doesn't mean everybody can always know it. Heff has secrets from everybody, even me. After two centuries I've learned to trust him. What do you wish would change?"
"Heff manipulates people. So does a very large portion of the Aestherics. We are a subterfuge organization, and we do things that seem morally wrong. The thing is, we always do it for the better. I know how that sounds, it's the old "It's for your own good" argument. As Älia told you months ago, we may not be perfect, but we're really damn good at knowing what needs to be done. For that to be accomplished, secrets have to be kept and people have to be manipulated. We wish the world was a simpler place and these tools weren't necessary."
"The Fourth Room is as it has always been. Acera remains tight-lipped, but it is only a matter of time."
They hear but they do not listen. Yet really what else could be expected? For all their protestations, their organization is monstrous by its very nature: a secret tyranny.
"We live in the world that we make with our actions, Krokar. You say it is for the better. But I ask you for whose betterment? Yours or theirs? It is hard to see how it could be theirs. It seems that if truth is valued here, it is as a miser with her gold. Priestesses of the Debt Minder are more generous with their riches.
While I am sworn to speak only honestly, I do not expect it of others. Sometimes it is necessary to mislead one's foes, but is the whole world your foe? Are we? For that is how you are treating us as your foes or as children to be protected from the truth, and warped by lies.
Yet, that is a terrible way to parent if you want your children to be thoughtful and love the truth. If truth is to be cherished, one must encourage the moral reflections of the children. Explain to them what you want and why you want it. When a child's moral vision is limited, a good parent explains the consequences. To serve up only lies, misdirections, and half truths is to keep that child perpetually a child, robbing them of their autonomy, making their moral vision dependent upon your own.
Is that what you want for your agents? People who mouth platitudes, but cannot love truth because they have never known it? Do you want stunted children or free thinking adults? You asked me, honored elder what I would change and I would ask for this: when you want something from us tell us what you actually want from us, why you want it, and why we should want it as well. Encourage us to wisdom. Manipulation leads to mistrust.
It is the position of this council that we could be much improved. I do not doubt the validity of that position, but are you blind to how these manipulations create the flaws that you seek to perfect? By not trusting us enough to not deal with us from the position that one day there could be equality of moral position, you show us that we should not trust you. That we should drag our feet, look for the hidden motivation, to deny you what we think you might desire because we reject being kept as children or slaves.
I do not claim to speak for my fellows, but I saw both Bjorkus and Master Dalton nod at my words. Is that not striking that both the most cunning and the most simple amongst us hunger for the truth? Those who would be your allies deserve to know the truth. If not always the truth exhaustive, then at least enough for moral reflection and personal growth.
The majority of the council appears to believe that there is no problem. Do you not see that misperception, mistrust, and mis-recognition are the problems? A truth that is so fragile that it cannot withstand open discussion is a truth too ethereal to love. A democracy that misleads its own people, is no democracy at all.
Heff, your pride and arrogance are no surprise. It seem that you think the distance between us is as vast as the difference Targ saw between himself and his slaves. From your words and actions you demonstrate to us that you see us not as children to be guided to adulthood but as children to be always kept dependent upon their parent's vision. Your attitude is synecdochic for everything we fear and mistrust about this organization.
The council purports to represent the entirety of the Aestherics. I am not so arrogant that I believe my concerns are the concerns of the entire organization. But who stands for us on the council? How can any, if you do not see our problems as problems? How can you claim to represent our views when you do not empathize with us enough even to recognize why we might be concerned?
The council may be correct. Its actions may be for the best. Time will tell. But it fails its purpose if it does not listen and reflect upon the concerns of its constituents enough to be able to see why their concerns concern them. The Aestherics fail if we cannot teach even our own members how to love the truth."
Ianna keeps a pleasant and interested face during the debate between what appeared to be the entire leadership of the Aestherics and her brother. Her time amongst the the central families and taught her the value of poise and grace.
Internally, however, there was a slowly curdling dread. She would evaluate the group on the actions that she herself saw, but this scene was not one that inspired confidence.
Moreover, she did not know her brother had such eloquence within him. He was as well spoken as an advocate before the Voices in the Stone, which was silly. Why would her wrongfully disenfranchised brother have cause to speak before the honored elders and have such well reasoned arguments?
I am glad that there are no dwarves among their number. His simile about the priestesses of Dranngvit would have been quiet cutting. Who could be more miserly than the priestesses of the goddess of debt and vengeance?
"For the betterment of all." Krokar answers simply. "You completely misunderstand what we mean by valuing truth. We don't love the truth, we value it. Sometimes we even hate the truth. We value it because of how hard and rare it is to have. Not because we wish to spread it."
"Necessary to mislead allies sometimes. Better that way. Can't explain why. Defeats the purpose."
"Unfortunately, manipulation will happen. Even our own members cannot know everything, partly for security and partly because some information simply cannot be known by those who are not prepared to know it. It's not a question of treating you as children, it's a question of keeping you and those around you alive. Would you rather know the truth in your grave?"
"It's good that you hunger for the truth. That's part of being an Aestheric. But you won't always have it out of us, because it would put people in danger. Ianna's capture and your stalker are evidence of that. Two of you died because of what you have learned, Toramin. And that's what we wanted you to know. Imagine the consequences that would come down if we told you everything."
He smirks. "You are children in what we're involved in right now. And there is no use telling a child that the house is burning down. You just do what you can to protect them."
"You don't get a personal representative. You can vote like everybody else or you can put in your own bid to be a council member. Until then, we will decide what matters are important and what must be done."
"And this is why I don't like paladin recruits. Your last point is the only one that matters. The Aestherics have been active for longer than you've known, and we've always steered Erandor towards peace and safety. You're here for a few months and you think you understand us. Imagine a child pretending to know how the Voices operate, that's what you sound like. Heff, either tell him or I will."
Heff shoots a distasteful glance at Jasper, then looks back at Toramin. "You're right. We don't trust you to know everything we do. And we're right to not trust you, aren't we? You keep pushing and digging for more and more information, but why is that? I wonder what your secret goals are? As evident by your activities at Dağın Kalp, not something entirely honest yourself. So tell us Toramin, why should we trust you with any information if your intentions are to betray us?"
Dalton didn't care much for the self-aggrandizement of most of the members. Heff's ego always got the better of him.
"The problem with those questions, Heff, is Toramin has no reason to answer any of them with any substance. When you withheld the truth from him, he has reason to do it from you. I suppose the largest difference here is he respects your autonomy as an individual to make those decisions." Though that's about as far as the respect goes.
"If he respected me to make these decisions he wouldn't be questioning us and divulging secrets to the Voices. I'm asking not only why should we tell him anything if he's going to betray us, but why shouldn't we wipe his mind and drop him back off at Dağın Kalp? He is a traitor."
Not surprising . . . except for Alia. She usually pays a closer ear. I did not ask for everything. I explicitly did not. They willfully misrepresent our concerns so that they call themselves righteous.
Toramin does not bat an eye at Heff's accusations. He continues in his calm, deep voice.
"When is respect silent obedience? When does respect blind thoughtfulness? You are deaf to any reason but your own. You do not hear because you do not want to listen.
I have not asked for any great secrets. I have not looked for information to root you out or destroy you even though you are a threat to the sovereignty of all peoples. You would make infants of us all. You pursue your agendas with no accountability. No. All I have asked is that when you ask things of us you tell us why you want them and respect our autonomy to agree or disagree with those purposes. I have urged you that when we disagree that you reason with us.
But, no, that is beyond you, or perhaps, in your mind, beneath you. You do not even see why we mistrust you. You cannot even see why we would have a problem. What congress does a tyrant have with a slave? Only one of inequality and exploitation. When we disagree, you turn to threats to cow us. Do you believe that simply because you are stronger that we should accede to your power and call you right? Perhaps you do. That is the way of tyrants is it not? You beat those you seek to control. You try to break their spirits.
I cannot have broken any trust with you, Heff, because there has never been any trust between us."
Quiet a few things started to make a great deal more sense to Ianna, though none of which pleased her. My brother tells no lies, but he is ever so judicious with what he does not say. Good goddess, what has he gotten himself into? What has grandmother gotten him into?
The lovely young priestess closes her eyes and begins to pray, inviting her goddess to reach through her into this room.
Golden Gift, in this moment of trial I beg that your grace shelter us. Protect my brother from those who threaten him. Protect my brother from himself. Goddess of Love, please soften their hearts so that we may have true understanding and accord.
After her prayer, Ianna opens her eyes and her mouth. She hoped that the goddess of Love would grant her words purchase on the hard hearts in this room.
"Please forgive my interruption. These are clearly weighty concerns, which I do not fully understand. I must be mistaken because I thought I just heard you threaten my brother with the death of his personality. That does not sound so different than when he fell in battle helping his friends rescue me.
I must have misheard because this honored elder just told me that the purpose of your organization is at its most basic -- succor to those who need it. Now there is reasonable disagreement about how the most wicked should be punished, but death of the body or death of the self seems rather extreme. Who would that help? To whom would that offer succor?
No, I definitely must have misheard. We are all people -- I hope -- who seek the common good. Please, let us pause and reflect. Disagreements about such things should not lead to violence.
Let us speak not from anger and pride, but from compassion."
"Toramin is no traitor," contradicted Dalton. "If your spymasters were as good as they are implicitly suggested to be, you would have known he was inclined to speak to those Voices about sensitive matters prior to admission."
He decided to be more pointed. "Perhaps it is not just we who are in need of furthering our training in that area."
Toramin stoic facade fades for a brief moment for a small smile. Dalton understands the delicacy of my position, and he is so brave to defend me. He often claims to have a coward's heart, but few whom I have met have been braver. If these are my last moments as myself, than I am grateful that my last thoughts will be of a true friend.
"You don't trust us with the most basic truths and that's fine, it's your call. You've got all the power, all the gold, all the magic, how's anyone gunna oppose you? But trust goes both ways and you can't expect any of us to fall in line if you won't start comin' clean with us. We're not your soldiers and we're sure as hell not your slaves."
The council briefly dismissed the party and talks for the better part of half an hour, after which they are allowed back in. "We have decided that a greater deal of trust must be issued both ways between your group and the Aestherics. What do you want to know?"
"Thank you for this concession it goes a long way to demonstrate your good will. I would not ask for any great or hidden secret, but rather that when we go on future missions that we be treated with more transparency and accountability. Perhaps if we did not have to work with Heff for the next few missions that might also ease some of the more personal tensions. I believe that you wise Alia are greatly in favor of learning and bettering ourselves overtime. I think this is an opportunity for us all. What would you like from us?"
"Your next mission is under me. Heff is not involved."
Suddenly invited to an open forum, Bjorkus jumps on board.
"What was the original plan for Akropash? How'd you plan on turnin' Raul and bringin' down Targ?"
"That sounds reasonable. We will be as transparent as we can with your future missions. The next one should definitely help with that. In return, we would like you to return the same transparency, within reason as ours will be, when acting with us. In addition, when there is something that must be kept hidden from you, we will be less evasive about why."
"Also, something needs to be done about the Voices. We have decided to attempt diplomatic ties with them, as we did with Andril. And we would like you to be the envoy between us. Hopefully the dwarves and us can be mutually beneficial."
Suddenly invited to an open forum, Bjorkus jumps on board.
"What was the original plan for Akropash? How'd you plan on turnin' Raul and bringin' down Targ?"
"Targ had two Slave Prince enemies. We planned to draw Targ out into a conflict with them and lay the slavers kill each other, tidying up the winners in their weakened state. That way we could lose less Aestheric lives and take care of three Princes at once. As for Raul, once he learned Acera was a necromancer it would have been an easy sell."
Bjorkus snorts. He was doubtful on the effectiveness of expediency of the proposed plan but the honesty, however late, was a start.
”Since we’re sharin’ I’ve got something for all of you. While we were away we learned a bit about the sword I took off Targ after he died. It turns out it was forged by the tyrant Shockaros – a soddin’ blue dragon. Legend tells it that he’s the one responsible for turning Yenrick into a desert. There was a smith in Yenrick that managed to unlock a bit more of its power but who or what’s been trying to reach out to me through it is still a big mystery.”
"Liamsho has informed us of what he knew of the blade, and Tiasar contacted me after Dalton contacted him. There is currently two teams underwater off the coast of Yenrick, searching for anything they can find. If you want, Liamsho and I could attempt to backtrack the source. We haven't done so yet, because we feared of the repercussions of finding whatever is calling the blade."
Bjorkus shrugs. ”That’s up to you. I’ll admit I’m curious but if there’s a chance it’s some kinda insane dragon spirit maybe it’s better we leave him alone for now.”
"We are heavily undecided on the matter, so until circumstances change we are taking the safe route and following up on historical leads while leaving the blade alone."
Toramin listens to Bjorkus and gives the bull space to speak. He was pleasantly surprised that at least for the moment they seemed willing to engage with them.
"I believe that the Voices will be interested in controlled, diplomatic contact. Both the Voices in the Stone and the Hand Council seem to enjoy their secrets. Yet, the royal Vorn seemed sympathetic to the burdens of a long life and far ranging plans. Were I given to rank speculation, I might imagine that he sent me back to you as a test of your intentions much as one might send a canary down a mineshaft. Whatever relationship develops, I doubt it will be hostile. They were not best pleased that you had suborned some of our people, but their rule is absolute consensus. Few could be considered rash.
I took no joy in my subterfuge, but I will not pretend to false contrition either. While I shared your secrets from all but the Voices (and my mother), including my beloved sister, I held to my oaths. The Oath of Torag is clear: the continued existence of my people is my first duty, though I believe my next duty is the continued existence of all peoples. All threats need to be assessed. However, I will make a promise to you. I will not reveal further information to them about your organization, for which I do not have your permission to share unless I believe it to be necessary for the continued survival of my people, their sovereign status, or the survival of other peoples.
They will ask how you became aware of their mandate upon me.
In the spirit of building trust, I also have information to share, though please stop me if I'm wasting your time by telling you things you already know."
Toramin pulls out a sketch of the tattooed fetchling. "We captured this image from the psychic echoes left on vials of poison. Though he seems to have some affection for Chaos, he was unknown to the Exarchs. Also, I have concerns about the ancient dead powers stirring back to life. Are you familiar with the name: Malose? I have seen lingering evil magic so powerful it threw me across a room."
Rilka speaks up, ”I was the leader of the mission to Akropash, so if there’s any blame, it’s mine. We were gathering information about the quotidian realities of life and the various groups vying for power, seeking weaknesses to exploit, when events with our cover story outpaced my ability to adapt. Part of the problem was my insistence on maintaining my slave cover. I would have been more effective if I shed that once we reached the city; or soon after. I wrote a report,” she displays a bundle of papers divided into fifths.
As the meeting proceeds , she feels caught in a trap, an emotional kind since it dealt with conflict between friends and people she respected. Calm, she tells herself. Gran always says better to air grievances like dirty laundry than let them stink up the place.
She glances from her friends to the Leaders. Volatile reagents. We all need to be careful. She writes down notes as the debate continues.
”I’m glad that’s out in the open,” she tells her companions. ”I’m optimistic we can build a stronger foundation...depending upon what they say. If not...” her halfling features twist into an unusual degree of worry. She shakes her head and snorts. ”All sorts of philosophies are represented within the Aestherics. We just need to find a balance between these issues.” Why does it feel like we’re trying to decrypt different ciphers with the same key? Wait, is that what it really feels like? Maybe I’ve been working on that crypto-ink too much.
She nods as a tentative transparency is built between her friends and the Leaders.
"I'll be the first one to admit that we have no spies within the Voices and we have no idea what their plans are. They purged a number of our spies these last few weeks which made it very obvious what had occurred, especially after we looked at the times you visited them and when the purges began."
"For those three reasons, I would understand you breaching secrets to your people. I would expect nothing less."
Heff's lip twitches at the image. The other four council members look at him with a mix of apprehension and expectation. After half a minute Krokar breaks the silence, slamming his fist on the table. "By the gods Heff, they're in danger!"
Drosil flares his nostrils. "Some things are best left in the dark."
Jasper hisses. "The bastard captured Ianna and orchestrated the death of two of them. His face is known and he's active again. We shouldn't just tell them, we should put out posters of the f&+@er to every active Aestheric in Erandor. Open your damn mouth Heff."
"Fine!" Heff barks, echoing the others into silence. He runs a hand through his hair, and it has the slightest hint of a tremble in it. "His name in Shadowtongue has no translation or comprehension in the common tongue. But that's the name he took for himself after he betrayed us." He grips the table, white-knuckled. "Rygat. He was a powerful fetchling. He was the last Annihilator of the Hand's Council. He is also my brother."
Heff pauses and lets that sink in. "Half brother, anyways. He was the third founding member of the Aestherics. There were five of us in the beginning, the three you know of in addition to Nareth I'grada and Nathaniel. Rygat was always talking about the end goals of our actions, how we would eventually make freedom absolute and create a beautiful world worth living in, free from darkness and tyranny. However he was also the one amongst us who had to do the darkest work and get his hands the bloodiest. Nareth warned me of the dangers of the passage of time on young minds, but I wouldn't listen. After a century of assassinating tyrants who got replaced with worse ones and planting seeds just to watch them burned in the ground, Rygat slowly slipped away from us. It was an endless cycle that the nation went through and it was all we could do to keep civilization from collapsing in on itself. After so long with no real progress except keeping Erandor from slipping over the edge, he snapped."
"Rygat became the kind of person you fear I am. He decided the only way for Erandor to flourish was to listen to our authority, to live under our thumbs so that we could control them and end all the pointless conflicts. He kept trying to steer us towards more extreme means and ends, like exterminating an entire royal line or putting people in power that were under our control. We tried to convince him away from what he had become, but he was a different person. When he went out on missions he killed whoever got in his way. He threatened and beat instead of convince and trick. It pained us, but we knew something had to be done, else our entire campaign was for nothing. At the time we had no ability to wipe minds or any other half measure. We had to kill him."
"Even with all four of us coming down on him, despite our abilities, Rygat had been assassinating people for over a century, and we greatly underestimated him. Älia still cannot walk on her own due to the terrible cursed injury he put upon her. I don't know how he did it since we locked down the entire area both physically and magically, but Rygat escaped into another dimension. It was no dimension we were aware of, for Nareth spent great time walking the planes, and he could not find the essence trail from Rygat. To this day we have no idea where he went."
"After ten years he returned, and the Rygat we knew was gone, replaced by a beast of chaos. His mind was broken by where or who or what he experienced when he escaped us. He was hearing voices and had a terrible power that he couldn't control, blinking between dimensions and diffusing into shadows. We tried to pin him down in hopes of helping him, using sunlight to cut off his control of shadows. But cutting him off from the darkness that was now a part of him drove him into a murderous rage. We lost Nathaniel that day. He gave his life so that the rest of us may live. I don't know what happened to Rygat in those ten years, but he is a broken and tormented soul. And he is beyond any of our powers."
After a pause, Älia adds almost as a side-note to the information they just learned. "We do not know of a Malose."
Bjorkus is initially doubtful of Heff's tale but Alia's corroboration gets him to take it seriously.
"And this guy's after us, a man so powerful that the four of you couldn't lay a finger on him. Why in the Nine Hells would have give a s#!& about us? You've got to have more important agents that he could go after. Do you think he's the one that sent that undead monster after my ship and put a shapechanger on my crew?"
Heff just shakes his head, gripping the corner of the table. "I don't know. He's been gone for so many years, I have no idea what made him return. I have no idea what his motives are. And that terrifies me, because I don't know anybody except Nareth who can stand toe-to-toe with him, and no location is secure from him. He has no necromatic powers, but he can change his appearance on a whim."
"I can not say I understood all of their goals, and I would not tell you if I did. However, it would break no troth to tell you that from my experience, they value three things above all others: wisdom, consensus, and sustainable progress.
They believe that there are many voices among our people and from that chorus runs the seem of wisdom.
They believe that while there are many voices our people must act as one for own protection and the protection of the other peoples. They seek the path that both Duine Gealtine and Trealamhgabha can walk together in accord.
They also believe that our people are most secure when we lift up the most vulnerable. You may think me proud, but in our clan-holds no one goes hungry, no one dies of treatable diseases, and work will be found for even the meanest hands. From what I have seen their interests and activities in Andril bear this out. They do not seek to colonize the lowlands -- that is foolishness, but they do want their neighbors to be secure and flourishing. This is why the Trealamhgabha have begun to invest in the rebuilding of Akropash.
However, they move as glaciers move. Once consensus has been reached it is inexorable."
"Why would he be interested in me? I have no mandate from the Voices in the Stone nor am I active amongst the central families. Before leaving with my brother I have lived a quiet life. I am not important."
"You are important. You will likely be the next Voice selected amongst the Trealamhgabha. Though I do not know why he would care about that."
"Fah, I am too young and too foolish. Besides the Master Maker will be the next Voice."
"Grandmother will outlive him."
"Then she will have to outlive the stars because the Master Maker would find the Anvil of the Void before he submits to death. As he says, 'the work of mind and hand is never finished.'"
Heff grits his teeth. "I don't know." Every time he says that, his shoulders lower a bit more. "I just don't know what Rygat is up to or why. Maybe it's the connection to Toramin and us, maybe it's the connection to the Voices." He holds his head like he's getting a headache. "Maybe it's because he's mad and he just wanted to ensue chaos and death. It wouldn't be the first time."
"It just doesn't feel right."
She thinks for a moment. "Is it possible that he escaped you the through divine interference? According to our oldest legends the dwarves were not born on this world, but came to it. We do not worship them, but we know of things, gods one might call them, who live in the Dark Tapestry. I have read stone tablets that say that they can break space and time. They are associated with madness and chaos."
Ianna shakes her head. "No, that's foolish. Please forget I spoke."
"Why is Nareth no longer among your number? Is that something I may ask?"
Heff shakes his head. "If it was divine interference I fear there is little we can do about it. However, that's not a bad theory. Perhaps Tiasar could help with questions about the lesser known planes."
"Nareth...is a complicated man. He was the most unlikely kind of person you would think would be an Aestheric, much less a founder. A cleric of Zon-Kuthon. He wouldn't tell anybody why he left, but in dire circumstances we can still contact him if we need to. We've only had to do that once."