Chapter 4

The men and women that considered themselves among the ranks of the so-called Rogue Mages milled in loose groups within the Chamber of Equals at the Oceanus Mage Guild. They betrayed no notice or concern for the scowls of reproof from the Traditionalist Mage Elders or the bemused looks of the Empiricists. They engaged in idle chatter, the occasional smattering of laughter rising above the din of conversation, earning only more reproachful looks.

Few looked the part of a Mage. Absent were the traditional trappings of deep blue robes with braided sashes, nor did they sport clean-shaven faces for the men and long, straight hair for the women. Most of the men wore full beards or lush goatees, and the women cropped their hair short or tied it into buns upon their heads or tight braids down their backs.

One of the Mage Elders snorted and turned away, his bushy eyebrows knitting together as his face creased into a frown. He marched up to one of his colleagues and thumped his staff. "Pagh! Why are we treating with these ... these vermin?" Mage Elder Q'toll hissed.

Mage Elder Q'kollan turned, his hands folded before him, his gaze even and calm. Several other Mage Elders bent their ears towards the Guildmaster's adviser. "Because the Guildmaster insists that we do," he said in a neutral voice.

"Surely you did not agree to this? Granting them amnesty just to--"

"Temporary amnesty," corrected Q'kollan. "He added that at the other Mage Elders' insistence."

"Oh, don't you beset me with semantics! You know perfectly well that Guildmaster Q'garra intends to make it permanent."

"Under certain conditions, yes."

Q'toll sneered. "This is insanity. These Rogues have turned their backs on everything that the Guild stands for, and we are expected to welcome them with open arms?"

"One could argue that the Guild turned its back on them. Or have you already forgotten what the Empiricists have gone through?"

Several heads turned from among the Empiricists. Q'toll glanced at them, still scowling, but some of the conviction left his voice as he muttered, "That is altogether a different situation."

"Only because an Empiricist became Guildmaster," piped a female voice from among the Empiricists.

"He does not consider himself an Empiricist any longer, Master Q'yoona," said Q'kollan in a louder voice. He cast a hard gaze at the other Mage Elders. "We would all be better off if we remembered that. He represents the entire Guild and not just himself or one faction within it."

Katla Q'yoona glanced at the others and sighed when she saw they were not mollified by Q'kollan's words. The Mage Elders had been content to work with Uroddus as Guildmaster, but this had apparently been a step too far. Now some were wondering if they could have survived another few more years under the old Guildmaster's rule.

"He could have at least chosen a better place to hold this gathering," Q'toll declared. "Where they could be given the redress that they so richly deserve."

"That is precisely why he chose the Chamber of Equals," said Q'kollan. "To avoid such foolishness."

"Pagh! For everything that they put us through, we--"

"Hush, please," Q'kollan said, turning his head towards the entrance.

The expatriates were the last to quiet down as they, too, turned to look. More than one eyebrow rose, and at least one snickered.

Guildmaster Uroddus Q'garra stood in the entrance for another moment before advancing into the chamber. He adjusted his spectacles as he surveyed the Mages in attendance. He had hoped for a higher turnout among the Mage Elders. Uroddus had no authority to order the Mage Elders to come to the Chamber of Equals. Such was the nature of this place; participation was always voluntary.

Uroddus chose a position roughly between all three groups, and Q'kollan stepped forward to join him. Katla frowned. She wanted to stand by her lover, but Uroddus was adamant about showing no appearance of favoritism just because a fellow Mage shared his bed.

"Fellow Mages and expatriates," began Uroddus.

Already, some of the Rogue Mages were impressed. "Expatriate" was their own preferred term for themselves.

"I am not one for large speeches, thus I will get to the point. Oceanus has been conquered by a foreign power using Portal technology that is currently beyond our ability to replicate or block."

"Tell us something we don't know," an expatriate in the back called out. Several Mage Elders grumbled. Q'kollan caught the word "insolent" and frowned in the direction from which it had come until his fellow Mage Elders fell silent.

"You perhaps do not know the true danger that this Portal technology poses. They can extract memories of a particular person from those that know the person well and use them to open a Portal in the vicinity of said person."

The reactions of the expatriates were mixed. Some expressed shock. Some sighed in despair as if they had already guessed as much but hoped they had been wrong. One frowned and gave the Guildmaster an accusing glare with hard, dark green eyes set in a chiseled face.

Uroddus slipped off his spectacles and tapped them against his hand. Katla rolled her eyes. "We must come to an accommodation," said Uroddus. "We must find a way to bridge the chasm that has wrongfully been allowed to open between us."

"See? See, I told you!" Q'toll's disgusted voice floated above the muttering of the expatriates.

"This separation endangers both yourselves and the Guild, as many of you worked in close quarters with Guild Mages before you left, and in some cases, maintained those close relationships even after the separation."

"That's a diplomatic way to put it," Katla muttered.

"And, of course, the more expertise we can draw upon to--"

"Yeah, so that's what this is really all about," said the frowning green-eyed expatriate near the front of the group. "That's why you suddenly want to be nice to us. You want to save your own necks."

The other expatriates muttered amongst themselves. A few nodded their heads. The Mage Elders scowled deeper in response.

Uroddus put on his glasses. "To whom am I speaking?"

"Marlon will do."

"No honorific or clan name?"

"They don't deserve any!" shouted Q'toll, shaking his fist in the air.

"Master Q'toll, please!" Q'kollan snapped.

Q'toll pushed his way through the other Mages. "I will not be silent! If you wanted quiet, the Guildmaster should not have chosen the Chamber of Equals. I will speak my mind on the basis of that."

"I feel you would speak your mind in any case," said Q'kollan in a sour voice.

"Master Q'toll is correct," said Uroddus, drawing a look of mild surprise from Marlon. He turned to the Mage Elder. "Please speak what is on your mind, Master Q'toll."

Q'toll swept his trembling arm towards the expatriates. "They have abandoned their oaths of fealty to the Guild. They have turned their backs upon us. Why should you seek to honor them in the least? And why would they even bother to help us? Where were they during the invasion? Where were they when we were trying to protect the Noble Lords?"

Marlon stepped forward. "Are you quite serious, Mage Elder? Would you have really let us help, assuming we even knew what in blazing hellfire you were doing? Or did you conveniently forget that Guild Mages are told to report so-called Rogue Mages to the Emperor, who then has leave to execute us with no proper trial or appeal?"

"There is a reason for that! You are a menace. You sell your services to the highest bidder and to the hells with the consequences!"

Marlon laughed. "And the Mage Guild doesn't? Take a look at your own politics, old man. The Guild had long since sold itself out before we left. Why in hellfire do you think we chose to leave in the first place? You want to place the blame for why Oceanus fell? Just go look in the mirror."

Q'kollan leaned closer to Uroddus. He gestured and conjured a privacy shield around them. "You had best intervene before this gets ugly."

"You have no right to criticize the very Guild that you rejected!" Q'toll shouted. "If you were so concerned about its direction, then why didn't you stay and help correct it?!"

"Q'toll is quite excitable," said Q'kollan. "And he is one of the more powerful Mage Elders."

"Not yet," Uroddus replied.

Marlon sneered. "You spin fairy tales, old man. Q'ixanna would never have listened to us." He glanced at Uroddus. "The only reason any of us agreed to come was because of the change in regime, and even then most thought it was a trick. That's how much we don't trust the Guild."

"And if you had stayed, you could have been part of the driving force that ousted him from office!" Q'toll cried.

"And if more of you had joined us, his power over the Mages would have collapsed right then and there. Instead, you were all cowards more concerned about your tenure and your petty plays at political power."

Q'toll clenched his teeth and gripped his staff until his arms shook. "You treasonous little bastard."

"Ahem," Q'kollan said. "Guildmaster, if you would?"

"Not yet," Uroddus said.

"Cowardly sycophant," Marlon shot back.

"Undisciplined radical!"

"Obsolete fossil!"

"Rebel!"

"Tyrant!"

BLAM!

An explosion of green transport energy burst in a miniature nova between the two would-be combatants, hurtling them back. Marlon was caught by his comrades before he could fall. Q'toll was not as lucky and thumped to the floor, his staff clattering across the stones. His fellow Mage Elders appear faintly embarrassed, and it was a few moments before any of them moved to help his groaning form to his feet.

Q'kollan looked in astonishment at Uroddus. "You didn't do that, did you?"

Uroddus stepped forward into the midst of many similar stunned looks. Only the Mages associated with the historical archives observed with equanimity (or in some cases, mild amusement). "It is interesting the things that go forgotten when they fall into disuse. The chamber is spelled to detect when a debate has degraded to the point of potential physical or magical blows."

"Ah," Q'kollan said, smiling.

"Which means both of you have had your say," said Uroddus. "Now I will have mine."

Marlon glared as he straighted up, but there was a grudging admiration in his eyes as he watched the Guildmaster.

"I can use all the words at my disposal to tell you how the politics of yesterday are no longer the politics of today. I can explain how I intend to run the Guild in a manner fundamentally different from Q'ixanna. But they would be only words. You have no obligation to believe them or me.

"Nor can I ask -- or expect to receive -- forgiveness for the past actions of the Guild. Nor can I hope to determine who was right and who was wrong in the original dispute. The simple fact of the matter is: I do not care."

Several Mage Elders exchanged glances. Q'toll fumed, his face livid. Muttering started amongst the Empiricists. Katla just stared at Uroddus with intense curiosity.

Uroddus stepped up to Marlon. "To answer an accusation you made earlier: yes, I am indeed interested in protecting the Guild, and that is my primary motivation for contacting you."

Katla's eyes widened. Marlon tilted his head, eyebrows knitted. The other expatriates were riveted to Uroddus' words, even if a few still wore dubious faces.

"I will not claim that I had intended to seek rapprochement with the expatriates, as I do not know if that would have been a priority," Uroddus said. "I will not lie to you or utter meaningless promises. But I am truthful when I say that I do not want to see any Mages harmed, regardless of their formal association with the Guild."

Marlon narrowed his eyes and glanced at the Mage Elders. "And what about them? Can you tell me they're behind your words? That they care about what happens to us?"

Uroddus turned his head. Glares of anger had become more subdued looks of disapproval. Only Q'toll's eyes still blazed, but he said nothing.

"There's not one among them that doesn't think you should let the Inonni take care of their little problem," Marlon said. "Let the Inonni spirit us all away. Maybe the new-and-improved Guildmaster is wrong, and they won't get anything from our heads. Or maybe we wouldn't mind them using us to take you out! Small price to pay for allowing us to be murdered by the Imperial Guard!"

"There is no longer any such edict in force from the Imperium," said Uroddus.

"Of course not. Not when the Inonni want--"

"It was canceled by Emperor Z'garon at my request before the Inonni took over."

"What?!" cried a Mage Elder. He was hushed into silence by his peers.

Marlon paused and glanced at the Mage Elders, finding more surprised looks. He let out a sigh. "Fine. Let's say I believe you. What of it? You still expect us to come back to the Guild?"

"I don't expect anything. But I am asking you to consider it."

Marlon recoiled, but whether it was for what Uroddus had asked or simply that he had asked it was impossible to tell. He glanced at his fellow expatriates, as if looking for guidance. Some shook their heads. Some shrugged their shoulders. A few implored with their eyes for him to make the decision.

He looked at the Mage Elders again. "We don't want any part of your politics." He turned towards Uroddus. "And we don't want to be looked down upon as if we were something that one scrapes off his shoes."

"I can grant all of you permanent amnesty," said Uroddus.

One expatriate gasped, followed by an urgent murmur of conversation. Several Mage Elders scowled. Others simply looked on with equanimity. Some simply flicked their gaze back and forth, as if more focused on the confrontation itself than its outcome.

"But you cannot grant us respect," said Marlon. "No matter how progressive you may be."

"And he stops short of granting us proper Guild titles!" an expatriate cried in the back.

"We do not want them," Marlon shot back. "More politics!"

"I do not offer titles for several reasons," said Uroddus. "I hold no illusions that you would want to become fully integrated into the Guild again. In fact, from this point on, you are all free of any further harassment from the Guild."

"See here, you can't do that!" a Mage Elder cried.

"If any of the Mage Elders object, then by all means, speak your mind!" Uroddus announced. "But be prepared to offer logical arguments and facts. I will not accept emotionalism, vague accusations, or hearsay. If anyone has concrete evidence that any of these Mages have done anything to threaten life, property, or Imperial security, then present it now."

Several Mage Elders glanced about their ranks, as if imploring or daring their fellows to be the first to present an objection. Every last one of them had been subject to the Guildmaster's razor-sharp intellect in slicing a faulty hypothesis or false claim to shreds.

"We are not criminals," Marlon declared in a lower voice.

"I know," Uroddus said. "And you will no longer be treated as such."

Marlon sighed. "I do not speak for all of us. Some see me as a sort of leader, but I don't force them to follow me, and I don't make decisions for them. I can only take your words back to them, and they will have to decide for themselves. They will not be easy to convince that there has been any real change at the Guild."

"Are you convinced?"

Marlon looked Uroddus in the eye. "I don't know yet."

"Perhaps I can help. I have two things for you."

Marlon frowned as the Guildmaster reached into his robe and pulled out a bundle of scrolls tied with a ribbon. He flinched when the scrolls were presented to him.

"They contain words only and no hidden magic," said Uroddus.

Nevertheless, Marlon held his palm above the scrolls and murmured a short incantation. After a pause heavy with the anticipation of his brethren, he accepted the scrolls.

"These contain a summary of the work we have done in investigating the Inonni Portals," said Uroddus. "It also contains all the information we have on the Inonni themselves that we gathered during their initial conquest."

"No, stop! Do not give it to him!" croaked Q'toll in a raspy voice. He tried to push forward towards the Guildmaster, but other Mage Elders held him back. "They will sell it to the Inonni and let them know everything we know!"

While a few of the expatriates made disgusted noises, Marlon reacted only with a flick of his eyes to the other Mage Elders, as if looking for someone to echo Q'toll's accusation. He turned back to Uroddus and said in a softer voice, "You said you had something else for me, Guildmaster?"

Uroddus reached into his robe again and pulled out a blue pearl. He held it out to Marlon as low muttering broke out among the Mage Elders. "Take this, please."

Marlon eyed the runes upon the pearl, eyebrows shooting up. "A Farviewing pearl?

"Yes, so you can contact me at any time if you wish to discuss anything further. Or if you need help."

Several expatriates stared, wide-eyed, as Marlon plucked the pearl from Uroddus' hand. Marlon looked over the pearl, balanced it on his fingers, and carefully read all the runes etched into its surface. He nodded slowly. "Thank you," he said in a subdued voice. "Is that all you wish of us?"

"That is all. You may leave at your convenience."

Marlon stared at the pearl for another moment, then strode towards the chamber exit. The others followed, casting furtive glances at Uroddus as they trooped out.

Q'kollan came to his side. "You're taking a huge risk, Guildmaster, I hope you realize that."

"What risk?" said Katla as she stepped up to them. "We need them. You heard the Guildmaster. There's no real logical reason to hound them any further or keep them locked out!"

"As much as our esteemed Guildmaster wishes to change the political structure of the Guild, that will do nothing for the attitudes of the Mage Elders," said Q'kollan. "Some of which will never change no matter what we do or say."

"I did what I had to do," Uroddus said. "If I had waited for consensus, we would still be locked in pointless debate."

"Oh, I don't necessarily disagree with your actions. I simply wish there had been a more diplomatic way to do it. The Mage Elders may have initially heralded the reopening of the Chamber of Equals as a symbol of the end of Q'ixanna's reign, but now they grow irritated with it."

"I forced none of them to attend."

"You don't need to. Despite the grumbling, they still respect you." Q'kollan glanced at the Mage Elders, who spoke in secretive tones to one another. "We'll see how long that state of affairs continues."

"I will have to hope for the best," said Uroddus. "Katla, I sensed before the meeting that you had something about which you wanted to speak to me."

"It's not critical, at least it doesn't seem to be," Katla said. "But you wanted to be informed of anything unusual concerning the Inonni. Well, we may have seen something in the Portal scanning data."

"You are still tracking the Inonni portals?" Q'kollan asked. "I imagine we already have volumes of data in that regard."

"Nevertheless, I had asked that we continue scanning," Uroddus said. "I am hoping they will again open one of their more massive portals as they had once done for their navy. I am interested in learning more about their stabilization techniques. What did you find, Katla?"

"I should point out that it was faint and may be a noise anomaly." Katla handed Uroddus a parchment. "But we thought we detected a brief signature of an Oceanus-style portal, like the kind the Overlords used. We would have ignored it were it not for the fact that it actually emanated from the location of an Overlord Manor. Well, former Manor, anyway."

"Portals can exhibit power discharges when they are shut down for final dismantlement," Q'kollan said. "I imagine the Inonni are doing just that."

"Then we would see less of them over time, not more. And this was not so much faint as muffled, as if someone were trying to hide it, and we caught what leaked past their wards. And it was more like a power-up rather than a power-down."

"You could tell all that from this scant data?" said Uroddus as he looked up from the parchment.

"Only after some extensive mathematical derivations." She paused and glanced at Q'kollan. "And some rather sharp insight from a Traditionalist who saw something the Empiricists didn't."

"I am happy to see both sides working together more," said Q'kollan with a small smile.

"Master Q'kollan, please see to it that we get some of the Mage Elders looking at this as well," Uroddus said. "Perhaps including them more will mitigate some of their upset, and we could benefit from their experience."

"I doubt anything could truly placate them, but they are certainly motivated to investigate the Portals." He took the parchment from Uroddus and approached the Mage Elders.

Katla watched Q'kollan. "Do you really think this means anything, Uroddus?"

"On the surface, it would seem not," Uroddus replied. "But the Inonni do nothing without a reason, so we will keep an eye on this."

The wind whipped across the deck and tinged the air with moisture, whistling around the edges of the sails and blowing Gedric's hair into a disheveled mess. From the water's edge, he looked back at the crew that had so recently become his to command. They kept strained but sure hands upon the rigging to properly trim the sails in the rising wind. Timbers creaking, the ship dipped and swayed as it cut through the choppy waters towards the Urisi port that loomed ahead.

Gedric turned his gaze seaward as the wind lessened. In that moment's respite, boots scraped the deck behind him. His eyes narrowed on one of the escorting Urisi warships, which bobbed and listed as it followed a far less straight path in the rough water. Her sailors swarmed over the deck like ants with their leader killed, occasionally tangling their rigging lines with one another.

"It is well and good that we are soon to be in port, my Lord," said Gedric without turning around. "The weather does not bode well."

"I can only hope this is not an omen," rumbled Vortas.

"I suppose we should be glad that they did not sink us on sight." He stared at the Urisi ship again and sighed, nodding his head towards it. "Though now I doubt that they could. I am less than impressed with their prowess, I am forced to admit."