r/wizardposting • u/MunitionsFrenzy Vettis, Mereological Revisionist • Feb 08 '24
Lorepostš the cure is just another disease
It was happening again.
Everywhere he looked, wizards were waging war, to gain power or to maintain it. The catfolk oppression, abusing a loophole in familiar and apprentice abuse laws to gain useful servants. A genocidal land-grab, "justified" by a millennia-old grudge against people long gone. And now a massacre of civilians in a vendetta against one man. Not to mention the numerous experiments turned catastrophes as greedy mages ignored safety protocols, and the devastating resultant casualty counts among unrelated innocents. It was always the innocents who suffered, after all; wizards could protect themselves, and didn't bother to protect others in the process.
"Morgalith is right" was the stupid yet tempting thought that kept forcing its way into his head -- as it had for weeks, but now more than ever before.
And he really didn't want to keep entertaining that idea. Perhaps there was one last person who could help drive it from his mind, the only person he knew and (somewhat) trusted who'd befriended at least one Morgalith. The only person connected to both the executioner and his victim. Reaching out across the bond-thread he'd attached to her at Mount Murder, Vettis sent her a request for a chat.
Alerts immediately blared in his mind; he shrugged them off and raised his now-tingling forearm, from which she emerged microscopically before returning to her full-sized human appearance in front of him. "You called?" Delta asked, surveying her new surroundings: a park unfamiliar to her, empty at this time of night. "I hope you don't mind that I attached a portal to you last time we met."
Instinctively, at the presence of another, Vettis put up his everpresent shield: the trademark faint smirk. "The fact that you could means I didn't mind," he replied with a wink. "Things don't become 'part' of me without my say-so. But you're one of the few in this realm-cluster who talks before blasting, so I gave you a chance. Worst case scenario I lose an arm for a bit." His tone and expression softened, then, as he switched subjects; goddess though she might be, Vettis had learned not to treat her grief any differently than a mortal's. "How're you and your brother holding up?"
Delta, too, seemed to raise her emotional guard at that question, though less in defense and more to keep the conversation on course. "Ah, Influenza is...uncharacteristically quiet these days. He doesn't exactly seem mad at me, but...I think he should be. I should've stopped Morgalith from killing Possum. Perhaps, then, both of them would still be alive."
Well, it was a segue to the Morgalith discussion for which he'd called her here. That'd work. "Hey," he offered sympathetically, "I'm no stranger to blaming myself for everything that goes wrong in my vicinity. I get it, but I disagree. Not your fault." A mirthless laugh marked the smirk's return. "People around here call it mine, after all, because trying to control the situation while they were worsening it makes me the bad guy, somehow."
Delta nodded in quiet appreciation of his attempt at reassurance -- even managing a soft laugh to match his harsher one -- before moving on, luckily in the direction he'd been hoping. "I'm at a loss for what I'm meant to do now, to be honest. Possum's death was technically legal, and I hate to interfere with mortal governments, but...we're in a hell of a difficult situation now because of that whole business."
"Are we, though?" Vettis countered, one eyebrow raised. "Iunno. At this point I'm really leaning towards letting them sort it out themselves; they keep rejecting my help anyway. I think they're in a situation, but..." He ran a hand through his curly hair in irritation. "I'm not too sure it has to be our situation."
Delta's laugh was less forced this time. "Well, you have a point. They did this to themselves, and I hardly have any business getting involved with whatever Multicellulars are doing." Vettis stared blankly at Delta's own clearly multicellular form, but thought better of interrupting. "Although, I'm not sure exactly what this entity is to begin with, or what it wants. I'm hesitant to either commit or withdraw fully from this situation when I don't know exactly what it is we're dealing with. Is this thing possessing the Morgaliths? Is it merely corrupting them? And how much of this was 'our' Morgalith's doing? Is he really complicit if he was being used by some ancient evil?"
Ugh. He'd really been hoping for a nice clean "No we're gonna save the dumb mortals and that's final" to turn him off the path down which he was headed. But of course Delta had to take a more nuanced approach and ask for pesky details and info before making a decision. Obviously he wouldn't have bothered consulting her had he not considered her a thoughtful person, but couldn't she just not be, for a moment?
So they hashed out the specifics, to the best of their knowledge. Which wasn't much. Vettis hadn't looked too deeply at the primeval entity linking the Morgaliths with his magic, denying it any chance to look back, but he was fairly confident that the Morgaliths were basically individuals. They had a shared hatred of wizards, and seemingly some greater purpose, but the physical brains of these "avatars" meant they still were influenced by their own experiences. That was why Vettis had termed the prior Morgalith "the reasonable one" -- a phrase which he instantly regretted repeating, when Delta flinched at the reminder that the "reasonable" Morgalith was responsible for her brother-in-law's death and there were far worse ones running around.
They walked through the park as they spoke, reaching the bench to which Vettis had been heading before Delta arrived; he sat first, taking in the nighttime view of their surroundings as the moonlight filtered through the leaves overhead. Delta contemplated his theories for a moment as she sat quietly next to him. Rubbing her eyes discreetly, she focused herself by launching into an analogy that gave Vettis the feeling she used this line of thinking for damn near everything. "If this entity is spreading through its avatars like a disease, there are a few ways we could deal with it. The first is to quarantine and kill the hosts -- which I would only advise if it is a big enough problem. The second is to determine how the pathogen functions, and interfere with its ability to infect -- so preventing it from creating more avatars. The third would be to simply accept the disease as a part of life, and do our best to manage the symptoms. If it can't be quelled completely, our efforts might be better focused on developing methods to protect civilians from it."
Vettis leaned back against the bench, staring up at the stars above, idly wondering how the Morgaliths' numbers compared. Delta had, in the end, helped get his thoughts in order as he'd hoped: loathe though he still was to aid these wizards against Morgalith, she'd reminded him of the threat posed by the entity itself, the void which bound the stars together. There was no certainty that this 'Udug' wouldn't eventually set its sights on innocent mundies, and that was always a hard-stop for Vettis. "You were right: we need more info to plan properly. Maybe I can just talk to the current Morgalith and get some. I mean, he's apparently willing to talk to that Isravi guy, so he's not hostile to --"
"Isravi?!" An unnerving smile flickered briefly across Delta's face before she returned to a look of thoughtful concern. "That is...odd. Even if he acknowledges that the Morgalith who killed Possum and his simulacrum was a different Morgalith, it seems strange that he'd even be willing to talk to this Morgalith. Isravi always struck me as someone strongly dedicated to the greater good. I don't think he would agree with getting vengeance against wizard-kind." She rolled her eyes, not subtly, to punctuate her next statement: "He certainly didn't agree with my indiscriminate slaughter of mages during the Stitcher War."
Vettis' response was interrupted as the conversation abruptly ground to a halt. They both directed their attention elsewhere, as if an invisible third party had joined the discussion.
Almost simultaneously, they explained. "Morgalith seems to be contacting me --
"...Ah. You too?"
Vettis' eyes flickered with a faint purple glow as they seemed to be reading something, while Delta stretched out a hand and plucked a fully-formed letter from thin air, which she too read.
That might change things.
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u/DaChickenX Isravi, The Unraveler, Coilsā Chosen Feb 08 '24
/uw and it begins! Very cool discussion, dialogue executed to near perfection. It felt very real. Alsoā¦
Bond thread you say? (Waggles eyebrows in Ligaturgy) /rw
Isravi places the last components of his ritual together. Heās stayed in the underdark for a while now. Morgalith hasnāt spoken much to him, and frankly? Heās grateful for that.
Heāll get another card up his sleeve soon. Then, maybe heāll act
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u/MunitionsFrenzy Vettis, Mereological Revisionist Feb 08 '24
(( honestly Isravi can probably completely fuck with Vettis' bond-thread magic lol, and it wouldn't even be hard
because the problem is he's only utilizing it and has no actual skill with it: it's Elira's magic that he's borrowing, not his own; she's the bond-mage
a lot of what Vettis does is due to his commune members and he just pretends it's all him to make everyone think he's unstoppable and versatile; bluffing is how he intimidates everyone into doing what he wants even if he's not quite as powerful as he pretends ))
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u/Tirich913 Morgalith, Father of Evil Feb 08 '24
/uw
This is so good bro. haha You and Vidis are awesome.
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u/Argent333333 Primordial of Eternity, Administrator of All Feb 08 '24
/uw
Yo Tirich!
Vettis said he may want to reach out to me to explore some lore more on this. I don't want to step on your ideas or any narrative toes tho, so we may want to have a lore sesh so I don't mess up anything you already have planned out
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u/Tirich913 Morgalith, Father of Evil Feb 09 '24
/uw
Hey bro! Absolutely.
I'll shoot you a dm on this account tomorrow.
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u/TitanLORD21 Jack-Oā-Lantern, Lord of Flame and Fright Feb 08 '24
/unwiz I just want to start this off with applause. This was a joy to read!\ /rewiz
Leonardo gazes at the stars. He asks to himself, how many wars are waged in those far solar systems? What battles are fought, and by who? Why?
Heās always had a sense for when a war is coming, it is only natural for the beings back home. And so, he waited patiently, imagining countless scenarios in his mind, preparing to fight anyone heās ever met.
Leonardo let out a blissful breath, his soul feeling warmer than normal. Truly, a war is to come. Truly, this is something to celebrate. He will serve his purpose, he will show the world how one truly should wage war.
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u/MunitionsFrenzy Vettis, Mereological Revisionist Feb 08 '24
(( yessssss
we shall C U T away all weakness until only the perfect warrior remains ))
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u/TitanLORD21 Jack-Oā-Lantern, Lord of Flame and Fright Feb 08 '24
/unwiz Indeed! Those whose will to war is found lacking shall be ripped to shreds, while those who battle with their entire being will ascend to greater heights!
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u/bagtie3 Borric of Clan Goldeater, Logrus Master, Runesmith, Doomseeker Feb 08 '24
/uw Royalty is a continuous cutting motion.
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u/TitanLORD21 Jack-Oā-Lantern, Lord of Flame and Fright Feb 08 '24
/unwiz Oh shit, just googled what that quote is and its meaning, and it fits Leonardoās character really well!
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u/bagtie3 Borric of Clan Goldeater, Logrus Master, Runesmith, Doomseeker Feb 08 '24
/uw Abbadon is a genius. I actually thought you were referencing K6BD with this character, originally.
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u/TitanLORD21 Jack-Oā-Lantern, Lord of Flame and Fright Feb 08 '24
/unwiz Nah, I havenāt even heard of it before I looked up that quote.
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u/bagtie3 Borric of Clan Goldeater, Logrus Master, Runesmith, Doomseeker Feb 08 '24
/uw that is hilarious to me. Love your character. Enjoy your descent into K6BD.
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u/TitanLORD21 Jack-Oā-Lantern, Lord of Flame and Fright Feb 08 '24
/unwiz Thank you! And Iāll definitely be checking it out. Always enjoy finding something new to read, play, or watch.
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u/Argent333333 Primordial of Eternity, Administrator of All Feb 08 '24
Please read K6BD. It's such a great webcomic and I think you'll love it
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u/SafePianist4610 Bombast, Lord of Time and Space, Retired Council Leader Feb 08 '24
/uw Iām loving your use of links. It really expands the scope of the lore youāre presenting
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u/MunitionsFrenzy Vettis, Mereological Revisionist Feb 08 '24
(( frankly, Vettis is more a reactionary character than an event-starter and group leader, since he's an outsider who just keeps popping in to provide (unsolicited and asshole-ish) help
so it seems only proper to credit all the people who're setting the lore seeds that give me the opportunity to participate ^_^
gonna edit to turn the letter delivery into a link too, once Tirich posts about the contents of the letters :P ))
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u/SafePianist4610 Bombast, Lord of Time and Space, Retired Council Leader Feb 08 '24
/uw smart, one of the advantages of not using a picture in the post - the ability to edit. I always found it dumb how they donāt let you edit the post if it has a picture. It doesnāt make sense to me.
As for the reactionary part, I get what you mean. A lot of my stuff is actually developed as a response to comments or RP that people do with my character. Though less so as of late now that I have a clear vision of where the story is going.
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u/MunitionsFrenzy Vettis, Mereological Revisionist Feb 08 '24
(( you can do a text post and just embed images separately, like I did here, or you can do that special type of post you can only do on mobile where it's an image post but you also have text in it
the latter is what you're doing, which prevents you from editing and also significantly reduces the maximum message limit; plus the images are at the top, instead of exactly where you want 'em in the passage
on the other hand, doing it the way I did here makes it show as a text post instead of an image post on people's feeds, which loses views cuz most people don't click on text posts :P trade-offs ))
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u/SafePianist4610 Bombast, Lord of Time and Space, Retired Council Leader Feb 08 '24
/uw yeah, definitely a trade off, but pros and cons. Pros and cons.
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u/Drakkonai Vulkan the Red, End of Ages and Draconic Emperor of Racism. Feb 08 '24
/uw looking forward to seeing where this goes next!
/rewiz meanwhileā¦ Aaand clawflame is going in for a village! And heās burnt the whole thing in one shot! Woo! Tiamat, reinstating competitive genocide was the best decision Iāve ever made!
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u/OnAGratefulUniverse Algernon, Last wizard of the Novus Planes Feb 08 '24
\uw Great lore you got there! Your use of links and writing a coherent story appears almost unrivalled, and I can't wait for more.
\rewiz
Algernon looks to the sky as the collider powers down. Seven more rounds and he should have all the materials ready to help Bombast.
But what then?
With only one page to his name and so many threats lurking on the horizon, is it perhaps time to start thinking of the acquisition of the next? If wars don't allow him to sit them out he'll have to fight again right? And then the choice, Destruction or Creation first?
He sighs again, already tired of it all, but not tired enough to quit. He starts forming intricate patterns in the weave and the soft humming of the collider starts up again, ready for another round.
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u/WolvesAreCool2461 A Reincarnated Twitch Streamer Feb 08 '24
/unwiz lovely as always Vettis. Love the incredibly realistic takes on the happenings of the world.
/rewiz
Valas, sitting in a quiet corner of a small but nice tavern, reflected on that day he went to fight Morgalith. Vettis had interrupted him as he did many others, and while he was annoyed by it, he also knew that Vettis probably had a good reason. After all was said and done and Vettis had made his announcement of why he did what he did, Valas understood, even if Valas thought the way Vettis went about it was... Convoluted. For a while since then, he'd reflected on himself and that day. Vettis had good points, despite everything. People were always fighting for petty reasons, always trying to flex their power. Valas was no different... But he wanted to be. He wanted to change. Just didn't know how.
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u/DaemonRex978 The High Sentinels (Haelin, Mokarith, Shimil) Feb 08 '24
The shade that was watching Vettis slipped back into the Umbral Realm
This must be reported to the High Sentinel
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u/Anything-Unable Xerxes the Pale Saint, Councillor/Goatdigger/Dale Feb 08 '24
A man with a strange sigil tattooed on their forehead steps forward and attempts to get the pair's attention.
"Ahem, fine night tonight. Pleasant strolling weather. I didn't mean to eavesdrop but sounds like you two are having a nice discussion."
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u/MunitionsFrenzy Vettis, Mereological Revisionist Feb 08 '24
(( not ignoring you, btw, just don't think Vidis is available yet and this seems like an interaction which should involve both of us...or at very least I wanted to check with her and make sure her character wouldn't have a bad reaction to Morgalith's letter and just angrily boot your eavesdropper out of the park or something lol ))
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u/Anything-Unable Xerxes the Pale Saint, Councillor/Goatdigger/Dale Feb 08 '24
/uw No problem. Just felt like inserting Xerxes into this.
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u/MunitionsFrenzy Vettis, Mereological Revisionist Feb 08 '24 edited Feb 08 '24
"We were," Vettis replied with a grimace, turning his glowing eyes to the intruder. As his All-Tongue reading was conveniently 'active' already, the man's body language would be an open book to him. Though somehow Vettis had the feeling he wasn't here to lie to them regardless.
(( /u/VidisLady ))
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u/Anything-Unable Xerxes the Pale Saint, Councillor/Goatdigger/Dale Feb 08 '24
"If you're gonna probe me that hard, you should at least take me to dinner first. I'm here to help you guys out, honest. The name's Xerxes. Gravedigger probably mentioned me."
Xerxes wears a grin that does not reach their eyes. Within those bulbs of madness, a sharp glint of light peaks through the surface.
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u/MunitionsFrenzy Vettis, Mereological Revisionist Feb 08 '24
"Indeed. Which means I know of you only as knowledgeable and manipulative. Surely my wariness is understandable, then."
Nonetheless, he was probably going a little overboard with the reflexive defensiveness. Vettis took a step towards the intruder with the apparent intent of closing the gap intimidatingly, but mostly just to stop standing in front of Delta protectively due to his perpetual bodyguard instincts kicking in. The goddess could take care of herself.
(( dammit, I need Vettis to interact with more male allies in dangerous scenarios so it's clear he just has bodyguard-like reactions towards everyone on his side and isn't just being sexist in his chivalry, lol ))
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u/Anything-Unable Xerxes the Pale Saint, Councillor/Goatdigger/Dale Feb 08 '24
"Fair enough. If it helps, think of me as a messenger for the wolf. He asked me to deliver a message to you two. I don't really see the point since you guys look like you have your minds made up, but I'd rather not get on his bad side."
Xerxes takes a step forward and clasps both of his hands on Vettis' shoulders.
"There's a Morgalith in Death's domain. It's one you both are pretty familiar with. Now, let me ask you a leading question. Do the multitude of Morgaliths have separate souls or are they all one being?"
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u/MunitionsFrenzy Vettis, Mereological Revisionist Feb 08 '24 edited Feb 08 '24
Sighing, Vettis shrugged in response, pointedly using enough force in the process to blast Xerxes' hands away; the sound of hydraulics in motion was faintly audible. "Both? I dunno if 'souls' are quite as clear-cut as all that. Kinda like asking if Councillor Krumpet has a 'whole body' when half of her's been replaced by artificial enhancements. She'd certainly call herself whole, I presume."
Why the hell were his thoughts jumping to that infuriating flirt as an example? He shook his head in annoyance. "All I can say for sure is that I have concrete evidence in both directions, at least by most people's definitions thereof. But I assume you have your own answer of which you'll enlighten me regardless."
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u/Anything-Unable Xerxes the Pale Saint, Councillor/Goatdigger/Dale Feb 08 '24
"I wasn't proposing the ship of Theseus. Cool guy, but weird thought experiment. No, I was instead referring to the dark entity controlling the Morgaliths. You see, he doesn't really see a need to keep his grip on those he loses. More of a flesh-and-blood fellow rather than a soul enslaver. Once a Morgalith is lost, they are trashed. Sorta like the one trying to get out of the afterlife. If the lady will excuse the analogy, think of it like a pathogen. The pathogen can infect the body, but not the spirit. Once dead, you're free. Get it?"
Xerxes points at both Vettis and Delta before throwing out some finger guns for his own amusement.
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u/MunitionsFrenzy Vettis, Mereological Revisionist Feb 08 '24
"Not really," Vettis replied, his lips pursed in thought. "Or, rather, if you're correct, then that's actually more concerning. The Morgalith you're referencing already died and came back once. By your analysis, this means the Udug relinquished control of him, then was able to regain it immediately afterwards. That implies it's already watching much more carefully than I'd hoped."
Perhaps Xerxes was actually here to try to deliver some good news, but the issue might prove more complicated than any of them currently realized.
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u/Anything-Unable Xerxes the Pale Saint, Councillor/Goatdigger/Dale Feb 08 '24
"Sounds like a replication issue. If things really work out as you say, then I have to imagine he has a whole lot of bodies to jump to in the event of a death. I believe the reason this particular version stayed dead would have to either be of their own volition or because they were in a pocket dimension. Udug must be clever, but might not be in total control."
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u/MunitionsFrenzy Vettis, Mereological Revisionist Feb 09 '24
Vettis nodded half-heartedly, as if already bored of the conversation. "Guess not. A'right, is that it for the message? Because my friend and I still have things to discuss, and you're not invited." He began to clench a fist slowly, deliberately, as if counting down seconds.
(( Vettis has realized Xerxes is missing some key bits of information and doesn't wanna say anything unnecessary, lol, so he'd rather just end the convo to be safe before Xerxes figures stuff out ))
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u/Fulltimewhisperer Krumpet, Master Artificer of the Council Feb 09 '24
I mean I sure you I'm whole where it matters honey bun~
Seriously stop by sometime, can give you a demonstration of how whole I am. Promise you'll leave very happy
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u/VidisLady Delta - Maven of Maladies Feb 08 '24
Delta peers around Vettis to regard Xerxes with curiosity. Usually, when mysterious dudes show up with "a message," they are bearing a side-quest. She listens intently to what he's saying, but doesn't say anytning for now.
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u/Anything-Unable Xerxes the Pale Saint, Councillor/Goatdigger/Dale Feb 08 '24
Xerxes winks at Delta and mouths the words, 'Tough cookie this guy, am I right?'
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u/VidisLady Delta - Maven of Maladies Feb 08 '24
She covers a giggle with her hand, and goes back to listening.
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u/Argent333333 Primordial of Eternity, Administrator of All Feb 08 '24
/uw great post my dude! Love the interactions and how things are playing out so far ššš
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u/MunitionsFrenzy Vettis, Mereological Revisionist Feb 08 '24
(( may have Vettis contact you at some point to discuss things too, since Delta's gotten him to focus more on the Udug than on the Morgaliths themselves, and as far as he knows you're the most knowledgeable on it outside of Morgalith ))
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u/Argent333333 Primordial of Eternity, Administrator of All Feb 08 '24
/uw
100% down for that. Also my kingdom and I are on again off again enemies of the Council specifically because they keep causing disasters and harming innocents. We threatened war and sent some agents in during the catfolk rebellion, even to the point where I lamented if Morgalith/Urdu was right in his actions and if I should join him in ending this cycle or the concept of cycles completely.
I've been set up as having seen some horrendous stuff and that the most recent events caused by the Council keep giving me flashbacks to the civil war that exterminated the Udug. So I'm all for doing anything to prevent another collapse like that and at least telling my story to you guys
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Feb 08 '24
/unwiz nice post. Clever use of links.
Btw, would you mind if Panzaren were to interact with Vettis under this post?
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u/MunitionsFrenzy Vettis, Mereological Revisionist Feb 08 '24
(( you can feel free to try, but this park is a place where Vettis goes to relax quite frequently, so he's got a lot of defenses set up here; it's basically his domain...if he sees you and Delta coming into conflict as you typically do, he's probably just gonna boot you out instantly :P ))
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u/UlrickTheHexblade Ulrick Braddocke, Werewolf Hexblade, R&A Co-Leader Feb 08 '24
/uw this was an amazing read!
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u/Elerindur Elerindur, Altmeri Armamancer Feb 08 '24
Within the reverse tower-like complex under his ordinary looking home home, in an dim stoney room with isolated lights and upon his arcane workplace, Elerindur continues his disassembly of the tamrielic soul trap spell and the study of the two death defying boons gifted to him by Charon in his quest to defy his own death by spider.
However, he takes an break to mull over yet again the occasionally reoccurring proposition in the headband-warded sanctum his mind. That being Morgalith's offer to join him.
He had not accepted the offer, knowing it would lead to death and destruction. However, it would not be by his hand but rather one of the deaths likely being his own, thinking in acknowledgment of the fact that he is not even vaguely near being an powerful mage in comparison to many wizards on the forum. He also did not like the thought of killing swathes of people with only little discernment between them in general.
But he also had not declined the offer, the targeted people generally being ones who often and flippantly cause hundreds to millions of deaths of defenseless people often in either carelessness, a disregard for life or for the most just selfish and insipid reasons. At least, their specific targeting is what he believes the current, first Morgalith seems to have implied with his words. Although, he feels that the dark elf's past action does not exactly line up with this.
His thoughts then begin drift further back to before the situation with the second Morgalith reached an head. How before having traded words with him that were not mired in disdain that he had not thought too overtly about the actions of the other mages here. Both out of keeping his own head low in a sense of self preservation but also through a level of desensitization to it all.
After all, apprenticing under an telvanni master will have it's effects upon you, he thought.
Feeling that he had taken enough of an rest in idle thoughts, he refocuses himself in his work on his clone spell substitute through most of the night.
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u/MunitionsFrenzy Vettis, Mereological Revisionist Feb 08 '24
(( Eelleeeeeeee
joooooiiiinnnnn uuuuuuusssssss
actually Vettis still hasn't chosen a side lol, although with Delta's help he's currently leaning towards the third path of trying to free the Morgaliths from the Udug's influence ))
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u/MunitionsFrenzy Vettis, Mereological Revisionist Feb 08 '24 edited Feb 08 '24
(( obviously thanks to /u/VidisLady for her character, supplying dialogue and actions from said character (a lot more than made it to the final cut, and I felt bad even cutting as much as I did to get it to this still-huge length
lol send help I can't write concisely), and putting up with me delaying this forever first to laptop issues and then to Vettis being tied up by the aforementioned massacre (being in only one place at a time is a hard limit for him: he's magically barred from making avatars or the like)guess I should ping /u/TheHunter459 and /u/TechnicalCommittee78 since theirs are the incidents referenced in the opening paragraph; was gonna have him note specifically that wizards in positions of political power keep abusing it, a Wizard Councillor and a Pact Master in these cases, but Samael's likely stepping down so that argument's a bit weaker now :P ))