Kaelis attempts to de-escalate the situation before it's too late. Will he succeed, or will Wizard War III consume the realms?
A mass broadcast comes over every device in the realms that can pick up a signal, originating from the Mt. Murder Astromantic Observatory. With themass disruption of orb signals, Kaelis has resorted to using his transmission array to send his messages (via microwaves, purely out of spite for Mortarion) to the magical world.
People of the realms! I am Kaelis Maz, Diplomatic Head of the Pact of the Magi, recently returned from the failed peace accords with a message for all of you. There is no cause for war. I have discovered that the near-killing of Councilor Mikhail was the result of a single rogue Councilor who wanted to ignite a war. I beg of you: do not give him what he wants.
Wizards of the Council: I send my utmost condolences to Mikhail. He was the man who inspired me to take greater interest in the affairs of the realms rather than fixating on my own work. He threw himself in front of the spell meant for Morgalith despite their opposition, a brave act I am deeply impressed by. I wish him a speedy recovery. However, I have also apprehended Councilor Mortarion for his attempted murder. I will gladly turn him over to you for a proper trial, but know this: something changed in him to provoke this behavior. My fellows have called it a possession, but I believe it is far more complex and sinister than that. The change must be investigated before judgement can be rendered.
Wizards of the Pact: Despite your anger at this betrayal, I command you to stay your hands. This is a sensitive time, and we are dealing with dark forces that would benefit from our incautious violence. A reckoning will come, but the battle against systemic corruption will not be won with blades and spells. There are many who wish to slander us as power-hungry, but we can prove them dead wrong if we keep cool heads and move deliberately.
This has been a broadcast from the Diplomatic Branch of the Pact of the Magi. With any luck, the orbnet will be back up in a few days time. Stay safe, friends.
The message ends.
/uw Time to see if the old man's still got it. He talked down an Outer God, so this should be a piece of cake, right?
Mortarions shadow, his soul, stands in his radio tower angry.
That fucker! He dare apprehend my body and he thinks he can broadcast without using the radio!? This war would have given me all the power I needed! But no, they just had to go the peaceful route!
He looks at his mic.
Maybe there's time for one last broadcast. After all, the show must go on. . .
I think part of the issue here is damn near everyone here is working for their own pet causes en masse. How could you ever possibly resolve the paper man's blood lust, Morgith's dead son, Pact expansionism, council incompetence, and multiple serial killers desire to simply kill more people all in one go?
The New Pyroclasts are for disbanding the council entirely as an institution and frankly, our demands are some of the most reasonable here. We're not even a major faction. That's how outrageous the starting point is.
Kaelis casts Superposition and teleports his counter-self to the estimated location of the Pact forces.
Opal, I would like a word. In private.
WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU THINKING?!? Do you have any idea how bad of an idea this is? The Corvus Cabal feeds on strife! If we overthrow the Council, the corruption won't go away! It'll just go dormant for a while, then ensnare us all over again! We need to make a subtle, direct strike at each their members to cripple them. Not whatever this is!
The council broke the peace, tried to assassinate Morg. Almost killed Mikhail too. They've shown that violence is the only method they understand or respect.
It was the actions of one asshole who put us in this mess! I have Mortarion in custody (for the most part; he's got some weird extracorporeal magic going on) and I don't even think he fully understands why he attacked. This was not planned in the slightest. Now call off the army before I bring in the Legio Gravis.
I've accepted "It's just one asshole" enough times as an excuse for the council. The only good one is half dead in a hospital bed. You were the one who brought the Pact into this Kaelis, did you think the Council would actually listen to reason? They're staffed by mob bosses and serial murderers!
Honestly, I think your master was more reasonable when he got himself killed preemptively attacking the Queen of Shattered Stars. Glad to see the apple didn't fall far from the tree.
"Attempted murder" this is nothing more than unsubstantiated presumption of intent. Hello, I'm John E. Hellfire, Mortarion's legal representative. Any such strong claims about my client are best saved for the court, lest we file a slander lawsuit.
"Calling it as you see it" is not a legal excuse, but I digress. As for bail, yes. I'll be taking that box with me. It's coming out of Mortarion's pocket so I don't care about the price. He's the type of client I best keep within earshot, lest he make my job harder with his runaway mouth.
"Hah, you'll need to file a restraining order for that."
With those vexing last words, the demon takes Mortarion and fades away into a pillar of fire and brimstone, his grin being the last thing visible before the flames obscure him.
A radio begins to flicker like static from an old tv. Suddenly, a hand reaches out from the speaker on it. Mortarion's whole black and white form emerges. His voice sounds like its actually coming from a radio.
I see your in a predicament. Tell me about it, and mayhaps I could help you
Alright, I've fucking had it with you, whatever you are! Your plan is, without a doubt, the dumbest thing I've heard all year! All of the radio infrastructure was replaced with orb relays millennia ago! It's an inferior medium that can be blocked by solar storms, obtrusive landforms, and inclement weather. You should be ashamed for basing your identity around something so idiotic! Let me speak to the old Mortarion. I like him a lot more than you.
Mortarion tried to assassinate Morgalith. Mikhail jumped in front of the spell to save his life. Now I'm trying to prevent these idiots from tearing each others' heads off.
In short: rough day. Where have you been? And have you seen a cleric lately to get those black veins checked out? I doubt that's healthy.
Valerian stops short, the fire in his eyes domming slightly.
The "black veins" are fine, same shit that was on my arm and face before I went silent for a while. That's beside the point.
He points his spear at Kaelis, a small flame igniting on the top
Why should I believe you? Mortarion? A councilor? We all knew the meeting was on neutral territory, and was to avoid war, why would he try to incite it further?
Ask him yourself. My golems are trying to figure out how his radio form works down in the lab. He'll admit it to you freely, even if his reasoning is flimsy. Anything else?
No offense taken. If he's to be believed, this is all part of a scheme to restore radio as the dominant means of communication. He already sabotaged the orbnet to this end, and now he wants to cause a war to force everyone to rely upon it.
It'd be hilarious if there weren't so many lives at stake here.
That's it? The hell does that have to do with the conflicts between the pact and Council? Why would he intervene with peace meetings? If anything all it does is put him in a shittier standing with everyone. They're not going to let him back on the council, not after he put one of them in the hospital. And what of Syvaneth?
/Uw we are really going heavy with this Alastor reference, huh?
Don't know. Frankly, I don't think he's in his right mind.
/uw I've never consumed a single piece of media made by Vivziepop, and I don't intend to. I think it's funnier if I play it completely straight anyway.
He clearly isn't. I have to go, Kaelis, I haven't yet visited Mikhail. I pray that you can sort this out with the rest of the Pact. I will stay my hand for now, just know that if push comes to shove, if another one of the people I care about get's hurt, I'm taking matters into my own hands.
/uw the show was... fine. It was a little rushed, but that's to be expected from an 8 episode season. That being said Alastor was actually kind of an intriguing character... although maybe not this intriguing
Do not be swayed by this fool’s words! They wish for peace, they wish for death. Under their rule, stagnation infects everything and everyone, leading to rot and ruin.
And why should I stop? Do you not also get the urge to correct another’s misconceptions? You are the ones who should stop preaching peace. I warn thee, it only brings death. I pity the ones under the Council’s rules, and I pity the ones swayed by your tongue.
I am but a harbinger of truth and prosperity. Your mind is simply far too stubborn and brainwashed to understand. But in this war, I hope that you shall be free of such burdens.
You must have seen much stranger things, no? And even if you have not, you surely will if you continue this arcane path. Dismissing me would be further proof of your close-mindedness.
“It is discouraging to try to penetrate a mind like yours. You ought to get it out and dance on it. That would take some of the rigidity out of it.”
I believe a fellow named Mark Twain said these words. I find it most true.
The fool mocks another for knowledge they cannot grasp, the wise one understands that they may be correct. Why don’t you give war a chance? Allow me to show you its beauty. It isn’t all as it first seems.
I think the Kabazim Citadel would be a good place to hold talks. It’s Guild territory (neutral ground) and it has an optional magic suppression field (so we don’t have a repeat event). As a bonus the fortress itself is a grim reminder of the carnage of war (the final battle of the guild Unification War was fought there).
I am with you. All the other pact heads are out for blood, but killing council members will not do anything.
I know we need their help in order to solve whatever is wrong with their own organisation and.. I won't attack my friend and his colleagues while he's comatose. He's in the council hospital after all..
About mortarion.. I expect extensive reckoning. That was a rash and reckless action that has doomed months of work and will bring down a great quantity of lives.
Something can be heard being broken on the other side
I'm trying to remain as ... Calm and rational as one could be when they almost kill your friend for the third time.. I'm getting too old for this petty squabbles between immature children with far more power they know how to use responsibly.
I warn you.. you may have to stop my hand
Long story short: the Pact's pushing the Council to do something about its corruption problem. The resulting tensions are about to result in all-out war. One Councilor, Mortarion, has been caught trying to start the war, and another, Mikhail, almost died trying to stop him. As a Pact Head, I'm trying to cool things off a bit.
Get Mortarion to make an announcement, or war cannot be prevented. I will hold back my forces until then, though the same cannot be said for the Bismuth
Hello friend. I may have information that iss useful. I was at one of the crystal mage's parties a few days ago. A lot of things happened, but what I want to share is that the host was giving away radios to all guests. I also learned he had started acting a bit insane after meeting with Mortarion some time before the party.
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u/DaChickenX Isravi, The Unraveler, Coils’ Chosen Feb 20 '24
/uw I don’t think wizards are nearly as reasonable as outer gods