Con Spells Cloaked
Supreme Aug:Pre+3 Man+2 dur 12hrs;Skill Mastery Socialize+2 Persuasion+4 dur 12 hrs
(2002) Formal Business Concilium
41616
THREADID
122
POSTS
81 - 90
DISPLAYED
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"Campanella can't," the angel said oh-so-casually.
Look. If anyone knows the value of the Dramatic Pause™, it's this guy.
"He's not the Hierarch."
This is so good it's worth two Dramatic Pause™s.
"'The Hierarch is chosen from amongst the Councilors, etc.'," he explained. "Which Campanella was not."
Figure it out yet?
"As soon as a complete new Council was convened without him as the Moros Councilor..."
He's all out of ice cream.
This entire thing would've been a lot funnier if he wasn't caught in the crossfire. As it stands? It looks as though his future is decided among the chaos of who is entitled to judge him, accusations of inability to uphold the Charter and stating the Hierarch... is not Hierarch at all?
Fuck, he'd appreciate if Juris was here now. It takes a lawyerhead to sort through this mess, it's a good thing they're not taking minutes at this gathering.
This is not a good time to speak. Better to wait for those with titles to sort things out. For once, Shodan simply observes, looking from one member of the Council to another, then to Star, then finally stopping his eyes on Campanella, waiting for his response. If Shodan's ill-timed and asinine, but ultimately inconsequential remark earned them a brutal display of power, what would this result in?
The Obrimos knows one thing: the feeling of helplessness regarding his own fate is killing him.
From fire to ice.
Campanella sighed as he looked from the nascent council to the gathered mages.
"I was acclaimed as Hierarch by what structure existed at the time. I secured my position through the Duel Arcane. Some of you were there to see it."
His lips curled.
"If the Council no longer needs my services, let them say so. Otherwise, duel me. Let me end my tenure as I began."
To the Council more specifically.
"I only offered my advice. You choose whether to take it."
Another sigh escaped as he turned away.
All of a sudden the position seemed... not worth the effort.
He actually deigned to return Pixel motion with a slight nod of his own.
Oh, that's a surprise.
"Well. Guess we need to Square up, then? To be clear? I have no super massive objections. I don't even want to think about a replacement. But," long gloved fingers waved around, "You've got to play by the Charter, too."
Funny.
He always thought it would be Tyria.
...
Fucking Mystagogues. Worse than Libertines.
He stood up.
"Step down or pick someone to Square the Circle. I don't care who."
Cool as a cucumber, yo.
8 successes to Duel contest of wills
He didn't even have the time to dig into Anima's argument that the whole Consilium precipitated into awrestlingtennis match between Star and Campanella.
The former - like a magician - had quite amusingly let the proverbial cat out of the bag. He had never thought about it in those terms, for the most part because the Hierarch's tenure had been lowkey; but all good things must come to an end. At least this duel - if it came down to it - wasn't going to be fought over a bullshit reason.
"Magus Campanella, you either resign from your position, be acclaimed Councillor and then ask to be named Hierarch again by this very Council, or you must accept Magus Star challenge. We're all subjects to the same laws", his gaze moves from one to another.
"Should I Square the Circle?"
"Yes."
Campanella said simply.
It was the only thing he said as his voice caught in his throat.
Anger. Indignation. Offence. These were the emotions that empowered the besieged Hierarch...
They were quashed by the simple actions of the Illusionist. The nonchalance of his act. The simplicity of it. The inevitability of it.
His was already starting to sweat, hot and angry, as the Consilium slipped from his grasp. Now his sweat was sudden cold and clammy as a distinct chill set in. Campanella had to look down at his feet to make sure they were actually moving in the right direction.
And in the dry, rational, portion of his mind a quiet voice noted that this was why Star was a Guardian of the Veil.
Campy gets 1 success on an unmodified Contest of Wills. When Composure is factored in, this Moros gets sweet F.A. You bet he is scared by the Guardian's cool display.
"Good", the inevitability of fate has caught up with the permanence of Time, Star was to be its Scion. He turns back to the Consilium at large, pronouncing a single word of power, and the blasts of the Aether awake the slumber of his senses.
"Today Magus Campanella of the Mysterium, Scion of the Watchtower of the Lead Coin in the Realm of Stygia accepts the Challenge issued forth by Magus Star, Scion of the Watchtower of the Golden Key, on the matter of the Interpretation of the Charter. The standing Hierarch alleges the validity of his claim on the position on the basis of a precedent set as a result of a Duel Arcane. Magus Star alleges otherwise, that the Hierarch - as the Charter states - should be picked amongst the standing Councillors", he turns his back to the crowd, and appeals to the Duelists.
"Let the relative strength of your respective convictions be measured and the most worthy prevail. I, Councillor Winter of the Golden Key, Guardian of the Visus, will officiate the Rite"
He gives them a few seconds to issue their declarations of Sword and Shield before a swerve of Supernatural ink collapses unto the world burning into a ring of white primal flames around them. Squaring the Circle, an impossible and seemingly paradoxical feat of geometry, but when magic is involved, the rules of time and space bend.
4 successes3 successes
This was…this was a fucking mess.
She had watched Campy win the Duel, heard no complaint from the Councilors that were there that day. And yet now it wants to be called into question.
The order that he had brought to the Consilium was slipping away.
What chaos would be brought in if he lost this Duel? Would the hard work to make the Consilium functioning be for nothing?
And this round of Councilors would pick the next Hierarch if he lost? They were well and truly fucked.
But would this Life Master stick around for the walls to come crumbling down? Time and events would tell.
It's an interesting story, told in bits here and there.
Was that how it began? With a successful show of force from the nebbish scholar? Up to this moment replete with dismissal of a Council, magical displays to cow others, and an outright rejection of their laws? Sure, it's a technicality -- but technicalities can also be discussed. Interpreted. It's a severe light to consider Campanella in, but until now maybe he'd been at the opposite end of the spectrum and seeing him through rose-colored lenses. It's his own failing, too.
All Thrones, yo. All Thrones.
Did it feel good?
Had Campanella come to enjoy that feeling that came with threatening Duels and people backing down? Of being counted Most Wise?
It's okay. It happens. People lose their way. This angel will show him the light. The way back. He'll show him how fragile fear mistaken for respect can be: how easily the effigy is shattered and whatever beauty there was before was replaced with shards of ruin.
Blue-green eyes fixed on Campanella's as the weave bound them, and inside the elsewhere a shimmer of playing cards sprayed from his hands in a slow arc.
Campanella has first shot!
The Shaman feels blindsided, he argued for a proper trial, and was greeted by chaos. Then he saw a way out of it all with a fresh start for the Consilium and the defendants.
Then the Circle turned into the Primal Wild right in front of him.
He could feel the ripple of excitement and anticipation that rolled through the room or was it just him?
He quickly cycles through his favorite visions, knowledge of the supernal to see the complexities of the two Mages as they face off. Piercing the gauntlet with his eyes so he can take glimpses into the Shadow realm and study what material chaos will birth there, and a small, absent minded mudra that opens his understanding of the shadow.
Knowledge is power. The more you know the more you grow. Knowing is half the battle, and a dozen other Saturday morning cartoon mottos.