Guardians of the Veil Status ●●
Executioners, torturers and scapegoats, Interfectors are well-known to the other orders. Outsiders hate them in accordance with ritual and genuine sentiment. Masks play a prominent role in many Guardian ceremonies, but the Interfector’s office is defined by his mask: an expressionless iron visage with slits for the eyes and mouth. The Interfector traditionally wears a dark, fl owing garment and either gloves or stains his hands with a deep red color. In some regions, Interfectors use henna to paint Atlantean runes and the signs of local death gods on their faces and hands. In other places, Interfectors replace the dark garments with naked skin, covered with whip and burn scars.
Not all Consilii employ Interfectors; they are signs of authoritarianism and a strong Guardian influence. The Interfector is the Consilium’s headsman and interrogator. The Guardians of the Veil permit her to kill or torture any mage selected by both the Hierarch and a simple majority of attending Councilors. The Interfector will even hunt other Guardians. The Consilium may employ the Interfector secretly or refuse to justify the decision to other mages. Furthermore, the Interfector is immune to normal rules against killing or offending the persons of other mages and may ignore challenges to duel. This creates a sense of uncertainty, because nobody can be sure who ordered the Interfector to act — or whether the Interfector killed for his own reasons. Guardians employ Interfectors for assassinations in situations where this uncertainty can work to their advantage.
Obviously, then, most mages despise Interfectors. This is useful, because the presence of such a loathsome fi gure draws attention away from the leaders of a ruthless Consilium. Atlantean tradition holds that the Interfector is unclean. Mages may not touch or even stand in the shadow of the Interfector without being symbolically tainted. Many modern mages don’t believe in the position’s taint, but follow custom anyway and, in any event, think that anyone who’d volunteer to kill for the Consilium is a heartless bastard anyway.
A Guardian caucus may rotate Interfector duties amongst themselves, relying on ritual garb to muddy the difference between one titleholder and the next. Sometimes, Guardians don’t even let the Hierarch know that they’ve switched positions and let the mask and a bit of magic disguise the change. An Interfector must be able to kill and interrogate mages without fl inching. This seemingly violates the rule of the Crimson Veil, save that the act does not demonstrate loyalty to the order as much as humility. The Interfector is the willing slave of the Consilium, even at the expense of his own order. The Interfector thus symbolizes the strengths of the order as a whole, because she will do the unthinkable for other mages and by sinning, spare other sorcerers from sin.
