07.07x2: Mage Towers

[Joshua]

(OOC: Well, it doesn't have to be blood magic or ritual sacrifice. But, yeah, it implies she's being raised for use in / to perform a ritual.)

"Anniah is his daughter. There was suspicion, but unfortunately no real proof, that he was raising her to be a sacrifice to tap into the power of the seven towers." Lazarus will state. "Coinciding with the millennial celebration next year."

[ShadowOfPreservation]

"Anniah's not an issue any more. I'm not interested in waiting around for proof of his intent when an innocent's life is on the line." Lyra turns to Ruby and continues. "Scion's also known as the Graft Master and has done a number of horrid things to unwilling subjects. As for wanting Lazarus' support, I just meant that since he's the primary voice of the council, his recognition of your right to lead the Ruby guild would facilitate reclaiming your position. We certainly don't want you to seem like a puppet but we also don't want the power hungry and contentious seeing you as some usurper. The more support you have from the beginning, the easier it will be for you to focus on internal guild matters without worrying so much about city politics."

[Rasanam]

"I see," says Ruby, blandly. ((Though... everyone here has absurd levels of sense motive; it should be fairly clear that Ruby disapproves of acting without proof, but doesn't - at least in this case - want to make a fuss about it.))

"Finding significant proof of wrong-doing will be necessary if you want him permanently out of the picture, rather than merely demoted. I presume he protects himself against divination with Mind Blank? If so, it should be simple enough to find proof during the inevitable mage-duel; I intend to open with Disjunction."

((For reference, for those who aren't familiar with standard D&D rules: Mind Blank is a spell that blocks all mental influence / mind reading, including any form of divination for "what does this person plan to do". Mordenkainen's Disjunction is an extremely potent anti-magic spell, capable of stripping away pretty much all defensive magics - including things like Mind Blank.))

[ShadowOfPreservation]

"How you decide to deal with him is your call. It'll be your guild after all. He's devious though so just don't underestimate him and the measures he'll go to."

[Joshua]

Lazarus blanches. There's only two mages currently in the city capable of casting Disjunction, and Ruby is now the only one he knows about. "Forgive me, I didn't realize you were that skilled. Uh... is that going to be an issue?"

[Rasanam]

Ruby blinks, and mutters, "And here I'd been worried that my skills might have been overtaken by five hundred years of thaumaturgical research..."

To Lazarus, she replies, "I certainly won't make it one; matters outside the Ruby guild are not worth wasting charges from an artifact. ...From your reaction, Scion might not be worth that, either."

((For those not possessed of a very high sense motive check, the potential 'problem' here is that Ruby is a significantly more powerful spellcaster than Lazarus is, and could easily take over all of the mage guilds instead of just the Ruby guild. Fortunately, she's not really that interested in external politics.))

((Also, post edited slightly - Ruby has enough sense motive to realize that power levels here are a bit off from what she was expecting, and that it's probably better to be careful about revealing what she can do until she's figured out what's going on.))

[Joshua]

Lazarus will counter, "Well, a large amount of advancement has been made in the breadth of magic. For example, the ability for even neonates to teleport between wonders, the auto-quill*, and the picture-box** among others."
_______________
*: A cheaply made quill enchanted with unseen servant that can copy pages on its own or take dictation.
**: Basically a magical camera / projector.

[Rasanam]

"Oh, interesting," Ruby comments, "Small scale artifice? I don't think I'd ever considered that." She tilts her head to one side, and then asks, "And how many of these innovations have come out of my guild?"

[Joshua]

Lazarus will point to the appendix in the back of the book. The ruby guild has focussed more on manufacturing and transportation, while their rivals have focussed on making general people's lives better. Overall, the emerald guild has more inventions that are in wider use, but not by much.

[Rasanam]

Ruby spends a bit of time looking through the appendix, asking questions, and making notes of spells she really needs to learn (like the aforementioned wonderport spell set - sure, they're limited in destination compared to teleport, but they're both lower level and more accurate.)

She is, in fact, perfectly content to talk shop like this for some time; though she's also subtly fishing for Lazarus to change the topic - she wants to see what he considers to be the important points that need to be discussed.