Griffith

The halls of the Arc Tower come to life as magicians shuffle into the the assembly area. The Resonance was heard, and the Magistrate Sanctum answered. Most of them, anyway. The Conclave were already seated and were waiting for the gathering to get settled.

"Bah. What has become of this organization? None of these magicians ever take these gatherings seriously. Judging from the crowd, a lot has opted not to come... and those who did, well- just look at their faces. As if they don't even want to be here!", High Magistrate Duke was already on the edge.

"Peace, friend Duke.", Lord Magistrate Juron chided. "Maybe some of them are late. I'm sure we can make time for those who are still catching up."

High Magistrate Duke was about to say something, when High Magistrate Kiri stood, approaching the Lord Magistrate. "Forgive me, Lord Magistrate. As much as I want the whole Magistrate Sanctum to hear the reason I initiated this gathering, we must begin this meeting immediately. It is of utmost importance."

Lord Magistrate Juron felt the urgency in High Magistrate Kiri's voice, so he held his hand outward, giving her the permission to start, "Very well, High Magistrate Kiri. Proceed."

High Magistrate Kiri bowed to the Lord Magistrate in acknowledgement, and walked to the front of the gathered magicians.

"Greetings, magicians of the Sanctum. I'm aware a lot of you are confused of this sudden call for a gathering. I see a lot are not yet present, so I ask for your help in disseminating the information you're about to hear." Kiri paused and breathed in deeply, closing her eyes.

After a moment, she opened them again and continued, seriousness clear in her voice, "We have reason to believe there are renegades within the Sanctum."

A murmur was heard in the crowd, but was quieted as the Lord Magistrate raised his hand. "Please, my good friends. Let us hear more of what High Magistrate Kiri has to say."

"I know it comes as a shock. The Arcane Watch had always been careful in the security and regulations here in the Magistrate Sanctum. However, I have in my possession critical information that supports this claim." After making sure that she has everyone's attention, High Magistrate Kiri brought out the comm-capsule and activated it. As the green screen flickered to life, she closed her eyes unable to look at the holographic visage of the young man she might have untimely sent to his doom.

"Mission Recording at 9:25 P.M., second day of Winter.", the hologram buzzed.

"...my magic tracker has detected an unusual and powerful magic disturbance in the vicinity of the Magistrate Sanctum. I'd hate to be jumping into conclusions but we might have a breach within our ranks. Hopefully not. I will continue my investigation and will be sending another message whenever I have updates..."

High Magistrate Kiri turned off the recording, and ended her statement grimly, "There was no other message."

The gathering was very silent. If what the recording had said was true, the Sanctum could be facing dark times ahead. High Magistrate Duke was the first to break the ice. He stood up and cleared his throat. "What this envoy has said is true: we can't jump into conclusions with this limited amount of information."

High Magistrate Kiri shot him a look.

Ignoring it, High Magistrate Duke continued, "We must investigate on this further. Thus, I suggest we put up another team of envoys to look into this matter."

The gathering once again murmur to life, some already agreeing to the High Magistrate's proposal, but others were still skeptical. One practitioner stood up from the crowd, "If what the envoy in the recording has said is true, then anyone of us magicians cannot be trusted. I mean, the anomaly is within the Magistrate Sanctum. What if it wasn't caused by renegades that came from the outside but from our own ranks."

"Let me stop you there, practitioner.", High Magistate Duke countered. "Those who are here have answered the call of the Resonance. But it's clear that others don't take the call seriously, as we can see with the empty seats. Those who did not attend might be the renegades themselves. Now, I think it's safe to assume that all of us present here are clear. We can choose from ourselves who will take part in the new envoys."

After his statement, Duke looked at Lord Magistrate Juron for affirmation.

"I think High Magistrate Duke's proposal is a sound one.", Lord Magistrate Juron accepted. "However, we must also consider: Are anyone present here willing to risk their own lives for this investigation? I encourage anyone who is willing to volunteer themselves, and we can screen then appropriately."

For a while, none among the crowd stood up to accept the mission. A young man wearing all black was the first to stand. "I am Brutos Griffith, magician rank: Arcanist, specialty: Fire element. I volunteer myself as envoy to the Arcane Watch and to see this mission fulfilled." He locked eyes with the Lord Magistrate.

Juron replied, "Please step up, Arcanist Griffith. Anyone else?"