Enter Some Characters

[rix_scaedu]

This whole adding something to the writing and typing cycle thing might be working.

The Master of the Circle of Shadows was pontificating.  There was no other word for it - he was sitting in a throne-like chair and was lit from above by an angled light that left most of his face shadowed by the hood that hung low over his forehead.  The rest of the Circle were facing him in an arc, the seven Initiates seated on their padded footstools and the five Acolytes kneeling on cushions behind them.  All of them wore black robes made on the same pattern as the Master's, with the Acolytes' unadorned, and the Initiates' illuminated with silver embroidery.  The Master's robe, of course, was picked out in gold and silver thread.  Laurence Boyle, one of the Acolytes, privately thought that the Master had taken the Emperor Palpatine aesthetic rather too much to heart.  He'd also come to the conclusion that the Circle of Shadows was as much a personality cult as an arcane society, and was trying to plan a gentle exit on his own terms.  At the moment though, the Master was saying something interesting and perhaps useful.

"Richard Ashgrove has died," the man was saying in his rich, plummy, persuasive voice.  "Not by violence or ill wishing but as a gentle, natural result of his age.  May he rest in peace and may such an end come to all of us in our time.  This leaves a power vacuum in magical society in this part of the country.  Richard Ashgrove held three positions of power within our extended community.  He was Master of the Ashgrove Circle, Keeper and Guardian of the Gneiss Linking Stone, and Grand Master of the Most Far and Further Diaspora Circle.  The first does not concern any of us who are not descended from the George Ashgrove who arrived in this country in 1804 as a convict.  The third concerns us only because their size bends and warps the general magical environment that surrounds us.  They, like the Country Women's Association, do much to improve the wellbeing of their members and the general community but I have no wish to belong to either organisation.  What concerns us in this matter, is the Gneiss Linking Stone.  The Stone is what allows us to call upon bargains struck with the spirits and other magical beings of its land of origin.  The Keeper is the one who controls the terms of access to the Stone's abilities.  With a very little work, one of us can claim the position of Keeper and Guardian."

'By that,' thought Laurence, 'you mean you.  I don't know if that would be a good idea.  Please, tell us what you have planned - I may need to get out of this earlier than I thought.'

The Master did have what sounded like a well thought out plan, and he explained it to his followers.  It wasn’t until later, when the gathering was over and Laurence was on his way home, that the young man began to recognise the holes and flaws in what they had been told – and to wonder whether the Master had overlooked them or not shared everything.