Events of 1104, however, have put the existence and the ambitions of the Conclave beyond a doubt. Their taking of Armengar was a clear sign of their ambition and power.
The purpose of this paper is to provide information to the Regents’ Council of the history and current operations of the Conclave so Teutonia may be better prepared for any incursion that may occur. There are a number of Vipers who have experience in dealing with the Conclave – specifically Hook, Elthorn and myself.
Origins
The origins of the Conclave can be traced to the race wars between the elder and younger races. The younger races, which would soon form the Empire of Man, had been denied in their attempts to gain a seat on the Council of Estel and independence from the watchful eye of the Elves and Fey of the time. The elves pressed at the time by ologs and uruk forces, soon found themselves fighting a war on multiple fronts. The humans then brokered a deal with several powers to create the Mordred Device that used the blessings of the ancestors to age all those of elder blood into the grave.
The elves had no counter to this new assault; the humans took ground at will, raising the ancient citadels of the elves to the ground and taking the tomes of magic. The elven civilisation that had stood for a thousand years was torn asunder, and those who survived hid themselves from the eyes of the new regime – the Sylvan erected their barrier and remained unseen until 1102, for example.
The group of elder races that would form the Conclave took themselves into the void at this point; I am unsure whether they went to a demi-plane or whether the rumours of a bubble in the void are correct.
The Empire was formed from the crucible of Tebron’s victory, and the rule of Man began. At this time, the elite force of the Empire known as the Enforcers were charged with the tracking and destruction of the Conclave who were, at the time, the only threat the Empire had. They failed. The Conclave attacked ritual circles in the hope of destabilising the magic being manipulated. I enclose a report of one such attack at the back of this briefing.
In the year 450, a great drought hit Empire lands to the South – the areas that would become the Spine of Tebron, the Lantian chain as so forth. At this point the Empire, so confident in its own ability became too ambitious. Linking all the ritual circles under Empire influence (approximately forty-five), the power was filtered to the primary circle at Malkarn. A great thread of water was manipulated, bringing gradual rain to their needy subjects.
When the ritual was established and had been maintained for weeks, the Conclave struck. The Dwarf Rune-Lord, xxx, entered through the void gate at Malkarn and destroyed the ritual within, demolishing the seal. Unleashed, the power manipulated caused the Cataclysm of water that ravaged the then-lowlands of Erdreja.
This was not enough to complete the Conclave’s plans.
I have not been able to discover any record of Conclave activity during the Dark Times; the first noted reappearance of them in the post-Gathering Treaty Erdreja is their manipulation of the Exiles at the Gathering of 1100 at En-Esh in Aegyptus. The Exiles, keen to appease their ancestor Lord Waste, were only too keen to aid in the widespread destruction the Conclave yearned, and went to the ritual circle and erected the seal. The power gathered within the Circle and the Exiles left through the Void gate, leaving the elements gathered unattended. The sacrifice of the Tome of Fire prevented another cataclysm but weakened the magical pattern of Erdreja.
From this point until 1104, the Conclave has acted by subterfuge and through agents, using either a control rune in the mind pattern or blackmail. Of the agents taken down, one fact has been consistent; they are more scared of Conclave reprisals against them than they are of us. Any agents deployed by the Conclave have been for reconnaissance and assassination of potential threats. They have also targeted rituals being performed in the hope of further damaging the magical pattern.
Strengths
The true strength of the Conclave is their ability with magic, which dwarfs Erdrejan mages. Unburdened by the effects it had on the world pattern, the Conclave uses true magic to deal with all circumstances. For example, whilst a Healer would channel energy from the Plane of Life to remove a pattern corrupting would, the users of true magic would simply remove it from our reality. Their ability to teleport large amounts of troops accurately is frightening.
Their mind-control techniques rival Empire mental conditioning; unless someone is suitably trained then it is impossible to recognise and break. The people who currently can identify the control rune are Sol Tempest, Elani, Treacle and Sister Bethany.
Their shock troops are Ogre Magi, truly fearsome creatures; capable of wielding powerful magic equivalent to our high mages, this coupled with the physical strength of the ologs makes them comparable to Empire Dragon Knight forces. The rank and file troops are generally unknown as they have yet to be seen in a large-scale conflict. They used approximately 4,000 unliving troops on Armengar to capture and hold it, and given their skill in the magical arts it would not be surprising if they utilised constructs as warriors.
They hold the advantage of surprise; no one is entirely sure of where they are. We are also unaware of any allies they may have on Erdreja, though reasonable assumptions could be made of elements in Cathay and the Sylvan Elves.
Weaknesses
It is far more difficult to detail the weaknesses of the Conclave as so little is known about them.
We do not know how many troops the Conclave has, but it would be reasonable to hypothesise that we could outnumber them considerably. The Elder races have never been the most fast-breeding of races and the numbers that escaped the race wars were not high. They may be reliant on using unliving troops for large-scale warfare and we have contacts we could tap into to potentially block these resources from the Conclave.
Another is the static nature of the command, the Council of Eight (details of the names of the individuals who sit on this is enclosed at the back). Any removal or assassination of one of the eight would create a power gap and it is not unreasonable to assume that conflict would ensue as various parties seek to fill these gaps.
At this point, I do not subscribe to the opinion suggested by many that the Empire and Conclave are balanced against each other, that to destroy one will destroy the other. The Conclave were active whilst the Empire were dormant, and it is only the random actions of the Cathayan who had hold of the orbs of spirit and magic that awoke them.
Allies
There are a number of forces within the Heartlands who could be valuable in any conflict against the Conclave.
The first is Josharim II, the last Emperor. Despite his current military aspirations against certain Heartland nations (and I will not go into any discourse on the Empire situation in this document), Josharim is oath-sworn to fight the Conclave first and foremost. As with all oaths, he has found a way around the words to pursue his current goals but if he was given firm information I believe he would act.
Secondly, the Patterns themselves have mostly exhibited an interest in dealing with the Conclave; specifically Floris Cullen and Scullion but the others have indicated their opposition. I would be loathed to approach them, however, due to their claims of non-interference in mortal affairs that they break time and again.
Another possibility is the Council of Estel, the council of Elves that meets from time to time. They are being manipulated by the Conclave or they will be wholly against them – we need to determine which. As such, I would recommend inviting representatives of the Council to meet with the representatives of the Vipers at one of the large meetings in 1105. I would suggest working through Celadore of the Harts or Traveller of the Gryphons for this purpose (despite his factional allegiance, I believe I could convince the latter to see the bigger picture in this instance).
Finally, there are individuals who could aid us; specifically Reaver who is well know to many within the faction. Taladael, the last remaining elf of the Vermillion lines. Also, Acbar Al-Rashish, son of the great theoretician Atan Al-Rashish has been instrumental in the provision of information.
Conclusion
Due to the nature of the threat posed by the Conclave and what is actually known about them, it is difficult to suggest any single route of action to take. However, I have no qualms about suggesting the following: -
Tightening of external security. In my year with the Vipers, I have noted that our gate is often left unmanned and unguarded. Whilst this may prove a deterrent against the factions – the fact that if they kick off against us, there is no ritual of peace to protect them – it does mean that unidentified people can walk in and out. This is especially noticeable at the Gathering of Nations when there are so many unrecognisable faces present.
We also need to consider our internal security, and the notion that any member of our faction may be being controlled, by either blackmail or by actual control. In case of the latter, it may be prudent to either create an item to detect such domination or encourage the petitioning of the Guilds to allow Vipers to learn the skills of Mind Healing, the detecting of Demonic and Ancestral interaction and the calming word. The Ministry of Internal Affairs should be given the authority to take people in for questioning and checking at their discretion.
We need to be aware of when and where the Mages Guild are planning to reform the Tome of Air and the Orb of Magic, as these are likely targets for Conclave activity, along with any Empire ritual performed.
We should consider the possibility that the Conclave is active within Teutonian borders, specifically in unexplored or uninhabited areas such as the Reese Astrobleem.
I remain in the service to Teutonia and the Viper Nation
Rathenn D’Abo
Penned, 1st Month 1105, Monte Cassino
APPENDIX ONE -
CONCLAVE HIERARCHY
A Council of Eight that dictates the direction of its people rules the Conclave; they are served by a number of lieutenants and then passed down their chain of command. Whilst I have the details of the their General, I am unaware if they possess a civilian counterpart.
This information was acquired at a multi-factional and guild force that struck at one of Weblec’s lieutenants at the first moot of 1104.
The Eight are as follows: -
Allbreeth Sim Hedrike, founder of the Conclave, Elf Lord
Zildrakaquor, second of the Conclave, Dark Elf, master of their assassins
Sendor Earthbourn, renegade Dwarf cast out of their society and cursed to be unable to teach his mastery of runes
Olvinas sim Laveline, Female Elven Lord, true mage and necromancer. Attempted to rise in the Eight but was slapped by Allbreeth and Zildrakaquor.
Webleck, Ogre Mage, deals with interrogations and controlling
Isshaldra Melthern, Elf Lord - little known
Tekreff Debrath, Ogre Mage, little known
Aribann, Elder Lord, shapeshifter and the weakest on the Council, deals with information gathering.
The General of the Conclave armies is Oleg Shendrathy, whose body was shattered by the Mordred Device but had a new one built by persons unknown. Only damaged by artifact weaponry, dealing blows that cut through armour and destroys living flesh and can control any golem or construct near him.
