Chương 560: BECMI Chapter 559 – The Council in Conclusion

"If they have power, they have no need to entertain our questions at all," the General of Matter stated bluntly in rebuke to Oroyosam's plea.

"They have obviously not bothered to inform us of their presence, their opinions, or their level of power, which is a strategic advantage on all levels for them. You would be asking them to give that away, and gaining what in exchange? Our goodwill?" He ground out a coarse laugh.

"I think they know enough not to rely on that from all of us, or even most of us. They are clearly a great power that we must either overcome and dominate, or accede to and obey. In the end, there will be no middle ground, for far too many of our own simply will not permit it." His gray eyes stole over the chamber, measuring every Immortal there coolly.

"While everyone wonders at their ambitions, it is fairly plain to everyone with eyes that if they are behind these attacks on us, they have concentrated on those with more rampant and immoral means and methods to their activities. If you examine the activities of the Church of Morning and their Eismark Federation, they focus on activities against the humanoids, the creations of Nifl, and the undead, as well as monsters in general.

They have fought back against nations whose mandates seem to include conquest, and most especially slavery as part of their cultures. Their condemnation of Tenya and the Golden Hag's very public defeat of her hidden Avatar, coupled with the slave revolutions that crippled Siricil, indicate a strong moral character to their mandates which can either be used against them, or will trigger their wrath if we attempt to play them.

"At the same time, they actively recruit members of multiple races, and have been seen to treat beings as different as pegasi, dragons, and minotaurs with equality and respect. Their alliances among elves, dwarves, hyn, gnomes, rakasta, lupin, tortles, and humans alike stands in stark contrast to the ambitions of many Immortals in this chamber." The General looked around with a grim eye, not judging, not condemning, not praising, merely weighing his words for them to consider.

"Lastly," the old strategist went on, "if an elf who can incapacitate a draeden so quickly and thoroughly is but their agent, I would think being able to instantly remove a Judge of the Dead who dealt so freely in selling off souls to Entropy is only a minor display of the strength of this Heaven, as is the drawing of the souls of the worthy from many worlds.

"We are facing a truly mighty enemy, and one who does not care to identify themselves to us, yet who also doesn't seem willing to outright destroy us without cause.

"We must now be wary of what that cause might be, and I admit such a thought makes me very uneasy."

"This Immortal Tek should be brought before the Council and speak, then!" High Hierarch Nifl of Entropy declared coolly.

"This Lady Edge is clearly a member of the Eismark and a supporter of the Church of the Morning. Given her power, she must be high in their councils. If there is a connection, let her reveal it to us, and if she will not, we can force the revelation if we need to!" she declared with a hiss.

"This is a weighty and dangerous matter, indeed, but you are attempting to borrow the full strength of the Council to defy the danger that comes in acting against one of their agents. The Judges of the Dead did not deter this unknown force in the slightest, and their mortal agent can stymie a draeden. Inviting that level of danger into our midst does not seem the wisest of moves," Terra rumbled out in mocking reproof.

"If the unknown are reticent and do not wish to speak with us, diplomacy can tell us enough. Who has investigated the Church of the Morning, and gained knowledge of it?" she asked sternly.

"Their faith is seductive, yet alert. They rapidly suss out those who seek to join for mere benefits and infiltration, while those sincere in wanting to know more are rapidly beguiled into joining with free hearts," Mizanotha, the Entropic Empyreal Thief of Destiny, smiled from her own seat, throwing a taunting smile at Oroyosam, who simply ignored her as usual.

"There are factions inside the Church, and Tek is but one of them. The other names that were related to me by my curious faithful were Dame Adama, Iatro, Haki, Helos, Lunia, Molniya, Chardon, Arbor, Jian, and Catleya."

Murmurs rapidly arose as other Immortals rapidly straightened, sharing the knowledge that those names were known in other places than merely the continent of Olos, as Patrons of knightly orders, healing temples, places of education and monastic learning, martial colleges, Druidic Orders, and many other places around the entire world. It was soon rapidly apparent that those Immortals had foundations all over Nown, including right in the heart of centers of power of many of them!

They had thought the new names those of mere upstarts and newcomers, confident of their own faithful and church's presences, but it quickly became apparent that these newcomers were extremely well-entrenched, widespread, and growing well beyond Eismark and the continent of Olos! This was not new. Most of the older Immortals were known under different names and faces in many lands as members of ersatz Pantheons, broadening their level of support and making them less reliant on any one church, religion, or people.

For newcomers to branch out so rapidly and openly, without speaking with other Immortals about it, was still considered quite rude and rather brazen. This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author's work. The General spoke up again after listening to the discourse that ran rapidly around the room.

"The underlying aspect of all of the approaches they have chosen to take with mortal followers is an underlying nobility of purpose, let us say a 'moral high road'. They are not exclusive, they do not claim to be of any particular race or people, yet they clearly hold power.

"That alludes to a strong and unshakable core of faith, as mortals are notoriously fickle about such matters. They identify tightly with their own, and quickly exclude those outside their circles.

"Such nobility of purpose is both powerful in its idealism and vulnerable in its naivety. If we are truly dealing with such a high-minded group, then we are dealing with noble fools… and noble fools can be extremely dangerous if their wrath is roused," the old warlord stated firmly.

"Furthermore, at our level, they must know that they are noble fools, such a weakness cannot be overlooked, and yet they still cling to those higher beliefs.

"That is a warning sign. Do they have an outward sign of solidarity?" he inquired of the room at large.

"Do they all Salute the Morning?" High Hierarch Quarizon of Energy immediately asked, and received a number of affirmations.

"If you know the words of that Salute, it is all about the Hope of a new day. I have lost numerous mortal servants to the simple power of that Salute and whatever subtle power it has to enflame the heart… a power that I can neither feel nor share!

"They were just words to me, but the Salute was something more to the mortals who invoked it with sincerity." His tone was rather disquieted.

"Repressing or eliminating their mortal churches and followers is completely within the remit of those here," Nifl insinuated evenly, knowing her words would find purchase among many, even if they openly denied it.

"It would behoove you all to take action to restrict their expansion and act against it, denying them further agency and action among the mortals."

"I counter that such would be unwise!" a new voice arose, heads turning to perhaps the youngest of the Celestials, still on the outer tiers, but rising in strength quickly. His interesting blend of dual philosophies to adjust to the needs of the day had earned him a great deal of interest from older Immortals observing the theocracy he had left behind.

"An interesting one to comment on matters of repressing faith," Oroyosam remarked neutrally.

"Why do you say that, al-Mammud of Time?"

"The people the Church of Heaven attracts are not merely those who bask in the goodwill and charity of others, as you seem to expect. They are doers of deeds and bringers of hope!" The rugged desert warrior who had founded the Sheikdoms of Zakarum frowned sternly.

"They have done the impossible in my own homeland: bringing forth Father Myah once more, the great river that was buried by Immortal decree; chased out the Delphan Overmagus Wallisamp, who had plagued the sands of my home for over a century; and neutralized the Orb of Oblivion that banishes all memory of fallen Sythia from the world.

In doing so, they have gained the allegiance of both the Magian Fire worshipers who clung so hard to Zugzul's foolish creeds, and certain tribes of the desert who saw them succeed at doing what my own followers did not, and respect them as people of action, not merely of words.

"While they have not turned violent against my followers, I regret to say the reverse was not true. One of the tribes sought to drive them from the shores of the Myah they had brought back, justifying it as them being infidels and invaders.

"That tribe of Ijsilaj is no more. Their warriors were extinguished out of hand, all who raised a sword against them perished. There was no mercy, only killing so rapid they had no true time to surrender.

"If you move against these faiths and they Salute the Morning, you shall be kicking a sleeping dragon to life. These are not people who sit down and endure beatings from the unjust, as I'm sure further tales of those faithful would reveal. If you begin to persecute them for the gods they follow, you are going to ignite a flame that so far has been turned against the evils of the world…

and your faithful will suddenly become the evils of the world, as will YOU, for there will be little doubt who such instructions come from!" The former desert scholar made a gesture that encompassed the area that the Spider's illusion had filled.

"I have previously heard that this elven wizardess could well claim to be the strongest magic-user in the mortal world, and climb to Immortality in Energy. The Pyramids she has made hold great power, and even now do they not restrain and undo the power of the Nexus which drove so many of our number to rash actions?

"Follow your own counsel, but know that I will not command that my own followers initiate a pogrom upon the Church of the Morning. If how they treat invasive Immortals is any sign, I fear I would not have any worshipers left come the turn of the year." There were winces around the room, including from many older and wiser Immortals.

The words stung, because they struck to the heart of Immortal uncertainty: the unknown force had proven capable of killing Immortals, their mortal servants could ferret out and remove Immortal spies with astounding ease, and the assembled Immortals simply did not know how or why! Immortals were courageous, but this was more than fear of the unknown: it was known that this force could annihilate them, and not acknowledging that was foolishness, not cowardice!

"I suggest sending an envoy to this Tek, then, and see what we can learn," Grimr proposed formally.

"Sending one to this elfin's home in the Eismark is also advised."

"To Sama Rantha as well," the General immediately spoke up, waving at Tenya sitting once more in the furthest tier. The formerly up-and-coming Empyreal had fallen from her ranking to High Celestial with the catastrophic waning of her faith and following in Siricil, although the wider breadth of her followers under other names outside the Empire had supported her despite the massive reversal.

"The Golden Hag sits at the top of the Eismark Federation with her mate. Her fearlessness in taking on Tenya's Avatar cannot be seen as anything other than having massive backing behind her able to deflect Immortal retaliation. She will also know something…"