1st Month of 298 A.C. King's Landing

High Septon Maegor

The bells tolled in the Great Sept of Baelor, in remembrance for Jon Arryn, the Lord of the Eyrie, Lord Paramount of the Vale and Hand of the King. Maegor's cousin had been found in the solar of the Tower of the Hand, blood pooling forth from his mouth, poison in his drink, someone had clearly gone to a lot of effort to make sure the man was dead. Maegor had his suspicions about whom had done the deed, but he had decided to keep them to himself, he had learned a long time ago that it was not worth getting overtly involved with such things. No, it was better to concern himself with the dealings of the Faith. The past four years had been an interesting time for his people, there were developments, the members of the Faith seemed more willing to listen to the changes and reforms that he had been saying were necessary for some time. No longer were they demanding tithes from people to give services, instead they were accepting them for free, no longer were they demanding payment for the blessing of someone's soul, they were doing it for free. Naturally, this was angering many people, but none had tried to come to blows as he had feared they might have.

The bells stop ringing, and Maegor takes a moment to pray for the soul of his cousin, a good man who fell far in one way or another. That done, he opens his eyes and walks into the room of the Father, there meetings of the Most Devout take place. The room is a spacious one, with a table made from oak, and seven chairs for the seven members of the Most Devout, Maegor looks at them all and thinks through what is on the agenda for today. He takes a breath and then speaks. "Thank you all for coming. It has been a tragic day, Lord Arryn was a good man and one who was taken before his time. Let us start this meeting with a prayer for him." This is not something he wants to do, but it is expected of him and therefore he does it. "Dear Father upon high, please take great care with the man who is to join you today. His name is Jon of the House Arryn, a good man, and devoted to you, make sure his soul rests easy today and for the rest of time."

"Amen." The Most Devout respond.

Maegor opens his eyes and decides that with that done, the time has come to get to business. "Now, there are three main issues that need to be discussed. Foremost amongst them is the issue of the Poor Fellows, who continue to come within range of the Sept, begging for alms and preaching their heresy. Septon Maron, what have you gathered about them?"

Septon Maron is a relatively young man of thirty namedays, an ambitious man from the Westerlands, he has risen high, quite quickly within the Faith. His words are measured when he responds. "From what I have been able to understand Your Holiness, the Poor Fellows have come to King's Landing now, for they believe that the King's coronation will be the advent of the end of times. Their reasoning for this, is some scroll that was found within the annals of Oldtown that stated that the Seven would manifest themselves on the day that a false Dragon was crowned."

Maegor looks at the man, not really believing what he is hearing, sometimes he is still surprised by just how foolish people can be. "And I suppose that they believe that the King is this false Dragon that is mentioned within the scrolls?"

Maron has the decency to show some level of embarrassment. "Yes Your Holiness. It seems that they do truly believe that His Majesty, the King is the one who is the false dragon. I am not sure why, but from what I have gathered, it has something to do with his heritage."

Maegor sighs. "The fact that he has a lineage that goes back to the north does sit well with these fools then?"

"Indeed not Your Holiness." The man responds. "It seems that they are convinced that because of the influence of the Lord Regent, the King will, following his coronation begin persecuting members of the Faith."

"Something that is completely untrue. I am not sure how many times the Lord Regent, or the King will need to say that they will not do something before these fools believe it." Maegor responds.

"If I may Your Holiness?" Septon Torbert asks.

"Go ahead." Maegor responds.

"It is possible that these Poor Fellows, believe that the words the King has spoken before on this matter are not genuine. That the Lord Regent has forced him to speak these words, so that the man might maintain his hold on power. You have heard the rumours that came up after Lord Hoster's death, and now Lord Arryn is gone. People are wondering." Septon Torbert states.

"What are they wondering precisely?" Maegor asks, trying to keep his voice calm.

Torbert looks nervous then. "They are wondering whether or not the Lord Regent has had his competition killed off. Both Lord Tully and Lord Arryn were devout followers of the Faith, who had the power to challenge the Lord Regent, and both happened to die off in very suspicious circumstances. It is not much of a stretch for some to believe that the Lord Regent had them killed."

Maegor considers this for a moment and then laughs. "And they would be wrong. There is no reason for The Lord Regent to have killed either man." Especially not Jon, no Jon laid his own bed of thorns a long time ago. "I think that sometimes these people might mean well, but really they do themselves more harm than good." He pauses then, to have a look around and see how the Most Devout react to this, their reactions are mixed. He clears his throat and then asks. "Have these Poor Fellows a leader?"

"They do Your Holiness." Septon Maron says. "A man who calls himself simply the Sparrow."

Maegor quirks an eyebrow at that, vague memories from his time at the Starry Sept coming back to him. "And what does this Sparrow want?"

"Your Holiness?" Maron asks confused.

"What does he want? He must want something, otherwise, he would not be here, making a fool of himself." Maegor responds.

At this something akin to anger flashes across Maron's face, before it disappears. "I believe he simply wants what the Poor Fellows want."

"And what exactly is it that these Poor Fellows want?" Maegor asks. "As far as I know, no one has been able to tell me what it is they want."

There is a brief moment of silence, then Maron responds. "I believe they want to prevent the King from being crowned, properly."

Maegor sighs. "And why do they want that?"

"Because they believe that if the King is crowned, then there will be nothing to stop the carnage that will come from it." Septon Maron responds.

Maegor looks at the man, Septon Maron is deeply ambitious, that Maegor knows, but there is something else in him, something about him that has always unnerves Maegor, and he thinks he might be seeing more of it now. "And what precisely do they think will cause this carnage Maron?" he asks lightly.

The man's face is a hardened mask, but before he can respond, Septa Donella speaks. "They seem to think that if the King is crowned, that something of note will happen, that a hole will open in the sky, and that the Seven will emerge to strike down all those who have not opposed the crowning of the King."

His suspicions raised, Maegor asks. "Do they plan on starting something then to prevent the King from being crowned?" He thinks he knows the answer, but he waits to see how the Most Devout respond before he comes to a conclusion.

"I believe so, yes." Comes the answer from Donella.

"Then they must be stopped." Maegor responds simply.

"Your Holiness?" comes the question from someone, who, he is not sure, but he thinks his suspicions were right.

"We swore an oath when we recognised the Targaryens as the rightful rulers of Westeros, that we would always aid them whenever we could, and in return they would protect us. From ourselves if need be. Now is one of those times. If they intend to stop the coronation of the rightful King, then they must be stopped." Maegor responds, his voice filled with conviction.

"Even though there is no solid proof that they are going to be doing anything?" Septon Maron questions.

Maegor snorts. "You have told me that they are planning on disrupting the coronation. That in itself should be enough for us to get involved. They are Poor Fellows, representative of an element of the Faith. As High Septon, I am responsible for them, and I will not allow them to disrupt the coronation."

He can sense the change in the room then, it was a subtle change before, but now it becomes quite clear. "I see." Is all Septon Maron says. Maegor hears noise outside, sounds of men and women screaming, he wonders at that, but keeps his gaze fixed on Maron, wondering when the other shoe might drop.

"So then, we are decided." Maegor says to break the silence. "The Poor Fellows and this Sparrow fellow must be punished, I would like the Sparrow to be brought in for questioning. As for the others if they will not see reason, then they shall have to die." He does not like the words, but they must be said.

It is at that moment that the door to the room flies open, men dressed in boiled leather storming in. "What is the meaning of this?" Maegor demands, anger filling his voice.

"The righting of a wrong." A voice says, Maegor looks around for the voice, and finds himself looking at Maron.

"What do you mean?" Maegor asks.

"You have disgraced your office Your Holiness, you have turned the Faith into nothing more than puppets for the Targaryens. The reforms you have brought have turned the Faith from its core principles. In short you have failed in your duty as High Septon. That is an offense that cannot be forgiven." Maron says, Maegor sees the armoured men walk closer to him.

"And what of the rest of you?" Maegor asks, looking around at the room at large. "Do you agree with this?"

Silence follows his question, and just when he is about to ask it again, Septa Donella responds. "We do. You have fallen from the man you once were. Pride and ambition have clouded your judgement. We cannot allow that to continue."

"So you would damn the Faith to war, and to destruction." Maegor exclaims. "What has this Sparrow fellow promised you?"

"A return to the old ways. A venture into the promised land. A return to how things were when the Andals ruled Westeros, not the dragons." Septon Torbert says.

Maegor laughs. "You are all fools if you think he will actually deliver on that promise. From the sounds of it, he is no better than me, or the me you think you see. You shall all fall before long."

A voice he has not heard in a long time speaks then. "And that my friend is where you are wrong. The time has come for change, but not the change you were planning. True change. A fall of the old order, and a restoration of what it means to be a member of the Faith."

Maegor looks at the man and laughs. "I knew it would be you, you are a fool." The man before him stands in a simple brown rag of clothing, but his eyes glimmer with mischief and delight, as they always did.

A figure walks toward him, a sword in his hand. "For the Faith." The man whispers, and Maegor feels the sword plunge into his stomach, he gasps, but says nothing.