"There's been a change of plans" Mor'tar said with his head hanging over an accumulation of notes and open books.
"In what manner?" Dannyl puzzled.
"The ritual; we need to make some adjustments"
"What brought you to that conclusion….we haven't even tested it out, so how would you know there is a fault in the plans?"
"I just know. Do I sense some doubt in your voice Dannyl?"
"No, of course not. What are these 'adjustments'?" Dannyl changed the subject.
"Well firstly we are going to have to paint you up a bit, with some symbols and glyphs" He said carelessly.
Dannyl fiddled with his sleeves and glanced over to Mor'tar; "Sounds like fun? Where will the 'paintings' be applied?"
"Just around your torso, you can keep your pants on" He said with an ascending tone of humor.
"And what other changes are there?" Dannyl moved on.
Mor'tar turned around on his chair and regarded Dannyl with his customary half smile. "We will need another host, one with magical potential" He waited for Dannyl' response.
Dannyl' recognition came with a smile; "I see…. Who have you got in mind?"
Lord Garrel paced through the gardens of the University with a sense of authority. He liked to occasionally catch a novice acting up; it gave him the opportunity to implicate his high standing on the inferiors, and it always satisfied him to see them bow and accept any punishment he placed upon them. It was 'mingle time' as the teachers and novices liked to call it; the first hour after waking, everyone would wander the gardens chatting, and boasting over certain discoveries or findings. Lord Garrel had seen Lord Balkan approaching him meaningfully, and he dreaded the confidence in his stride; Lord Balkan had obviously proved him wrong about House Dagoth and whether it was allied with the Dwemer in the War of the First Council.
"Lord Garrel!" He piped up, eliminating Garrel' option of subtly avoiding the conversation.
"Lord Balkan" Garrel feigned a polite greeting.
Balkan' s feeling of elation was flamboyantly obvious. "I just wanted to let you know that I was right! The Dwemer did indeed ally with House Dagoth in the War of the First Council" He said excitedly.
"Oh, how enlightening, I would be quite fond to know of your sources" Garrel said with the hidden sting of defeat.
"It's the new intake of books the Arch-Mage has purchased for the library; there are so many new subjects that I've never read about before, some of the accounts on the history of Nirn are contradictory however to our old inventory-"
Balkan and Garrel conversed over the many different changes that the Arch-Mage had implemented.
Garrel then found an opportunity to voice his doubts on the leader of the guild. "I myself am quite keen on the new Arch-Mages ambitious renovations, but there are rumours going around that he may be planning on legalising certain disciplines that Hannibal Travern had forbid"
Balkan considered Garrel. "Such un-savoury rumours achieve nothing Lord Garrel" He said in defence of the new Arch-Mage.
"Indeed…." Garrel was sour; "I must be off" Without further exchange Lord Garrel hastily ambled away, feeling satisfaction at getting to Balkan.
Garrel hadn't been as zealous as the other Magistrates when it came to the new Arch-Mage. He believed a Dunmer would not be suitable as ruler of the guild, he considered the whole affair immoral, and the rumours about Mor'tar'iit' crooked past had not helped him in filling the expectations that is placed upon every Magistrate; asking for their blind faith in the Arch-Mage, he could not just sit back and be happy with his leader' s intentions and 'ambitions'. But he had to admit to himself that he was grateful for the extensions being made to the University; it never did feel like a real University without actual classrooms, all there was was a podium, but no desks, it was one of very few anomalies in Hannibal Travern' otherwise seamless display of leadership. And he believed that if Travern had more time so consider his successor; he would not have chosen Mor'tar'iit, it all happened under unfortunate and desperate circumstances. Travern had sacrificed himself to help in the defeat of Mannimarco, he chose Mor'tar'iit in the belief that he was the only one truly strong enough to kill the King of Necromancers, had he known that the malevolence of Mor'tar'iit could grow to rival Mannimarco over time, or even become greater. The fact that he had bested the King of Necromancers makes it all the more frightening; Mannimarco was an evil tyrant with the potential of taking over the guild, was his defeat something to be glad of, or has an even more formidable evil manifested upon his death; if Mor'tar'iit is as diabolical as I suspect, that would mean that the guild is already infiltrated.
Garrel arrived at his classroom, and addressed the novices that were ready at their desks. Garrel' s thoughts were distracted however.
Mor'tar'iit had defeated the guilds worst enemy, but I do believe that not all is what it seems.