Oliver
His good luck lasted about another week as he received a summons to the Magisterium at the heart of Minrathous. A Imperial runner had found him in the middle of the night to let him know he had been ordered to attend his ceremony confirming his ascent to his father's place. The good news was that he had two days to prepare himself for the event which gave him enough time to at least get some sleep before tonight.
The Archon probably ran out of ways of finding another heir to inherit the seat, someone more respectable.
The small smile at the thought warmed him as he mounted the steps towards his final destination. For once the Tevinter evening had a cool brisk breeze blowing in the background bringing making his skin prickle.
The Magisterium itself towered ahead. Its turrets sharp and jagged like most of the architecture around it. The Archon's Palace in the sky hovered above it, making sure to cast a long shadow over all.
Oliver found the peculiarity strange, the Magisterium was supposed to be the main governing body in the Imperium and yet it was the Archon's palace who dominated it before going on down the latter? It never made much sense.
As he got closer details began to take shape and he could hear a small buzz of conversation breaking out in the courtyard leading to the gates.
In the center a shrine to the Old Gods still stood, though there were those that said it was built even after the First Blight in a way for the Imperium to show defiance to the New Order sweeping its lands. Dumat, Razikale, and Urthemiel outstretched their wings over a fountain. The water pouring from their respective mouths each imbued with magic to emit a different color.
He was surprised it had survived all the Ages and yet he knew it shouldn't have, Tevinter always was an odd smattering of the old and the new. Somehow remembering their history and keeping its names while embracing the New Faith.
Dozens of people were scattered about, men and women, Elf and Dwarf, Magister and servant. The Magisterium hadn't been called into session yet and thus only the Archon's cabinet was allowed to set the business.
The chatter almost became unbearable as he approached. Slaves flitted this way and that way between groups of people, offering drinks, and perhaps collecting information, and there seemingly was a lot to talk about.
"Have you heard?" For some reason his ear focused in. "Another attack by this so called Silver Rook? In the heart of Minrathous!"
A woman's voice laughed lightly in response. Oliver stiffened as he recognized the voice of Zara Renata. "Please, if you listen to the ramblings of the women this Silver Rook has saved then its hard to qualify them as 'attacks'. He seems to be saving people's lives out there."
"Its unseemly!" The first voice raged. "Where are the Templars? The City Guard? We rely on some random...madman with a bow to keep law and order? You know how this makes us look that not only can we not keep people safe in Minrathous but now someone is making us look like fools. I've already heard whispers asking what happens if the Qunari show up. Surely you can't suggest to throw the 'Silver Rook' at those barbarians to save us then do you? Its bad enough we have the Shadow Dragons assassinating prominent mages because they 'suspect' they are Venatori and now...this?"
A pause in the conversation gave him a moment to think. It made his skin crawl to think that, of all people, Zara approved of what he was doing. For half a second he debated whether or not he should give up his crusade then and their and commit himself to a life of public service.
While her involvement in the Venatori was a rumor there was something about her that still sickened him. He had been in Tevinter enough to recognize the stink of Blood Magic. Whether or not she was a Venatori was immaterial, her looks were...unnatural.
"Well," a third familiar voice chimed in, "regardless of how this situation has come to pass maybe whoever this agent is is doing us a favor."
The first man choked on his wine.
The third barreled over him, "we all know why the Guard and the Templars can't do their jobs. Why they are overtaxed. Its the damned Qunari. We need bodies on the front lines which has depleted our civil service positions. We need experienced men which sadly leaves few of them available here."
"Maybe if this Silver Rook proves to be an asset we can always draft him?" Zara snorted around her wine glass.
The Third voiced chuckled, "well we'll have to find him first. But until then if he kills a few rapists for us then what harm can it really do? Isn't that right...Oliver?"
He froze almost mid stride. Waited a second. And turned to see all three of the Imperium's magisters staring back at him. Now he recognized the third voice as the friend of his family's Magister Borontius.
"You know if you are going to eaves drop then you need to learn to be subtle about it, boy." Zara snapped, glaring.
"Now now," Magister Borontius tisked, "where are your manners?" He came over to embrace him over by the shoulders. "This is our newest Magister and we should welcome him with the respect his position is owed."
The older man dragged Oliver into the circle and he met Zara's eyes wearily, hoping that none of his hate managed to radiate through.
She sniffed at him, "the soporati who plays at being an altus." Then she downed the rest of her wine.
Borontius rolled his eyes, "Now Zara while he may be the first man without magical talent elected to the Magisterium in eight years that does not make him a Soporati any more then I am. His father was a Magister. And a great man. His son deserves the right to defend his seat and continue his legacy."
Zara said nothing, just held out the wine glass to be refilled by a passing Elven girl.
"So Oliver," Borontius turned back to him, "just what would you do about the Silver Rook?"
He thought about it, buying time by having an Elf fetch him a glass of wine and then drinking from it. His stomach protested but he had to play the game lest he give himself away.
"I think you both have a point," he extemporized.
The first magister snorted.
"Right now it says a lot about the state of the Imperium that we rely on such outside help to enforce our laws. Yet Borontius is right...there is a clear need for such a man given the situation we find ourselves in. The Imperium can't be everywhere. The guard can't be everywhere. Even before the Qunari invasion. If a well meaning citizen is saving women from being raped, merchants from having their wares stolen, or thugs from roughing up bartenders, then maybe the goal should be celebrated and not the means."
The first magister glared.
"Well said," Borontius clapped him on the shoulder, "and maybe as soon as we kill the Qunari he can retire and put his bow down."
A horn blew forestalling any further communication.
"Well," Zara remarked dryly, "as stimulating as this has been seems the Archon finally wants to get on to business. Well, shall we?"
She held out her arm for the first magister who took it eagerly.
Oliver watched them wearily for a moment before moving to follow.
But Borontius grabbed him lightly by the shoulder. "A moment Oliver."
He turned.
"I was sorry to hear about the death of your father. He was a good man. A great Magister. He truly cared about the people of his city. You and your sister must miss him a great deal."
Something prickled in the back of his mind, "yes, and my mother to."
His smile faltered, "Yes, your mother is a great woman as well...but she isn't the future of House Mercar. She isn't even a natural born Tevinter."
He gave him a second, wondering what to say, though now the blood was pounding in his ears for a different reason.
"Well," he held out his hand, "shall we?"
The interior of the Magisterium had tiered seats leading to the central pillar where the Archon and his honor guards stood. He looked around it. He had been invited here a couple of times as a youth but he barely remembered it.
The Archon and his eyes met after a brief second. The ruler of the Imperium's eyes tightened for a brief moment. He hesitated before Borontius nudged him over to the visitor's gallery.
I'm not a member of the Magisterium yet so I am just a tourist.
"Order, order, we must have order!" A voice boomed over the tumult of the room, magically enhanced by the user.
The crowd quieted and the Archon surveyed the assembled Magisters and onlookers with a predator's gaze.
He stepped forward, the room followed him with their eyes.
He tapped his staff to the ground and Oliver felt his skin prickle as he wove magic.
"Today," his voice boomed, "we are gathered for one of the most solemn and sacred duties an Archon and this body can observe."
His eyes locked on Oliver's.
"The nomination and ascension of a new member to this august body who has stood against the darkness for untold ages!"
He looked over at Oliver, deliberately, and gestured him forward.
"Oliver of House Mercar, step forward."
He did so, slowly, trying to command his pounding heart to still even as the entire room of some of the most important Magisters in the Imperium watched him. Even some of his enemies, some people who may want to kill him and he'd be trying to kill before too much longer.
At the proper time, in the proper way.
"I bid you kneel, Oliver." The Archon commanded as he approached. So close the spell didn't have an effect so he could hear him normally but also heard his voice echo around the chamber behind him.
He did so.
The Archon stiffened, "Do you, Oliver Mercar swear fealty to me as your Archon and this body as the ruling organ of the Tevinter Imperium?"
His heart pounded. "I do."
"Do you swear to uphold the Imperium's laws and edicts?"
"I do."
"Do you swear to defend the Imperium from all enemies foreign and domestic?"
His mouth went try, depends on your viewpoint. "I do."
A small smile tugged at his graying goatee, "Then I declare you Oliver, Magister of the Imperium."
He tapped the staff to Oliver's right shoulder and magic surged, he knew enough of personal experience to know that if he was a mage that this was an effort to join their energies together. Not a binding, but a co mingling, a common acceptance.
But since he wasn't a mage...
"Now rise and take your seat."
He bowed before returning to the gallery, but this time as a junior Magister and not a guest.
Still long tradition held he couldn't speak. The great power players of the Imperium dictated it was a mad power struggle as one clawed their way to the top. Even hopefully to the Archon's seat itself, even though Radonis held onto his chair with stubborn alacrity.
"Now, onto the official business." He uttered solemnly. "The war with the Qun-"
"Archon if you'll permit me, I have another member that I believe requires our attention." A random magister spoke.
The Archon stiffened, but bowed his head.
The magister which spoke looked around the room dramatically, breathing in as if to launch into a great speech. Oliver rolled his eyes.
"My friends and colleagues!" He shrieked. "An attempt was made on my life just the other day. An attempt which I barely escaped at the cost of one of my Quaostor's and two of my Templar guards."
An angry murmur swept the room.
"After the incident the city watch swept the scene and discovered this."
He held up a shield with an all too familiar snake which looked like it was slithering.
"It was found on a Elf that was killed at the scene by one of my brave guards. You all know what it is. Its the symbol of the Shadow Dragons." He glared, then spat, "they didn't even have the decency to retrieve their dead.
"But nevertheless the Shadow Dragons have now attempted to assassinate a sitting member of this body. A sitting member of the Imperium's government. They have gone from a nuisance to a band of terrorists."
An angry roar from the audience threatened to drown out the rest of his speech but the magic in the building helped with that much.
"The Shadow Dragons aren't in the habit of assassinating random Magisters!" Another voice shrieked from across the gallery. "They only tend to go after the Venatori who survived after the downfall of the Elder One. Those who are still active. So-"
"Rumor and innuendo is not the basis for justice, Magister." Zara's voice cut across the room like a fire whip. "Or are you saying that the Lucerni officially condone the actions of this terrorist band and the attempted murder of a sitting Magister?"
"No, I-"
"And what of the death of Magister Rikius?" Zara continued, Oliver's heart fell. "His death was still under mysterious circumstances. The perpetrators have never been found and none have come forward. Could it be these cowards? Could they have decided to off the competition? And Rikius was well known as being against the Venatori, an advocate against their corruption going all the way back to the time of Corypheus. What reason do they have to kill him?"
Oliver's hands went bone white as he gripped the arm rests, he wanted to shout out that it was the Venatori, that he knew that in his soul. But that was more of that rumor and innuendo that she already mentioned.
"I-"
"And where are your leaders? Where is Maeveris Tilani and Dorian Pavus?" Her eyes swept the room for emphasis. "I do not see them here and normally the coronation of a new member requires the presence of the entire Magisterium."
"What are you implying Magister Renata?" A cooler voice prevailed.
She smiled sickly sweet. "I am implying nothing. Merely wondering where the leaders of the Lucerni are given these events and given the importance of the agenda. If the Lucerni really care about the future of the Imperium as much as they claim surely they should be here to discuss that future?"
She let her speech settle into the room and no one dared speak.
"If you'll forgive me Magister," Borontius broke the silence with cool logic in his voice, "but the Qunari are the true threat. The Venatori and the Shadow Dragons. The machinations of your order. None of that matters if the Qunari conquer us. And thus we need to consider the bills I have laid out. The drafting of mages to go to the front lines, more mages, more powerful mages. We Magisters defeated the Qunari once before, we saved the South from their own arrogance, we have kept the barbarians at bay for ages while the South has fiddled with their petty concerns. We can be that bulwark again."
"Forgive me Magisters," his voice almost surprised even him but he quickly adapted, "but how can we fight the Qunari when there is this cancer growing within the heart of Minrathous and our government itself?"
"Oliver!" The voice of Magister Borontius was more mental then physical.
But he ignored him, plowing on, glaring at the body around him. "The Venatori are a blight on on our society. They consort with 'Elder Ones' and demons to try and restore an ancient and dark chapter of the history of this Imperium. And even after the defeat of Corypheus they have been active...or have we all forgotten the report of Private Detective Neve Gallus and the report of Knight Captain Jahavis?"
Zara glared down at him. Borontius looked alarmed.
"And is the Shadow Dragons any better?" His gaze turned to the box of the Lucerni. "Are the Lucerni?"
They blustered and looked haughty almost to a man.
"Yes, I agree with your goals. Yes, I want to make Tevinter a better place and defeat the Venatori but your war represents a failure on the part of this government to actually do its job. And the longer it goes the more corrupt we risk becoming. The more resources we have to use that we can't use against the Qunari.
"Even this vigilante the so called Silver Rook, all of them, represent a failure of law and order to do what we should do. And ultimately that involves defeating the Venatori as a society once and for all, dealing with their terrorism. Cutting out the cancer root and stem so then we can focus on the real threat of the Qunari. Because we can't deal with them until we ensure that the mages we are sending to the front lines aren't actually going to be Venatori sympathizers, won't turn on their commanders in the field."
The air left him all at once, but yet stunned silence met his words.
He felt a small proud smile twist his lips. The new Magister, the one who wasn't even supposed to speak, had shamed them all.