Ask Luna #117

From: Kevin

So my last question for awhile I just have been having trouble forming them all at once and not writing them down ahead of time. But I have a theory on why Richard and Morden want Alex in a position of power despite his repeated rejections of being a Dark Mage. Every since he was an apprentice Alex has been shaped by Richard even though he was not aware of it at the time. Alex punishment for rescuing Catherine by being imprisoned in a cell with nothing but his magic made him very effective in combat and he has taken down top battle mages like Tobruk, Onyx and Belthas, albeit it indirectly but battles are rarely won straight up or fairly. When Alex saw Richard in Rachel’s memories in Chosen he seemed to view Alex as a viable candidate for being his Chosen, not exactly giving him up like he implied to Alex in Fated, and while this may be Dark Mage apprentice politics this clearly shows that Richard thought Alex would be potentially useful regardless of what had happened during the process. Next, Morden coerced Alex into becoming his aide, but with that appointment Alex has learned/enhanced his political skills and is now forming a base of power that mages like Spire have noticed. He has opposed and weakened Levistus and the Crusaders the two biggest threats to the Dark Mages and if that was not enough Alex has also helped those with less influence and power, from adepts, sensitives, and independant mages, which is something the rest of the Council and Dark Mages have not ever done in a meaningful way. So why would Richard and Morden care about this? Because despite all of their power they are still Dark Mages and suffer from the limitations of the might makes right mentality. In other words they have no way of controlling other Dark Mages, Onyx and his cabal being prime examples, at least without descending into infighting which would leave them defenseless against their enemies and that is where the Council as the institution comes in. They do not want to usurp/destroy the Council they actually want to integrate the Light and the Dark, and the Guardians and Directors are in the way of that. Plus in order to get everyone else on board they need to have someone the magical public can trust, who does not have a lack of morals and pendence for destruction which is where Alex comes in. In spite of his past he still has support from the magical world as being an Independent something that no Dark Mage similar to Alex’s skillset could ever achieve. Granted this might only be temporary to gain power over the Light Council but that is my best guess of why Richard wants Alex despite all of the setbacks he has inflicted upon him. Sorry for the ramble but do you think this is plausible? Also you have two cool names both regular and magical which is what none of the Light Council has. Another theory, Levistus’s real name is actually Boris or Barry and he adopted a pretentious name to compensate for it. Perhaps Alex can ask him to find out?

It’s possible, I guess. It’s really hard to figure out what Morden and Richard’s long-term plans are since they’re not exactly the type to give interviews, and most of the time we have other things to worry about anyway.

(I think there’s a bit of a disconnect between us and most of the people who ask us these sorts of questions – they seem really fascinated with Richard, while we’re more worried about the Council. If someone tried to kill us tomorrow, it’s be much more likely to be Levistus. And no, I don’t know his real name, though that idea’s kind of funny.)

From: Kurt Von Bosse

Hello Luna, I have a couple of questions for you today.

Anne told Alex that she couldn’t initiate a mental conversation with Alex through the connection they have using the dreamstone unless Alex holds the link open. If Alex fails to do this Anne finds she is talking to herself, unless Alex reopens their mental link.

I’m wondering if you have the same problem using mental communication with Alex or can you initiate mental conversations with Alex without him having to establish the mental link first? Also, can you hold mental conversations with Varium or Anne without Alex’s help?

My second question is about the latest incident at the Tiger’s Palace. You were invited to that gathering by an adept. I’m wondering if he or anyone else you may have met before hand who was also there that night has dropped by the Arcana Emporium to see you. Perhaps they wanted to make sure you were OK and, or perhaps they wanted to talk about what happened. I’m curious what the adepts you know have said about that night. Do they blame the Council, Richard or perhaps both sides, or perhaps there’s a mix of opinions. Then again, perhaps none of the magic adepts you know want to talk openly about what happened because they fear the Council might come after them. What have you heard that you can share with us?

Yeah, same problem. It’s like having a mobile phone that can’t make calls. If Alex calls me I can pick up, but I can’t ring him back, and I can’t talk to anyone else at all. It’s pretty much the same way that mind mages’ telepathy works. If they don’t set up the link, you can’t talk.

Generally, from what I can tell, the attitude among the adepts about the Tiger’s Palace mess-up is negative, but not outright violent. It made the ones who disliked the Council dislike them more, but it wasn’t a flashpoint like what happened last year. Which I’m calling a success, more or less, since I’m pretty sure it would have been a lot worse if Alex and I hadn’t been there.

Oh, and they do talk to me, more or less. I’m still seen as kind of an intermediary. The shop probably helps.

From: Jake

Hi Luna hope you are holding up okay just have a few questions about the Dark Mages that you have to deal with hopefully for not too long.
1. Is there a reason Richard hasn’t dealt with Onyx yet? It seems that being connected to Morden along with being a powerful Dark Mage in his own right would be enough for Richard to want to check that challenge to his power. What else could Richard be doing that would be more important then that?
2. Do you that Morden and Richard fear/respect Alex? By that I mean that when they were coercing him in Bound they never seemed to push him too far, show disrespect, or even threaten him like they did at the end of Burned. To me it appeared that they treated him like he was a Dark Mage who worked for them, even when Alex said he did not want anything to do with them repeatedly. Do you they were trying to avoid blowback by being relatively respectful?
3. Has anyone tried to find out the history of Richard or Morden? I mean I doubt it will come up with much but it might explain how they came to power. Perhaps they were in a situation like Alex was when he was in high school. Not that Alex is like them at all but being abused by those with power might make them want power in return.
4. This might be a long shot but is it possible that Richard and Morden were fellow apprentices together? It would explain why they are close because you would think Dark Mages would not share power like they seem to do.

1. Apparently Onyx isn’t high enough on his priority list to merit a visit. I think most of Richard’s time these days goes on keeping his new Dark-mage coalition in line.

2. Fear him, no. Respect him, yes. But it’s probably more a matter of their management style than anything else. I’ve met plenty of Dark mages that will threaten you with brute force at the drop of a hat. Richard and Morden both seem to prefer to use persuasion first.

3 & 4. I don’t think Richard and Morden were at school together or anything (that’s the kind of thing someone would probably have found out by now) and they definitely weren’t apprentices together. They might have gotten to know each other when they were younger, though. It’s pretty weird to think of them as teenagers.

From: Luke

So is there a reason that Richard or Morden have not recruited a Dark Diviner? Alex is great at what he does but I would think even a lesser skilled one would be good to have staff. I mean I know diviners are rare but you would think with their resources they could get at least one.

Diviners are really rare and they’re pretty good at not being recruited if they don’t want to be. So that’s half of it. The other half is that Richard and Morden seem a lot more interested in Alex than they would be if it was only his magic they were looking for.

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