The Council

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The Council is a secret organization, devoted in part at least to the policing and suppression of certain works.

Contents

[edit] The Agreement

The basic foundation of the Council is the Agreement, an ancient pact that bans certain dangerous magical information. This covers both information that cannot be used but also information that must be kept from the public at large for fear of the consequences of widespread knowledge. The exact nature of the Agreement and the kinds of information it covers are still unknown to us. Not all magical practitioners are bound by the Agreement - Chorazos being a likely example of a group that does not . As with much about the Council, Exu is our primary source of information about the agreement and his relevant posts can be found below.

[edit] Initial Mention of the Agreement

Exu: "However, best preliminary research suggests your fragments are weak translations well removed from more original and ancient translations. That makes them of recent recreation or remixing. Curious and requiring some caution, but not of such dire impact that I'm kept from exploring this further by the Agreement."
[1]

[edit] On The Agreement

Cem: "Which agreement Exu?"

Exu: "Ah, the most probing of questions. I've been stirring my tea for nearly half an hour, pondering how to answer that question for you, Cem. Who knows what other eyes pass along these pages? The coded answer would be "the right handed agreement", but that assumes the world is really divided into those wearing white hats and those wearing black hats. Reality isn't so simple, isn't it?

There are those of us in the magic traditions who participate in an Agreement, a minimal code of ethics. The principal mandate of this agreement has to do with banned works. Every piece of knowledge is a door that is more easily opened than it is closed, even if it seemed frightfully difficult to open in the first place. Some of these doors are so easy to open that the knowledge the door even exists must be contained, kept away from hands that could invite destruction as easily as opening a package or solving a puzzle.

There are others, though, who have refused to sign on to the Agreement, who reject the division of knowledge into even the roughest categories of permissible and banned. Some of them create their own pacts of one limited form or another. Some are mercenary enough that they follow no pact or agreement whatsoever, perhaps because any pact or agreement has costs and oaths associated with it."
[2]

[edit] The Conclave

The Conclave is a meeting of the ruling members of the Council. During these meetings they are know to issue edicts, which update the Agreement and are binding for the numerous organizations which the Council has control over. These edicts are delivered by the Mouth of the Conclave in the form of handwritten letters. The Conclave also has the authority to call people before it for expert testimony, as it did with Exu in August of 2007.

[edit] The Edict

One Edict of particular interest to Sentry Outpost was handed down in 2003, which banned all discussion of Works of Interest via the any electronic medium, especially the internet (the edict can be seen here). Exu has implied that events taking place on Sentry Outpost were directly responsible for the Conclave's decision to pass the Edict, ("where you stand was part of what lead to that edict") but we do not know what events these were at this time. It has been further speculated that edict was responsible for Peter Severn decision to leave the Outpost and that the research he demanded to have removed may have been connected the Council.

[edit] On the Edict and Sentry Outpost's Role

Exu: "I made certain inquiries among those lines to others that I know. I received a rather chilled response, until some gentlemen reminded me of a fairly recent edict against certain conversations especially in certain places. How was I to know that where you stand was part of what lead to that edict? Surprising. My hands are suddenly tied for the same reasons that yours are important. Suffice it to say that here, where you now stand, was of sufficient concern and worry that certain safeguards were instituted. Many of those who could be your allies won't be, which makes your allies more valuable to you. The choices you make here and now have the potential to reverberate with unimaginable consequence. Your hands can touch what older hands, that have mistaken timidness for wisdom, choose to prohibit touching. Young blood does not bear the burdens of old blood, will it bear new burdens better? The Agreement is ancient, this edict barely even four years old. But I dare not challenge it without some real cause to, something beyond just novelty or idle curiousity."[3]

[edit] A Visit from the Council

Subject: A Warning
Exu: "I did not intend to return here, and I must measure my words carefully now that your actions have drawn attention to my involvement with you in the past. No Edict can fully hold my tongue, and I so return with a warning. If the day comes that I must face some punishment for this action, than we will all count ourselves lucky.

I had a pair of most unpleasant visitors this afternoon, invading the quiet reflection of my sanctuary, compelling me to answer questions. Sometimes questions are surprising gifts: questions reveal so much about the person asking them. Such was the case with the questions that they posed to me. Sadly, so were the questions that Mr. Camacho has been asking, and apparently these two are under the impression that he won’t be asking any more questions ever.

The truly sad thing is that these unpleasant visitors were the good guys, the white hats, the right handed. None of you are their quarry; they hunt bigger game than any of us. We are considered insignificant and unlucky, and these are horribly dangerous things for us to be when surrounded by predators. Even more significant: that they had questions at all. These are not people without means, and the new world order is not typically seen using such obviously strenuous methods.

I told them more than I would have wished, but they were very persistent, and very persuasive, and I have certain dire obligations that I must fulfill. None of us are safe anymore: the twin red gaze rises, the moon will soon be swallowed in blood. And now, duty to you discharged, I’ll do the ignoble thing of fleeing to hills and making personal preparations for if the worst should come to pass."
[4]

[edit] Council Members

People and Organizations that we have speculated to be members of the Council:

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