Players: Mnemon Lok, Mnemon Koal

 

Mnemon Lok discusses the weak points in Mnemon Koal's analysis of the Greyfalls satrapy.

 

     Mnemon Lok is seated in his relatively small office, a map of the Greyfalls satrapy spread open with a series of criss-crossing lines drawn across it. He's examining it closely through a crystal, a sheaf of paper with Koal's recommendations near at hand, awaiting for the man to arrive like he requested by the expediency of a simple messanger.

     Mnemon Koal 's footsteps are heard as usual long before his arrival, the massive young man making no pretense to stealth and excited to hear what the professor might have to say over his suggestions. Walking into the office, "Greetings Professor Lok. You asked to see me?"

     Mnemon Lok nods slightly, waving Koal to an open chair across from his desk. "Yes... I had some questions regarding your recommendations," he says slowly, not looking up from the Greyfalls map just yet. He frowns suddenly, and picks up a brush, dipping it in a pot of ink and swirling a few notes in an elegant hand.

     Mnemon Koal takes the seat and glances at the map trying to make sense of it. "I have had access to a house geomantic survey from 2 years ago. I can give you a summary of that later if you wish. As you can see, I brought the very points you made in class before the bureaucracy and the military...but I don't know if we'll get funding for anything. At the very least, land purchases may be available.

     "Koal," Lok says, his voice very carefully controlled. "You are aware, of course, that I am /not/ Exalted, are you not?"

     Mnemon Koal looks over noncommittally, "I guessed by Hrath's words that you weren't fully of the blood. But that doesn't impact your knowledge of geomancy, or the valuable aide you can bring for the benefit of everyone. I am not so hot tempered as Hrath, he's had a lonely and harsh life. I work with mortals everyday and while it might be more beneficial if they were of the Blood, their loyalty and trust against overwhelming forces is why this satrapy remains standing. No man is an island.

     Mnemon Lok hmms, still examining the map. "And you are aware that mortals are, generally, not consulted on their expertise with working with geomancy? And certainly, they are not consulted for advise by Princes of the Earth. You are, naturally, further aware that /by/ including me amongst those you sent this-" Here he taps the sheet of paper "-that you actually reduce the odds it being taken seriously?"

     "You are the official liaison to the Logos Academy from House Mnemon are you not?", Koal says. "That put's you in a position in which it was only proper you be informed... Since I too am of House Mnemon, it won't be seen as an issue. Besides, it is quite possible that you know as much or more in the field of geomancy as anyone else in the satrapy.""

     Mnemon Lok sighs, placing down the crystal and rubbing his forhead. "Koal, I was sent here by House Mnemon as an /insult/. And, while your flattering statement has the benefit of probably being correct, there are simply things that aren't done. These," he taps the paper again, "Are great ideas. Grand. Visionary. /Expensive!/ You ill serve them by including me in any public fashion."

     "I would have been a fool to forsake such a resource in projects this important." Koal say steadfastly. "You have a rough teaching style and I don't know if I'll be able to pass your tests...but your class is my favorite.""

     "....insult?" Koal says. "I don't understand professor.""

     Mnemon Lok hehs, giving a thin, crooked smile. "Well, it's simple. Real Dynasts study sorcery at the Heptagram. So real sorcerers teach at the Heptragram. Real, Exalted Sorcerers. Ledaal Kyrie has established another school of sorcery, off the Isle. What manner of teacher staffs it? And what does that say about the quality thereof?"

     ".....The teachers here at Logos have been very helpful and patient to me. I respect them a great deal including yourself. I wasn't even given admittance to the classes by the teachers at the Heptagram or at the House of Bells because they said it would be a waste of their time." Koal sighs. "Politics is for politics, you shouldn't let it have an effect on your opinions of yourself. The important thing is that you have the knowledge to help make some of these projects feasible. What's done is done, and I am patient. Zuriel is visiting the isle, and I just saved Rombulac's life, as well as helped Ragara Ayesha find a possible local source for raw materials when her factories come on line. Now are you going to help?"

     "I also joined the Vartabed in a precession through town." Koal says. "Now is the time to get the plans on the books for when we get the money later. I don't know when I will have so much clout to accomplish something as I do now.""

     Mnemon Lok hmms, and gives Koal an almost disbelieving look. "You really... Well. Huh." Lok rubs his chin, idly. "Well. First, is an attack from /underground/ or /overhead/ a real, serious concern? Certainly, the threshhold is unsettled, but those projects seem like far greater wastes of resources than they offer in terms of protection. Rather like gilding the lock while a window hangs open."

     Mnemon Koal nods. "It's true, but I was trying to be thorough in my report. It's much more likely that the dead, the fair folk, or the anathema will be involved in something first, and they usually attack over land...although I was disturbed by how easy it would be for one of these so called Deathknights to simply wander into town with an undead army. More than likely finding a way to reinforce the basic infrastructure of the city would come first, even before warding. While the Satrap may have marble floors in the administration building, most of the buildings in town are made with the local clay bricks and wooden framing.

     Mnemon Lok mms, shaking his head slightly. "The materials don't matter... so much. They matter some, but it matters more what kinds of buildings are where. And what the local flows of Essence are like." He runs a hand down his chin, considering. "Still. It's, again, a political consideration. You presented a long list of requests, of unequal value. The better ideas may get ignored because of the weaker ones."

     Mnemon Koal takes his chin in his meaty fist. "On a geomantic note, while there aren't that many demenses, and they have all been claimed or capped, we have /vast/ amounts of land that aren't being used for anything.

     Mnemon Lok shrugs slightly. "And what would you suggest? Just give it away? Most of that land is owned, either by the Satrap in the name of the Realm, or the local ruler. What would you see done with it?"

     Mnemon Koal thinks some more. "I think you're right, but I was trying to be thorough. Better to throw everything out and cut back to make it sound reasonable than lie about my intentions and what I've learned, asking for a little, then more and more. I gave the most honest framework of my ideas at the time. Now we get to clarify, ....what do you mean about the essence flows??? Except for Cathak Palace and the War Manse of course, I'm not sure we have any manses in the Greyfalls town direct vicinity.

     "Actually most is owned by the Satrap in the name of the Realm, and Lady Ragara Ayesha." Koal says. "This is a satrapy based upon skilled artisans being the nobility, not landed nobility. One district is developed for growing fibergrass, but most of the others still have land that is mostly empty forest and rolling hills.""

     "Specifically because no one want to invest much in the land due to the constant barbarian attacks."

     Mnemon Lok mms, shaking his head as he sets the annoted map of the whole satrapy to a side, and walking to a basket, pulling out a plain wooden tube, and pulling a map of the city. It's a relatively new map, and has only a few of the colored lines, obviously more freshly painted. "No, I'm talking about the common Essence flows the city, not the ones that get tangled enough to form a demense," he says shortly. "And, if the land lies fallow, it's the consideration of those private landowners for how to treat it. Again- what /should/ they do? Throw good money after bad?"

     "In the long term, a manse capped region, even a small one, will pay back for its creation cost and then some with the productive advantages that it can give the land. ,"Koal is truly enthusiastic now, his eyes shining like diamonds. "You said it yourself professor, people don't even realize the vast untapped wealth right under their feet. If we can somehow spread the costs over a long enough period of time, land can be purchased or allotted from said private owners, and the projects begun.""

     "Any hearthstones produced can also be rented out."

     Mnemon Lok mms, before snerking. "Hearthstones are the least of the wonders that can be produced. But completing any major geomantic works, at this point, are more than simply a matter of moving a sufficient quantity of dirt from one pile to another." He sweeps a hand out. "Those very threats you outline- Fair Folk, barbarians, Anathema, death knights -those all twist the geomancy of the region, even at a significant difference. I could design a manse for a demense that exists now, but in ten years, the lines untwist because one of them has been drug away by a barbarian invasion! Or worse," he says darkly. "The manse could become unstable, because of something more subtle. Or even worse, enemies of the Realm could attack such a manse- even a minor disturbance could devastate miles of countryside."

     "True, but that isn't as much of a concern as you may think. We can conjecture about it and try to design some fail safes in placement and design....but every obvious demense in the satrapy has already been capped or had it's demense expanded before capping. If we concentrate on smaller demenses for the meantime, it should be far less dangerous than any of those projects. Plus, you said that the Dragons originally set the dragon lines to be synchronous with the Imperial Mountain and the four cardinal directions. Let's align the essences of any manses with this first principle instead of relying only on what has been left over time. This should make things more stable."

     Mnemon Lok shakes his head again. "The city acts as a stabilizing point- this many people, it's like... Hm." He considers for a moment, before getting the map of the Satrapy back out. "Hold this up, flat," he says, handing it to Koal.

     Mnemon Koal holds out the map.

     Mnemon Lok picks up one of the small crystals, placing it on the map at the intersection of two of the painted lines. The map doesn't even flex, naturally. "That's roughly how much... tension, is the easiest way to consider it... how much tension there is keeping that demense stable. He rummages for a bit, and picks up a HUGE chunk of rough quartz, holding it above Greyfalls proper. "This is more like the tension holding the demenses- and thus manses -of Greyfalls in place. I trust you can see the difference, without my having to ruin a perfectly good survey?"

     Mnemon Koal struggles with the concept. "But the manses in Greyfalls are stronger, I thought more strength meant more instability....I don't think we've gone over this in class yet."

     "The strength or weakness of the Manse is irrespective of it's relative stability," Lok says, starting to go into full on lecture mode now. "That has consideribly more to do with the immediate surroundings, the neighboring surrondings, the tension of those Essence flows, the length of time they've been twisted in a particular fashion..." He shrugs slightly. "Stronger demenses tend to be more difficult to properly cap and build Manses upon, because more powerful Demenses frequently have three, or or even more individual currents moving through them- none quite touching, even when this means they have to do some... strange things. This can make the /Manse/ more delicate, but not weaker. More delicate, because it may require less obvious geomantic workings to properly direct and moderate those flows into stable patterns.

     Lok shakes his head slightly. "Without that, you can end up with an uncontrolled flow cascade- a like a ship's rope snapping under a high wind."

     Mnemon Koal is obviously still a bit confused. "How is this sort of stability achieved?"

     Mnemon Lok mms, nodding again. "Two main ways. One, large population centers can serve- one reason why so many Realm cities and towns have a Manse in them is because large populations can, if properly directed. Like I said," he says, a bit acidly.

Mnemon Lok says, "Two, by building a potentially unstable manse and keeping it stable for long enough. Relatively weak demenses will gain a good deal of stability within a decade of being capped- more powerful- and consequently delicate -demenses can take over a century from the time they are capped."

     "I see now." Koal says. "Those other demenses were probably here for more than a hundred years before people started capping them.""

     Mnemon Lok hesitates, and shakes his head. "Nooo... not exactly. The potential demenses- in the Old Realm, Atyaavazyaka Tanmaatra -existed in Greyfalls for some time, with only a minimum of geomantic working needed to realize them and cap them, almost in one fell swoop. So, they were quite stable already, because of having existed in a state of Tanmaatra for so long. Those Atyaavazayaka outside of a relatively settled area, haven't had that benefit, and are more likely to shift or dissolve. And those that have spontaneously developed into full demenses already- well, they tend to be... reasonably stable. Whatever forces led to their development tend to keep going, helping to provide that stability."

     Mnemon Koal is perplexed, but nods. "So you're saying that all it will take is ten years for a demense manse that we create to stabilize if it is weak...and 100 if it is powerful...and the assumption is that something bad will happen in that time or we will leave the region for somewhere else."

     Mnemon Lok mms, and nods. "Essentially, yes. Faster, if you can build some additional stabilization around the location of the Manse, although that can complicate construction."

     "I begin to see why these projects are coordinated by House Lords, Satraps, or Llamas." Koal says."

     "By preference, all three," Lok agrees. Then adds, "You can put the map down, by the way. Demonstration over."

     "Hahaha..." Koal chuckles as he had forgotten he had the map in his hands and sets it down on the desk. "Still, I will see what this Satrap has to say about such things. Maybe we will be surprised.""

     Mnemon Lok snorts at that. "I've no doubt he will be, Koal," Lok replies, rubbing his head. He hesitates, then pulls out a map of the Realm. There are dozens- possibly hundreds -of tiny dots across it. "Where did you say you Exalted, again?" he asks, apropos of nothing.

     Mnemon Koal points to a spot high up along the Dragon's Stair (the Holy pilgrimage route to the Seat of Pasiap at the top of the Imperial Mountain) but off to the side. The estate used to be there I think, but I think the property was sold. After I exalted, we never went back there so I can't recall exactly.

-= OOC =- Mnemon Koal says, "the Dragon's Stair should be the Spine of the Amaranthine Dragon...I'm going to assume the colloquial name is the Dragon's Stair"

-= OOC =- Mnemon Lok nods.

Mnemon Lok mms, using a fine tipped quill to put the tiniest of dots at the indicated place. "Thank you," he says shortly. The words sound like they hurt.

-= OOC =- Mnemon Koal says, "Mnemon Lok would know that that is a fairly dangerous place to have an estate and that all the manses that were known to ever be anywhere near there exploded"

-= OOC =- Mnemon Lok nods.

-= OOC =- Mnemon Koal says, "also, only the empress can grand estates in that region as

much of it, except for the pilgrimage route of course, is off limits"

-= OOC =- Mnemon Lok hmms. "Interesting."

-= OOC =- Mnemon Koal says, "though it's so dangerous there I'm guessing no one in their right mind would ask; you can't believe they were stupid enough to dig...maybe they found some jade...but the danger of digging there based on the geomancy of the region is phenomenal"