With the Elders of the various races having left to discuss matters out of earshot of we Youngers, the conversation turned to other matters. Their sudden departure was rather rude in my opinion as we were still talking, but there you go, that is the Elders for one.
In particular discussion turned to an idea for a School that Raphael had touched upon previously. An institution intended to foster exchanges and understanding between the different races by means of education, in culture and history to begin with, with expansion to other topics in the future. This appeared to me to be a most splendid idea, and most of the others present, including Divinians, Vampires, Amberites and Chaosians seemed to think likewise.
Khelladon made the entirely valid point that teaching about powers at this stage might be unwise, that in his opinion we all know far too much about powers as it is. This is not an unfair point, and certainly, coming to know someone before one hands over the 'keys to the kingdom' to them, as it were, is probably a very sensible idea, at least initially...
I did have to ask precisely who would be admitted to this establishment. For example, would shadow dwellers be eligible to join? Some, Khelladon for example, did not object to such a thing, taking into account the fact that shadow dwellers might not be able to survive some of the powers. But given that the School is very much at the stage of being organised, such things are not as yet fully decided.
He also mentioned that it would be independent of the various kingdoms of the universe. I cannot help feeling this to be a little naive. I very much doubt such an institution could be kept secret for long, and if the Elders of the various races wish to ... stick their oars in ... then I suspect that they will. Regardless. Even were the School to be set up in some kind of fortress or other protected location. After all, if Caine and Abel can insert spying devices into Ensilarum, they can probably do so anywhere, and similar considerations doubtless apply to the other races.
Not to mention the fact that our discussing the matter in the heart of Castle Amber makes it certain that the Elders of Amber, if of nowhere else, will hear of it quickly enough...
However, locating the School away from any of the centres of power - such as Amber or Chaos - makes a great deal of sense, as that may give it a chance to become established before too much interference occurs. Not as a Power in its own right, as I initially thought Khelladon meant, but as a place with links to the existing powers, which will hopefully act as protections in their own rights. One hopes such a balancing act is sustainable in the long term...
Personally I hope (and stated such hope to the assembled individuals) that the current confrontational stance between the various realms, and upon which Khelladon seems to be depending, does not continue. Perhaps this is optimistic of me, but I live in hope. If my hope was realised, some other mechanism(s) to protect the School would probably become necessary, but I certainly do not expect any such change to occur overnight...
Khelladon also suggested that the School be run by a Council rather than a single Head. This sounded entirely reasonable to me, even if, from what was said, Khelladon suggested it as he himself has a dislike of bureaucracy. It was suggested that an adaptation of the Divinian Council might be used. This is apparently made up of nine deities, three from each of the existing clans, the Greek, Egyptian and Norse gods, though from what was said it is moribund to say the least. Even so, its method of majority voting for most matters with unanimous votes for major decisions seemed quite reasonable to me.
I raised the question of how voting would be carried out in this council, and also how those not of one of the power blocs, such as Rinaldo - who I can certainly imagine might be interested in this putative School - might be represented.
Gabriel suggested that the School have one representative from each kingdom with everyone else either representing themselves or selecting a representative to do so. This seemed a most reasonable plan, allowing those who wished to become involved in the running of the place do so and those who merely wish to instruct or learn do that. As long as it does not become too party-political, or, if everyone wishes to represent themselves, too fractious...
The opinion of Gabriel on this was that if it falls to such the School deserves to fail. Perhaps harsh, and an opinion that triggered some bickering with her brother Raphael regarding power (might making right) and fitness to survive. I must say I agree with neither philosophy. One is too brutal, the other too uncaring. I prefer a more ... nuanced, nay, democratic ... approach.
Still, I made the point that if the School falls to politics this need not be the end of it. After all, organisations of all kinds throughout shadow manage to cope with out-of-hand politics all the time; I am quite sure the likes of ourselves can also, if we wish to. As Raphael said, being aware that it may be a problem and working to detect and avert it seems a fine way forward, as well as, as I suggested, the incorporation of some form of checks and balances in its political structure.
Still, Khelladon rightly stopped us at this point, as it was politics in its own right, and a definite side-track. His idea of a slow beginning, of making things as right as possible from the start, definitely has a great deal of merit. Certainly changing things before they are set in stone is always easier, as long as we do not move so slowly as to negate the entire reason for the existence of the School in the first place...
Khelladon suggested having a framework in place within a year. This sounded an entirely reasonable time-scale to myself, and to the others present.
We then moved on to discuss the location of the School. Gabriel vetoed the idea of a location in Chaos. I suggested somewhere in the vicinity of the Tree of Ygg, where the Axes of shadow meet, or perhaps the literal Centre of Shadow. Linked to the rest of the universe by Trumps, Shadow Mastery, or whatever else was considered necessary at the time.
The idea of the Centre of Shadow as a venue met with the approval of Raphael, though he was unsure whether the place existed in an accessible form any more, perhaps being lost to shadow movement or buried under other shadows. But still, perhaps a worthwhile location to search for. Cerebaton is searching for it even now.
Khelladon suggested Pax Romana.
Raphael also suggested the Lands of the Spark.
Both of these sound like highly interesting places, though I am not convinced that either is the best location for the new School.
Apparently the former is an empire that is capable of resisting 'just about anyone', at least on an individual basis, and which, because of that, is not afraid even of Amber or Chaos. Pax Romana is the realm shadow that Corwin's shadow, Earth, is based upon. In it the polity known as the Roman Empire never fell, but instead merged with Ancient Egypt and the entire Asian Culture to create a world government that has lasted for some seven thousand years, conquering the shadows around them via a Trump-like power. They have apparently fought House Hendrake to a standstill, for weeks, and thus are one of the few places in shadow that has treaties with Chaos, because it is not worth the effort and cost it would have taken for Chaos to conquer the place. Even with the treaty in place, Chaos wishes the place to fall, but is now waiting for Pax Romana to crumble from age and internal problems (as external threats are, so we are told, very unlikely to do so). Khelladon has contacts in the Senate and Imperial Family of Pax Romana, having healed a daughter of a Senator Tigierious and a Loa Seth of the Imperial Family during their conquest of a small world he was on, and having kept in touch with them afterwards. However, according to Vincent, Vampires are not welcome there, which rather removes the place from a list of potential locations for the School.
The Lands of the Spark, on the other hand, while they seem to be another version of the shadow Earth, are apparently some sort of ... mad scientists' paradise ... ruled by an Agatha Heterodyne and administered by a Baron Klaus Wulfenbach. It is, so we are told, a world in which they make a great many people. Raphael suggested that I might fit in well there, and perhaps I might, though it would, of course, depend upon what they make the people for, and how they are treated after they are made. Were I to do so, they would be as much citizens as more conventionally-created people. Even those whom others might consider less socially-acceptable, such as the 'Jagermonsters' Raphael mentioned even if they are made for battle and enjoy it. As I said at the time, most societies have their difficult members - such as the Elders of Amber - but that does not stop them from being considered citizens. Their existence should be a cause for guilt on the part of their obviously highly morally deficient creators, rather than an excuse to mistreat their benighted creations.
I myself suggested somewhere entirely uninhabited, where the School could operate as we wish without it becoming distractingly embroiled in local matters. While I have no objection to people from shadow becoming involved in the School, allowing anyone - including ourselves - to dictate the terms under which the School might operate - as the owners of any inhabited places in which we might establish it might well wish to do - does not seem to me to be the way forward. Certainly given our various capabilities, I suspect that finding or suitably modifying an uninhabited shadow to our desired form would not be at all beyond the realms of possibility.
Khelladon made the point that creating the School shadow from a pre-existing location might reduce the politics involved. However, this is not quite so, in my opinion. After all, those who already live there will certainly have politics of their own which will impact on the School. And I am certainly not prepared to conquer some luckless shadow simply to place the School there.
He then modified his point to instead suggest placing the School close to an existing shadow to use it as a source of labour, thus having our own rules but also helpful neighbours. Again, I see little point to this as it will also embroil us in local political and particularly when I, and I imagine others, can easily create any labour we might require.
Gabriel made the fair proposition that everyone should submit any possible locations from the School, following which everyone will assess them and give their opinion.
Raphael, on the other hand, took a Chaos point of view and suggested that the School be constructed from multiple customised shadows, much like one of the Ways of Chaos, though not so confusingly arranged. This idea certainly had a great deal of virtue to me. If nothing else it might cut down on potentially unpleasant unwanted interactions between incompatible powers, and allow those with mutually incompatible ideas of their ideal living arrangements to be accommodated.
Including, alas, any of the sources of blood that Vampires might require. Personally I would prefer there to be some sort of substitute for this, but if the real thing is required, as it seems that it is, given that Vampires can apparently only feed off those of the same race they used to be, and require their blood fresh, then I suppose we shall have to accept that rather than exclude an entire race from this undertaking...
Khelladon suggested that the first thing that we should do should be list and gather all who might wish to be involved with the School and then find a location. All before the Elders of whatever race begin to interfere.
I of course put my name forward immediately, and everyone else present was also listed, while those who we might wish to invite - Phoenixians, the other Faerie types, Rinaldo (nominated by myself), and some of those of Chaos not present at the time - were also detailed.
And then we turned to the matter of a name for the School.
A suggestion of 'Khelladon's Education Centre' was immediately rejected. I suggested that the 'Universal Academy' might be more appropriate. No-one objected to this idea, and so the Universal Academy it is.
With that decided, we discussed the structure of the Academy. How its various students and staff might gain access to it. Many suggestions as to how this might be done were made, including Trump, Pattern and Shadow Mastery, none of which, however, were suitable for all who might wish to attend.
Gabrielle Miranda (the non-Amberite) resolved this conundrum with the suggestion that we simply allow each place - each race - to have their own way in, the one that bet suits them. A most sensible solution, and one that all there agreed with.
Khelladon jokingly complained that she was stopping us from 'having fun bending the universe into a pretzel with fancy powers'. A fair point perhaps, but such restraint is not a bad thing, I suspect, given the earlier conversations about the childishness of our young Races of Concepts.
From there, we moved on to how the Universal Academy might be defended. Also an important consideration. The public entrances will, of course, be defended in their own right, but what of other potential routes of attack?
Khelladon pointed out that an emplaced defence will always fall to someone who studies it, given time to do so. He has apparently beaten the defences of people who were better at siege warfare then he by such means. That being so, he suggested that shadows themselves might be our protection, given that they can be an unstoppable force in and of themselves when used properly. Use them to restrict the powers that function around the Academy so that the only ways into it are via shadows we specify, with constantly changing layers of defences behind them so that no one person knows them all. A valid suggestion, but one that was, to me, incomplete.
In my stated opinion it might be easy to corrupt such a system by having a team monitor the building of the defences, and put its various components under their control, making the Academy very much a trap. Instead I suggested that some form of dynamic, unpredictable defences might be a better way forward, or autonomous defences, able to modify themselves and act of their own volition while still recognising those who were permitted entry. Having the Academy shadows stealthily mobile would enhance this, if such is possible.
But to be honest, I could not see then, and still cannot see, any easy way in which the Academy would not be vulnerable to treachery of some kind. And to be honest, if our other defences are sufficiently effective then treachery will be used as an attack of first resort. So that in the final analysis, as with so much else, it all comes down to trust.
And as Khelladon rightly said, trust is the reason for there to be an Academy in the first place...
He was thinking more of an external assault against a unified Academy, with the defensive shadows having inhabitants working to defend themselves, with their defending us as a side-effect. I do not think I approve of such an idea; to me it smacks of a form of slavery, and I would very much prefer the School not to be based on, or rely on, such a thing.
On the other hand, having the defensive shadows be intelligent entities in their own right, not unlike Cerebaton, who defend us because they wish to do so might be an acceptable compromise. And having these Guardian Shadows be treated as people. Made friends, not servants. Given some suitable recompense for their efforts. Friends are much less likely to betray us than servants, or slaves.
Still, to my way of thinking it is all rather a lose-lose situation. Will we have enough trust, enough to avoid a fatal betrayal? Will we lose focus in a welter of politics? Will we make enemies we could do without? Let us hope none of these things come about...
But the idea of intelligent defensive shadows was greeted positively, on the whole. Raphael did worry that they could become a prison, but then again, so could any of the other forms of defence we discussed. They are all a risk, though not as much as having no defences would be, I imagine!
In the end a combination of all the approaches so far suggested seemed to be best way forward. Both defences set up by all of those contributing (or having such defences taught to the Guardian Shadows), and the Guardian Shadows themselves. Hopefully with room for any additional ideas to be added at a later stage.
Beyond that there was more talk of who to invite into the Academy, with specific individuals now being named from all the realms with which everyone present has contacts. Including Anntha and Cerebaton (who Anntha suggested, as I did not wish to appear to be favouring my own child), and not just beings of great power, but also those, like Gabrielle, without such, but who still have much to contribute - common sense for one thing!
It was agreed that all such prospective members should be assessed in some manner before being allowed to join. And perhaps we ourselves should be likewise assessed.
Raphael made the very sensible suggestion that membership be open to those who can gain a minimum of at least one sponsor who is already a member. As he said, this is a simple mechanism that makes it easy for everyone else to vote them in or out. Triana suggested the additional caveat that it should be possible for anyone to be voted out of the Academy, given a good cause and a majority vote, allowing us to rectify mistakes in membership in a fairly simple manner. A fair point.
Gabrielle modified this idea still further to include the requirement for everyone to have to reapply from time to time - perhaps every ten years or so - allowing those who wish to leave to do so easily, while those who wish to stay have to make sure they keep their membership up. As Khelladon said, this would certainly keep everyone on their toes. And not a bad thing, in my opinion!
I supported both of these ideas, with a few additional suggestions of my own. First, that a larger than majority vote be required to expel someone, perhaps two-thirds rather than a half, to help avoid the possibility that someone would be expelled merely for unpopularity. And that should a vote for expulsion be required, I suggested that the person to be expelled be given a chance to defend themselves. Though perhaps a unanimous vote for expulsion (however unlikely this might be, as the person would have a vote themselves) might override such a consideration. Lastly, I made the suggestion that the defending of oneself at a vote for expulsion would be, effectively, an early call for a re-application of membership. This all seemed to meet with everyone's approval, and thus it was made so.
From there we moved on to consideration of members of the Academy Council.
First, much to her own surprise, Gabrielle was selected as its leader. I do not think anyone disagreed with this selection. Although she is not possessed of the great power that some of us are, she has quite clearly demonstrated that she is possessed of a great deal of common sense, which is definitely something we will need in abundance.
Elizabeth suggested Kheryakhet for the role, but she changed her mind, and suggested Elizabeth instead. I declined from the role for the present. I think ruling Ensilarum is more than sufficient responsibility for me for the time being.
And so by secret ballot the Mistress of the Council was elected. It came as no huge surprise to me that Gabrielle was elected for the post, with seven votes, compared to three for Kheryakhet and two for Elizabeth. A most satisfactory outcome, in my opinion.
She scheduled a second meeting for after dark the next day, with everyone bringing along any others who are interested in the Universal Academy project, as well of lists of what everyone knows and what they can commit to this School so that we know what is still required for completeness. We shall also have to discuss a common language - or means of translation - for the Academy.
But still, with that the meeting ended, and with matters in a most satisfactory state, we all went our separate ways.
From what I have seen so far, I cannot help thinking that Khelladon's having two lovers does not make his life any simpler. Still, each to their own, I suppose...
And to add to the complication of his life, it seems that should the Council of Chaos approve it he is to become the head of his own House of Chaos, House Khelladon, with additional claims to positions in Houses Hendrake and Syth~rac. A busy life indeed!
It was quite interesting to learn that Kheryakhet is more than five centuries old, though she looks no more than twenty, a youthful appearance that fooled Vincent, the Vampire, into vastly underestimating her age.
From what was said Elizabeth is probably also older than I by a significant margin.
It was also interesting - if not particularly relevant - to learn from Gabrielle that the city of Oisen in Garnath - from whence she hails - was populated by Oberon from (a) London, so that she speaks a descendent of the London cockney dialect that I have come across in my travels.
In addition to all of this, it appears that the various Houses of Vampires do not exist in perfect harmony with one another. At least, judging by the argument Vincent (a 'Daywalker' of House Cassandra) and Valesh (of House Camilla) enjoyed during our discussion regarding the School. They too have laws and rivalries and so forth. And those of House Camilla apparently require 'food' that is fresh and in large quantities every night, including from other members of their House, in what sounds to be a very violent and, well, bloodthirsty, manner. Even Camilla herself still has to feed. Interesting. If ... distasteful ... to me.
Apparently House Camilla require their blood even fresher than House Cassandra; if tainted by air it will cause them to sicken, so that they have to drink directly from the source, preferably after conquering them. They are the most military House of Vampires, and Valesh claims that nothing they do is passive but all is aggressive, by both nature and custom.
Another fact that came out of our discussion, this time from Elizabeth, is that since Anubis initiated me into the power of the Aleph I am considered to be of the Egyptian Clan of deities. A low-ranking one, but of that Clan nonetheless, and, so I am told, one who will have to work harder then the more senior gods to have things put before the full Council. I suppose none of this should come as a particular surprise, but at least it is possible to be heard, even if it requires effort...
It was ... enlightening ... to learn from Raphael that the Chaos viewpoint on survival is that the winner in the game of life is not the one that has the most but the one that lasts the longest. From what he says, and from what I have learned of the history of the universe, Chaos has, so far, achieved this, and outlived everyone else. Additionally, he stated that Chaos does not worry about justifications, merely indefinite survival, survival over everything else, with the being no price Chaos would not pay to survive.
Raphael claimed that Chaos have, in legend at least, committed genocide a number of times, as well as mass slavery and 'every other atrocity there are names for and a few that haven't been named yet'. They justify everything by survival, without remorse or regret. And do not try to hide their actions. He claimed that their greatest difference compared to those others who have tried to survive at any cost is that Chaos refuses to rewrite history to hide their actions. A cold and ... frightening ... philosophy. Is there room for it in the new universe to come? I do not know. But I do, reluctantly, understand it. If nothing else it does, after all, mean that fewer people try to destroy Chaos when they know the lengths they are willing to go to, to avoid such a fate.
Apparently the practise of concubineage is a common one in Chaos. I cannot say I approve of such behaviour, but if that is their way, then I suppose there is little to be done about it. From what Shandar said concubines and the training of such has led the otherwise minor House Currian to power in the Courts. It is, so we are told, and entirely (and uniquely) female House, led by a Lady Jasreal. From what was said she trains concubines from all Houses better then any other and will also 'arrange' for others to obtain services from those of her House, to the point that Currian concubines are very common in the Courts. Which thus gives her power sufficient to protect or bring down other small or medium-sized Houses should she wish.
According to Kheryakhet similar things take place in Divinia, with Kheryakhet herself secretly training concubines as Champions and bodyguards.