Conclave Dispute

An event which occurred between 753-761PE.

753PE: Facts of this event are disputed in various histories. Most agree that at least five some suggest six and some seven of the eight archmages that make up the Conclave of the Sapphire Wizards' Guild attempt to remove the current Saffier Repletan. Naturally, he resisted this move and it resulted in a cold war. Mages were not blasting each other in the corridors, but there were deaths even in the early months.

754PE: The dispute runs on with no end in sight. Despite several of the Conclave moving for the Saffier's removal it is now clear that they are not unified. Multiple factions are vying for supremacy. Several of the most powerful archmages started to simply claim themselves as Saffier. The first to do this openly was Feint the archmage assigned to Enchantment.

755PE: A faction called Splinters of Bone cause a spree of murders within Tor Armakan. They are investigated by Danil Durova and after months of clues, investigations and sparing Durova successfully exposes the group. Two archmages die in the final confrontation, which ends in a bloodbath including 32 deaths far more wounded and the destruction of Clawspire Tower.

756PE: The year of three Saffiers. Interal declares himself Saffier claiming widespread popular support and the need to bring the dispute to an end. Repletan instantly reacts declaring his statement invalid and demanding his arrest and exile. Many wizards refuse to support his declaration and this failure openly ends his claim to rulership of the guild. However Interal believing that the refusal to arrest him gave him a mandate to rule was surprised himself when his attempt to control the Conclave was utterly ignored by the other archmages. He had widespread support among sarrifs but not among the most powerful. Feint directly opposes him and ends up using tricks to embarrass Interal and this is to his popularity's detriment.

At the end of the year, during Fallsal Repletan is killed in mysterious circumstances. Interal is blamed for this and at first denies it then he tries to claim it as proof he is more powerful than he has been credited. However once he openly commits to the execution having been him the soulcrafter Lethe reveals his involvement exposing Interal as a weak pretender. Interal flees the direct confrontation but Lethe is forced to leave also as several dozen sarrifs combine their efforts against him and several officers in the Red Protectoran lead their troops against him and his 'minions'.

757PE: This runs on, with multiple factions vying for supremacy. The Conclave is temporarily officially suspended by the Emperor Jarlath. The wizards' rivals the Senate, the military and the church start to take over the running of the country. Chareye comes out of retirement in disgust over the events. he takes his rightful title of archmage back officially and calls on the sarrifs to end the petty bickering. He refuses to lead a faction and openly states he will not be Saffier or sit on the reorganised Conclave.

758PE: Multiple factions still vie for supremacy. Lethe deceives Interal into thinking that Feint has enchanted the Emperor. Interal then signs the Letter of Regicide. He claims it is to restore the Guild and to save the Empire. This is carried out by a small elite strike group who became known as the Regicide. They infiltrate the palace, kill 17Red Protectoran elites, 3 Knights of the Empire, 4 sarrifs including one archmage, 8 bodyguards some or all of whom may have been Knight Stalkers. The Emperor Jarlath and two of his children are killed as a result. The Empress reigns in the absence of the heir, her other son Coriam the absent, who is out of Tor Honarik. He was on a journey to circumnavigate the globe. She declares a state of emergency and calls on the Protectorans and the Church to help her bring those responsible to judgement. She announces that the Guild itself should consider its re-institution as under threat unless it brings the dispute to an end.

759PE: The archmage Ivory returns from retirement at the Empress' request. She prevents the killing of the Empress. Danil Durova discovers the Letter of Regicide. Interal is declared guilty of treason by unanimous vote of the Senate. A law is enacted the Traitor's Knot that any one hiding, assisting or even associating with him other than to bring him to justice is also a traitor to the crown. The Empress assigns a group of Templar and Red Protectoran Elites (Who may have been Knight Stalkers) to her younger brother Renis and 'asks' Ivory to accompany them. Renis' bodyguard was made up of Red Blades and Templar under the command of Blademark Trent Fell. There are also a huge assortment of clerics assigned to them as well. Renis named the unit in its entirety the Loyal Force. Less than a month later, Renis, Ivory and the Loyal Force successfully finds and kills Interal and his inner circle.

760PE: Consistent strikes organised by Fell with the backing of the Templar, Chareye and Ivory. Many of the guild voluntarily register their loyalty to the Empire to prevent the enactment of compulsory registration or exile. This move it would later be revealed was instigated by Feint and it was successful in preventing the extreme reaction. Danil Durova helps discover the location of Lethe. He is confronted and defeated, but he cannot be killed so he is imprisoned beneath the guild in the Spectral Prison. Chareye dies in the encounter with Lethe and his 'minions'. Feint acknowledges the Empress and Emperor Jarlath and lets them know he was simply waiting for them to reassert Imperial control. He officially withdraws his claim to the title of Saffier.

761PE: A new Conclave is called and imperial oversight is added in the creation of a new role called the Imperial Adjunct. A weak Saffier is called and the archmages installed are put in based on loyalaty and teaching skilsl rather than power and ambition. The guild has been crippled.

### Legacy

When Emperor Jarlath dies with his only remaining heir Coriam out at sea, the Empress becomes regent with her brother Renis. Renis would later be crowned after Coriam's death and he was defined in many ways by the effect this prolonged dispute had on him.

763-781PE: Reign of Renis the Pious. With the guild weak from the Conclave Dispute these years see the rise of the Church of Celer. The Imperial Vizier 'chosen' by Renis is a powerful cleric of Knowledge one of the Theonists of Tor Celer. The church puts a lot of pressure on and uses the weak emperor to allow them to form the Vormach, an independent state not far from Tor Armakan. The Sapphire City opposes this move, but finds itself hamstrung by the very integration, which had made it so powerful in the past. The church has its own military independent of the Protectorans and Tor Armakan could boast no such force. Most important of all though, the Church was unified and Tor Armakan had become a very dangerous place where wizards knifed each other in the dark since the **Conclave Dispute**.