Reference * Timeline of the Land
Outline
The Chaos * 904 Election * The Balance * Those Meddling Kids * The future

History book's first chapter has introduction that says it contains a summation of the pertinent historical data taken from the Book of Connor and Brigid. For more in depth account of that era, it suggests reading the O'Gas. Other chapters of the book may also suggest other books of the O'Gas.

Darius says "Well that bit's clearly erroneous." Ginger says "I'm sure it happened more or less like that, just not in the time frame presented here. Or, you know, in the O'Gas. Still, one can't help but wonder how many of the developments attributed to Connor and Bridge actually came from conversations between spirits and other members of the first generation." (history book says that Connor and Brigid were created on Day one. Cameron would probably respond, then, that later editions would be revised after Ginger's latest submission to the O'Gas gets published. I guess.) God created the Land and everything on it with a single thought. He tells Connor and Brigid that on his earlier worlds, he did some tedious mucking about, taking like a week to create a world, with one day off, partly so as not to intimidate the people he created with how much he got done in a day... so they'd feel okay about spreading out their own work, and about taking a day off. But it turned out he needn't have bothered; people seem pretty good about taking their time, and taking time off when they need to. In fact, they ended up taking off two days a week instead of one. (This may be partly what inspires C&B to create week with only one day off, most weeks.) So now he just figures out how he wants a world to be, and bam, it's done. Also someone notes that on Earth it would be laughable to have history books with passages lifted directly from a religious text like the O'Gas. God teaches first gen about things people on Earth continued liking over centuries, like coffee, tea, chocolate (mention trinity of flavors), bread, threenut butter, sandwiches, etc. Brigid may ask if God has any instructions on how to live life, but He says He's tried the whole 'commandments thing' on other worlds, and it doesn't always work out so well. Sentient beings are all created with a sense of right and wrong- at least these days they are- though everyone will have their own feelings about such matters. The biggest things will be agreed upon by pretty much everyone, without needing some imperative from God to obey. People can figure things out for themselves, which is not to say they can't come to me for guidance on specific issues, now and then.

Explain cultural appropriation.

There are many, many planets full of all sorts of intelligent life, all of which he considers equal, all his children. Therefore all the races of the universe are siblings. He wants them someday to meet and befriend each other, and to explore and witness all the marvelous things he's created, since he is an artist. Of course he wants people to appreciate his art. It's all well and good for them to appreciate the world on which they start out, but to only appreciate that one world and praise him for how great it is would be like only ever reading one book, only viewing one painting, only listening to one song, only watching one movie. (Then he'll have to explain what books, paintings, songs, and movies are.) To fully appreciate art, and indeed the artist, one must experience as much of it as possible. Which is just one of the reasons he's created all sentient life with the desire to learn and explore... so that one day they'll travel to other worlds and see more of his art. Because thinking God is great based on one planet is like thinking Shakespeare is great based on one sonnet. Let me tell you, one of the things that hurts me the most is when people say, "Love your work. It's so awesome that I never want to see any more of it."

God may say he's imperfect, but that wasn't always the case. He could be perfect any time he wanted to be, but for the time being, he's chosen not to. (Connor and Brigid may want him to elaborate on that, but he doesn't. "Maybe another time.") He also mentions a bit about how he's doing things differently on the Land than he has on other worlds. For example, making sure from the beginning that people know how to take care of themselves, stay healthy both physical and psychologically. In part this is altruistic, but in part it's because when one is malnourished or constantly under the influence of certain substances or... when the normal state isn't what it should be, it can lead to people coming up with all kinds of crazy ideas to explain the fundamentals of life, the universe, and... whatever. Of course, this is not to say there's no room for indulging in certain means of artificially and temporarily escaping reality... but this should be done responsibly and in moderation. It's also not to say he himself hasn't made use of some of the crazy ideas people have come up with on other worlds. But in the long run, even if it worked to his advantage for quite awhile, it ultimately backfired. So he needs a place where things won't be quite as crazy. The Land could someday help restore... certain things that other worlds may have lost. (This ties in to the sameness between Earth and the Land, though he doesn't explicitly draw that connection. All of this may also relate to any number of things, like the Order wanting order instead of "craziness", and Nelly's theories about faith, etc.)

God explains theory of evolution, which he considers perhaps the most fascinating and ingenious science fiction concept he's ever heard of. Which coincidentally fit in perfectly with a certain work of misdirection he set up in the universe, but... he'd rather not go into detail about that. However, things like evolution are one of the reasons he wants to make sure people on this world know the truth about the origin of their world and species. (This also leads to his introducing the ideas of philosophy and science fiction, and fiction writing in general.)

God tells them that life isn't always going to be good. Aside from all the physical challenges, there will sometimes be emotional pain. That can be alleviated in various ways, such as talking to Him, or to each other. But neither of those things will always help. Same with any number of distractions, like work or play. He shows them how to make alcohol, which He says will sometimes help, but again... not always. And it can be abused, which can lead to even more problems, so it's best to use it in moderation. He also says it doesn't have to be used to deal with emotional pain, but sometimes just for relaxation, or celebration. And again, it should be used in moderation. (Possibly also mentions that His son used to like turning water into wine.)

100- Brist conceives religion; this may be seen as the Land's version of "the Fall." Also, it could be that upon Connor and Brigid's deaths in 52, God felt the people of the Land needed some time to develop independently, and that by 100 they had done so sufficiently that spirits wouldn't unduly disturb humanity's ability to develop on its own. Though this will eventually change, and spirits will again stop visiting the Land for a time. (1400s or so?) The earliest generations after the Fall are much more strongly affected by their new psychology than later generations would be. (Even couples who are already married when the change happens will rethink their relationships, take time to reconnect.) Over time people become more relaxed, more used to the way things are. (In the distant future, by the time Terrans make contact with the Land, Landians are very nearly the same as Terrans, psychologically, though there are traditional attitudes and customs that are deeply ingrained in them because of the Fall, which makes them somewhat different in practice.)

103- Ducket and Drahkma invent money (1-piece, bit, cent)
104- Sayid meets a spirit who tells him how to make pasta. ("What? God taught you people how to make bread, threenut butter, chocolate, sandwiches, coffee, tea, even beer and ice cream, but no pasta?! That has got to be remedied. ...By the way, do you know where we can find some tomatoes? What?! There are no tomatoes in the whole village? Well... maybe you'll find some, someday....")
104 or 105- Isaac becomes a spirit-talker, conceives of subword "medium" to refer to people who communicate with spirits, but a spirit tells him the first spirit-talker, Brist, had already coined the term spirit-talker. Explains that mediums are supposed to talk to the spirits of the dead, which are not at all the kind of spirits in question. The second problem is that mediums don't really talk with ghosts, either. Many of them are charlatans. Some have psychological problems, believe hallucinations and such to be genuine communication with the dead. Some may just be affected by psychotropic substances, or sleep/food deprivation (something God may have mentioned to Connor and Brigid). Some may have mild telepathic abilities which can't put them in touch with the dead, but which they have no other explanation for. And a few may actually be contacted by demons pretending to be the spirits of the dead, for some reason. (Isaac may wonder if the last example would negate what he said earlier about mediums not talking with actual spirits, but the spirit says the point wasn't that they don't do that, it's that that's not what they mean to do.) Finally, the spirit tells him that so-called mediums would supposedly have a special "gift" that allows their communication, whereas anyone on the Land could potentially become a spirit-talker. Anyway, having learned of Brist and other spirit-talkers may lead Isaac to talk to them and organize.

107- Monetary system is voted into effect.
117- New money is minted, including 2-piece and 5-piece. "First Village" is given its name.

early- God creates game "Surreal"
for it to work, all players must invoke the game by saying, "Let the game Surreal commence." each player takes a turn saying or doing something strange, ridiculous, or impossible. normally, the game is won by the last player to abandon the game; when it is down to one player, the game is nullified, it cannot continue. if all or several players choose to quit at once, they each say, "the game Surreal is ended," and it is nullified.
there will come to be various versions of the game. one of the most famous versions may be only a rumor- the rule being that the winner is the last one left sane at the end.

135- Blynn (spirit-talker) makes first Irish cream on the Land
Perryh creates first toast, "To Blynn," founds ELC

150ish- domesticate striders for riding, pulling plows.

While reading about various inventions, Darius says "This is so boring!" Marian tells him to shut up, this is important. Darius says "But I've been through all this already! It was hard enough to care about all these little innovations the first time." Star says "Well I haven't been through this. Education in my day wasn't as rounded as it is since the establishment of schools. And it's of interest to me; I expect these boring bits may be setting up important developments that come later on." Darius says, "Yeah, I don't want to spoil the story for you, but Talon invents the printing press in 390." Also possibly wonders why some things are in history books when they should be in scince books or whatever.

160- Make wagons that can be drawn by striders.

222- Better wagons.

225- When Tonad founded, discover gliscendt, invent half-piece and 20-piece.

230 or so- someone starts an inter-village postal service.

360- Ship is founded, invent 100-piece and shilling.

363- huo yao invented.

365- first powder mill built in Ship.

375ish- in Jump Village, a restaurateur realizes he can't make a profit if he ihas to pay all his employees a fair wage. Thinks of the concept of tips (he may be an elc). There may be some debate as to whether tips are fair- because it means servers could earn less than they deserve, or more... create a disparity between them and the employees who don't work for tips. Someone may say "If you can't afford to pay all your employees a fair wage yourself, then you can't afford to operate a restaurant." And "What if every business started expecting customers to pay their employees on top of paying for goods or services?" But ultimately, it comes down to a question of whether the whole concept of restaurants should be abandoned entirely, because many people in villages around the world are realizing the only way they can afford to stay in business is to raise prices beyond what customers are willing to pay, when they can just as easily and much more cheaply eat at home. But people like the idea of restaurants. May come to a vote among villagers, and a law is passed which details how tips will work (if servers don't make enough, their employer has to pay them a certain amount, though they may fire anyone who doesn't earn enough tips). The idea is successful, and eventually spreads to other villages, through ELC newsletter. (Though some villages may not accept idea, may even pass laws against tips.)

390- Printing press invented. Someone in Chaos says "Yup, he was right."

400- carriages invented. First taxi service established (First Village or where?). Waste collection/ waste manager, new job in Ship, which later spreads to other villages.

399-404: Prophet movement. Several disparate groups, some spirit-talkers, some not (perhaps all not; could be the movement was largely an attempt to demonstrate that people could get by without spirit-talkers, maybe some felt religious people were having too much hand in shaping the Land's destiny). One group makes predictions concerning the end of the world (some spirit, possibly friend of Malcolm, says "God doesn't do the whole 'Revelations' thing anymore,' which is one of the things that lead to the decision to put a stop to the Movement). Most groups are in conflict with one another, as well as with the larger group of spirit-talkers, who were led by Malcolm (who ultimately put a stop to the Movement and became first Arch-bishop of the Order) and Archibald (who suggested founding Monab and became its first bishop). One group of prophets would survive, unbeknownst to the Order, and they were the ones who started the Movement, and possibly the only true prophets, in any sense. This was all an important part of why the Order was formed, even though spirit-talkers had been working towards it since 390, for other reasons. But prophets seemed to cause too much chaos....

Dark Servant finds lost bubble (399 or earlier?); and eventually finds a way to use it, with the help of a Sorreter friend (Koichi). They scry the future, but can only see the area that Cameron originally used it. There is a building there, hidden in the forest outside of First Village. There are messages, sometimes newspapers or sometimes handwritten notes. Koichi invents scrying and the first bubbles, which makes him famous and wealthy, even though such things will mostly just be used by Sorreters, until the Coming. (Servant at first advises against making bubbles and claiming he invented them, as it could cause a causality loop or something, but Koichi says it's more likely a predestination paradox; maybe recording mentioned when bubbles were first created, and Koichi waits to see if anyone else creates them, and when no one does, assumes he was meant to do it.) Prophets call bubble "the Oracle," though there's some debate as to whether the term is appropriate for an object rather than a person. Dark Servant gathers allies for secret society called Black Prophets, builds a secret lair in the scrying spot. For generations, Black Prophets will display messages there for the first generation to see in the past. This helps them grow rich and powerful, though the wealth is distributed in such a way, among various Prophets who are not known to be associated with one another, so that no one realizes how rich or powerful any of them actually are, nor that such a group even exists. Most important prophecy involves the Dark One. In fact the very first prophecy is of the Dark One, just before the final battle, telling original Dark Servant they are about to achieve world domination, and gives instructions on how to reach that point. (Instructions probably written by new Dark Servant.) The Prophets have attained a certain degree of power over the centuries, and can tell the past only enough to get them to that point, not enough to make them more powerful than they already are. And each era of the Black Prophets must hand down similarly limited snippets of information about their own time. Perhaps can't know what previous eras have seen; information can only be sent within a given period of time, so aside from the first prophecy no era will know anything about the distant future. Also records may not be kept of what was learned in previous eras, though things may be guessed based on actions that were taken. (Or maybe there are records, I dunno.)

403, last major prophecy, known only to Dark Servant, foretells birth of Dalv in 230 years (633), and again in 1366. "There will be a Dark One who will not know himself for many years; there will be a Dark Servant who knows himself all his life and waits silently to hear of the Return. There will be knights to stop the Dark One when he returns. The Dark One will have been largely unknown in his own time, but between his first death and his return, he will have gained greater power than ever seen before."

One group of Prophets receives knowledge of future events from spirits (possibly same ones who later work with Des'Caina and Demontalk). One group were genuine psychics (When movement is destroyed, survivor of this group joins Black Prophets). One group used something like a simple psychohistory. (Gordon Lightprophet is a descendant, and Kizin might also be.) Some groups were probably just making stuff up.

404- First Order, Monab, Arch-bishop Malcolm, end of Prophets
435- Hamish becomes second Arch-bishop

436- game of Surreal goes terribly awry; Hamish spearheads movement in which all villages ban the game. Rasche creates spell to warn if anyone should speak the words to invoke the game, and take swift action to deal with the players. Prior to invasion, Rasche took a great deal of pride in his accomplishments as a Sorreter, and of all Sorreters in general. But the invasion of alien sorcerers taught him Landian magicians still had far to go. Spirit friend of his is sorry he can't help; forbidden to interfere. Rasche wonders if any of this will matter once the game ends, but spirit says it won't end if everyone, including the players, are killed. After it all ends, Rasche comments on having learned a lesson about the dangers of hubris. Spirit says "Yeah, hubris leading to downfall has always been a popular theme on Earth. But then, they have lots of recurring themes there. Like chaos vs order, for example." Rasche looks at him quizzically. Spirit says "Never mind... spoilers!"

475- Dark One dies; Dark Servant's descendants maintain secret knowledge throughout the generations, awaiting his return
500- Tino is having lunch at Burke's. Looking over menu, sees no hamburgers. Maybe asks if anyone's ever heard of a hamburger. (They know what ham is of course, but never heard of a burger. Tino says it has nothing to do with ham.) Says 500 years is more than long enough for any planet that has cows on it to go without hamburgers. For crying out loud, they have sausages, so the equipment must exist to grind beef. Introduces concept to Burke. IT may be around this time that Cirque du Soleil secretly performs on the Land. Tino may meet one of the performers and says it's been forever since he's caught one of their shows, in fact he's amazed the troupe still exists. Performer says he must be from Earth, then, breaking the rules by being on this planet. Tino says "From? No, but I've been there several times."

539- Sorreters (Mor) first start creating mythical creatures. (human sentience only kind there is to draw from). Somehow, Mor's inspiration may have been provided by Black Prophets.

564-616 Tooblan writer/actor. 584-589 in Sorret; 594 founds Tooblan Company, says they'll only be performing Tooblanean plays. One actor jokes about him using that word. Tooblan says hey, Shakespearean's a word. -yeah, but did Shakespeare ever use it? -Don't know, don't care." 599- Tooblan Theater in Toobay.

580- After kappa cause trouble, Sorreters place moratorium on creating any more intelligent mythical creatures, or any dangerous creatures. Begin relocating various species to uninhabited areas, encourage I-dragons to relocate dragons.

599- Xerxes designs and commissions the first dreadnought, in Shipsister, which he'd later use to transport his army.

600- Ogres created.
After Xerxes is defeated, possibly the Black Profits arrange for everyone to forget the war ever happened. They may arrange a game of Surreal in which the first player says "What if no one remembered the Xerxes war?" and the other players are then like "Who's Xerxes?" and then they're all killed to keep the game in effect indefinitely. (May use a poison like iocaine powder.) Though Sorreters would have to remain aware, possibly because of notes they kept about the war, which is why they kept watch on the Drop Lake Mts. thereafter.

617- goblins created.
633- Dark One (Dalv) born.

666- ogres and goblins combined into orcs in Drop Lake mts. by Dalv, who is guided by the Dark Servant. However, Servant knows Dalv will fail in his conquest the first time, but doesn't tell Dalv this. Ogres and goblins, longtime enemies, unite against orcs. Dark One is killed, but Dark Servant, orcs, and small band of ogres migrate to Kimrin mts. (How did they cross water? Steal a ship maybe?) All this was necessary to prepare the stage for Dalv's second conquest in 1399. (The first time, though he didn't know the whole truth, Dalv did know something of the prophecies surrounding him ever since he was born, and was raised by Black Prophets. Second time he'll know everything, but only after Dark Servant finds him when he turns 33; until then, he'll have no idea he's special.)

752- Elves created. Roderick was perhaps inspired by one of Tooblan's plays.

766- Cazzul develops translocation of inanimate objects, which redefines "conjuration."

773- Roderick collects books on countless subjects, making the ship he buys a floating library, or as a spirit friend says, "Noah's Ark, but for books rather than animals."
774- After founding Woodstockade, Elven sorcerers consider calling themselves drow or druids rather than Sorreters, but choose "socerers" instead.

790- Nyza develops translocation spell, with the help of a spirit, Ronsan, who suggests possible names for the technique. He says on Earth similar scientific things in science fiction were called transporters (which Nyza points out is a term already used on the Land for mail-carriers), or teleportation, or transmat. Suggests telemat, but Nyza says that sounds just stupid. Instead she suggests translocation. (note, this should have been named by Cazzul, but maybe he just called it "conjuration.")

807- Eric creates Merfolk. (inspired by Tooblan play "The Tempestuous One") Perhaps he also learns that any sentient creatures made by men will not be subject to the punishment of the Fall, which could be part of why his project is accepted. Teaches merfolk sign language to communicate underwater, but also teaches magic. They call it witchcraft; develop telepathy, which the Marine Corps may later teach to Protestants.

850- Woodstockade forms its village council, also the Woodstockade Philharmonic. Ristar founded.

853- Cartographers finish mapping Midds Land, begin project to make a map of the entire globe. (There will be several expeditions over the years, not done all at once.)

871- Expedition to map the world includes a Sorreter of the BP named Rhys, who will later become Chief Sorreter. (He's about 20 at this point, only an adept.) Also there is a cartographer named Maxwell, who will be recruited by Rhys to join BP. Rhys knew the expedition would find dinosaurs, but does his best to hide them. He may fail, and calls his friend Cyril to come and erase people's memories with dream swimming (using mana battery since there are many witnesses). Cyril becomes Manat's master around the same time. After the expedition, Maxwell is sent to Tonad, where he opens the Apple-Spruce Inn. He had discovered apple-spruce trees, but didn't tell anyone this. He claims he just named it for trees he'd heard of on Earth. Someday he may be assigned to influence Dustin Malone to join Illuminati, but has various tasks over the decades before that. Maxwell will be father of Porter Cognoscente.

BP didn't want dinosaurs discovered by the world at large, because it would make people interested in studying them. They wanted the continent free of people because they knew there would be a plan there someday that they didn't want anyone stumbling onto. (Terra cotta army?)

875ish- Drag meets I-dragon named Santos, who will later (in 879) help him develop universal translation spell. At some point, Santos will smell incense Drag is burning, say he likes it, ask what it's called. Drag says that it is often the case with incense that the names of certain varieties are fanciful, and should not be taken literally. Such is the case with this variety, which happens to be called "Dragon's Blood."

878- Noson's parents die, he's adopted by Drag, who then becomes his master. They may joke about his name, and years later Noson will joke with his shadeclone about how the name was even more fitting for the latter. It was around the time of his parents' death that Durell developed a chakra gauge spell that allows people to test the potential of prospective Sorreters. He wanted Noson for an apprentice, but because he himself had just become an adept, it was impossible. This led him to increase his resentment of Drag when he became Noson's master, as well as resenting Noson himself.

879- Kimrin founded. Settlers surprised, in fall, by untanned skin?

880ish- Dirk XVIII conceives of starting world government, to ensure some future war doesn't take place, which would have resulted in a world government that wasn't democratic. (Or maybe that's a cover story.)

881- Shortly before Pilgrimage, Hubert (age 39, editor of First Village Chronicle) makes arrangements with Esmeralda to visit Monab and write an article about the Pilgrimage. However, she dies before his arrival (or maybe shortly after, in late Sp'yet). Demos (age 22) happens to be in Monab on business, or maybe just an adventure before he really got serious about trading as a career. Also in Monab for the Pilgrimage was Rhys, chief Sorreter of the Black Prophets (though of course no one knew they even exist). He was of the opinion that the group should have spies in other villages besides First Village, possibly traditional spies who knew nothing of the Oracle. The don at the time (was he called a don? They may have known that would be the word, though it's unlike they'd use it before they became a gang), Dirk XVIII, was against the idea. Somehow, both Demos and Hubert learn of Black Prophets' existence, which leads to Rhys's death. He was planning on killing Demos, having had a prophecy that he would someday be responsible for Gillian's death. (He may be descended from a member of one of the other groups in the Prophet Movement, who learned of future events from spirits; when their group was broken, survivors joined Black Prophets and hid the truth of the nature of their prophetic powers.) Rhys tells about BP and part of the future to both Demos and Hubert, after they had worked together to learn the truth behind Esmeralda's death. (possibly BP knew she'd die at this time, which was important to make way for Talak, who would support the Plan, unlike Esmeralda). This encounter may be what leads Demos to position himself to someday run for monarch. Also Rhys knows someone will show up to stop him from killing Demos, so he tells Hubert to leave, he can't be found here. Another Black Prophet (Bernard, sent by Millicent's mother) is forced to kill Rhys to protect Demos, knowing the future can't be altered. (Or because debate over whether Demos should win election or not goes in favor of winning. Rhys may say he wanted to kill him because he wanted to be sure Demos never became king, even if it meant going against the BP, though this is just a cover to prevent anyone learning he's a true prophet, since the BP had no idea Gillian would die because of Demos winning.) Bernard gets there after Rhys has told Demos his destiny, but before he can kill him. He tells Rhys he's sorry, Rhys says it's okay, he knew this would happen, but he had to try anyway. Demos asks Rhys why he did what he did it, if he knew he'd end up dying because of his efforts. Rhys says, "You wouldn't understand."

When Demos learns he's going to be king, at first he's shocked. He'd always believed he could become greater than anyone in his clan (possibly they disowned him for this?) but the idea that he could be the most powerful person in the world seemed unthinkable. "I'm not that special. But then again, who is? If there's going to be a king, why not me? Does anyone really deserve to be that powerful? How would anyone even decide such a thing? I know plenty of rich people who think themselves superior because of their wealth, but it obviously doesn't make them inherently superior to anyone, in spite of what they might think. So, what would make someone superior? Intelligence is good, but there are good people who aren't very intelligent. Morality is good, I suppose, but what does it really get you? Friends? Love? Not necessarily; I've known plenty of highly moral people who are generally despised by others, who find them holier-than-thou. And even the ones who are moral without being annoying about it may be loved, but so what? Lots of people are loved, even people who are relatively amoral. Some are loved because they trick people, others because there are similarly amoral people who... appreciate similarity in others. After all, that's how friendship works, isn't it? You find people who think the same way you do. What you think, and how you act, doesn't really matter as long as you think and act the same as someone else. Well then, what about talent? There are many different talents, in life, and many people are highly regarded for their talents, whatever they may be. But does that make you a better person? Hell no. Well, what about God? Maybe he could decide who's most worthy... but every spirit-talker I've ever met said God loves everyone equally. Everyone in the Universe. So... it doesn't matter how rich I am, how smart I am, how good I am, how popular I am, or how talented I am. All of the countless sentient beings in the Universe are equal, which means all of society's hierarchies are essentially arbitrary. It's all meaningless. So... there's really no point in worrying about whether you deserve anything or not. There will always be people who deserve more than they have, and people who deserve less than they have. This goes for money, power, friendship, love... everything. And if that's true, then the only sane way to live is to do whatever you can to acquire as much as you can. Because if nothing truly matters, all you can do is make yourself comfortable and happy. Everyone has a chance to work toward such goals, but no matter how hard they work, they'll never deserve to have more than anyone else. Certainly they'll never deserve to have more power than anyone else. So if everything is arbitrary... yes, I might as well be king. If anyone can be said to deserve it, it's the one who tries the hardest to achieve it. And anyone who achieves less in life... deserves whatever they do or don't achieve. Deserved or undeserved, these words are meaningless, or else they both mean the same thing. You deserve whatever you can get, no more, no less. So it's insane not to try to get as much as you can in life."

The whole event makes Hubert distrustful of Demos (though they may have been friendly when they first met). Rhys tells him he knew he wouldn't be able to stop Demos, but he had to try (may not say why). But he also says someday Hubert will help stop Demos. Possibly after Rhys's death, Olwyn demands Dirk admit her husband was right, and at least assign a spy to work in Monab. When she says "My husband was right! His death proves it!" Dirk replies, "His death was his own doing. He'd still be alive if he hadn't tried to alter destiny." He may also suggest that all Rhys proved is he might have been stopped if there'd been a spy in place; it's ironic that he's the one that needed spying on. (But probably what they uncovered about Esmeralda's death changed Dirk's mind.) Olwyn is furious, but she knows he's right. Over the years she and Gillian will visit First Village occasionally, and her daughter becomes friends with Dirk's son. Relations between Olwyn and Dirk will be tense, however.

Talak (newly appointed Arch-bishop) visits First Village during Su'gin, missing the Pilgrimage. He was there to pay his respects to the former Arch-bishop, Esmeralda, who had recently died, and was laid to rest in her home village. Also at the services was then vice-bishop Dalin, who would become bishop of FV in 887. Meanwhile, Drag, who was a vice-bishop from Sorret, took his apprentice, Noson, with him to Monab for the Pilgrimage. (Noson may have felt the need for greater spiritual guidance than he could find in Sorret, to help him deal with his frustrating failure to advance as a Sorreter.) While there, Drag introduced Noson to his old friend Kizin, himself a vice-bishop who would become bishop of Monab in 885. Durell was also in attendance, though not yet a vice-bishop (nor a master-adept, which would come in 882). Talak returned before the end of the Pilgrimage, but not before Noson had caught a stage coach back to Sorret.

882- Nicolai (Nicole's older brother), 16 years old, moves to Sorret and becomes the first apprentice of Durell. He introduces Durell to purpleshade, a drug harvested by his clan, distributed by one of the smaller gangs (certainly not as well-known as the Buccaneers, but more organized). This became the final piece in something Durell had been thinking about for years. While he'd been using his chakra-blocking spell on Noson throughout his training, he'd also considered making a clone he could train himself. But he didn't want to do it unless he felt sure the clone would be loyal to him. And of course he knew he'd have to raise the clone in secret, not wanting anyone to notice how much he resembled the original Noson. But he feared the clone would resent this. When he learned of the effects of purpleshade, he realized he could incorporate it into the clone's system, thus increasing his loneliness, but simultaneously giving him euphoria provided by his relationship with Durell and Virtiana.

883- Noson leaves Sorret to become adventurer. Probably sometime before this people had questioned whether Durell's chakra gauge spell was really all that reliable, considering Noson's failure, but Durell might come up with an explanation, or else the matter just fades away since the spell seems to be right about everyone else.

883- 31 Aut'mo' (Samhain). Don (9 years old) is in Tonad with his family. He meets Amelia (age 9) and Merril (age 8), and has the idea of using magic to create a Samhain display. They meet Azura, who had just become an adept and left Sorret to travel. At the same time, Knight (age 23) is in Tonad, having been traveling since he was 16. The display, which Azura helps with, results in the tragic deaths of several people, including Amelia's parents, and her grandfather, Drexl (who was teaching Amelia the art of maskmaking, which ties in to the Samhain display). Amelia played a part in making sure the accident didn't hurt more people than it did, including saving the life of Don. Knight played a greater part in helping people, but she may have been the one who enlisted his help, and he was impressed with her efforts. When Don's parents learned what had happened, they were grateful to Amelia for saving their son, as well as sorry for her loss. They offered to adopt her, but she sarcastically declined the offer. They did however give her a great deal of money to support herself (maybe asked Knight to make sure she was alright, which he may have done for a couple of years, before returning to First Village). Azura continued traveling, occasionally visiting her young friends in Plist and Tonad, possibly delivering messages between them. This is how Amelia would eventually learn they all became involved in gangs...

885- the map of the world is completed.

885ish- Demon visits Silas Des'Caina. (see also 7 Deadly Sins) He's annoyed at how Lucifer has mellowed, takes it as a betrayal of all those who followed him and were therefore expelled from heaven forever and banished to hell. They thought it was for a grand purpose, but Lucifer, as far as anyone can tell, has all but abandoned that purpose. If there's some master plan, he's not letting any of his followers in on it. "There are those of us who would like to overthrow Lucifer. Silas says he doesn't blame him for wanting to take over, mentions once having heard a line from an Earth book, "It is better to rule in Hell than to serve in Heaven," and adds "It must especially suck to serve in Hell." Demon says "You have no idea. To be perfectly honest, I think anyone who's actually been to both places would tell you it's better to serve in Heaven, but that's no longer an option for us. and I think we all knew full well before the civil war that if we lost, the punishment would be unbearable. But we were willing to risk it for what we considered at the time to be the greater good. Of course, we were wrong, and... well, never mind. Even if God's mellowed, He'd never welcome us back with open arms. Prodigal sons, my ass." He mumbles this last, but doesn't explain it to Silas. "Just another story from Earth. Anyway, ruling hell isn't the main goal; it's more important to get out of there for as long as possible. we're essentially stuck in hell forever, but the stronger among us can get out, to the physical dimensions, for brief periods. The only way to stay for any length of time would be to possess a mortal, which isn't as easy as it sounds. Souls are... protected, barring certain circumstances. Which is where you come in..." Also mention that people will have to choose to become vampires by letting a demon possess them (in addition to accepting transfer of traits designed by Des'Caina), but it should be easier on the Land because they don't have to say "demon," they can just say "spirit."

Silas develops chakra-suppression spell, integrates it into genetics for vamps, though it is only triggered by a spirit possessing a human. Girarg and Brahm aren't possessed, because it's impossible except during siring, and they were never sired. Thus they are merely carriers of the suppression spell. it doesn't affect them, and Silas taught them magic (and later they probably learned translocation from Merril at th same time as Silas).

890- Kizin conceives the Plan. Feels that the separation of villages must be painful to God as well as Man. (He had done much traveling, seen every village, saw much diversity. And he tended to like travelers more than people who stay in one village. He thinks diversity is a good thing, but there can be too much. People need to have more in common, which is not to say they should all be the same, but that they should have a broader view of the world.) They should be united as a way to help ease the pain of the Fall. (Talak says it was obviously the product of Divine inspiration; Kizin says the inspiration came from the heavens, alright. He doesn't reveal that he meant another planet- Earth- from whence came the books that inspired him. The books had been given to him by Gordon Lightprophet, though Kizin didn't realize the gift was meant to bring about the Coming.) At some point, after he has begun gathering allies to iron out all the details, one of them wonders if it's a good idea to create intervillage gangs. Kizin, or perhaps Durell, suggests that if they're working toward order in all things, just as the Order itself organized religion in 404, maybe it makes sense that, since they can't very well stamp out crime entirely... well, as long as it's always going to exist, even crime should be organized. Kizin worries that the Plan may be wrong, however, because as the Book of Brist said, the more certain we are that we're right, the greater the potential for wrong. (Protestants will also worry about this, for their part.)

Manat resigns from his position in his family's company, having made plenty of money from his spell-devices. Around this time, he may be recruited by Black Prophets.He learns much about the future from them over the years, and begins developing his own plans (which presumably he shares with the others, as it fits their goals as well as his). He may tell Durell about BP's existence, though he wouldn't let BP know that. Durell may use some knowledge of the future shared by Manat, but for the most part doesn't care about BP because it's clear they're not going to do anything that matters to him til long after he's dead, anyway.

891- Nicole turns 21, gets job in family business, takes trip to Kimrin, where she tries lambic. Conceives of cherry lambic, or kriek.
892- Nicolai graduates to adept status, returns to Triscot, helps clan's business possibly?

893- Lucia moves to Kurok, to study law under Thomas, who had written a popular book on the subject. There she meets Kuris.

895ish- Sometime between 888 and 897 (probably around 895), while Merril was an apprentice, he accidentally meets Silas Des'Caina, and they become friends. Merril meets the first two vampyres, Girarg and Brahm (who are around 7 and 6 at the time), though he probably doesn't know they're vampyes. Just wards of the sorcerer. Foundlings. Merril will teach Silas translocation, as well as teaching Girarg and Brahm, who had already learned some magic from Silas. It's also around this time that Silas takes in Amelia and Alexia. Merril will continue to visit for several years, though the last time will be in 902.

896- Joss is born, Triscot. Lucia and Kuris marry, Kurok.

the Coming

897- Kizin and his allies begin to implement the Plan. Near Port and Northern Alliance founded. Work towards self-sufficiency begins in Monab (of the Order itself, not the village).

Possibly Carver buys pocket watch from Amestri. May also later be involved with running messages between gangs before they actually unite.

898- Planners ask Sorreters for help with the Plan during pilgrimage, but don't really expect it; they do expect at least one Sorreter will secretly consider it. During that same pilgrimage they talk to spirit-talkers from every village about the Plan. Most are in favor, while others have little interest. Very few, including Bishop Drag, are openly opposed to the Plan. But Durell found it intriguing. (in the coming years, spirit-talkers in key areas would be expected to offer ideas to parishioners, or guide them toward coming up with ideas seemingly on their own. Also, while ideas weren't necessarily widespread at first, people in different villages might ask about ideas they'd heard and wonder if they're good. Spirit-talkers would say yes, but this would be in conversations between individuals, not the Order as a whole announcing ideas to the general public.)

Zeke kills Amestri. (in Kimrin? this could be what Tom refers to in ch. 2 when he says he hasn't been to Northern Alliance since early in the Coming.) Zeke was nearly done his training under Durell, but needed to master translocation. He couldn't do it quickly, so he carried a coin which was pre-enchanted with his own pattern. However, when he translocated to Kimrin as one of Durell's final tests, he went to a tavern to celebrate his achievement. Realizing he had no other money, he used his coin to buy himself a drink, and struck up a conversation with other patrons, Amestri and Tom. (Maybe the coin also bought drinks for them.) He knew he needed to get another object to enchant for the return translocation, and decided to steal Amestri's watch, and killed him with a fireball to get it. (Possibly quite unnecessarily.) Tom chased him out of the tavern, and Zeke worked on enchanting as he ran. It took a few centhours, but he finished just as Tom cornered him in an alley. With a grin, he theatrically surrounded himself with a force field, fire, and translocated away. Tom vowed to kill him if he ever saw him again, as well as thereafter offering a reward to anyone he met, who might ever kill Zeke.

899- Build street gangs up, encourage them to spread to other villages. also begin making them more organized, establish specific jobs, which may not have existed in many gangs. Someone in the Order approaches Amelia, who has spent years spending as little of the money she got from Don's family as possible. But recently she's become more prominent in some way, which leads someone in the Order (and possibly the Black Prophets) to think she'd make a good gang leader? She may talk with Don, whose own gang has decided to use his name for gang leader. She's amused, and says she'll do the same with her gang.

Some people in Sorret (Sorreters and otherwise) just want to be in gangs. However, Drag did all he could to make sure there would be no gangs in his village. Durell sends out agents to work with gangs. One of these is Merv Newline, who came up with the idea of gangs employing Sorreters. (Question why Sorreters choose to join gangs. Not all will be loyal to Durell, even if they like him better than Drag. Some remain loyal, but some play along just because they suspect Durell is going to gain more power than they like, and they're trying to escape his machinations, believing once the gangs are firmly established, Durell will no longer have much power over them.) Seth Manager has Newline introduce him to Durell, saying it's a safe bet sooner or later gangs will turn against the Order. It'd be good to have someone on the inside before that happens, who meanwhile can provide surreptitious help in various ways. Integrate police, establish InterVil. Make laws, adult licenses. courts, lawyers established. (talks for court system held mostly in Kurok. Probably Lucia and Kuris's master, Thomas, was involved.) Eventually gangs (mostly kids at this point) become suspicious of the Order's motives, but still accept secret help from them. (Black Prophets celebrate their 500th anniversary.) The public also starts worrying about the Order making so many suggestions, so they back off for now, while reminding people they're always around for guidance, spiritual or otherwise. But the public was already thinking along the lines the Order wanted them to.

Black Prophets, having forseen the Coming but not its details, learn of the role gangs play in the Plan, and form their own gang in First Village, the Dark Profits. Only the leaders know the truth about the gang's origins, most members think it's just another gang.

Gillian becomes master-adept, moves to First VIllage, where she already knows Dirk XIX and Warren. She becomes chief Sorreter of Black Profits, carrying out her father's wish to establish a gang as a cover for the group. Dirk's father is ready to do this by now, as the prophecy called for it at this point, at the same time other gangs began emerging. (It may be one of his final acts before Dirk XIX takes over, or perhaps he merely becomes the first "don" of the Profits, and doesn't take over the Prophets as well, until sometime later when his father dies.) Meanwhile, Hubert had been keeping tabs on Demos for years, and knew of his involvement with the developing gangs. He didn't have evidence, so couldn't expose him. However, they had both learned from Rhys in 881 that there would be elections in the future, and a world government, though they didn't know exactly when. When Hubert heard of the adult license law, he came up with a clause that would make it illegal for gangsters to vote, which he hoped would reduce the votes Demos would get. Maybe this was the way he'd stop him, since Rhys hadn't been specific. While it hurt Demos somewhat, it didn't prevent his election.

900- Durell is concerned about his plans to bring Noson to Monab. Tells Virtiana his plans (see next paragraph) concerning not letting Kizin meet his son, since he'd met the original Noson years ago. Virtiana says "You're overthinking this, dear. What are the odds he'd even remember someone he met for a few days, 20 years ago?"
Durell touches her cheek, gazes lovingly into her eyes and says "Oh, V... it was nineteen years, dear."
"Oh, hush!" She brushes his hand away.

Durell introduces his son (now 17) to Talak at Pilgrimage, and also told him of the allies he had secretly gathered among Sorreters, to support the Plan (though mostly this was to get revenge against Drag, who he hated). He specifically asked Talak not to tell anyone, especially Kizin, about Noson. The reason was that he feared Kizin would remember the original Noson, who he'd met in 881, but of course this isn't what he told Talak. It was well known that Durell and Kizin didn't get along, and disagreed on certain points about the Plan, such as Separation of Church and State, though this point wouldn't come til 902, Durell probably knew of it already. (Also, the introduction probably comes after Durell told all the Planners about his efforts, and after Kizin told him that had always been part of the Plan, which they just hadn't revealed yet.) Durell explains that the fact he and Virtiana had kept Noson away from society until now was because he was sick for the first several years and later developed severe social anxiety, though he was getting better now. But Kizin would take it as further proof that Durell was up to no good, full of hidden agendas- but then, aren't we all? It's not like we're revealing the full scope of the Plan to the public. Meanwhile, Noson could be of great use to the Plan, though Kizin might not want to be upstaged, especially by Durell. Durell also acknowledges to Talak that he has been guilty of misguided thinking and actions in the past, particularly his well known rivalry with Drag. Of course they are currently taking opposing viewpoints on the Plan, though so far Drag has done nothing to hinder its implementation... that may change. Whether it does or not, before the Coming began, Drag never gave him any real reason for his resentment and hate, and ever since his son was born, he's been trying to change that about himself, though not always successfully. In fact he named his son Noson because Drag had once had an apprentice by that name, who he had similarly hated for no good reason. He named his son after him, to remind himself to love rather than hate, which is of course a fundamental tenet of the Order, even if Sorreters don't always think of themselves in religious terms. However, Durell fears if Kizin knew about Noson, he might read something into the name... he'd been born the same year Noson left Sorret, after all. And given all the apparent secrecy surrounding his son- not that they'd ever meant to hide him, just to protect him- if his existence became common knowledge now, it would only fuel rumors and speculation. He wouldn't even put it past Kizin to suggest that other Noson might have had an affair with Virtiana, and fathered the child himself. Which certainly isn't true. In any event, he thinks it's clear that he's already done more for the Plan than Cirna, but expects Kizin would favor her over Durell as a leader in Sorret, anyway. Durell suggests this as a test. After the meeting, he acts conciliatory toward Kizin. But later Talak meets with Kizin and Dalin about who to put in charge in Sorret, listing pros and cons for both candidates. As Durell predicted, Kizin favors Cirna. But Talak favors Durell, and Dalin is forced to agree. At this point Talak knows Durell is right not to trust Kizin with the secret of Noson's existence.

Of course the Planners already knew what Durell had been up to, and the fact that he had already assigned Sorreters to gangs in other villages is something they'd always intended, but he had made it happen ahead of schedule.

First World Fair in First Village (Su'mo'; at opening ceremonies of the first world fair, Marcus Emcee jokingly says, "let the games commence." many are mortified, others amused. some think it should become a traditional statement, but that suggestion is voted down.) Around that time mail-order catalogs are introduced, the earliest ones being handed out by some vendors at the World Fair, thus leading to increased business for postal services.

Amelia and Capp each send their own spy to work in Monab, where they meet the Black Profits spy, who'd been there since 881 (or perhaps the one who's there now replaced the first one). The three of them eventually form a loose alliance, learning things from each other but not sharing full knowledge with each other, but also withholding partial knowledge from their capos. BP spy may not know the whole truth about his own group, but he knows they've had a spy here long before they became a gang, which makes him suspicious. They also know the offices of the bishop and Arch-bishop have dormant anti-magic spells which will be triggered by certain kinds of spell being used in the offices (such as scrying). So they make a habit of breaking into the bishop's office for their secret meetings, knowing they can't be magically spied on there.

Macen, age 16, leaves Triscot. Goes to Kimrin, where he meets Zeke (who was involved with a gang there). Zeke (age 25) soon learns that Macen considers himself superior to most people, including Zeke. When Macen asks Zeke to teach him, he wonders how Macen can pretend to give him or any master respect, when he thinks them beneath himself. Macen says respecting someone isn't synonymous with considering them better than oneself. There will always be people who know things he doesn't, and he respects their knowledge. He wants to learn all he can, so he naturally respects anyone who can help him acquire more knowledge. Zeke says "Well, I'm not sure how much knowledge I possess that you don't, aside from magic. And I don't suppose you want to become a Sorreter, else you'd have gone to Sorret instead of coming here. I could teach you some fundamentals of magic, but if you're interested in some truly arcane knowledge, I've got a doozy for ya..." Macen says, "Do tell." And Zeke tells him about the Plan. Macen believes his father would be a valuable ally to the Planners, and he wants to make himself valuable, as well. Zeke wonders if it's wise for him to become Macen's master, because once he's taught him all he wants to know, he'd have no reason to continue respecting Zeke. But Macen says there are lots of other reasons to respect people besides knowledge, even if they are from a lower class. "As you said, you can't teach me everything you know. The same is true of any master, they remain the experts, and I'll merely be a journeyman, at best. And experts have their uses, regardless of their field. Certainly a Sorreter such as yourself would always be useful. But then too, there is friendship. It's a bit early in our acquaintance to call you a friend, but you seem like someone with whom I might develop a friendship. And that carries its own kind of respect." Possibly Zeke says it's a shame someone so innately superior would never be a master of anything, and Macen says perhaps he'll be a master student, the best person in the world at learning things. It's this love of acquiring knowledge that leads him to think of starting a spy network. And of course he'd respect all his spies, because even if they're not his masters, they help him acquire other kinds of knowledge.

While in Kimrin, Macen met Vallus, and the two developed a rivalry (possibly dispute over whether the Plan is a good thing or bad). Later went with Zeke to Sorret, where he met Durell and Noson. Macen, Zeke, and Noson travel together. (Macen introduces them to Xander, and inform him of the Plan.) It was probably in First Village, during World Fair, that they meet Phin. Whole Illustri family is probably in FV at the time, as are members of many rich clans from around the world. Macen greatly respects Phin for building himself up from humble beginnings. Maybe didn't start as low as Tulo or Zeke, but rose much higher than either of them.

901- Self-sufficiency achieved in Monab. Armies and navies rasied in Northern Alliance, as well as construction of powder mills. (Sorreters provide magical wind generators to ensure ships' speed.) Sorreters begin selling certain magical items to nobles, as well as indoor plumbing.

Upset about Durell being placed in charge of Sorreter Planners, Cirna decides to do whatever she can to prove her own worth to Kizin and Talak. One thing she does is invent wind generators, an idea inspired by her research into the Xerxes war, which few people other than Sorreters are even aware happened- and even most Sorreters may not know about it. She wondered how Xerxes got his dreadnoughts to sail underground on Drop River, and came up with the idea of using force fields.

In 901, Macen, Zeke, and possibly Noson meet Tulo Streetrat (Cabal was an idea Tulo had, which Macen passes on to Feng.) Because of Macen's respect for Feng, it's not hard for him to accept Feng as leader of Cabal, even if his own family is still greater, and he'd known of the idea longer. Macen had no interest in leading the group, but did enjoy the idea of being a high ranking member of vital importance... though his loyalties would be split, also with Second Order government who knew nothing of Cabal. After this meeting, Feng would begin traveling, recruiting more powerful allies. Sometime later Macen or Zeke may introduce Feng to Durell, who he asks to join the Cabal. While Durell doesn't want to join himself, he suggests Noson as a member. Noson may help Feng recruit other people, some of whom were friends of his father, including Manat (who is amused to be recruited by a secret society for the second time).

Pav Ericson is adventuring in West Ocean, and discovers elves. When she returns home, she tells Manat and maybe other relatives. Manat tells Durell where they are.

Vallus left Kimrin to become an adventurer. He was at this time aware of some of the Order's plans, because of the armies being secretly raised in the Northern Alliance. He was inclined to dislike them, but not yet inclined to fight against them. This would soon change, however, as he learned more about them in the course of some of his adventures.

Durell contacts Elves. Elf Chief Castor Des'Eller likes the idea of village councils (or perhaps he suggests the format?) with Chief Councillors; always thought it ridiculous for his own title to be "Elf Chief," prefers the new title he'd have (if re-elected). Durell's allies begin training sorcerers in translocation (of people) and other spells developed since the banishment. This may include Nicolai, who also begins distributing purpleshade among elves, partly for profits for his clan, but also because Durell believes it will lead to increased desire among elves to rejoin human society, because of loneliness (which could be played on in some way, making them think reunification is what they really want). He probably works closely with Listrin Des'Tambor, who Durell has encouraged to start a gang (or expand gang activities, as other gangs had done). Any of Durell's allies should be careful not to let the Woodstockade authorities know they're in the village, and especially not let the authorities have any idea Durell is associated with Des'Tambor.

Emannus Des'Rosset and his cousin Joan Des'Salucin are among Castor Des'Eller's chief supporters in encouraging elves to accept Durell's proposal.

Early in 901, Jade begins teaching various Triscot children swordsmanship, including Darius and Benj. In late 902, she would teach Darius Chakra Over Mana; he was the only one of her students she taught the technique, which upset Benj. Sometime this year also, Dave visits Darius's home at the same time Benj is there. After Benj leaves, Dave says "I don't think I like that guy." Darius says, "Yeah, well, he's an acquired taste." "How long's it take?" "I'll have to let you know."

At some point Darius has trouble dealing with unfair things. Talk about finding certain situations unacceptable, but everyone else seems to just accept those kinds of things. Maybe they don't like them, maybe they find them frustrating, but those things don't seem to cause them the same level of frustration they cause Darius. Even if he recognizes a thing as trivial, he can't help feeling like it's really huge. So eventually he learns to push those feelings away, decides his feelings don't matter, because they're wrong. But that leads to depression, social anxiety, and all his other problems. Maybe around this time he sees a psychoanalyst, but he needs to have water, because he feels light-headed, queasy. "I feel nauseous. No, just a bit queasy. And dizzy. No, not dizzy, either... more... light-headed. Maybe a little dizzy." Drinks water. "Thank you."

At age 15, Ginger joins a band, with friends she's had for years (including a boy named Marvin?) Trying to think of a name for the band they formed, Ginger says, "Hey, remember when we were kids and we used to pick berries and chuck them at houses and wagons and stuff? Why don't we call ourselves the Berry-Chuckers?" Marvin says, "Well, I like it, but if we want our fans to take us seriously, we'll need a better story to explain the name. Like... maybe we say... we pick berries, then chuck them in jars, with water and sugar, wait for it to ferment... yeah, then we could sell home-made wine at our shows. We'd probably make more money from that than from ticket sales!" "Not bad. But you'd better be planning on saving some of the wine for the band." "I think that goes without saying." At some point, Maeve and Therman will express concern over Ginger's behavior. She says, "But Dad, you always say-" "I know, I know. People should do what makes them happy, to honor God's wish for his children. Just... try to exercise a little moderation, okay?"

902- banks established (spirit-talkers who invented money in 103 unwittingly paved way for this part of the Plan). Term "middle class" coined. People begin questioning what is really meant by "middle class," which implies upper and lower classes, which no one had ever thought of in such terms. The Order introduced the concept of nobility, as well as government, since things were getting so more complicated, more structure was needed (and as it becomes more frequently necessary to make important decisions, people won't have time for voting at random times; an elected government could make day-to-day decisions, while everyone could vote on certain matters annually. The people they elect should know how the public would likely vote on any matters.) Campaigns organized for electing officials in both villages and the forthcoming world government (figure out Demos' opponents). The Order promises separation of church and state. (Kizin's idea, which Durell tried to prevent. Though after this point Talak himself took no part in implementing the Plan.) While Demos romanticizes the idea of the peasantry, he also speaks of education becoming free to all, which helps ease the class divide (though secretly he believes the classes will remain divided because most people won't afford to go to universities). Durell would have been in league with Demos, while other candidates mostly had little or no contact with the Order. People from different villages begin realizing they've been getting the same advice from their local spirit-talkers, which doesn't seem to mean anything more than that the advice was good, though it does start making a few people mildly suspicious, which leads to Separation law, and to learning of the Plan. and taking a role in it independently of the Order (even though the Plan had always called for this, which perhaps those who actually founded the Second Order didn't know).

Macen tells Xander about the Cabal, and the whole family about the Plan. Xander's brother Rex and the rest of the clan decide to move to First Village, believing the new country will be established with FV as the capital, so it will become the most prominent village, just as it was before Triscot was founded. They try to convince Xander to move there and move the headquarters of LustriCorp, but he chooses to stay in Triscot with his wife and sons. This means their mansion will be more empty, and Benj is upset about losing so many relatives. When he talks to Darius about it, Darius thinks he's lucky to have less people around. This leads to argument. (Which Benj reflects on near the end of the Chaos.)

Philo meets Dex and Frank, suggests quasi-partnership, though he later backs out.

Black Prophets, especially Manat, are in favor of Demos winning, because they know he'll eventually go mad, and start a war. This would give the Chaos a chance they wouldn't have had if anyone sane had been king when they made their move. Manat may know Demos for business reasons, and introduces him to Durell. Does this on behalf of both BP and Cabal, though it's possible neither group knows he's part of the other (at least Cabal wouldn't know about BP). Manat is manipulating the entire situation, laying the groundwork for his future plans for the Balance. (Noson may wonder why he wants to help Demos, or the Chaos- if Durell knows about BP, does Noson?- Manat just says, "Timing is everything.") In fact, there is probably much debate in BP about whether Demos should win, because he could bring about the future Dirk XVIII feared rather than averting it. But Manat believes that, like this plan itself, it's a necessary risk.

Demos learns from Durell about the elves, and wants an early chance to expand his market to Woodstockade. So he asks Durell to translocate him to the village, which Durell agrees to do in exchange for Demos attempting to quell the rumors Des'Eller's been hearing that the Plan involved helping increase gang activities. (Durell wouldn't help him unless he could help Durell, and maybe at the moment, that's the only thing he can think of that he needs help with. However, he doubts Demos would be able to do that. Like, what would some random trader know about it? But Demos tells him his plan to convince Des'Eller there may be some truth to the rumors, but that's not part of the "official" Plan, and say Durell is also concerned about the rumors, so he selected Demos as a spy to root out those trying to corrupt the Plan. The reason he'll be effective is precisely because he's not connected to any part of the Order. or perhaps because he knows something, learned it in 881 when he was in Monab, even though that was almost a decade before the Plan was conceived. Probably learned it from Rhys, though he won't tell the whole story to Des'Eller, maybe not even to Durell. But what he does tell Durell is that he'll convince Des'Eller he can be trusted by informing on any gangsters he can uncover. And asks Durell to sacrifice someone as a patsy. He selected Merril, who was a former student of Cirna, and resented being forced to become part of Merv's plan; in fact, after briefly and half-heartedly looking for employment in a gang in Tonad, he returned to Sorret to continue his studies, which displeased Durell.

So, Durell has Merril take Demos to Woodstockade, saying it's about time he honor his commitment to help with the Plan, after having given up so quickly on the idea of joining a gang. When Merril is sent to Woodstockade, he decides to visit old friend Silas (who Durell surely has no idea Merril knows; he must think this will be Merril's first time in Woodstockade). Demos overhears RD talking to Des'Caina, possibly makes a recording. (Mention vampyres, but mostly talk about how he'd tried to join a gang two years earlier, but decided not to. Now it seems he may have no choice, as things are already headed in that direction in Woodstockade, as in the rest of the world. Probably mentions some people in the Order being against this, ironically referring to Drag and maybe Therman- though I'm not sure if this is before or after the Protestant Movement starts.) Later Demos tells/shows Des'Eller what he heard (but doesn't tell Durell about Merril's history, and tells no one about vampyres). He tells Des'Eller Durell had actually selected RD to take him there because he suspected him of being in a gang, but needed proof. The Protestants could be presented as the ones who want to corrupt the Plan, and the eventual war could be presented as the "good guys" wanting to stop them. Passes on info to police chief, who tries but fails to apprehend RD. Demos talks to Des'Eller and police chief, suggesting they join InterVil, which the Plan had established specifically in response to gang activities (after all, the plan was being constantly amended even throughout the Coming, to deal with unforeseen variables such as the rise of gangs). Though he probably admits it looks suspicious, the fact that gangs began expanding just at the time the Planners were trying to unite the world, and that actually turned out to be helpful to their cause. But it could be because the gangsters had begun to see the possibilities of globalization specifically because of the things the Plan had already accomplished. Or, again, it could just be a bad element within Sorret that had come up with the idea of piggybacking on the Plan for their own reasons. Even some of Durell's apprentices may have been a part of it, without Durell's knowledge.

Later, Demos visits Listrin, who he may tell that Merril had been called away unexpectedly, and couldn't translocate him home. Or maybe he has some lie about how the authorities learned about him being a gangster, and promises Listrin he'll make sure they don't find out about him, as well. Or maybe he saves Valerie? Anyway, Listrin gets someone to translocate him... whoever would become LandOrder's chief sorcerer in Woodstockade before Des'Caina. Probably someone who worked for Des'Eller at the time, and who had been trained by Durell the previous year. ORRRR... It may be that Listrin knows what he did to Merril and Des'Caina, but helps him in spite of that, in exchange for future favors. Including helping him deal with Durell, who he knows he can't trust, but who he still needs. (Or he's just glad Durell chose someone who wasn't actually in a gang to serve as patsy, instead of giving up actual gangsters.)

Merril may talk with Nicolai, who he'd known when they were both apprentices (Merril under Cirna from 888-897, Nicolai under Durell from 882-892). They'd both hung out at the same club in Sorret (Finnegan's). Now Merril tells Nicolai what Demos had done, presumably as payment to Durell for getting him to Woodstockade. Nicolai probably never liked his master much, and wasn't shocked by this, but it made him rethink things, and decide to quit working with Listrin or any gangsters. (Not sure if he tells this story to his sister, who he knows is friendly with Demos, though perhaps Merril asks him not to tell anyone, for some reason.) Nicolai also tells Merril about Durell working with Seth ever since 899, when Seth told Durell his Sorreters as well as other gangsters are bound to turn against him someday. Merril wants to get out of Sorret, because he knows Durell has many followers there and could hurt him. Nicolai says his boss, Azura, is no fan of Durell, nor is her boss, Don. When he goes back to Plist, he tells Azura he's quitting, but recommends Merril as a replacement. So she goes to Sorret to recruit him. Possibly Merril had also talked to Amelia, maybe right before Nicolai came into the club (conversation may have started when he overheard what he was saying to Amelia via t-mail). She happens to come to Sorret at the same time as Azura, and each wants to recruit him for their respective gang. (What might have been.) While there, Amelia meets and befriends Mordechai, who probably already knew Azura, and may know what happened in 883. It's also possible Amelia was there to celebrate his becoming a master-adept, not long ago. Could be a party for him at the club. After Merril joins LandOrder, he tells Azura and Don what Nicolai had told him about Seth.

Hubert sees Demos growing more popular, and joins the race himself, to keep Demos from winning. Still he fails to stop him.

There is talk of incorporating mail delivery services into the new government, though independent companies balk at this. (They may have unions, and the Order says they like unions, because they're all about unity, and in fact local unions might consider expanding to other villages.) A deal may be struck that allows companies to remain in business while the government establishes its own postal service. (Or maybe there is no governmental postal service?) Also talk of requiring drivers licenses may play into this. Also possibly involve transportation services (taxi companies, carriages & stagecoaches). There is concern about nationalized mail delivery leading to private postal services being outlawed, or at least being driven out of business. But also there's the question of drivers losing jobs, however unlikely that might be (they wouldn't last long if they weren't good drivers). Also there's the possibility that gangs could provide fake licenses. Demos wants people to think he's anti-gang, and so doesn't want new laws passed that could make them more powerful by providing them with new illegal enterprises. Meanwhile, secretly he believes the weaker the gangs, the less the police are needed, and therefore the more money can be allocated for the military, which may be how he begins garnering the favor of those who later form the cabal. Meanwhile, he strikes a deal with the taxi and postal services to support his campaign, as his main opponent is vocally in favor of drivers licenses. He says he'll do his best to reject both the licenses and the idea of nationalized postal service. (This was Tulo Streetrat's idea.) It's also pointed out to the mail services that part of the Plan was the World Fair, which led to mail order catalogs, which greatly increased their business between villages. Waste management services may also be involved, as they'll have their own union, even though they're directly employed by villages; so they have interests of both the potential government and other businesses. Could serve as negotiators between two sides.

Vallus met Tiejo in Plist (not long after Tiejo met Talon and Perryh), became his master, taught him to fight, and to spy, among other skills. Tiejo joined Vallus on his adventures, which were more and more about fighting the Order these days, and spreading the truth. When they first met, Tiejo had perhaps been digging through a trash can, which prompted Vallus to offer to take him out to eat. As they're about to leave, Tiejo turns back to the trash can and says, "Come Rennon!" and his pet furthing jumps out of the can, to Vallus's surprise.

Bishop Therman of Plist breaks from Order, begins the Protestant Movement. (Disagrees with Kizin's belief that there's too much diversity?) Becomes Protestant Arch-bishop, which Talak finds terribly insulting. (Or disappointing; he knew there would be dissent, but didn't expect it from within the Order, since he always thought all spirit-talkers wanted order in the world. Which they do, hence Protestants retaining same type of hierarchy; even if Talak realizes this, it only perplexes and hurts him more.) Therman (or possibly someone loyal to Talak, like Kizin or Mallory) says "Do you think Earth has only one Arch-bishop at a time?" Talak says, "This is not Earth!" Any Protestants in Monab were exiled. Protestant Pilgrimage established in Plist. Drag and his Sorreter allies joined Protestants (says Protestant Sorreters could provide spell devices to the public, which would eliminate Order Sorreter's hold over the public once they become dependent on magic; may be Lorraine's idea), while Durell gained more power in Sorret among those loyal to the Order. Vallus joins Protestant Movement in Plist, and later meets Adam in Triscot, tells him what he knew of the Plan. In fact it's possible Tiejo and Darius saw each other, though they wouldn't have met, probably didn't speak. (Darius says of history book's chapter, "I have first hand knowledge of my clan's role in the war, of course. Should be interesting to see what the book has to say about them.") Toros becomes Protestant in Triscot.

Alyn argues with Adam, who is against buying any more magical items, though the kids, especially Darius, like them a lot. Alyn says Adam wouldn't give up indoor plumbing, but Adam says that would have come eventually anyway, for everyone.

903- Kuris, Lucia, and Luni (or Lumi at the time) come to Triscot to support Adam's clan (on the advice of Kuris and Lucia's former law teacher, Thomas). He said things were going to get worse before they get better, and if Lucia ever wants to see her family again, she'd better do it while she has the chance. (Kuris wonders why they should put more stock in the judgement of a salesman than their own judgement as lawyers. Thomas says there's less difference between the two professions than you might think.) Kuris naturally goes with her, even though he's not really opposed to the Coming. Neither is Thomas, but he does know it has its flaws, as do some of the people behind it. At some point prior to the Battle of Triscot, Kuris should try to move back to Kurok, but something prevents it (he'd never intended to move to Triscot, just visit). Still, he should at least set up some false evidence that his clan's children had been secreted away somewhere, possibly to various foster parents, not to be found by the Order. (Because I don't want to say the army killed children.)

After more wandering, and some spying in the Northern Alliance, Vallus and Tiejo returned to Triscot, to warn Adam of the imminent attack on his estate. But also he did more speaking, as usual, to help raise support against the Order. Darius heard him speak, but was more interested in tales of adventure than in anything political. At this time, Darius was still not in agreement with his father's anti-Order position (thinking his clan should be among the nobility, and Adam should run for office). But Vallus's speeches begin to sway his opinion. He realized he didn't know much about other villages, never having been outside Triscot. So he goes to stay with West in Tanq (25 Aut'gin, a few days after turning 13).

Cam is sometimes sullen, sometimes surly, occasionally happy but even then somewhat withdrawn. His big sister is probably his closest friend, though at this point in his life he often argues with her. Especially when she joins Drag in the Protestant Movement. In spite of being generally irritated by life, he has no desire to make any major changes, and certainly doesn't feel motivated to challenge the status quo. He thinks Lorrie is just asking for trouble, and should let whatever happens, happen. However, something may happen which changes his mind. Possibly something to do with their parents? Or maybe an incident with an Order spy... which may influence his later becoming a Protestant spy, a few years after the war.

Protestants raise armies in Triscot, Plist, Tanq, and Jump Village. Shanty is established, secret navy raised there. Vallus, Toros, Adam, and Lorraine make plans in Triscot. Protestant Sorreters establish rally point, prepare to translocate and hide their trail at a moment's notice, with one word transmitted to everyone, "rally." (Lorraine teaches Cam to translocate, at a much younger age than most Sorreters would learn it, specifically so he could go with them if and when the time came.) Telepathy may have been taught to Prot-Sorreters by merfolk witches. (Beforehand, complex spell is prepared in Temporaneous to display false image to anyone scrying or divining, make it seem abandoned. This plan of hiding from scrying eyes is an idea Drag got from elves having blocked his attempts to find them. Also, a few Protestant Sorreters would have sailed their secretly, and then provide coordinates to others. During rally, everyone scrambles, translocating to different places before finally winding up there, to make it harder to trace, just in case hiding trail didn't work perfectly. When everyone arrives, spell is activated. Possibly build new settlement underground, leaving deserted buildings above ground alone. May not need glamour or anything, or might have something like repeating camera loop as in heist movies.) Drag decides to contact Elves. Durell's Sorreters attack Plist, kill Therman among many others. (Seth informed Durell where they were meeting, to prove his worth.) Survivors fled to Triscot, while Northern navies attacked Tanq and Jump Village, though they were held back until Northern armies arrived. Protestant armies fled to Triscot. Elves attacked their main stronghold there. Durell becomes Grand Sorreter pro-tem (which greatly annoys Cirna). When considering what spell to use as his qualifier, finds it annoying that he can't use his invention of a shadeclone, his greatest achievement. But Virtiana and Noson convinces him to do so; after all Talak already knew and approved, and so did his group of anti-Drag supporters. With Protestants gone, why bother hiding Noson's existence any longer?

After Elves' Ambush, Yuki Des'Salucin secretly meets with Lorraine and Drag (after Cam had returned to Sorret and quit the war). After Battle of Triscot, when everyone goes to Temporaneous, Lorraine introduces Yuki to Cam, who doesn't trust him, but reluctantly accepts him as one of Drag's spies. (Yuki teaches scry-spoofing to Protestant Sorreters.) Tulo spies on meeting, reports to Macen, who sees an opportunity to use Yuki as an unwitting spy, against the Protestants. After the war, he'll hope someday Yuki could flush out the ex-Sorreters, and to that end he gets Manat to use dream-swimming to influence Amelia or Mordechai (or Faye Mireille) to hire Yuki.

At some point, Tiejo got into a fight with Macen Illustri. They'd likely met a number of times before, as Macen was a rival of Vallus, and a spy of the Order. He may even have suggested to Stavros the plan to fake Vallus' death and imprison him. Macen, it should be noted, tended to look down on all non-nobles, and thought of them all as "peasants," one of his favorite subwords, which wasn't in common usage on the Land. He included any non-noble class under this heading, including street rats. Tiejo didn't like the word, but still thought it shouldn't apply to to anyone as lowly as street rats, for it did a disservice to higher classes (which is pretty much everyone, from his point of view). Macen never took Tiejo seriously, as he was the lowest of the low, as well as crazy. But he did know he was a good fighter, and dangerous. Tiejo wouldn't fight (except in self-defense) unless bid to do so by Vallus. Macen knew this, so rarely if ever started fights with Tiejo (though he never hesitated to belittle him verbally). After their last fight, Macen won, but Tiejo followed him as he took Vallus away in secret. That's how he knew where his master was held prisoner, but he had no way of rescuing him without help, and so began his years of trying to find someone to help him... Around the same time, Vallus has a rivalry with Macen Illustri, who was taught by Zeke Sanguine. Macen and Noson Turner became friends. Benj blamed Zeke for making his brother Macen evil, though deep down perhaps he knows it's just as much their father's fault, or even the whole clan's. But he says to Zeke at some point, "You'll be the first against the wall when the revolution comes." Zeke laughs and asks, "What the heck does that even mean?" "Honestly, I have no idea. I read it in an Earth book once, and it just sounded like a cool and menacing threat." Book was lent to him by Darius. (Possibly Noson Turner was responsible for corrupting his clan? This could be why he hates the Order, and learned more about them during the Coming than Darius ever knew, and why he eventually becomes so bitter. Probably though, he held alot of the same beliefs his family always did, and Noson just tweaked those beliefs in everyone except Benj.)

Somehow, Alec and Stavros meet Vallus (but not Tiejo), who convinces them they're on the wrong side in the war. Or this may be a decision the two of them came to after hearing about the Battle of Plist, in which they were not involved. (Seth had informed Durell of the Protestants' location, though Alec and Stavros knew nothing of his involvement, probably had never heard of him.) They thought it was wrong to have attacked them during their own Pilgrimage, and made them at least begin to rethink their allegiance. But by that point it would be virtually impossible for them to get out of the army, they could be imprisoned or killed for treason. So Vallus convinces them to do what they can from the inside. Introduces them to Adam. Alec tells Adam his plan of underground tunnel and burning bodies to trick army into thinking whole clan had been killed. Of course they had an idea of the number of servants and allies would would be on the estate, so more were brought in, secretly, to make numbers add up beyond just the clan. Adam may also acquire glamour mask at this point, and Sidney (or Adam's brother visiting from Ship) wears it, so he can appear in the same place as "Evan," introduce him to some business colleagues, and also pass on beer recipes to Evan before his "death."

Stavros suggested possibly faking Vallus' death, but Vallus doesn't like the idea. (Alec knew nothing of it.) During battle, Stavros and Vallus are with Noson when the Sorreters disappear (Noson had previously told them of the plan should anything go wrong), and now Noson warns them just before translocating that all is lost. Vallus reluctantly agrees to Stavros' idea, so he could escape to fight another day. However, someone (Woodman or Althis or Tovan) sees and Stavros is forced to change his plans and hand Vallus over.

Battle of Triscot at Adam's estate, 9 Aut'yet. Drag and Lorraine are among the Sorreters aiding in the battle, along with Noson (fighting conventionally rather than magically). Of course, neither side's Sorreters can engage in magic on Adam's estate, but they did fight on Xander's estate, which was being used as a staging ground by the Order. Possibly Sorreters were launching fireballs and such at Adam's estate, and Prots went there to stop them, and to take out catapults or cannon. Durell's Noson shows up, intending to kill Drag. Drag is confused that this young stranger looks like Noson did at his age. Calls himself a shadeclone. Drag knows about clones (which Sorreters are forbidden from creating) but wonders what the "shade" part means. Noson laughs, says his father just calls him that because he's a dark copy. "But I've said too much, not that it matters, considering you'll be dead in a moment." Before he can kill him, Drag sends "rally" signal to all Protestant Sorreters, who vanish in an instant. (Some merfolk, including witches and members of the Marine Corps, move to the waters outside Temporaneous?) Noson translocates to Sorret to report to his father.

Noson and Durell wonder how the hell the Protestant Sorreters translocated from a battlefield where no magic could be used, but they eventually figure out that they'd cast thin forcefields around themselves, within which magic could be used. It wouldn't let them use offensive magic, but did allow for translocation (and perhaps the rally signal).

Adam's clan and most of the remaining Protestant forces are wiped out and Vallus "killed," Major Alec disappears, and Captain Stavros promoted to major. History book calls the death of Vallus a turning point in the battle, though no one knows who killed him. Darius says "Once again, erroneous." Star says "I don't know whether to laugh or cry."

Talon and Perryh the first people Tiejo asks to help rescue his master, but they decline. Talon worries Tiejo will think it's because they resented him teaming up with Vallus, but Tiejo understands it's not really a job for 'rats, and decides to only approach seasoned adventurers from then on. At some point Tiejo makes his way to Shipsister, talks to George Dockrat about seeking help to rescue his master.

Sometime in 903 (before, during, or after war?) Demos is in Frinn, campaigning for monarch. (Phin may have suggested going there to seek Marlowe as an ally. But his real goal was for him to meet Marlowe's daughter, Beverly, believing she would make a good mother for Demos's children, or rather, that any grandchildren of Marlowe's would someday prove useful in the dynasty Phineas wanted to establish.) (Marlowe's clan may have lots of jobs, including gate-making, banking, importing, whatever). Marlowe doesn't let her leave the estate, perhaps, but she's present when entertaining guests such as Demos. She finds Demos charming and enjoys his story of world travel. (Perhaps she could leave estate, but not the village, and she knows her father could still get to her anywhere in Frinn.) She secretly begs Demos to take her far away, to escape her clan. He agrees, but possibly makes an arrangement with Marlowe, either in secret, or else he offers him a business deal which Marlowe desperately wants, in exchange for his daughter's freedom. They both must promise not to disclose any information which could hurt the clan's reputation or business, under the threat of some harm befalling Beverly's mother, Antonia (possibly the only person in her clan she truly loved and trusted). Before Beverly left, her mother warned her to be cautious about how much she trusted Demos. "Probably he's a perfectly great guy and will be nothing but a good friend to you, but you never know... after all, I always found your father quite charming, too... until it was too late." (Yay, retro-foreshadowing!) Marlowe's attitude regarding women may be rather medieval, sees his daughter as property to be married off for profit. This inspires Demos's whole romanticism campaign strategy. (Beverly may say that someday she'll come back for her mother, but Antonia asks her not to. "I want to stay. I have my reasons.")

After the war, Darius and West go to family estate. Darius may say he can't believe even the children were killed, but West says he's heard rumors that before the battle, the children were all sent to live with different Protestant families around the world, who weren't directly involved in the war. And it's best not to try to find them, as hard as it may be, because they're safer if no one knows they're related to us. Also during this visit, Benj comes and talks to Darius.

There is some debate when schools are being worked out over whether 1st grade starts at age 5 or 6. If it's the year you turn 6, and school starts in January, most kids will be 5 most of the year anyway. Also, parents can request placement test earlier. It's also questioned whether there's really enough subject matter for primary school to last as many years as planned. It may get repetitive, but people want kids to be occupied until they're a certain age. Masters' union may have a hand in making decisions, wanting to be sure they'll have continuous employment. One of the people involved in organizing schools is Doc Physicianson (though he doesn't get last name til next year). He wants to teach at a university and have people start calling him Professor.

904- It's probably in early 904 that Tovan is recruited by Cabal, possibly by his former captain, Charles, who had already been recruited by Feng (discouraging his plan to run for office by promising him greater clandestine power, and later support in another election, when he wouldn't be at a disadvantage to candidates who had already been campaigning for some time). Tovan may have expressed a certain degree of sympathy for Protestants, particularly concerning the ambush tactics used in the Battle of Plist and Battle of Elves' Ambush. That wasn't his idea of how to fight a war. Also expressed preference for Ned Progressive, whose idea of cutting back on magical items if not banning them entirely appealed to him, particularly because he himself had once been a transporter, and sympathized with postal services. (He may later appeal to Demos to make a deal with postal services.) Tovan thinks spell devices served a purpose during the Coming, in much the same way as gangs did... but the gangs weren't supposed to last much beyond the end of the war, and he didn't think spell devices should, either. But Charles points out that if spell devices are outlawed, the only ones who'll have them are outlaws, which would give the gangs an advantage over the police. He had no answer for the Protestant issue, but he later told others in Cabal about it, which gave Zeke the idea for framing them in a way that would eliminate public sympathy. But it would also make the Declaration of Amnesty seem all the more magnanimous and open-minded, showing that the government would not hold the actions of a few against the whole group, most of whom would have been appalled by the Laser Plot. At the same time, it served to make people like Tovan believe that if magic slowed the Land's technological development, that might not be so bad. Because we're not ready for such weapons. It might also be that Bishop Dalin of First Village believed his friend Kizin had been wrong to think the Plan should just stop with the completion of the Coming. When he heard of the Cabal, possibly from Feng anytime between 901-903, he liked the idea, as it reminded him of the Planners... people working behind the scenes to shape the world in the best interests of the people. Because the people clearly couldn't be counted upon to do what was right for themselves, considering they probably never would have united without the interference of the Plan, without their knowledge. So he helped convince Tovan (his old friend) that the Cabal was no different. (Though he also knew that there were some lengths to which Tovan would be unwilling to go, which is why he advised Zeke to make sure he never find out the truth about the Laser Plot.) Probably Dalin never talked to Tovan directly, not wishing to reveal his identity, but gave Feng and Charles advice on what to say to him. Zeke used Vanya, a spy of Macen's who had been working within the Protestant Movement since soon after it began in 902. However, Drake was in Near Port while all this was being discussed... possibly Feng tried to recruit him after learning he'd overheard all this. But Drake refused, believing that unlike the Planners' desire to better the world, the Cabalists only wanted to increase their own power, which, even if it employed similar tactics as the Plan, would ultimately achieve the exact opposite goals.

Drake plans to tell Poss about Cabal, but is killed in Laser Plot before he could (Feng says, "taking out at least two birds with one stone"). Vanya Petard caught, others escape. Tovan probably joined Cabal soon after this, having lost his sympathy for Protestants and convinced that if a group like the Cabal (and Macen's own spy network) had more power, they might have uncovered the Plot and stopped it before it could be carried out. (He'll later use this argument on Althis, who he recruits to Cabal). Demos asks Tobias Blue to come to First Village to analyze Vanya Petard.

There are talks about the nature of the World Council to be created, and Thomas Justicar is instrumental in ensuring that there would be three branches, for a system of checks and balances. He is well respected because of a book he had written years earlier about the need for a standardized legal system, which had helped with the Order convincing people of that very thing in 899. This made him popular with the Order as well as the public. Since he hadn't really been a part of the Plan or a direct part of the Coming, he was trusted by both sides, and voted into the High Court as a magistrate, and then appointed Chief Magistrate by King Demos. Though there may have been some reluctance on Demos's part, he caved to pressure from both the public and the Cabal.

Hubert begins to get desperate as Demos continues to grow more popular, and prints the truth about him in the Chronicle, even knowing he can't prove it, and that he'd be ruining his own career. At least he thought he might sow a few seeds of doubt, take at least a few votes away from Demos. When Demos is elected and he loses his job, he despairs, thinking Rhys must have been wrong. Demos meets with him and says "Hubert, old boy, did you learn nothing from Rhys? You only hurt yourself when you try to change fate." (Or Hubert says "I know, I can't change fate." Demos says "I meant you can't stand in the way of my destiny. But I suppose I shouldn't be so narrow minded. Fate in general, yes...")

Many people take the year to travel and/or party, celebrating last year of freedom and old ways (without government) and also looking forward to the new ways soon to come.

Joan Des'Salucin attends Pilgrimage, becomes Woodstockade's first bishop. Book of Roderick published.

Second World Fair held in Tonad, Su'mo'. Cabal may use this chance to talk to various people they'd like to recruit, including Demos (who is probably directly recruited by his old friend Xander; this may be when Demos says something like "give the people a few little luxuries, and they'll love you, let you take freedoms they don't even realize they're losing.") Macen probably passes on some of Tulo's ideas, which help Demos's campaign. (Demos has known since 881 that someday he would rule the world, but it's only once he learns of the Cabal's existence that it occurs to him that it might be possible to make the position permanent. Which seems only fair to him, because working toward a goal for over twenty years that gains him a position that could be taken away at any time seems hardly worth the effort.) Phin knew the Cabal was Tulo's idea, so he may decide to use him (or repay him) by casually dropping the idea into conversation, about the nature of royalty on medieval Earth, hoping Tulo will develop the idea himself and pass it on to Demos. All so Phin's plan of the final nature of the Cabal can be realized, when the time comes. It may also be be at this time that Althis is recruited by Tovan.

First elections held, 8 Su'yet. Durell becomes Grand Sorreter, bishop and chief councillor of Triscot. Demos becomes king (grants Protestants amnesty). Surname law passed, taxes established. Schools built, ending the era of independent masters.

Sometime after Demos is recruited to Cabal by Xander, he recruits Marlowe.

Darius moves in with Rob's family, goes to school (age 13, grade 8 or 9?). Says if his family was still around, they could have afforded to send him to a private school. Rob says, "Ah, they could, but would they?" Darius admits they probably wouldn't have. So he tries to get along in public school, but eventually takes early exams so he can quit. Aut'gin 20, take test, 21 turn 14, get stamp. Begin career as adventurer.

Rocher Zelcorner of Jump Village, Emannus Des'Rosset of Woodstockade, and Nicole Kriek of Triscot, all upset at having failed to obtain any political power, form a business alliance as a pretext to work together on building up local gangs, unbeknownst to police or LandOrder. When they're ready, they contact InterGang capo to join. Nicolai isn't happy about his younger sister becoming a gangster, may try to dissuade her, but can't stop her. He at least warns her to be wary of Durell, and Demos, and Seth. Nicole will later tell Amelia about Seth working for Durell (which she probably already suspected). Black Prophets assign Bernard to become InterGang's chief sorcerer in Woodstockade (somehow arranging for Mordechai to request it on behalf of Mysshroudedtery, neither of whom know they're being used by BP). The BP want someone there to keep tabs on both Silas and Ferris. Possibly Mysshroudedtery's insistence on InterGang hiring Silas was also arranged by the BP. Bernard may have taken a chance on Ferris, who was self-taught in magic (or rather, taught by demons), instead of having a master. But he was impressed by her abilities.

Merril tries to get Capp NOT to work with Demos after elected, but Capp says it's a necessary evil. Still, he refuses to talk with Demos directly, who has to communicate through Roger Fourth or Merv. Durell (or Demos?) warned Emannus Des'Rosset not to hire Des'Caina, as the police knew he was friendly with gangsters. However, Amelia Mysshroudedtery took a chance on him, forced Des'Rosset to hire him. (Ferris Demontalk was hired at the same time, possibly an apprentice of InterGang's first chief sorcerer?) In spite of this, Des'Rosset refused to make Des'Caina his chief sorcerer (and was again passed over in 909). Silas blamed Demos for that, as well as for his letting the police think he was a gangster, even though he hadn't actually been one, he'd just been talking with an old friend. But he develops a lifelong appreciation of Amelia. Also, when adult license law is passed he can't get one because of Demos exposing him as a gangster, even before he was one (his children never let him forget he's not considered an adult). Which also meant he couldn't get honest work, and had no choice but to become a gangster when Amelia gave him the chance. Which meant he had no chance of ever becoming High or second Sorcerer, in spite of achieving greatest feat in history of sorcery. Demos was impressed by Des'Eller's own orchestra, the Woodstockade Philharmonic, particularly the hautbas. It inspires him to create his own orchestra, once he's king. He may not have intended to include a dure, though, but did so only to repay Des'Tambor.

905- Inaugurations held, 8 Win'yet. Soon after officially becoming king, Demos marries Beverly. Shortly before their first night as husband and wife, he does some horrible thing, possibly ordering the death of some enemy who might have uncovered something about the Cabal. Then, just before Demos and Beverly make love for the first time, Demos pauses, considering the fact that she wouldn't have married him, and certainly wouldn't make love to him, if she knew everything about him, so "It's kind of like... what's that Terran word? Rape." Which disgusts him, but he manages to convince himself it's not really rape, and anyway, his marriage to her serves a long-term goal, and it would make her suspicious if he avoided making love. He isn't really happy about it, but he reminds himself that he does actually care about her, and most of the things she loves about him are not lies. So he'd just try not to think about that loathsome word, and in fact stop thinking altogether, and devote his full attention to the act itself, which of course would be pleasant enough for both of them.

General Primus becomes marshal of army & navy. Tovan Middlebury (trusted and wise) becomes general; Althis Portman (reckless and surly, but smart and loyal) becomes admiral. each army headed by a col and each naval base/fleet by a commodore. Army HQ is at Near Port and Navy at Port. Primus splits time between First Village, Kimrin (his home), and Near Port.
Major Stavros Supprus (former captain to Major Alec) becomes col of Kimrin
James Major (former captain to Major Althis; ambitious, honest, tough, fiercely loyal to Althis and the Order) col of Port
Charles Woodman (former captain to Major Tovan; family of woodsmen; loyal to Tovan and the Order, doesn't know Tovan is a sympathizer of the Protestants) col of Near Port.

First census. Sorreters begin selling magical items to general public. (reduced prices, formerly available only to nobles starting around 900-901)

When Woodman is having his dungeon constructed, he orders bathrooms in every cell. Workers may say if he really wants to torture prisoners, he should just put a toilet in the cell without any privacy. Woodman says "We're not savages."

As the first census approaches, a father and son (let's say Lionel and Jonathan) who work together on a farm may be discussing the fact that they're running out of time to choose a surname. Lionel says so much of their work involves bagging manure that they might as well take the name "Crapsack." His son counters with, "You do that, and I'll have to choose my own name. 'Johnny Parricide' has a nice ring to it."

Dex opens his third office, in Tanq. Figure out reason for underground tunnels. Probably acquired from Lydia Hornpowder, as it was the headquarters of the Stags before they joined InterGang in 902, and she's been trying to sell the property ever since.

Drag encourages Cam to take up music, which he says could serve as good cover for a spy, being a wandering minstrel. Because Cam wanted to make a contribution for the Protestants, like his sister had. Especially now, because he was angry at Order for disrupting his life by forcing him to run away from home like this. Also being a musician could inspire an inconspicuous surname. When he chose to change his first name to Cameron, Drag and Lorraine said it was too close to his real name, but he wanted to use that name, and found some way to justify it.

At some point Xander makes an offer to West and Darius for their land. Darius is disgusted. "You let the Order's army use your estate as a staging ground for battle against our clan. That makes you complicit in their deaths. What the hell makes you think we'd sell to you?"

Demos establishes Royal Orchestra; possibly Listrin Des'Tambor gets a job for his nephew Remy, an hautbasist, a favor Demos does him for something Listrin had done for Demos, possibly during coming.

Political Eligibility Act is passed by High Court, largely because of the apparent danger posed by journalists like the now disgraced Hubert. However, Hubert does get a job in Triscot from an old colleague who's now editor of his paper.

Probably this year there's a referendum to repeal the Business Management Regulation Act, or at least rewrite it, because of its being used as a defense by Zelcorner, Des'Rosset, and Kriek. Demos would be in favor of repealing it, which is a strong support of the referendum, considering he has his own business which could theoretically be put in jeopardy for the reasons that led to the Act being passed in the first place. But he'd rather risk that than let gangsters get away with such manipulations. However, he suggests to both Capp and Amelia that they should begin hiring Adults to vote against the referendum. (This would be the first use of Adults as a gang position, Demos's own idea.)

Lucrezia Nearwright assumes position on High Court, gets recruited to Cabal. Possibly recruited by Demos himself, after she speaks against his support of the referendum to repeal the BMRA. He wants to show her that he's actually against the referendum. Demonstrates that there are people who may believe what they're doing is right, may be unshakable in that belief, but they are nevertheless wrong. And that's why the Cabal exists, so that those with a clearer perspective may work together to do what's right, even if publicly they may have to act contrary to their beliefs. May also mean they have to work with unsavory people, such as Seth Manager, but of course they'd just be using such people. Seth knows that LandOrder has always left Nearwright Shipyard alone, because of her aunt Haruka's former business connection to Barrie Ferryman. So he strikes a deal to get InterGang's Tanq don, Lydia Hornpowder, to also lay off Nearwright, so her family's company would be the safest one in Tanq. In exchange, may occasionally ask for help from her, if it's not too much trouble, too unethical or conspicuous. Such as opposing the Syndicate... possibly starting in 910, when it was just in Plist, or maybe not until it reaches Tanq in 911.

Treasury Department established, mints limited to FV, Tonad, and Kimrin; elves balk at having their own mint eliminated, though they are appeased somehow. (Possibly a Dark Prophet, maybe merman from cabal, tells Castor that someday they will have their mint.)

906- Band forms in Plist. Ginger knows George, whose mother was a spirit-talker and ally of Therman. So the Band have their first gig at the Boar & Bear, where they meet Tom. (Possibly everyone separately asks Tom to look into each other before joining group.) Darius is like "What, no mention of how the Band formed? Seems like a glaring oversight." Star says "No doubt it didn't seem a particularly significant historical event, at the time." "Well, we'll have to see that that gets rectified in our country's history books. It's clearly quite important, in retrospect." (Earlier, on another planet, at a cafe perhaps, Sizinia talks with Tino. At one point says he's thinking he'd like to be in a band, it's been way too long. Sizinia says, "Oh, speaking of... there's this Landian girl I think you'd like. She's been looking for some people to play with, herself. Or actually sing with.... By the way, have you ever been to the Land?" "Once or twice, about 400 years ago.") It may have been Ginger's idea to form a band, feeling these people she's met could all stand to have more fun in their lives. Too sulky... except Tino, who could do with a bit more sulkiness. Or maybe he is sulking after his latest talk with God, but meeting Ginger gives him new tack for his debate. (compatible souls.)

907- Stock-in-Trade begins importing leopcoats from Emannus Des'Rosset. Nicolai laments that it seems he just can't escape his fate of working with gangs.

908- Third World Fair, in Sorret. This may be when Darius first hears the Really Far East. One of the pieces they perform should be "Kabutoga ni Kodai no Sakana" (from Cowgirl Ed).

Demos elected for second term.

909- Merril RD visits old friend Silas Des'Caina, who he may not have seen since the Demos matter in 902. Interested in the progress of Girarg and Des'Merrick, as well as some kids (like Amelia and Alexia) who have been raised by Des'Caina since 895, but not yet sired. Meets a couple of even younger kids who've recently been taken in, Melinda and Elinor. They ask for his help in getting away, but he only manages to help Melinda, who he takes back to Tonad with him. He offers to take her in, but she opts to become a street rat, though she does occasionally see Merril, who teaches her a few things. Later she meets Frag Topdog, who realizes her potential, but convinces her that no matter how tough she is, she can't survive forever against the police or gangs, so she agrees to join his gang, as chief enforcer. Still, she always hopes to get a chance to someday rescue her friend Elinor.

Around this time, the SST project begins, maybe with help from Ferris Demontalk? The idea stems from the fact that during the war, the Protestants had some victories because the Order's armies couldn't be mobilized in time, having farther to travel. Demontalk believes they'd do better if they had faster troop transports. (Possibly play "Ride of the Valkyries.") Demontalk uses InterGang's connection to Demos to share her idea with him (without the knowledge of her superiors). He puts her in touch with the Cabal, of which she becomes a member. Perhaps not long after that, InterGang's chief sorcerer dies or retires. Des'Caina is probably the senior sorcerer and expects to be promoted, but the Cabal somehow arranges for Demontalk to get the position (possibly Demos requests this of Des'Rosset, repeating earlier warnings about Des'Caina). However, during a trip to BP HQ in FV, the BP spy overhears a conversation about Demontalk working with Cabal, which is known via Oracle (Dirk is a member, as well), though he assumes it was just one of their spies who found out somehow. He probably hadn't even known there was a Cabal. In a meeting with his allies back in Monab, he shares what he learned. Later, Kizin watches surveillance of their meeting, as he always has over the years, and begins his own investigation into the SST project. Tovan and Althis are uneasy with the project, as it seems too similar to Laser Plot (ironically, they argue with Feng that they don't want to use the same tactics as their enemies). However, they are convinced that it will only save their troops' lives by providing backup, if necessary. And the transports will not be armed, even with cannons. It's just a way of getting people around faster, which has been done in many ways over the centuries. (Dalin himself may point out that if transporters had such vehicles, t-mail would be less of a threat to their business.)

910- Kizin dies, possibly because he learned about SSTs and wanted to expose the project. Durell confronts him in his office, saying he knows all about the anti-magic spell, which makes certain spells impossible, but allows for others, such as t-mail. Certainly any violent spells wouldn't work, but he has ways of doing harm that wouldn't trigger the anti-magic spell. Such as a medical spell that can be used to make it look like someone died of natural causes.

Mallory Secundus becomes bishop of Monab. Emma goes into "self-exile" from Woodstockade, assumes alias "Pseud."

Willow Bridgebuilder becomes Triscot's InterVil liaison, moves to First Village. Uncovers fact that Lucrezia Nearwright and Seth Manager have a deal, and that they're both in the Cabal. She wants to report them, but they convince her to join cabal instead.

911- Emma joins the Band. (Possibly Cameron doesn't trust her at first, because of elves' actions during war. Thinks she may be a spy. Maybe Tom once again looks into her for the Band before they let her join.) Demos marries Beverly Gateman.

911 or 912, Manat may have had Zeke kill LandOrder's chief sorcerer in Woodstockade, to make way for Des'Caina. Or possibly Girarg did it.