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Relovia's Second Letter

You have created quite a stir over here since I last communicated with you. Though they still seek to keep it from the peasants, your seizure of the plains nations south of the Yanaze has dealt a serious blow to the morale of the Dynasty. The mere idea of a nation that size, led by Anathema and sharing a sea border with the Blessed Isle is enough to provoke fits of madness amongst much of the populace.

As a result, discussion of this issue has eclipsed almost all others, removing -- for now -- the possibility of explicit moves to claim the throne. Of course, the result is that the conflict has subsumed itself, and now continues in a subtler and more vicious fashion. There have been no reports yet of outright street violence between supporters of differing houses, but I suspect it is only a matter of time -- tensions are running high, and delaying the Realm the benefit of strong central leadership is only increasing the tension.

With the crisis facing the Realm, naturally the Immaculate Order has seen fit to recognize my great wisdom and long service. As a result, I have found myself, through surprisingly little effort of my own, a member of the Mouth of Peace's inner circle of advisors. This has afforded me a unique opportunity to study those making the decisions within the Order, and I include my initial conclusions below.

An Earth aspect named Ragara Xia is the current Mouth of Peace. She is a seemingly caring leader, often taking pilgrimages out to visit the worshippers and learn how the Realm fares. She was reputed to be hard-headed and impossible to deal with, but this has clearly become moderated of late -- as I previously relayed to you, I suspect external influence upon her.

Linaya, a former Outcaste, is perhaps the most zealous of her advisors. A thin, severe woman, she is feared by even many of the more experienced monks. She is unparalleled in her knowledge of the Immaculate Texts, and never misses an opportunity to point out a doctrinal error or accidental misstep by others in the Order. Her advice to the Mouth is firmly grounded in this -- she always knows the dogmatically correct action to take in any situation, though she often ignores completely the possible ramifications of such an action. She firmly supports taking strong action against the wicked Anathema who are destroying the souls of the Eastern people.

Iselsi Rocada, a long-time itinerant monk, is a much more contemplative sort -- fitting his Air aspect. He stands a good foot taller than any other who serves in this Palace, though he walks with an unimposing gait. His advice tends to come from his understandings of the Realm's people. As a result, he has been fairly quiet on the topic of war -- the Realm finds itself harshly divided over the subject, and he is at a loss for how to best soothe the flock.

The Mouth's closest advisor is a Wood aspect named Peleps Cinerea. Oddly, he is not a monk, but rather an ex-Legionnaire, though he studied for years at the Cloister of Wisdom. He carries himself with a pride that does not befit his station, and seems constantly out of place in the Palace, clad in his full battle regalia. Nevertheless, his counsel is valued strongly by Xia. He has been pushing her very strongly of late to take a strong stance against military intervention in the East -- both by denying the Legions access to Immaculate monks and by pressuring house leaders to avoid any such assault. He insists strongly that the events in the East are part of an Anathema trap -- an attempt to destroy another house's Legions altogether and thereby leave the Realm with yet weaker defenses. He pushes her to follow the edicts of the Dragons and send a Wyld Hunt to deal with the problem personally, as has always been done before.

I will continue to monitor the situation here, and report when possible. Please reach me in the predetermined fashion with any further requests for my future actions.

--Relovia