The secretary general was the highest ranked position of authority in the Commission.
Their job was to ensure that the bureaucratic wheels of the Commission were kept constantly in motion. They also took the responsibility of coordinating with kingdoms and organisations in their mission to regulate and control magecraft within Teotlcan
While the Arch Sages held power over many of the more active divisions within the Commission, it would have been difficult for the sages and Arch Sages to be able to operate efficiently while bogged down by the murkiness of politics and paperwork.
Therefore, the position was usually held not by mages, but career bureaucrats within the Commission. Internal elections were held every 10 years, with the elected secretary general acting out the reforms or policies their campaigns had run on.
Secretary General Adam Unclass was a man hovering at the age of 60, previously the Head Ambassador to the Empire. Perhaps it was because of the rather harsh political environment in the Empire, or perhaps just a result of working his whole life at the Commission, but his face held deep wrinkles and a permanent scowl.
There was an angular beard on his chin, and his eyes shone with a thousand mental calculations with every move. This was an intelligent, cunning man, fit to lead and command one of the most powerful institutions in the world.
Aurelius scrutinised the man a little, straightening his back a little as he shifted in his seat. He was almost certain that within the span of the day, he had met every single figure of importance within the Commission, which he found absolutely downright ridiculous.
“Err, pleasure to meet you Mr. Chairman. I-I’ve been consistently inspired by your err… reforms, especially in the aspects of reigning in the Houses after the last administration…” Aurelius greeted, bowing slightly in his seat as a show of respect.
Aurelius knew Secretary General Adam Unclass and his exploits well. Even though he cared not for politics, and was generally terrible at keeping up with the news, Mr. Adam had managed the Commission with terrifying competence over the last 8 years, sending ripples through the world.
He had clamped down on piracy near the Western shores, increased Commission presence in rural areas in an effort to improve accessibility to magic, and was well known for his political prowess. Of course, there were hiccups in his tenure, especially with the Empire, but he could hardly be blamed for the foolishness of their emperor.
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Aurelius took another sip of tea, fighting away his drowsiness. Aurelius had spent quite the uncomfortable time in his holding cell downstairs, and it seemed that dawn was approaching fast, as the horizon bathed in the light pink of the morning sun.
“Forget about those damn greedy Houses. Do you recognise what you have become, Mr. Vennor?” Mr. Adam asked, lifting his head back up to face Aurelius.
“Err… I’m not quite sure… I believe that I have a soul blueprint in my soul right now, and it would seem that Quetzalcoatl had left me with a nice… gift on top of his… divine revelation…” Aurelius responded carefully.
“I’m going to guess that you were aware of this anomaly on your soul before the Commission detected it. Your tone does little to inspire trust in you Mr. Vennor.” The man commented, rubbing his temples impatiently.
“But it would seem we need to overlook such trivialities. And your decision to hide your little… gift may prove to have been a fruitful one in hindsight.”
“Mr. Vennor, you have become an individual who has worth surpassing that of perhaps even the Commission itself.” He stated gravely.
“W-What? Why? I believe a soul blueprint that looks as such isn’t too much of an anomaly. Is it not close to that of the spirit blueprints?” Aurelius asked, completely horrified at his apparent worth. He was quite aware that the more valuable he was, the more people would try to KILL HIM.
Mr. Adam sighed as he continued, his wrinkles settling deeper into the crevices of his skin with worry.
“Hmm, you seem to have some basic knowledge about soul blueprints. Yes, indeed it’s true that spirit blueprints have similar shapes, as in they tend to carry their spirit world image.”
“Normally, this shape would take a year or two to settle down in your soul, integrating with it and producing a soul shape compatible with your own.”
“However, yours is very much different.”
“Let’s first explore why the spirits have such strange and unique soul-shapes. Spirits are mana based creatures, or soul based creatures. For native spirits, these shapes are merely a product of the ‘vessel’ that had evolved over time within their realm. For dead beings, given a complex enough soul shape, and enough luck, those who ascend to the realm will inevitably merge with a spirit in the spirit realm or absorb one to gain an appropriate form of soul shape to avoid breaking down within the realm.”
“Given that it takes time for the shape compatible with the material plane to emerge, it would be easy for the less knowledgeable individuals to believe your soul blueprint to be something similar.”
“However, your soul shows absolutely none of the distortion, or the assimilation that would be present for a blueprint of this complexity. Your soul has a blueprint that seems to be perfectly compatible with the material plane.”
“In essence, you carry the blueprints to the divine. On top of that, this divinity is not the limited type of divinity found in the Angelic life of the spirit realm, but divinity on the plane of reality itself.”
“This is not even to start on the fact that The Lost God is the one behind such a miraculous bestowment!”
“And although you may not have the time to get even a fraction of a way to divinity in the mastery of your soul-shape, that mere fraction of your potential could tilt the balance of the world on its head!”
“There had been a singular mage who even come close to an anomalous case such as yours. And that was our founder, the Great Hero Rodric.”
