“So, that’s a quick way to make an enemy,” I muttered to no one in particular. Kristoff Palachian, the former Sir Hermes, had already shed his Knightly garments, and they were being packed off back to the Acropolis with his Muse. The email explaining everything that had gone on and why was also being sent off before Zishia could twist the facts ahead of time to her benefit. The way a Muse had abused her own faithful bodyguard like a dog was also pointed out as a huge no-seller.

If they treated their most loyal followers like that, how were we supposed to trust them?

There was a major contest going on for the Divine Mother position at the Acropolis. This move was likely to be the axe blow to Zishia’s hopes for the top spot. If Sir Hermes’ stories were right, Zishia had actually made a deal with a Lord of the Underworld to return from death after betraying the former Great Elder after the death of the prior Divine Mother, just to have a chance to take the position!

Alas for her, the Soul of the Acropolis, supposedly the spirit of Hera, the very founder of the organization from thousands of years ago, had passed her by not once, but twice! The current bearer of it was some wheelchair-bound girl from China, who had very rapidly been making a name for herself as a dark horse among the Muses.

With some digging, it was entirely possible that Zishia was going to suffer the same fate as the Great Elder she’d betrayed, and be sent off to the Underworld forthwith.

“You are worried about her using her influence and the backing of the Acropolis to stir up things against us?” Briggs asked me calmly.

I put my hands to my head, hissing, “Goddamn, I hate worlds without Alignment checks. That woman is the epitome of a viper! She should have been executed straight off!”

“Well, we can’t do that now,” he chided me. “The Acropolis is one of the four most powerful magical organizations in the world in terms of influence, more powerful than most national governments. It basically IS the national government of Greece. Having them as an open enemy is not wise.”

“We could destroy them simply by announcing resurrection is possible to any Typeless Caster who learns Healing Magic!” I sniffed. “Their influence would evaporate literally overnight when anyone worthy can learn Blessing and Healing and Psychic Magic!”

Briggs nodded to me, his deep voice staying soothing and calm. “Yes. Their true assets are their skill and knowledge of magic, not the magic itself, even if they don’t realize it yet. They’ve also two thousand years of influence, agreements, and foundation to build on, with fanatically loyal Sages and half-Sages to buttress them. Despite the rot sliding through them, they’ve saved many, many lives and done a lot of good for the world, even if they’ve had to hold a very hard line on being compensated for their services. They’ve made the lives of Healers the world over much better because of it, instead of being taken advantage of.”

“I know, I know, I just... blagh!” The juxtaposition of that woman in those robes was still rankling me, like seeing a demon standing in for a Catholic Cardinal or something.

“I doubt we’ll need to fear much action from her.” He waved his hand at the empty table in front of him. “When she returns to her personal apartments at the Acropolis, no doubt seething and scheming for some method to gain revenge, she will find a familiar tea set there, and the tea will be piping hot.”

I blinked at him, looked at the empty table, and couldn’t help smirking. “So... Sama’s going to take the whole set, sidle through all their defenses and guards, make the tea a minute before she steps in, and leave without being seen, all the while getting across the Atlantic faster than the Muse could do so with a personal jet?” I asked archly.

“That does sound like something Sama would do,” he agreed philosophically, sighing theatrically. “Such a wonderfully crazy woman.” His sudden smile was like rays of white. Briggs had a hilarious shit-eating grin!

“You’ve recruited people in the Acropolis...”

“Any organization still needs hallway sweepers and orderlies who know their stuff. Medical training is not limited to Muses and Archmages. Between the two of us, we are extremely well-informed on basic medical knowledge, and capable of enhancing the intellectual capabilities of our students, crowdsourcing problems, and teaching from a great distance.” He chuckled softly at the thought. “Over the last decade there have been numerous non-magical solutions to many problems, and artful magical solutions to other problems, which have entered the public sphere of knowledge. A fair number of them just might be tracked back to people with Marks either discovering them, or observing them and passing them on to others to disseminate.”

The Acropolis had the greatest knowledge of magical Healing in the world, both in how to apply it and in what needed to be Healed. That included all manner of diseases, poisons, Curses, mental effects, spiritual ailments, and the like. They did not spread that knowledge, keeping a very tight fist on control of it. Assassin use a rare poison no one knew how to heal? Call an Acropolis Healer, and pay. Unknown disease afflicting your Family’s Patriarch? Call the Acropolis, and pay. Terrible psychic trauma afflicting your founder?

Call the Acropolis, and pay!

It was simple, it was rigorous, and it often left a bad taste in the mouth, but it had also made the Acropolis influential, revered, and known across the world. They had their expertise, they clung to it, they monopolized it like every other Family or organization around the planet, and they had a very martial arm willing to fight over it, too!

They played the game of power, and they played it well. To many of the Families, the Acropolis’ willingness to play the game of favors and benefits was reassuring, as it meant that no unpredictable ‘higher cause’ was going to come into play when they needed Acropolis services. Just because you were a total bastard didn’t mean you couldn’t be Healed if there were enough benefits attached.

Was it going to equal the crowdsourcing and mental enhancement abilities of Marks? No, not at all.

We had all the tools to ruin the Acropolis forever. The Soul of the Acropolis and its ability to impart Resurrection was the absolute cornerstone of the organization. Once that ability was widespread, well, the powerful would just play one force off against another, and profit regardless. The influence of the Acropolis would evaporate among the mighty, even if it stayed relatively strong among the common people.

But the powerful people were the ones who allocated funds, gave resources, and made deals and contracts. If the Acropolis lost their influence with them, their time was limited.

Without the resources their hardline approach earned them, they would not be able to raise up Healers, nor the Knights to defend them. That in turn would lead to them being suppressed by other powerful forces, which would lead to a further erosion of power and influence in a ruthless descending spiral.

The powerful would not care, as long as they could secure Healing for themselves and their own, and potentially a Resurrection.

“Your opinion of the Acropolis?” I asked neutrally. I didn’t know all the members he and Sama had Marked, both by choice and circumstance. I could ‘see’ pretty much all of them, but I didn’t know them or what they did. Briggs and Sama had whole swaths of people located all around the world who did things unrelated to Coralost, who kept them very well-informed of many things that had nothing to do with me, either.

I left them to run their people, and they left me to run what I did. We all had demands on our time.

“The spirit is there, but reality is intrusive, and the rot sliding in is nasty. It is a powerful organization with great power and influence, and individuals who want that power can and do target it, especially the women. It is hard to see the rot, let alone cut it out. If the rot could be excised, it would be a much better candidate for a Heavenly Church than the Church of Light is.”

The ruthless judgmentalism of the Synod was a byword at high levels, and the Synod was basically the highest tiers of the Church of Light. Axiom, rising to the top and keeping a tight grip on power through ruthless exploitation of power, law, and authority!

Despite itself, the Acropolis had a Good mission, it simply had to play hardball to deliver on it in reality. The Church of Light had a Lawful mission, something quite different, and maintaining its supreme authority in the world was a core part of that. They could and would go to war with anything challenging that position, and had spent millennia setting themselves up into the position they were in.

Like the Acropolis, they had wide low-level support among those who never had the chance to see their ruthless or cruel behavior, the politicking, or the callous treatment of those who defied them. In truth, they did do a great deal to protect Humanity, but were just as willing to sacrifice multitudes to keep their own grip on power, and certainly weren’t in the position of being policemen to the world, stopping civil wars and unrest, judging politicians in their own nations, or the like.

No, they played only at judging magic, the use of it, and ‘defending Humanity’: high and noble causes that glossed over the lethal games played beneath, lofty ideals that in the end could be used to justify any or all actions, and frequently were.

I sighed despite myself. Worlds full of Neutrals, and the Evil folk who took it a step further, were such a damn pain to deal with. The sheer inertia of such beliefs, and how they settled in among the powerful, was like fighting against the tides.

Enlightened self-interest? Not a thing. Benefits and costs, lay them out, remove morality as an impediment to getting things done!

“So, what do you intend to do?” Briggs asked neutrally. “I’m not the Heavenbound here. Don’t expect me to have a Good solution off the top of my head. I’m perfectly willing to help with anything you devise, and I’ll sure as heck try to stress-test and break it for you to make sure it isn’t exploited, but I can’t mess with the Magery or Wizardry stuff.”

The pre-arrangements for the Healinghouse were already being quietly set up in Atlanta... right down the road from the International Center for Disease Control, actually. Mundane management of disease protocols among the no-magic population was rather below the Acropolis, as the magical diseases, often magically-fueled plagues or parasitical infections, were generally the ones that demanded the attention of their Healers.

The Healinghouse would not be as busy as the Plant or core seven Elemental disciplines, unless the Awakening Stone worked... in which case the number of new Healers in the world was likely to spike accordingly.

The short-term surge of existing Healers wanting spells would naturally be as great as any of the other Spellhouses, but should not last even a year at maximum capacity.

“I can tie the efficacy of the spells to acceptance of the Healing Domain.” I paused as Briggs’ eyes widened. “Likewise, the Awakening.”

The Healing Domain was dispensed only by the power of Heaven. Thus, to accept it and maintain it, you had to be of Good Alignment. Fall from that state, and you lost the benefits of the Domain... and in this case, would lose access to the Healing spells dependent upon it.

Briggs hummed to himself, considering. “Okay, that doesn’t mean they can’t Cast the normal Healing spells, they can go out and get those. As normal, at higher Levels, the new spells are moot and a convenience, not a requirement. Will they be able to open and accept the Healing Domain?”

“I can work that in, if they’ve the heart and mind for it.”

“I expect they will accuse you of playing politics and putting an unwanted and unneeded filter upon these Healing spells and the Awakening,” he pointed out thoughtfully.

“They are free to go elsewhere, and I will very openly test them ahead of time. They can certainly be ‘normal’ Healers without qualifying.”

“The Church of Light and the Acropolis will doubtless both claim the right to inspect the facility. What will they find?” he pressed me.

“That the power used in the spells and Awakening resonates with the source of magic of Healing, not that of Light. Thus, an Archangel of the Synod will know that it draws on a different Outer Plane then wherever their sponsors come from.”

“So now we’re into Alignment conflicts and the metagame.” Briggs considered the point. “Naturally, those with Dark Magic will be unable to take the Domain.”

“That is correct. The Heart of a Healer is not something that can exist alongside Dark Magic here.”