Polinore, the Archivist

Polinore, the Archivist, former keeper of the Oracle, and wielder of the Runefold Gauntlet was once considered the most knowledgeable of the Nexi, but despite his fall from grace, there is something about him that is still irrefutable. The leader of the Sphere Avolan has mastery over Liastrum spellcraft that is without equal in the modern age, making him one of the most powerful wizards in any Sphere of the Conclave. 

The Archivist’s list of achievements is long, but fools would readily attribute these accomplishments to his Relic, which, although incredibly powerful, would be nothing without Polinore’s impressive mastery over it. It is named the Runefold Gauntlet and not much is known about it other than it allows him to wield Liastrum in ways that defy comprehension. With it he manifests magic faster than any mage in living memory, his Liastrum barely consumed by the torrents of spells he conjures into reality, all perfectly tuned, masterfully cast. The speculation surrounding it says that it could be the gauntlet of one of the original Mysteriarchs, the first wielders of Liastrum. Polinore doesn’t seem the least bit inclined to reveal his Relic’s secrets.

The edge of the chaos storm parted for him and so did everything in his path towards Gateway and to the Ises of Quinvala thereafter. Under the seal of his own Sphere, the Liastrum mage returned to the Conclave, alone. He had journeyed to the edge of the Malediction, bright-eyed apprentices and levied resources at his side, but they all had been left there, dead and lost. He was the only survivor of the expedition but did not return alone. With him, he carried his prize, the Runefold Gauntlet. This was the first time that Polinore’s name was heard and remembered in the Conclave of Spheres, but, under the veil of secrecy, he had done much before this. To get to where he was, Polinore had betrayed his master, Alfen Evolastras, for a chance at the Gaze of Molech, and allied himself with his master’s main competitor. Now he had melded with the Relic, and the Gauntlet had become a part of him, gifting him incredible power. This expedition had set him up as a force to be reckoned with within the Conclave, and the next ventures he undertook created the foundation for his rise to prominence, as each time Polinore left, he would return with recovered knowledge and many mystical discoveries to give back to his investors. Of course, the best of those he would secret away for himself. The Sphere of Avolan Waned Proximal after this mad wave of success, putting him in an envious position for a new Nexi, and, like many other times after he gazed into the Liastrum flame, the skies aligned to open the way for his next grand success. 

Not long after one of his expeditions, Alfen Evolastras, his old master with whom he had never healed relations, died on duty, found after attempting an ill-fated ritual of unknown nature. Alfen was the latest in the long line of elven keepers who had been in charge of the Oracle for generations, and his death left his privileged position in the Conclave’s bureaucracy open for the taking. But when other Spheres realized what had happened, it was already too late. Polinore had already positioned himself to be his undisputed successor. He had been the last keeper’s most prodigious apprentice after all. Meanwhile, his journeys and discoveries had gathered him the right political alliances among the elven leaderships to make his move, coupled with the fact he now wielded a Relic that could mean a new era of discoveries with the Oracle. These political maneuvers frustrated many Nexi’s attempts to do the same, earning Polinore his first lifelong enemies, chief amongst them was his former coconspirator Meston Guilvanni, the man who helped Polinore to surpass his master and would later be the architect of his downfall. Polinore had consolidated his image as an icon, having become the first human keeper of the Molech Oracle in hundreds of years, and having done so as the Nexi of a Lesser Sphere.

His career as keeper was relatively short and wildly controversial, with his actions during his time in this role setting up how he would be seen by the rest of the Conclave for the following decades. Polinore was either a power-hungry self-interested fool or a wise man with unknowable methods, depending on who you asked. Amongst his rulings, the most infamous one was the institution of the Gaze of Molech’s Addendum of Oversight, wherein Polinore exposed the Spheres’ eagerness to put their unprepared apprentices through the Gaze, a trial deadly even for the most prodigious of spellcasters, and imposed that access to the trial and to the Oracle’s inner chambers would only be granted with his permission. To say the least, this left the Nexi bewildered and soured Polinore’s relationship with much of the Conclave. Beyond this, Polinore was supposed to stay put in Quinvala for the purposes of his post, but he never allowed his position to tie him down, delegating the general upkeep of the Relic and focusing his attention on other tasks, leaving even the Greater Spheres to fend for themselves without ready access to the Oracle’s predictions. 

Meanwhile, Polinore would lead a series of ventures to the edge of the Malediction, acquiring important knowledge and magic with each one. Unlike other expeditions, the grand majority of Polinore’s unorthodox exploits would turn out to be profitable, always bringing back more than enough to justify his undertakings and allowing him to continue taking on his journeys. This ensured that Polinore’s power and influence would grow, eventually making him the Conclave’s main authority when it came to knowledge on Relics and the Malediction.

Years passed before Polinore’s position could be challenged, but when the time came, his downfall had been expertly planned. It all happened because of his most notable apprentice, an elven mage who stood right in the middle of the conflict between the Conclave of the Spheres and the Order of the Shattered Throne. While still under Polinore’s tutelage, she would speak out against the Conclave and seek Polinore’s endorsement for her crusade. He denied it, but his mere involvement left him exposed. Mages from all circles knew his fate was grim, Polinore was hated by most other powerful masters of the Conclave, especially by the Nexi of the Greater Spheres, and they would rather stop the flow of new knowledge Polinore had started than allow him to keep his position of power. So it was that Meston Guilvanni, his bitter rival, called for Polinore to be put on trial for his crimes against the Conclave. It is widely known now that his trial was held as a part of a coup, wherein the Sphere Omena was attempting to undermine his control over the Oracle and take it for themselves. It is also known Polinore wouldn’t sit idly through their attempt to take him down. 

The accusation argued his crimes were threefold. First, he had built a monopoly on access to the Oracle’s predictions, one of the Conclave’s greatest assets, and to its role as adjudicator for apprentices to take on the robes of true wizards. From this, he was acquitted for by the nature of his role, as long as he had a just reason and his sound judgment it was well within his rights as keeper to deny access to the Oracle. Despite this, it was ruled that the Oracle was to be reopened as it was before due to other Spheres’ ultimate dissatisfaction. For his second crime, he had been absent from his role as keeper, preferring to meander in the edges of the Malediction instead of keeping his sacred post. He was acquitted for this too, arguing his exploits were beneficial to the Conclave, and that never once did he fail to fulfill his duties. Although he was cleared, he also vowed to personally dedicate himself to the care of the Oracle upholding what was considered by all to be his duty. With their second accusation taken down, it seemed as though Polinore would emerge victorious from the trial. His political acumen had saved him many times before and maybe it would do so again, but he could also see his plaintiff’s sly smiles and their confidence worried him.

His downfall from the role of Keeper came from his third and final crime: that of corrupting the youth. They argued that his attitude as a nonconformist had propagated rebellion and that he had guided the fair Londriel to speak out against the Conclave. At that moment Polinore knew two things, that he could easily escape this baseless accusation and that he was doomed. The Conclave ruled that to be acquitted all he had to do was renounce his apprentice. He saw it as an act of betrayal to the pupil he had already denied to defend. This, he refused to do. His silence was louder than any evidence that could be levied against him, his refusal to renounce blasphemy against the institution he had promised to uphold was proof enough of his crime. The tribunal ruled in favor of Meston Guilvanni, Polinore was to be removed from his post as keeper, which would be passed on to the Nexi of the Sphere of Omena.

Still, Polinore’s presence and influence in the Conclave of the Spheres were undeniable, so after being removed as keeper, he would be awarded another post in the maximal bureaucracy for his service to the institution, the tenure of grand Archivist of the Tabernacle of Knowledge. The Archivist is the one in charge of keeping outside knowledge in check, cataloging any found magical artifact or Relic, and serving as a consultant for the Conclave as to where they should go and what they should be used for. This role had fallen into disuse due to its dangerous nature and lack of prior investments, becoming more a token title than a source of real power. 

All believed this was the end of Polinore, a man bested at his own political game, who lost his title as keeper in exchange for a symbolic one. He would watch as his Sphere Waned Distal, further and further from the Nexus. Oh, how mistaken they were. Those in charge of the trial failed to predict its secondary outcome, far-fetched as it was. Now, Polinore has been unleashed from the bureaucracy of being the keeper, and, as it turned out, he could focus his complete attention on the Malediction just in time for the Ebbing to commence. The Conclave watched as Polinore remained in the public eye, as the title of Archivist became paramount at the moment the great powers of the past were being unlocked through the Relics. The Archivist is calling in all the favors he has amassed over the decades and is mounting a massive expedition of his own to go to the chaotic lands he spent his whole life studying. All in the Conclave can hear the rumble and feel the ripples of what is to come, but only Polinore seems to know exactly what to do, ready to scour the Malediction in the name of his mysterious goals.