Malachai of the Winds of Virtue

Hazelelponi of the Shattered Tower is the Lepidean Librarian, who guides the research of the Lepidean University.

Introduction

During the Winter Solstice 385YE the Lepidean Librarian - Hazelelponi of the Shattered Tower - charged the Heirs of Lepidus to "remember its beginnings and the strength of diplomacy." They were asked to "research the vision of Anwar i Covas i Erigo, who was Malachi of the Winds of Virtue, who in that vision met with the Last King of Wintermark - Alof Bearing - and spoke of his people and their traditions in the hope that it would "inspire us to greatness once more."

The Heirs Write

The Lepidean Librarian has charged us with researching the past life vision of Freeborn citizen Anwar i Covas i Erigo, who was Malachai of the Winds of Virtue. We are absolutely indebted here to the work of Livia Cascade and her compatriots, the second volume of their Echoes of the Labyrinth was of course invaluable in directed our investigations and researches. We supplemented study of this text with visits to several sites related to Anwar's visionary experience, and the known history of Malachai.

Malachai of the Winds of Virtue

Malachai was a contemporary of the First Empress, a virtuous Highborn citizen born and raised in the Winds of Virtue chapter in Casinea. He is still honoured at the chapterhouse, immortalised in a stained-glass window in one of the small chapels dedicated to the study of Wisdom. On achieving his majority, he served as a negotiator for the chapter, travelling to other chapterhouses across Highguard to represent the interests of the Winds of Virtue. There is no reliable evidence to place him at Anvil during the momentous meeting there between the First Empress, her supporters, and emissaries of the various nations that would eventually make up the Empire.

It seems likely that he was elsewhere at the time; given the stories of King Alof Bearning's adverse reaction to the politics surrounding the meeting at the Forge, it makes sense that the First Empress would select a diplomat who had no connection to the place in the eyes of the Winterfolk.

Alof Bearning, the Last King

For such a key figure in Wintermark history, there is very little that can be said about Alof Bearning with confidence.

Legend recounts that, when seeking guidance as to who would bear the Crown of Three Tears following the death of the previous monarch of Wintermark in battle, the mystics retreated to seek a vision of the future and read the omens as was their wont. They apparently received powerful indications that the next ruler of Wintermark would be called on to make a momentous decision that would shape the future of their nation forever more. Alof Bearning was chosen to bear the Crown for his Wisdom – a clever and careful man he was also a mystic and was said to be able to see things hidden to his peers, able to glance into the soul of those he spent time speaking to and weigh their worth.

It's not clear incidentally whether this is simply a flowery way of describing someone adept at reading the character of those he met, or if it refers to a genuinely preternatural or spiritual insight such as that granted by the ceremony of insight (which was not widespread in Wintermark at this time of course, and there is nothing to suggest Alof was a priest of the Way). Another more prosaic explanation presented by Salaman of Restful Arbor is that he might simply have made use of the Ravenwing Infusion which was certainly in use among the Kallavesi mystics, although that apothecary preparation only allows the must surface reading of a person's animus.

Regardless, Alof was chosen and barely half a year later came personally to Anvil to the meeting at the Forge. There they engaged in spirited discussion with the gathered luminaries of the various nations. Or, according to some accounts, spent more time listening than speaking except when meeting with the First Empress. Alof was apparently touched by her words, her passion, and her vision of a humanity untied in a virtuous alliance. The pair apparently spoke long into the night, debating not only the virtues but the practical requirements of creating an alliance of disparate people that was not founded on domination or subjugation.

It was assumed by several of the First Empress' advisors that Alof would bring his people to join the Empire, but in the end as we know he refused. Every account says that while he believed the First Empress' vision, and found it compelling, he did not believe the Empire could last. The people who would form the alliance were to fractious, too divided, too suspicious of each other, and marked by too many years of conflict and dispute. While the First Empress might be able to hold the alliance together whilst the immediate threat of destruction at the hands of the barbarian orcs existed, Bearning saw no future in which it outlived her without descending into tyranny.

Consequently, he and his delegation returned to Rundahl. Wintermark did not condemn the grand undertaking, but neither would they be part of it. Some accounts say he expressed the hope that the alliance and the three people of Wintermark would be allies, rather than rivals, but that he secretly feared that once the Bay of Catazar was united they would move to conquer and subjugate his people.

Malachai and the King

It's a matter of record that the First Empress dispatched Malachai of the Winds of Virtue to lead a diplomatic delegation to Kallavesa to meet with King Alof and attempt to chart a course that would assuage his doubts and bring the people of Wintermark to the alliance. The Winterfolk were known not only for their doughty warriors and for their cleverness, but for their ability to weave a lasting unity from disparate strands. There were traits that the First Empress foresaw would be invaluable in her new Empire – that the same Wisdom that guided the Kallavesi, Suaq, and Steinr to create their own nation without either one of the three being placed above the others could serve to help her create the union of peoples she envisioned.

There are not many records of Malachai's first meeting with the king, but this vision has provided incredible insight and confirmed some of the speculation surrounding it. Descriptions of the last King of Wintermark show him as an unassuming Kallavesi, not given to pomp or ceremony. A man at home walking in gardens and listening to birdsong, fishing from one of the piers overlooking the Sovevann, or eating in the kitchen of the great hall alongside the people who maintained it, as he was as guiding his people, negotiating with his human and orc neighbours, or leading a grand Witan.

One of the tricks he was wont to employ was to play into the perception that he was an ignorant barbarian himself. Diplomats through the ages have been well aware the value of appearing to know less than you actually do and this tactic is immediately apparent in the account of Anwar i Covas i Erigo's vision. By deliberately acting as if he knows less than he does, Alof encourages his counterpart to feel confident, that he has the upper-hand in the negotiations. Alof may have hoped this would encourage the diplomat to speak more freely than he might otherwise have done had he been more guarded.

One example of this is in the way the King apparently refers to the three traditions as “figures” who are “venerated” by the Winterfolk. This is clearly intended to disarm Malachai by playing into the common perception of the people of the north-west as barely civilised barbarians themselves. While the pre-Revelation Winterfolk certainly honoured their ancestors in a way that we might find troubling today, there was never any evidence that they ever “worshipped” them as gods. It was however an early misconception among some of the Highborn wayfarers that the memorials to their heroic forbears, and the practice of interring the most honoured in the marshes of Kallavesa, was a result of belief in gods and inhuman spirits.

Throughout this meeting Alof is testing Malachai of the Wings of Virtue. By playing the ingenue – by pretending he does not really know who the Freeborn are, or is unfamiliar with the people of Urizen. The King had been to Anvil, had been at the Forge when the First Empress spoke. It's inconceivable he had not met Urizen and Freeborn there. The Brass Coast have been traders almost since their nation was founded; it beggars belief that no Freeborn traders had made it as far as Kallavesa or Hahnmark, even at a time where long-distance travel was significantly more risky than it is now due to the chaos and turmoil and barbarian orcs.

But again, Alof presents himself as a parochial man whose people know little that happens beyond their own borders. There's even a hint of humour here – a man like Malachai would have studied the Winterfolk in detail before attending this meeting. He would have known, for example, that when the King spoke of “good relations” with the Marches, that barely a decade before there had been a bitter border-war between the two nations over southern Kallavesa. It is also possible that the King is choosing his words tactfully to remind Malachai of one of the reasons he chose not to join the Empire – the looming spectre of so many long years of conflict between the nations.

When it comes to matters of religion it's possible the King is speaking a little more directly. Wayfarers had obviously visited Wintermark by this time, bringing news of the virtues and the Way. There had been some successes, but during the reign of Alof Bearning, most people of Wintermark were still concerned with heroism rather than the virtues. Malachai misdirects the King here by using a common tactic of wayfarers through the ages – drawing parallels between the beliefs of the person they are speaking to and the Way, and showing how all true spiritual paths ultimately lead to the Virtues.

One of the elements that makes this vision so believable is that Malachai then speaks with confidence of Urizen joining the Empire. Having left shortly after the meeting at the Forge, the Highborn diplomat could not have been aware that the magicians of the high peaks would in fact decline to take their place alongside the other great nations. Indeed, there is perhaps an irony that their oft-cited reason for doing so echoes that of King Bearning himself.

The alternative theory is that Malachai is deliberately lying to Alof, that he knows that Urizen have refused to join the Empire, but pretends that they have accepted to make the Empire appear stronger than it really was. That can't be proved however and it seems unwise to speculate that that is the case. It is much more likely that he was simply unaware that Urizen would decline.

Then, according to the Echoes of the Labyrinth, we come to the core of one of the matters that clearly concerns Alof. Wintermark was hard pressed by the Jotun at the time of the Empire's formation. His people were holding, but it was by no means clear that they could fight off renewed barbarian aggression alone. Malachai is obviously versed in the theories of Tom Drake and the Marches, at least with enough detail to be able to speak about the appointment of generals and the role of the Synod. Of course, the idea that the Synod would remove unsuitable generals would not be tested until the reign of Empress Teleri, but the groundwork had certainly been laid – the idealistic view that the various houses of power that would define the Empire would work in harmony with one another to the betterment of all.

Next we come to a fascinating piece of theatre. Malachai talks about senators, and how they will represent the people of the nation and that the King himself could even be one of them! On the surface this appears to be simply more discussion of the political intricacies of the Empire... until one remembers that the senators, and the very idea of the Senate, are one of the core things Wintermark and Alof Bearning himself contribute to the Empire.

There are no doubt theological “scholars” who would point to this apparently anachronistic development as proof of the unreliability of true liao visions but there is actually a much simpler explanation. We know Alof spent long hours talking with the First Empress, that the Wintermark delegation to Anvil engaged in vigorous discussion with their peers. They must have discussed the thorny question of how the Empire would be governed. Alof will have presented the example of the Witan, and the idea of leaders who represent their people rather than ruling them. Of a body where all the great and important decisions as to how the Empire would be run are made not by a handful of oligarchs but by people who were chosen to speak with the voice of their nation.

Having left Anvil, it is clear that the Empress must have spent time discussing Alof's ideas with her advisors. Presumably Malachi has been sent north to demonstrate that the Empire has heard his concerns, listened to his ideas and embraced them. He is confirming to Alof that the ideas he and his people presented at Anvil have not only been discussed but embraced by the nascent Empire. Not a Witan, but a Senate. Not counsellors, but Senators.

Alof says he will be the last King of Wintermark, should his people join the Empire, and again there is a great deal of subtext here. Unlike the people of Dawn, who cling to the idea of their monarch until the reign of Emperor Giovanni, Alof knows that a nation cannot have two leaders. That the Winterfolk cannot look to both Rundahl and Anvil for leadership.

As his fellow mystics foresaw, he is called to make a momentous decision that will both secure the future of his people... but at the cost of redefining the nation and putting aside the tradition of the Crown of Three Tears that had enduring since their foundation.

The vision ends somewhat inconclusively; the counsellors are mostly in favour of Wintermark joining the Empire, with only one remaining staunchly opposed and one expressing concern about the egregores. When we consider the role of the counsellors, it becomes perhaps a little clearer who all this pageantry may have been for the benefit of. Whatever Alof himself thinks, it is the counsellors who represent the will of Wintermark. It is they that Malachai needs to win around.

In many ways this presents a profound challenge to the entire surface reading of this vision. Alof was likely chosen as king by the counsellors who were in the room with him when he met with Malachai. If they had the power to appoint the king, did they also have the power to remove him? We know the modern Senate was modelled closely on Wintermark's Witan - if that is the case then that would mean that Alof simply could not make this decision on a whim. He would need some vote of the Witan to endorse the decision.

It is abundantly clear that many of the counsellors were initially opposed to the idea of Wintermark joining. What if our current reading of history is subtly wrong. What if Alof returns home from Anvil eager to find a way to bring Wintermark into the Empire, but knows that he cannot persuade his counsellors alone. If he came back to Rundahl, and appeared ready to put aside his crown in favour some foreign monarch, was there a risk his counsellors simply have replaced him with another?

There is a tantalising implication that Malachi has come to Rundahl to argue the case in front of a king who had long been convinced of the wisdom of this course of action but had kept that fact concealed. It is a matter of historical fact that he is confidant and friend of the First Empress and one of her most enthusiastic supporters. Why does he appear so unpersuaded here? As a shrewd negotiator Alof could have connived a way to present the arguments to the counsellors, not as his own views, but as ideas he was predisposed to reject. That would have given him free rein to discuss those matters with his aides - appearing to then be convinced by Malachi's words could have made it easier to convince the counsellors in turn.

It is purely supposition, but if we accept as we surely must, that this is a crucial moment in the history of the Empire, it might well be that the vision we are reading about is only a superficial transcript of what is actually taking place. The vision seems to be Malachai addressing the King Alof Bearning, but it may be that the momentous events actually taking place here are the meeting between Malachai and Alof's counsellors. If that seems a stretch, remember that these people held the same power that our senators hold in the Empire today.

This vision presents two powerful and influential people genuinely exploring what it might mean for Wintermark to join the other nations, what it might cost them, and how their essential nature as a people might be maintained. But what is impossible to know is for whose benefit this conversation was happening. It appears to be aimed at Alof Bearning, but a more likely explanation might be that Alof and Malachai had conspired to explore this future together in this way as the best way to persuade the others present. It would certainly be in keeping with Alof's reputation as someone who was a brilliant and shrewd negotiator who was cautious and canny.

In the end, we know Alof Bearning will persuade his counsellors to support his people joining the Empire, presumably following this meeting, and that he then becomes the last king of Wintermark. The Crown of Three Tears will be returned to the mystics (was this another gesture to win support from a crucial faction in Wintermark's politics?), but from that point on it will not only be a symbol of the unity of the three people, but of the union between Wintermark and the Empire. All, in part at least, to the diplomatic efforts of Malachai of the Winds of Virtue and, just possibly, King Alof Bearning.

The Fourth Tradition

There's one matter in the vision that raises interest and that is talk of a “fourth figure.” This we cannot account for and it remains an intriguing mystery. It clearly does not refer to another tradition – the Winterfolk have always been three people united not four. From the account in Echoes of the Labyrinth, it seems to refer to an actual person or individual. One of my colleagues suggests it might be something to do with the Krampus, the problematic figure who visits curses on those Winterfolk who believe they have marred their skein during the Winter Solstice. This seems unlikely though – our understanding is that the Krampus' curses are not so terrible that “the birds would not take them.”

The birds, incidentally, refer to a long-held spiritual belief that birds serve as psychopomps, conveying the spirit to the Labyrinth and returning a reborn spirit to the world. The belief is heretical, perhaps, but generally perceived as harmless. A metaphor, rather than actual spiritual fact. The parallels between the birds of Wintermark and the virtues are clear, and another example of how so many peculiar beliefs ultimately lead back to the Way.

The “curse that could not be undone” is apparently not the ceremony of excommunication. Even allowing for the fact that wayfarers had been sharing the Revelation with the people of Wintermark for quite some time, it's possible that the King and his counsellors were genuinely unaware of this spiritual practice – it has never been widespread after all. But they seem adamant that it is something else.

We have asked several Wintermark historians, and enquired among our peers at the Department of Historical Research, but neither have any light to shed on this matter. The identity of the fourth figure will likely remain a mystery – at least until another true liao vision unlocks more of the past through the power of virtue.

After the Vision

We know that after this initial meeting Malachai and his team spend several months in Rundahl, debating and discoursing with the King and his counsellors. Ultimately, they are successful as we know.

After this, Malachai of the Winds of Virtue would continue to serve the Empire as a diplomat. He never held an Imperial position as near as we can tell, but there are interesting similarities between his role and that of the Imperial Consul. He was involved in the peace negotiations with the Iron Confederacy, for example, following their aggression in Feroz and Madruga. He twice visited Urizen as an emissary of the Senate, negotiating trade agreements and a treaty of non-aggression.

He continued to serve the Empire after the death of the First Empress. There is a note that early in the reign of her successor he was one of the first imperials welcomed to Mahal (Mareave), where he negotiated with the Skouran people – the “Scourers” of the eastern Bay of Catazar - and arranged a trade of metals and stone with the Empire via Necropolis.

Failing health meant that he did not accompany Emperor Giovanni on the vital trip to Urizen that saw that nation finally join the Empire. He sadly passed away shortly after the news reached Highguard that the Empire would be nine nations rather than eight.

Rather than being interred in the vaults of his chapter, he was buried with all honours at the Necropolis. Perhaps fittingly, in a tomb crafted from white granite imported from Mahal as a hero of both Highguard and the Empire where he remains to this day.