In the Balance of Faith Part Four
Sixteenth Day of the Ninth Month 293 AC
In the rustle of whispers that that follow the Chosen's proclamation your tread is not heard, your plain robes given not a second glances as you step out of the circle before you speak gently but firmly: "Pardon my interruption, Brother Lucan, but might I ask you to clarify? If I understand correctly, you would deem the practice of magic acceptable so long as it is guided by the hand of the Seven, but what of those mages who reject their guidance? If they break no laws of the realm, do not seek to harm or exploit others, then should they not be free to practice their magic in peace?"
The voices all around you gain a different timber, many surprised, some accusing that you would dare to approach a Chosen so, a mere Begging Brother brought forth as an ornament by Kyle, but Brother Lucan himself merely looks wary and, perhaps in the depths of those stern dark eyes, a glimmer of sadness.
What moves him so? you wonder.
Does he too regret those whose blood he shed but moves on regardless? A pity that he does not see the sea of blood in which he would drench the Seven Kingdoms in if his will is done.
"Surely you would not advocate anything so barbaric as forced conversion, Brother?" you press.
At that the septon raises a hand for you to pause, not demanding but requesting. Dywen would never be a man to deny another his say and so you fall silent awaiting his response.
"No, brother. It seems the vicious rumors dogging my steps have struck once again." he looks not just to you but to the others in the circle, to Olindor most of all, yet to your ear the words do not have the sound of sweet lies poured into the ears of a foe, but the truth as Lucan believes it to be: "Never would I support to spread the Faith by blade, for a blade has never convinced anyone of anything. One could force a man to pray, force him to be virtuous, and force him to obey the stars' rules, but what would that truly do? No light would reach this poor man's soul from these deeds, instead the shadow of violence gives ample room for hate to fester. And it too would darken the soul of him who wields the blade for the death he threatens on his fellow man."
"How easily he renounces the sword by which the Seven-Pointed Star came to these lands," Dany notes frustrated once again, the moment of sympathy for Lucan spent. "
Magnanimity in triumph, and let us forget the butchery that made it possible."
Yet Lucan is far from finished in speaking: "The guidance I speak of is not necessarily that of the book, but of the virtues that the Seven hold dear. These virtues are more paramount then to see them prayed about in a sept, and those we can only spread by living them. As the Warrior told us: '
Not from words, but deeds you will be exalted'."
At these words a septa standing five steps to your left speaks up out of turn, her voice thick in what you suspect to be more faith prodded to the fore than ploy as she quotes from the Seven-Pointed Star, "And when the first sept was raised, the Smith spoke to the mason:
A house you have built us and it is pleasing to us, but we need no earthly house to dwell in and you need no house to speak to us. We are with the righteous at all times, to guide their steps and offer strength if they ever falter. We are with the heathen, to shine a light for him to follow if he wishes and to ward him from the shadows that would wish to claim him. We are with the sinner, to hold a mirror to so that he may know himself and find the will to atone for his deeds. So make this house that of the poor and downtrodden. Make it the house of those fleeing duress vile. Make it the house of those needing healing and succor. For these are worldly things we cannot offer, but if you give them in our stead, then we shall be most pleased with the house you've built'."
Brother Lucan nods and smiles at her, his eyes lighting up to hear the holy text quoted with sincerity: "Indeed, Sister, so it was in the days when Hugor walked among the Seven Hills of Andalos, so it is now."
"The world is changed, Brother, not in the great truths but in the ever turning wheel that is the fate and tale of mankind," you counter troubled, the expression no more mask but honest truth. "If the Seven are to guide mages, what of the organizations within Westeros who already employ magic to defend its people? Tales speak of some among the Lantern Bearers of Oldtown who wield some measure of magic, though a much better example would be the Golden Shields, who even now protect the realm. Should they fall under the aegis of the Seven-Pointed Star?" The words are blunt, but at time bluntness can serve better than the sharpest subtly.
"Certainly not," Lucan replies firmly. "In their hearts they should, as all men should, but why should that mean to grant the High Septon power over them? One does not need a septon's robe to tell right from wrong. A lord is trusted with stewardship over thousands upon thousands, so we should also trust them to wield power over mages."
So they must have only the '
choice' of renouncing their power or death to those mages who have transgressed against the
virtues he holds dear. You can well imagine what many hedge mages might have done to transgress against those values, particularly as he sees them, to hold them to a higher standard than most men as bearers of divine flame, yet that does not help you here. With the Golden Shields safe you are left with only the matter of the Fey, with whom he has already proven himself willing to deal with in peace.
"He still seeks a theocracy, though he might know it not," Dany's thoughts are cold and measured now, her own mind racing down the path to understand this man.
"If the Faith is strong and united, and the lords squabbling fools such as we have seen them, it becomes their 'duty' to take away that power with which the lords use to do harm, inch by inch until the throne is hollow and the crown a glided bauble."
"True as that may be I do not think the point will make much of an impression here, not with so many attending, that is a point to be made in private and perhaps not by Dywen," you reply as you nod and allow wholly false relief to show upon your features.
After Brother Lucan had departed, you realize he might not have won the first spar as thoroughly as you had feared. You see respect tinged with a touch of fear in many of the eyes that had before discounted you as nothing but another Begging Brother. Perhaps they even think you some other Chosen come unaware upon Lucan to test him.
Regardless of the exact cause Olindor is quite open with what Lucan had asked that he support in the second part of the day: That those among the Faith who are blessed by the Seven and inclined to pursuits aligning with the Smith should take up the crafting of warding and healing objects. These works should be done under the patronage of a well-inclined lord who oversees everything, particularly the finances. The Faith should sell the fruits of their labors at market value, but all profits made put towards charitable works.
A clever notion, you admit grudgingly. It builds an arsenal for the Faith in a way most lords would not find inherently objectionable. It might be simpler to block this through the lords themselves or even Baratheon's court, pointing out the dangers, but if they should put a stop to charitable works then that will only stoke the fires of religious turmoil.
What do you do next?
[] Try to block Lucan's motion somehow
-[] Write in
[] This is not worth fighting here, let it pass and continue working on dividing the delegates from him on other matters
-[] Write in
[] Seek out one of Lucan's angels or mages to try to learn more of the man that way, it is clear rumors are not a sufficient source to make your plans upon
-[] Write in
[] Write in
OOC: Your rolls were pretty good but the arguments just could not land since, much like Viserys, Lucan is not what rumors paint him as. 
