Sage Peleril
The Making of a Sage
Peleril came to the position of Sage as many others do - natural brilliance, drive to excel, and decades of study.Early Career
Following her education as a youth, advanced training included study of logic and reasoning under Sage Ferydhel, study of philosophy and ethics under Sage Orelemar, and study under Sage Dimoth, where she learned about metallurgy, mineralogy, and crystals. In that last, especially the field expeditions, she excelled.Sage Ferydhel is no genius - could replace them, except there are 10,000 logicians in this city. Sage Orelemar is brilliant and young, it could be centuries before they move on. Sage Dimoth's work is fascinating, but there seems little new to discover in the world of rocks. Perhaps we can learn something new from the Ginnunghval that would be worth installation on the Council.
After her studies, she pulled strings to join Sage Dimoth as Assistant Researcher. After many years, she was promoted to Researcher. Later she accepted a position with Sage Athindor when they were installed on the Council of Sages. Sage Athindor chose to study Ginnunghval travel patterns as their great work, and Research Lead Peliril was the team lead for the field study.
Early on, Sage Peleril displayed the ambition to be on the Council. Unlike many who dream that destiny, she had the abilities to achieve it.
Long Study
Researcher Peleril's work was of great value to Sage Athindor, especially after it was discovered that many of the internal organs of the Ginnunghval were made of elaborate mineral crystals. Her duties shifted from management of the field study to direction of a Council lab in Rothilimion. Using the travel patterns the team had documented, they were able to capture some Ginnunghval for study. It was during that time she determined the largest crystalline structure in the Ginnunghval, nearly a quarter of the length of the beast itself, allowed the Ginnunghval to communicate with each other.
When Sage Athindor passed on, the Council met to choose a successor. Research Lead Peleril's work on Ginnunghval helped her make her case to the Council, and she was elevated to the Council of Sages in her 371st year. For her first Great Work, she chose to extend Sage Athindor's study of Ginnunghval travel patterns to the question of how the Ginnunghval could travel at all?
Many of Sage Athindor's experienced researchers joined her, and the team made good progress. In less than 20 years, they developed a way to stimulate a realm crystal with seemingly minor magic to make it fly. The team was working on a way to grow the crystals from raw mineral sources when they were interrupted. In the 24th year of Sage Peleril's research, Dornia laid siege to Rothilimion.
I learned that my team has made yet another sacrifice to Blodstjarna this week. The work is not that dangerous! The Goddess of Knowledge and Death must want direct reports on our progress. Blodstjarna, I pray, let my group finish their work in peace!
Sage Peleril's work was exceptionally dangerous. While she never asked an assistant to do something that she herself would not do, not all of them were able to reach the same standard of success that she did. Research assistants were lost between spheres riding Ginnunghval, crushed under crystals the size of houses, shocked to death with lightning, poisoned by strange chemicals, and damaged by magic.
War
While the Siege of Rothilimion came at a bad time for science, it gave great incentive to put what had been learned to a military purpose. Sage Peleril added some experienced naval officers and engineers to her team, and they set about the task of installing one of the giant Ginnunghval realm crystals into a Rothilimion sailing ship.No one can know Ginnunghval communicate from crystal to crystal. The notes have been destroyed and my team leads have been instructed not to discuss it.
...We cannot grow the crystals quickly enough to solve the Dornian problem. We will have to accelerate the timetable somehow.
...I did what I had to do to protect my people. May Dagstjarna and her daughters forgive me, for the Ginnughval surely never will.
With the crystallography and arcane skills of Sage Peleril and the ship handling and tactical knowledge that Admiral Lederehrel brought to the team, a plan to break the Siege was developed. Two more ships were converted, and one dark night, Sage Peleril watched from the Council building while Admiral Lederehrel led the ships up out of the city to strike at Dornia's captial and break the siege.
She was as ruthless with herself as with the Ginnunghval. Sage Peleril has taken the old saying "respectable scholars don't make history" to heart. While ultimately her team was able to isolate a method for creating stellospheric cores from raw materials, these journals indicate all the cores used in the Reduction of Kabatnos were taken from sacrificial Ginnunghval, far more than the official record shows.
In Sage Peleril's notes, the Ginnunghval are revealed as an intelligent race. Ultimately, Rothilimion safety was built on corrupt research and genocide. It remains unclear why she and her team stole the Sword of Rothilimion. Perhaps they seek some way to make amends for their crimes.
Related Articles
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Who or what is a Sage?
In Rothilimion, the word Sage gets used two ways:- As an honorific title for a member of the Council of Sages. In Rothilimion, the honorific is always included when speaking of a Sage.
- As a collective reference to the large research team led by the Sage as they go about their Great Work, the research project that will define their career as a Sage. When someone talks about "studying under" a Sage, they typically mean taking lessons from junior members of the team, not that they studied regularly under the Sage themselves.
The Stealth Archive
The Rothilimion generally believe that what is learned should be taught. They have also discovered that sometimes, states must keep secrets. Portions of Peleril's personal journals are stored in the "Stealth Archive", which does not officially exist. It is a collection of documents kept at the highest level of secrecy and typically only made available to members of the Council.Sage Peliril was a brilliant thinker and exceptional research team leader. She achieved great results without counting the cost. Despite the questionable methods her results were outstanding; her disappearance after the war is a huge blow to Rothilimion.
DRAFT
This article is currently a work in progress and may be incomplete or subject to change.
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I really like the side tidbit where you explain what a Sage is by definition in your setting. That's really nice to see. There is a lot here about Peleril's research, and her sometimes dubious methods. I'd love to see some more about her personal life, and perhaps how she was viewed during her lifetime, or even afterwards. Are there people who believe she was the brave and studious, that she did what had to be done? Are there folks who think she is an overrated historical figure? It would make another interesting side tidbit.
Thank you, I'll try to flesh that part out more. Her reputation in Rothilimion is a strong one for the general populace, who know she was a Sage and that she helped stop the war. It would be good to flesh that out more, you're right. That goes on the to-do list!