Hiegal Dessi Moris, Brother Empath, Seer of the third Order, Judge of the Courts, Very Reverend of the Azure Shrines, was born to very humble origins. His parents were farmers, their parents were farmers, and their parents before them were farmers.

Hiegal was destined for greater things. As a young child, he was perfectly normal. Perhaps a bit taller than other children of his age, and possessed of a keen mind that learned things quickly, but he never caused comment or stood out as unusual. Things changed in his teen years. Hiegal manifested the first wisps of empathy talent. By the time his parents were ready to take him to the Midnight Temple of the Divine Mind, Hiegal was well on his way to unlocking his potential.

He was taken in as a novice within the temple, and performed admirably. He was keen to learn, quicker to master, and surprisingly gifted at unlocking new secrets: talents and espers that were rarely comprehended by adepts of far greater study. Hiegal was loyal to the temple, and dutiful to his superiors. He was watched by the Hierarchs and expected to rise far.

By his middle years, Hiegal was a respected Hierarch himself. He had entered the inner sanctum of the Midnight Temple, and held a junior seat on the Intertemple Council of Minds. He was invited to audiences with the Master Empath on numerous occasions.

At the time of his death (officially attributed to cerebral haemorrhage while visiting the Parafont’s Quarter of the Alpha Polis Midnight Cathedral of the Divine Mind) Hiegal was rumoured by some acquaintances to be seeking a path to sainthood. Hiegal himself denied this, claiming he had no desire to manifest an Avatar. No matter the truth of the rumours, Hiegal was known to spend more time in research and meditation than usual in the last months of his life. Speculation on the matter was ultimately put to rest, with the sainthood theory being accepted by the majority of the temple Actives.

***

There were fifteen chairs in the room, arranged in two pentagons on the floor, one inside the other. The five chairs of the inner structure sat on nexus points of glowing lines on the floor. The lines themselves appeared to be only light, having no source at all. The ten remaining chairs were arranged in pairs separated by lines of polished quartz floor lamps. The lamps burned a strange fuel that gave off a sweet violet smoke and produced a pale blue light. In the centre of the arrangement was a low table, really a single massive slab of marble the shade of lapis, and struck through with silver-bearing quartz.

In the inner seats were Hiegal of the Seers, Mobesh Nom of the Telepaths, Marcus Cerebite of the Empaths, and Ashby of the Kineticists. The fifth seat stood empty. By long standing tradition, the hooded men seated in the ten seats around this meeting were unknown to each other, and unknown to the representatives of the gathered temples. Of course, every man there had his suspicions as to who the watching attendees were, but they could be drawn from any temple recognized by the Council of Minds and there was never any guarantee that they would be selected from the churches gathered here in assembly.

On this occasion, Hiegal and Mobesh Nom wore third eyes, as was fitting for their station. Marcus Cerebite wore a long crystal mask that hid his well-known features from view. The mask itself bore a slot for a third eye, but this was fitted with a silver ornament that had no other function. Ashby had elected to sit this assembly wearing a living tattoo that pulsed across his face from time to time. He was known as a vain man, even for the normal arrogance that was typical of the Kineticists.

One of the men in this room would betray Hiegal and his research. One of the men in this room would hold the candle of Hiegal’s life in his hand, and snuff it out with a thought.