Tenebrion: An analysis

By virtue of my recent lengthy conversation, I have had a chance to study
Lord Tenebrion in considerable detail and herein I write my observations: To
use the words of Odessesus: Tenebrion is cagey. He knows much, he says
little, he is very difficult to pin down on any subject. Difficult for me at
least, perhaps craftier minds than mine might fair better.

I shall begin as much as possible, with the basics:

1) Tenebrion is proud.

He is a noble, he holds a position of hereditary authority. His respect
for any who have not proven that they are deserving of such, by dint of force
seems limited. He is quick to anger, and quick to lash out at the cause of
his anger.

2) Tenebrion is a Necromancer.

Among his forces are many, many Undine. He controls them, he creates them.
He has admitted as much. The writings Lundar discovered in his tower indicate
his researches into the subject, and his evident frustration at being unable
to create true life.

I should also mention that I consider Necromancy a Black Art.

3) Tenebrion is interested in Purgatory.

His interest (he claims) is not in Purgatory itself, but rather in the
method of Plannar travel which is employed by 4th circle healers. In service
of this interest on his part, he has begun a campaign to collect and study
Purgatory Pendants, to my knowledge he has acquired and managed to break 5 of
them to date. He refuses to discuss the planes he wishes to visit. Among the
other questions I asked him in our recent meeting was if he would be willing
to teach his knowledge of Plannar travel, he was evasive on the subject,
without actually saying no. Clearly he expects this travel to be a powerful
tool, and he doesn't wish to share it.

4) Tenebrion is a destroyer.

It would probably not be incorrect to say that he has a genius for
destruction. He destroys, but he cannot repair, nor it seems can he create
much easily. He creates the Sword of Souls, but can only do that once a
Zodiac, in our conversation he referred to creating a servant to sent amongst
us. He explained that it was a very costly endeavor for him. Whenever he
refers to creating something, he explains how difficult it is for him.
Yet destruction seems easy for Tenebrion. The one item he does create is a
tool of destruction. He breaks Purgatory Pendants easily, a thing which
amazed Virgil, who believed that they were unbreakable.
It is important to note: Tenebrion is incapable of repairing the pendants
he breaks, and yet he claims he can help us repair Purgatory, this seems to
me to represent a fallacy.

5) Tenebrion has a considerable store of knowledge.

Tenebrion is well versed in the creation of Undine, including Banshees,
which we had not seen prior to our first meetings with him. He has stated
that he considers this knowledge trivial, so it might be something that would
be easy to get him to teach. The Art of Necromancy as I have said, is a dark
one, however, it remains an area of expertise on his part, and it may be that
there are those among us who would be interested in learning it.
Tenebrion has amassed a store of knowledge on the Purgatory Pendants, and
on Plannar travel, this store of knowledge is incomplete at the moment,
however, it might still afford us exiles some useful information. He seems
unwilling to share this information. Specifically he said he was "reluctant
to arm exiles" it is important to note that his mind set is very ....
militant, he considers this knowledge a weapon. He considers the knowledge
itself potentially dangerous to him but also he phrases things mentally as
weapons. Both facts are interesting.
Tenebrion has an interest in Astronomy, he asked who are Astronomers were,
who among us studied the stars, although he avoided explaining why. Obviously
this points to the Mystic's Guild, as we are the ones who study the stars
most fervently.
Tenebrion's brother, Umbrion, is a Fire Mage. While Umbrion thinks exiles
are a waste of time, Tenebrion does not. Tenebrion thinks that for a time at
least, we can be useful to him. My guess is that he thinks we can be useful
pawns in achieving his aims, however, this still provides a leverage point
for approaching Umbrion. It is possible that Umbrion could be persuaded to
teach something of his Fire Magic skills by Tenebrion if the latter thought
there was reason.

6) There are gaps in Tenebrion's knowledge.

Obviously, Tenebrion doesn't understand Plannar travel yet, not to the
extent that he wishes. He also is mystified by the Mirrors. He lacks the
skills to manipulate (via either creation or repair) the gateways known to us
as Mirrors. Again, I personally feel that this highlights his lack of ability
to aid us in repairing whatever damage might have been done to Purgatory.

7) The Sword of Souls.

One of the only things we have seen Tenebrion create is the Sword of
Souls. The process of creation is hard for him, he is able to do it only once
a Zodiac, this has implications that the creation process is linked to the
Lunar cycle. Speculation on my part would be that it must be created during
the dark of the Moon. Further support for this idea would be that the weapon
seems to effect Spirit. When Tenebrion and I spoke of the weapon, I expressed
fears that it destroyed the natural balance by absorbing the spirit of the
creatures it killed. Tenebrion was quick to deny this, he claimed that the
weapon restored the natural balance of things, by killing what it struck
effectively.
The natural balance of life in the Lok'Grotton islands is for life,
Spiritual energy to be recycled, to be returned to some sort of accumulation
of Spirit. For Tenebrion, the natural life cycle is for things to die, and to
be gone. Thus, what the Sword of Souls does, is to drain off energy which
would normally be returned to the Islands. This weakens the powers of the
islands on which we all rely. Each Sword of Souls which is in use will
gradually siphon off the energy of our islands, "restoring" the natural
balance. Needless to say, this would be bad for us in general.

8) Tenebrion is culpable in the problems regarding Purgagory.

Tenebrion is quick to point out that instabilies we have noted regarding
Purgatory do not have a direct corralation in time with the experiements he
has done. Yet Gurgi reports that he said the following:

"After discussion with Tyking II, we have developed a theory. There is a
new being, if you will, that is manifesting itself in the power of the broken
pendants, and attacking the plane known as purgatory."

He claims not to be responsible, and yet he claims that the problems are
caused by a "new being" which is feeding on the energy of the broken
pendants. Tenebrion broke the pendants, he created the situation in which
whatever this "new being" is, was formed. His continued denial of cuplability
on this issue is .... distressing. He either considers lack of direct malice
on his part to be plausable denial, or else he considers us stupid enough to
believe it. Either of these possibilites is troubling.

In conclusion:

I do not believe we can trust Tenebrion, in Axell's words, he doesn't care
about us. He will wring every advantage he can from us, and then discard us
like yesterday's fishwrap. His style is destructive, and vindictive. He
destroys casually, ignoring the consequences, and ignoring his own
responsibility therein.

By my hand, on the 3rd day of Summer, in the year 540,
Callia