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the Project	By : theLureln Category: +M through R > Magic: The Gathering Views: 11901 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Magic the Gathering characters or settings, anything else is mine. This story is not being written for profit.

Chapter List
- 1-the Project
- 2-Two
- 3-Three
- 4-Four
- 5-Five
- 6-Six
- 7-Seven
- 8-Eight
- 9-Nine
- 10-10
- 11-Eleven
- 12-Twelve
- 13-Thirteen
- 14-Fourteen
- 15-15
- 16-16
- 17-17
- 18-18
- 19-19
- 20-20
- 21-21
- 22-22
- 23-23
- 24-24
- 25-25
- 26-26
- 27-27
- 28-28
- 29-29
- 30-30
- 31-31
- 32-32
- 33-33
- 34-34
- 35-35
- 36-36
- 37-37
- 38-38
- 39-39
- 40-40
- 41-41
- 42-42
- 43-43
- 44-44
- 45-45
- 46-46
- 30
- 31
- 32
When Venser met Lorissa for the walk to work the next morning, both of them had their minds on each other and yet also a million miles away. Venser was aware that Lorissa’s scheduled meeting with her ex had been the night before; he couldn’t exactly ask her about it though. It wasn’t his business no matter how much he cared for her; unless she brought it up first it was off limits. But that restraint and emotional maturity cost him; he felt on edge and agitated. He was concerned about the amount of pressure that Niv-Mizzet might bring to bear if he didn’t make a move on her soon.
Lorissa was feeling confused and guilty about her reaction not only to Jace during his visit, but also her intensely pleasurable session of masturbation after he’d left. She was torn. The practical side of her warned she’d been down a similar road with Jace in the past and nothing had come from it. The emotional side of her argued that it wasn’t the same situation; the man had seemed like he might want something more if they enjoyed one another’s company outside of the bedroom.
And then there was Venser. He was everything a woman should want in a man and yet she still couldn’t get over her connection to Jace. Maybe because it had never had a chance to develop and fail. When she went over a mental checklist of the men, Venser was clearly the superior as far as qualities she looked for in a partner. But some stubborn part of her insisted that Jace had never had an opportunity to show if he was a worthwhile companion or not. Her mind kept whirling in circles and she found it exhausting.
Venser could sense her turmoil, so to put her at ease he told her about the latest goings on in the main deCar household. As he’d hoped, hearing anecdotal tales about her family helped her relax. For all of their various guild allegiances, they shared a strong bond that Venser admired and envied. They were all incredibly busy but still made an effort to connect as often as possible; even so Venser actually saw her family more than she did. Thanks to the recent prodding by Niv-Mizzet, he had considered seeking their help in pursuing her. From what he could tell; her parents had started to assume she would die alone with twenty cats.
Lorissa listened to Venser as he related the latest feud between her twin brothers; usually when they fought it was over a woman. As close as the two men were, they still got into spectacular brawls when they weren’t getting along. They tended to be attracted to the same type of female; their fights were usually short lived but remarkable. She knew they would lose interest in the woman after a while and things would smooth out between them once that happened. Venser, having not experienced this phenomenon as often as she had, was concerned it would never end.
Somewhere along the way to work, she realized he was telling her all of these stories to make her feel comfortable. That was just the kind of person he was, at least around her. He was a thoughtful, compassionate soul with an astute mind. Ironically, this only made her feel worse for not being able to simply choose him and put Jace out of her thoughts.

Since becoming the Living Guildpact, Jace had discovered there was an almost endless amount of tasks that went with the position. Every decision he made carried utter authority and as such, he preferred to give each issue his full attention. However it hadn’t taken him very long to realize such a thing wasn’t possible. There was too much to be handled. And so, over time, he had developed a system to help him mitigate the work load. He had begun to choose individuals within the various guilds to deliver the most important issues to him directly and to delegate less urgent matters to qualified individuals within their own ranks. It required that he trust the chosen representatives, so it was slow going choosing who to pick. Emmara had been an easy choice for Selesnya and Lavinia similarly for the Azorius Senate. Each of them had made recommendations for secondary representatives; something Jace had requested since he wanted to avoid any complications that could arise from only having one emissary per guild.
For the Izzet League, Niv-Mizzet had suggested, ergo demanded, that the storm mage Ral Zarek be a representative. Jace knew the man; in fact they shared the common trait of being Planeswalkers and had loosely joined together to keep the dragon from uncovering the truth about their kind. He didn’t particularly approve of the other man’s overzealous and headstrong ways, but he did respect his intellect, so he’d agreed to the Dracogenius’ request. But the second emissary post had remained vacant; Ral hadn’t presented a partner to the Living Guildpact as of yet and so Jace decided to kill two birds with one stone.
He sent a missive to Niv-Mizzet formally bestowing the position upon Lorissa deCar.

Lorissa was going through a series of side projects for Tabozav when a page poked his head into the room and nervously requested she accompany him to see the Guildmaster. Tabozav, infamous for his temper and nearly complete disregard for the parun’s orders, had glared at the man and told him to come back later. But Lorissa, not wanting to cause any trouble for her employer or herself, had hurriedly stood up and promised the archmage that she would return shortly. Venser had watched the exchange with curiosity; he wasn’t concerned the dragon would mention anything to her about dating him. The Firemind seemed to be going out of his way to keep his hand in the matter secret.
Lorissa made her way into the Aerie in puzzlement; she honestly had no clue what Niv-Mizzet might want with her. He was an entity of calculations disguised as whims; but they had a unique relationship and often he visited her to pester her. Perhaps he was bored and seeking amusement. As she approached his private quarters, she was less than pleased to see Ral Zarek there conversing with the dragon. The man always looked irritated and now was no exception; the air around him seemed to dance with annoyance. She experienced a moment of anxiety wondering if he was telling the guildmaster about her scene in the library with Jace. It had been extremely unprofessional of her to allow him to speak; especially in front of Venser who was a visitor from another guild.
She planted a smile on her face to hide her worry and inclined her head to the two of them as she drew even with them. It wobbled a bit when the Dracogenius murmured to the archmage, “Give us a moment, Ral.”
The man nodded stiffly and moved away, his gaze raking over her in a less than approving fashion. She braced herself for the worst, expecting a reprimand for her poor conduct at work. Thus she was surprised when the Firemind said, “I know you have quite a lot on your plate already archivist deCar, but I’m afraid I’m going to be adding onto your burden again. I’m not certain how much you know of the political workings of the guilds on Ravnica, but there is an overall governing authority that helps to…mitigate the worst of our disagreements.”
This was the first Lorissa had heard of such a thing. She had a broad idea of the relations between the guilds; such as which were allied and opposed in theory and function. She had always assumed that the guildmasters handled such matters amongst themselves. He seemed to be waiting for a response, so she replied, “I had no idea.”
Niv-Mizzet had assumed as much, but given that Jace had requested her assignment as a liaison for the Izzet League, he had wondered if the man had spoken with her about the matter at all. It seemed not. Which given the tumultuous nature of the relationship between the Memory Adept and this female, really wasn’t that surprising. But it was just another example of how Jace lost his head where she was concerned. How could he not recognize she would resent being manipulated in this fashion? Even the dragon knew that, and he’d never dated a human before.
“As you can imagine, such a person has a tremendous amount of information and disagreements to review,” he went on, used to simply making demands of his subordinates but recognizing this particular matter required a bit more delicacy. “As such, each guild has two emissaries tasked with reviewing internal complaints and bringing the more urgent matters to the office of the Living Guildpact.”
That was a logical course of action to take, but Lorissa was confused about what this had to do with her. Had someone been promoted to this position so she was now going to assume their responsibilities? She was too polite to interrupt, so she just nodded her head to indicate she understood what he was saying.
Niv-Mizzet could read her perplexity and had to suppress a chuckle. He supposed it made sense she had no idea what he was leading up to. Normally such an appointment would go to a senior guild member; she wouldn’t even be considered for it if not for Jace’s pointed request. “Ral Zarek is just such a liaison, but the second post has been vacant until now. At the behest of the Living Guildpact, you have been selected to serve as the second emissary.”
Lorissa heard the words, but couldn’t process them. Such an opportunity was incredible but also made no sense whatsoever. She could think of a dozen people in the guild more qualified; a glance in the direction of the Storm mage showed her that though he was standing at a respectful distance away he was clearly already aware of what they were discussing. She now understood his annoyed look from earlier; he had been told about her appointment to the position and was less than pleased. She couldn’t blame him; she wasn’t qualified for such an undertaking.
“With all due respect guildmaster, I’m afraid I have to decline,” she blurted, taking a small step away in denial, fear swelling within her as she recognized that this was something she had to do but it would certainly rouse her parun’s ire.
It was hard to say who looked more shocked in that moment, the great dragon or the man who was supposed to be unable to hear their conversation. The Dracogenius responded first, used to being obeyed, his visage darkening at her refusal. “It’s not an option. You were specifically selected and the word of the Living Guildpact is binding.”
Ral was impressed she’d had the balls to turn down such an offer, let alone to the dragon’s face. Even though he was unhappy that she was being given this position because of Jace’s obvious sexual interest in her, he could still respect her temerity.
“Forgive me, but I am not even remotely qualified for such a role and I can think of at least a dozen guild members who not only are, but who have put in the time and deserve this post whereas I clearly do not,” she quietly replied, her voice quivering with the terror she felt at having to stand her ground. But she knew it was the right thing to do in that moment and her parents had raised her to follow the course no matter the cost.
Niv-Mizzet’s rising anger was abruptly soothed by her logical response; his arrogant nature could not be contained by many things, but his intellect was one of them. She was not refusing to be difficult; she was refusing because she recognized herself as unworthy of the task. And she was correct; he would have selected a number of other people over her but his hand was also being forced in this matter. It was a fact he didn’t care for, and directly responsible for his irate temperament at the moment.
He let out a deep sigh and lowered his head so that he wasn’t looming over her quite so threateningly. “I understand, girl, and your reasoning is admirable. But in this case, I must insist. We will discuss it no further, it is settled. Ral will fill you in on details regarding the duties of emissary. Now go.”
It was a direct dismissal; gainsaying it would result in serious consequences, but for a moment she considered it anyway. Then she saw the compassion and aggravation in her guildmaster’s eyes and understood that he had no choice. Whoever this Living Guildpact was, the dragon could not go against their edict. Refusing again would do no good; at least not to the Firemind. She had to take her complaints to the source itself, and she intended to do just that.
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