Obviously, the Arcanan Investigative Team will need to
include some high-powered mages!
Otherwise, it might be destroyed ... or subverted.
Mul Gurthik had kept his head down, and his magic hidden,
long enough to attain his present position. Did he do
that because he was smart, or carefully instructed?
How much of each?
Remember, Mythal's Council Of Twelve has put several of
its people into similar positions. A mistake by any of
them might expose them all!
With the discovery of Sharonans, he took the drastic
actions M-t b describes below.
Were they foolish actions done when his instructions
failed him, reflex actions that any Mythalan would do,
or was the conspiracy about ready to come into the open
and begin acting anyway?
Again remember, mul Gurthik was trying to discredit the
Olderhams by putting an agent into young Jasek's own
trusted circle, and geting him to betraying his father.
Such an attempt might be noticed.
If successful, it would certainly be noticed!
Perhaps the Council 12 were ready to move openly,
in which case mul Gurthik would be less inhibited.
The agent was a fool, who would certainly fail, one way
or another. Those who chose him, made a Big Mistake.
What other Mistakes have they made?
It might be that they are like the Kzin,
always attacking prematurely!
Mul Gurthik is not as good as he thinks he is.
I've said that before.
HTM (another paragraph interspired)
Mil-tech bard wrote:
Observation:
Authority of a 4-Star General to order the audit of military units and the chain of command in the US Department of Defense does not extend to controlling the diplomats and negotiating power of the State Department.
Mul Gurthak ...
1. Started a war with a multi-universal imperial enemy of which he had no idea of their capabilities,
2. He stage managed atrocities by his side against said enemy, and he is
3. Planning multiple magical assasinations of his own chain of command to cover up same.
Those are acts have neither finess nor are they particularly smart.
Those acts were in fact foolish. Mul Gurthak expected to be able to control all the players communications with Arcania.
The first notification that Mul Gurthak will have that his plot to control communications has failed will be when the Duke's IG team arrives asking questions about a mutiny he is has the scketchiest awareness of. And at that, only through Alvar Neshok, his designated for remote murder fall guy.
Mul Gurthak is a high caliber mage who can use heart attack spells to kill with a thought, and cornered conspirators tend not to be the most rational of people.
HTM interspersed:
Who Velvelig and Sharma can contact,
depends on how WD & JP write the story.
He (they, she) will almost certainly be someone we had
not been shown in the first two books,
unless Gadriel is the person.
HTM
Exactly who on the Arcanian, that Mul Gurthak doesn't control, will Velvelig be able to contact?
There are hundreds of miles between the Hell's Gate swamp portal and the Arcanian base camp, and further still to the next Arcanian controlled gate.
Mul Gurthak can stage manage the IG team, kill them, subvert them, or arrange his own death in that pause.
The crushing of cut off Arcanian military forces and securing the line of suppl;y to Hell's Gate are the primary objectived of Sharonan imperial focus for the short term, and at that the Sharonan imperial house has also got a massive internal security issue at hand.
Both sides are on high inertial autopilot courses that have to be resolved before the next round of diplomacy can even be possible.
'Til then, blows must decide.