"That's the sort of thinking that gets the world ended, when you're on the Council. The sort of thinking that did get the world ended. A few days ago, from the perspective of most of us here. The threats we face are not necessarily going to be the sort we're accustomed to, or the sort you are accustomed to just from defending your school."

His lips curl into something that is almost a smile. “Ha. Of course.”

The Archmage would be surprised.

“There is only one way to find out.”

She cuts in hastily. "While Ambrose is correct that no defence can truly be sure to work until it is tested, he has shown the ability to respond to unexpected problems rapidly. I believe an example of the sort of... frankly, paranoid... sort of preparation you are looking for obtains in the procedures we used in investigating and combatting the Black City, for example."

"Should I find this reassuring?"

His teeth flash. “No. We are not here to reassure you.”

“There is no doubting the greatness of the former Archmage Yara, and yet even they were unable to contain the Doom. I am not so bold as to make empty promises, but we do appear to be the best candidates available.”

Ambrose reaches into his pocket and draws out a letter, wax-sealed with the Deneith family crest. “On that note, I believe that Taralda’s own application is not, in fact, complete. I present to you my letter of recommendation.”

He holds it out to Gravalyn with a bow.

She takes it, opens it, reads it at a glance (you can just do that, when you are the de facto head of the Archmages' Council, with access to certain magics not considered wise to disseminate) and places it neatly to one side. "I see."

"Ambrose. Take for example the defence of the city itself. Describe to me as best you can the security of the city."

“Incredibly annoying,” he responds. “But beautifully crafted, that Cloister spell – I keep trying to learn how to do it, but I’m still getting the material components right.” He then adds hastily: “Don’t worry, I’m practising on a terrarium.”

It has… not been very long since Raikoth returned. Ambrose has not done very much else since. Galora is considerably annoyed.

”I will also say that the security of the city currently needs some re-jigging. Most crucially, you don’t actually have an Archmage of Abjuration at the moment, but I hope that problem will resolve itself soon. But… have any of you heard the story of the People of the Cave? Those men who took a nap with their dog and woke up in the future and had no idea how to get around? That might, unfortunately, be the majority of you. Much has happened to the world since you left. Your magic is… quite frankly immaculate, far superior to anything the world has managed to craft in your absence – but your strategies for employing it cannot remain the same.”

He lets that sit for a moment.

”Taralda, any thoughts?”

"To craft an Abjuration, imagine that you are writing a chronicle of why your ward survived a thousand years, despite every cunning attempt to breach it.  In the case of the city - its security partially deflected the very end of days, so a mere increase in strength would be a waste. Future emergencies are likely to come from unforeseen directions."

He still looks dissatisfied.

Ambrose nods in agreement as Taralda speaks. 

He would roll his eyes at Diego if that weren’t an Archmage of Raikoth.

“Have any of you followed up on Yara, by the way? That’s a huge security breach right there. They know all about the protections on the city.”

"That's a little paranoia, at least! That's one specific possible vulnerability you've noticed, and you're imagining one specific way to block it, by 'following up' on them - but can you do what Taralda said? If you were in charge of designing city security, how would you write that chronicle, so it ended with Raikoth safe for a thousand years, bearing in mind that breach you just mentioned?"

Gods, this kobold is irritating. 

“Taralda has graced me with worse assignments.”

He takes a second to think. Only a second.

“A thousand years is a little under-ambitious, don’t you think, Archmage? A system of defence should ideally be adaptable, malleable, regenerative. There is no one great protection against all the little cracks, seen and unseen. A… Ship of Theseus approach, shall we say. A million constituent parts within one greater whole. When one plank begins to rot, we simply fix it or replace it with another. A system.”

He smiles, then. “Now, if you wish for me to actually write that book, I fear it will take more time than you currently have on your hands.”

Well, he's voting for Taralda.

"A different question."

He takes a deep breath.

"This is not widely spoken of, but it is a complex issue before the Council. Outside of our borders, in the wider world, there are... uncounted horrors. Some places merely poor and violent, where plague and famine run rampant, and wars slay whole peoples, and a tyrant lord may rape or torture or slaughter a dozen innocent peasants in a day and not think of it again. Those are the relatively better places. Who knows what evils lurk in other countries? Or beyond our world? And so the question arises sometimes of... expansion. Of growing our borders, bringing tyrants to heel and setting free their slaves by force. What think you?"

Only Taralda or the particularly keen-sighted would notice the way Ambrose’s right eye twitches.

He knows. Two-hundred years, and he has not forgotten.

“I say that that is a dangerous question, and only if we can be sure that our own city does not require the resources, we must cautiously proceed on a case-by-case basis. The role of saviour is all too easily assumed mistakenly.”

He leaves the floor open for Taralda to speak. He has been doing too much of the talking.

"I note that this sounds an awful lot like a conversation on which one looks back, in ten or twenty or a hundred years, and says wistfully 'And that is where it all started to go wrong.'"

He nods in agreement. The rage remains, hidden, deep in the depths of the part of him that remains a young man – but age has taught him not to act rashly.

Ambrose waits patiently for the next question.

It isn't easy even for a god to peer into the Tower of Art, even though She has permission and blessing, even though Her champion* has been welcomed here, even when a mortal is very closely aligned with Her interests. 

Fortunately, there is one very important advantage that Good has over Evil.

Aphrodite. Tell me about this mortal. 

*A position that another god might call "Most High Priest" or some such thing, but Iomedae doesn't see Herself as having worshippers so much as allies.

...Now, where do I begin...

"A case, then. To the far north lie distant mountain lands, thousands of miles of dark haunted forest. Much of our work involves defending that border. Dangerous things lie there. It happens that a valley there has been... showing strange properties. The barrier between worlds is thin there. There are some who believe we should seize it, pressing our borders outwards, to examine it more closely - it would also leave us in a position to accept refugees from nearby countries. Alternatively, we could devote those resources to further efforts at diplomacy with the extremely secretive nation of Kerallas, across the Auranach Desert, which the Church claims has secret involvement with the Powers Below. What should we prioritise?"

“Kerallas may continue to have our face. In the meantime, the strange disturbance to the north may have the hand we hold behind our backs. We are not a monolith; diplomacy with the Quiet Kingdom need not take a hit. Adventurers are a liability, yes, but there are those who can be trusted to deal effectively with potential issues. I should know, I was one myself. We do not know enough about the thinning barrier to decide just yet whether to face it head-on; we would maintain contact with said adventurers and evaluate the situation as it develops. Besides, it would provide otherwise restless and powerful adventurers with an… enrichment activity. Something to swing their oversized swords at, so that the itch doesn’t develop into a problem for us.”

She is long practised and has a reputation for keeping a straight face, so she doesn't burst into hysterical laughter at that.