"Where the hell are you taking us, Shepherd?" the Ascendant complained.
His voice reverberated through the damp corridor. "You bloody Grooks,
this shithole might remind you of whatever puddle you crawled out of but
to the rest of us it just reminds us of a shithole. Enough with the
mystery, why have you called this council?" Grandue halted the
procession, his good eye scanning the Archon's face for an answer.

"It is just up ahead, you'll see soon enough." Shepherd Reiloch
continued his descent without pause, paying the Ascendant no mind. The
cavalcade began moving and the clatter of the Generals' armour once
again sang the hypnotic song of the march.

It wasn't just up ahead.

"Here we are!" Shepherd Reiloch produced a small key from the folds of
his robe and unlocked the door. "Through the door, folk. He's just on
the other side." And with that he ducked into the darkness.

The rest of the Archonate and the Generals stood outside the door,
peering into the room as a flame was struck inside, dimly illuminating
tables full of glass phials and grotesque instruments.

"He?" The Warlord voiced the question on everyone's mind. "What does he
mean by 'he?'" General Jhui furrowed his brow.

Ryldagh Valeth, the Oracle, was the first through the door and the rest
of the company filed in after him. General Mizik casually lit a pipe and
leaned against the door after he closed it. "Smells like a corpse in
here, boys." As he sucked on the pipe an amber glow illuminated his
cloaked face.

General Dunn flicked a grossly disfigured corpse of a mouse off the
floor toward Mizik with the tip of his sword. "Regular ol' hound you
are."

"Ah yes, one of the many who gave their lives for science." The Shepherd
picked the mouse up by the tail and threw it into a corner of the room
where it tumbled down a small mountain of rodent corpses. "My apologies
for the clutter, this is a working lab."

Reiloch hurried over to a thick steel table and lit a handful of torches
lining the wall behind it. "This is what I wanted to show you." He
pushed a small, wooden crate into the center of the table. The Generals
and Archonate gathered around the table. "Behold, brothers, I give you
The Consensus! Isn't he magnificent!?"

Inside the small cage a tiny, white mouse moved slowly from corner to
corner. The head of a black mouse had been stitched behind the white
mouse's head. Archon Klendathu gave the others a concerned frown. "I
think you misjudge what is worthy of the attention of this Council,
Archon. We've more important things to attend to than being introduced
to your newest pet."

The Shepherd grinned. "This is no pet. This is the greatest undertaking
of Chaotic and scientific arts the world has ever seen. Through The
Consensus, the whole of Creation will come to see glory of Chaos.
Through The Consensus, there will be peace in our time!"

The Generals erupted in laughter. General Seragorn slapped General
Jinsun on the back, "You heard him, men. We'll throw an earring in this
mouse's ear and bring him with us the next time we visit Targossas."

Reiloch held a moldy piece of bread over the cage. "Watch." He broke off
a small piece and let it drop into the cage. The mouse slowly made its
way over to the scrap and lifted it up so both heads could feed from it.
He clapped in celebration but seeing the concerned faces of the Council
he realized the gravity of the accomplishment was lost on them. "It is
not two separate minds. Both heads think as one."

The Oracle's eyes were inquisitive but the rest of his emotions remained
hidden behind his mask. "Brilliant."

Qwindor and Daslin looked at each other, impatience shared in both of
the Generals' countenance. It was General Dalran who spoke first,
"Sooo... what can we do with it?"

Shepherd Reiloch erupted in laughter. "With the mouse?! Nothing. It's
just a mouse. The Consensus is larger than its components. The mouse
is... a proof of concept."

The two headed mouse finished the small morsel and turned its head
expectantly at the Shepherd, its sightless eyes staring intelligently at
its creator.

Penned by my hand on the 4th of Phaestian, in the year 715 AF.