Lore24 Jan 6: The Sorcerer-King Ea-Nur and the Council of the Wise Part 2

 The remaining seats of the Council of the Wise are:

- Naram-Sin Turul, head of the Turul House, which can trace its lineage back to three of the five mythical founders of Nashat-Ippur. They also operate most of the breweries and bronze forges in the city. Naram-Sin’s boisterous and jovial demeanor (not to mention his sizable belly) hides a highly calculating mind, and he isn’t squeamish about arranging a hit or two if somebody threatens his business interests. Since booze and weapons will always be in demand, he has the most stable income, and consequently he has the least incentive to hire outside help. He supports the prince, since he spends a lot of times both in the inns, and with the military, making him more of a known quantity than his sister, who can mostly be found in the ancient libraries and temples.

- High Commander Engur is a rather small and nervous man, a compromise candidate for the position, living his life in constant fear of assassination. His fears are mostly well-founded, as the previous three high commanders all died to dagger or poison. He knows full well that he is only occupying this lofty position as long as his more popular and ambitious subordinates are in a deadlock, so he is trying desperately to accrue an independent power-base. For that purpose he is willing to reach deep into his family’s vaults. He supports Ea-Ir because he’s the clear favorite in the military, and Engur is not yet willing to bite the hand that feeds him.

- High Priestess Nammu is the head of the White Temple. She never takes off her white veil in public, which lead to various rumors about what she might look like underneath. The most popular theories are unearthly beauty, and the rotten, maggot-filled visage of a walking cadaver. She rarely speaks, and when she does, she does so with the mannerisms of a strict teacher talking to a particularly disappointing pupil. She supports the princess in ascending to the throne, but her reasons are a mystery to the other councilors, although of course speculation runs rampart.

- His Highest Holiness Lugal is the high priest of Atar-Numash, the Unconquerable Sky Father, who is a personification of the gas giant this world orbits. He was raised by the temple since he was but four years old for this position, which he takes very seriously. As the mortal voice of the King of the Gods, he is loud, theatrical, and not a little forceful in getting what he perceives to be the best outcome for the city. He has close ties with the aristocracy, and believes the king and the nobles are where they are because the gods judged them the most deserving. He however still supports Set-Nur as the future queen, as he takes her superior magical skills as proof the gods prefer her over her brother.

- High Priest Tizqar the Bronze-Worker is the leader of the cult of Fire-Breathing Atra-Ippur, the god of the volcano that erupted about fifty years ago, burning most of the city’s wooden infrastructure, and causing untold death and destruction. He is a large, muscular man with a deep, booming voice, and a truly magnificent beard. As Atra-Ippur is the patron of the patron god of metalworkers, Tizqar was selected from the ranks of the city’s senior smiths by lottery (as Atra-Ippur is a relatively new god no longstanding tradition has taken hold on who gets to be the high priest, so a random selection was decided upon allowing the god to more easily make is choice known). As the only person on the council not from the ranks of nobility (though he is far from poor himself) he has bit more down-to-earth perspective about the situation of the working-class people. He consults frequently with his fellow craftsmen, and even keeps a tab on the problems of the farmers who come to his temple (Atra-Ippur has gained a rather large following among the peasantry as well, since his ash is great fertilizer for the fields). He supports the princess, as he guesses she is likely to be too concerned with arcane research to try to actually administer the city, and thus will leave that to those that have more experience in such matters.

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