Camberian Council

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In the fictional universe of the Deryni novels of Katherine Kurtz, the Camberian Council is a secretive group of highly-trained Deryni adepts. It was formed in the early tenth century, with the set purpose of policing those Deryni who had begun to react violently to the Haldane Restoration and maintaining peace between the two races. Over the years, its goals expanded to include researching ancient Deryni lore and codifying the practices of certain Deryni rituals (especially the Duel Arcane). At various points in history, it has sought to both maintain the peace of the Eleven Kingdoms and to end the persecution of Deryni in the Kingdom of Gwynedd.


Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

Contents

[edit] Early History

After the Haldane Restoration of 904, many Deryni nobles in Gwynedd were attainted or deposed for supporting the last Festillic king, King Imre Furstán-Festil. Not only did these families lose their titles and their lands, but numerous human lords petitioned King Cinhil I Haldane for the restoration of the titles and lands their families had lost during the initial Festillic coup eight decades earlier. As a result, the Gwyneddan peerage became largely human within a few years, and many Deryni began to express open resentment over their change of status. Some of these Deryni, especially the younger sons of the former nobles, eventually took up random acts of violence and vandalism to express their outrage.

Realizing that such actions only served to fan the flames of anger and suspicion among the humans, several highly-trained Deryni lords decided to monitor and control their fellow Deryni, hoping to minimize the damage they caused and maintain peace between the two races in Gwynedd. This group was formed on April 15, 909, with five founding members: Bishop Alister Cullen, Father Joram MacRorie, Lord Rhys Thuryn, Lady Evaine MacRorie Thuryn, and Earl Jebediah d'Alcara. The following year, Archbishop Jaffray of Valoret, Earl Gregory MacDinan of Ebor, and Dom Turstane were inducted, increasing the group's membership to eight. Shortly thereafter, Archbishop Jaffray began to refer to the group as the Camberian Council, feeling it appropriate that the group be named after the patron saint of Deryni magic, St. Camber. Dom Turstane died in 916, and when his seat was not immediately filled, Earl Jebediah eventually began to refer to the empty chair as Saint Camber's Siege, jokingly suggesting that it provided a place for St. Camber to guide their meetings. The seat remained unfilled, and the membership of the Council only rarely exceeded seven during the following two centuries.

[edit] The Backlash

Despite the Council's efforts to prevent it, a violent eruption of anti-Deryni sentiment eventually gripped Gwynedd. Although King Cinhil had managed to maintain the peace during his reign, his death in 917 removed the restraints under which his human lords of state had previously operated. Almost all Deryni were removed from the Regency Council of Cinhil's underage son and heir, King Alroy Haldane, and the lone exception, Archbishop Jaffray, died in accident a short time later.

The election of Jaffray's successor at the end of the year proved to be the final spark that would ignite the backlash. The Regents publicly campaigned for the election of the human Hubert MacInnis, but the Synod of Bishops instead elected Bishop Alister Cullen as Archbishop of Valoret and Primate of All Gwynedd. Outraged by the defiance of the bishops, the Regents mounted an armed attack to depose Cullen. Simultaneously, they ordered the destruction of various Deryni abbeys and manors throughout the kingdom, unleashing a bloody wave of violence that resulted in the deaths of thousands of innocent Deryni. With human control of both the government and the Church, the brutal persecution of Deryni shortly became both legal and accepted.

Like all Deryni in Gwynedd, the violence tragically impacted the Council. Lord Rhys was killed when the Regents attacked the bishops, dying accidentally in the ensuing chaos. Bishop Alister and Earl Jebediah were attacked and killed by the Regents' forces shortly thereafter. Less than one year later, Evaine died while performing a complex arcane ritual. As a result, the Camberian Council was a faint shadow of itself by the end of 918. Within a year and a half of King Cinhil's death, four of the five founding members of Council were dead.

[edit] Survival in Secrecy

Despite its losses, the Camberian Council survived, though the plight of Deryni in Gwynedd resulted in alterations to their original goals. The Council had worked in secret from its beginning, but the rampant Deryni persecution forced them to conceal their operations and their existence to an even greater degree, for the mere knowledge of a group of highly-trained Deryni would provoke a violent reaction in Gwynedd. Although the Council had originally sought to research and reclaim ancient Deryni lore in the beginning, much of their efforts turned to simply protecting the knowledge they already had, for the loss of so many Deryni institutions of learning has resulted in an alarming loss of knowledge. Attempts to maintain the peace between humans and Deryni quickly evolved into desperate attempts to save as many of their people as they could, as the survival of their race became more important than its social standing.

For two hundred years, the Council has both achieved successes and endured failures, though the true extent of their involvement in many public events remains unknown. Theirs has been a constantly uphill battle against forces that far outnumber them, and their achievements have often been in the nature of small victories in the larger war. While they were unable to halt the persecutions in Gwynedd, they succeeded in hiding many Deryni and protecting them for future generations. They could not repeal the legislation that outlawed their race and prevented them from joining the Church, but they did facilitate the plan that removed the Regents from power in 928 and eventually discovered the means by which the Church was discovering Deryni priests. They were unable to protect all of the arcane knowledge from their past, but they did manage to save more of it than anyone else. For centuries, the Camberian Council has patiently bided their time, working toward a future date when their race would once again be accepted and safe.

[edit] The Modern Council

Although it still retains many of the same ideals and goals as it did in the tenth century, the Camberian Council of the twelfth century has evolved. While the membership of the Council was exclusively Gwyneddan at its beginning, it grew to include Deryni from several surrounding lands as a result of the mass exodus of Deryni from Gwynedd that followed the initial onslaught of the persecutions. Additionally, the Council's interests have expanded to include the affairs of foreign realms, though much of its interest remains focused on Gwynedd. While the early Councils saw it as their duty to watch over the House of Haldane and ensure the activation of each king's Haldane potential, their direct involvement with subsequent Haldane kings remains unknown. (Both King Brion Haldane and his son, Kelson Haldane had their power activated without the assistance of the Council.)

As a group, the Camberian Council has become quite conservative over the centuries. Although they still strive to protect and defend Deryni, they make a distinction between those who are full-blooded Deryni and those who are not, often viewing the latter with pity and/or contempt. It is unclear just how much arcane lore they have retained over the centuries, and while they certainly possess more knowledge and power than any other Deryni in Gwynedd, they place limitations and conditions on the use of that knowledge (such as permitting the construction of new Transfer Portals). On the other hand, they have clearly lost some of their previous lore, most notably the knowledge of Healing and the process of identifying and training Healers. Nonetheless, the Council remains as secretive as ever, known only as a whispered rumor by most Deryni throughout the Eleven Kingdoms. Though they are few in number, most of the members of the Council are highly-placed persons of power in their own lands, and each is an acknowledged master of the magical arts. As a result, the Camberian Council can exert an impressive combination of political, ecclesiastical, and arcane power at any given time to accomplish their goals.


[edit] Members of the Camberian Council

[edit] 909 – 918

  • 909 (FOUNDING MEMBERS)
    • Bishop Alister Cullen, Bishop of Grecotha and Chancellor of Gwynedd (died 917)
    • Earl Jebediah d'Alcara, Earl Marshal of Gwynedd and Grand Master of the Order of Saint Michael (died 917)
    • Father Joram MacRorie, Priest and Knight of the Order of Saint Michael, son of Saint Camber
    • Lady Evaine MacRorie Thuryn, daughter of Saint Camber (died 918)
    • Lord Rhys Thuryn, Healer (died 917)
  • 910
    • Archbishop Jaffray of Carbury, Archbishop of Valoret and Primate of All Gwynedd (died 917)
    • Dom Turstane, Healer and Priest of the Order of Saint Gabriel (died 916)
    • Earl Gregory MacDinan, Earl of Ebor
  • 918
    • Lord Ansel MacRorie, grandson of Saint Camber
    • Lord Jesse MacDinan, son of Earl Gregory
    • Dom Queron Kinevan, Healer and founder of the Servants of Saint Camber
    • Lord Tavis O'Neill, Healer
    • Bishop Niallan Trey, former Bishop of Dhassa

[edit] 1082

  • Oisín Adair
  • Lord Seisyll Arilan
  • Lord Michon de Courcy
  • Lady Vivienne de Jordanet
  • Lord Barrett de Laney
  • Lady Dominy de Laney
  • Lord Sief MacAthan (died in 1082)
    • Prince Khoren Vastouni of Andelon (appointed after Sief MacAthan's death)

[edit] 1120

  • Baron Laran ap Pardyce, Baron of Pardyce
  • Bishop Denis Arilan, Auxiliary Bishop of Rhemuth
  • Lord Stefan Coram
  • Lady Vivienne de Jordanet
  • Lord Barrett de Laney
  • Lady Kyri de Róiste
  • Lord Thorne Hagen

[edit] 1124

  • Baron Laran ap Pardyce, Baron of Pardyce
  • Bishop Denis Arilan, Bishop of Dhassa
  • Lord Tiercel de Claron
  • Lady Vivienne de Jordanet
  • Lord Barrett de Laney
  • Lady Kyri de Róiste
  • Princess Sofiana Vastouni of Andelon

[edit] 1128

  • Baron Laran ap Pardyce, Baron of Pardyce
  • Prince Azim ibn Qais ibn Hassan ar-Rafiq, Precentor of the Knights of the Anvil
  • Bishop Denis Arilan, Bishop of Dhassa
  • Sir Sion de Benet, Under-Chancellor of the Royal House of Llannedd
  • Lady Vivienne de Jordanet (died 1128)
  • Lord Barrett de Laney
  • Princess Sofiana Vastouni of Andelon


[edit] Sources

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