So we had won a major battle, my dear. We had not only seen the banishing of the Shining Ones - now known properly as Heretics - from the Empire, and seen Charon's own, previous mandate cast aside. So there was but a hollow shell, waiting for us to try and take it over.

Unfortunately, the matter was not so simple. I am certain they have told you what went wrong, next, but perhaps not truly why. And this is a thing that must be repeated, lest it come around to vex us once more when our next big chance comes.

Now, consider the Guilds. We masquerade as one to this day, wrapping ourselves up in stolen clothing and pretending to be what they are, even as they pretend - in their own, fumbling way - to be what we are.

The irony! In a slight way I do wonder what might happen if those who favor revealing ourselves before The Day get their wish. The look on the faces of the Guildmasters...

Ah, but I hold not with their lot. And neither should you, my dear. There are good reasons why we remain aloof and apart from them. Theirs is a cold, squabbling and mercantile philosophy... at least amongst those who command the true powers of Industry.

And if there is one thing I know about the power of industry, is that it very rarely forgets a slight, sling or arrow. We should know: we supplied many of them, ourselves, during the War of the Guilds.

I knew that you would know of it, my dear. And I am certain that you know its genesis lay in both power and greed. The competition with one another to see whom would be their leader was a decidedly avaricious endeavor. No surprise, then, that it was the Artificers who initiated it?

This War of the Guilds... well, I should state that it was truly more of a treacherous, protracted struggle for power than an open battle. True fighting was very rarely seen: more often it was ruse, counter-ruse and assassination that ruled the day. It reminded me something of the great intrigues of the Italian courts, where to show one's dagger in anger was unacceptable, but one might poison an entire banquet and yet be called a Pope.

The Artificers started it, but they have, over the ages, come to blame it on the perfidy of the Masquers, or the greed of the Usurers, or the basic nature of the Monitors. And it is very true that, once engaged, those individuals had no qualms about responding in kind. And the others - even the Pardoners and the Harbingers, or all people - were well-enmeshed in the matter, right up to their black hands and smoky eyes...

Of course, this was an excellent opportunity for us, but the question was to what end? You know that the Center of the Wheel, in hir wisdom, does not give us to clear of a map to follow. Decisions are handed down one step at a time, and advice given rarely, if ever.

So there was some question as to whom the Center preferred to come out on top: the Hierarchy, or the Guilds? Those who preferred to work within the Hierarchy, and knew that a unified body of Guilds - under the watch of whichever heavy hand won the battle, as it were - would mean a direct challenge to the Hierarchy, said that the War should be crushed or exposed.

Meanwhile, there were those who said that the Hierarchy was a finished relic from an older, more dishonest age. And it was their opinion that the Guilds should take it over and remake it in their image. This was - to them - the most logical conclusion... not to mention one that several had been highly banking on for some time.

Thusly, confusion reigned. Orders were not carried out, Cabal members schemed against one another, and the unity for which we are ever-grateful was thrown out like night slops from a chamber pot. It was a shameful period of time for us... very shameful.

It all came to a point once the War was won, and the Artificers - as you know, I am sure - came out the winners. No sooner did they achieve supremacy over their fellows than they decided to march on the Hierarchy. And that, my dear, was the moment of truth for us. Whom should we back?

The decision was finally given to us straightaway by the Center of the Wheel. We were to engage the Usurers to leave the fray at a critical moment, thus causing others to leave, thus causing the end of that revolt. The Statists had seen their opinions verified by the Center, and that was all there was to it.

Yes, the Usurers' leaving was our doing. They made the mistake of hiring some of our number - Grand Master Don Salazaar, in particular - to make certain another Guild would do what they wanted. And when that meeting happened we changed a few, critical minds. Indeed, we've had them in our hands ever since... them and the Artificers, both, I might say...

But perhaps that is too much said and not enough shown. The Guilds were crushed, but in name, only. The Hierarchy stood, but only because Desire had seen fit to leave it standing. And so things continued on.