I remember this fairly well. I may have forgotten quite a bit else, but I think I will forever remember the sight of Charon poling his reed boat out to meet Gorool. Their fight is etched in my mind, and the gigantic whirlpool that they both entered, never to return from...

Yes, a sad thing. By this time, as I mentioned earlier, we had gone past looking at him as an enemy and instead looked at him as a necessary evil... perhaps a necessary detail, if you wished to avoid value judgments.

I know what is stated in The Book, my dear. All that about the coming of the servant of the Great Lie... how much that has gotten us into! But there are those of us who question whether the best to fight this one would be with force of arms or force of will. And the Center is not quite as forthcoming with advice on that matter as some would like.

Oh... I just state what others have stated, so that you might be aware that it exists, were you not already so well-informed. No more than that. No.

Since that time, it has merely been the Deathlords... all squabbling for scraps at their rotting roundtable. They cannot be said to possess one fraction of Charon's charisma, gravitas or sense of mission. All they can do is argue with one another, scheme in the darkness and try to avoid undoing too much of what they have done.

But yet the Hierarchy remains. And it does so because we have been ordered to keep it together. And one day, I suspect we will be given the order to take it apart.

Oh yes... I know what I said earlier, my dear. But remember that plans can change. Once Charon was our enemy, then a force to be redirected, and then someone to be well-considered... if somewhat rebuked. And so it is with the Empire.

Having said that, it has not been clearly stated that the Hierarchy is what we should be focusing our primary attentions towards keeping. We may one day be faced with another difficult choice, as to whether to keep the state or those who would overthrow it, or remake it in their own image. For now, all we can truly agree upon is that the way of the Heretic - the mind-crushing weight of the Great Lie - must be fought at all times.

Perhaps even more strongly than Oblivion, Itself.

And there we are, my dear... right up to this very day, in this very garden, where a very old Gaunt and a not-so-very young Apprentice speak of times gone by, and what we did to help them along.

I am sure you have more questions, but I have some duties to perform, so you must excuse me... at least for today.

However... because you are, indeed, one of my favorite pupils, and I wish that you would go far within our Cabal, I shall let you in on a little secret. Can you guess what that might be?

Excellent. I expected no less of you!

Now tell me... how much of what I just told you was a lie? A quarter? Two-thirds, perhaps? A half?

Ha! I shan't tell you. If you wish to know the truth of things for yourself, you must go find it for yourself. The pieces are all there, my dear. Go forth and assemble them on your own.

And come talk to me again when you think you know what they have told you.