#i do not own the secretist... im basically just pasting it here but adding tomik to it

[stormconduit]

secretist but tomik is emmara part 1

Jace crept down the stairs to the main floor and approached the door. Kavin wouldn’t have knocked, and he didn’t expect any other visitors. He prepared a spell to sense the mind of whoever was outside. When he detected the thoughts of his old friend, he threw the door open wide. Tomik looked as youthful as ever, but as he was an Orzhov oligarch, his age tended not to show. He wore a pair of white robes embroidered with a sunburst pattern that wound around his sleeves. Jace knew he possessed a wisdom and quiet power that belied his youthful appearance.

“Good evening, old friend,” he said with a partial smile.

“Tomik! It’s been a while. Come in.”

As soon as he said it, he regretted it. Jace’s sanctum was not exactly fit for visitors. As soon as he stepped through the door, he had to guide Tomik apologetically through the detritus of his research. He shoved some pieces of stonework out of the way and they sat down on the floor by an old, unused fireplace, where the threadbare carpet gave way to a wide hearth.

Tomik scanned the place. “You’ve taken up archaeology?”

“It’s a new project, I guess you could say. A colleague and I are studying patterns in old stonework. I’ve seen the same patterns used in dozens of different sites around the district. They’re geometric carvings with repeating elements. I’m fascinated. Did you know that almost every building on this street has stone sourced from the same salvage yard?”

“I didn’t.” his face was placid, but from the way he clasped his hands in his lap, Jace knew this wasn’t a social call.

“What brings you from Irbitov?”

“I live here now, in the Tenth,” said Tomik. He offered a small object to Jace, holding it delicately in his fingers: a golden broach in the shape of an intricate sun. It was too detailed to have been carved even by a master artisan; it must have been molded by magic.

“What is this?”

“A gift. From my master.”

Jace took the golden sun in two hands. “Master?” He glanced at the bundle of scrolls and papers stored in his satchel. “You’re working for someone?”

“Yes. Teysa Karlov. I’ve been working as an Advokist—before you were born, in fact. And now that Orzhov Syndicate is rebuilding, Teysa wants me back again as an advisor. You must have seen how the guilds have come back in force.”

“To be honest, I haven’t seen much beyond this building lately,” Jace said with a shrug. He realized that his hair was probably sticking out in every direction, and that Tomik had dramatically upped the cleanliness ante by his visit.

Tomik focused on him intently. “Jace, what do you know of the Guildpact?” It was a delicate question. Jace had never been fully honest with Tomik—had never told him he was a planeswalker, a mage capable of traveling between planes of existence. Most people had no idea there were planes beyond their own, and those who were bound to a single plane didn’t enjoy hearing that their familiar home was only one of a potentially infinite array of worlds. Jace tended to keep his planeswalker nature a secret. That meant that sometimes Jace had to put on a bit of an act, to display enough knowledge that he could seem like a native, such as in conversations like this. He knew about the history of the city-world Ravnica only through what he had gleaned from his research—and from seeing into other people’s minds. He considered trying to poke around in Tomik’s mind to see if he could learn more about the Guildpact. His magical specialty was a shortcut, but sometimes a necessary one. However, Tomik was a skilled mage in his own right and tended to be able to detect his mind magic when he used it around him.

“Politics was never my best subject,” he said.

“We shouldn’t be surprised that the guilds are on the rise again,” said Tomik. “The guilds are the pillars of history. The backbone of our entire civilization for thousands of years, and no matter what anyone said, the Guildpact was what held them together. But the Guildpact is gone. Dissolved. No magical enforcement of any of the treaties or laws. The guild leaders aren’t bound by the old strictures anymore.”

Jace thought of those he had known who sought power—Liliana, Tezzeret, Nicol Bolas. He thought of how they always used their power to gain more of it. “Any center of power is going to test its boundaries.”

Tomik nodded. “And without those boundaries …”

“You think they’re going to try to exceed them.”

Tomik looked at the golden sun in Jace’s hands. “They’ve already begun to.”

“Who? The Rakdos?” Jace guessed. He had never understood why Ravnicans had allowed a murderous, demon-venerating cult to remain one of the ten official guilds—it just seemed too dangerous. The going theory was that the Rakdos guild provided wellsought services of mayhem and perverse entertainment to those who possessed wealth and power, and that this was enough for them to be kept around.

“No,” Tomik said. “It’s the Izzet. Izzet mages have made illegal incursions into other guilds’ territories.” The Izzet League—the same guild of magical experimenters that had often been present when Jace had uncovered stone artifacts carved with the code.

“But isn’t that an issue for the lawmages? Shouldn’t the Azorius maintain those Borders?”

“They’re trying. The Azorius Senate has been issuing injunctions and rulings against the Izzet day after day, at the request of the other guilds. But without the Guildpact, the

Azorius have become toothless bureaucrats. Their legislation is just words on paper. Niv-Mizzet doesn’t seem to care.”

Niv-Mizzet was the guildmaster and founder of the Izzet League, an inquisitive and profoundly ingenious archmage who also happened to be an ancient dragon. If the Izzet had a new scheme, Niv-Mizzet was sure to be its source. “What has the dragon said?”

“Nothing. Whatever the Izzet are undertaking, they’re keeping it secret.”

“And you want to find out what their project is about.” You want me to find out what it’s about, he thought.

“The Obzedat, my guildmaster, thinks it’s urgent for the Izzet to be open about what they’re planning. But if they won’t cooperate, suspicions will grow among the guilds. Tensions will rise. It could lead to a conflict that could tear the guilds apart.” He spread his hands, and clasped them again. “We need the Izzet to cooperate.”

Jace sat back and took a breath, examining Tomik’s face. He was trying not to plead with him, but he could see the urgency behind Tomik’s expression. There was an edge to his manner that he hadn’t seen in him before. It wasn’t fear. Tomik had no concern for any threat to his own safety. He sensed that Tomik spoke out of an obligation—something deeply felt, a concern over and above loyalty to his guild. Jace wondered if there was someone else whom his was protecting.

“How can I help?”

His smile glowed. “Join us,” he said. “Help us. Help us to understand what the Izzet might be doing, so we can maintain peace in this district, and all the districts.” “You want me to join your guild?” “You’d be welcome in the Syndicate. The Orzhov believe in helping people, in lifting others up and forming alliances to connect people together. Jace, with your talents—you’d have such potential for helping us. We could use you.”

“I don’t know.” A guild would mean tying himself to a set of values, to one point of view. Most of all, it meant tying himself to the plane of Ravnica. And he wasn’t sure, even if he were to select one of Ravnica’s guilds, that he would choose the Orzhov. Jace looked around the sanctum, indicating the research around them with a vague gesture. “I have a lot of projects going on … I can’t commit to that right now.”

“But you’d be able to help so many people. I’m influential in the guild, Jace. Teysa has selected me as a kind of dignitary. And you could be such a natural at reading people. We could work toward the same ends. We could learn the truth. Together.” Jace hesitated. Not many people had ever looked at him the way Tomik was looking at him in that moment. He wanted to say something that would make Tomik look at him that way for a lot longer. Jace imagined the way his face would brighten even more if he told him yes—how he could touch Tomik’s hand and tell him that nothing was more important to Jace than joining him, helping him. He wished he could go through with it, for Tomik’s sake.

But he couldn’t.

“I’m sorry. I just can’t join the Orzhov. But maybe I could help in another way.”

Tomik’s smile melted. “Oh. I’m too late, then. You’re part of another guild already?”

“No. That’s not it.” He thought of all the time he spent on other planes. He thought of all the mysteries that drew him from one side of the Multiverse to the other. “I’m just not … someone who likes to get too attached.”

That struck him. “I see,” he said and stood. His demeanor reverted to formality and etiquette. “Well, I should be going. I have a lot of guild matters to attend to. Thank you for your time, Jace. It was good to see you.”

“No, Tomik, I’m sorry,” he said, standing with him. “I just meant I can’t afford to get mixed up in any of the … guild politics right now. I’m researching something important, and it’s taking up all of my time. I’d love to help you after I solve this.”

He nodded. “We’d love to have you,” he said. When he was at Jace’s door, he turned. “That sun I gave you is an Orzhov artifact, made by goldsmith. You can use it to contact me, if you want. Just say the activating words into it, and I’ll be able to hear you.”

Jace looked at his gift in his hand. “What are the words?”

“ ‘I need you.’ ”