The Importance of Six

 is one of the many passages in the book, Strength by Fire, written by the legendary Old Olympian Master and Son of the Mountain, Joseph Everest VI. It entails the last order he gave to six of his surviving apprentices and the roles they would play in the impending future.

Simple Prelude
"Be warned Joseph! If you use your Suscinalis a second time, you will regain your immortality only to die in four hundred years!"

"Those words... how they linger in my mind, like an image from an old dream or a proverb from an old schoolbook. Here I stand, three hundred and twenty-one years later, and now I feel it once again, the cold hand of death on my shoulder, draining away my youth, my strength, my life. As I stand here, where Master Agathon once stood, gazing over the beauty that is Elysium, that is Amethyst, with her white sands, her purple skies, her ivory clouds, I now know just how little I actually know. My time is coming sooner than I would like, and as it does, the future is grim, for when I slip away to rot and decay in peace, the Order will be in disarray unaware of what will come, only I do."

"I have trained several initiates, my legacy is the Order itself now, for there is not a single Knight or Master under the Order that I have not imparted knowledge upon and the wisdom to use it. Yet above all, I have only had twelve true apprentices, Xavier, Rose, Caleb, René, Erlea, Carl, Hannah, Ryusuke, Abraham, his son Ewan, then Marion and Dylan. The latter of which now reign above the Ancients, Abraham is dead, Ewan with him, then Ryusuke followed soon after, and Rose, my dear and wonderful Rose... her death will forever haunt me. Now, only six remain, six whom must fulfill a set of roles and responsibilities, it would be easier if maybe Abraham, Ryusuke, and Rose had survived, that I may spare some of the burden that must now be their's to bear. Now, I have no other option, I must summon all of them here, and when they have been informed of their role, they will no longer be the same person they were when they came."

Case of Hannah
"THE CASE OF HANNAH"

"And in she came, the last of my apprentices. The final burden to lift off my shoulders and selfishly unto hers. I pray that she be able to forgive me when she hears what I have to say, to ask, to demand. Hannah, I hope you realize that what I am about to do will give me no pleasure, none whatsoever, but that it is for the sake of many, for the well being of others... and of yourself."

"‘And there she is, my final apprentice! how goes my favorite papyropath?’ I said, hiding my shame and fear. ‘I am well Master. So... what is my role?’ With those words, it was quite clear that she did not come to tiptoe around this, ‘Ah, so then you know why I called you here. Ah well, no sense in beating around the bush now then huh?’ I stated, afraid of her response. ‘Yea, I've never been one for that, nor have you, so tell me master, what is my role?’ as she said it, I could sense her trembling, nary an inkling of the weight about to fall on her. ‘All right so here's your roll. As you are aware, there is a great war approaching, soon the enemy will lay waste to all we have built, the Republic nearly diminished, the Order exterminated like rats. What I need you to do is simple: before the fighting begins, I need you to duck tail, pack up your things, and run away, abandon all your teachings and live in secret.’"

"''She said nothing, just merely stood there mouth agape, then she mustered up a small bit of courage, ‘What? Why?!’ she queried in complete anger and shock. Diffusing the tension, I broke out in maniacal laughter, ‘Oh man, you should'a seen your face! Oh my goodness, I was just joking!’ I said, trying to catch my breath, ‘Oh, but I wasn't kidding about the whole running away part, when the fighting begins I need you as far away as possible. Now don't get the wrong idea, it's not because I don't think your a good fighter or that your not strong enough, No, its because you are far too important, without you certain events can't transpire! I need you alive!’ Her cheeks flushed bright red, full of disbelief and a low sense of self-worth, ‘Me? Are you sure?’ she uttered with disbelief. ‘Absolutely! Smile, young one! Well your not young anymore now are ya?’ I said, hoping to rile her up and gain her attention. She slugged me in the arm, boy, I forgot what a mean left hook she has, ‘Ow! Ok then. Now what I'm about to ask will entail you stepping out of your comfort zone quite a tad. It'll be difficult but I know you can handle it, first off, take this.’ I said, handing her an ancient piece of Edechalcum technology: a Bawsila.''"

"‘Is this a... Bawsila?’ she said with surprise and shock in her voice, as was I, then again she was one the few apprentices who studied Edechalcum as I did. ‘Yes! Or a Compass of Eden to the "Arabic-ally" challenged. Now as you are aware, many pieces of Edechalcum tech have special abilities, the Thamra's, or Apples, are storage devices, Aleam's, or Staves, are conduits for harnessing magik and Bawsila's, or Compasses, are...’ ‘Teleportation devices!’ she said finishing my sentence, ‘Precisely! And what kind of Teleportation?’ I asked, awaiting her answer. ‘Planet jumping!’ ‘Exacta! Good job! Someone, give her a cookie!’ I exclaimed, proud at the intelligence of my beloved apprentice. ‘All right, now listen, what I'm about to say is very important and it will not be repeated so listen very closely, you got it?’ I asked, she nodded with patience and eagerness, yet a hint of anxiety, awaiting the duty to befall on her."

"''‘The day before the fighting arrives, and believe me you'll know, stand at the precipice of your window, point the compass to the east, towards the rising of the sun. When the clock rings twelve and the Bell of Sovereign tolls, close your eyes and count to 20, then open your eyes slowly and you'll find yourself on a whole 'nother world. Once there, gather your bearings and head 20 miles due south-southwest, enter the closest tavern and ask for a man named Cam Fenton. Now, this is very specific, ask for a room on the deck, on the deck! Got it? Then he'll ask you a for a code to which you will respond, "By the light of Susaan," no matter what he asks, respond with that understand?’ She nodded again, memorizing all my words intently, ‘He will then give you your room, stay there for three days, meditating or whatever it is Consulars do, I don't really know. Then you'll ask Cam for directions to the nearest spaceport, go there and find a ship captain named Liara Tionni, ask her to take you the the gathering, and again, you'll be asked for a code, this time, you will respond with, "You mean where moths and rust destroy?" Then once you've arrived at your destination, seek out a Mage by the name of Váli and from then on, you will fulfill your role. Do you understand the instructions I have given you?’ I asked, trembling with fright, awaiting her answers, and praying I explained everything right, she then responded with a firm, ‘Yes, master.’''"

"And with that, the roles of the six had been given out, each awaiting the day and time to fulfill them and preserve the ways of the Order and the Light. May the Will guide their hearts and the Light protect their spirits."

Lost Epilogue
Long after Joseph's novel was published, several manuscripts were found in Kyle's Vault that were meant to be unpublished epilogues to the passages within Joseph's novel and some were meant to be rough drafts. One was discovered to be for, however, the script that was found was written in Old Greek, something only very few people knew about, let alone could read and translate it. The script read as follows:

"''Και με αυτό, οι ρόλοι των έξι είχαν δοθεί έξω, καθένας περιμένει την ημέρα και το χρόνο για να τις εκπληρώσει, αγνοώντας πλήρως τον πραγματικό ρόλο τους. Ο πραγματικός σκοπός τους. Αληθινά προσεύχομαι ότι η μέρα δεν έρχεται ποτέ, ότι η σύγκρουση πεθαίνει ειρηνικά, ότι ο Κάλεμπ θα μπορέσει να ξεκουραστεί ειρηνικά χωρίς να χρειάζεται να φέρει τους άλλους για τον πραγματικό σκοπό τους. Αλλά τώρα το μόνο που μπορώ να κάνω είναι να περιμένω τον έβδομο να ανέβει στον άγνωστο ρόλο του. Εξεταστής, ξέρω ότι είσαι ακόμα εκεί έξω, με κάποιο τρόπο, κάπως, και ξέρω, αν χρειαστεί, θα κάνεις όπως έχω προβλέψει και θα διατηρήσει την ισορροπία. Θα αναζωπυρώσετε και πάλι τους αδελφούς σας και θα δώσετε τη γέννηση στη δοκιμή που χρειάζεται για να καθορίσει την αξία του. Εάν αποτύχουν, και προσεύχομαι να μην το κάνουν, τότε θα ξανακάνω για να εκπληρώσω τον ρόλο μου ως όγδοος κηδεμόνας και θα εκπληρώσω την Τελευταία Προφητεία. Η σύγκρουση θα τελειώσει. Και επιτέλους ... θα έχουμε ειρήνη.''"

Thankfully, Bennett found someone who could translate the script and reprinted it so that Bennett could read it and discover how his ancestor originally intended to end this story. Unfortunately, it was full of riddles and metaphors, that would then require even more translating, but the translation of the Old Greek read as follows:

"And with that, the roles of the six had been given out, each awaiting the day and time to fulfill them, unaware entirely of their true role. Their true purpose. I truly pray the day never comes, that conflict dies peacefully, that Caleb will be able to rest in peace without having to bring the others around for their true purpose. But now the only thing I can do is await the seventh to rise to his unknown role. Tester, I know you're still out there, somehow, someway, and I know, if need be, you will do as i have foreseen and will maintain balance. You will rise up your brothers again and give the vergence the test it needs to determine its worth. Should they fail, and I pray they don't, then I will rise again to fulfill my role as the eighth guardian, and I will fulfill the Last Prophecy. Conflict will end. And at last... we will have peace."

Brief Summary
Realizing the future was in danger, Joseph called his six surviving apprentices to his office to bestow upon them roles and responsibilities that would save the future and keep the galaxy safe. The roles he bestowed upon the six were:
 * Alex: He gave Alex the responsibility of sticking by Joseph's future descendant, Joseph Everest XI, who would be his last apprentice, to ensure his rise as the first Grand Master of the New Deian Order. He ensured Alex that if he did, he would be the first High Master, the second in command of the New Order and the replacement of the rank Head Council Master.
 * Caleb:
 * René:
 * Erlea:
 * Carl: He gave Carl the role of ensuring the survival of the Alvarez Clan so that they would establish the New Chroniclers within the New Deian Order.
 * Hannah: He gave Hannah the responsibility of surviving the Final War of the Equilibrium and the means by which to do so, to ensure she made it to the planet, Nyugalom, and become one the 8 founders of the Mage's Guild.