Ex-Pope Sylvester

The Ex-Pope Sylvester

Notes

Sylvester is the previous pope and has been revealed to be a skilled sorceror, and possibly the greatest arithmetician of the age. They say that he knows the secret of long division, and the viziers of the Orient are said to tremble at the mention of his name. It is whispered that His Holiness has performed the operation of division by zero on a recalcitrant and unrepentant heretic.

He is said to have been deeply affected when he performed the mass of the New Year on the eve of the Millenium, and a powerful manifestation of The_Lord_of_Serpents appeared to the north of the city on Nualis. No one else was aware of the immortal's sudden appearance, but His Holiness appeared visibly shocked during the officiation. He completed the mass stoically, but retired from public life and three months later, succumbed to a flux and never recovered.

There is speculation, arising from the details of Where Angels Fear to Tread that Medeanites may have replaced him with a double, clone or replica of some kind. Later, when the Pope had been removed to somewhere secure the replica was quietly poisoned. The speculation is based on indirect, circumstantial evidence, and lacks certain proof. Nevertheless, many Intriguers believe that this is within the ambit of Medeanite behaviour and power.