Miss Planner woke up on her Monday off to a call from Elder Presence. She'd been so busy playing around with the new hires that she hadn't seen him all week.

"Mmmm... good morning, Elder Presence. Is something going on at the Tower?"
"I'm sorry to bother you so early, Miss Planner. But there is a problem. I have a problem."

The normally calm Elder Presence seemed excited and anxious, and his voice quavered as he spoke.

"What kind of problem, Elder Presence? What's the matter?"
"The Sages... they've gone crazy. They're fighting. Half of them want me dead. They're talking nonsense about expelling people from the Tower... someone needs to stop them before they destroy themselves. It's just getting worse and worse every day..."

Elder Presence paused for a moment, struggling to find the words to express the gravity of the situation.

"It seems that the Sage of Hatred has taken it upon himself to begin strictly enforcing the ancient laws of the Sages and he wants to get rid of the Sages who don't support his way of thinking. Elder Omen and I tried to reason with him, but he won’t listen. Yesterday he made a formal declaration that anyone who interferes with the Council of Sages' sacred duties will be punished. Now everyone's calling us traitors and enemies of the Grand Temple."
"Slow down... I don't really get it. I thought the Sages' purpose was to serve the Elders. How can they disobey you and expect to get away with it?"

"They refuse to recognize our authority over them. They think we're trying to take away their privileges and don't deserve to lead the Chosen Ones anymore. That the Sages should lead instead. The only thing they have any respect for now is their own power. I honestly don't know what to do. We need your help, Miss Planner. If the Sages start killing each other, our whole organization could collapse in the blink of an eye."
"Oh, dear. This sounds like a big mess. Are you at the Tower now?"

"I'm hiding in Central Command with three full security teams. There are a lot of angry Sages running around. Thankfully, they haven't noticed that Elder Omen snuck out last night while they weren't looking. I was hoping you could come down here and talk some sense into them."
"You can always count on me, Elder Presence. I'll be right there."

"Thank you, Miss Planner. Please hurry."
"Stay calm. I'll see you soon."

Miss Planner threw on a blouse and a pair of black slacks, brushed her teeth, and ran out of her apartment. She arrived at the Tower of the Chosen ten minutes later and hurried up the stairs to the fourth floor. On her way to Central Command, she passed through a hall full of noisy Sages she didn't recognize who wearing black cloaks and ceremonial masks. Most were shouting, but a few were quietly whispering to each other or even sobbing. Some of them pointed and stared as Miss Planner walked past.

Central Command was the security division's nerve center, a large, circular room with a domed ceiling resembling the inside of an enormous crystal ball. The room was filled with acolytes in cloaks standing guard and acolytes in suits watching live security camera feeds on rows of oversized monitors. The walls and ceiling were covered with mystical sigils and a huge mural of the Tower with a bright sun shining down on it.

The guards at the door were expecting Miss Planner and let her inside without saying a word. She found a tired and sad Elder Presence sitting behind a large desk with his arms crossed.

"Good morning, Miss Planner."
"Hello, Elder Presence. Looks a little chaotic around here."

"You could say that. The situation's very serious. We're trying to keep things under control, but the Sages are refusing to speak to us. They think we're conspiring against them. I..."
"Elder?"

Elder Presence stopped and sniffled a little. He'd been crying.

"My apologies, Miss Planner. It's just... the situation feels so hopeless right now. I don't know what we're going to do."
"What exactly is going on here, Elder? How did things get so bad?"

"This all started when we asked the Sages to move to the Tower and spread the word of the Chosen to the people of Grandebelle. At first they were just helping people with their problems, giving them life advice, as you know... but some of them became too involved in outside matters. They were tempted by short-term pleasures and started to neglect their solemn duties."
"What a pity."

"The Sages arguing outside are traditionalists. They call themselves the holy Sages. They blame me for everything that's happened and now they're trying to take power through force. You have to go out there and talk to them. Tell them that the Elders' will must be obeyed or they'll leave us no choice but to expel them. I don't want to do it, but I don't see any other way."
"I don't think they're going to listen to me, either. I'm your representative. Maybe we'd be better off if you did just expel them."

"It was your idea to bring them out of the Grand Temple and expose them to the outside world. That means you're going to have to take responsibility if anything happens. I'm sorry, Miss Planner. But if I try to expel the Sages, you'll probably end up getting expelled too."
"Hmm... well, I suppose it's true that I'm partly at fault here. Let's fix this."

"Are you going to go talk to them?"
"No. Getting into an argument with them right now would just make things worse. I'm going to call in some backup. Someone without any stake in the situation to help us bring this to an amicable conclusion..."