The Magistrate Election of 1743 AE

The Magistrate Election of 1743 AE was one of the most controversial events in Alchemy Guild recent history. Following the death of the previous Guild Magistrate, the infamous Charles André, a month prior, the weeks that came after were ripe with gossip and controversy — most notably surrounding Archmaster Rivet Evelyn “Evie” Clarke, who had been appointed as Archmaster not too long before — and resulted in Clarke’s election as the youngest Guild Magistrate on record at age 37.

The Apathy of Charles André
In 1719 AE, a few years after (and mostly due to) his hallmark invention of the logika, Archmaster Rivet Charles André was elected as Guild Magistrate at age 44 with overwhelming support across all five disciplines. Despite of, or perhaps because of, his notorious solitary nature, André was unanimously voted into his position by his fellow Archmasters, who saw this as a chance to further their own careers in the wake of the death of the rather successful and prominent Guild Magistrate Katherine DuMont, his predecessor.

Relying on the certainty that André would avoid events and societal responsibilities whenever possible, the Archmasters during his tenure — and, in effect, their respective Guilds — flourished in both the public eye and the bowels of the corrupt underground, especially the Ether Archmaster, who made great expansions to the Ether Flagship Branch Chapter in Civalla as the Ether Guild experienced an unprecedented increase in their apprentice numbers for the first time in decades. Being the most senior Archmaster in terms of years-in-rank, the Ether Archmaster represented the Alchemy Guilds in André’s absence, and as André descended into obsession with his logika creations, the greater populace often believed that André had died and been replaced.

In 1728 AE, everything changed with the arrival of then-Journeyman-senior Rivet Evie Clarke and her husband Jacob, a Journeyman-senior Medium. The two urged André to take a more forward approach to his Magistrate position, eventually agreeing to help him improve the logika in exchange for his cooperation.

The Magistrate Inquiries
André’s sudden interest in Alchemy Guild affairs was not received well by his colleagues, who had grown used to his apathy over the previous decade. Attempting to right the wrongs stemming from his lack of supervision over the Guilds, a slew of high-ranking disciplinary trials soon followed — which would later be known as the Magistrate Inquiries — cracking down on rampant corruption that had had years to dig roots throughout the Alchemy Guilds.

The Inquiries begun in 1729 AE with the seizure of the Guildmaster of the Ether Flagship Branch Chapter on the grounds of multiple violations of the Nine Tenets (to include multiple relationships with subordinates, classist discrimination of outsourced alchemy projects, and demeaning behavior towards fellow Guild alchemists) and ended with the prosecution of the Archmaster Rivet for disclosing the details of non-personal alchemy projects to a news source for financial gain in 1739 AE. Before the Archmaster Rivet could stand trial, however, she died — presumedly from illness and stress. The remaining Archmasters and Guildmasters began to feel targeted, but in spite of his more active role in Guild matters André remained reclusive and the many attempts on his life were on the whole unsuccessful.

Discontent spread even further when André soon appointed his own previous understudy, now-Master Rivet Evie Clarke, to the vacant Archmaster Rivet position. His reasoning seemed understandable, especially given Clarke’s role in the improvements of the logika and her own creation of the clockwork heart, but it was easy to spin the tale as one of favoritism throughout the Alchemy Guilds. Upon André’s untimely death due to a long-time illness in December of 1742 AE, the higher echelons of Guild leadership were eager for change yet found themselves more divided and paranoid than ever.

Clarke’s Scheme & the Magistrate Election Results
A skillful manipulator since she was a child, Archmaster Rivet Evie Clarke saw opportunity to capitalize on the division within the Alchemy Guilds. Believing that none of the Archmasters could look past their selfishness to work in the best interests of the Guilds, she made it her goal to take the Guild Magistrate position by any means possible — and so set in motion a multiple-part plan to use the Archmasters’ paranoia against them. Friendship under false pretenses, incredulous cases of bribery, plying sexual favors; though the extent of Clarke’s actual actions have not been (and presumedly cannot be) verified, the rumors that followed ranged from sad to downright improbable, and not a single one of them ever proven true. The Magistrate Election took place on January 8, 1743 AE. All five Archmasters of the five disciplines entered the circular election chamber at the center of the Hub, originally the meeting place of the chairmen of the Alchemical Institute, now kept locked to all events except the Magistrate election upon the death of the previous Guild Magistrate. A date must be decided on at which all Archmasters can and must be present, but no later than thirty days after the passing of the previous Magistrate. If an Archmaster does not appear to an election, their vote is considered void. And when the smoke of the election finally cleared, there was a unanimous 4-to-1 vote for Clarke with the exception of Clarke herself (Archmasters cannot vote for themselves). She had voted for the Archmaster Ether.

Wild reports of the events following claimed that a gun had been drawn in the election chamber, that arguing ensued on the results and insistence that there be a re-vote, that Clarke was beaten within an inch of her life that day with a grin on her face. Whatever it was that happened in there, the positional ceremony was postponed until the next day outside the Hub in Syndulla, with the Rivet Flagship Branch Chapter Guildmaster — known to be Clarke’s best friend — pinning the Magistrate Mantle over the new Guild Magistrate’s shoulders and none of the Archmasters in attendance.