Agents,

I'm writing on behalf of the SOTOM to request several of the devices termed "Cognitive Scrutinizers," as well as whatever instructions are necessary for their use (although from what I've seen, it is fairly straightforward).

We hope that we will be able to cooperate with the Spellguard to continue to expose and deter aberrant threats to Sanctuary, especially those dealing with enthrallment. Especially with the current low active numbers of your order, I'm sure you can see the wisdom in sharing this important technology with us.

Thank you for your time. Please reply to the Chapterhouse.

Ordinant Ir'scidon

Another identical letter arrives.

PREFACE

Addressing the Matter of Supplying the Society of the Ordered Mind With Several Units of the Item Known as Cognitive Scrutinizer, With Which the User May, With Great Accuracy, Decide if the Subject Upon Which the Test has been Conducted was, at the Time of the Test, Under the Influence of Any Given Number of Creatures With the Ability to Assume Control of a Victim's Mind and, by Extension, Body, Such As, For Instance, the Dread Illithid, Known More Commonly As Mind Flayer, Through a Tool, Often Organic in Nature, Referred To Simply As Implant.
Submitted to the Society of the Ordered Mind Chapterhouse Addressed, specifically, to Ordinant Ir'scidon On the Hill of New Dunwarren By Agent Lorrius Kessler Greatly assisted by Operative Kyros Miller IV Both of the Order of the Spellguard On the 17th day of Alturiak Of the 153rd year after the Founding Or the 1375th year by Dalereckoning.

The purpose of this report is to address the latest -- that is, not the first, nor, we do the honour of allowing ourselves to believe, the last -- request to obtain one or more copies of the device known as cognitive scrutinizer, submitted by the Society of the Ordered Mind, specifically Ordinant Ir'scidon, first on the 13th of Alturiak, year 153 since the Founding, and again, as no (proper) response was awarded the first attempt at correspondence, four days later, on the 17th of Alturiak.

With this report, we, that is, the undersigned and, indeed, the entire Order of the Spellguard, hope, and, verily, believe, yet do so without, dare we say it, thinking ourselves to be presumptuous, that we may enlighten our reader as to why our, that is, the Order's, stance on the matter in question is as it is.

As the reader may or may not know at this point, the Order of the Spellguard has been contacted, and that on several occasions, although, the reader perceive, not always by the same individual, in the hopes of, if not extending, then at least establishing some amount of, co-operation between itself and, on this occasion, the Society of the Ordered Mind.

We, that is, the Order of the Spellguard, will first, before addressing the actual request, take a moment to point out that we are more than a little happy to learn that, not only is it the case that some people acknowledge our authority on the discussed subject, but also that, moreover, these people have taken the initiative to contact us and, in so doing, confirm, beyond the shadow of a doubt, the aforementioned acknowledgement of our authority. Often, we have reason to suspect our visage may, at times, come off as slightly, if not even terribly, intimidating, and we fear that this has, on more than one occasion, meant that concerns which would have otherwise reached our attention did not, in fact, reach our attention, and so the reader will understand that we are glad to learn that, if only on a complete scale, such is not the case.

Having now said two words on our feelings regarding the, in our opinion, worthy gesture extended by the honourable Society of the Ordered Mind, and excusing ourselves for not immediately attacking, if we, that is, the authors, may be permitted to use such a word, the core of the issue at hand, that is, the actual request, we now proceed to do just that.

Dissecting the letter sent to, and, verily, received by, us, what is asked of us has been found to be:
• "Several" cognitive scrutinizers, discussed in detail in the next chapter of that very name.
• Accompanying instructions in order to properly use the cognitive scrutinizers.
• The general co-operation of the Order of the Spellguard when it comes to the aberrant menace.
It is only natural that the Order of the Spellguard welcomes any proposal of co-operation made by law-abiding citizens, yet at the same time the reader must understand that, primarily due to a tight budget, only so much can we, that is, the Order, do for unaffiliated organisations such as, for instance, the Society of the Ordered Mind.

On top of the production cost, there is the extra salary from instructing a third party in the, contrary to the assumption presented in the letter containing this famous request, complicated use of the cognitive scrutinizer which must also be covered, and that, as long as only members of the Order of the Spellguard possess the necessary understanding of the intricacies of the scrutinizer's inner workings, every time this third party has its numbers increased.

Lastly, there remains to be addressed the undeniable fact that the scrutinizers will, sooner rather than later, cease to function as they run out of power, after which they must be recharged in special Machine powered charging bays which, incidentally, we, that is, the Order, cannot just erect anywhere we may well please (and that is ignoring the stigma that, apparently, must necessarily follow with any Spellguard manufactured device introduced to the public, even though, assuredly, such nefarious conspiracy theories are absurd beyond all recognition, having no basis in reality whatsoever). To save the reader from wondering, we can quickly dispel any hopes he may have had of such a bay being erected within the Society Chapterhouse by saying thus: it cannot be done. The obvious solution to this problem is then that these extra scrutinizers were to be recharged by the Order itself; alas, in addition to being bothersome, for that it would indubitably be, for fear of the consequences, we cannot allow ourselves the liberty to constantly syphon energy from the very foundation upon which Sanctuary is built, especially not for something that is, essentially, unnecessary.

With this, it is a shame that we, that is, the authors, on behalf of the Order, relay to the reader that in no way does it appear to us, that is, the Order, that we can humour the requests, with the exception of general co-operation which we are at all times willing to indulge in, submitted to us, neither now nor, for that matter, in what one may deign to call "near future."

The device after which this chapter has been named (because, as the reader, if not knows, then, almost certainly, suspects, it discusses the very device in question) is the result of hours, not to say days or, even, years, of careful research; innumerable tests (none of which, the reader be assured, have deliberately inflicted pain upon the test subject or otherwise intentionally caused the test subject to suffer discomforts); and, above all, planning and ambition, and many failures have been encountered on the long path marked by the first idea to the final version now in use.

The project, the goal of which was to create this famous device (or rather, we should say, the predecessor, for many an adjustment has been made since the first working prototype saw the light of day, as they say, despite here being no daylight), was started a score of years ago by a now retired member of the Order, whose name, we feel, is of no importance. It was not, however, until then Agent Miller IV, who already then possessed a deep understanding of the alien psionics, some nine years ago took over project lead that a working prototype was constructed. The prototype being, well, a prototype, it was not so surprising that some creatures used for testing purposes suddenly found themselves needing to be replaced.

After a series of consistently better working prototypes over the course of the next four and a half years, Operative Miller IV briefly saw Operative Zerdichon Syrov, whom the reader may recognise as a man skilled in engineering, included in the project, this resulting in the first stable scrutinizer produced roughly three and a half years ago. This scrutinizer, inserted into the nose of the test subject, and suffering from a greatly limited number of uses without being rechargeable, was in use for the better part of two years until it was replaced by the current model, which is inserted into the subject's ear; can handle several more subjects before being depleted; and must at regular intervals be recharged in a Machine powered charging bay. Unfortunately, this latest model is also particularly expensive to manufacture, and so the Order has only a small amount.

And so, following this lengthy, although, we hope, instructive, report, we, that is, both the reader and the authors, have arrived, conclusively, at the chapter that has so tentatively been titled Conclusion, and it is here that we, that is, the authors, recapitulate to the reader what the reader already has, if not actually read, then, perhaps, deduced from the text.

It is with regret that we, that is, the Order of the Spellguard, must inform the reader that we cannot abide by the request that has been so formally submitted to us. Having discussed the request at length with individuals possessing of, to the average man as well as even the common scholar, superior knowledge on the subject, we have agreed that the best approach is not to hand over a unit of the item previously discussed to the Society of the Ordered Mind, however distinguished in the combat of the aberrant menace -- for we, that is, both the Order as well as a large part of the populace, recognise that it is -- for the following, non-exclusive reasons:

• Production cost.
• Maintenance and associated risks.
• Resources required for instructions in proper use.
With this, the authors, convinced the reader has had his posed questions and, perhaps, even those not posed, answered to satisfactory degree, will, on behalf of the entire Order of the Spellguard, firstly, thank the reader for reading this work, and, secondly, seize this opportunity of opportunities to encourage the reader -- and, for that matter, anybody else, although an encouragement expressed through the medium of text finds that it has a hard time reaching those who, for whatever reason, do not read the paper upon which the encouragement has been formulated (and yet, for such a thing to happen is not entirely impossible, as there are ways in which even those not skilled at reading may come to learn the contents of a given text) -- to always direct questions and concerns to the Order of the Spellguard, for, indeed, if not the Order is qualified at answering questions and addressing concerns, well, we find ourselves hesitating to suggest who may be.

Operative Kyros Miller IV Agent Lorrius Kessler Order of the Spellguard