I was initially surprised this past January when Cray Fenton agreed with me over Sari Frame and the Code. Before his departure in 1251, he had been closely mentored by Sari and was her close friend. So it had been a pleasant surprise to have him side with me and declare his support for me when I stated that I would seek the Dungeonmaster position after Breen's departure.
However, his friendship recently turned to rivalry. I should have known of his stance against my supposed moderation when he showed the first signs of his true feelings for me at that meetup in the Library last February. But I never took that into consideration.
One evening this past April, I got into a conversation with Fenton in the East Side Corridor adjacent to the Main Chamber, where he said that I should push to abolish the entire Code and the entire Prefectdom. Though I believe that there are some Prefects who do not understand their roles and that the Code includes some ridiculous amendments, to abolish both would be a rather poor decision for the Society.
Fenton was not there when the Crimson Lion was an issue. That was when my avatar quested in Galacia; and the quest-dynamic balance was virtually non-existent. In other words, favoritism reigned. In fact, the establishment of the Prefectdom was the outcome of a collective effort in which I took part to restore fair and balanced dynamics to the region. Carla Wright had done well to see to that initially. However, Carla began overstepping her bounds, thus the reason for the amendment to the Statute of Principle dictating who appointed the Prefects, who gave charge to the Prefects, and the balance of power between Members, Prefects, and Administration. We came to a consensus on this and had the Prefectdom we know today firmly established not only in Galacia but also throughout the Arturian Realm.
This policy, however, did not specify actual standards for a Prefect's role, thus the need for the Code. Without the Code, there was an opportunity for certain Prefect candidates to potentially abuse their roles to bring about favoritism or other kinds of imbalance among the questing entities. So to have the Code in place is important; we just need to do away with some of the ridiculous amendments.
So I explained all of this to Fenton. Thankfully, there was no one else around at the time. Initially, Fenton appeared to listen, but as soon as I was done, he raised his voice, threw his arms in the air, and said, "So you want to compromise the opposition? That will achieve nothing!"
Fenton and I have not spoken directly since. Fenton, at the beginning of this month, came forward and stated that he, himself, was running for the Dungeonmaster position. In the time since, he has repeated what I said at our recent meetup about the Prefects and the Code, calling me a "moderate for the status quo and an enabler of Sari Frame's Progressive Camp." And some Members who once had faith in me are seeing his stances as more trustworthy.
Just last night, I met with Alex Cromme at my residence of 219 West Mason Street. He agreed with my notion that, at this point, Fenton had become a loose cannon. However, to my surprise, Cromme suggested that it was stubborn for me to refuse to step down my stance to run for the Dungeonmaster position myself.
He actually suggested that I endorse Fenton instead. His reasoning was that my "moderate standing" could be present to ultimately prevent Fenton from doing something that would put the Society in a compromising position.
I honestly do not know how I feel about this advice. I do not seek the Dungeonmaster position to gain a title or personal reward for myself. I seek it because I was called upon by a collection of Members to do so. Without me, there would be no one to effectively oppose Sari Frame and her quest to double the length of the Code to include rules that are impossible to follow. Fenton, on the other hand, though opposed as well is, what I would say, a bit extreme. I fear that he would not gain enough support to topple Frame. The best our side could get from Fenton is a populus divided.
So I realize that my role and agenda is more important than ever. I am not simply to lead opposition against Frame; I am here to unite the opposing factions.