Editing Illumian (section)

===War===
When Tarmuid created the first illumians centuries ago, he instructed them to form cabals across the surface of the world—a directive the illumians took to heart. Illumians do not openly govern great cities or nations, although more than one monarch is under the secret influence or control of an illumian cabal. Illumian wars tend to be small-scale affairs involving a handful of cabals and less than a thousand illumians. But what they lack in epic grandeur, illumian battles make up for in subterfuge and ruthlessness.

Conflict among illumians occurs most commonly when two cabals find themselves working at cross-purposes and are unable to settle the issue diplomatically. Such “silent wars” begin with various dirty tricks, then gradually escalate into sabotage and assassination before culminating in an all-out assault on the fortress of one of the cabals. Illumians employ nonillumians as willing allies or uninformed catspaws, but in either case many of the casualties in a silent war aren’t aware of the true nature of the battle.

More rarely, an illumian cabal specifically targets another cabal—probably because the target has access to magic, lore, or a power source that the aggressor cabal wants. This activity is particularly common among ascension cabals and gauntlet cabals (described below), which tend to be more aggressive than other cabal types.

While illumians most often war among themselves, that isn’t to say that every cabal is too paranoid to trust its fellows. Illumians are nothing if not pragmatic, and they recognize the value of reliable allies. When two cabals form an alliance, they usually exchange a number of members, jointly reveal secrets to one another, and intertwine their operations as much as possible. The closer the integration between two allied cabals, the less likely a betrayal will occur, because each cabal can quickly wreck the operations of the other.

Because illumians live in isolated fortresses and work their plots subtly, it’s rare for a nonillumian army to make war on them. But if a cabal’s palace plot goes awry, an angry king may mount a crusade and besiege the offending cabal’s fortress. Illumians rarely meet such threats head on. They’re more likely to foment revolution elsewhere to distract the king, or subvert the military leaders of the retribution force, often with magic, bribes, or promises of power.