Editing Dynasty & Decadence/Onais (section)

===Questionnaire===
'''1) Why are you devoted to keeping this sub-House alive against all odds?'''

Onais never wholly outgrew a son's awe of his father, and to do less than defend his memory & his legacy now is unthinkable to him. Moreover, the fact that he's used his position within the Eye to aid the family on occasion was trivial while Taric was a power in Dynastic politics; a weakened House leaves Onais exposed on that score. 

'''2) The Dynasty isn't all about family. What loyalties and causes compete with your loyalty to House Peleps Taric?'''

Though intensely loyal to his family, it has been in the All-Seeing Eye that Onais became his own man, and through which he forged his own legacy and destiny. He is thoroughly devoted to its mission, in his role as one of the primary agents of the Inward-Looking Eye.

'''3) In what ways are you products of the Dynasty?''' 

In what way isn't he? A star pupil in his primary school, a talented product of the Spiral Academy, an effective if indifferent senior bureaucrat in the Imperial Treasury, and now one of the lynchpins of the All-Seeing Eye -- Onais's whole life has been by, of & for the Dynasty. Perhaps his only departure from the norm is his cynicism toward the Immaculate Order; born primarily of professional rivalry, he's quick to dismiss the monks' virtues in private, though he's perfectly orthodox in his belief.

'''4) What have you openly achieved in the past century that makes you a worthy subject for historians of the next Age to investigate thoroughly?'''

To those outside the web of Imperial politics, Onais appears to be -- so far as such a thing exists -- a typical Dynast: a well-connected bureaucrat who is loyal to the Empress, moderate in his venality, and always ready for the next salon. To those inside, he is the Ever-Patient Spider, a formidable spymaster of the All-Seeing Eye. Recruited form his position in the Treasury to fight corruption, he made his mark in the All-Seeing Eye almost immediately upon his commission in a very different sphere. Thanks to his suspicious mind and unfailing attention, he uncovered a network of spies within the Bureaucracy established by an agent of Lookshy; thanks to Onais, the spies were hanged and the 7th Legion agent was turned into an asset of the Realm, providing the Eye with invaluable intelligence -- and a means to feed disinformation to Lookshy -- for a century to come. The latest fruit of this early victory was the identification & recruitment of Korel; it was a substantial victory for the Realm that Onais parlayed into a family victory.

Other successes include: the early identification & infiltration of the Seven Thrushes Conspiracy, which threatened to engulf the northern Threshold (and which Onais used to help his father enlarge Phumugrun); discovering & uprooting the Numberless Obols Brotherhood, a wide-ranging attempt by the Guild to infiltrate the Tax & Treasury ministries; the choreographing of the Long Night's Dance, a brutally efficient & systematic purge within the Eye of rogue assets and suspected double-agents (and probably more than a few unfortunates who had simply made the wrong enemies). Most recently, he wrote & promulgated The Dragons' Ceaseless Waking, a meditation on life in the Eye's service-cum-protocol for combating infiltration; in the twenty years since it first appeared, it has become de rigeur reading for those who wish to be accepted into the Eye Turned Inwards.

Onais is also a well-known, if now semi-retired, grandmaster of Gateway; as a youth of twenty-five years old, he defeated no less a luminary than Cathak Cacek thanks to his then-revolutionary Vengeful Ghost defense. A few years later, he published Languid Satrap, Forgotten Ghosts, a classic in defensive Gateway tactics.

'''5) What weaknesses do you possess that aren't just personal failings, but could be exploited by your enemies to cost you the Game of Thrones? What are the fields of engagement where you can't just apply Game Theory analysis, but instead will act against your own interests?'''

As a matter of official policy, the Eye demands its members abstain from House politicking; some activity in that latter regard is overlooked, even expected; but full-on engagement is very much frowned upon. Another potential weakness is his (more than professional) interest in his protege, Enuma Preven, a sorcerer & assassion of House Iselsi; he reminds Onais of all that he loves in Grolush & Aisha both.