Rust

Rust is an anonymous, subversive scholar highly critical of both the current Pontifex Tillidorus and organized religions in general. He keeps his identity well concealed behind dozens of armed guards and never ventures out in public. Those scholars who have seen him report that even in person, his body is completely covered with linen dyed to a deep rust color by narthex catulinius plant.

Writings
The major work for which Rust is known is The Broken Altar, written under his student-name Imre Devai. Originally written--or so the story goes--as his advanced thesis for the Magisterium Licetorum, it soon became a favorite among more radical scholars for its contrarian rendition of the courtly intrigues of the 19th through 21st Pseudocrats. Rust argued that the pattern of shifting allegiances proves conclusively that the Pseudocrats were in fact under the sway of more powerful figures whose names are not recorded by history. The Broken Altar only identifies them figuratively as The Wren and The Mirror, for their respective defining qualities.

The more fertile aspect of The Broken Altar has proved to be the illumination of what some scholars say is a radical secret sect of what can only be called "historical assassins." Like The Wren and The Mirror, no specific evidence of this sect has been found, but supporters adore pointing out the piles of circumstantial evidence. Rust's supporters have taken to calling the sect Autumn's Leaves, joking that they only arrive once the high season has ended--and then disappear with the mistral.

Autumn's Leaves, it is argued, targets figures who might otherwise rise to historical prominence and assassinates them before their ascension. Rust's supporters posit a protective motive: Autumn's Leaves is actually made up of a conspiracy among the aristocrats of the Bellodonto Valley to maintain their control over the one eternal resource: memory.

The Broken Altar serves as a rallying cry against that conspiracy and also against the organized religion that is seen deeply embroiled. For all the talk of "eternal change" involved with the Rites of Letha, these dissident scholars simply see more of the same.

Known Aliases
While at the Magisterium, Rust took the student-name Imre Devai. The Magisterium records of his given name were destroyed in a mysterious fire involving a dog, a roast, and three prostitutes.

Professor Balavos Booswee, Director of the Arcanaium at the Magisterium, is often thought to be Rust. It is well-known that Professor Booswee disappears more often than a person should, but that is attripbuted to his nearly obsessive study of secrecy.

The Rogue Prince Dalet is also thought to be a mask of Rust's. The tremendous amount of platinum accumulated by the Prince's cutpurses, moneylenders, thieves, extortioners, and lawyers could explain Rust's seemingly very deep pockets. Nevertheless, the Prince's face is well-known and much-pursued.