At the previous summit, the Imperial Synod were placed in an invidious position - forced to choose between two outcomes that were, for many, equally undesirable. They could align the General Assembly with the Vigilance assembly and accept that there are Seven Virtues, and that the malign spiritual presences are so-called because they are dangerous to the Empire and hinder the quest for enlightenment. That would result in the virtuous remaining vigilant against the teachings or influence of so-called "false virtues". The cost to ensure that the Empire remained pure in this way would be to raise further questions about why Silas of the Cenotaph, the current Cardinal of Wisdom, remains in post despite them openly bearing an aura of false virtue.
