PCG: You also mentioned that Asura are kind of going to be an enemy in this regard with the meta-krewe Inquest.
JG: Well, you talk about being a krewe, the krewe being the basic unit of, you have a prop, you bring a bunch of Asura together for a krewe, and you disperse them—it's like movie production. The Inquest, at its core, is a method by which you organize so everybody gets knowledge. Which is to say, the Inquest gets knowledge. And in order to do that, they've made some major changes to the way Asura function. You no longer are working on your project, you're working on part of a project that we tell you to. You join us, you're part of the group, you've got the eternal NDA, you don't leave the Inquest, you belong to us, we will recruit you, we may recruit you even if you don't want to be recruited.
Most Asuras will not experiment on sentients. That's one of those things that's just not a good thing. The Inquest don't have that limitation. They are more willing to not just manipulate, but to harm others because they've made the judgment that they're superior and therefore have the right to do what they will without worrying about you. If and when they screw up, they don't hang around to deal with their messes. In Metrica province in one of the early areas, there's an area that was an Inquest base. They were experimenting with things no Asura should mess with. And the area is a magical Chernobyl right now, and yes, your story takes you into that. They are essentially knowledge without wisdom.
PCG: Are they a group of outcasts?
RS: Oh goodness no! They're very integrated and very powerful. When you have that many Asura working together toward a common goal, you really have a force to be reckoned with. The Asura as a people are ruled by an Arcane Council. In theory the Arcane Council is supposed to be the best and the brightest among us, but in reality it's, some of the best and the brightest that really couldn't get out of the politics and are stuck with it. The Inquest actively looks for those positions, they're actively trying to get the race as a whole to listen to their ideas and to sort of work for their krewe. In an Inquest magical future, the Inquest are the Asura—that's all there are.
JG: They see themselves as the future of the Asura, and the Nightmare Court are outcasts, and the Sons of Svanir are the rowdy guys that, if they don't make trouble, will be tolerated. The Inquest are Lex Luthor in Metropolis. They have tangible political power.
RS: And it's hard for any other Asura to really discount them. You can devalue their methods, you can disagree with their ethics, but wow, do they get results!