10/16/2009
Session 7

From under the dwarf's skin we can see little bits of light coming out of him.  He reaches a hand toward Ryan's head.  

"The task of my salvation now falls to you" We heard the dwarf say.  (And he sent Reban a vision of a lake).  He transforms into a light and goes to Rebans heart and disappears into the locket that Reban is carrying... then the dwarf is gone?

"What was that about" (Biger).

"I'm pretty sure that was my dad" (Reban).  "I think it wasn't tangibly him..." [Reban can still sense that his father is alive... in the direction north by northeast.] (Into the frozen wastes).  That may have been either his spirit or just another version of him.  Reban's pretture sure only real important thing is that there is animportant reason to go and get him.  Reban seemes stunned.  "That was pretty emotionally intense... i'm gonna need a minute...   He showed me a lake... and... I dunno... he's not... just here...  the rest of him is.. if the vision he showed me is correct, the rest of him is frozen deep in a lake. He indicates that he is supposed to go NNE...  he'd like our help...  It's important to him.  

We owe the red Dragon a favor on top of returning the crown of win to her.  

The only place where large lakes freeze is in the frozen wood.

We return to the lair of the priestess of the Red.

We return, and the priestess of the red is speaking with a warforged.  Shows signs of wear.  Belt of decent looking livery.  A smoking pipe in one hand.  Some nifty parchment thing with a seal on it.  The priestess says "One moment, I see you are back".  He's probably the imperial messenger.  

She puts the wand away.  The priestess puts the crown of uber (Which resizes on her head and the wand.  And she kinda smiles... "As for the favor that was going to be determined... it would seem that the empire has sent a request of me and I will send these in my stead."  

The priestess of the red seems to have confidence that we will do this task.  If we accomplish the task that the empire requests, our task will be done.  The priestess of the red leaves us alone.

We talk with the Warforged (Who introduces himself as Tuan hun-ger)

2 days of phantom steed ride takes us to Alexandria. (Tuan's doesn't ever vanish).  

I ask how a warforged works for the empire.  Tuan answers his city was captured...  he cleans himself by like ventilating and such...   draining fluiods from his knees and such.  He joined the empire became a citizen and hasn't needed to recharge since.

I've never seen this place...  A magnificent city... primarily dwarven make, stone, mostly.  It has been built partially for aesthetics, not just for

We go inside the castle and enter the throne room.  There are a pair of people ehre... there are members of the emperors personal guard.  We see a dwarf speaking with something that looks to be impossible.  It has a spectral form.  It's unheard of.  It looks undead beyond all doubt.  It is also the emperor.  He is NOT evil.  He is not sitting in the chair.  The dwarf speaking to him turns and says "Moradin's will be served."

Next to the emperor Is a guy who drops invisibility once the dwarf is gone.  This guy looks human, but with fiendish traits.   He has horns and a slightly reddish tinge to his skin (An old school tiefling look), wearing nice clothes but which are not purely imperial fashion.  And he sys to the emperor "My people will declare war.  Does this not disturb you?"  "This is Bahamuts will *Said sadly*."

"We feel a very small quake, and the guy reaches out and he vanishes in a flash of black and red."

The emperor sighs and says "I have no doubt."

We tell the king that the priestess of the red dlegated thigns to us.
"Then we will do what we can with what we have..."

"As you can tel, things have grown tumultuous in the empire.  It will be important to make there be a living emperor again... there needs to be a line.  We need to know who can be trusted and who cannot...   My death could not be accomplished without help from inside the empire.  I trust you two, and the outside perspective could help."

Isaline shows him a letter... Emperr says"The Marquee has been behaving strangely for sometime."

"I have no reason to question the accuracy of my teacher, but I cannot speak for the marquee himself." (Isaline)

"You have experienced the flow... it was clear, since I do not recognize you.  The Marquis I speak of is..."

"And he is not to be trusted".

"It is an unfortunate thing tat I do not have the evidence to act, but its good to know to."   

If the succession is not performed in the proper way, I forsee war... against everyone.  

"Who was the individual?"  (Joe)

"He is the victim of a curse.   He and those like him have surrendered what they once were for fiendish power."

"Before he became what he came now, was he like me?" (Joe)

"Perhaps, but I don't know." Said the emperor.

Emperor: "I will gladly provide any service I may help."

The other three names are identical to what they were before.   Emperor tells us of the MArquis of Nifleheim.  He is a Deva and one of the only dragon knights the empire has:  He subdued a dragon and made it his mount.  The Marquis was wounded in crippling fashion and the the dying fiend he would never again be touched by magic.  He's a cripple but has way much of  cred.  He rules fairly and there was never any corruption on his part.  Currently the people who go around and handle things in his region are his wife and seneschal (His wife is the higher of the two.)



Midgard: (The north one)  Leaf Bloodletter.  Was the general, became the marquis, stayed the general.  Is a berserker.  A very unrelenting general.  Renowned for martial skill, not political maneuvering.  most of his advisors are militant... but he understands the need for politics, but he doesn't want to deal with it

Valhalla: Ironheart is a knight of a warrior of skilla nd valor.  he leads the training campaigns.  Most warriors are trained here. The Valiant was a dragonborn who worked his way up to being a general and is a tactical genius.  They seem honorable.  

Elyria is the region whose  Marquis who way untrustworthy.  Humans and those like them are exceptionally rare.  It would be easy to see such among citizens of the empire.  

The emperor says that your people existed in the distant past but no longer.  We are not touched by the Nexus.. which only gives more credibility to the idea that you are from a time or place where such things did not exist.  (The Nexuses have always existed.  So he could be from the future or another place.)  


We ask for the emperor.  

Ed requests something of the emperor. "It is my knowledge that the Emprei has destroyed nexuses, and I would like toknow where they were."  The Existence of the nexuses that have been dismanteled.  You may gain access to those records in any free time that you have.

The emperor turns to us... "The topic of nexuses has raised a quandry... as such... as you will be doing me a service.  The emperor  offers us the benefits of citizenship.  (He holds out his hands, and We feel refreshed(Or recharged, in the case of Ed and I.)


He calls down the blessing of his god in draconic to bring us to the destination we need.  We feel an upswel of divine energy which feels similar to when Rebans father disappearred.  

(Ed and I remain behind).  

In seconds, of the party arriving the priestess of the black arrives.  The priestess of the Black is


"We are looking to stop treachery within the empire.  How many of the high lords are not to be trusted.?"   She gets a strained look and says "The intentions of one are clearly disloyal...   One is stupid.... but of both of the others, I sense there is something preventing them from being divined.  One of these, we know (Because no one can touch magic).  She has content for them.  The one you already suspect, you know the truth.  Midgard is unlikely, so that leaves Elyria and Valhalla.

Joe asks about Jenna... but the same block lies over both...  The Priestess looks pissed, because she doesn't know these things.  


Zahar:  To walk the path of the fists of heaven and hell.  Can this bring about the salvation of the world?

The priestess of the Black says "There are significant dangers to the path you folow, but should you master both trains of thought, you will find quality and purity."

Reban.  Reban wants to know where it is exactly.  

Reban asks... "What al will be necessary for us... me... to do in order to release my father."  

Priestess of Black looks at Reban... and glances back down at the body of the frost giant king.  And she says.  "To Free what you know as your father, you need but to destroy the amulet you are wearing.  But to in truth free your father, you would need to brave hell itself."  She seems to take a particular pleasure in telling him that.  There is some part of that information that intrigues her.  

Note, we Ed and I weren't there.  

"Regardless of where we stand, I appreciate all of your help.  I will bargain -fairly- with all who come here."

We release Zahar to his Task, should he desire.  Zahar offers to return and help as he can once he returns.  

The projection spell ends..

We warforged have like 15 minutes.  He asked his god for a favor and there was divine favor.  



Ed:  "What do you remember about that fateful night."  

Emperor:  "I remember that we were forewarned that there was going to be an attack.  There were others who knew of it.  And they ttempted to seek out hte nature of the assassin.  unfortunately, their attempts were unsuccessful.  I do not recall teh assissin... I was caught completely off guard."

"The entirity of my personal guard were present in the place down to a powerful diviner in my bedchamber (Whose fate I do not know).  There was a significant amount of time before i recovered as this. "

"She was a nomad.  (We are given a description and I work with it.)"  

What do you know about the weapon that was used... its descrption was given to me before the assassination.  no one could divine hte weapon and finding it proved to be a very complicated task.  I can only assume that that is the blade which killed me.   

What the emperor knows of it... a weapon.. a crystalline blade with a face etched into the guard.  A long blade, a nice weapon, not a typical weapon for an assassin (its the Sword).  I'm told there were significant efforts made on the parts of many people to retrieve that weapon.  

The hordes, people of Delphia.  If we had known, we'd have sent for it ourselves

I ask about the drahonborn being incapacitated.   "Unfortunately from when I was felled I don't remember anything.  I was told there was such an incident, but i don't understand why this could possibly be the case."  Even should hte weapon...    *Shakes his head...*  In honesty, I have no theories...  

"You have the favor of your god.  The dragonborn that were in attendance... were they followrs of the same god...  Could there have been some connection on a level of faith instead of race?   The emperor gives a cold stop to the question.  Thuis is some nerve that ed hit."  He is certain beyond a doubt that it is not possible.  He knows of no dragonborn present and not incapacitated.   Were there an attack against Bahamut channeled through that, he'd have known.




The emperor turns to Ed and starts to say something...  When Ed is quaked away.  Note:  This is in the Empire.   IMPOSSIBILITY!

The ones who went to the priestess comes back in the middle of the quest.  Arwel replaces Ed.  

Arwel:  "Tell me where you learned to SMOKE!" to Tuan.  

This quake did not extend beyond this room...  (The Emperor said his)

We're all baffled.  

The emperor says that the emperor needs to know as much of the flow as possible so they can choose to make informed decisions.  This was outside of such knowledge.  

Arwel:  "The Lord of the pit has come out of a Nexus and is offering his alleigiance...It begins with a G... "  (Grazzt).  he's a demon prince, one of the lords of the abyss.  He's all about tempation and betrayal...  But he's not lawful.  

Emperor says :  "This is very troubling news...  I think it very unlikely that anyone would avoid war if this were the case."  

Arwel met with Grazzt personally.

The emperor says that the cursed have given up that way of life.  Delphia is already considering war.  There are factions among them that see the potential advantages of leading hte fiends of hell... as has been 'promised to them'.  

At the city of Terminus.  The others spoke little... but Sahreet seemed interested in how they turned the nexus negative, without care that Grazzt was there.

Emperor was upset.   Now its all the more urgent that we take out the traitors....  We need to prepare our people for war.  

The Emperor dislikes the method to create warforged...  The Delphaic people produced the warforged and they keep them close enough that they never listen to our words.  Tatenda is part of the empire...  TIts the same year.  In Arwel's reality, Tatenda was an independent city for the whole time, and the demon prince may be from that reality.  

Waugrim is a traitor for sure, we tell the emperor.  

Eloyes was taken over by the empire..   It was a large mining city which was able to withstand all their troubles, then a huge horde force invaded and the empire liberated them.  

The priestess of the black knows how to mess with nexuses and has the sword.  

regardless of who is to blame, we must move quickly to move vaugrim and investigate the other.

More important tot he empire is making sure the leadership is intact.  In Tuan's knowledge.   Arwel's mother is fine, And Arwel is a paladin.  Arwel writes a letter to his mother.  

The Demons appeared in Delphians and and the demons .  Those who had seen it were sequestered.    

I know the abyss and the hells are different.   I know they are different things.  The hells are ruled by LE devils and The Abyss is less disciplined and more ephemeral and contains CE demons.  The idea of a lake of ice tickles something in the back of my mind but...   Maybe do some more research on that.  I remember having heard something about a lake wiht relation to the hells.  

The Emperor is ok equipping us with +3 shit (Weapons, armors, and +4 bracers of armor).  

Arwel is made into a temporary citizen like us.

After a few minutes, tuan comes back and with some messangers.  Within a few minutes, the dwarf we saw at first... "Rori ((Beardthicket)), before you begin, you have a trifling tasks which should take no more than a day."  Please accomplish this quickly and go about the plan.   Rori says Follow me.  TNote that the switching weapon/armor mods is really iffy.  Not too long after, we see a halfling woman enter.  She takes a knee, and approaches the emperor.  He says...

"This woman is Alana Dune, a court wizard.  She will transport you wher eyou need to go.  You may visit the armory at any time."  

So A +3 weapon, +3 armor, and +4 bracers of armor.  

The emperor says that.  

We are introduced to the court wizard.

It takes about half an hour, then the dwarf comes back, and he gives Arwel an armor.   She knows that this takes waaaay longer than this.   Rori says "In the empire, you learn to improvise."  When asked how he did it so quickly.  

The wizard casts the teleport.  The emperor says that we're totally fine.  We are teleported.  We go to Valhalla.    

We appear and we ae standing in a reasonably large room.  There are specific rooms for people to be teleported into to avoid teleportation into people.  We are immediately led out to avoid being telefragged.  

"As part of the emperor's personal guard, I'm not allowed to arrest anyone   So if you get in trouble, you might be in trouble...."  

Valhalla is a city primarily built with heavy stonework.  it is first the base where the army is trained and most of the imperial forces are trained in Valhalla.  So there are imperial solderis EVERYWHERE..   patrols every block.  (I do keep my mithril chain shirt +1 because this stuff has imperial Livery.)  

There are some civilians here but they're here to provide services and such to the military.  There is an Arena.  Most of the people here are carrying standard equipment for soldiers and a cold iron dagger on their belts.  Valhalla is IN enemy territory.   It's like 2 weeks into the Feywood.  The most fortified structure in the city is Marquis Ironhearts palace.  Secondmost fortified is the generals manshion which is across the way.  both are very defendable structures which are sealed in so flying creatures can't easily access the inside area.  

The Palisades have been treated with cold iron and the like...  its fortified against fey.  

Get to the central structure and it looks familiar to Isaline, so yay.  And someone who is dressed in the livery of the Marquis and is a dragonborn.   "Lady, how may we serve?" to Isaline.  The Dragonborn nods and says "If these are the words of our late emperor, then the Marquis would like to hear it."  (Sense motive reveals that he knows the emperor is not silent.)  We wait a bit...  chill... The reception area has arrow slits.  They are ready for anyone to try anything.  About 10 minutes pass.   "My lady, the Marquis will see you immediately.  He nods and leads us off.  

We are taken to the Dining hall.  The Marquis is waiting for us, he is seated alone and there are guards in the corners.  "My Lady, please have a seat."  he appears to be unarmed.  He looks like a combat veteran.  This marquis is superchivalrous knight one.  He is a dragonborn who is capable.  

You must have come Quite a ways to come and see me.

We are frank and to the point, which pleases him.  The Wizard has stayed out.  

"The fact of the matter is we have been speaking with the Emperor.  The guards seem a ittle bit uncomfortable.  at mention of this, and the Marquis says "You have my word that nothing said here will leave this room" and the guards snap to attention.

Arwel mentions her tale, including the quake (Which the marquis is unnerved by...)   

The Delphians turned the overflowing positive nexus by inverting it.  

"This is something new to me.  Please explain."  Instead of positive energy flowing from it, negative energy does...   

'The Significance of the geomatic ramifications are not under my purview.'

Also of note is that Grazzt is there...  The Marquis growls further... he seems taken aback when mentioned that the Delphians did this.  Arwel mentions that the Delphians were also taken aback...

The marquis Has experience fighting demons and seems confident.  

tuan acknowledges that this is true.

"There are obviously reasons that this should concern me.... but why are you here?"  We explain we're here to get an heir.

He seems to be going along with what he says but there's an undercurrent of hostility.  ("You would dare accuse me?" kind of hostility)

It is all the more important to be certain of where everyone stands in a time as tough as this.

"I will be blunt.  I do not wish to serve a dead emperor. I wish succession to occur quickly."  He

He has an undercurrent in what he says.  he is leaving out something, but not exactly lying when he says "I have not spoken with the other Marquis since the Emperor's death."  

Of all the Marquis who do you most favor?   "Few things are too presumptuous for a general of the mepire, hoever it seems to me that each of the marquis have their own flaws."   If you wish, I will give you brief my opinion of it.

"In the North.  The Marquis bloodletter... his methods are crude... and it makes sense that he is posted where he is.  He is not considered

To the east is the dragon tamer.  He would not survive as the emperor.  he is a deva and has no heir, which would prevent him from having an heir.  Second, he is a cripple, so he wouldn't have the force of presence to lead the people.  He leads the east through intermediaries, something that a skilled emperor

A lot of this Marquis contempt comes from this guy was a great warrior, and he fell so far...  And this marquis is constantly reminded that no body is immune."


He scowls...   


This guy lets out a lot of contempt.   The conversation about the marquis of the west angers him legitametly.   "I have personally stopped 3 assassinations attempts, and I strongly suspect the source."  


To the best of my knowledge 3 of the 4 lands are ruled well enough... however, Elyria has not made any significant successes since Eloyes.  The Marquis ther eis too busy conniving against the rest of us.  People that I have trained personally lead their armies (The Outriders).  The army there may be trustworthy.  People

This guy believes that everyone who comes through here Is loyal to the empire and he takes particular hands in it.

The Marquis has a question

"One of the emperor saids recently came to our city.  For a brief period of time, there was a quake.  At the end, he dismisised the Norns that were stationed here.   (The norns are the guardians of the Nexus)  These Norn were told that their services were no longer required.  He was a dwarven man.  The dwarf from the Emperors chamber (rori) said this.  This is one of the guys who is allowed nexuses.  This nexus was fairly recently captured.... it normally takes centuries to destroy a Nexus.  That man has been in the employ of the emperor For many centuries.  As the norn will tell us, It is not allowed to see the Nexuses unless you're one of the designated people.  

His contempt for necromancy is just so overwhelming that any further knowledge is obscured.   Undead bad, mkay?

With the Norn Gone, soldiers were sent, and the Nexus does not Exist any longer.  It would be difficult but not impossible to prevent others to find out the truth.  

We give some advice to strengthen attack.

The troops that attacked Eloyes werelike a bunch of people fused in.  They were lead through a nexus from Arx.  

It might be connected with the heart of the nexuses.  

We stay for the remainder of dinner.  He says "We did with Irritation on an almost daily basis.  If it gets too much worse, we may have to equip the men with nets."  Occasionally up to a dozen come at this fort...  so now its more like a nand of them work together to cause mischief.  This place has been fortified against the fey....

Zahar suggests we talk to his master.  

This Marquis believes what he has said, and Has been there himself (With regards to the nexus).

The empire, when they take a new city:  They offer imperial citizenship to anyone who is currently there.   People have 1 month to accept the offer or evacuate.  It seems like the benefits of imperial citizenship have no real time or distance limitations.  

We are given rooms in the nobles section of the fortress.  There is a brief scuffle of Fey attack, and they run out.  The military respone is quick and efficient.  (True seeing saw nothing strange there.)

Zahar remind us that if the crippled deva doesn't look like a deva, he must be destroyed...  My kind wear corruption on their sleeve...  Thos eof my people who walked the dark path are corrupted in form.  THey are fairly dark legends.  Rakshasa are what these corrupted are known as.  They are wickedly powerful and firmly evil.. and also exceedingly rare.  There is no fate greater feared among the Devas than to fall to that fate.  A blessed crossbow bolt is said to kill them.  

Zahar has lived many lives, personally.   One who has turned to rakshasa...  Well... who knows what happens when they're killed.  Zahar. Deva respawn at a temple of their god.  If magic magic cannot touch him, he may not be touched by magic, he may be 'dead' to the Devas.  This may have broken his mind.  To Deva, the cycle is the entirety of their existence.  Zahar only remembers his previous lives vaguely.   Joe says that sounds familiar to him.   There is one person who was real from what happened before he ended up here.  That was jennifer.... His parents, friends, etc... all felt and still feel as if they were a story told to him rather than truly real.  He feels little connection to that previous life beyond that one woman.  Haruhn himself stated that she is not technially of this world.  

We meet up with Alana.  We successfully appear in another teleportation chamber (In Nifelheim).

It's really cold here.  The buildings are made of wood.  Some are then futher covered with furs etc.  It's 15ish fahreignheit.  

There is a single stone builing:  The Marquis' palace...  Most stone buildings don't last well here.   

There is a normal distribution of evil here.  Here people are more evil than a typical city, and in the other city there was almost no evil.

No guards here are evil. We go to the marquis' mansion.  There is a dragonborn man here... the Seneschall.  "I will notify the Marquis at once."  He comes back in a few minutes looking startled:  "He will see you immediately"...  He is definately surprised, but not by us... rather, by his response.  

We are led off and brought into a room with a bunch of thick and unusual fus along hte room.  And we see the Marquis.  He is seated at a desk, in his wheelchair.  

he looks like a Deva and unusually pale and Emaciated.  He looks like he has been afflicted and never recovered.  He's paying a lot of attention.  

The Seneschal has a few magic items but is not using illusionary.  The Marquis nods and says "For one of the Emperors own guards, I'd be glad to take some time."

"This is an interesting day.  You bring a general I've never met and a Norn to me.  Our army as always stands ready to support the empire."

This marquis seems disturbed by the same sorts of things but doesn't respond with particularly strong emotion.  Sense motiving himL  He is definately disturbe dby Arwel's descriptions, but he seems to be a very introspective person.  He is in information absorption mode.  

Once we finish the story... I can only imagine that this will lead to very unpleasant times for all of us."

The Marquis:   Unfortunately, my condition leaves me a poor condition to act as regent.  Only two would be willing to cease the throne...  (The evil one), and Marquis Ironheart might also be willing to do so, but he would have nobler intentions.  He wants power more so that other people don't have it there.  And The lord of the North would hate the beaurocracy, and so would give up regency probably too soon.  The emperors personal guard may well be the best suited to the role of regent.  that would be my personal decison (Says the marquis still).   But I do not think that is not the reason that you have come to me.  

Isaline:  We want to see what strange things might be going on.   Within my region there are always strange things happening, but the creatures living in the frozen wood can always explain them.  

We mention the necromancers..

"It is unfortunately very possible that theyw ere staging the attack within the frozen wood, but it is not feasible to patrol the whole frozen wood... it's dangerous.  

The Maarquis has gone personally to visit the emperor once.  This Marquis beleives that he would not be capable: He is telling the truth... he really has no inclination to involve himself in the war over the throne.  

We ask about Rori Beardthicket.  Marquis asks what we know of him.   

Marquis:  "I'm not certain how much should be spoken of *Looks at Tuan*... how much do they know about Rori beardthicket." 'Enough'.  "I have not made communication with him since the last sealing of a nexus about a year ago.  Why do you ask.  Sealing the nexus takes less than about a day (A la locking it up, not destroying it).  We mention his alacrity in unmaking the nexus.  

marquis says "We have been looking for a way to shorten the amount of time it takes to unmake a nexus."  

Arwel Asks:  "Are you becoming a Rakshasa?" to The Marquis.  If you truly understood what you were asking... you wouldn't need to.  

I ask what will happen with his reincarnation.  he doesn't know, so he's been putting it off.

He has his wife and his seneschel.  ((Allen says:  "It's the wife")).The Wife is a dragonborn.   He says he trusts them both implicitly.  

None of the military leaders I have have required anything other than minor disciplinary actions.   I don't believe any of my followers would be treasonous.  

The Marquis will endeavor to assist the emperor as much as possible.  

I recommend that you be careful.   It would not surprise me if having made the visits that you've already made, you may have attracted at least one assassin already.  The thoughts of the assassins were taken.  They knew nothing of who sent them.  Unfortunately there is exactly 1 region which possess enough money and deception that the assassins could have come from there.  based on your conversation with Lord Ironheart, you probably alreayd know of the source which I speak.  

Is there much tension between the regions?   Lord Ironheart holds for himself a particularly high place in his estimation of the regional lords.  West one is clearly seeking regency, and Bloodletter couldn't care less about politics, so he's been infiltrated by spies form the other three marquis.  I do not belive it would be in any of the regional lords interest to cause a civil war...  but if someone should SEIZE regency that would be the inevitable result.  

marquis:  "My concern is that Delphia may not be at risk of a civil war.  They are rather unified, unlike the empire." (Paraphrased.)  There are many unusual things about the,.   But their unusual phoneticism for the scholorly binds them...   and this level of experimentation is unknown of in the empire.  He will be happy to keep in touch if he sees something.  Since your arrival, the city of Terminus has in fact already had its nexus inverted.   (This guy knows WAY too much says sense motive..  It's been what... maybe a few hours?)   Whether that means anything about demons I don't know.

Despite their use of nexuses, they seem to be nice enough folk, says the marquis, and he also says that they tend to be appropriately cautious.  And their efforts are respectable.  If they are in fact in league with demons, then there will be wars.  He seems to want to see them as an enemy, but respects them as a threat rather than as a useful ally.  

perhaps all the Marquis are working together to seize power??   We should visit the berserker guy (He probably would never care.   This marquis says "The problem is that we all serve the empire in our own way."  His wife comes in gives him a meaningful look and looks at him...  seeing if he needed assistance with anything.  She leaves after acknowledging the two imperials in our party.  

Tuan is asked by the Seneschal to wait a moment.  (Zahar's master is important in the empire like The pope is important in Italy.)

tuan says he needs to return to the emperor.  We teleport to Bloodletter's place and WHOA SHIT BATTLE.  (Zahar is NOT present after the teleportation (He has a visit with Pelor)).