Night had come in the imperial citadel. The party made their way to the low quarter for Xerek’s meeting with whomever or whatever left the message on the wall. They found the Majestic Moth and the nearby alley they were told to go to. They spread out and found ways to be out of sight for the meeting.
At 10:42pm, a nondescript astral elf walked up to Xerek. He pointed to a basement window nearby and said, “through there.” He then walked away. Xerek tried to follow him, but he was very good at disappearing.
Regrouping, the party watched as Xerek found the release mechanism on the window. Together with Inrim, he entered the basement. The room was moderately lit, revealing a large room with six nearly identical stone statues of humanoid figures. In the middle of a room was a large table with six oversized items on it. On the far end was a stone door that wouldn’t budge. He told Inrim he should go get the others to help with the puzzle.
So, Inrim went out to bring the rest of the party in. The window slammed shut after everyone but Inrim got in. He got distracted with a cover story by way of talking with a passerby about fishing, and the window shut during that time.
Working together, the party was able to make quick work of the puzzle, except for triggering a trap in the process. The trap led to a wraith appearing in the room. Fortunately for the party, the wraith went down without sustaining too much injury.
Once they finished the puzzle, the stone door at the far end opened up. They walked through the door to another large room, this one evidently a meeting room. On the far side of a large round table sat a finely dressed astral elf. “Come on in,” she said. “Help yourself to a drink. You’ve earned it.” The party did not recognize her, though they may have noticed the two others sitting to either side of her. On the left, the astral elf owner of The Inn on the Hill, Soris. On the right, the hadozee shop owner, Eekee, of the self-named Eekee’s Emporium.
The apparent leader of the group told the party that they proved themselves both mentally and martially capable of joining their movement. She explained that she was leader of the Free Xaryxis movement, a group that wanted to replace the rule of the emperor with a democracy. When pressed, she revealed that her family was once in line for the throne, but politics and backstabbing led to her forebears being cast out of the palace. This led to the party suspecting she really just wanted to claim the throne for herself.
When the discussion moved to the message about the emperor being dead, Xerek didn’t hesitate to inform them that Xedalli was actually dead, and that Idakath was the imposter on the throne. This was met with shock and frustration from the party for making Idakath an obvious target to people who might want anyone on the throne to be dead.
The leader, Paemeral Rivkynn, instead saw an opportunity. She revealed that the movement had been waiting for an opportunity to overthrow the imperial rule. The feuding between Xedalli and Xeleth, the collapse of Xaryxis, and the uncertainty ahead all looked to create a prime opportunity to turn public opinion against the throne. She made no apologies for wanting revolution.
The party ultimately convinced Paemeral against her revolutionary methods, requesting that the movement give the party time to change things that they already wanted to change.
Before the meeting ended, the movement leaders and the party determined they did have a common enemy: Xeleth. The movement was apparently very well informed and was able to offer a probable location for Xeleth, his home on a private asteroid in the Mondospace system. Paemeral revealed that they would actually have two more common enemies, to the surprise of the party: Clones of both Xeleth and Xedalli existed in some unknown location.
At the birth of each person in the emperor’s bloodline, a clone is created and a twisted spell binds the consciousness of the child and its clone. Should an emperor meet an unnatural end, their consciousness would be immediately transferred to their clone. The result being that there was likely already another Xedalli on the move, and thus another threat to the throne.
The groups parted ways, but were told they could return to future meetings through a hidden upstairs entrance. The entrance they took was only used as a way to test potential recruits to the movement.
Back at the palace, they were rejoined by Inrim. The party would weigh the many decisions now before them. They would need to get clear of the ticking time bomb of pretending to be emperor; deal with the threats on their lives from both Xeleth and Xedalli, and possibly the Free Xaryxis movement; prevent a bloody revolution; and somehow still get back to building their armada.