Betrayal at the Senate

One evening, Senator Dios, a female Fyros, summoned us, Fyros and friends of the Empire for a meeting at the Agora in Pyr. She had very glum news to give us about what was going on at the Senate. One of the Emperor's consultants, Senator Xylos, had been acting in a very suspicious manner. He would often propose shady projects of questionable morality that would only serve his own interest, yet, none of the other Senators would dare to oppose him.

After investigating and interroating the other senators as to why they didn't vote against the proposals, Senator Dios had discovered that the Senators were either bribed or threathened into supporting Senator Xylos' schemes, otherwise something bad could happen to themselves or their families. We were all shocked to learn that our Senate was this corrupt, yet this wasn't even the worst she had to reveal to us.

Not only Senator Xylos had corrupted the other Senators, it was also found that secret documents of military value had been stolen and the principal suspect was him, yet he had already left the capital for a meeting with the Matis government. Our task would be to intercept and arrest him in the name of the Empire.

It was both a race and a game of hide and seek, with Xylos taunting us, saying we would never manage to catch him... just like any comic book villain would do. On our way from Imperial Dunes to Thesos on the bridge between Dragon Spine and Sawdust Mines, a Matis, probably a minion of Xylos, pathetically tried to stop us. He met his end right there.

We found out that his main goal was to make us waste precious minutes while Xylos escaped through the portal from Savage Dunes to Hidden Source, in Matis territory. Senator Dios was off limit and couldn't follow us further. She would wait for us in Pyr where Xylos was to be brought for trial. Minions of Xylos attacked us and attempted to murder Dios, but once again they failed, as our healers and warriors were way too numerous and powerful for them to even stand a chance. Senator Dios could safely return to Pyr.

We kept running through the Hidden source when we learned that Xylos was found in one of the Majestic Gardens villages.The ones of us that could quickly teleported there to intercept the fugitive while some stayed behind to escort the ones who hadn't bought the teleporter pacts to Yrkanis yet. I was one of the firsts to arrive there and met the traitor as he was waiting for his contact.

What we learned as we questionned him and his motives was not only horrible, it was also appalingly absurd. The Senator would look down on any homin that wasn't a Fyros Patriot. And it wasn't the worst he had in mind. He thought that the harmony and tolerance between the Homin people was pathetic, that the Fyros weren't proud enough, not patriotic enough, and that only through war this patriotism would awaken. Which is why he wanted to provoke a war with the Matis, rivals of the Fyros since the beginning of Hominity. And he was persuaded that the Fyros would win.

The man was just sane enough for us to make him that no matter who won, there would still be pointless casualties on both sides and that the only ones who would truly benefit from such a war were the Kitins. The war would weaken our defenses against them and the only way to defeat them was to fight side by side as homin allies. Being divided didn't serve us in the past and neither would it help anyone in the future. Quite on the contrary, it cost our ancestors their homes and forced the survivors into exile.

Xylos understood his terrible mistake and accepted to be brought to Pyr where he would face his trial for treason against the Empire. But while we were on our way, he felt unwell and collapsed in Hidden Source next to the Oasis Diggers camp. We had no choice but to entrust him to the Oasis Diggers so they could keep an eye on him while we went back to Pyr to report what happened and what we had learned to Senator Dios.

We all got rewarded for our effort with an engraved Burning Axe as a memento.

Meanwhile... Xylos managed to escape and the Akenaks put a wanted notice on his head with a couple other fugitives.