Zerthadium: Model District
When I woke up at the end of our boat ride, Ark and her friends were already gone. I felt a bit slighted that they would just vanish after all we've been through together. However, It turns out the soldiers on the ship planned to take them as prisoners when we arrived at Zerthadium proper. I guess Ark decided against slaughtering the crew and stealing the ship and made their escape. I'm not sure how they managed it, but most of ships crew don't even remember the dragonborn were ever aboard.
A little later, we arrived in Zerthadium where we were rapidly processed and given all the proper paperwork. Judging by the date stamps on the papers, I've been gone almost three months and the others about two months. My team seemed in a daze. I guess all of their lost memories must have come flooding back, though none of them felt like talking about it in the administrative offices.
After we were legal Zerthadian agents again, a couple of Emperor Bosch's political minders lead us through the model district and to our residential suite. I must say, the model district is almost nice enough to give Eibelstat a run for its money, even though there really isn't nearly as much magic in Zerthadium. Of course, the model district is just a model district, built by Emperor's Bosch's regime from wealth they exploit from Zerthadium's protectorate states. Not only that, but most of the rest of Zerthadium is overpopulated, dirty, and undernourished. It kind of makes me wonder about Eibelstat's dark secrets.
They put us up in the presidential suites, where we had every service we could demand on the government's dime. It always irks me when they do this; the guests of the state (and its members) live lavishly on ill-gotten gains. I didn't have much time to for moral outrage, though, because one of Victor's agents whisked me away from the minders for a meeting with Victor himself.
Meeting with Victor:
There I sat, on a silver platter before my master, gritting my teeth and wringing my tail as he laughed himself silly at my predicament. Victor and his goons interrogated me and, I'm not going to lie, I told him everything. He listened, his face indifferent and enigmatic as ever. My team members broke into the interrogation. I don't know if they wanted to save me from torture or if they just didn't want me to talk. Victor had to use a lot of manpower to subdue them, especially Spike. Powerful as they are, my team is still not strong enough to take on all of Zerthadium. Victor gave my wife a severe beating and shattered one of Mal's holy artifacts in retaliation. I guess that means there's no doubt he will hurt our loved ones if we don't play by his rules.
In spite of our misbehavior, Victor promised to keep us in the presidential suites for the duration of our remaining service to him in exchange for a little of our blood. I expect he's going to try to refine essentia from our blood. I have no idea what he's going to use it for, but I don't really care all that much right now. Victor offered to put Azaezul in a safe place for us, but I'll have to find out how my team's reaction before I agree.
Zerthadium:
This huge city is situated right in the center of a wasteland. It's population is completely dependent on food imports from cultures the Zerthadian empire has cowed with its military might. The level of repression, even in the city itself is staggering. There are laws for everything, including proper names for children. Partly on account of the prisons being overpopulated and partly because the regime is just plain nasty, violating the laws results in harsh, summary punishments. Though the empire's strength has been waning the past decade, the brutal repression seems to be working, for now.
Emperor Bosch:
Our current emperor is an incompetent crook, but his cult of personality is strong. The are icons of him in every home and everywhere people sing praises to him. Unfortunately, the cult of the emperor has been around for so long that I suspect most of Zerthadium's citizens' devotion is sincere. The empire's bureaucracy seems to be holding things together.
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