"So, here's what you need to know about the kingdom of Zorhana for the last two monarchs. Our ruler was Uriel Baseid Zorhana, crowned in 312 when he was 23 years old, the youngest Zorhanan to be crowned. By the year's end, he was putting the moves on a sorceress named Liliana" Tyrael takes a bite of apple while Anna sits across from him. The rain subsided last night, and as the crisp morning air wafts in from the window, Hope and Amadeo finish dressing and go to the door. "You two play nice, now." Hope calls to her companions, and Tyrion chuckles.

"I should say the same to you. Just remember that he didn't earn a date." Tyrion grins wide as Hope's jaw drops. "Wha-how-WERE YOU AWAKE?!"

"You didn't even wait for me to start snoring before you started getting cute. 'Oh, Mr. Ravenwood, I believe you're callin me pretty!'" Tyrion busts out laughing as Amadeo grabs Hope's arm. "Come on, you can kill him after you take a day to relax." "You hear that, you lawn ornament? I'll kill you after I relax!"

As the two leave, Anna looks from Tyrion to the door and back. "Did I miss something?" He waves her off and smirks. "Nothing you need to worry about. We've got other things to do, like getting you educated. Now where was I?...Ah, yes. His Majesty Uriel and the sorceress Liliana."

"Uriel started off pretty alright, laxing taxes and making sure peasants weren't getting too downtrodden, abolishing the slave trade his grandfather had started and working to integrate the formerly enslaved as free citizens. Then he met Liliana. She was...amazing doesn't do her justice, I hear. She had a delightful voice, elegant and graceful, and skill in the magical arts that she used to entertain children. It was obvious the king was smitten with her from the moment they met."

"Awww!"

"Yeah, Liliana knew better though. She'd been burned before by previous relationships, and being a dark elf only made her life more difficult."

Anna's face falls, and Tyrion gently nudges her. "Not that it stopped Uriel. He loved her wit and her will, her love for life and her exceptionally kind spirit. It took him fifteen years, but he finally broke through her armor, and she was crowned Queen in 327. Her magical talent with illusions even earned her the moniker 'The Shimmering Queen'."

"She must have been popular." Anna says almost sarcastically, and Tyrion nods. "Incredibly so. People all over the country thought it was a heavy dose of reality for anti-dark elf protestors. She was so popular, she frequently made tours about the kingdom just to talk with commoners and nobles alike. Of course, the longer she remained in power, the more resentment among people with anti-dark elf views grew. And then in 340, she bore two children, Crown Prince Gram Estola Zorhana and Princess Hera Marta Zorhana."

"And that's the current king, right? I think Hope mentioned him in her story."

"Correct. The twins were loved by most folks even before they grew up. But their heritage followed them just like it did their mother. When they were five, they were walking in the capitol with the queen and soon found themselves harassed by protestors. The queen protected the twins, but sadly not herself. She was injured by peasants wielding farm equipment."

"Oh no...Did she die?"

"Yes, she did. Hoes and sickles may not seem like much, but when alot of them are coming at you, they can do some damage. Liliana died within an hour, and more than half the country mourned her loss for six months. Business grinded to a halt, trade wasn't being done, our economy would have collapsed had the king's counsel not kept things going as much as they could. On the plus side, pro-dark elf sentiment rose sharply, and several settlements such as Mysthaven and Kaina made it illegal to discriminate against dark elf citizens."

"So the queen dies and we treat that as a good thing?"

"Not a good thing, no. Murder is never a good thing. But sometimes, it can spur us to realize we're acting like monsters, and that can motivate change. We don't start off knowing right from wrong. Sometimes, we have to be reminded what those things are."

"Anyway, it was about a year later when Denei arrived. That one was a piece of work from what I remember. She was a draconian like Kiriel."

"Is that what they are? I'd never seen one before."

"Yes, they're not a common sight here, not after all that this particular draconian did. She was a mage herself who managed to charm Uriel into marrying her; Her Royal Majesty the Queen Denei. Or as her enemies called her, 'The Red Nightmare Who Delights In Cruelty'."

"I take it she wasn't a nice lady."

"Very much not. She was as described; a nightmare. She was a witch who enchanted the king into doing her bidding. No one, from the lowliest peasant to the highest nobility, was safe. Anyone she felt had even slightly offended her, she declared a traitor and had them tortured, hung, drawn and quartered, whatever punishment took her fancy, but the victim always ended up maimed at worst and dead at best. She's the reason Uriel became a bloodthirsty tyrant known as 'The Crowned Butcher'. Under her influence, he started four wars just to satisfy her ego and her appetite for carnage. Of course, once generals straight up refused to wage war in the name of that devil woman, that's when things became complicated."

"Not being her children, the prince and princess were highest on Denei's list of people she wanted rid of. But she couldn't very well drop them without bringing the whole of the country down on her. People knew, however, that all it would take was the right slight to drive her into full blown civil war crazy town. That slight came when Gram and Hera, at the tender age of 13, told the queen to, and I quote, 'Get out of our house, you squandering, useless, vain, overgrown lizard'."

"Those are some brave kids, or stupid ones. What happened then?"

"Denei chased them out of the capitol and issued a kill on sight order. They managed to join up with generals who disbanded from Zorhana's military. With the rightful heirs to the throne, the generals managed to gather popular support, amassing a small army numbering in the thousands, and that's how the Seven Day War began in the year 353."

"A war that lasted seven days? How does that even work?!" Anna tilts her head as she munches on a slice of cheese.

"Quick thinking, tactical decisions, and some bloodshed, actually. Same as every other conflict." Tyrion sits back, sipping his coffee as the curtains flow in the light breeze blowing past the window. "The first day, they raided outposts holding food, starving the queen's army."

"The second day brought heavy rain that made travel for supply carts difficult, which meant they were easy pickings for the twins and their men. Less supplies for the queen's army meant they ran out of fresh weapons and armor, which meant they were tired, hungry, and wearing worn out gear. Then came the next four days."

"Days three through six went quickly. Open warfare became the name of the game, fighting wherever and whenever battle was joined. But despite the support of the people, the twins' army was gradually being hammered by the larger force and had to retreat on various fronts. It got so bad that by the sixth day, they were being pushed back to the Torley Thicket, where the queen's men hoped the monsters dwelling there would finish them off. Most died, leaving only the twins and a handful of troops. Then day seven struck."

"We went to war with Gardena in 347, Yuthas in 349, and Frenaland in 351. Then there was the conquering of Sumai, whose populace we enslaved. That last act was what drove so many generals to leave the army, as Sumai didn't even have a military of their own, and the king had worked so hard to stop slavery in our lands. Despite the bad blood, they caught wind of the situation and decided to throw their lot in with the twins."

"Gardena, Yuthas, and Frenaland sent ships loaded to bear with troops. The last lights of resistance were stoked anew to a roaring flame as their battalions charged the enemy lines. Gardenian arrows peppered their foes, Yuthasi mages blasted them with spells, and Frenalish knights beat back the rest, enough at least for the twins and most of their generals to be saved. The world seemed to teeter on the edge as they approached the castle once more. Her armies beaten back, the queen tried one last measure; she called on a fire dragon to burn the rebels to ashes."

"A dragon? There's no way they survived a dragon!"

"You'd be surprised. See, the Gardenians had dragon slaying arrows. Taking this beast down was nothing. The queen was another matter entirely. Her magic defended her well against all manner of attack, but the twins' mother was a powerful sorceress if you remember, and that blood carried on in them. They summoned the very earth to swallow her up. There she remains to this day, buried by the very country she sought to terrorize."

"She's not still alive, right?" Anna looks out the door as if expecting the muddy corpse of the former queen to stumble in and spook her.

Tyrion laughs. "Most definitely not. The twins took a part of her with them before they marched into the castle where their weary father sat, his own throne seeming to loom over him. There they tossed the head of the hated queen, and for the first time in years, he genuinely smiled."

"Unfortunately, he'd been bound to the queen for a while at this point. Her constant hexes and enchantments to keep him subservient drained his life. What was left could barely be considered a man, much less a monarch."

"What do you mean? What happened to him?"

"He died, right there on his throne, though not before his two children were able to hug him, tell him they loved him, all that mushy stuff. They buried the him in a tomb alongside Liliana, at a place that's since become known as Uriel's Rest. Hard to believe that was a little over thirty years ago. I was still a wee lad back then."

"You're still a wee lad." Anna teases, nibbling on a cracker and stretching. "So what happened to the twins?"

"Well, Gram succeeded his father and became king at just 14 years old. It was alot of work to get him in ruling shape, what with him still being a kid who just found out that girls were pretty. He worked for the next decade to fix everything his father and Denei screwed up, but patching up relations after such a downfall is...difficult. Yuthas was more easily pacified, as their grievance with us only stemmed from an insult Denei made about their Saint Yuthas, but that's not important. What is important is that to this day, King Gram has been working to restore complete peace, sending resources and gifts to other lands. He even gave Sumai back their independence."

"And the princess?"

"She worked as an ambassador for a while and eventually married a peasant woman named Greta. Very nice lady."

"Anyway, that about covers everything you really need to know. Everything else is in history books or memoirs."

"That's...alot of information. Like, you just dumped some knowledge on my head."

"Hey, just wanted to let you loose on the world with an idea of what big stuff happened."

"But what about other people who weren't royalty?"

"Not a whole lot to say. Life kinda went like it always does; someone invents something, someone else becomes famous, family squabbles boil over and some nobleman gets his kid thrown in prison."

"That last one sounds oddly specific."

"It's a story I heard about ten years back. Remind me to tell it to you sometime. That was a doozy for all involved, I hear. But we've got other things to worry about, namely seeing if Sheeva can get us in touch with someone who could help with these tubes." Tyrion stands from the table, pulling his cloak around his shoulders.

"Oh right! Your merchant friend. What does she even sell?" Anna jumps up, throwing the cloth Amadeo gave her over her head and tying it.

"She's an information broker. She sells knowledge about various people or places for a small fee. Usually related to the market and what the hot new items are. But her specialty is backroom dealings; who's selling contraband, where it comes from, the prices, and who's buying. Course, she doesn't tell just anyone about that part of her job, for obvious reasons."

"Cause if the guards find out, she goes to prison. And if criminals find out she ratted on them, her life's in danger. Not my kind of lifestyle." Anna shakes her head, rubbing her neck.

"It's not always like that. But it usually is. Being a rogue requires a strong heart and the willingness to get into uncomfortable situations. Both of which I like to think I have. One time I was courting a young lady and her father started sniffing around. Good thing he didn't check her drawers."

"Drawers?"

"She was a goliath. Big people mean big houses and big chests of drawers. She just slid me right into one and kept it open enough for me to breathe. That was the night I learned-"

A screech from outside draws his attention and he hops up onto the table to look out. "What in the hells is that thing?!" A large creature circles in the sky, before diving down near the central fountain, terrified screams following after.

"Come on!" Anna grabs her staff and rod as Tyrion loads the Gust Shot. "I'm comin!"