The Tears of the Scarlet Empress

The older of the two men, whose name I discover to be Harun, watches the door.

The slightly younger of the two sits with me and explains their purpose as the sounds of the fight downstairs gradually fade.

"Long ago, these lands were part of another moiety, and immense empire ruled over by a deathless being known only as the Scarlet Empress."

I give him a look- deathless being?

He smiles slightly.

"Whether through an endless succession of similar women spending their lives in crimson silks and scarlet waxen masks, or truly a single undying woman of unearthly beauty and inhuman ruthlessness, so was the empire ruled.
Where sand whispers and drifts now, once oases and canals fed arid fields and tall stands of Zoaper trees. Pomegranites, Zoapers, Papyrus, a hundred other types of grove scattered across the unforgiving earth. And everywhere- the scourge of slavery. The scourge my Order has opposed from that time... To our own."

Slavery was something I can certainly relate to. Having gone from catafalque to coffle to harem rape to this present predicament. I nod for him to continue.

"We know of your past. Your true past. And your more recent experiences. If you use your knowledge and skill in our service, we will aid you in your own quest."

"Very well." I agree to help them. Never turn an ally down.

"Excellent... What we need your help with is in a recovery mission. There is a certain reliquary held at the palace where you were a... guest..."

I ask the inevitable.

"What is the reliquary?"

1. The Eye of Aruhas
2. The Tears of the Scarlet Empress
3. The Enslavement Monocle

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