>>5933828>>5933831>>5933846>>5933857The Rex agrees to accept the man's help, but only if wards from his home, particularly his family, are brought into our lands both for their protection and assurance that the wizard will not also double-cross us.
The old mage sees the logic in it; we have not known each other long enough for any form of trust to be built, and so he would be happy to do so as a guarantee, both for your help and his own. He will send word back to his home village straightaway with one of his attendants. The mage speaks of wanting to establish a proper relationship with our people; he even offers his most beautiful daughter, a product of his magically-gifted bloodline, to the Rex as wife.
As a chief advisor to the Emperor, the mage is privy to several important facts, chief among them being that the main bulk of the army was in fact situated here and is now either dead, heavily injured or fleeing back to safety. There is still a force within the western capital meant to serve the Emperor as a royal guard; they are heavily influenced by mind control and will fight to the absolute death. There are also wyverns here, including the primary broodmother. When asked about the nature of the mind control, the mage replies that it requires time and proximity in order to work, and even simple abjuration magic is able to counter it. As our people's knowledge of defensive magic is extensive, we needn't fear anything from the mind control, but the average person or monstrous beast is heavily susceptible to it.
As the Emperor knows not that the mage has been planning on betraying him, he could attempt to sneak some of us into the capital with the express purpose of assassinating the leader. Such an action could prevent more warfare and bloodshed if successful, but it would be tricky; the Emperor surrounds himself with mind-controlled attendants, servants and harem women. He lives a life of absolute luxury, but it has not dulled his paranoia one bit; he never lets the staff the mage's ancestors gifted his own out of his sight.
An alternative, of course, is to press an advantage straight into the heart of the capital. It would be a fight, as the capital is well-defended, with walls and reserve complements of soldiers as well as those chimeric mustelids, and as previously mentioned the remaining wyverns. As the lord-commander of the northern territories, he can promise he will not commit any of his soldiers to the cause of the Emperor any longer, thus cutting his remaining army down by a third.
How do you suggest going about the problem?
