Role

Chapter 9

Vlalkon sat in his chambers considering what he wanted out of the vote.

Emperor, obviously. There had been a time when he hadn't, but he'd been
shown the value in such things. Many people had been swept aside from his
path upon his raising as dread lord. Only more would be upon taking the
throne.

But there was no sure path to the throne. He had stacked the deck where
able, and had one last plan to set in motion concerning the war master. But
it could still simply not go his way.

So what else?

Dread Lord. Such must be retained. It had unlocked many doors, and he did
not doubt it would continue to do so. So those were his two goals. If he
could succeed in either, he would be content with the result of the vote.

So who could facilitate such coming to pass?

Soon he would know.

As things stood, the High Priestess had pledged him her vote. He did
believe her, surprisingly. She seemed somewhat apathetic about the whole
thing, but that was all to the good.

The Shadow Lord had pledged to vote for him, and Vlalkon to vote for the
Shadow Lord in turn. Vlalkon was not sure about the duergar yet, but
expected betrayal. The High Priestess had told him she had informed the
rest of the council not to vote for her. Naturally, that meant one of them
would.

He scratched his head. This was all very confusing, but it didn't look too
bad.

He must speak with the War Master yet, but the most important question of
all remained.

If Vlalkon were not to take the throne; then who did he think would best
serve her ends?

That, of course, was the most important question of all.