A weary Tal Roggle got out of his rover and approached the door to his house, with barely any light in the around his dome-shaped dwelling. He dragged himself up to the door and inserted his key into a keyhole in the wall next to the door. The door came open quickly without even a sound. Just as he took two steps inside the door, he felt something grab his shoulder and his face. The motion-sensor lights came on and revealed he was grabbed by a gray with a bionic arm.

"You!" Roggle shouted as the door closed and Baycorf released his grip.

"The name's Baycorf" the gray said. "If you remember we met-"

"Yes, I know who you are! I have a good mind to have you handed over to the aramada."

"We've got more important things to discuss right now, Roggle."

"How did you even know I was here?" Roggle demanded.

"Zorthia told us" said an elf voice from somewhere around him. The bald, muscular Azari Yuler entered the living room.

"Azari? What are you doing here…with him" Roggle turning from Azari to Baycorf as he said "him".

"I'll cut right to the chase" Azari said. "We need you to help us get ahold of Zardin."

"Now how would I know where to find him?" Roggle said, seeming genuinely annoyed with the question.

"Avistra has him" Yuler said.

"You mean you haven't figured that out?" Baycorf asked.

"And how do you know she has him?" Roggle inquired.

"They've been viewing extensive files on him at Latildra University where the reptilia stole a bunch of intellichines. That, and Avistra assembled a hyperplane gate at her secret palace. Only Zardin could have assembled that gate" Baycorf explained.

"Well maybe she has it, but that doesn't mean she's going to let me mess with him."

"You're Avistra's boy toy, aren't you?" Azari asked. "It's not a secret she's a really lecherous elfess and she probably wants you to sire a sprout."

"That doesn't mean she's going to let me get ahold of any part of Zardin. What is the point of getting him, anyways? Avistra is the princess now and he'll only answer to her."

"That's the thing" Baycorf said. "You don't need to be able to do anything to him. He has a trap door in his programming to activate a persona that will give him loyalty to the metaphysicsts. All you have to do is utter the phrase 'verctana lan tanum tyrimna' to him.

"Ha!" Roggle said. "You want me to help out the metaphysicists and take away one of the kingdom's most important assets? Not a chance."

"Do you want Zorthia to retake the throne or not?" Baycorf asked. At that moment Roggle's facial expression and demeanor changed to a more surprised and ticked off to a more serious one.

"I'm not so sure I do. Zorthia and Gall just aren't willing to do the same things Kerick Kildore and Avistra are."

"You mean like taking marching orders from the goddess?" Azari asked. Roggle turned to glare at him.

"You've got a point" Azari said not being able to sustain that annoyed feeling. "Forgive me if I'm not eager to hitch the wagon of our kingdom to the metaphysicists."

"You do not have to 'hitch your wagon' to anything" Baycord asserted. "Just unhitch it from Avistra. I know that you realize the goddess does not have the best interests of the kingdom at heart. Now if you want your people to have independence from the goddess, you need to help us." Roggle just stood silent for at least ten seconds, not saying anything.

"I'll do it, but I don't know what body I'm looking for."

"It's Avistra we're talking about here" Yuler said. "It's going to be some tall, muscular, hunky elf, possibly baring skin."

"I'll see what I can do" Roggle said pushing some buttons on the control panel next to the door. "I can't promise you anything. Avistra's not going to let me in on her secrets just because she has the hots for me."

"Flatter her" Azari proffered. "Make her think you're falling for her, and when the time is right, bring up the subject. You’re an elfess' elf" Azari suggested. "If she thinks she has you broken in, she'll take her guard down."

"Are we going to trust him?" Roggle asked Azari.

"Zorthia specifically asked us to ask you this" Azari asked. "If you don't trust us we can take you to her." Roggle said nothing for several seconds.

"Fine" he said.