Sorry, haven't updated this because I've been hashing things out as well as practicing some raw writing.
Anyhow, been thinking on plot flow a bit and think it needs to be adjusted, since it follows two major plot lines (Noemi's quest to end the Disquiet, the political stuff which ends up focusing on Mirek).
So I'm sort of thinking plot needs to go like this.
Noemi decides to explore the Throne -> Recruits helps -> On the island, they discover a seal that Noemi can't break -> Deduces echo sigils exist that keep it sealed around the world -> The sigils are broken (rise of the Guardians and the second Betrayal starts about here) -> As the group prepares to head back to the Throne, they are apprehended by the government -> The Empress decides to allow it, but under government attention -> Upon returning, the Guardians reveal that they have managed to infiltrate the ranks of the government -> The Artefact is unveiled and taken by the Guardians -> A coup is performed and the Empress is slain, but the Argall family is prepared to step up as need be and "defeat" the Guardians -> The power of the Artefact is abused to secure their power -> The party opposes them to protect the Empire and reclaim the Artefact
I think the Artefact itself may need some degree of consciousness to provide insight into the past, as well as make connections to the views of the Second and the views of the Argall family, Noemi, and Erastus.
Our primary villains!
Tiercek: The leader of the Guardians, having acquired the position by reuniting the surviving Guardians in the wake of the Betrayal. He has always loathed practitioners and the art of Dissonance for creating the Disquiet and wants to see it ended forever. As the former liasion between the Guardians and the Argall family, he is able to reconnect and help them plot to finish what the Betrayal started. Despite working with them, he distrusts the Argall family and only follows them so far as it furthers his own ends.
TBN Argall: Scion of the Argall family.