How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #7
"While Asarta held the ring, I and others did our best to wrest it from her, and she had to use some of her strength to keep it from us. When my turn came, I decided to do as your two ancestors asked me to, and by doing so to seal all knowledge of the ring away in your Valley. I then sought out everyone who knew of the ring and either took the memory of it from their minds, or if they resisted, destroyed them, all but the one I have told you about." (13.64)
So it turns out that even the Valley's savior, Faheel, isn't 100% good. He bugged Asarta and tried to steal her ring; then once he got it away from her, he bumped off anyone who might know about it and want to steal it. Tilja realizes that even her heroes have base motives. Faheel hasn't always acted morally—he's not as bad as the Emperor, but he's manipulated others in his own favor and hurt people. What's that cheesy saying? Pobody's nerfect.
Quote #8
By now they had seen definite signs of the system's breaking down. At one way station the women who were doling out the free meals for those going the Common Way insisted on being paid. They said they needed the money, because their official allowance hadn't come through. At another somebody caught one of the guards stealing from his baggage, and when he complained to the warden he was laughed at. And next day, where the road crossed a tributary of the Great River, there had been armed men on the bridge demanding a toll from all travelers, but by the time Tilja and the others reached the place enough furious people had gathered to overpower them and throw them into the river. (15.15)
Here we begin to see that the Empire wasn't all good—or all bad. Finally unpaid laborers get their well-deserved wages, and soldiers don't get to extort money from travelers anymore. But there are bits of trouble amidst the collapse of the Empire and the disappearance of order—namely the lack of justice administered when a guard commits a crime. This hints at the further crumbling of society—both good and bad parts—as the Empire collapses without a central authority.
Quote #9
Soon they were moving through an Empire in turmoil. Half the way stations were deserted, and those that functioned demanded triple or quadruple fees. Robber and looters were everywhere.
Not were those the only dangers. Now that the Watchers were gone, magicians who had been practicing in secret began to do so openly, and not all of these were benign. At one way station the story came of a well-armed convoy that had been traveling without a hired magician to protect it. Two great scaly creatures had attacked it and had wantonly slaughtered, but not eaten, man, woman and child, gurgling with pleasure as they did so. (15.39-40)
The evil Empire has fallen, leaving (too much?) freedom in its place. The fall of the central government, headed up by one tyrant, has created a power vacuum that lots of mini-tyrants have filled. The Watchers had an unfair monopoly on magic, but they also kept it in line and stopped rogue magicians from gaining power to harm others. The Emperor kept the roads running smoothly and demanded tribute and bribes, but robbers didn't threaten. Did Tilja and Co. do the world a service or majorly screw things up by toppling the Empire?