Wei Dao

Princess Wei Dao was a member of the imperial royal family of Shou Lung, who lived in the Shou embassy in the Eastern Heartlands of Faerûn during the mid–14 century DR.

Description
While Wei Dao had a small frame she was athletic, graceful, and quite striking. She had dark eyes set atop high cheek bones and decorated herself in the finest cosmetics.

Personality
She was an ambitious woman who continuously strived with her husband to improve their lot in life, and their standing with Emperor Kao Tsao Shou Tang.

Abilities
Wei Dao was an adept courtier and capable of masking her intent and emotions to the residents of the Heartlands.

Relationships
Princess Wei Dao was married to Kao Chou Tang, son of the Emperor of Shou Lung. The two shared an unharmonious relationship, in which Wei Dao would regularly urge Tang to take bold action as befitting a prince, while simultaneously undercutting his decisions and compromising his authority. She then performed unknown acts of penance for her actions, that were apparently expected of her.

She had a working relationship with the dwarf Abazm, who would regularly bring select merchants to her home at the Ginger Palace.

Activities
When Prince Tang inadvertently became involved with the Cult of the Dragon, and wound up being manipulated by the devious group, Wei Dao offered her support. While the was coerced into smuggling poisons for them, following the abduction of his mother Lady Feng, Lady Feng personally involved herself in their operations, maintaining connections with a spy within the ranks of the local law enforcement, the Maces of Elversult.

History
At some point in their lives, Princess Wei Dao and Prince Tang were sent away from their home in Tai Tung to the far off Dragon Coast in Faerûn. They each came to resent their lives in what they called the "barbarian" lands, and wished nothing more than to return home.

In the, the Princess accepted into her palace Abazm and his client Ruha, a sorceress from the Anauroch desert. In exchange for admittance, the pair gifted Wei Dao a chest of gold and a single, unique coin from Calimshan. The coin actually held a secret message from her Dragon Cult spy from Elversult, falsely stating that Ruha was an assassin and should not be trusted.

Wei Dao began her investigation of Ruha immediately, nearly catching her snooping around the apartment of Tang's mother Lady Feng, who had been previously been abducted by Hethcypressarvil, the patron of the Dragon Cult. Ruha's presence at the embassy became a major point of contention between Wei Dao and Prince Tang, as the prince wanted to make Ruha his next concubine, and a wu jen in his employ. When Minister Hsieh Han Liu arrived at the palace, Wei Dao made a grave error and lied to him about Lady Feng's disappearance at the hands of the cult in an attempt to protect herself and prince from their involvement with them. Troubled by the growing dynamic, Wei Dao harried Tang until he had Ruha imprisoned in the dungeon beneath the palace.

When the dracolich cult leader finally appeared at the Ginger Palace, the undead beast confronted Ruha for her intrusion into the activities of the Dragon Cult. Wei Dao and Tang appeared shortly thereafter, and the princess once again let her anger get the better of her, publicly chastising her husband and calling him mad before the undead dragon. The infringement of his authority infuriated Prince Tang to no end.

Minister Hsieh returned to the palace to coordinate a negotiation between Prince Tang, Princess Wei Dao and the Ruha, to arrange for the sorceress' release to Vaerana Hawklyn. During the talks, Hsieh pressed Wei Dao into fully committing to her previous lie, insisting Ruha was an assassin that should not be trusted. As Ruha prepared to reveal the truth about Lady Feng's, Wei Dao turned on the Bedine spellcaster and nearly killed her with a dagger. With lightning alacrity, Minister Hsieh intercepted the attack and subdued Wei Dao. After Wei Dao was secured in her own apartment,, and her personal involvement with the Cult of the Dragon was revealed, Wei Dao lost the confidence Prince Tang, despite remaining a Princess of Shou Lung.

Appearances

 * Novels
 * The Veiled Dragon