Biography of Barenziah , v 3 Summary . This book is part of a three volume series on the " Biography of Barenziah " . Content . In the second volume of this series , it was told how Barenziah was kindly welcomed to the newly constructed Imperial City by the Emperor Tiber Septim and his family , who treated her like a long - lost daughter during her almost one - year stay . After several happy months there learning her duties as vassal queen under the Empire , the Imperial General Symmachus escorted her to Mournhold where she took up her duties as Queen of her people under his wise guidance . Gradually they came to love one another and were married and crowned in a splendid ceremony at which the Emperor himself officiated . After several hundred years of marriage , a son , Helseth , was born to the royal couple amid celebration and joyous prayer . Although it was not publicly known at the time , it was shortly before this blessed event that the Staff of Chaos had been stolen from its hiding place deep in the Mournhold mines by a clever , enigmatic bard known only as the Nightingale . Eight years after Helseth ' s birth , Barenziah bore a daughter , Morgiah of Firsthold , named after General Symmachus ' mother , and the royal couple ' s joy seemed complete . Alas , shortly after that , relations with the Empire mysteriously deteriorated , leading to much civil unrest in Mournhold . After fruitless investigations and attempts at reconciliation , in despair Barenziah took her young children and travelled to the Imperial City herself to seek the ear of then Emperor Uriel Septim VII . General Symmachus remained in Mournhold to deal with the grumbling peasants and annoyed nobility , and do what he could to stave off an impending insurrection . During her audience with the Emperor , Barenziah , through her magical arts , came to realize to her horror and dismay that the so - called Emperor was an impostor , none other than the bard Nightingale who had stolen the Staff of Chaos . Exercising great self - control she concealed this realization from him . That evening , news came that General Symmachus had fallen in battle with the revolting peasants of Mournhold , and that the kingdom had been taken over by the rebels . Barenziah , at this point , did not know where to seek help , or from whom . The gods , that fateful night , were evidently looking out for her as if in redress of her loss . King Eadwyre , of High Rock , an old friend of Uriel Septim and Symmachus , came by on a social call . He comforted her , pledged his friendship - and furthermore , confirmed her suspicions that the Emperor was indeed a fraud , and none other than Jagar Tharn , the Imperial Battlemage , and one of the Nightingale ' s many alter egos . Tharn had supposedly retired into seclusion from public work and installed his assistant , Ria Silmane , in his stead . The hapless assistant was later put to death under mysterious circumstances - supposedly a plot implicating her had been uncovered , and she had been summarily executed . However , her ghost had appeared to Eadwyre in a dream and revealed to him that the true Emperor had been kidnapped by Tharn and imprisoned in an alternate dimension . Tharn had then used the Staff of Chaos to kill her when she attempted to warn the Elder Council of his nefarious plot . Together , Eadwyre and Barenziah plotted to gain the false Emperor ' s confidence . Meanwhile , another friend of Ria ' s , known only as the Champion , who apparently possessed great , albeit then untapped , potential , was incarcerated at the Imperial Dungeons . However , she had access to his dreams , and she told him to bide his time until she could devise a plan that would effect his escape . Then he could begin on his mission to unmask the impostor . Barenziah continued to charm , and eventually befriended , the ersatz Emperor . By contriving to read his secret diary , she learned that he had broken the Staff of Chaos into eight pieces and hidden them in far - flung locations scattered across Tamriel . She managed to obtain a copy of the key to Ria ' s friend ' s cell and bribed a guard to leave it there as if by accident . Their Champion , whose name was unknown even to Barenziah and Eadwyre , made his escape through a shift gate Ria had opened in an obscure corner of the Imperial Dungeons using her already failing powers . The Champion was free at last , and almost immediately went to work . It took Barenziah several more months to learn the hiding places of all eight Staff pieces through snatches of overheard conversation and rare glances at Tharn ' s diary . Once she had the vital information , however - - which she communicated to Ria forthwith , who in turn passed it on to the Champion - she and Eadwyre lost no time . They fled to Wayrest , his ancestral kingdom in the province of High Rock , where they managed to fend off the sporadic efforts of Tharn ' s henchmen to haul them back to the Imperial City , or at the very least obtain revenge . Tharn , whatever else might be said of him , was no one ' s fool - save perhaps Barenziah ' s - - and he concentrated most of his efforts toward tracking down and destroying the Champion . As all now know , the courageous , indefatigable , and forever nameless Champion was successful in reuniting the eight sundered pieces of the Staff of Chaos . With it , he destroyed Tharn and rescued the true Emperor , Uriel Septim VII . Following what has come to be known as the Restoration , a grand state memorial service was held for Symmachus at the Imperial City , befitting the man who had served the Septim Dynasty for so long and so well . Barenziah and good King Eadwyre had come to care deeply for one another during their trials and adventures , and were married in the same year shortly after their flight from the Imperial City . Her two children from her previous marriage with Symmachus remained with her , and a regent was appointed to rule Mournhold in her absence . Up to the present time , Queen Barenziah has been in Wayrest with Prince Helseth and Princess Morgiah . She plans to return to Mournhold after Eadwyre ' s death . Since he was already elderly when they wed , she knows that that event , alas , could not be far off as the Elves reckon time . Until then , she shares in the government of the kingdom of Wayrest with her husband , and seems glad and content with her finally quiet , and happily unremarkable , life .