[fifteen sessions later...]
"So, in order to get the gnome city's army of airships across the desert to fight the Witch Queen, we need to resolve the catfolks' trade dispute with the djinn who live in the desert? Hey, somebody track down that itinerant salesman we bought a dog, he was a smooth talker. And we need an envoy to the Pirate King, he'll break the treaty with the 'free magic' cult if we present this as an anti-slavery issue and reveal the cult's financial ties to the old empire, but only if we don't mention his wife."