Difference between revisions of "Timeline: 300 AF to 399 AF"

Three hundred years after the Fall of the Selucarian Empire, all of Sapience celebrates the new century with a rousing set of festivities. As the New Year dawns, a brilliant, massive display of colourful fireworks explodes over the continent, awing the populace with never before seen pyrotechnic delights. The following months are filled with celebratory activities. There are continual banquets and parties replete with feasting and revelry. Most agree that this is the social event of the year. In the Garden of the Gods, the Pantheon joins in the celebration as the Divine Logos sponsors a series of contests to test the mettle of all who desire to participate. Opening with an intellectual exercise, Sarapis stages a Quiz on Achaean history and related subjects. Shakti wins first place, followed by Jerle and Saruman. A fervent Egg Hunt sees Shakti win again, followed by Brinn and Jerle. A rollicking Tumble Race is won by Rick in first place, followed by Yeshua and Vand. A Triplets Combat session ends with Andelas, Zero and Rivalyn placing first. They share the glory with Shakti, Estach and Jarik in second place, and Fostrow, Stee and Kail in third. In honour of the newly formed Jesters Guild a contest of Jokes is held. From the subtle to the crude, from the metaphysical to the ribald and profane, the jokes fly fast and furious from the contestants. All Achaea delights in this amusement and occasional laughter is even heard from the heavens, as the gods themselves are drawn into the rampant mirth fest. At the end of the hilarity, Jarik, Shakti and Deonymus garner first, second and third places respectively. The Jokes Contest is followed by a Costume Ball. Among those most delighting the judges with their inventive garb are Bambi, Saruman, and Idempotent. Aringar, Tylin, and Yeshua win the top three prizes for their prowess in gaining the fruits of the hunt with their bashing skills. A game of Capture the Flag is led by Oakstone, followed by Ashtan and Shallam. All of Achaea waits with bated breath as Sarapis tallies the collective results of the various contests and announces an overall winner. That winner is Shakti. And for her prowess she is granted the thousand-year-old, legendary Staff of Nicator, created by the Logos Himself for Nicator and last awarded to Isildur.

The minions of Sartan, God of Evil, continue their desecration of the shrines of many of the other deities. Nettled past hope of restraint, Aegis issues a clarion call to the Alliance and their followers to go to war with the Evil One and His minions. Although Sartan has been noticeably absent from the Material Plane, His followers obstinately refuse the conditions of the Divine Alliance for cessation of hostilities and continue to badger the public news boards with their stubborn, loyalist rantings.

For the first time in the known history of the world, a guild declares war against its patron city-state, when the Infernals throw down the gauntlet, publicly, before the government of Ashtan. Shocked and scandalized by this treasonous breach of protocol, Ashtan's reaction is quick and powerful. The Archons look upon the events that follow with amazement as the collective fury of the Ashtanite citizenry explodes against the traitors. Crowds pour spontaneously into the streets and shouts demanding blood and retribution of the traitorous guild fill the air. Eventually the mob coalesces around Epicurus and the Dowager Montaganet who lead the angry mass of citizenry to the Iron Citadel. They breach the walls of the once proud fortress and drag forth Dacian, the Martial Master of the Iron Keep. Spitting his defiance and cursing Ashtan, Dacian is thrown to his knees and his vituperation is finally silenced as the blade of Ashtan's Lord High Executioner separates his head from his body. The Executioner tosses the bloodied, staring head, with its stump of neck, into the crowd, where children from the Orphanage delight in the new found "toy" and promptly begin a game of kick-the-ball with it. Some onlookers later say that they could still see the lips moving impotently as the eyes glared with unsated rage. Acting as with a single mind, the mob erupts in an orgy of destruction as they raze the Citadel to its foundations, setting it and all within to the torch. When it is done, the crowd stands in mute witness. No sound but the crackling of flames and the occasional collapse of rubble is heard as the thick, oily smoke of the conflagration rises over the City. A breeze springs up, dissipating the dark cloud and as it disperses, some say they hear a low moaning upon the wind. Some say that is merely the wind itself, whistling about the stones of the now ruined battlements. Later, some occultic scholars say that what was heard was the dying of the very Oversoul of the Infernals. For in their haste, obstinacy and arrogance, the lords of the Iron Citadel had committed a kind of suicide, not being aware of the psychic and metaphysical bonds that tie a guild to its genius loci. Without guildhall or teachers, without history even, given the dependence on written records, with no city to even call their own, the Oversoul of the Infernals could not be sustained, and so died, and with it thus died the once proud and strong Guild of the Infernals.

The leadership of the Infernals claim to be unbowed by their fate of their guild. They regroup and form what they call the Interim Battalion, a name reminiscent of Raajin's now defunct Exodus Battalion. Unlike the case with Raajin's band though, there is no city-state willing to grant succor to the disgraced former Infernals. Some of the Battalion now have second thoughts and claim that their leaders have misled them. Such is their grief and disappointment that they renounce the Infernals, the Battalion, and Sartan, suing for the forgiveness and mercy of those they have wronged.

Sartan, feeling the perturbations in the ether caused by the dissolution of His chosen guild, reenters the Physical Plane and seeks revenge the erstwhile Infernals by sending hordes of skeletal warriors, dragons and demons against Ashtan, the city He once Patroned. His machinations are for naught as the Bastion of the North defeats each of these measures. Undeterred by these setbacks, the proud Prince of Evil humbles Himself to ask Valnurana, Goddess of Sleep and Dreams, to aid him in achieving peace between Himself and the Divine Alliance. Once alone with Her though, he uses His power to place Her in a deep trance and begins a rite of His own devising designed to usurp Her power over the Dream Realm. Sartan seeks to bring the nightmares of the mortal kindreds into physical manifestation in Achaea, threatening both Gods and men. The Evil One is, however, unable to bring His ritual to completion. Angered, he gouges out the eyes of Valnurana, vampirizes Her essence and tosses Her immortal form at the base of the Pillars of Heaven.

As Sartan worked His vile magics, nightmares had indeed begun to increase in frequency and intensity throughout the world. Many had their sleep plagued by intense dreams filled with unspeakably obscene images of dread, decay and destruction. Eris, suspecting that all is not well, seeks out Valnurana for an explanation. What She finds makes Her divine blood run cold. Bearing Valnurana's body to the River Temple, the Goddess of Chaos is able to heal the Lady of Sleep and Dreams enough for Valnurana to reveal what has happened to Her. Outraged, Eris calls out across the heavens in challenge to Sartan who laughs and insults Her and attempts attack. The clamour is heard in the Garden and the Alliance rises up, enraged, against Sartan for His desecration of the gentle Valnurana and the past misdeeds of His minions. Even Ourania, ordinarily choosing to eschew the squabbles of the Divine and keeping Her own counsel, erupts in fury. Caspian, Aegis, Eris, Lupus, Phaestus, Agatheis, and Ourania march upon the malevolent One. Achaeans cower in fear or gape in wonder as the sights and sounds of godly battle fill the skies. With a concerted effort the Alliance captures and binds Sartan, hurling Him into the Sea before Aegis and Lupus wrench a mountain from the Vashnar range and trap the Lord of Evil beneath it. Even victorious though, the seven deities give a collective shudder as they watch the mountain reform into an island, warped by the very essence of the immortal trapped beneath.

Valnurana, healed although still bereft of Her former divine voice and sight, and feeling unwarranted shame at Her inadvertent and unintended aid to Sartan, retreats into the Dream Realm, wounded in spirit. Dreamseer begs Agatheis, the Elemental Lord, to aid his Lady. Enrinyes, daughter of the Goddess, likewise pleads with Phaestus. Enduring great travail, the Orders of Phaestus and Valnurana, as well as other volunteers to who hold the her dear, follow the instructions of Phaestus, who is eventually able to craft for Her a pair of sapphire eyes. Returning Her voice proves more difficult, but the Elemental Lord, in concert with Vand and members of the Magi, Warlocks and Priests guilds, hoping against all hope and persevering against seeming failure, is at last able to succeed in conducting a rite that allows the divine voice of Valnurana to be heard in the land once again.

Pentharian, God of Righteousness, and Lorielan, Goddess of Knowledge reveal a newly constructed Chrysalis Basilica, built outside the Material Plane. As onlookers gape, a rift opens in the heavens, and with great decorum and ceremony, the two deities direct the placement of the rebuilt holy place upon the crater bearing the ruins of its predecessor.

The island beneath which Sartan lies imprisoned becomes the scene of mysterious and disturbing manifestations. Chief among these phenomena is a stalagmite, located inside the island's mountain. Sartan's followers begin, like lemmings, to repeatedly impale themselves upon the object, their purpose unknown until some few reveal that they have been told that thus may they purchase the release of the Evil One from His bonds, with their blood and life essence. Others, through divine trickery, are told that impaling themselves upon the thing is a way of ensuring His continued imprisonment. Those who do not believe the lie, led by the Church and Oakstone work to prevent the continuous serial impalements, but their efforts are largely fruitless. Soon a miasmic, roiling, blood red fog begins to spread about the island, consuming vegetative life. Eventually the fog, growing in power and evincing an eerie quasi intelligence begins to spread to the continent, belching forth foul demons who terrify the populace of Sapience. Gaia, the Earthmother, becomes alarmed and, seeking to stem the horrific tide, causes an earthquake with which She hopes to sink the island, apparent source of the evil haze. Alas, the fog only spreads with renewed vigour. Adding insult to injury, the event seems to crush the bonds of Sartan, allowing Him release from His prison, whereupon he sets forth forming a new body from the now plentiful supply of

demonic fog. His new body is a horror to behold, mutilated, scarred, as though the evil once held deep within His heart, was now worn upon His face and form. Rejoicing in His newfound fortune, Sartan proclaims Himself Sartan the Malevolent. He takes control of the island that was once His jailer, imbuing its very stones with His essence. In an act that promises dire fortune at some point in the future, the Malevolent One calls His faithful unto him, brings into manifestation a monstrous edifice called the Baelgrim Fortress, and endows an organization calling itself the Maldaathi Knights upon the former, humiliated Infernals. Kaelin is appointed as leader of this new guild. With most of Achaea now at peace for the nonce, discussion and debate on the natures of so-called Good and Evil once again dominate the public news boards ad nauseam. Lately, debaters on the subject of the true nature of Chaos, oxymoronic as such a subject must perforce be, have also entered the fray. Achaea abides.

An extended Dreaming is held, and as a result, the forest folk use ancient potions to heal the spirits. At Urania's behest, the forestals coax the Gaian Tree into giving up its essence; in doing so, it becomes the Great Oak. Balance is restored to Nature for the time, and a new spirit is born to watch over the forests until such time as a new protector arises.

Rain and snow clear the rubble blocking the way to a monastery north of Jaru, called Shala'jen. Shortly after, explorers discover ghostly monks roaming its halls. The rain also floods Lake Vundamere, which washes away debris and allows exploration of the area surrounding it.

Later, the Eileithyian Tree offers up the young girl, and an overjoyed Aegis and Eris named their daughter Pandora. This joy is marred, however, as the sky tears open again, and the entity returns to steal the fledgling goddess as well. The entity is revealed to be none other than the one-time ally of the Triumvirate, Prince Slith. In a rage, Aegis chases Slith back through the tear in the sky, the rift between the worlds sealing behind them.

Following the upsets within the forest, a path is uncovered by a dryad in the Northern Ithmia. Queen Titania calls for Oakstone's aid, and the explorers return with stories of Forest Watch, an ancient human settlement long since overtaken by buckawns.

During a construction project in Hashan, a ruined temple is uncovered, and the angry, hate-filled spectres of the former inhabitants overwhelm those nearby. Explorers discover a journal detailing the former cult and their focus, and how their cult had split into three sects: one to the night, one to darkness, and one to dreams. Each sect worshiped a planet embodying their given belief, and by measuring the alignment of these planets, they determined which sect would rule the cult.

The device was intended to 'cycle' to the next planet every two decades. However, when Hubrisian and the Dream faction were in control, it did not cycle as it should, and Hubrisian's dreams of grandeur were realized as he claimed this Divine Right that his sect should continue to lead, armed with his Herald Siren who had foretold this in his dreams. This same dream creature sealed Hubrisian within the temple with the other two sects, his arrogance laid bare as they stripped his powers of Night from him. The entire Dream faction was cursed and destroyed for their treachery, at the machinations of this Siren, none other than Alp the Nightmare Siren.

Those intrepid researchers of Hashan realized Alp fit the description, and upon asking her about it, she seemed joyful to relieve the incident where she dispensed 'justice' to the lot of 'blasphemous, prideful clerics'. When pressed about how this was done, she admitted to replacing the device with a fake replica that would never change from Dreams, which was how she engineered the whole facade. But her machinations didn't end there. Through manipulation of Kryvar, she led the assembled to partake of a public dreaming in the ruined temple, where she then told them of all she had done. Unfortunately, this had also called the spectres of the temple, making them aware of the presence of the Nightmare Siren that had tormented them so long ago.

Gack arrives in Mhaldor, offering to set up a slaving business, to which Mhaldor promptly and happily agreed. The fortress of Moghedu was raided, and it's citizens captured to sell into slavery, and the deal was profitable, up until Mhun scouts began to invade Mhaldor's isle to look for their missing brethren. The Mhaldorian reprisal was swift, laying waste to the forces and launching on Mhoghedu, while the Mhunna had plans of his own, digging tunnels under Mhaldor to enter the city and take their own revenge.

Small snakes and sibilant hisses are seen and heard all over Sapience, culminating in a massive black snake being found on Mount Mhaldor. This reptile was sentient, and called himself a General of Sartan. After many accusations at those who did not fully commit to evil, the snake struck out at an invisible attacker within the midst of the crowd of Mhaldorians. Shortly after, he claimed it was time, coiling and biting Yig and Mistral in the crowd, and informing them that they were to leave their old lives behind. They would be Naga now, their bodies transformed to be serpents.

The Naga guild is formed by Yig, as the Epitome of Torment, taking Mistral as his secretary.

The Goddess Demeter is brought into the realms from her slumber through the combined efforts of the forestals, having gathered ingredients and seeds from all over Sapience to perform the ritual necessary.  

Xerimor had prepared for this, however, and used skills of necromancy, domination, and daemonology learned during his imprisonment to bind Morimbuull, demanding he impart his knowledge of the daemons and apostasy. The enraged Morimbuull refused, but eventually was forced to relent. And thus, Xerimor founded the Apostate guild, focused on the worship of Lord Sartan.

Screams split the night air, as Urania, the spirit of Darkenwood, cried out in terror and pain. Dark demons called qlippah were devouring the forest, and attempting to devour her as well. Both Forestals and the Darkwalkers rushed to aid, and through forming a ritual with the advice of Kalleah, the spirit of Hazel, they attempted to call forth the dark being that had sent these lesser demons, to banish it once and for all. The ritual took an unexpected turn, as they summoned the creature, but were no match for it's power. It devoured those leading the ritual, and laid waste to the assembly. Urania was nowhere to be found by this point. Through sheer force of effort and cooperation, and many deaths, the ritual was performed and the beast locked away, but those assembled grieved the loss of Urania to achieve it. Putting together a second ritual, they attempted to pour forth their love and energy for the fallen spirit. The circle became disrupted, but Malkyr, the Oracle of Demeter, pushed on and sent the energy regardless. Green light and darkfire danced across the sky as a rift opened, and Urania stepped out, looking healthier than ever. The place the rite took place in, would be forever changed.

A village hidden in the Southern Vashnars was discovered by Greywolf. Their inhabitants, the Aeraithians are a small race that can glide, but not fly, and speak a native language that is not achaean.  

Urania, spirit of Darkenwood, suddenly cried out to all that she was in pain, peculiar given that a large amount of mortal and immortal time and energy had been going into cleansing the forest. Arcane and archaic remedies were sought, to little avail, most notably in Cyrene. Undead animals are sighted within the borders of the forest, as the situation wears on.

The followers of Twilight would not be stopped, however, and using the qlippah to assault the young dragon, the citizens fought, but it wasn't enough. Blu was defeated, and faded away to another realm. All that remained was half of an amulet, that Twilight claimed was part of the artefact they were searching for. The Dark Lord used the amulet to put Darkenwood into stasis, halting the undead spread, but not fixing it yet.

Valnurana was asked how Sartan could deceive another Divine in this way, and to the horror of all, she admitted to using an ancient artefact to help Sartan in his scheme to destroy Darkenwood. Sartan merely laughed at these revelations, hidden within his realm, while Valnurana explained her only desire had been to seek vengeance on Twilight, and was as horrified as everyone else when they became aware of Sartan's scheme involving the stolen child god. When she became aware, she stole the artefact back, the [[Eye of Proteus]], and promised to help free the child. The Garden convened, looking for new ways to tackle this issue.

A kris dagger appeared in the Mannaseh Swamp as a demonically female voice called out that it was time and demanding to be taken to the fissure. None were able to pick it up, save Stee, Knight of the Maldaathi, who promptly tried to take it back to the fissure. The forces of the Child's Army did battle with him, but eventually Stee was able to cast the knife into the fissure, where it struck the child god and revealed the true purpose of Sartan's plan. With the child struck with the kris, and the collected energies, he was able to revive Indrani the Demon Queen, who then fed on the essence of the child god to try and claim his power as her own. In the midst of this, Eris broke into the battle, and stealing her freed son away, prevented his death at Indrani's hands. Tucking her son into the Eileithyian Tree, she named him Pandemonium, and gave up much of her own divine essence to save his life, while he slept peacefully in the boughs of the tree once more.

Pandora attempted to quell the chaos of the spire, but unable to control it, it repelled her as well and the young goddess retreated to the Eileithyian Tree, crawling into it's branches next to her sleeping brother. Twilight appeared across the heavens with the Soulgem of Gladius, shouting his intentions of rewarding him. Throwing the soulgem at Twilight's own obelisk, the two merged, and the Obelisk rebuffed Twilight until he faded into Oblivion--an act the rest of the buildings of Hashan echoed support for.

Fierce hurricanes lead to multitudes of dead fish wash up along the shores of Sapience's east coast. Found to be in the center of the Hurricanes is Caspian, withered and aged and responding to little around him save his gaze fixed on the Trident of the Seas. After many attempts to rouse the Sea God, nothing seemed to work. The Guardians of the Seas took note, Borak and Notia were the first to appear, whispering their glee that Caspian was incapacitated so badly. Eusia attempted to approach, but the gentle spirit was driven away by Notia. When Sefyr arrived, he ran to embrace his Lord, but Borak grabbed him and threw Sefyr far out to sea, silencing the weaker spirit. Sefyr has not been seen since.  

Eventually Aeolos, the Triton arrived, awestruck at the sincere desire of the landwalkers to help the Sea God. He listened to those who kept silent vigil over Caspian, and eventually Aeolos friend and master joined them, Caspian's own son Neraeos. Seeing his father's stare, he assumed his father wanted to wield the Trident of the Seas. Plucking the artefact from the sands, he turned to give it to his father, but Caspian had withered away to dust in that instant, leaving Neraeos no longer just the son of Caspian, but the God of the Seas, taking his place among the Divine in the Garden.

Jirken, the insane alchemist, is freed from his confines under the city of Shallam by the combined efforts of Sojin, the Naga and Akechi Jupiter Dawyn, the Daemonic Hand of the Tanjinn. Immediately he takes up residence in Mhaldor, continuing his destructive experiments.

The Underworld is discovered after fights with Zsarachnor, leading to the deaths of many adventurers in this new and dangerous place.  

Following the discovery of the letters, the followers of both Orders went into seclusion, save one. Dusk appeared within Mhaldor, risking death to fulfill the geas placed on him by his departed Lord. There he sought audience with Indrani, and begged both her forgiveness, and to allow the Obelisk to be moved to Mhaldor. She declined, then gave him a caveat. If all of Mhaldor, as well as the followers of herself and Sartan could be convinced this move would be in their best interests, she would allow it. And so, Dusk took to the streets to attempt to convince the populace and fulfill the final task his master gave to him.

The Conclave tried again to organize, though Maim had different plans. Slaying Haag, it was reported that she was carrying a large number of landmarking items with her, and later, Maim was seen standing over Hycanthus' corpse as well. She attempted to strike down Maklak as well, but Blaise and Proficy stepped in, delaying the Conclave member's slaughter as he hastened to Polygaros with a fresh slew of landmarking items. Maklak and O'ising met here, pouring these items into the mirror, and much to the chagrin of those who wished to know more of the situation first, Sapience aided the effort and gathered landmarking items to add to the mirror as well. Eventually, a small tremor shook the area as the mirror finally sealed and the nightmare of mirror images wreaking havoc across Sapience ended with it. They blamed the adventurers of Sapience for the disturbance int he first place, as it wouldn't have happened had they not disturbed the first ritual.

Scarlatti, hearing of the beauty of the new goddess, returned to the realms to see her for himself. Moved so by her beauty, he fell in love, for passion is the province of the artist. The Lord of Arts returns to the realms once more.

Jephrey, Jaru's chocolate peddler, goes to Shallam for help when bandit's threaten his home. Meeting Vizier Trevalyan in secret, he tells the vizier of his plight only for the bandits to catch wind of his indiscretion and proceed to burn Jaru to the ground. Shallam rushes to their aid, and driving off the bandits and discovering a key which led them to a mansion in the Shamota hills where the bandits were trying to regroup after the attack. Using the key, they entered the mansion and proceeded to slaughter the bandits, until only the help were lift, fear stricken. Searching the mansion produced letters and more keys, this time leading to a townhouse in Shallam full of supplies, gold, and sapphires.

In response, Mhaldor declares Moghedu under it's control, sparking outrage and a prolonged war as others in the realm rushed to Moghedu's aid. Mhaldor and the Mhun fought back and forth, at times victory seeming certain for either side, though after much bloodshed and death Mhaldor was eventually repelled and all entrances to Moghedu were sealed to keep the Mhaldorians out.

The Blackrock Clan emerges outside Mhaldor, proclaiming undying loyalty to Sartan. Mhaldor makes contact and offers alliance, while those of Phaestus's Order are rebuffed, the Blackrock claiming Phaestus turned his back on them when he dropped a mountain on them.

The forests of Rheodad and Shala-Kulia were discovered by Evadne and Garth, respectively. But just as soon as the two forests were discovered, it became apparent they were cursed. Ghostly whispers pleading for help could be heard within Rheodad, while a malignant purple flame burned within the city of Shala-Kulia. Hidden underneath Rheodad, the ghost of an ancient Ashtani necromancer, Amphites, was discovered. And it was revealed he had cursed the land long ago, breaking the staff of Shala-Kulia into pieces. Regretful of his actions, he pleaded for the adventurers that should they do his soul one last favor, he would release his power over the forests. All he wished, was to see the spirit of his long dead wife, Carina who had died in Shala-Kulia. They succeeded in bringing her to him, and restoring the staff of Shala-Kulia, freeing the forests of their curse.

For the past two years, criminal activity in Sapience had spiked. Every city was feeling it's effects from regional criminals, and while Eleusis turned to violence, Cyrene and Ashtan turned to cunning to shut down their criminal operations and glean information. Shallam and Hashan, however, had been funding the criminals willingly, and none of the cities save Ashtan seemed willing to share what they knew. When the dust settled, the mastermind Felisse took to public pronouncements, sarcastically thanking the cities for helping her acquire all the gold she needed for some further plan, and criminal activity promptly lessened across the land.

As the courtship of Selene and Scarlatti grew, he gave to her a grand gift: The village of artists high in the mountains, Caer Witrin. As others marveled at the new village, Scarlatti met with his love in the center of the village, and producing a 'loves-me-not' flower, proposed to her. She accepted, but immediately fell ill. As those gathered and Scarlatti above all others fretted over his wife-to-be, he called for his sister, Mithraea, the Goddess of Healing. Mithraea confirmed what some already feared, that it was Scarlatti's proposal to the Goddess of Love and Beauty that caused her to fall ill. Loving one more than all others sapped the essence of who and what she was, and distraught, Scarlatti knew what he must then do. Leaving both her side and the realms, it wasn't long before Selene made a recovery...but Scarlatti would not be quick to return.

Eleusis was greeted by Tiglia of Moghedu, who had been out sightseeing around Sapience. When questioned where she would go next, she remarked that Bagwar's Copse sounded interesting. When told that area of the forest had long been overgrown, Tiglia responded that a shipment of iron had been sent from Moghedu recently, and the returning mhun had told of how peaceful the village was. Intrigued, those gathered left with Tiglia to where the area of the forest was to be, finding the path cleared and the peaceful village of Bogwar's Copse thriving in it's place.

Following odd movements of the Blackrock dwarves, Mhaldorus grew more agitated with the city he defended, demanding they discover the Infernus Occulum, and sending them to Jirken the mad alchemist, who promptly sent them out to Vinia the Black. One long line of conversation later, they were given a journal, which eventually led them to a statue in the Northern Ithmia that held the necklace all along in secret. Recovering the Infernus Occulum, they returned to Mhaldor to put it to use. Following the visions were led to a small cavern the Blackrock had been digging out, without having any clue as to why. There, they witnessed the birth of the Goddess of Vengeance, Keresis, who proclaimed her realm to all of Sapience.

A dark whisper echoed out of Azdun, as though of darker intent were called to it. Discovering the source to be a Gargoyle trapped in a stone form, the creature spoke to those gathered, telling them it was cursed by an atavian shaman. He promised servitude, and great wealth, to any who would free him from his bondage...and the way to properly break the ritual, was to bring him atavian corpses. The shaman from Genji sensed something was wrong, but when he arrived he was slain before he could sleep by the gathered crowd, much to the dismay of several atavians among them. What followed was a grand hunt for corpses, which the shaman attempted to stop again, after having prayed to Sarapis for salvation. Before he could even finish collecting one portion of the salve he intended to use to destroy the gargoyle, those of dark intent slew him again, adding his corpse back to the growing pile. Shortly after, it happened. The gargoyle's bonds were loosened, and he rewarded those who helped him. By slaying them, those that stood against him, and everyone in his path, flying out into the countryside. Eventually, the dragon Garth put an end to his savagery, but what remains is a lesson in the dangers of trusting such things.

When those of Shallam in Lorielan's Order had visions of a great crystal army fighting a horde of undead, they sprang to action. Through following the words of Munin, a water nymph of Lorielan's Temple, they were led to Kasmarkin, and once there, to summon Sh'Fah to the material plane. In doing so, they drew the battle that was once there to this plane, as Slith, who had engaged Lorielan on Kx'Khrah, followed Sh'Fah to finish off Lorielan's general. His plot had nearly been complete, and no meddling mortals were going to keep him from it. The battle continued, and when it seemed as though Slith would have the upper hand, Lorielan intervened, though Slith stopped her cold, claiming he had prepared for this and could control her, brandishing an artefact that hummed with the same energy Lorielan gave off.

The God of Valour was captured, and in experimenting on the god, Slith learned that Pentharian also held bits of essence from Lorielan and Mithraea as well. Using these, he could attempt to control the whole of the Te'serran Alliance...and as expected, he was again the cause for Mithraea's departure from the realms. Lorielan proved harder, as the Goddess of Knowledge was a mental fortress to his attempts. Eventually, he was able to convince her to leave for the Crystal Plane, giving him time to further his machinations before dealing with her. And thus he did, developing a plan to weaken her through battle to put her under his control. This is when he led his undead legions into Kx'Khrah, and this is when the mortals unknowingly intervened, giving Lorielan the edge she needed to resume control of the situation.

And this is when she returned to the realms once more.

Shockwaves deep within the Granite Hills were responded with cries of terror as fire wyrms poured from a newly gaping maw of rock deep within Manara Burrow, and proceeded to slaughter everything in their path, which included any adventurers. As they made their way to the surface, it became clear to Sapience as a whole that this was not a simple outpouring that could be contained. More wyrms appeared as quickly as they were slain, and days passed with no end in sight as cities and forests together felt the wrath of the rampaging wyrms. Imyrr Rousseau had an idea, however, and calling on the master demolitionist of the mhun in Moghedu, they gathered the ingredients he would need to create the required explosives. A large detachment came forth to protect the mhun as they traveled to the maw deep within the Burrow, and laying the explosives, they sealed the hole and thus where the wyrms came from. All that remained was a crack that one could barely slip through, to head into Nuskuwe below, the realm of the fire wyrms, and other strange creatures deep beneath the earth.