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Cloaked in Red

by Steel Claw

We have killed the construct of lighting, slain Henrik, and destroyed Castle Eschaton.

We have come this far, and held strong.

We stand in the demesne of Excanerix, the now-twisted dracolich. His hoard of gold towers above us all, his corrupted form gigantic and imposing.

And yet we meet the battle still! Onwards!

Izol, rest in peace: your counterspell given to us in the ring of spell storing saved us from many a fireball.

It was a long battle, hard-fought and bloody. Theobald, Milo, and I nearly lost our lives.

Eventually, as with all good things, Excanerix fell. He cursed us all, and dissolved into nothingness.

We tallied who was alive: everyone, with all their parts intact.

In the center of the dracolich's hoard, a stony mass began to softly glow and pulse. Inside, we saw a mass begin to rapid develop: the fetus of next-Excanarix. Theo, prepared as always, pulled out the holy water prepared for this moment --

"Theo, I need to do this." Dannerick stepped in, and with tears in his eyes for his family, he poured the water over Excanerix's theoretical phylactery.

I will never forget the screams, nor the stench. But with the dracolich's death came the freedom of thousands of souls.

Aftermath

At Theo's direction, our wizard opened up a large portal to a new demiplane, shoveling the gold in. I summoned a construct to help, a great glittering metal golem of gold, and several hours went by until we were satisfied. Theo then pulled his magnificent mansion into his demiplane while Excanerix's collapsed on itself.

Theo's spectral servants woke us around breakfasttime -- though there was no time here. A stupendous feast was prepared for us, and for once we smiled together as we supped.

After discussing our next moves, Theo returned us to Eschaton. We were greeted with cheers. Commander Dawn and Queen Sapphire herself were in the Hyperius Citadel, bringing me and the others much joy.

The conversation quickly turned serious. Sapphire told us that Yu Gin was in the city, as well as the entire Excellion Inquisatorius.

Alexia Ducati, personally, informed the us that the gremory has been captured -- at a great cost.

Most of the known world's governments had pieces of the gremory installed as representatives, statesmen, and politicians. Its discovery dispelled these illusions, and therefore multiple nations had key people "disappear" overnight. "At least half of the Excellion Council is no more. All of our arcane archelogy expedition is gone," she explained.

"Administrator Connor is a high-ranking lieutenant in the Black Hundreds," Queen Sapphire broke the news. "He has been anti-Accord his entire life. When the gremory collapsed, he disappeared."

And with little word to us, Dannerick took his leave.

The Ruined Council

The vanguard took to the ruined council chambers in the Hyperius Citadel to make council with the remainder of Excellion. In attendance were:

Much was discussed; though I have marked the topics of importance below:

The future of Eschaton, as we had talked on in private, was to give the city to its citizens to make its own path forwards. In the meantime, freedom and asylum for the Niverronian refugees would be granted in Eschaton. Captain Dathis put his name in for regency of Eschaton and the Niverronian people. It was then that Murg also announced his run for presidency, despite his kingship of New Free Goblonia.

Theobald moved the conversation to the next topic: the unification of the Bladelands as a conglomerate nation (of sorts) -- and specifically, without the interference of the Vechti Confederacy nor the Arcadian Accord.

Ormund Hornraven interrupted, interjecting that this would require Bezia to leave the Accord. Theobald shot back, stating that the Accord needs to be reevaluated as an international political policy. He added that the Vechti Confederacy, as an opposing force to the Arcadian Accord, would also need to reevaulate its political position(s).

Referenda

Not two sentences later, a vote was held: to hold free and fair elections in Eschaton. The vote was unanimous, in favor.

Yu-Gin was next to speak: "We need a symbol of hope. I would thus propose that Vechti will fully fund the reconstruction of Eschaton, without debt. To encourage unity, and quite frankly to raise funds, a tournament should be held. One year from now, of all warriors in the world, in High Acverra. We will hold challenges and games, to give our children memories of a world of peace."

Again, the vote was held immediately and passed unanimously.

After the meeting, Theobald stepped in to Murg's election campaign: he would be supporting Watch Captain Dathis in the elections, in order to keep Murg in line.

The last gremory

The gremory was held in the remains of Excanerix's laboratory. We were escorted down, where Andre, Hannibal, and the apprentice Nerea Kasim were watching over our prisoner.

The gremory was clad in all black, and "bled" a gray ash amidst its faceless visage and tendrilled hands.

We spoke with it, and learned only that it was a created from a piece of Asmodeus itself. Murg banished it.