His Most Eminent Rushdam d'Murani, Grand Vizier of Magnagora gazed upon his once
great city, now thrown into turmoil by the results of Project Cosmic Hope. He
sighed slightly as he watched the sooty mist slowly surround the entirety of
the city, making vision beyond a few feet nigh impossible.

"My son… it doesn't look like our dear friend Ghadi n'Rotri will be coming back
from his trip after all." said his Eminence, a slight smirk set upon his
features. "Now the position of Master Prophet is yours for the taking!"

"Father…" sighed Rakdyn d'Murani, Heir to the Magnagoran Throne, "I can't take
a position that's meant for one of the other Great Houses in the city."

Rushdam grumbled slightly as he shifted across the room slightly, clinging onto
his obsidian staff tightly. He fixed his gaze upon the i'Xiia Tower, barely
visible through the thick mists.

"That won't be a problem for us, as Grand Vizier I can appoint whoever I want
as the Great Prophet… providing the previous Prophet died or vanished." grinned
Rushdam, a sparkle in his eyes. "In fact, how about we inform the citizens about
it now?"

As Rushdam and his son prepared to travel to the Stone of Truth, a shadowy
figure emerged in the archway before the gardens.

"Rushdam…. my old friend, I never thought of you as the backstabbing type. The
Great Prophet position belongs to the i'Xiia House… my position." said the
shadowy figure as he stepped into the light, revealing himself as Verir i'Xiia,
a trill of a fairly big build.

"Ahh Verir.. how nice of you to come and visit us. Were the constant explosions
in your tower too much for you? Or maybe it was just the sten-"

"Now listen here, d'Murani…" interrupted Verir, "That position belongs to my
house, and I won't allow you to take it from us."

Verir's hand suddenly shifted beneath his robes, pulling out a gleaming dagger.

"You give me no other choice Rushdam." snarled Verir as he lunged towards the
Grand Vizier.

Rushdam quickly chanted a few words and drew the shape of a pentagram around
him, protecting him from the thrust of the dagger.

"Verir you fool." smirked Rushdam, "You seriously think that you can defeat
me?"

As Rushdam spoke he raised his hands, causing a tiny flicker of light to appear
between his hands.

"Behold the wrath of the d'Murani!" yelled Rushdam as the flicker of light
manifested into a ball of cosmic energy, throwing it straight at Verir, causing
his flesh to dissolve before his eyes.

"You will pay for this d'Murani! In the name of Lord Baalphegar, you will pay."
muttered Verir as he slumped to the ground, dead.

Rushdam scoffed as he looked at the corpse lying on the floor and turned
towards his son, smirking slightly.

"What a mess Verir has caused in my tower. Remind me to get someone to clean up
here later on… For now we must make haste towards the Stone of Truth."

Rushdam and Rakdyn quickly left the tower heading towards the Stone, as they
arrived they were greeted by a massive group of citizens panicking about the
mist pouring from the Stone of Truth.

"Citizens of Magnagora! Fear not, everything is under control." Rushdam
sparkled, turning his gaze towards his son, "I would like to present to you all
our new Great Prophet, Rakdyn d'Murani!"

===============================================

The journal of Rakdyn d'Murani, Great Prophet of Magnagora:

Inauguration Day
----------------

It has been months since my father's disappearance, no one ever did discover
what happened to him. I suspect that the i'Xiia scum were involved in this; I
won't let those bastards get away with this… I will get my revenge.

It seems that the city has given up hope on my father's return, and the day has
come for me to take my place upon the Iron Throne as Grand Vizier of Magnagora.
I'm hoping that things will run smoothly but somehow I doubt it.

(An entry that was added after Rakdyn took his place as Grand Vizier)

Just as I suspected, some pathetic assassin attempted to murder me, her
attempts foiled by the ur'Guard surrounding the city. I fear that whoever is
sending these assassins after me will continue until I am dead, I don't fear
for myself, but for my beautiful wife and daughter. I have increased security
across the city and I've started an official investigation on where this
assassin came from.

The Taint
---------

This "taint" that has been surrounding my city has been on my mind for some
time. It's been here for years now, drifting into the Crystal Sea and causing
Celest to retreat into their holes. I travelled there only last month and
noticed the pathetic souls of the Celestians killed in the blast that Marilynth
caused wandering around, still crying over their loss. At least my city have
still managed to stand strong throughout all of this, the Stone of Truth is now
hardly recognisable, bleeding some sort of viscous oil from its pores. Some
people have even begun to call it the "Megalith of Doom", believing that we
should embrace this new power and see what we can gain from it.

The Beginning of the End
------------------------

A group of renegade Celestians attempted to attack Magnagora upon this day.
Needless to say the maggots fell to our might; however intelligence reports
have confirmed that they are gathering a larger group in the Balach Swamp. I am
recruiting my best troops to destroy this group of rogues; surely they won't be
able to defeat the Engine of Transformation!

Betrayal
--------

I fear that this will be my last entry in this journal; it seems that these
"rogues" were more organised than I thought. The bastards of i'Xiia have set
this whole thing up; somehow they managed to gather a large group of fighters
to get rid of me and attempt to destroy my family. I can only hope that my wife
and daughter are still alive, and that these worms haven't gotten to them yet. I
pray to the powers above that they stay safe and well. I can only hope that
somehow someone receives this journal and discovers the truth behind my dea….
(The writing stopped here suddenly, a mark of blood can only just be made out
at the top of this page)

===============================================

30 years after the Coming of Estarra

"Okay children, calm down now." smiled Ilosia, "It's time to read a faerie
tale!"

The children all laughed and giggled as they all piled together on the carpet
before Ilosia, staring wide-eyed at her.

"Once upon a time there was a noble King. He married a wonderful woman and gave
birth to the one of the most beautiful babies in the Basin; almost as beautiful
as all of you!" Ilosia grinned as she pointed at the children who giggled right
back at her. "This King went on a long quest to save his city and to make his
wife and daughter proud. He came across an evil warlock's house and cursed him
to become a toad for the rest of his life."

"Ewww, toads are icky!" yelled one of the children, a massive grin on his face.

"Hey! Toads are cute! I want to kiss one so that it can become my Prince!"

"Hey now, Kassina! You can't go around kissing toads…!" sparkled Ilosia, "…you
don't know where they've been!"

"Awww!" Kassina whined.

"Now back to the story." laughed Ilosia, "So by cursing the evil warlock to
being a toad, he stopped him from doing anymore nasty things and saved his
city!"

"Yay!" yelled all of the children in unison as they all ran outside to play.

Ilosia sighed slightly; her story was no faerie tale. The King mentioned in the
story was one of her distant relatives although she was unsure of the details.
He didn't slay any evil warlock either; the King was murdered in some sort of
ambush.

"One day you will discover your true heritage, children." she whispered to
herself, "One day…"