Spurred on by the return of Hallifax, Kialkarkea and others sought out
the dracnari of the Nomad Camp, and set to work. Spirits ran high as
they birthed the ebony wakabi, famed for its ability to sense auric
vibrations. Deven, Senna, Xypher and Lehki aided in what some believed
the inevitable outcome of the revelations of the month of Kiani, in the
year 253. Others believed it was too unlikely - but indeed it came.

Kialkarkea, surrounded by his companions, placed the Hand of Tzaraziko
in the Marble Sculpture of the Enigma. The onlookers watched as chaos
truly reigned, if only for a moment - when Hallifax had been freed, time
had stopped. Now, time was removed from the equation entirely. Paradigms
shifted, and existence became a morass of energy and colour. Many
fainted underneath the assault on the senses, many of which few could
even comprehend - they heard colours and saw tastes, they smelt density
and colour, they thought without thinking.

Chaos reigned, and Time was rent asunder. Furiously the Sisters Three
knitted, and so time was restored. Now, however, Gaudiguch was not where
it was - or it is, except time there is where it wasn't - the paradox of
which will be debated in Dairuchi for centuries, Shimotabi surmised. As
the people of the Basin of Life swarmed through the deserted volcanic
city, they discovered a sight they knew to expect, but found nonetheless
heartbreaking. The citizens of Gaudiguch began to decay before their
very eyes, crumbling into piles of desert sand, caught in their final
moments - be they fear or meditation, seeking pleasure or preparing for
the defense of their once great and populated city.

The remnants of the Grand Cipher Dith fell apart as a crowd of people
packed into the Great Pyramid of Gaudiguch, yet his companion began to
shudder. As time flowed back into place, Scuchidira Tliwx, High Flame,
Archmage of the Pyramid of the Pyromancers, lived once more. For the
first time in six hundred and ninety-eight years, Scuchidira Tliwx did
not want a drink. Only vengeance.

Unable to make contact with her fellow freefolk of Gaudiguch, Scuchidira
Tliwx raged with the fires she controlled. It was some time before she
stopped yelling for her former friends and companions, to listen to
those she initially dismissed. As the harried and upset forestals and
Magnagora attempted to convince the raging dracnari that the Empire was
no more, she assured them the Empire would support Gaudiguch in what
was, in her eyes, the only resolution to this tragedy - the destruction
of Hallifax.

Intending to speak directly to the Empress Marilynth, Scuchi Mabuchi
walked the long way to the Inner Sea, and then swam the remaining way to
Spectres Isle. Here she found what Crirk had, days before: A vast amount
of nothingness, the ruins of a great empire she had, her entire life,
loved and served. Heart broken, Schuchidira was not to be deterred - she
sought out New Celest, swimming the two great seas once more. Once she
found the Pool of Stars, she reiterated her demands. Unable to find the
Empress of the Holy Empire - a woman by the name of Sheia, as she had
been told - she returned to Gaudiguch, hiding away within the Great
Pyramid to contemplate what this would mean not only for her, but for
her beloved city.

At least, she thought, no one would be trying to tap her kegs without
her anymore.


Penned by My hand on the 16th of Kiani, in the year 253 CE.