All seven Gnafia underbosses had been defeated, and hope gleamed in the
eyes of many. Then came the threat, the one that brought terror and
horror to the Basin of Life - "Surrender", the Gnodfather stated simply,
"Or I shall empty your nexuses." A threat he was fully willing to carry
out and, as soon as Brains finished her tests, he would be prepared to.
He gave the Basin of Life one day to surrender and, with a silvery
watch, he kept track of the time. Grandmother Scorpion, hidden beneath
the Scorpion's Tail mountains, felt the pressure, and knew fear - and so
she sent Shyust'i the Onix Witch forth to share the prophesy that one of
Gaudiguch's Illuminati had heard, but could not understand. With it,
they tracked down the last Verse of Magnora - even paying 1,000,000
gold, courtesy of the janitor Tully, for it. Mistakenly believing a much
older verse to be related to the current one, Hallifax and many others
sought out the Nomads and Mesas, to find the Hand of Tzaraziko - with
less than half a day left. Yet the Skarch became embroiled in a war,
ruining their misconceived hopes for salvation there.

Meanwhile Tully began to poke about the Elder Wars histories, hoping to
find some significance, and there discovered the Book of Bollikin. Soon
after, Indiau Eepex instructed Hallifax on ancient numerical symbols,
and they came to realize their error. After a brief discussion on
deductive reasoning, Professor Ileein of the Institute lead her comrades
to the World's Library, and soon made the same discovery Tully did.
While the dwarf stumbled about looking for a news room to share his
discovery, a small group of Hallifaxians sat in heartbroken silence over
what they read. Time, however, was up. The Gnodfather and Brains began
to drain the power from the Nexuses, 1,000 power every hour and a half,
and only now did Ileein realize what was necessary. A great army was
formed, lead by the Execumatrix of the Institute, and they traveled to
Xion. Accessing the control unit, Professor Ileein gave the command
code, one last given untold thousands of years prior, by the Elder God
Xyl. And Xion leaped into action. A hologram formed around those
present, as reinforcements from New Celest and Serenwilde began to
arrive - on every known Aetherbubble in prime space, and Xion itself,
rings were rising from the earth, sand and sugar.

Rushing down into the lower sections of the labs, Ileein - and soon her
companions - found a great gnomish machine, guarded by Roxie Wingnut.
And so the battle began. Across all of Aetherspace was it waged, on
every bubble, with every enemy they had ever faced from the Gnafia's
forces. Roxie Wingnut was the first to be defeated, but the fight there
was long and arduous. As they attacked the machines the Gnafia were
using to control the rings and tap into the seals, they were whisked
away, often into the arms of their enemies. More than a hundred strong,
they attacked every machine, from every angle - and one by one, Doc,
Slimeball, Greedy, Tootsie, Whitey fled, joining Brains in her defeat.
Last to stand was the infamous Big Mama herself, guarded by an army of
her own - dozens of peeps, leaping to her defense, each being fed goop
to mutate them, and then being sent against those who would fight her.
Finally, she too was forced to retreat - and not long after, the last of
the machines was destroyed, deep inside the Facility.

The Gnodfather would make his appearance at the Aetherplex in the Basin
of Life, applauding those who defeated him. Vito Bondshredder, as they
would come to discover, was an amicable businessman, and he knew when he
was defeated. The machines gone, the rings destroyed, he could no longer
maintain control of the Nexuses. Yet, as each machine was destroyed, the
resulting aether flare would send a backlash into the seal that had been
powering it - already drained as they were, each seal in turn was
cracking. Briefly the eyes of Kethuru peered through, only to be sealed
up by the Avenger. Yet the Seals were weak - and, in time, they would
fracture and break.

The Gnafia, defeated, disappeared entirely - perhaps to someday return.
The 'Eight Rings of the Aether Kings', as they were known to the gnomes,
were unveiled - the remnants of eight domotheon spires, part of a
now-destroyed network that had protected the First World against many of
the Soulless' attacks, were fully active once more - and many of the
Basin of Life soon scrambled to claim them. As the various cities and
communes staked their claims, many questions were raised, and few were
answered.

Yet one thing was certain - the Nine Seals of the Avenger must be
restored. In the time to come, nine champions must be chosen, each the
victor of a great Trial. Who shall be marked by the Nine Seals, to
compete against one another for the Staff of Ascension, to rise up
alongside Avechna the Avenger and seal away Kethuru - their meager,
mortal form burned away, to be reborn anew as a True Ascendant - and, in
doing so, restore the Nine Seals for another generation?


Penned by My hand on the 6th of Tzarin, in the year 284 CE.