Decades have passed since the arrival of the Exalted Lord, an event that
could have been joyous, yet was marred by the binding of the Loving
Radiance, Raziela, a Holy Supernal of the Light of Celestia. Free of the
dark mark of Nil, used by Morgfyre to erect a dark monolith upon the
Holy Plane of Nil, many were content to leave Raziela bound by the
thorned brand of the fae. Yet some among the Celestines were not so
pleased, searching endlessly for a means to free their beloved supernal.
Fairly fruitless however this journey was, as they quickly became aware
that only the spirit which forged such a binding could remove it, and
tirelessly searched for another means, for few thought Maeve could be
convinced to remove it.

Years went by as they continued hoping and praying for another means,
and then it was Razenth, Ecclesiarch of the Celestines, who convinced
the Star Council to open negotiations with both communes. It was hoped
by many within the council that their on-going relations with the
Serenwilde and their mutual conflict with Magnagora and Glomdoring would
sway the popular opinion of the council and forest, hoping to thwart the
anti-civilization faction led by Gregori Mes'ard, Hierophant of the
Hartstone. It was also hoped that the dragging war with Glomdoring could
be used to levy a peace treaty in exchange for their assistance, as the
Glomdoring had been relatively quiet on all fronts for some time.

Unfortunately for New Celest, the communes wanted nothing of it. Seeing
no alternatives, Japhiel, Illuminator of Merciful Justice, pulled
Razenth aside and whispered a terrible thought that he had long held
secret, knowing the cost of pursuing it would be great. The Supernal
Japhiel suggested that there was one whose knowledge of the ways of
bondage, bindings and torture might be great enough to be able to
release Raziela from the bonds of the fae, but that entity was none
other than Nifilhema, the Queen of Insufferable Cruelty. Though Japhiel
could not condone trafficking with the Demon Lords of Nil, neither would
he condemn this last act of desperation. The Ecclesiarch left that
meeting with a terrible chill, and kept this knowledge close to his
heart. He prayed deeply to the Holy Lady of Eternal Light that the
communes would be swayed. Alas, the talks with the communes continued to
falter until it was all but destined for failure. Strengthening his
resolve, Razenth journeyed to the dark and horrible plane of Nil to meet
secretly with Nifilhema to explore even the remote possibility that she
would be able to free Raziela.

It was several days before Nifilhema deigned to discuss with the other
Demon Lords what had transpired. Baalphegar was intrigued by the
possibilities and began drafting a plan to combine elemental and cosmic
energies to thwart the ethereal realm and allow Nifilhema to free
Raziela from her bonds. While the reasons why the Demon Lords became
interested in this plan may never be truly known, it appeared that at
least Luciphage, Supreme Master of the Demon Lords of Nil, was
fascinated by the political leverage that could be wielded by such an
alliance, however temporary such an alliance may be. He conferred with
the Iron Council and other leaders of Magnagora to apprise them of his
thoughts but, admitting that he was not an adept of the politics of the
Basin of Life, left the decisions to those gathered.

Little did the Magnagorans know that there was a traitor in their midst:
Celina d'Murani stood at the back of the group, rarely speaking, mostly
listening. And no more than a few months passed before she left the city
of Magnagora, fleeing into the dark shadows of the Glomdoring, taking
with her the contents of that meeting - and, indeed, secrets she did not
keep from her new home.

Months passed before Razenth secretly returned to the Plane of Nil. Only
those of the innermost echelons of the Star Council were aware that he
was opening discussions with Magnagora. The Demon Lords and the Iron
Council came together in Nifilhema's House, towering darkly about the
Ecclesiarch of Celestia, and all listened as Baalphegar whispered in a
soft hiss his speculations and theories. Daevos of the Ur'Guard nodded
slowly and then, on behalf of the Iron Council, made demands of the Star
Council, proposing a treaty in exchange for their assistance. Quietly
they talked, whispering, afraid of who might hear - indeed a wise course
since an alliance between the City of Light and Engine of Transformation
was unprecedented. However, there was one other listening into these
secret and fragile talks. Far away in the Glomdoring Forest, perched in
the branches of the Master Ravenwood Tree, Xenthos An'Ryshe leaned in,
his head tilted slightly, hearing every word spoken by the gathered
mortals.

It did not take long for the Glomdoring and Serenwilde to meet at
Maeve's tree, gathering about the Queen of the Fae in her throne room.
In horror and a sense of rising fear, Maeve struggled to remain calm as
she contemplated what an alliance among the cities would mean. Indeed,
the last time civilization was joined together, there arose the ancient
Holy Celestine Empire which dominated the Basin of Life for generations.
Maeve searched for a means to stop them. Months passed as Prince
Steingrim of New Celest continued to struggle to make peace with the
communes and convince them to assist Celest in unbinding Raziela for he
would not consider even contemplating an alliance with Mangaora unless
all options were exahusted. Asmodea, Regent of the Serenwilde, carried
on the appearance of talks in hope of buying the fae time to prepare
their ritual to strike first against the cities. And time she did buy.
Meanwhile, the Supernal Japhiel foreseeing that the cities may choose to
ally together, reviewed the plans of the Demon Lord Baalphegar and made
adjustments of his own. Working uneasily together, they devised a means
to combine the might of the elemental forces to overwhelm the Ethereal
Realm, which they called the Xion Initiative. However, the Star Council
could not decide when, or even if, they should begin this procedure.

Queen Maeve of Fae finally developed a ritual to attack the cosmic and
elemental planes. She revealed its possibilities to the communes who
jointly decided that they should strike first to defend the domain of
the fae.

With a terrible cry both communes descended onto the planes of Celestia
and Nil, quickly dispatching the shocked defenders of both cities and
the angelic hosts and demon hoards, slaying Methrenton and Nifilhema
before delivering their corpses to a strange emerald tree with
silvery-black leaves that had been planted in the Faethorn. Taking the
seeds that were imbibed with their essence, the communes planted them
upon the cosmic planes, and then proceeded to assist Maeve in assembling
her sceptre, so she might complete the rite. It was only then the
cities, shocked, began to defend themselves, and seek to enact the Xion
Initiative - too little too late, for as they began to forge the
necessary artifacts to enact the Xion Initiative, Maeve's sceptre came
to her, and the cheers of the fae rose up across the Faethorn as the
ritual was enacted.

The Rite of hai'Gloh Zemordia, the fae called it, a dark ritual never
before enacted, devised solely to protect the fae by weakening the
cosmic and elemental realms. And so it was named in the tongue of the
fae, roughly meaning the Binding of the Cosmos, or the Cosmic Binding.
Though the cities struggled and made many attempts to free themselves
from the curse, their attempts proved unsuccessfull. With much relief to
New Celest and Magnagora, the binding finally came undone on its own,
the fae magicks no longer able to hold the elemental and cosmic energies
which struggled to be free. Exhausted, Maeve was unable to repeat the
feat, though she said in time, with some rest, she could manage it
again.

And so the politics of the Basin of Life, once witness to a firm
alliance of the city of New Celest and the forest of Serenwilde, and a
more tenuous friendship between Glomdoring and Magnagora, now saw the
bound together cities against the combined anger of both forests,
something previously unseen in modern times. Several years have passed
and still the fighting continues, New Celest witnessing great political
upheaval, while Raziela remains bound upon Celestia by the thorned curse
placed by the fae years ago. Yet whispers abound as a new leader is
elected in New Celest with the vow of reuniting the city against the
forests, restoring the glory of the Light, and the once fearsome
fighting force of the city. To this day the communes still bring fights
to the Cosmic Planes, seeking to restore the Rite of hai'Gloh Zemordia,
while whispers abound throughout Celest as the allure of Raziela's
freedom remains upon their lips.

Penned by My hand on the 24th of Shanthin, in the year 237 CE.