In the recesses of Mhaldor, members of the Blood Congregation laboured
to bring about a portal to connect them with the Inferno. Using a ritual
created ages ago by Cardinal Lodi, Father Herenicus Coldraven was able
to summon forth from the Inferno the daemon Malortis, the Portal Master.

With Malortis' assistance the congregants contacted the daemon generals
Bistande, Takranix, and Dilortum, who were imprisoned deep within the
Inferno for their long-ago betrayal of Sartan, the Malevolent. With them
the Mhaldorians made a false bargain, suggesting that the Lord Apollyon
would release them from their confinement if they were successful in
destroying Cyrene. Believing the Mhaldorians' promise, although they had
no authority to make it, the generals agreed and the Mhaldorians
returned with a promise from Malortis to contact them soon.

Some time later, Malortis reported that all was in place. Taraus Vallah,
now reigning as Messiah of the Damned, moved swiftly to the gates of
Cyrene and, linking the Inferno to the prime material plane, brought
about a fiery rift leading to the Inferno.

Scores of daemons erupted from the rift, pouring out into the city of
Cyrene to indiscriminately slay all who walked the streets. Caught
unaware, Cyrene scrambled to mount a defence against the otherworldly
attackers, aided by the covert efforts of Mhaldor. General Bistande
faced the mortals first and was quickly slain by the might of Cyrene,
who repelled with great bravery the daemon horde.

In the interlude, Cyrenians and their allies put their heads together in
an effort to devise a way to destroy the portal. Tahquil Maris suggested
that the sacrifice of an angelic being would effect its destruction, and
soon a small party of Cyrenians and their allies dispatched themselves
to Shallam to consult with Marhisa, the Priestess of Virtue. A long-time
advisor of the Empyreal Assembly and a formidable priestess, Marhisa
confirmed that the sacrifice of an angel would indeed bring about the
destruction of a portal to the Inferno. Musing over the tragic and
possible loss of any angel, she requested time for reflection upon a
ritual to rightly separate an angel from her mortal companion, for to do
so by any other means would bring about the death of both.

Though the daemon onslaught briefly waned, it was soon reignited as the
daemon general Takranix joined the fray, lining the streets of Cyrene
with the corpses of daemons and mortals alike. The city's defence
rallied once more and again the attacks were briefly suspended.

In the solitude of the Chrysalis Basilica, members of the Empyreal
Assembly, led by Quoren, the Patriarch of Angels, performed a ritual to
separate the priestess Marhisa from her angel Irella, who, despite
Marhisa's grief and objections, volunteered to sacrifice herself. The
ritual was executed and the bond between the two was destroyed, leaving
both parties greatly weakened.

Meanwhile, in a final, massive eruption of force, the daemon general
Dilortum traversed the portal with a multitude of minions. Though he
taunted the city to his last breath, Cyrene's defence repelled the third
mighty wave and Dilortum was silenced at last.

With peace momentarily restored, Marhisa and her guardian angel bade
each other farewell and prepared to be separated indefinitely. Irella
approached the fiery portal, seeming but a small figure before its
swirling might and, reaching forward, touched it gently. As Marhisa
wept, the angel was engulfed in a sudden blaze of flames and the portal
collapsed, leaving no trace behind.

Penned by My hand on the 11th of Mayan, in the year 535 AF.