Following a long period of minor skirmishes between the Vertani and
their enemies in Sapience, the Vertani called a summit to be held early
this Glacian. Overlord Estan declared that El'Jazira and Tasur'ke had
both become part of the Vertan Empire. Violence erupted following this,
resulting in casualties for both the Achaeans and the Vertani. Overlord
Estan was killed by the Occultic magic of Ashtani Archon Gregg Saer'rac,
though the Vertani diplomat Hingar managed to escape. Soldiers from
Thera joined in the fight, and Ariel, the mayor of Thera, denounced the
Vertani.

A few days later, a Vertani contingent was spotted heading towards
Thera, including the heretofore-unseen Overlord Drafaris and four Mage
Lords. From the western end of Blossom Road, Overlord Drafaris called
upon Sapience to witness their vengeance upon Thera. Thera had thus far
been the most vocal of the villages against the Vertani, even going so
far as to combining their own militia with their ally city of Ashtan's
in raids against the giants.

In a display of power that sent massive shockwaves throughout the known
world, the Vertani Mage Lords called forth fiery meteors from the
heavens to rain down upon Thera, annihilating the ancient town to
smithereens. All those within the village perimetre were instantaneously
slaughtered by the onslaught, a contained and focused echo of the
Morning Star of old. Thera has been razed to the ground, leaving no
survivors save for the woodcutter Enfrin who lived just outside of the
town limits. The enormity of the feat drained the life from the Mage
Lords as well, their lives sacrificed for their Empire.

As city-states who had formerly been neutral or friendly towards the
Vertani begin to seriously reconsider their stances, the Vertani enemy
cities Ashtan and Mhaldor have found a new ally in Petra. Batlin
Karrella, Lord of Sangre Keep, has offered Petra's alliance to both
Ashtan and Mhaldor in the hope of a joint fight against the menace of
the Vertani.

Penned by my hand on the 11th of Glacian, in the year 385 AF.