In Mayan of 389 A.F., in the midst of a fierce battle between Vertan and
allied Ashtan-Mhaldor forces outside the final fortress, the Vertani
diplomat Hingar renowned throughout Sapience by allies and enemies alike
for his silver tongue, was felled in combat. Bleak Aristata of Mhaldor
delivered the final blow.

Overlord Mournria was slain as well in the same battle, the double
deaths signalling with clarion clarity an end to come.

Later, a contingent of Vertani soldiers led by a commander named Daqsool
burst from the fortress and pled for amnesty. Shallam gave asylum to the
small band of defectors. Daqsool proceeded to explain to the gathered
Shallamese the state of matters in Vertan.

Much political protest had broken out over the loss of multiple
fortresses on Sapience, and some Houses, lead by House Bavingor (the
only House to refuse to commit forces to the Sapience expedition), began
demanding that Vertan pull out of Sapience. The conflict had intensified
to the point that a majority of the Houses had agreed to consult the
Oracles to see whether it might be time for a new Ascendant.

Journeying to the caves in which the Oracles are kept, they posed the
question, and... received no answer. For the first time in recorded
history, the Oracles would not respond, and no one knew why. Both
factions, of course, spun this silence into agreement with their sides,
and violence broke out.

The leaders of House Bavingor, including the Solarn, were assassinated.
Daqsool had fled with those in his squad, knowing that they were already
being branded traitors to the Imperial throne by virtue of their refusal
to support the Ascendant's course of action in Sapience.

In response to Hashani assistance to the Ashtan-Mhaldor-Blackrock
alliance, the Vertani monument in Hashan began to produce the same
monstrous beasts as had been seen in Ashtan. Ashtani and Mhaldorians led
Blackrock dwarves to aide Hashan in destroying their monument,
succeeding only after days of toil.

Meanwhile, the Speaker of Eleusis, Greyda Wildfang, had sought out Queen
Titania of the Dryads for aid in removing the Vertani monument from
Eleusis, lest it release monsters as Ashtan's and Hashan's had done. Due
to the commune's stance against Evil, they refused to allow the
Blackrock dwarves to enter the city to tear down the monument (4/11/05
PUBLIC NEWS #14521).

Queen Titania arrived in Eleusis. Summoning three dryad handmaidens to
her side, she focused her nature magics upon the arcane monument.
Unfortunately, the dryads' efforts backfired: their energies only
activated the monument's defenses, and it turned into another portal for
vicious monsters.

After battling the beasts for days, the Eleusians finally consented to
allow Xadzia Rihwin-Lucoster, an Archon of Ashtan, to lead the evil
Blackrock dwarves into the forestal commune to destroy the monument.

Following a tireless siege over several months, the final Vertani
fortress tumbled to the ground, the gateway to Sapience from the Vertani
home plane destroyed along with it.

A figure in a hooded grey cloak slipped silently amidst the weary
warriors, then. All eyes gazed upon him; the unmistakeable aura of
divine power marked the cloaked figure as Sarapis, the Logos.

The Logos addressed the Overseer of Ashtan, Erhon Lucoster, and the
Tyrannus of Mhaldor, Khoraji, bidding them to speak as representatives
for their respective cities. He presented to them an unprecedented
power: the power to weigh in on the fates of the remaining Vertani in
Sapience, Commander Daqsool and his squadron.

In the end, the decision was this: the defectors would be allowed to
remain and build themselves a village. The Logos graciously agreed to
grant them the gift of salvation and resurrection upon death, a gift
inborn within all other living beings in Sapience.

Thus the saga of Vertani occupation in Sapience comes to a close, and a
new chapter opens, the blank parchment of its pages awaiting the quill
of the future. Will the Vertani defectors truly be able to build their
new village in peace, or will hostilities remain between they and those
who fought against their kind? How will Sapience treat the villages of
El'Jazira and Tasur'ke, who so proudly flew the banner of the Vertani
Empire during its occupation's ascendancy? Will the wartime alliance
between Mhaldor and Ashtan hold, or be dismantled in full? What of
Thera?

Penned by my hand on the 4th of Phaestian, in the year 390 AF.