Late this Ero, the voice of Lord Makarta was heard raised in fury as he
cried out to castigate his previously praised protege, Derillin Yu'tar.

"Betrayal most foul!" Makarta shouted. "To raise one's envenomed blade
against one's own preceptor!" Curious and concerned Achaeans rushed to
the home of the Ivory Mark in the town of Jaru, where they found Makarta
supine, bleeding, and half-paralysed from some rare venom inflicted
unexpectedly upon him by his own apprentice.

"Your time is passed, old man. Pass beyond this life," taunted Derillin
from a hidden location. The two shouted back and forth, and it was
revealed slowly to bystanders that Derillin had treacherously attempted
to take Makarta's life and stolen a powerful blade of his, gifted upon
Makarta by his own teacher. Furthermore, it was revealed that Derillin
was in fact the son of Callibius, the once-head of the Quisalis Mark,
assumed dead in the firebombing of Thera, and that Derillin's father and
Makarta's former teacher were one and the same.

Those present took this unexpected glimpse into Makarta's past in
stride, as Makarta quickly explained that he had abandoned that way of
life for the way of the Champion. Weakened by the poison, Makarta
entreated his allies to kill Derillin and return his sword. He activated
an enchantment upon the sword Derillin did not know about: one that
revealed the location of its bearer to all. It was Aztecia
Fuil'gra-Merre who finally found and slew Derillin. However, as she
landed the killing blow, Derillin cursed the blade he had taken from
Makarta with his last breath and vanished entirely.

The Blade of the Masters was returned to Makarta at last by Accipiter,
but Makarta found that Derillin's curse had rendered the weapon
ineffective for practical use. However, he decided to make a gift of the
Blade to the Matsuhama Arena in Delos. Swordsmaster Colbey himself
arrived from Delos to accept the Blade, and very soon after, Tharos, the
Announcer of Delos, proclaimed the first of a new arena game called
Champions vs. Assassins, played with the sword given by Makarta's
generosity and the aid of those who had assisted in its recovery.

Meanwhile, Derillin has recovered and announced that he has taken up his
father's old post in New Thera, and he shall be admitting new members to
the Quisalis Mark... for only those who prove themselves worthy by
finding him in his secret hideout.

Penned by my hand on the 4th of Valnuary, in the year 401 AF.