The Return of the Scarlet Goddess
As the beacon on Avechna’s Peak flared to life and the ground began to shake, the Even-Bladed sensed a Divine presence returning to the First World. However, as Terentia, the Sidereal Prince, and the Exalted took flight from the Resurgence of the Light, it became clear that the presence emerging above the Peak was no God, but rather, the maddened Half-Formed known only as the Dreadform of Iklara.
Terentia was first to meet the creature as it sprung forwards to attack Lyreth. The Dreadform was beaten back over the desert sands of the Skarch, shedding purple blood as the Even-Bladed struck mortal blows against the coiling length. Finally, it split, as did the mirror it clutched in one hand.
Shards like quicksilver rained down over the Skarch, lodging themselves in the eyes of the unwary. Among these, the largest stuck in the eye of one Qetori Dlai. Driven mad by the visions within the broken mirror, he begin to scream and shout, attracting the attentions of Gaudiguch.
Pursued by Arunasapta L’Aumes, he departed into the dunes, searching for some unknown marker. Unearthing the remains of an ancient shrine, he was quickly tracked down by the citizens of Gaudiguch. Begging for aid to repair the mosaic, he was answered by the city, who dispersed to track down the other shards of the mirror.
Through attacks by the Engine of Transformation, through the reemergence of the splintered pieces of the Dreadform, the city labored on. But it was Ixion of Magnagora who at last solved the puzzle of the mosaic. From within, the tears of Magnora were shed, as was Mysrai, the Scarlet Goddess, returned to the First World.
The Goddess, revealed at last, explained that while in the Void, She and several other Meditators were studying a Tear of Magnora when they were ambushed by dark entities. Mysrai was able to merge her essence into the Tear and save Herself but she ended up being trapped within. Floating for aeons in Her prison, the Tear of Magnora was eventually found by the Dreadform of Iklara. When the Beacon was activated by Roark during the Coming of Estarra, Mysrai paintstakingly directed the Dreadform through empathic and telepathic influence to make its way to return to the Basin of Life.
With Her emergence, Mysrai the Scarlet Goddess moved to embrace the City of Gaudiguch, taking several citizens as the seed of a new Order. As for what was left of the Dreadform, the Elder Gods trapped its remains in a container which was then jettisoned into Aetherspace.
