Many had forgotten in the excitement that had come of what had been lost
not long ago - Elostian, the Enigma had been lost to the Basin of Life.
Some still sought to find Him, though many had resigned themselves to
His demise at the hand of the Soulless God that He had gone to ensure
remain held. Months had passed since Elostian, Raezon and Eventru had
met, discussing the source of the disturbances, believing it to be
entropy, that which would foul some and soon all of their magics.
Against the advice of His cousins, Elostian had sought out Zenos, and
promptly faded from perception. Raezon withdrew to his machinations,
while Eventru watched quietly the ongoings of the Basin of Life, soon
resigning to His own meditations, both believing Elostian lost.

However, the Elder Gods were wrong. It was not Zenos or entropy who was
the source of the disturbances, but the twin cities trapped beyond time.
As the Spire of Mount Dio was restored to functionality by Xenthos
An'Ryshe, its energies reached farther than any of the Elder Gods
expected - all Nexuses of Power had been awakened, however briefly,
including those in the lost cities. The cities and communes returned to
normal life, otherwise unaffected; however, working underneath the
fabric of creation, the Eternal Flame of Gaudiguch and the Matrix of
Hallifax shook themselves free from time, a process eventually aided by
Saaga and Kialkarkea.

Before the cities returned to the time stream, the thinning of the
fabric between cosmic and elemental planes had a dire effect. Creatures
of the Vortex, strange aberrations of flesh, were forced out of time and
out of the plane they had called home. Driven insane in the process,
they began to attack everything they came across. So too were the
crystal polyhedrons of the Continuum driven mad, though they were drawn
by the elemental energies to the Laboratory of Xyl. They too were driven
insane, their unfamiliarity with the environs and their programming
incapable of comprehending what was going on and, lacking guidance, they
began to attack anything that drew near.

With the cities returned, and the planes stabilized, all seemed to be at
peace. And then it happened.

The heavens shuddered and Mount Avechna glowed with crimson light. It
had been decades since the Transcendental Beacon, devised hundreds of
years ago by Roark of the Fifth Circle, had been activated, but roar to
life it did. To the surprise of mortals, they discovered the Elder
Goddess Kalikai, once known among the Elder Gods as one of the greatest
tacticians. With the arrival of eager, probing mortals, so did word
reach Eventru of the First Circle, His order most eager to tell Him of
their discovery. With a flash of golden light, Eventru arrived within
Kalikai's newly formed fulcrux, patiently going through Her questions
one by one, even when asked many times for what He thought a gross
concoction of Dracnoris, the pungent firemead.

The topic of conversation shifted from the Soulless to the Vernal Gods,
before arriving at Avechna, the Avenger, the Nine Seals and eventually
the only Elder God known to have been formed of the merging of two
Elders: Elostian, the Enigma. As Eventru politely explained the
circumstances of Elostian's fate as trapped, if not consumed, by the
Soulless God Zenos, Kalikai, the Crimson Eye rushed off. Clearly
agitated, Eventru followed suit, though in a different direction.

The firmament shuddered as Kalikai called out, the Nine Seals of Avechna
buckling under the roaring fury of the Soulless God Zenos. Long had
Elostian been locked in a psionic battle, holding a tenuous stalemate
with the Silent One. Though none can bear witness to the fight, it can
only be surmised that Kalikai arrived and quickly set to work freeing
the Elostian, who was not keen to be 'rescued'. The seal on the prison
of Zenos buckled as Kalikai and Elostian retreated, the latter
dissipating into the winds as the thought forms of Zenos pursued Him in
the form of toxic, acidic tempests.

Roused from Her workings, Estarra the Eternal came forth and called upon
the Elder Gods to help Her check the Nine Seals and the prison of Zenos.
It was left to mortals to aide Elostian, if they could, whose scattered
form was being harvested by the tempests of Zenos.

After communing with the Collective of Hallifax, Cririk Adom agreed to
assist those who once called Elostian their Lord, many of whom had
flocked to Hallifax. For days they hunted down the thought forms of
Zenos, bringing them to the Primary Generator of Hallifax. Using the
stored energies, the generator began to rip away the soulless effluence,
freeing the bits of twilight that each held, allowing them to merge into
the Generator temporarily.

As the last of the twilight motes were gathered, Elostian reformed and
His anger was known, mostly directed at Kalikai. Elostian spent the
following days rebuilding His shattered order. Eventually, with the
consent of Governor Cririk Adom, Elostian became the first Patron of
Hallifax.

In the City of Gaudiguch, Kalikai was later found carousing the streets,
seeking smoking herbs and alcoholic drinks that She had a penchant for.
It was no surprise when she was asked to patron the city.

Meanwhile, Estarra the Eternal and the rest of the Elder Gods returned
to the Basin of Life, much the worse for wear. They had to reinforce the
prison of Zenos, and found, to their dismay, that the Nine Seals were
weakened. No longer would they be able to sustain themselves, as Kethuru
the Almighty and the other Soulless Gods pressed against the fracturing
seals.

Estarra must now release the Nine Seals for the ultimate ritual whereby
the greatest mortal living must rise up to become a True Ascendant in
order to recharge the Nine Seals. To do so, nine challenges will choose
nine champions, each of whom will compete to be the chosen one. Thus,
the Age of Ascension burns once more!

Penned by My hand on the 8th of Shanthin, in the year 253 CE.