In the world of Djemity, news travels fast, borne on the fleetest of Aquienos Ships, flown across the land in Sylphim Floating Isles, or whispered through miles of stone by Teklo Wordsmiths. Of course, as fast as news and official reports travel, rumour and hearsay are quicker to spread throughout the world.

The isle of Broken Peak ascended high into the sky before being met by the isle of Vyse which descended from the Cloudsea.

After the two isles locked together both disappeared into the Clouds above.

Some time later a new Spiral formed near where the islands had vanished, linking the clouds and the ocean.

Heard in Teklo Brothel

That was the day we rose up out of the star ocean, Warden-Marshall Dach posing atop the pinnacle of Vyse-peak and commanding our attack.
That was the day we saved the world.
That was the day the Numina were destroyed forever.

Report to Praetor Council

The War Fleet reports a glorious victory over the undead defiling the holy stars themselves. The brave Aquienos Revenants understood that their lives would end, but they gave them willingly. Gloriously for the sake of all.

In command were Admirals Andar and Mar. Fleet champion Litha just would not let a single monolith past. And the special forces team on The Polaria led by Jinbe and Relock did their job spectacularly. We are sad to report the unfortunate loss of Tarik, a necessary sacrifice to defeat the Numina.

At a great celebration marking the return of the Kirlsa Army

A toast to Eumelos, Chumana, Zubin, and Sirana! They led us to glorious victory against our foes!

Imperial Chithana report

The new facilities of Vyse-peak demonstrated their effectiveness in the battle against the Numina. All that stood in our way were burned to ashes. The battle station is now fully functional and awaits Imperial Command.

Retold again and again by many Becquerel Storyweavers

“Brave Talioc, defender of the Seraphol, stood firm against the Numina so that nature may ever takes its course, Skira flow on forever…”

”… Great Druid Telma, tending to each fallen in turn, so that their hearts aflame once more, could fight back against the foes…”

“They say that Vandel, Emissary of the Becquerel, was there at the very end, at the very centre of our foe's death”

At approximately the climax of the giant battle in the Starsea a huge blue wave of magic passed over all of Djemity. One in ten Revenants just stopped and fell over. Since then many others have just ceased. They seem to have no indication of when its going to happen.

Wraith possessions seem to flit out over a slightly longer time span, with more and more of the internal personality breaking through until at last the wraith is gone.

Since the pulse in magic no new reports of the dead rising have been heard. The Revenants that remain are all scared, but report that they feel that while once a new dawn was nigh, they now feel that the sun is setting, and all will soon become a cold, lifeless and barren waste. Many are committing suicide.

At the current rate, best estimates indicate that almost all of the undead will have suffered final death within two years.

Conflict has broken out across the Sylphim Empire as reports tell that Empress Aysa has declared Martial Law and ordered the dismantling of her Incarnate Order. Spokesmen for the Order claim that the true Empress is with them and that the Imperial Chithana are launching a coup in league with rebel forces.

Although exact information on the state of the Empire is hard to confirm most sources agree that the isles of Erli and Fylapur are now completely in the control of the Imperial Chithana whilst the Incarnate Order have retreated to the bastion on Broken Peak where citadel forces are refusing to be drawn into the conflict.

Amongst the peoples of Djemity a terrible economic ruin has been visited, with the exception of the self-sufficient and isolationist Becquerel, and certain areas of the Teklo Confederation.

A Teklo Mine owner, discussing his woes

“And we are having to shut down pit-shaft four. That's another hundred workers laid off. Demand is down twenty percent just this week.

I don't know where this came from, a madness seemed to grip anyone with an ounce of savings and suddenly everyone wanted to invest, and the word was that Liss Fra Drril, the Senate Leader, was giving special consideration to some, so that everyone was wanting to butter him up. The prices, they just kept on going up. I heard that some of the Danzik family took out loans from five different banks on the same piece of property, and poured it all into iron-ore, and now they have no homes, and twenty tonnes of unprocessed iron valued at less than a tenth of what they paid…”

A desperate Aquienos merchant

“I used up all the hardwood my father laid down for The Illit. That was meant to last the family six refits. Now I own four new ships, and there is so little trading going on that I can't even fill one hold with cargo. And there is no one who wants to buy the ships off me.

We are ruined, utterly ruined, but the way I hear it, more than half the merchant-captains are bankrupt, or so heavily in debt that it will pass to their grand-children.

Why did we let ourselves be fooled, what tragedy did those Teklo bring upon us?”

A Kirlsa Warrior, mourning a death

“My son! My son was one of the Infirm, but he was honoured for the clever work he did with gemstones set in carapace. The Sylphim themselves would come to purchase his goods, would come to buy his creations.

But now there are no more gems coming through, the trade is all dried up, and Gizan, he took his own life, for he said that without something to build, to make, he was nothing!

Oh my son, you have died!”

A Sylphim Artist, faced with a difficult choice

“So you are quite sure that we are getting no further deliveries from Yew'Illit'EsEs'Fra? That is more than awkward. If I do not get the mahogany in the quantities required, I shall not be able to complete The Stairway-to-the-Sun and my love Hashe will never know my feelings for her. There is nothing else for it, we shall have to remove the roof slats and use them instead, damn the elements!”

All across Djemity trade networks that have existed for generations have been washed away by the economic crash. Crafters can use only the materials they have to hand, and merchants everywhere are looking at their balance sheets and turning pale. 80% of inter-people's trade has ceased from the height of the recent boom.

Those anxious to watch the skies for signs of victory against the Numina are treated to a spectacle one morning as the rising sun reveals a Sylphim face, bedecked in elegant sunglasses. The sun-wide portrait is rendered in a variety of colours and endures the entirety of the day.

The next morning people rise again to find that…the face is still there. Indeed several weeks later dʒupalo's smiling face still looks down from the sun and shows no sign of deteriorating It is a testament to the quality of the art that the beaming visage remains endearing rather than irritating to most.

The popularity of shades swells across Djemity as children strive to look like 'the cool sun-man'.

In an Aquienos tavern
“I hear that the Sylphim finally did for that murderous scumbag Chath. Can you believe they were harbouring her this whole time, pretending to be on our side when they had a wraith in a position of leadership within the Empire. Good riddance!”

In a coffee house upon Vyse.
“Chath died a damn hero, and anyone who says otherwise is a liar. She was always loyal to the Empress and to our people; when the rebels came she gave her life to protect the Empress, you don't get more patriotic than that!”

A Debate held within The Hall of Contestation, amongst the Wordshapers of the Teklo

In Favour of the Motion

“But, Grandmasters, is not our Divinity a given; a fact of the world, as fundamental and true as the simple fact that we have eyes to read, ears to hear and mouths to speak. When we grant a child its True and Secret name, we do not simply create True Divinity, we bring out the latent exaltation and grant it form, grace, and the power to truly speak.

I submit that whatever blasphemy has been committed in granting the Kirlsa King Divinity, whatever terrible betrayal we have suffered at the hands of Zur Fra Rai, who is now called the Misguided, Eumelos is now no different from a child brought to our arms in need of a Name. We must grant him that, or else risk blasphemy ourselves in denying divinity where divinity is to be found.”

Against the Motion

“Grandmasters, Wordshaper Hewet Yos Orse speaks with grace and conviction, but she does not speak truly, and the picture that she gives you is one riddled with inconsistency. She freely admits that the so-called divinity granted to Eumelos is born of blasphemy. But if blasphemous is the birth, then blasphemous must be the progeny. If I speak a lie to you and you repeat it, have you spoken truth just because you are not trying to deceive another? No!

The Kirlsa King must be lifted of this false divinity laid upon him. We must free this ally of the Teklo people from the heavy weight of Zur Fra Rai, the Misguided's blasphemy, just as we would bring him the truth had a rebel of ours lied to his face.”

The motion remains undecided, with one vote on each side, and three abstentions by the Grandmasters

From the observations of Courtier Liena

…as predicted the warrior Eumelos crushed all opposition to grasp the crown of the Kirlsa people. Enjoying the support of nearly every Kirlsa of note his taking the crown will not come as a surprise…

…unexpected duel against the mad-Teklo Dach who has decided to become one of the desert people. Apparently the pair are friends though it was hard to tell from the way the King and his newest subject pounded away at each other on the floor of the arena…

Usan'Hasch'TruDiEsTru'Fra writing in the Ship's Logs of the Hasch upon its return from the Southern Ocean, as it sailed past the Barren Isles.

And so we saw, falling from the sky a plummeting mass of grey metal. At first we thought it to be a Star-Fall, but soon it was clear that this was no blessing from the Stars, but something quite different.

Intrigued, and wary, we went ashore, and travelled in amongst the new forest that grows upon the Barren Isles. Every fifth tree grew in metal, with strange bladed fruit. Eventually, we found the site where this sky-fall had landed.

In a clearing, there was a body, mangled by the fall, but I recognised him, for I had seen him once from afar. It was the Sylphim, Equiel, but his body was now sheathed in metal. Even as we watching, he sank into the ground and in under a minute a tree tall as any in this forest and taller than most stood where he had fallen. And its branches and twigs and leaves were all blades.

Enten'Mas approached carefully, her sword drawn, and then a wind grew up and through the clamour of metal brushing against metal it seemed as though there was, not so much a voice, but rather a memory, an echo of a voice. It said “Challenge Accepted” and then the tree cut Enten'Mas to ribbons, her blood watering the soil.

I do not think that Equiel is alive within that tree, but I fear that some part of him, his warrior prowess perhaps, now infects that tree of blades upon the Barren Isles. I urge none to approach it should they see it.

Azan the Bone-Shaper, Infirm, in conversation round a watering hole

“I was there, infirm as I am, I saw it. A magnificent sight it was. Thousands of Teklo marching in lock-step together, and every soldier looked as hard-bitten as any Kirlsa warrior I have met.

And when the Teklo, Dach Fra Ver asked to Duel Eumelos, not for the Kingship, not for glory, but just to prove to his men that the Wyrmhand was the man all said he was, I thought I saw before me a true Kirlsa Warleader, and that he merely had the form of a Teklo.

Of course he lost to Eumelos. I mean, the Wyrmhand is King now, ain't none who can beat him, but it was a fight to see I can tell you. I shall tell my grandchildren of it. Half-naked, and oiled up, they wrestled in the sand, muscles rippling under the Sun's glare. I shall not soon forget it.

I hear that afterwards, Dach was taken away by the Guardians to be granted true status as a Kirlsa and that his men soon followed.

As soldiers return home after years at war and the peoples of Djemity labour under crippling economic woes, many are turning their eyes across the seas and dreaming of a new life in the Renaissance Republic.

Word of the Republic's formation has been widely spread thanks to the efforts of Daloc Gehsel and Zur Fra Rei:

“Just as the Citadel is a place where representatives of all races meet and can agree to work together, the Renaissance Republic would be a place where all the races can live and work together. A place where shared purpose rather than shared appearance guides us. A place where old tradition and new ideas can intertwine to form a strong, just and prosperous whole. All who would aid in this endeavour are welcome; it will take hard work to erect new settlements, make the barren centre flourish, protect the new cities and ensure just and equitable governance of the Renaissance Republic. This idea, this vision may seem strange to some and perhaps offensive to others, but upon reflection I think you will all see it is a noble effort worthy of the support of all peoples of Djemity.”

Many have been moved by these words and seek new lives across the sea. The city of Rebirth has already received several new ships of colonists and explorers working with Metis Fra Void are already assessing potential locations for further settlements as more pioneers arrive upon Balas.

Words of the Kirlsa Guardian Tabruk

”… so that after twelve days of tracking the Dishonoured, I came upon the edges of the Seraphol. I observed their camp, waiting to see when best to challenge them. I saw their leader Rauim order another to chop down the trees at the edge of the forest, so as to make a raft and take the river deeper into the forest. I saw the axe bite into the wood and saw as the body of the unhappy woodsman grown limp and with a blood-curdling cry fall to the ground. The others were all about in sudden panic, but when no enemy emerged, they took the corpse and went away from the Seraphol, south towards the Deep Mountains.

I went and looked upon the tree and though the dead Dishonoured had bit in deep, so that the tree might topple, I saw no sign of the axe's bite. The tree was new and strong like they grow in the Seraphol. I then followed the Dishonoured for another two days…”