The Hall of Wisdom

And so, my curious readers, does our story end. Upon the sight of the death of the young Decusian Templar, Bishop Johan Landcaster and his six companions rushed forth from the dilapidated barn overlooking the square, cutting down the traitors of the Republic with both sword and magic. The Diaconate Templar and Garden agents fell quickly to the zealous rage of the seven’s might, the portrait they painted that early morning resembling that of the High Avatars during their siege upon Nora Thryn millennia ago. With prejudice, the seven struck down the Archbishop’s entourage, leaving not a single survivor.

After the last of the traitorous Decusians had been slain, it had become apparent to all those left standing that the Resolvist and its new companion had long been gone. It wouldn’t have been a question as to how the battle would have turned if they had stayed. Whatever the Resolvist’s reasoning, his retreat had allowed Landcaster his six companions to reign victorious. Yet their victory was without joy. Stephen Abimelech, the young Decusian Templar the Bishop had taken in as his own, had perished. Yet not before claiming the life of the former Archbishop.

Despite such a devastating loss, Johan Landcaster pressed forth. He and his six returned to the Republic Capital that morning, the first day of Stormsky, 1339. In a violent display of justice, the six struck down Anslem’s co-conspirators in the College of Bishops, staining the very floor of the College chambers crimson forever. The evidence of Anslem’s treachery was revealed to the Church, and his body displayed in proper crucifixion form in the middle of the capital for all to see. In the days to come, it would be Bishop Landcaster who would ultimately replace the despot Anslem as Archbishop, and his six companions making up the new College of Bishops. Their first acts of power as the new reigning government were to weed out those within the Church and Republic whom turned a blind eye to the treachery committed by Anslem. Numerous bishops, clergy, and Garden agents were slain and executed without mercy. This month long massacre has become known to many as the Great Reckoning.

So marked a new era for the Venerated Republic. Archbishop Landcaster had immediately put into motion orders to recover and rescue those left stranded within the colonies, and to bring them back to their rightful homes within the Republic. The displaced soldiers, ordered back from the frontlines of the western territories, were sent back into the blacklands with orders to reclaim the lands of the Republic once and for all. A new sense of determination had overcome the Church, one lead by a new Archbishop whose faith and loyalty were unquestionable.

Yet what of the Resolve? What of the new threat that they had exploited the Republic to prepare for? What of the Vicissitudo?

These answers, my friend, are for another day. For now, I take my leave. I can only hope my words have been able to shed some light upon the intricate and lengthy history of the kingdom known to many as the Venerated Republic.