Steeped in hopelessness and worried that their city was sinking, the
leaders of Ashtan were near losing hope when odd dreams began surfacing
among the population and within the council itself. The dreams spoke of
destruction at the hand of imbalance, and of a globe shattering to rain
down catastrophe. The new Overseer, Dame Anashia, began to speak with
her Archons of the possible connections this had to the city.

Wsalaly, the Guardian of the Globe, had fallen into a coma after his
innumerable years of service watching over the Globe of Balance. During
its monumental process of harmonizing all aspects of the world, the
globe had begun to tip into an unbalanced state with almost deadly
consequences for the spirit of Wsalaly.

As the condition of the comatose guardian became a matter of concern,
strange possessions began occurring across the land as Wsalaly's spirit
hurried to convey the urgency of the situation. A mysterious figure also
appeared to many within Ashtan, begging for balance to be restored.
Through the eerie voices in their minds, the leaders of the Bastion of
the North were directed back to the curtains that were still shimmering
within the city streets.

The same voice was heard by the ears of the Syssin, taunting them for
their past decisions. The possessions grew more frequent, overwhelming a
scholar in Spinesreach during a lecture, as well as Spiegel Duses and
Ido Leyste. Through Ido, Wsalaly was finally able to convey his dire
message to Anashia - the curtains needed to be destroyed to combat the
imbalance Severn had created with Lanos' destruction.

Fierce debates raged within the council, questioning whether Severn was
fit to be their Patron if He was the cause of the prophesied apocalypse
to come. Wsalaly's prone body lay beneath the Needle of Balance, the
Globe precariously suspending it in imbalance. The council grew
distraught over the matter of how to break the curtains and help balance
be renewed.

Once more the visions came to them in dreams, riddling the Ashtanites'
sleep with the key to the problem. The dreams spoke of several surviving
pieces of the Sword of Truth, and cryptic messages hinted at where they
could be located. Awakening minds sprung to speak with their city mates
of the riddles filling their dreams.

The first was quickly cracked, and numerous Ashtanites flooded to the
astronomy observatory in Lady Niuri's glass tower upon Mount Kentorakro.
Hidden amid the room of stars a point of light stood out, and the first
shard of the Sword of Truth was discovered by Dame Anashia. Following a
dream that Epicurus had, Spiegel Duses rushed through the Vashnar
mountains to the hut of the wizard Hycanthus, where the second shard was
found lost within the pool of stars. The third shard was eventually
found hanging around the neck of Tatiana, Queen of the Dryads. Appalled
by Sotere Cardinalis' gruff manners, and offended by the hasty demands
of Anashia and Spiegel, the Queen was eventually talked into trading it
for a ring by Ido.

The three shards found, the group returned to Ashtan seeking out the
Blacksmith Listar to request that he attempt to forge the pieces
together into some sort of usable blade. Aided by several citizens in
the preparations and operation of his forge, Listar worked steadfastly
at this monumental task and was able to fashion the glimmering shards
into a makeshift knife. Armed with the lighted piece of Truth incarnate,
Anashia led the group amid the curtains, trying to cut through the
shimmering material.

Within the northern reaches of the city, the blade finally sliced
through one of the curtains, both objects dissipating out of existence
as Truth and Artifice collided mightily and served to cancel each other
out. What lay beyond the curtain was the Isle of Dusk, hidden since the
Artificer lay his blanket of deceit across the land, revealed once more
to the peoples of the world. What lies behind the other curtains is yet
to be discovered.


Penned by my hand on the 25th of Niuran, in the year 159 MA.