Board Thread:Roleplay/@comment-28358106-20160820182648

Part II: The Black Crucible []

The truth was now known. The Glyph was the key to summon Aethuriel, the God of the Alpha and Omega, the beginner and ender of all things. And now, it was posessed in its entirety by Victivius. The End was coming, the notes of the symphony of existence falling silent on ears who listened everywhere, on all worlds.

Captured by the Crucible's magic, Hound had been forced to seek answers, drinking from the Wells that housed the inalienable truths that fate brings to all things. Desperate to know more, he dove further than any had before, and he found himself trapped in the past, when Ibrahim had found the Glyph and confronted Victivius. Aiding a young Ibrahim, Hound narrowly avoided altering the future and helped Ibrahim on the path he was destined to take, despite knowing where it would lead. His task complete, he escaped the Crucible and returned to the present, where he found a helpless Ibrahim in the clutches of Conrad,  who sought to have the secrets of the Glyph for himself. Ibrahim was freed and Conrad's plans stopped, when the Undead Dragon, Aidlis, forced to be the phylactery for the Herald, was slain. They were forced to escape with their lives when the echoes released by the slain Herald broke the planar barrier, bringing the massive Crucible into the world as it erupted from the very earth and took to the sky.

Prior to this, following a request for help from Hrungnir, Praetor and Melandil led a force of Rangers to stop Conrad's army from breaking into the Vault of the Fathers, where they sought to claim the Dwarven Codex for unknown reasons. Their assault on the massive drill that was destroying the Vault was complicated by the arrival of the Herald,  who began decimating the Rangers. However, in the middle of the assault, Hound and Ibrahim slew Aidlis, making the Herald vulnerable. Now finally able to be killed, Praetor slew the Herald for the third and final time.

Hound and Ibrahim followed the fires of war to Hrungnir, where they met with Praetor, Aabi and Lucida and joined the defense of the city. After the Undead enemy were slain, the group paused to decide what to do with the Codex. As they rested and pondered, however, a terrible thing happened. The sky glowed dully, turning night into a dim, burning dusk. They looked to the distance, spying the Crucible as a looming,  misshapen tower in the sky.

Slowly,  imperceptibly, it had begun to move...

Towards NeOz.

Its final destination was not the Emerald Palace, but the ultimate end to all things. The champions of the realm began to gather, where they would risk all in the effort to stop it... 