clover's Log
Walking into the marbled lobby of the Gilded Citadel proves as easy as I’d hoped. This place is safe, trusting. Up ahead, a man offers directions to another pair of visitors. I wait for Oman and Nyx to catch up to me and we approach as a group, Brendel and Ronan just behind us with the intention of appearing to be security of some sort. Keys seems to be experiencing another glitch and has shut down near the entrance. Hopefully he doesn’t draw too much attention. If someone from the Legion finds him, they could haul him away for maintenance, and that would be an unneeded complication.
The greeter, Archibald, welcomes us amiably, and we inform him we are here to see Evelyn Silverleaf. For some reason, my companions feel compelled to lie about their identities—Nyx and Oman are both disguised—but I have no such compunction here. We’ve been told by Lady Pearl that Ms. Silverleaf is an ally. I give my real name. Archibald summons a messenger bird to let Ms. Silverleaf know we are here, but as she is not in, he invites us to wait in the Citadel’s café, which offers us some complimentary beverages. We don’t have to wait too long before Evelyn Silverleaf finds us and inquires who we really are, the magic of this place having easily seen through my companions’ lies. After giving our true identities, we begin to reveal the truth of our visit, Oman mentioning we just broke out of prison, and she stops us before we can further incriminate ourselves in a public space. She invites us back to her apartment.
Her home is lovely, filled with books, and we are able to speak freely here, dropping all disguises and pretenses. She is inclined to trust us given Lady Pearl’s endorsement, but she still hesitates to bring us fully into the fold regarding the Golden Library and the Mechanus. Instead, she asks if we are willing to risk all for the truth. We all respond in the affirmative. She asks us what we know of Thalos, and though Oman and I both recognize the name—more specifically, the crazy people associated with the name—the memories are oddly hazy. All I remember is a few raving lunatics visiting my forest home, ranting about impossible things. These people were invariably intercepted by members of the Church and taken away “for recovery.” It all seems so clear now, especially with Evelyn’s next revelation: Thalos is the name of our planet. Those people were a few who had pieces of the truth of what really was, before the Shattering.
Pulling out a book of Thalosian history—as approved by the Church—Evelyn invites us to understand the history as written by those in power so that we may then learn the truth.
Suddenly we are within the pages of the book, quite literally standing on the words, learning about the battle between the “Good” Lady and the “evil” Titans and elves, the loyalty and righteousness of the family Ethereon. We fight our way to the next page, battling those we now know to be good in order to get to the truth. At last, we find ourselves on a new page, a different history: the truth. The rebel goddess Revana manipulated the family Ethereon, causing the once noble Minister Alaric to wash the streets with the blood of his own kin, the blood of those with a direct line to the gods—those who had formed the backbone of the war against Revana. The goddess took the district as her new throne, its heroes as her champions.
The forces of the old gods gathered to put an end to the long-raging war. Somehow, Revana’s magic held strong, turning those who marched against her into allies. Finally, Varathor, the God of the Forge himself, descended from the Astral Sea, assuming the form of a mortal to infiltrate Revana’s lair. He meant to forever bind the evil queen to the mortal realm. This assault, too, failed. None know what happened, nor where Varathor ended up, and while the evil queen was not seen again over the next century, her forces continued to gain power like never before.
Now we stand locked in battle within these pages, fighting the queen’s greatest champions. They are indeed worthy of their legendary names, beyond our skill to fight. Ronan and I go down, Nyx is badly wounded, but Brendel makes it to the edge of the page, dragging me with him. We all appear back in Evelyn’s apartment. The great question now stands: What do we do with all we’ve just learned?