¶ Liberation of Stalwart Fortress
¶ Breaching the Prisons of Yore
The travellers are escorted to The Grand Elevator by Zell and then ascend its chamber, giving them a view of the vast world they have yet to discover; it is scarred and ravaged from past cycles, holding remnants of past kingdoms and torn battlefields.
The Elevator takes the travellers to The Prisons of Yore, where they are confronted by a guard and devotee of Mother Agora.
He stops the travellers, and recognizes the Tokens of Concord that they carry, but refuses to cede them entrance. Before he can utter more than a few words, he is attacked and killed by one of the cohorts.[1]
The travellers approach the prisons and drain the water that is flooding it. A woman named Rita is relieved to be saved, but also very confused. She can't remember why they were locked up and have grown increasingly absent-minded with their prolonged torment.
¶ Rita's Archaic Memories
She knows that she and they are Artificers, keepers of The Forbidden Technology. They worked with the powerful Artificer's Crystals, subject to its blessings and curses, and were once protectors of The Wound of The World. They have been around for many past cycles and were witness to the appearance of a God of Molten Crystal before the Kingdoms of Yore had been created.
Rita explains that The Crystal God brought The Blight, which infected her and the other prisoners. It made them immortal; unable to die and destined to slowly lose their minds as time passes on. The Artificer's Crystal she carries is the only thing that keeps her sane.
The Forbidden Technology has been alluring to many over the cycles and they have come searching for it. Rita and the other prisoners worked with Luta the Striver, trying to keep it sealed off from the world but failed. She expresses dismay that Luta's Lover has been held cative in Stalwart Fortress.
Rita asks to be freed, and the pilgrims vote to let them out of the prison. [2]
Upon release, memories rush back to Rita and she remembers that followers of Mother Agora destroyed the Kingdoms of Yore and overtook Stalwart Fortress and imprisoned Luta's Lover. Before that, Stalwart Fortress welcomed all and was a bastion of learning - a glorious time.
The era came to an end as The Grand Battle for The Wound began and war between The Stalwart and followers of Mother Agora ravaged all the lands. Though, she admits she cannot remember it all clearly; their enemy at that time may have been someone else.
She remembers that at the time Piyu The Godling sealed off The Primordial Lands, and may still guard entrance to them.
The Grand Battle for The Wound ended as Artificial God sacrificed himself and, although once a devout of Mother Agora, became a ferocious beast capable of killing Gods. It still roams the lands and protects The Wound, destroying all beings mortal and immortal who approach it. Even the primordial powers of Piyu The Godling are no match for the ferocity of Artificial God's defense now.
¶ Siege at Stalwart Fortress
The pilgrims, and the prisoners travel back to Stalwart Fortress. As they arrive, Rita remarks that more of her memory is returning, that Luta's Lover can sense the presence of their crystals, and that the language scrawled on the walls of the fortress is the secret language of The Crystal God. She hopes that Gregor is unharmed.
Rita and the prisoners vow to protect the pilgrims from The Dark Blade Guild, but they must kill those of the Church of Her who had overrun Stalwart Fortress. She assures that only the guilty would be slaughtered.
The prisoners attack and slaughter five of Mother Agora's devout, including Remo the Deceiver. [3]
Rita finds Gregor and rejoices at his safety.
¶ Crystals and Boons
Some time after the siege, Rita tells that Luta the Beacon has been restored and that Stalwart Fortress will be transformed to once again accept all - as Luta the Striver had once envisioned.
She has prepared something special for the travellers; a device that will allow the cohorts to send message to all the travelers of the world through Luta's powers. She says it is up to them to communicate it, a reward for those who return the Stalwart to balance.
Luta's powers prevent conflict within the Stalwart Fortress, and it is quickly made a place of peace.
15 Artificer's Crystals are distributed to various travellers, including some who have shown great technical prowess. [4][5]
The Concord of Research quickly acquires one for their vault through transaction with a recipient.[6]
Shortly after, two members of The Concord of Research, _0xG_ and Darrow receive an anonymous boon of 2 ETH.[7] As does 0xThriving.[8] Many speculate it is for their technological contributions to the education of the world.
¶ Lingering Shadows
As the Stalwart Fortress is returned to its neutral state, The Dark Blade Guild emplores the travellers to come to Crow's Den and seek their Tokens of Concord.
𝖂𝖊 𝖍𝖆𝖛𝖊 𝖑𝖊𝖋𝖙 𝖞𝖔𝖚 𝖆 𝖙𝖔𝖐𝖊𝖓 𝖔𝖋 𝖘𝖊𝖑𝖋-𝖗𝖊𝖋𝖑𝖊𝖈𝖙𝖎𝖔𝖓, 𝖞𝖔𝖚𝖗 𝖈𝖍𝖔𝖎𝖈𝖊𝖘 𝖍𝖆𝖛𝖊 𝖒𝖆𝖉𝖊 𝖗𝖎𝖕𝖕𝖑𝖊𝖘 𝖎𝖓 𝖙𝖍𝖊 𝖋𝖆𝖇𝖗𝖎𝖈 𝖔𝖋 𝖔𝖚𝖗 𝖑𝖆𝖓𝖉.
𝕿𝖗𝖆𝖛𝖊𝖑 𝖇𝖆𝖈𝖐 𝖙𝖔 𝖄𝖚𝖑𝖊𝖗'𝖘 𝖇𝖔𝖉𝖞 𝖙𝖔 𝖋𝖚𝖗𝖙𝖍𝖊𝖗 𝖕𝖚𝖗𝖘𝖚𝖊 𝖞𝖔𝖚𝖗 𝖖𝖚𝖊𝖘𝖙 𝖋𝖔𝖗 𝖐𝖓𝖔𝖜𝖑𝖊𝖉𝖌𝖊...𝖔𝖗 𝖇𝖑𝖔𝖔𝖉𝖘𝖍𝖊𝖉.
𝕹𝖔 𝖉𝖊𝖈𝖊𝖕𝖙𝖎𝖔𝖓 𝖔𝖗 𝖙𝖗𝖎𝖈𝖐𝖊𝖗𝖞 𝖜𝖎𝖑𝖑 𝖇𝖊 𝖚𝖘𝖊𝖉[9]
¶ References
- https://etherscan.io/tx/0xccb5a687aefa4ed09aeca83ed3f869004c5d650ae955a29f1e238799d09f6c6f
- https://twitter.com/wagdie_eth/status/1537890898758930432
- https://etherscan.io/tx/0xd08dff690fe4c14b6b0ea1e850be041e4ab9540e6584b897489d4f6ee298bc63
- https://etherscan.io/tx/0xedab8238c2f10573ec03520e791ea181ee52ef4fb66362ae6ac5a918ca6328c7
- https://etherscan.io/tx/0xfc279ea03406476c90dc42f06c41c20d649c6bdbd7600cbc50e42a6073741285
- https://twitter.com/spaawts/status/1537917073090678784
- https://twitter.com/KingOfFling/status/1537949772375412738
- https://twitter.com/KingOfFling/status/1537950411667083266
- https://twitter.com/DarkBladeGuild/status/1537945025488691200