We have found more Starun.

Our days have been exhausting, our forces barely able to keep the enemy away and our advancing with the wall, inefficient. Albano now bears my spear as means to wound the creatures from the underground, the least of problems. Other creatures have been awakened by Starun and now lurk around us.

We need the portraits from Spellenrune. We need them to be awake. We are sending the Starun we have collected to the Forge in Technokrest in the morning of the fourteenth day inside the forests. Albano leads the convoy accompanied by Neeno. Donna will stand beside me to protect the works on the wall. We will gain as much ground as we can.

Hours turned into days submerged into scrolls and books with written with symbols unknown. The focus was to drain any piece of knowledge we could from that ancient source. Our heroes headed to the front in order to help protect the workers who were building the Wall, given that Technokrest’s machines had little to do in the middle of the woods in southern Spellenrune.

The longer we observed those symbols, abstract as they appeared to us, the less we seemed to understand them. A fellow Verge suggested we moved our research to the Sanctuary, believing the atmosphere could somehow influence our senses and inspire our ideas. Once there, it occured to me that a Rune Crystal would fit inside the plinth of the large Chandelier ahead of us. The Starun energy turned the candle lights into bright blue and my perception became sharper. I was at peace. I could listen to Carlo’s voice far as he might have been. “Some of the pieces of paper spread around this chamber belong to the same book. It has been long taken apart. We must place it back together at once!”.

Even though I thought I had surprised him with my knowledge regarding the tomes and the scrolls of the Main Temple and the Library, after long hours of interrogation the High Priest still retained a suspicious gaze that confused me.

“You extol the name of Malthus without the proper knowledge to do so, young Nettor. He was not only a great Verge, but also an astounding priest and a remarkable thinker. All the information vowed to be kept secret by his command had its seal broken the moment the Forge began operating. ”

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After showing Hertanyth’s letter to Albano he decided it was about time we paid visit to Spellenrune. He and I were followed by a small group of Verge and soldiers. We were escorted by two carrier ships, the three remaining heroes and carried more than half of our last remaining Starun.

The Elders knew we were coming. They had been waiting at the entrance of the Main Temple. Carlo knew he had acquired enough experience from the first battle, which unfortunately only he and Tusk had fought. The high priest led the way into the Shrine I had never heard of. We made way through endless corridors in the undergrounds of the temple. The structure of the place deeply resembled what we had seen back at Mithaurian. Upon our arrival at the entrance of the chamber I was handed a scroll by the high priest.

“For this first step into Carlo’s evolution, no more than a Crystal Rune shall be required. But beware the dangers of greed when it comes to evolution. Enter the shrine. Read the Scroll. Have a stronger hero. After you do, there are secrets I must reveal before you choose what to do next.”

Carlo stood at the center of the shrine as I deposited the Rune into the slot under the lectern. As I read the words the energy emanating from the Crystal enveloped him and after a deep breath he seemed to absorb it. He shone brighter. His aura was stronger, as were his knowledge and will.

“Cup of tea?” Asked the high priest as we left the shrine…

Dear Nettor,

I can’t express enough the sorrow I feel for the manner our ways had to part. There were things to be found by methods I knew you and the others would not approve. How could I, and my diminished figure stand a point against you, the Mighty Albano, all his guards and your bunch of followers? You have become a sect, just like the old people you used to condemn back at Spellenrune’s Main Temple. While you discuss and plan, I act.

Be assured my stand is not against you. I, as well as you all, only hope to save Myridian from the end. I just chose a different path.

Nevertheless, there is invaluable information I must share with you. Our heroes come to this plane with derisory powers compared to their full potential. Whenever they engage combat, their skills are honed to a certain point at which they are ready to incorporate the acquired experience into their bodies and become stronger, faster, more enduring. It takes Starun. A little at first, but there might come a time you will need more Starun to evolve them than you would to bring a new hero to life. Choices will have to be made. There is an underground chamber in Spellenrune. That is where the two portraits you received in Mithaurian were taken from. The elders did not want to share the existence of the room, but you will need it to find the scrolls and perform the rituals of evolution. It is not the only way, but it will be the easiest for you, furthermore, it is the one with the smallest toll.

A few days have passed since Hertanyth left and we are still filled with doubt as to what our next move should be. Engineers from Technokrest have been sent to the depleted dig in order to find clues on how to locate and extract new reserves of Starun.

Carlo, Donna and Neeno have started to show signs of weakening. Our rationing of resources has had an impact on them to.

While the Verge have spent so much time doing our research here, Technokrest has further developed their aircrafts which now help us guard the frontiers. Albano has gathered every productive citizen from all the three free kingdoms and a task force is on course to surround all free land with an immense protective wall supported by defensive and watchtowers every mile.

The reported expression of reluctancy on Tusk’s face during Hertanyth’s betrayal comes to prove that whatever Tusk has done was against his will. When summoned and binded to their Verge, heroes can be controlled by them but their conscience is always there and only acts if in accordance with what is proposed. So now whenever a hero is summoned they must make an Oath. To never strike against a Merid or Verge who stands against “The End”, no matter what. And combat between heroes will only be allowed in the training arenas, dungeons and challenges created by Starun Energy. This shall be known as the Rule of Hertanyth.

We now must try to regroup and evaluate alternatives to carry our fight on without one of our most valuable heroes… unless…

Our available Starun was just about enough to perform three rituals later that night. And as we prepared for that, the shipment we had been long expecting had just arrived. The dig had been depleted. And it was the only one we had notice of that had been broken apart by natural disasters. So we would have to do our best with that last stock until we found another concentration of shards to start extracting.

The convoy was approaching the gates of Mithaurian when all of a sudden a deafening roar was heard. Tusk was charging towards the troops, which made all the guards confused. They thought there might have been some kind of ambush ahead so they just stood their ground waiting for him to join them. Such disappointment it was when he trampled down all the soldiers in a flash. From a short distance, Hertanyth had been spotted. As reinforcements prepared and left Mithaurian to engage Tusk, Hertanyth took command of the carriers and fled with the shipment. Tusk stood guard long enough for Hertanyth to fade in the distance and rushed away. The guards that had been assigned to stop him were petrified as he walked left and right waiting for the carriers to vanish.

They said Tusk’s gaze was one of sadness and disappointment, but he would not hesitate about crushing anyone who dared try and pass him by. Albano is devastated, as are we all. We must rethink how to use the remaining Starun, and also prepare our heroes to fight one of their own should it come to that. What could have made Hertanyth do such thing?

After the rumours of mythological heroes coming out of sacred paintings spread throughout Myridian, Albano’s guards have been significantly busy with peasants from all over the world. Whoever has a portrait hanging on the walls thinks a godlike creature is ready to pop out of it and decides to bring it over to us.

However, we have heard from the high temple of Spellenrune and they have sent a caravan carrying two portraits. The high priest says they had notice of more ancient portraits located in other temples, which, to our misfortune, have already fallen.

Engineers from Technokrest have found one as well. It was hidden in one of the many chambers around the Forge. We await for another shipment of Starun. It is still being extracted from the dig in the countryside of Mithaurian, despite my advice against it.

Tonight we shall try to invoke three more heroes, provided my strength and Starun are enough.

The might of the legends is beyond belief. To think only two of them have defeated a couple hundred Yrians! They returned a few days later and brought along enough Starun for us to work on summoning two other firsts. Donna, The Amber Arrow and Neeno, The New Moon now walk among us.

I have never been this powerful, and yet I feel depleted. Each time we perform a ritual my joints and muscles burn and shiver. It consumes me. But I must carry on… So much to be done it’s even hard to find time and drop these lines for the sake of history!

And now I am arrantly worried about Hertanyth’s perspective of things… He has such taste for war and power… Gathering resources and strengthening Tusk is all he mumbles about. He appears to be fighting a war for himself only… He is out on the battlefield again… He could be here and see through Tusk’s eyes but he would much rather smell the blood of fallen Yrians…