It was autumn on Mostyn when the Artificer sat Himself upon the throne
of Valor. Sitting silently His gaze kept firmly fixed upon the entrance
of the throne room. His patience was stone and He was as still as the
shadows that surrounded Him. The Artificer had long conjured His
elaborate plans. The God of Valor had forced changes upon His schemes
before, but now, in the absence of His Brother, it was time for Him to
act once more.

An unsettling feeling grew in the paladin Hadoryu Tenshou and as quickly
as his feet could carry him, he travelled to the island sacred to his
Lord. He rushed deep into the temple complex and climbed the stairs
towards the throne room in great haste. The Paladin startled at the
sight of the Artificer sitting on the throne of his God. Severn stirred,
but this was not His intended target. This was one of Arion's chosen
mortals and as such, the Artificer knew he would make a fitting witness
to the destruction of his Lord's influence in sapience. So He welcomed
the mortal, His voice ripe with cynicism and disdain.

As soon as the Artificer spoke out His intention of permanently severing
the Valorous One from sapience, the immense war hawk Avegnon, infused
with the essence of Valor, winged its way into the throne room. Severn
immediately disregarded the Paladin's presence, and turned His gaze
towards His Brothers hawk. His intended target had arrived.

Realizing the Artificer's intent, Avegnon immediately attempted to drive
Him off, but the God would not be fazed by such frivolous attacks.
Amused, Severn merely responded by sending tendrils of shadow out to the
war hawk and though the first few narrowly missed, the doomed bird
proved unable to avoid the barrage. Avegnon fell to the ground in a
heap, but was still alive; its wing clipped and hurt by the Artificer's
attacks. Realizing the war hawk's predicament, the brave Hadoryu placed
himself between the God and the doomed creature, as the Artificer
advanced for a final blow.

Suddenly, a golden gauntlet appeared in the air, and clasped hold of the
Claw of Artifice moments before its deadly strike. A golden light filled
the room, driving the shadows of the Artificer away as a sombre voice
spoke out of thin air, "Not this time Brother. Your underhanded ways can
only surprise Me so many times." Slowly, piece by piece, a suit of
armour began to take shape in the air. Arion, the God of Valor, had
returned to protect His Grand Champion and His hawk. Severn was taken
aback; His features showed surprise. He had not expected His Brother to
return so soon, as He had not felt the Valorous One's presence for
years.

What the Artificer did not realize is that Arion had anticipated Severn
to attempt to end His dominion; the Lord of Valor had made plans of His
own. With sickening force Arion threw His surprised Brother through the
thick temple wall, sending Him to crash into the far away Siroccian
Mountains. The two deities fought tooth and nail between the mountains
and the shore, haphazardly destroying large sections of the road beneath
Their feet. Then Arion set His plan in motion: sending forth an
explosion of essence that left a strong protective sphere around both
Him and Severn, this time He would surely not let His brother escape His
blade. Severn snapped His fingers and a sphere of essence flowed forth
from the Tower of Artifice, set on a collision course with the larger
sphere holding Himself and Arion. Failing to destroy the enclosure
surrounding them both, the collision of the two spheres of essence
created a weak point in the larger sphere and left the essence of the
smaller one scattered in pools across the land. The Artificer found
Himself in the unusual situation of having to do hand to hand combat
with the God of Valor.

Outside the sphere, mortals across sapience rallied to the assistance of
their God of choice, gathering essence from the pools that fell across
the lands and defending the weak point in the sphere enclosing their
Patrons. Those faithful to the Lord of Valor vastly outnumbered the
followers of the Artificer and set down a steady defence at the weak
point. Realizing they were short on numbers, Severn's faithful sought to
gather as much essence from the pools as possible, but the effects of
their effort only postponed the inevitable.

Inside the sphere, Arion gained the upper hand through His mortal
support and the God of Valor managed to wound the Artificer. As Severn
fell to His knees with the Blade of Valor to His neck, the protective
bauble of essence around the Divine brothers suddenly dissipated in a
flash of blinding white light and Niuri, the Goddess of Mystery arrived
at Arion's victorious scene.

Arion, misdirected by Her sudden arrival and unsure of Her intentions
turned His attention momentarily away when Niuri's lantern blinded Him.
The Artificer immediately realizing and capitalizing on His opportunity
disappeared quickly into His soothing shadow. Wounded, but well enough
to plot and scheme again.

"Be gone, Sister" Arion spoke, "I have no wish to fight You today."

"No doubt, We will meet again" the Goddess retorted.

Waving Her shadowy crook through the air, Niuri disappeared into a cloud
of cerulean essence. Leaving Her victorious Brother alone with His
mortal followers in the realisation that He had won the day, but not the
fight.

Penned by my hand on the 6th of Severin, in the year 263 MA.