Upon the 8th of Khepary, the seal of Chaos finally fell - mortalkind's penchant for bloodletting had surprised even the Divine and Their war-weary eyes, granting the seal more time than They had anticipated.

Jox gave another colossal heave as the next binding on His mind was destroyed, and the tundral sheet split open in protest. Nightmarish dregs clawed their way up from beneath, spilling from the gas-spewing vents that opened up across the breadth of the Western Tundra - and new behemoths strode out alongside them, inspiring the dreg hordes to a frenzy with thunderous roars. The Nightmare gas lured many into its chilling visions - and it was stronger than before, the visions having grown more intense than the previous weeks'. Many sought protection from the fumes through the use of the filter masks employed by the salvagers of Stormcaller Crag, which proved a little useful; soon, though, the filters wore through, and no replacements lay at hand.

A harsh voice rose out amongst the din of the following battle, the gravelly tones of its language familiar to some old enough to remember: the speaker was a Dreikathi, the Polemarch Daimoxoth, who had just entered onto the field of battle. Now freed from the Nightmare, this ancient adversary of Lobyl's shouted commands to the dreg hordes - and they obeyed his word. A further legion of dregs separated the Dreikathi from Lobyl and the group of adventurers, and though Lobyl charged the Dreikathi with terrifying speed, the Polemarch quickly departed the field once more.

After clearing out the last of the dregs, the mortals gathered before the next seal of the barrow. This seal was made from the rarest of all metals, starmetal; and the Twin Gods explained that it was also the strongest of all the seals - forged with the unified strength of the entire Pantheon, in a bygone age when Their powers had been far greater. The Ankyrean Lobyl expressed his amazement at the quantity of the starmetal, known to him as 'astenel', a Kalsu word meaning 'skymetal'; he had never seen so much of it in one place before. Like the seal of Chaos before it, the seal of the Divine also had its own defences: those who entered were soon reduced to ash by Divine power. Only those bearing the blessing of a God were protected from destruction.

The Twins remained tight-lipped on the nature of the final seal that lay beyond the Divine one, saying merely that the seal of the Divine was beyond mortal influence. Instead, They bid the mortals to complete two tasks: firstly, to prepare for the fight against the Dreikathi, for the Sapient Pantheon held no influence over the Albedi races and Their powers would not be able to oppose the threat which the powerful Dreikathi posed; and secondly, see to their own Gods. The Gods of Sapience prepared for the inevitable battle against Jox, and many of Them would have need of mortal help in the preparations to come.

Penned by my hand on Closday, the 9th of Khepary, in the year 476 MA.
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