The Death Of The Banshee And The Aftermath

The morning after the events on the closing ball of the Harvest festival made it apparent that the events which were seemingly isolated in Regalia, rippled throughout the entire world of Aloria. News quickly spread on traveler's roads from Drowda. Many would recount the tale told by the Hold elder Mervellen:

"I was in my chamber, writing in the annals of the Tuvindorim Hold on the South wall of the Watchful. All of a sudden, my room was lit with the most unnatural blue light, stronger than the candles, yet it did not come from within. As I peered around, holes in the walls which had been made by past attacks from the void lings sprayed light all over my room, and I could hear the fearful cries of my Hold's people below in the lower halls. Fearing another attack, I rushed onto the balcony overlooking the courtyard, only to be blinded by a bright light all around me. It was at this moment I looked up at the sky and saw the most radiant blue light fill the sky. The dark thunderous clouds that had always made our land as dark as our skins had dissipated, instead leaving behind blue Telume, the most beautiful sight my aging eyes had ever been laid upon. Beneath my people feared, as they had never seen the true blue sky, yet I looked down upon them as the mother of this hold. As tears came from my eyes, I knew this was an omen of victory for my people."

Further to the North east, beyond the New Ceardian continent, fishers told the tales of the lands of which beauty they had never laid eyes on. Fishers of the Frozen passage had always known not to pass over the middle sea line, as the storms beyond would rip their ships apart with unnatural force. On this day however, one fisher in particular witnessed the unfolding of the waves:

"I had drawn too close to the middle sea line, and my ship was assailed by blizzards and ice from all sides. I believed I was certainly dead by the Emperor's mercy, until the howling winds suddenly abruptly died down with a chilly and bone freezing cry carried across the sky. Yet the cry died down, and so did my ship stop rocking back and forth. I stood up on the deck, wondering what grace had saved me, and by his divine will, I was the first to lay eyes on the vast frozen expanse. What greeted me was a shoreline of pristine brilliance, the ice and snow reflecting the sunlight. It was like looking into a jar filled with the most brilliant diamonds as the peaks shone and sparkled. When I reached the harbor back safe and sound, I already heard whispers of adventurers making their way to the Frozen Expanse, intent on finding what riches and other unknown things had been hidden for us so many centuries."

Not all was brilliance and sunshine however, at least not literally. It was that day as if the sun shone more radiant than ever, and who else to notice but the Qadir of Farah'deen, it was their Shambala faith of the sun that drew messages out of this great event. The sun had granted the Qadir the great omen they were waiting for, at least they thought so. The Sultan in Qadiriyye summoned the Bashanaar, and the drums of war were signaled. On the coast of Faradh and Shatiffique, hundreds of galleys and Xebeqque's gathered, filled with the slave armies of the Qadir as the crimson red masts filled the oceans to the west, setting sail to unknown shores for the destiny promised to them by the sun.

As with any great event in the world Aloria, it heralded change. These changes would make some great fortunes, while it spelled the demise for others. Within Regalia, the diet was summoned once more as all religious figures hurried back to the Imperial Palace. There were whispers of magic, whispers of the Azure Order losing hold on the mages now that fear for the void had sank into the metaphorical stone. The state now controlled the source of all their worries, and they gained the boldness to want to control it.