NOW LIVE! Today's the day you meet your new best friend. You don’t have to leave Wolfy behind... In 'Pets & Sidekicks' your companions level up with you!

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Message: <blockquote data-quote="gideonpepys" data-source="post: 7947759" data-attributes="member: 79141">Session 259 - Denouement, Part One [MEDIA=youtube]ixtNYSiNyO4[/MEDIA]As the enormous energies released by the Stone of Not washed over Gupta, she realised that she could now make the same choice she had rejected in the Gyre: relinquish godhood and restore life to the thousands of eladrin women who had died during the Great Malice.Gupta chose to sacrifice her divinity.  She was thereby cleansed of the taint of Hewanharimau too.She saw thousands of glowing threads (or were they roots, or branches?) spreading out in all directions from her.  At the tips of some of these threads were women she knew, or knew of, who had died not just during the Malice, but at other times, and she found that she could restore them to life too: her mother, her little sister, Helandra, Launga and Dala, and finally, in an act of pure kindness, Lya Jierre.What about her father and her brothers, though?  They were not to be found on this tree of femininity. Could she make her family whole again?  Or would they have to live through a different kind of tragedy?  For a moment, she considered letting them all pass on, if only raising half of them was the alternative.  All of a sudden, she realised her wish had been granted and her father and brothers were alive again.After Rumdoom’s wish, hers was the second to be fulfilled.  All who stood in the energy of the seal, and had had a hand in completing it, felt themselves able to wish for something dear to them, and somehow understood that this was so.Uru wished for Pemberton’s daughter Teraklir to be alive and whole again, to thank the dragon for all that he had done.Quratulain toyed with the idea of bringing back Nicodemus, so that she could kill him all over again, but on reflection, she decided to let it go.  Rumdoom had taught her that, sometimes, you just can’t stop things.  Instead, she wished for her father to be restored to life, so that he could meet his grandson.Conquo wished for new bodies for him and Borne – smaller ones (but not human size – that would be silly; just large).  Likewise, Xambria chose to create a new flesh-and-blood body for herself, but her experience of living in a metal shell for so long meant that her new body was stronger and faster than her natural form.Matunaaga wished to restore the Hidden Valley to its former glory, but to leave it open, and embrace a future without the fear of the gidim. The elders were dead – drowned in the wreckage of their citadel – but many of Matunaaga’s people were still alive, held hostage in the Ob’s fortress on Axis Island. Despite Nicodemus’ orders to slaughter them if Matunaaga rebelled, his minions had chosen not to do so, such was their respect for the legendary maustin caji.Leon wished for wise guidance should anyone choose to alter the world in the future.  Little did he realise, but this would enable the World Spirit to communicate directly with anyone who sought to interfere with the seal. (The World Spirit now surrounded the world with a protective psionic shield that would deflect intrusion from hostile outsiders like the gidim.  Uriel had transcended mortality, and this was his final form.  He had sacrificed himself for the good of others for the last time.) Leon also wished that the story of what happened here would not be corrupted over the generations, but who could tell if that one would be granted?Korrigan considered returning Elizabeth to life, but decided that death should not altered and undone in this way; that such an act would  be jarring and upsetting for Kai, who had learned to live without her; indeed, who had never really known her. It would be selfishness on his part to do so. In fact, the king chose not to make a wish at all.When the radiance of the Seal subsided there were many more apparent strangers standing around the Seal, all of whom were embraced by those who had wished them back to life.  The area was suddenly rather crowded.Around the world a great cheer erupted, as the victory of the Heroes of Lanjyr became clear.  In Elfaivar, thousands of women rose from where they had fallen when the Great Malice occurred and wandered out of the jungle in astonishment.A beam of sunlight shone above the mountains at the edge of the valley and illuminated the jungle forest on the far side. Dawn broke for the first time in months.  A new sun rose: The Avatar, followed a few hours later by his Bride.</blockquote>

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