It began with a scorned mage, still fresh with the bitterness of his last defeat and denied his place within the Conclave. Spurned by the dragon Yudhishthira, Gaderian instead turned his attention to other matters, namely Hashan, and a promise not yet fulfilled. For their part in rescuing him from his prison atop the Cerulean Spire in Cyrene, he proffered knowledge: the secret of a volatile elemental core said to be the key to the Court's own machinations.

Such things are hardly common or easy to find. Luckily for the Hashani, the Wizard's experiments had yielded a promising lead upon the Isle of Harae. Deep within, the Haraekanewa worshipped the so called "God in the Volcano", and it was in the heart of that volcano, so Gaderian said, that the volatile core could be found. Industrious and eager, an expedition was immediately put into action.

First came the bombs; recesses were dug within the earth to pack in numerous explosives fashioned by a technique known only to the Hashani. Then came the detonation. Countless explosions rocked the side of the volcano, threatening a greater eruption chain reacting from the first. The island rippled. The earth churned in response. Lava-spouting crevasses tore open, and basalt-encrusted bone golems poured forth, larger and meaner than their cavernous cousins.

For months the volcano made its ire known to the world at large. Smoke and soot heralded its imminent eruption while Hekugara, Shaman of the Haraekanewa, bellowed aloud prayers to their God and promised doom should he awaken. While adventurers flocked to Harae and attempted to evacuate the village, most of Harae's residents chose to stay, so firm was their belief in the Volcano God.

Into the volcano went the Hashani, egged on by Gaderian. After a long and perilous journey downward, during which the adventurers were forced to surf on molten rock and avoid countless obstacles arrayed against them, nothing stood between the team and the promised volatile core, the supposed "God in the Volcano" laid bare and taken back home for research and development.

But of course, it could hardly be that simple, could it?

Unfortunately for the Hashani, the core was still very much part of its host. A host that was now awakening from its long slumber. And it was not pleased. In an blink of an eye, a resonant boom scorched the western skies, the greatest eruption Sapience had seen in modern history. The entire Isle of Harae found itself vapourised, its inhabitants wiped from the earth and the land itself scorched, blackened, and turned to ash. And then the God truly stirred.

Death followed as a Paramount Fire Elemental clawed its way out of the volcano, beset by people from all cities, basalt-encrusted lava bombs exploding every few moments. Bathing in lava it healed, twice even. But twice was not enough. Though it claimed countless lives and wreaked havoc on all comers, the Hashani Sobriquet struck the killing blow and the volatile core of the monstrosity fell free, crashing into the ground and sinking into the earth back toward the bowels of the volcano.

And so all that planning was for nothing as a returning Gaderian found the fiery core spent, empty, and useless. Angry and devoid of his prize, the dispossessed mage of Narcisse turned to lash out at Sapience until a mysterious shadowy figure manifested before him.

Speaking words only the Wizard could hear, the silk-cowled figure slithered through dancing shadows, reappearing at his ear, whispering words that drew a chuckle from the mad mage. An offer unknown to the world at large, but an offer the mage accepted with a handshake.

And then both figures were gone. A wasted volatile core, a mysterious figure now joining forces with Gaderian. Promises and boasts of an upset dragon and other figures yet unknown. Though gone, it seems that Gaderian now has bigger plans...

Penned by My hand on the 22nd of Phaestian, in the year 973 AF.