As the deluge of gore continued, Kasmarkin rose, a spectre daubed in stinking streaks of red and black, from the coagulating Mannaseh.

The cracking glass sighed its solemn knell, momentarily giving way to a roar of imperious mirth before that, too, fell quiet.

Upon the apex of the crimson fortress rose a looming figure, a tremendous ripping noise echoed across Sapience and beyond as reality buckled, a lesser form at last shed from its master.

The deafening clap of portentous thunder reverberated through land and sky as two great wings unfurled with a snap. Their immense span cast the drowned city in an ominous shadow.

The fell tones of Pazuzu, Prince of Woe pervaded the minds of all, "CREATION! Your days of peace are at an end!"

A low thrumming began to build at the heart of the continent, reverberating ceaselessly as steadily-building pulses drove agony into the minds of the bleeding onlookers.

Black Pazuzu, Prince of Woe continued his address, "This eternity is but a lie, fit to be broken beneath those with the will to shatter it."

"Your skies bleed with my legacy, a crown of ichor for the empire that I shall build upon your corpses."

As one, the cursed trolls of Kasmarkin took up ancient instruments, drumming a powerful rhythm that resonated across all the Prime.

A beacon of light shot upwards into the firmament, ripping open a gateway in the fabric of the sky.

With an ancient and mirthless humour, the Demon Prince reflected, "In my younger years, I would have demanded that you all kneel. But now?"

The thundering chorus grew despite the enemy's speech, rising to a solemn crescendo as the trolls held steady, drumming in unison with frantic urgency.

The portal opened into a realm of crystals, sparkling with millions of facets of light and colour. The blurring shape of a crystalline creature briefly emerged from the gateway and streaked in a blaze of flaming red to the top of the drowned tower.

Pazuzu intoned, "I do not require cattle in my service."

"For thousands of years, I have been bound to this blasted plane. Locked in a crystalline prison, with little more than twisted reflections to keep me company."

The monologue paused, interrupted by the arrival of Taug's prison warden, the Kx'Khrah Sh'Fah.

A shrieking, hellish cry lashed out at the world as the culmination of an eternity of imprisonment unchained Pazuzu's rage. The giant demon descended upon Sh'fah in a blinding flurry of shredding teeth and claw.

Sh'Fah held firm, the crystalline warden matching Woe's Prince for every blow as the two duelled for the highest of stakes.

A blaze of searing light cast from the construct struck home, shearing half the crown from the erstwhile prince's head.

Withdrawing in stunned consideration, Pazuzu raised a clawed hand to his bleeding head, before casting aside the sundered crown and loosing a second deafening, world-shaking shriek of unbridled rage.

"Some of you gnats set me free for the briefest of moments, taunting me with the freedom that I so desperately craved."

The calamitous duel crossed a fatal rubicon as Pazuzu's rage fully manifested. Splitting the heavens with his wrath, the demon grasped at Sh'fah, lifting the Tl'fah Kx'Khrah-megra before slamming it into the ground with a force so indescribably powerful that it was shattered to a mess of broken shards.

"But now? I am FREE!"

In the wake of the titanic battle, silence reigned - Pazuzu stood triumphant over Sh'fah, wresting a battered limb from the Kx'Khrah remains.

The fell tones of the Black Prince continued to assault the world, "No longer shall I endure the sight of my own visage in thousandfold, and the horrendous noises of those limpid, feckless creatures."

The anguished cries of the Kasmarkin trolls resounded in phantom chorus, their mournful wailing fading as the ties that bound them to unlife slipped away.

All at once, the ghastly choir reached an excruciating coda whose single, final note lingered within the shattered skies. Then there was silence. Only the muted howling of the blood-rains continued, the metallic scent of ruinous portent blanketing the Prime.

Pazuzu took up his newly hewed sword, the limb a scythe in the Black Prince's claws. He carved a swathe through the bravest of adventurers as they ran to Kasmarkin to take up the drums left by the released trolls, all seemed futile. But continue to return they did, no death frightening enough to sway them from their course.

The ancient rhythm beaten out by the soldiers of Mhaldor was heard.

A hundred streams of light shot upwards into the firmament, tearing a multitude of portals in the fabric of the sky.

The gateways opened into a realm of crystals, the very heavens sparkled with a dazzling display of light and colour.

The blurring shapes of a crystalline army briefly emerged from the portals, and descended to the land in a regimented formation.

Forming into a blazing array of regimented refraction, the crystalline jailers of the Prince of Woe stood ready, a mass of shimmering threat and unflinching duty marching in perfect coordination against their once-prisoner.

The great black wings of Pazuzu beat the air with furious abandon as he took to the skies, racing towards the north and west while his long shadow blighted the land beneath his monstrous span.

A ruby refulgence emanated from the Black Forest as the legion of Kx'khrah moved to intercept their escaped quarry.

It was before the Flame of Yggdrasil that the hunter met the fox.

The crystalline legion stilled, perfected order in their lines and placement. The heart of all burned deeply, and then exploded into blinding, incandescent fury with a dazzling burst of light cast at the wayward demon.

The Prince of Woe snarled, his features contorted into a rictus of menacing rage as he raised the makeshift crystal blade. Catching the radiance of the legion upon its expanse, a brilliantine array of hues and tones erupted around him in momentary dispersal of the assault.

Pazuzu swerved with unimaginable speed, and a single arcing blow of his ruby blade bisected the Flame of Yggdrasil. The supernal fire shuddered, time itself seeming to grind to a momentary halt.

In violent, absolute rejection, the very fabric of Creation reeled beneath the planar wounding. The lights illuminating the sanguine skies fell dark, and with them, so too did all other light across the land wane.

It took a long moment, but the weave of Creation realigned. As the vestiges of light slowly returned, it was clear to all that Yggdrasil's flame remained parted, and that Pazuzu and the crystalline legion were gone.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Summary:
The culmination of the Vigil's efforts released Pazuzu from his Kasmarkin prison. Summoned by the troll drums, Sh'Fah responded and was slaughtered after a brief fight, Pazuzu tearing a limb from the remains to wield as a crystal sword. Despite the savagery of Pazuzu's slaughter, adventurers took up the drums and called down the legion of Kx'Khrah. Facing a standoff before the blazing flame, the Black Prince used his newly hewn sword to carve open a way to the paths of the great World Tree.

Pazuzu escaped, but with the Kx'Khrah taking up pursuit, Achaeans were left free to explore the pathways of Yggdrasil and the various worlds beyond.

Penned by My hand on the 7th of Ero, in the year 758 AF.