[ He puts his head in his hands, fingers slipping through hair and tangling in the pale strands. He forces himself to take a deep breath and calm himself. One... Two... ]

She escaped. With Rhea'li. We forced an opening for them before Hermes' creation could take effect.

[ He closes his eyes. It's difficult to remember mired with the false and vague memories Hermes had implanted. Had Venat tried to stave off their coming doom or had she simply stood back and allowed it to happen, thinking it inevitable? ]

In any case... As the laws of reality seemed to unravel before our eyes, the Convocation came together to discuss how best to avert the calamity. We decided to create a god who could bolster the aetherial currents and halt the apparent cause of the devastation. But to do so would require enormous sacrifice... Sacrifice of our people. And you, Azem--

[ His voice falters here. ]

You refused to agree and resigned from your seat. You left...and never returned, leaving us to defend Amaurot from encroaching disaster. What else could we do but fall back on our plan? And thus did we summon Zodiark to act as the will of our star, sacrificing half of our surviving people to fuel His might.