Contents
Chapter Twenty-Six
Overview
Lore, Gabe, Malcolm, and Alie confirm from Farramark myth records that the gods’ power requires vessels and that Lore and Bastian are those vessels. They debate risks of a sealed prophecy and the Church’s failed expectations, then resolve to read it. Malcolm suggests delaying divine reemergence, noting climate changes began with Bastian’s birth. Lore tells Alie that Apollius, using Bastian, killed Bellegarde; Alie coldly accepts and wants him to rot.
Summary
Gabe presents Farramark mythology confirming the Fount of All Things split into divine powers requiring vessels. Lore reads that divinity is never destroyed, only echoed, and Malcolm explains the gods became vessels after breaking the Fount; when vessels break, new ones are found. The group concludes Lore and Bastian are now vessels for Nyxara and Apollius.
Lore insists on reversing or returning the power, but Gabe warns the world requires vessels. Tension rises as Lore accuses the Church of welcoming Apollius’s return; Gabe rejects this, grieving that the promised paradise is instead a possession of Bastian. Alie notes their faith in the Compendium has frayed.
Seeking options, Malcolm and Alie push to consult a sealed prophecy; Gabe resists, citing past catastrophe, but finally agrees to look. Malcolm argues they cannot remove the need for vessels but might delay the gods’ manifestation, proposing dormancy until better vessels appear. He observes environmental decline began with Bastian’s birth, suggesting a link to Apollius’s emergence. Lore privately worries others may become vessels too.
As they head toward the prophecy, Lore tells Alie that Apollius, fully in control of Bastian, killed Bellegarde in Courdigne. Alie absorbs the news, then hardens and says to let him rot, cementing the group’s resolve to confront the prophecy and seek a way to stall the gods.
Who Appears
- LoreProtagonist; learns she is Nyxara’s vessel, pushes to find a reversal, and tells Alie Apollius-in-Bastian killed Bellegarde.
- GabePriest Exalted; presents myth confirming vessels, struggles with shattered faith, reluctantly agrees to seek the sealed prophecy.
- MalcolmScholar-priest; interprets the Fount myth, argues vessels are necessary, proposes delaying divine reemergence via prophecy.
- AlieAlly; presses to read the prophecy, accepts Bellegarde’s death by Apollius-in-Bastian, and responds with cold resolve.
- NyxaraGoddess within Lore; gives a faint, tacit acknowledgment of past attempts at vessels, influencing Lore’s understanding.