The Avatar's Sacrifice
and the Phoenix's Flight
Isle of Polyargos · Shrine of the Lightbringer · 21st of Miraman, 924 AF
The events of the 21st of Miraman, 924 AF, on the Isle of Polyargos cannot be understood without first accounting for what preceded them. Some time prior, Lady Aurora, alongside Lord Deucalion and Lord Prospero, moved to intercept Pazuzu, the Crowned Prince of the Demon Realm, as he visited the memory of his sentencing following the War of Humanity. The confrontation did not go as intended. Wielding the combined power of the War Veil, Lifegiver, Paincatcher, and Rageblade, Pazuzu not only eluded the three gods but inflicted a grievous wound upon Lady Aurora before They were able to withdraw.
In response, the faithful of Targossas, the theocratic city devoted to Lady Aurora and the cause of Light, devised a rite intended to heal their goddess. The chosen method centred on the summoning of a Greater Phoenix through sacrifice, the Phoenix being a creature of such divine affinity that it could carry Her essence directly to Her and restore what had been wounded. The plan required a mortal vessel: Atalkez Al'Jafri was elevated to the rank of Avatar of the Lightbringer and willingly undertook the role. Prior to the rite, Rasul Myrddin D'Ischai, Aarash Kheyr of Lady Aurora, channelled the entirety of Lady Aurora's essence held within his Scintilla into Atalkez, that the Avatar might go forth with as much of Her power as could be given.
The rite was performed on Polyargos before an assembly of Targossas's faithful and their allies. Atalkez gave his life in a distant reach of Creation, and in so doing called forth a Greater Phoenix blazing with concentrated divine fire. The Phoenix's purpose was singular: to make its way to Lady Aurora and deliver Her healing. Before departing to do so, it swept across Sapience in a single pass that shook mountains and lit the heavens from horizon to horizon. In the city of Ashtan it burned the soldiers of the Eldritch Empire to ash. Witnesses across the continent reported seeing the sky blaze with extraordinary light. Then it was gone, proceeding to Lady Aurora as intended.
The significance of the event lies in its outcome: Lady Aurora's wound was healed. She had been gravely injured by Pazuzu's assault, and it was through the summoning of the Greater Phoenix, wrought by the sacrifice of Atalkez Al'Jafri, the full essence of Rasul Myrddin poured from his Scintilla, and the prayers of Their faithful gathered on Polyargos, that She was restored. The rite stands as one of the more consequential acts of mortal devotion recorded in this age.
Myrddin stands still a long moment before speaking, one hand pressed flat against his sternum as though feeling for something beneath it.
"Before I tell you what happened here, I need to tell you what happened before." He speaks evenly, without ceremony.
He lowers his hand. His eyes settle on the middle distance, as though watching something far away.
"Lady Aurora, Lord Deucalion, and Lord Prospero moved against Pazuzu as he visited the memory of his sentencing. They meant to bring him to justice." A pause. "Instead, he turned the War Veil and three divine weapons against Them. Lady Aurora paid the price. She was gravely wounded."
He lets that sit a moment before continuing.
"The question before us was whether that wound could be answered. We believed it could."
He turns slightly, as though addressing the ground itself as much as any audience.
"The answer required a life."
His jaw tightens. When he speaks again his voice is measured, careful.
"Atalkez Al'Jafri gave his. He was raised as Avatar of the Lightbringer and took up the role without hesitation." He pauses. "Before the rite, I channelled every last measure of Lady Aurora's essence from my Scintilla into him. Everything I held of Her. That he might carry as much of Her power into what followed as a mortal vessel could hold."
Myrddin exhales slowly through his nose. His hands are still at his sides.
"His sacrifice called forth a Greater Phoenix."
He tilts his face upward briefly, as though the memory of it is overhead.
"The whole intent was that it would proceed directly to Lady Aurora and heal Her. And it did. But first it made itself known to all of Sapience." Something fierce moves through his expression. "It shook mountains. It lit the heavens from end to end. In Ashtan it burned the soldiers of the Eldritch Empire to ash." A beat. "Then it was gone. On its way to Her. As it was always meant to be."
He pauses. When he continues, his tone is quieter, more deliberate.
"Lady Aurora's wound healed. She had been gravely injured by Pazuzu's assault." He looks back at his audience. "It was the sacrifice of Atalkez Al'Jafri, the full essence I gave from my Scintilla, and the prayers of Their faithful gathered here on Polyargos that restored Her, through the Greater Phoenix we summoned together."
He straightens. Something settled and final in his bearing.
"Whatever you make of the gods, or of those who serve Them, that is the record of what occurred on the 21st of Miraman, 924 AF."