The situation is tense but no one wants to be the first to act until the third orb has arrived, but in their vigil Quadrata's companion spot Valerian and Sikra who also comes forth. As it is revealed by Quadrata that they are consul Savvas' seneschals the tension rises, but as unpleasantries threatens to escalate Gamaral mentions the third orb is still missing and a kind of cease fire is agreed upon until this happens.
An hour passes until yet more footsteps are heard and this time it is consul Seneca, accompanied by no other than Mingone leader of the Zhengdi King's Guard. Closing the main doors behind him, Seneca announces that he carries the third orb and commands that each party place their orb upon a pillar. Gamaral is quick to follow him and after a moment's hesitation Quadrata does the same. Seneca spots Charon and Thriatos with her and asks them to come join him, which they do. The air is thick with magic but before anything has time to happen a voilent thud shakes the large doors. A second pounding shatters them, reavealing two massive bronze golems followed by consul Savvas and yet two more golems. Thanking the others for their hard work she calls her seneschals to her and after they've joined her a silence quickly covers the room as all await a first blow.
In the end, no one starts a fight because yet another approaches the all. The present consuls are all surprised to see consul Callissios marching through the smashed doors - accompanied by none other than the king of the mountain trolls. Callissios thanks them all for their services so far to which an annoyed Savvas suggests he leave the place while he can. Callissios has no such intention however and, as he finds Savvas to be a nuisance he sentence her to death. Savvas laughs at this threat but to the surprise and horror of everyone present Callissios is suddently transformed into a gigantic dragon - the red dragon from the mountains - and ends the life of consul Savvas with one mighty bite. He commands all to join him or die in this hall.
Consul Seneca is the first to act: his guess is the dragon intends to use the orbs to turn itself into a dragon-lich which could then threaten the entire Empire. Together with Mingone he engage the beast, urging the others to do the same. Gamaral and the undead quickly side with him and so do Quadrata. Horacio, still seeing the dragon as his true master, decides to defend it but gets locked in a mage duel with Valerian. Sikra, Charon and Thriatos all stand frozen at the scene while the hidden Zantana sneaks up to Horacio and steals his spell book to weaken the mage.
Migone is engaged by the troll king but gets aid from Azela. Gamaral casts a prepared ritual, summoning the Emperor of Zhengdi to the chamber after which the two join the consuls assaulting the dragon. Still the great beast seems to strong for them and after the troll king injures Quadrata with a sweeping blow the dragon burns Gamaral to ash with a burst of fire. Seneca tries to shield the others from the dragons attacks while the emperor lashes out with lightning, force and fire towards it. Finding Horacio's decision to aid the dragon rather far fetched Charon decides to passify his companion to keep him out of harm's way - but instead he manage to break his initiative, turning Horacio into target practice for Valerian's offensive magic. Finally he finds himself useful by healing Quadrata's wounds as best as able, returning the consul to the fight.
As the fighting escalate Sikra note that no one seems to be paying attention to the orbs. Carefully she moves closer and manage to reach the center of the hall. A strange sensation creeps over her as the colors begin to change and she can see a strange power flowing from everyone in the room towards the orbs which are then connected to her. The sensation of power overwhealms her and she is frozen in inaction trying to comprehend what is happening.
At this moment Quadrata in an act of ultimate defiance plunges her sacrifical dagger into her own heart, producing a life's worth of blood magic energy to turn her staff into a projectile which she throws at the dragon. As the consul fall down dead the staff, by now glowing red from magic energy, pierce the dragon's head, causing the beast to jerk at the sudden and unexpected pain, only to collapse in the following moment. Having just managed to focus her mind, Sikra miraculously manage to throw herself out of harm's way. After Mingone and Azela manage to slay the troll king Horacio finds himself short of allies and surrender.
At this point the Zhengdi Emperor, his dry skin showing no signs of fatigue from the battle, take place among the orbs. He proclaims he now takes command of the orbs and use them to return lives rather than take them, as has been done previously. His intention is to return the souls of the Zhengdi people which power the orbs to their rightful rest in the Realm of Unlife. As this action will destroy the orbs he offers a last boon to those who have aided him, granting Azela, Kael and Zantana a chance to return among the living. In the end only Zantana wishes to walk this path and the emperor uses the orbs power to revitalize her body, giving her life once more. When it comes to Horacio the emperor is unwilling to kill more men today and demands that he be spared - but also commands Azela and Kael to keep a watch over him for the next 50 years to ensure he serves his people. Having said so, he begins his final ritual and as it finishes he, Mingone and the orbs are dissolved into dust which a light wind begin to scatter in the room.
As the only surviving consul Seneca takes the lead out into the light. A group of legionnaires await them and are unwilling to follow the orders of the consul until they realize the gravity of the situation as the bodies of consuls Quadrata and Savvas are laid before them. They then inform the consul and his followers that a battle is raging outside the city as the two armies which had assembled have been assaulted by a horde of goblins and trolls which had been hiding among the hills and caves. Hurrying to get a view of the battle the group arrive as the legionnaires begin their final push against their foes, ultimately breaking them and sending the survivors fleeing into the desert. As the city now holds little of interest Seneca intends to return to the capital and the Mages' Council, which he believes will have a hard time surviving the recent events. Because of this he frees his senechals from their vows, saying they can go anywhere they please. To everyone else he says good bye.
In the aftermatch Valerian and Sikra return to the capital with Valerian seeking to claim the post of his deceased consul. Charon, Thriatos and Horacio - the latter accompanied by Azela and Kael - return to Leupthia. Zantana, now human, return to Pantoria and the business there.
What happened after this, well, that's another campaign.
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