What follows is the story of the end of the Green Plague as I reconstructed it in years and years of patient work. It was a long and tiring task, and although I am aware that many will not believe my conclusions, I am nevertheless proud of them. "The search for truth always gives satisfaction even when it is in vain," Lord Callum used to say, and I can only agree with him.

I, as I have already explained, am convinced that Claudia, the Dark Princess of Katolis, survived the Battle of the Storm Spire. In my opinion, for some years she hid in the Midnight Desert (which, because of its vastness and dangerousness, was the least controlled place by the magicians of Xadia). Here she probably survived thanks to the help of Nyx, a smuggler skywing elf who made a living by transporting travellers and goods from one side of the desert to another. Callum himself had met her during his first journey to Xadia and knew her greed well.

Now, it is an established fact that the treasure of Viren's army was lost following his defeat at the Battle of the Storm Spire. If Claudia had managed to hide that gold, she could have easily used it to bribe Nyx. In support of my thesis, when Nyx herself was tried by the Skywing Superior Council for smuggling, she confessed to having helped several humans cross the desert, including "a young woman of about seventeen years travelling with her old father". Unfortunately, we do not know more, because the process was abruptly interrupted: Nyx managed to escape and take refuge in Katolis, where she became one of the leading members of the Imperial Merchants Guild under the pseudonym Deghinach ("Yellow Eye" in the northern dialect of Xadia).

Many historians disagree, but I am convinced that the girl mentioned by Nyx was Claudia. As for the "old father", I have reason to believe that he was nothing less than Viren, who had somehow survived the battle of the Storm Spire. I believe that the real reason that no historian has ever been able to find evidence of Claudia's whereabouts is that everyone focused their research on her without considering the possibility that Viren had also survived: but if you accept as plausible such an option, here it becomes possible to reconstruct (albeit partially) the story of Claudia. After all, the only witnesses to Viren's death were Callum and Rayla: it is not so improbable that they made an error of judgment. It is also well known that the "Sorcerer King" was a man of a thousand resources.

Further confirmation of this theory comes from the documents of the Imperial Chancellery: on March 20, 1422, the governor of Nissar informed the Rock of Katolis that "two suspicious individuals have been spotted, an elderly elf and what appears to be his daughter, heading south. Both have horns, but their hands have five fingers. We request instructions on how to proceed." Unfortunately, in those days Regent Callum was engaged in the frantic search for his missing daughter, and completely ignored the warning. My esteemed colleague Magister Fabricius objected that, if they really had been Claudia and Viren, they would never have performed a spell so poor as not to hide their fingers: I note, however, that with regard to the magic of illusion, due to the Second Exception to the Law of Alteration, it is much easier to create illusions external to the body (for example, horns) than to alter existing matter (for example, remove fingers).

So, according to my theory, Claudia and Viren had been waiting for the Border to be left unguarded because of the war with Neolandia to enter Katolis. I have reason to believe that they then took the southern route so as to reach the Katolean Gulf and from there, by ship, Evemere. The island kingdom was in fact the only country not at war in those years, and dark magic was still legal there. Following the thread of the theory, I did some research in the Evenerean archives, and what I found confirmed my assumptions.

It seems that just in those months a couple of dark magicians of Katolean origin settled in the Evemerean village of Heleera: I believe that they were precisely Claudia and Viren. Heleera is still today an isolated and provincial place, and the two were thus able to live in relative tranquillity, hidden from the eyes of the world. After all, for powerful dark magicians like them, it should have not been difficult to get a living. Under the name of Valerianus and Phocas, the two soon became important members of the community, so that often the village bailiff went to them to ask for advice: it is reading his reports that I have been able to reconstruct this part of the story.

I am also convinced that, even from exile, Viren and Claudia influenced in some way the politics of the continent. Luckily for us, Heleera's bailiff was very picky, and he kept very detailed accounts of what was going on in the village. Thanks to him, we know that Valerianus and Phocas were absent from Heleera in the winter of 1244: exactly in the period of the Invasion of the Pure Brothers. If we combine these data with the aforementioned testimony of Callum, we can assume that they were responsible for the eclipse that changed the course of the battle.

In addition, from 1245, a large number of Neolandian ships began to stop at Heleera: since the village was far from any shipping route, this can only be explained if we assume that in that period Viren had begun to make contact with the Magic Republic. In fact, some of the decisions taken by the Mage's Council in those years are very closely reminiscent of Katolis' policy at the time when Viren was the High Magician.

It is at this point that Tiadrin enters our history. In the bailiff's report of January 14, 1247, it is in fact written:

"A new citizen joined the village: Valerianus and Phocas bought an elf child at the slave market. I had never seen an elf, and I must say that she is very different from what I was told: to begin with, her hands have five fingers."

The bailiff could not know the difference between an elf and a half-elf, but surely Viren and Claudia were aware of it. Somehow Tiadrin had survived the burning of the Banther Lodge - perhaps one of the bandits of Barbas had managed to abduct her before the Lodge was devoured by fire - and had been then taken to Evemere, where slavery still existed. Viren could not miss such an occasion: Tiadrin was in fact a very precious hostage if Callum and Ezran had managed to discover his hiding place.

For ten years Tiadrin lived with Viren and Claudia. Judging by the reports of the gossipy bailiff, it seems that the two eventually became genuinely fond of the girl. "Phocas treats the girl as if she is her own daughter. More than buying, it seems they had adopted her." It is even possible that they had taught her dark magic: this would explain why later Callum did everything possible to cover up his daughter's past.

Everything changed in 1256 when the Green Plague struck all the Human Kingdoms, including Evemere. It was then that Valerianus and Phocas left Heleera, never to return. At the same time, Callum and Rayla also left the Rock of Katolis.

I can only think that in those fateful days Viren and Claudia have again met the former High Mage and his daughter. It is not possible to know what their meeting had been about, but it is a fact that after that time Valerianus and Phocas disappear from history, and Tiadrin instead reappears, at the court of King Ezran.

Did they fight? It is likely, and surely it is the simplest explanation. But perhaps the truth is another, even more fascinating.

For centuries, no one dared to climb the peak of Mount Kalik, because after the Great Healing it had been declared "Sacred and Inviolable Place".

I do not want to anger the gods, and I have never challenged the prohibition: but I have spoken to a man who has done so. The following is the testimony of Sigfried the Traveller, which I myself collected twelve years ago. At the time I struggled to believe his words, and yet the more time passes, the more convinced I am that he was not lying: only in this way can I explain what happened that fateful night. If I were younger and braver, I would climb the mountain myself to find out how much this story corresponds to the truth: the only thing I can do, now, is to bring back here the words of Sigfried, as I heard them. If one day someone will read my book and will have the courage to challenge the terrible wrath of the gods and the even more terrible one of the clergy and the imperial authorities, being finally able to give an answer to this great mystery of our history, then the work of my life will not have been in vain.

I met Sigfried at a fetid inn in the suburbs of the Xadian neighborhood. He was an imposing elf, and I remember being impressed by the large number of scars that furrowed his face. Despite his appearance, he was friendly, though a little rude, and when he learned that I was a Magister of the University (and that I was willing to pay in gold for his stories) he also became very talkative.

"Yes, I climbed to the top of Mount Kalik. I did not find the gods if that's what you're wondering. I don't know what happened there in the past, but believe me, it has nothing to do with them.

The entire top of the mountain is covered with incisions: I am not an expert, but they look like magic paintings, similar to those that the healers draw on the ground before performing their spells. I know that, magic has saved my life more than once: do you know that I fought at the Battle of Krandas? In any case, the circle that was at the top of Mount Kalik was large, much larger than the one that healers use in war. Whatever spell had been performed there, it was big, believe me. Look, I drew that. And then, in the corner, I found a tombstone. Would you believe it? A tombstone! There were words on it, but I couldn't translate them. However, I copied that too."

In exchange for a big tip, I got the drawings.

The first one actually represented a magic circle. I had it inspected both by my fellow magicians of the Imperial University, and by some dark magicians of Neolandia: they confirmed to me that it is a kind of bizarre evolution of a magic circle of healing, that uses both primary and dark magic. They told me also that whatever spell was that circle for, it would have needed the cooperation of at least a dark mage and a primal mage, both very skilled, to be cast. Neither of them managed to explain to me exactly what the circle was able to do, but I can assume now that it was an elaborate healing ritual, one powerful enough to cover an entire continent: something that only the collaboration of the greatest primary magician and the greatest dark magician of the time could accomplish.

The second drawing actually represented a tombstone, whose words were written in ancient Xadian - the language of magic. I was able to easily translate the text, and I do not hide that while I was doing it my hands were shaking with emotion, just as they are now as I write it again, since it finally gives an answer to the greater mystery of the reign of Ezran I of Katolis.

"Hic iacet Viren, fuit Rex Katoleanus

multa in sua vita gloriosa confecit gesta

ac multa nefaria scelera

bis decessit, primum pro natione sua pugnante,

secundum interfectus a impeto incantationis sui

cum redimeret a morbo humanum genum

numquam fuit rex qui plus gentem suam amavit."

Here lies Viren, who was King of Katolis.

In his life, he committed many glorious feats

and many heinous crimes

Twice he died, the first time fighting for his nation

the second time he was crushed by the power of his own spell,

saving humanity from the plague.

Never did a ruler love his people more