The surprisingly successful wedding actually led to a fair bit of chaos; the Swordlords had been expecting trouble, and now, without it, they were left in a state of confusion, with their plans having to be shuffled to the backburner, any thoughts of seizing upon the chaos for a chance to promote themselves, or even secede, thrown out the window.<br/><br/>Which meant that, for now at least, peace and prosperity reigned in northeastern Avistanl the major conflicts of the region had been settled, the unstable kingdoms were finding stability, and what few points of chaos there were, such as Galt or Razmiran, were relatively isolated. If anything, it almost seemed to be a dream come true.<br/><br/>Of course, all dreams must end, at some point.<br/><br/>The first warning was when he'd receive urgent messages from three different factions, at almost the same time - the night of Longnight, normally a cheerful, celebratory event, to welcome in the new year. The centaurs of the Nomen, the cyclopes that had escaped Iobaria to settle on the outskirts of his lands, and even the fey that still dwelled in the Thousand Voices woods - all of them informed him that they have received dire portents of the near future. Something dark and terrible was stirring, and the very world itself seemed to be screaming in fear.<br/><br/>Then came the news - though neither he nor Nyrissa needed the warning. Both awoke in the middle of the night, along with every other spellcaster in the city, with a sudden headache on a cold Calistril morning. The report came days later - that the city of Vigil had been annihilated, wiped off the map entirely by a single, cataclysmic working of magic... and with its destruction, the Whispering Tyrant, Tar-Baphon, walked the world once more. While he was hundreds of miles away, his terrible shadow could be felt across the entire region.<br/><br/>But that was not the worst news. That came from a frantic message from the Swordlords, but a few days later; not even a true Sending, but a single word, magically transmitted across the distance between his capital and Restov - "Choral."