The Rectifiers fought bravely against their would-be comrade and would-be villain. The battle was hard-fought, and some of The Rectifiers suffered injuries at the hands of past-Saren and past-Audrea. Though they defeated Saren and Audrea, one of the lingering knights of Luxen, empowered by watching the Lord of the Queensguard be bested, fired just the arrow he needed to strike down Audrea. The arrow pierced her heart, and she fell. Blood poured onto the grass while The Rectifiers neutralized the remaining knight.
As the heroes gathered around their dying ally, the poison they had been given by Viv in Cess’s realm began to glow brightly. Audrea could hardly speak through the blood, but she reached for it. Gale obliged and nursed the poison to Audrea as a last ditch hope. Once consumed, it seemed to cause great pain to Audrea, and she vanished in a mist of purple.
The Rectifiers cleaned their weapons amidst their unconscious opponents while they waited to see what had happened to their ally. Shortly thereafter, Audrea reappeared, though she looked quite different. Her robes and armor had been warped to darker, purple shades. Her golden hair now bore a pale purple shade. Her eyes even glowed the same. Audrea’s magic, which had been the white-gold glow of the Stewardess, now had tinges of what seemed like Doom Magic in it.
She explained that she had been transported to a pale gray stone temple. It held seven braziers with blazing purple fires burning in five of them. Two of them were extinguished, only embers. Audrea arrived, still dying, to be greeted by Viv and a short-haired, bearded man bearing two swords known as Galen. He seemed to have the same touch of Doom that Viv did. Viv had a large bowl in her hands and quickly explained to Audrea that this was her only hope to continue living, but that she would be changed and touched forever by Doom. The mysterious elven woman even added that it would indeed eventually claim Audrea for good. Audrea agreed, knowing she still had good work that needed doing. Audrea explained that when she consumed the concoction that consisted of the embers of the extinguished braziers, she was transformed into what The Rectifiers now saw. Audrea no longer, she said she had been given a new name of Scorna.
Viv had told Audrea that they believed her, and Galen had found the Temple of the Founders and the braziers that were tied to their life forces, though Viv added that it could not be true given that only two were extinguished. She and Galen concluded that they were unsure to what these fires were actually tied. The pair gave Audrea a ring that would allow her to return to the Embers, which Morrithana had told The Rectifiers would destroy Anchors.
After the heroes had been caught up, past-Audrea began to awake, only to witness a crystal of Doom cut through Saren’s chest, apparently killing him. Weaver found this exchange amusing, for he got up from the log and hovered near Scorna. Past-Audrea cried in anger at her love’s death, swore she would have revenge, and grabbed the Book of Doom that Saren had held. She began to read through the spells, and she could not be dissuaded. Weaver picked up Saren’s white-gold dirk and handed it to Scorna, asking her if she would absorb the power her past self was trying to gain, or become something else and use what he had just put in her hand. Scorna was resolute, and she knew what her mission was. She drove the dirk into her past self, preventing the book from further corruption. With that, the group’s tribulation was over, much to Weaver’s dismay at the option chosen. They were warped back to his strange tower.
Now, the only door that remained was the Apex. Before they could step forward, a crack of lightning tore through the veil of the air, opening a tear. A dark-haired woman stepped through, the blue of her magic and eyes glowing bright. They recognized Sariel, the sister of Selina who had helped them in the past. She seemed distressed and spoke quickly. She offered the group a bundle of supplies as she warded off strange fiery spells. Before she could really answer any meaningful questions, the spell faded. Resupplied and with the strange objects they received from each of their chambers in hand, they journeyed to whatever hell awaited beyond.
Through the door, they were warped to what appeared to be the top of the tower. It held ominous, spiked arches around the perimeter, clouds below, and the silhouette of what they presumed to be Render flying even higher above. On the floor were oddly shaped metal platforms and a lever embedded in a stone tablet to the side. Eventually, The Rectifiers decided the strange objects they received, such as eyes, scales, and wings, should be placed upon the metal platforms. They tried various combinations, but nothing ever happened with the lever. After some time, lightning would charge the lever, after which they would hear an amount of clicks once the lever was pulled. The Rectifiers continued to work out how to proceed…