And so, our story of what would have been the Fourth Doom comes to a close. Against all odds, The Rectifiers refused Candidacy, prevented apocalypse, and corrected the Crown. The effects of their heroism already ripple throughout Matar.
Even simple shopkeepers and townspeople feel the effects of the Rectifiers. “Pop”, as he is fondly referred to as, found sizable success with his wife in the new capital of Amanta. With the money earned, the couple plans on reopening a shop in Luxen. They miss having their son at home, but they are extremely proud of what he accomplished.
By and large, the councilors of Matar feel justified in voting for the Rectifiers. Moran Thil of Minos, quite fond of Duma Van, felt satisfied in having seen his people through the would-be Doom, but he knew it was time to hand the reigns over to the next generation to allow his people to grow. Mira of Haven was pleased by the choices and actions of the Rectifiers. Given her contributions to the heroes, she gained a newfound seniority among the councilors. Though her youth is behind her, she has many years and many blonde hairs left to spend. Vis of Luxen was a conniving, selfish councilor, but in his final days, he was humbled by the events that affected himself and his people. In the end, he gave his life to help the Rectifiers reach the palace. Though he never saw his home reclaimed, he will be remembered as a hero in the master-crafted stained-glass windows in the Amantan throne room.
The Rectifiers gained many friends along their journey, some even being Candidates for the Doom. Skywalker, Resolutia, and Devan were all saved from becoming Doomlords and Doomlady. Resolutia quickly picked her storytelling back up, gaining popularity across Matar with her fantastical stories. Skywalker took up a research position in the Observatory of Luxen, the first Dwarf to ever do so. There, he will continue his work gazing upon the stars. Devan plans to return to his professorship at the university in Luxen once it reopens, but journeys alongside Gale and Karth when he is not looking after his family in Amanta. Sarin Kor, finding the journeying hero life unsuitable, continues his work as Lord Researcher for the crown. He works to find answers about the “Flourish” but runs into trouble studying it as it seems to mostly go dormant with the Doom. Daren, the Gunslinger of Smoke, served alongside the Rectifiers, a welcomed face from the last era of heroes. After the Harbinger was killed, Morrithana’s spell to keep Daren alive began to lose its strength. He was not afraid to go, and the people of Matar would remember his double sacrifice forever. Calathan works to ease his guilty conscious over what his people had done to Matar. He serves diligently on the Queensguard, even teaching some of the Magerony’s magic to his friends and allies. Revelrae, saved from death by the strength of the purified Candidates, received a new lease on life…again. She continues her relationship with Vint, softening his stoic, hard heart with her gushing affection. She remains one of Matar’s most popular traveling singers while Vint remains at his post in Amanta. Though they are apart at times, this makes their reunions all that much sweeter.
The world is changed. The cities of Atrae, Ignis, and Draconis were all labeled as hazardous locations, travel there blocked, and their councillorships revoked. This was no surprise for Ignis and Draconis as the cities were virtually destroyed and their councilors were dead, but Marathena and her vile sirens will find it much harder to prey upon unwitting victims. Luxen continues to be rebuilt. The walls were damaged, the infrastructure corrupted, and many of its people were killed. Despite all this, the Knight and Mage Orders work alongside the former residents to help rebuild the once-shining capital. To Harin’s delight, Amanta remains the new capital of Matar, with its shimmering towers. It serves as a beacon of unity to bring together the two halves of Matar. The various heroes of this era would all be remembered in the newly cut stained-glass windows of the gold-glimmering tower of the throne room. The Sapphire Atrium finished construction, opening a new district in Amanta adjoined to the tower of the Ancient Skies. Harin and the dwarves treated the sacred site with reverence.
The Queensguard found its roster updated once the crown settled. Both Calathan and Vint were inducted, bringing an effective foreign insight to the crown. With Zola now on the throne, Vint was anointed the new Lord of the Queensguard. His thoughtful honesty would serve as good foil to Zola’s sometimes rash ambition.
Even the Rectifiers’ more famed friends saw vast changes. Sariel quickly vanished from the capital once the dust had settled. She left a brief note to the Queen apologizing for her departure, but that she must dedicate her time to exploring the roads between worlds and finding her sister. She was not seen again by the heroes of this era, though there were scant reports of blue portals shimmering on horizons, vanishing as quickly as they appeared with a flash of blue lightning. Aurum, the long-lost prince, remains on the Queensguard. Now wielding his father’s old blade, his time of exile was at its end. He would no longer live on the fringes, but protect his country, friends, and family. Zola often gives Aurum leave, funding, and knights to hunt for his non-blood mother, Selina. Selina was never seen by the Rectifiers again after parting ways at Efreet’s castle. Despite this, the reports of the silver-masked Loyalists grew rarer and less vile. Morrithana, the blood sibling of King Korrin, never sent further word to the Rectifiers after their final visit to her tower. Given the state of her chamber, worry began to cloud the heroes and leaders of Matar over what had happened to one of their only allies in the Magerony. A quiet blanketed the north again, with no sign or word from the Magerony, much like it was before the Rectifiers discovered them. Honoring his promise, The Red Inquisitor never reached out to nor summoned the Rectifiers again, allegedly moving on to his next endeavors. Despite this, Duma Van will still swear to this day that he spots flakes of red mist in the corner of his eye from time-to-time. The last and far from least, Zola Artlatta, rules the kingdom alone, pushing forward change and unity further than her predecessors. The people of Matar even coined a nickname for the Queen, The White Flame, given her display of power at the palace of Luxen. Despite the power she has gained, her magic powers reawakening, and gaining the favor of the people, Zola will always be remembered for the sadness she hides behind her blue eyes. Even when she smiles, something lurks behind it. Something she has lost, something out-of-reach, something she can never get back.
And finally, we have our beloved Rectifiers.
Azalea, once an objectified prisoner locked away in a tower, proved she was a force to be reckoned with. After saying farewell to her friends in Amanta, she left for Pravus to formally exact justice. She reunited with the woman who had saved her from Varen, the red-haired Knight-Captain of Pravus, Avelle. Avelle inducted Azalea into the Knight Order of Pravus where the two worked effortlessly together to save preyed upon people like Azalea. Not only were they successful in rooting out these predatorial figures, they found enough concrete evidence of Varen’s kidnapping of Azalea to have him arrested and removed from his office. Now, Azalea guards the waterside city of Pravus as Knight-Captain, powerful men and women under her command alongside a modest fleet of ships. Avelle now finds herself a new owner of two rings and a red scarf. Azalea now finds solace and warmth in the embrace of her new wife, not allowing her home to be scarred by the past.
Despite an almost countless number of cities offering him a Knight-Captain position, Maron decided he had had enough excitement for his lifetime. Maron returned to his home city of Triven, where his parents still held farmland. With the countryside much safer thanks to their son, they were able to reclaim the homestead they once held just outside the city’s walls. Maron used his newfound wealth and power to make his folks comfortable, then began his own small farm. Once he was settled in, he gathered all the fantastical artifacts and treasures he had earned on his journey and hid them away in a chest. He buried this chest beneath the rustling leaves of a singular cherry tree, a modest monument to the man who had both saved him and tried to kill him: Borum. With his past literally buried, he began his simpler life, marrying a commoner woman who did not recognize his face and even having two children. Much like his shining armor and laser sword, Maron was hidden away, but not out-of-reach.
Amy and Cavo found sizable success in their respective entrepreneurial pursuits of a brothel and weapon store in Amanta. With the fame he gained in the Rectifiers, Cavo earned more gold than he had ever seen in his life in a very short time. This amount was nothing compared to what Amy earned, though. With the more ambitious, parasitic nature of her race shed over her journey, all found solace and safety in her brothel. Any sign of trouble was dealt with by a zero-tolerance policy of the former Rectifier. The ne’er-do-wells of Amanta learned to fear the seashell-adorned siren’s blade and respect the women under her care. Once the dust had settled on Matar, Amy and Cavo decided to finally fulfill their engagement. Their large group of friends were all invited to Amy’s home city, Elisi. The wedding took place on the northern beaches, dotted by the swaying palms and a cool sea breeze. None could hold a flame to Amanthia’s beauty in her seashell-covered, blue-and-white wedding gown. With such happiness and the voice of Revelrae in the air, it was a welcome return to normalcy.
Scorna paid the highest prices of most in Matar. She had to watch her beloved husband fall to his pride and corruption, lose her own memory, and embrace the Doom itself in order to survive long enough to see her mission through. Most of all, she had to drive the blade into the Harbinger of the Doom herself. She faded away, knowing she had dealt the lethal blow. Not all was last, however. The dirk that ended the Doom was bequeathed to Duma Van, who kept it treasured as he returned to Minos. Much like when Zola was crowned, Duma would often see Scorna’s spectral form strolling through the forest. Scorna wanders the roads between worlds, somehow still lightly anchored to the world with the dirk. Perhaps one day someone may find a way to give her shape form again, but until then, she holds everlasting vigil for her husband and herself.
Karth’s desire to learn certainly didn’t die alongside Saren and the Doom. When the heroes went their separate ways, Karth decided to settle down in Haven. There, he took up a position as a Head Mage in Mira’s Mage Order. The councilor dedicated a large amount of funds to Karth and a small team to begin a project to preserve the knowledge, history, and secrets of Matar, should the next calamity be more successful. Special canisters were laced with magical barriers and flares that were then buried deep beneath the earth, sunken into the ocean, and stowed away in the secret places of Matar. If the next heroes fail to protect Matar, these caches would eventually made themselves known, providing the next civilization information on the Doom, the potential of the Flourish, and the few secrets they knew of the Magerony. Karth’s experiments with the blood samples he had acquired also intrigued Mira. The two worked closely on perfecting the creation of Magites. Though he had started the scribing of the story of the Rectifiers, Mira became a captivating muse. Some rumors even began to fly of a budding romance between the two, but Mira’s fiery red shell will be hard to crack.
Galaneia joined Karth in Haven, also being offered a position in Mira’s office. Her responsibility was to try and reverse-engineer Christoph’s creations in order to produce greater iterations like Vinda’s. These creations would guard the walls and coast of Haven, the city at most risk of the Magerony. Should they decide to expand their pride again, Haven would be ready with gunpowder. Gale’s tinkering and inventing was aided by Calathan, who would often visit to offer strategic advice to withstand a Mageron attack. Haven advances at a faster rate than most cities in Matar. With Gale’s success in strengthening the city, she was named Knight-Captain of the first Knight Order of Haven. Though she had lost her touch of the Flourish, Gale and her knights will soon be ready to propose a rescue mission for Morrithana, their only ally in the north. Despite what Mira will think of this plan, Gale’s flintlock-wielding knights will be a force to be reckoned with when the next evil rears its ugly head.
Duma Van returned to Minos, welcomed as a hero. With hardly a moment to rest. Moran Thil began the handing over of power to the former Rectifier, officially naming him the next Councilor of Minos. The people of the Myhtical Forest were skeptical, but Moran Thil assured them it was a needed change to bring minotaurs into the current age. Duma Van loosened the magical barriers, keeping outsiders alienated. Trade and tourism flourished. At last, the minotaurs would share the secrets and beauty of the Mythical Forest, though not without a few coins of profit. After all, it was easy to increase the wealth of Minos with his new lizard-like advisor. The two former merchants became fast friends, and Councilor Duma Van hopes to one day both free Grasper from his curse and free Mythos from whatever hell in which it had landed. Excursions to the city revealed that the entire thing had simply vanished, as if it were never been there to begin with. Once his powers were greater, Duma would take his mages into the roads between worlds to rescue the lost minotaurs.
Though our heroes have all gone their separate ways, the bonds forged in the fires of the Fourth Doom still burn brightly every year with the annual Festival of the White Flame, held in Queen Zola’s honor.
Through it all, Matar and its people would never forget those it lost, the heroes that it gained, and the peace it would now enjoy.
THE. END.