The decades-old feud between the Malevolent and the Artist reached a
critical point just over a year ago, when the Goddess Iosyne declared
Her hated nemesis an unworthy opponent after years of battling. She
ended Her pursuit of vengeance after finally breaking Omei's whip of
nightmares and returning it to Her. Today, the Artist still wears
Iosyne's eyes, ensuring Her actions never go beyond the senses of Her
Sister.

Fueled by the injection of self-confidence that comes with winning ego
clashes, Iosyne soon set out to retrieve Her stolen heart from Maghak,
the Sovereign, challenging Him to a game of dice in order to win it
back. When asked what She would offer up in exchange, the Malevolent
permitted Him to name His prize, of which He invoked a single name:
"Hansekkaramnis." Iosyne countered that She could only inform Him of
where "the bones are"; Maghak accepted the conditions of the bet and
brought out His heavy iron dice.

Damariel, who had come (along with Omei) to observe the game play out,
voiced His word of caution out against the terms of the bet. His
warnings were promptly ignored, and the two Divine squared off on the
floor of the Black Flagon Inn in Delos amidst a small group of curious
mortal onlookers. As the pivotal roll fell from Maghak's hands, with the
Sovereign choosing odds to Iosyne's evens, the bones tumbled to a stop
to reveal a one and a one - snake eyes, appropriately enough.

The Sovereign stared silently at the dice, which had clearly not rolled
in His favor despite His secret attempt to cheat, before turning His
burning gaze to Damariel and unleashing a snarl of insults and even a
thrown chair in the Unbound's direction. The dice had rolled true and
fair, due to the influence of the truth-minded Divinity Himself, who
calmly negated Maghak's assault in the next moment.

Turning His sullen rage on Iosyne, the Sovereign threw Her heart down to
the floor, where the equally-shocked Goddess quickly snatched it up.
"Much pleasure may it bring You, harlot," He seethed as He turned once
again on the Unbound. "You have made an ENEMY, Brother!" He roared.
"Interfere again, and Your ending will be a TRAGIC ONE!" The Stormgod
released a deafening roar of frustration and hurtled out of the tavern's
western wall in a shower of wood, carrying out His destructive wrath on
any mortal constructs in His path.

As the Goddess Iosyne skulked away, Her prized heart securely held by
several pairs of Her spider legs, both Damariel and Omei led the shaken
mortal onlookers in a good-faith rebuilding of the destroyed Black
Flagon. With both Her heart and the forgotten Sovereign's dice now in
Her possession, the power shift in the ongoing feuds between the Divine
Siblings had clearly rolled in favor of the Malevolent that day.

Penned by my hand on the 9th of Khepary, in the year 412 MA.