A man who had dedicated himself to the study of the arcane nature of
divinity, Hervad, stumbled upon writings that showed traces of the
divine essence of Iosyne. Stunned by his discovery, Hervad traced the
works back to a poet who had lived in Thera, then moved with the other
refugees to the town of Arbothia. Not only were Hervad's theories on
divinity vindicated, he also realized that he had stumbled upon a secret
that would be worth a fair sum to the proper buyers, especially to the
followers of the Dreamer who had no reason to wish the Muse well.

All told, Hervad sold his secret, or rather cryptic hints leading to the
poet, to four buyers representing different interests. Realizing that he
likely jeopardized his safety by selling out one Goddess to another, he
grew anxious. After promising to visit Spinesreach, Hervad disappeared
to what he claimed was a location where he would be safe even from the
prying eyes of the Gods. His disappearance went mostly unremarked as
Aetolians spread out to search for the mortal form of the long absent
Muse.

The first to follow the clues to Arbothia spoke to a number of the towns
inhabitants, none of whom could think of anyone who evinced signs of
divinity. Finally, the priest Leovar noted that the only people he
wouldn't know in the town were the wealthy and not infrequently
reclusive residents of the newer, western section of the city. Vasilus
and Caboose arrived to find the poet Valai, who emphatically denied that
she was anything but a mortal poet. Despite the efforts of the two to
protect Valai from Omei's possible wrath, the poet remained unmoved.

As others poured into the poet's house, tension between those who wished
to bring Valai to Omei and those who thought that the Dreamer was a
threat to the poet increased. Worried about violence in her house, Valai
agreed to meet with the Goddess if Her followers would promise safety.
Evilo Krogh promised on the Dreamer's behalf that should she be merely
mortal, no harm would befall her. Witht he promise secured, followers of
Omei, protectors of Valai, curious observers, and the poet herself
crossed to the fringe of Lady Omei's dream realm.

Matters went sour quickly as the Goddess gloated over capturing Her
Sister at last while Valai steadfastly maintained that she was nothing
more than a simple poet. The Dreamer finally bound the poet and ejected
everyone else back into Arbothia. Minutes later, agonized screams rang
out through Sapience. Unexpectedly, a faint voice cried out that it
would not suffer such abuse without retaliation. Lady Iosyne struck
against Lady Omei, but seemingly without power; the Dreamer crushed the
assault and drove Her back. With a last promise of return, Lady Iosyne
fell silent.

A few months later, Teivin, a longtime follower of the Muse, found a
strange crystalline sphere. Communicating only in writing and colored
lights, the sphere revealed that it was the only way Lady Iosyne could
communicate without attracting the attention of Her Sister. The Muse
begged Teivin to free Valai's body from Lady Omei's realm however he
could.

A second sphere, even less articulate and more circumspect in revealing
its origin or purpose than the first, appeared shortly afterward before
Vasilus and Alita and led them to join Teivin before shattering.

The group gathered in the Muse's Sanctuary in Delos to plan a course of
action and eventually decided to attempt to open a path to the
Dreamplane through the labyrinth beneath Saluria, where such a gate had
opened before. With the help of Teivin's surviving crystal sphere, a
gate was opened and the poet's body retrieved. When it was placed before
Lady Iosyne's shrine in Delos, the Muse reappeared fully, once more in
possession of Her essence and strength.

As the reborn Goddess explained to Her followers, She had chosen to be
reborn as a mortal without any memory of Her divinity. That mortal,
Valai, had spoken the truth as she knew it, but Lady Omei had been able
to sense the presence of Her rival within the mortal shell. The ensuing
struggle between the two accidentally slew Valai and the Muse barely
escaped, leaving most of Her essence behind with Valai's corpse. Once
the corpse was returned, Lady Iosyne was able to untangle Herself from
the mortal and resurrect Valai.

Though the source of contention between the two Goddesses remained
mysterious, the Dreamer and Muse engaged in no immediate overt battles.
The Muse was left free to pursue Her renewed presence as a Goddess of
Aetolia.

Penned by my hand on the 22nd of Severin, in the year 170 MA.