Yog-ka and Sabra
The returning Elders of previous ages were only five spheres strong, far too weak to survive the onslaught of the Eclipse. For it was these elders who would hold together the walls while the Dream City trembled under the chaos, the dreamers themselves safe in their waking. Lord Xenus called the ancients to the Library of Souls to prepare them, performing a ritual that granted them the power of self-ascension. At the end of this ceremony, all of the Elders had gained Seventh Sphere but two: Yog-ka and Sabra. Both Elders had been unable to attend the ceremony, and feared disaster with the incoming eclipse.
Yog-ka approached several of his students, seeking help arranging a ritual that would protect himself and Sabra from the perils of the incoming Eclipse. Ultimately they decided to hold it in the Bridge of Memories, and Nziri was charged with the responsibility of deciding on the placement of talismans and essences for the Ceremony. Meanwhile, Yog-ka was visibly weakened, and it became evident that as the Eclipse progressed he was deteriorating. When At last the day came, Nziri's apprentice Enchantra assisted Yog-ka. As the ceremony drew to a climax, Yog-ka summoned the chaos, and shouted: "By the powers of the Lucid chaos I draw forth the life essence of this Lyran and transform it to make my avatar new power!" To the great horror of those present, Yog-ka consumed Sabra, employing her energies to ascend to seventh sphere, and leaving her form fall into the lake under the bridge where it faded away.
Dreamers demanded a hearing in which Yog-ka would answer for his actions. The preliminary hearing was set for the fifth month of that year, held in Yog-ka's old teaching room in Evernight Plateau. In his defense, Yog-ka argued that Sabra "died of exposure to the forces of the Chaos Eclipse… the same thing that was threatening me that day. Without her seventh sphere she could not withstand it." His innocence of the crime in question, Yog-ka was called to trial; Dr. Carl G. Jung served as prosecutor, Reagans and Taureanh as defense, and Soulthief as Judge.
The trial took place in Sanctuary in Western Valley of Totality. The court heard much evidence that established that Yog-ka had knowingly murdered Sabra for the purposes of saving himself. His cousin Shade, suffering from a form of amnesia, was a key witness for the prosecution; however, it was only after employing a special artifact named the "Gravin Device" to free his memories that Shade sealed the conviction, disclosing proof that Yog-ka had planned the murder of Sabra in advance. Even when his conviction seemed certain, Yog-ka called no witnesses to stand in his defense. He was found guilty of premeditated murder and sentenced to execution, but before he could be apprehended by the City Guard, he fled.
In the eighth month of the Year of the Rebuilding the City Guard announced that Yog-ka had finally surrendered; his execution would take place in Sunroof Cavern in Umbric Plains. Following a pursuit that lead the guards to apprehend him in the Bridge of Wishes, in Trinity, Yog-ka came to the Sunroof Cavern and awaited the fulfillment of the Court's sentencing. He was asked if he had any last words, and there was a moment of silence as his cape billowed behind him, before he shouted: "Hand of Lucid Chaos! Make strong the Pact!"
Balthiir approached him reverently, holding a dark prism in his hand. "You inherit my title, old one," Yog-ka told Balthiir as he placed his hand on the prism.
"Where your Soul will journey now, not even I can foretell, I wish you lucent travels in the darkness beyond," Balthiir told the dark Dreamsmith.
In his last Breath, Yog-ka uttered: "Dread One… my task is complete." As Balthiir lifted his blade to strike, Yog-ka looked to deSas and sent a stream of chaos upon her, causing her to scream in agony. When it was finished, a silence fell upon the cavern, as dreamers contemplated what had happened, and what would come in the future.
Only minutes later, Sabra's ghost was found by a team of dreamers in Trinity Walk, the Sanctuary of Dona Cleopara, where she had once hosted classes. Her form was shallow and ethereal, and she rose from a pool in one of the back rooms of the Sanctuary, unable to leave. It wasn't until Reagans returned her essence to her that her avatar returned to the dream, bereft of memory. Reagans then returned her journal, a book that had fallen to the ground upon her death. It bore the inscription: "This is stories and histories written in Sabra's hand. It contains any knowledge she knew. Unfortunately, the book is old and tattered and it is barely readable in places. It sparks the imagination, gives life to the mundane and provides insight to the dream." With the return of her journal, Sabra regained her memory, and was finally herself.
With his execution Yog-ka had cleared the way for the Dread One to take shape in the Dream City - an evil being of pure lucidity that threatened to tear down its walls. With the artifacts left behind with the death of Yog-ka's avatar, the Dread One was able to take possession of the child of House Calenture rulers Lissa and Gunny.
Several weeks later, deSas gave birth to a baby Yog-ka. Observers speculated that in those last moments before Balthiir shattered his avatar, Yog-ka sent his soul into deSas' womb, leaving Balthiir to execute only a shell of the original avatar. Free again to roam the dream, Yog-ka was now an ordinary dreamer, the powers of the dark Dreamsmith vanished with the loss of his avatar.
