And so, with the land free of dragons once more, the group finally began the long journey home. Jago and Anita are the first to leave the group, and make their way to Anita's family in Osngaria. Armad, Neeya, and Felicia are next to leave the group at the Osngarian border, making their way to Exsten, and then Worus. During the trip back through Durhiel, on the seventh second, of the seventh minute, of the seventh hour on the seventh day since the dragon fell, Enoch vanished. There was no smoke or lights, or great spectacle. He was simply gone, the only sign remaining of him being a red acorn that Brann found in the days thereafter. Wilfort, Brann, and Ceil took their leave of the others last as Castle Durhiel came into view. In the days ahead Diana and her cohorts did not find rest, working tirelessly to rebuild...
~Oscar, the Queen's Shadow~Oscar decided not to return to Exsten and instead traveled with Queen Diana to her homeland. There, he more or less officially dubbed himself as her bodyguard and errand's boy, ever and always watching after her back. Oscar served Diana for the rest of his days, after which he was lost from history.
~Ceil, the Court's Grace, and Brann, the Arrow of Ulfijan~After the dust settled, Brann and Ceil happily chose to leave their homeland behind and instead follow Wilfort to Ulfijan. There, they helped the young prince to work to repair the damage caused by the war and death of the Empress. And once the initial chaos was settled, the two of them were married and settled down to live a happy life together. Brann remained in service to Wilfort, while Ceil continued to heal all those who came to her for aid and has taken on several apprentices whom she teaches in the art of healing. Not long after their marriage, Emperor Wilfort elevated the two to nobility in honor of their tireless service. On their land, Brann planted the acorn left to him by Enoch, which grew into a peculiar tree whose leaves were red the year round. It would be later claimed that sleeping under the tree would cause strange visions, and inspired poetry.
~Enoch, the Terrifying Mystery~Following his disappearance shortly after the end of the War of Ansel, Enoch was never heard from or seen again by living man. Historians would later try to find either his origins or later history, but to no avail. His legend lived on for many years, eventually bastardized to the point that children were eventually told to never go out at night for fear of being devoured by a short, brown cloaked creature that reeked of death.
~Jago, the Arcane Trickster, and Anita, the Studious Sage~Jago followed Anita into Osngaria, where he discovered a very important fact: Anita's family just so happened to be a formerly great crime ring, and she the boss's daughter. After a tough few years, however, Anita and Jago married... at which point they left Osngaria and started to wander again, Jago not wishing to live a life of crime. The two eventually settled in Ulfijan, where they founded a school for the magically inclined. The techniques that Jago pioneered and Anita refined were instrumental to future mages for lifetimes to come.
~Tyrn, the Shield of DurhielTyrn returned to Castle Durhiel to aid Diana in the reconstruction, and to serve her to the end of his days, as he had always intended. He was shortly elevated to Captain of the Guard, a role he performed flawlessly as long as he was able.
~Otiros, the Iron Soldier~ Upon returning to Durhiel, Otiros continued to follow and serve Diana as both a loyal soldier and a friend. He commissioned an incredible crossbow fashioned from the teeth of the dragon, and dedicated the weapon to the memory of Biggs and Wedge. No longer a common soldier, Otiros rose to become Durhiel's greatest general, and personally trained many elite soldiers both physically and mentally. His training regimens made Durhiel's soldiers some of the greatest in history.
~Felicia, the Whisper Blade~After the end, Felicia returned to Worus, where she vanished into anonymity. No record of her remains.
Lucas eventually returned to Osngaria, where he assisted in the restoration and preservation of the magical and historical knowledge destroyed in the wake of Ansel and Kunsel.
Freya returned to Durhiel, where she served as one of Diana's soldiers.
Kale wandered the world, though in his later years he returned to Exsten.
Rodan's journey is lost to the annals of history.
~Wilfort, the Winged RiderWilfort ascended the throne of Ulfijan whereupon he amended the law, allowing the sitting ruler to choose a champion to fight in his stead. As the years went by, his efforts were instrumental in rebuilding the relations between the various neighboring states. Though his initial return was not unchallenged, the latter years of his rule were just and unquestioned. Wilfort married late in life, only siring one heir before his death. His son would go on to wield Brahmastrah under Brann's tutelage, and ruled nearly as well as his father before him.
~Neeya, the Quiet Maiden~Neeya returned to Worus to serve her uncle in the aftermath of what would come to be known as Ansel's war. Kuimer did not long outlive the war however, and Neeya came to rule his territory, as well as those of the late Pataphrax and Yondell. Her power grew over the years, and she eventually controlled nearly the entire council through both political power and personal influence. She died under questionable circumstances, and her lands were split again.
~Armad, the Just Hand~Historians spoke well of him in later years, but in the moment Armad was met with resistance from many sides as he worked to rebuild his beloved country. Mandatory military service was ended, and though the common people appreciated the change, such could not be said for the nobility. Armad continued to alienate the nobility by cutting taxes and stripping lands from the nobility, and was the subject of three domestic assassination plots, though none succeeded. Despite his efforts, Armad was not able to convince his people to trust and embrace Durhiel's citizenry in his lifetime, in part because they had lost so many young men when Ansel attacked Durhiel, and Diana's visits were met with public outrage, causing them to be less and less frequent until only the most important events warranted inviting the Queen of Durhiel. Armad eventually married one of the women under his command, and the two had a pair of healthy children, a boy and a girl. The two nearly started a civil war after their father's death, but the younger daughter was exiled to Worus by the elder brother.
~Ursa, the Wild King, and Diana, the Blade Queen~After she and Ursa were wed, Diana ascended the throne of Durhiel and did her best to forge strong relations with Ulfijan and Exsten, despite significant criticism for the latter. She worked diligently alongside her husband to rebuild her kingdom, and in time had three children: the elder son and heir Alva, the only daughter Helena, and the younger son Eric. Her fierceness in battle was matched only by her devotion to her family and country, and in history she is sometimes referred to as the 'Mother of Durhiel' for her role in the rebirth of her nation. In his later years, Ursa was well known for his eloquent speech and shrewd cunning. Diana, along with the other rulers, took the secret of Kunsel's heritage and the origin of the Holy Weapons to her grave.
~The End~