Notes
It's found right at the narrow passage between the valley and the Shock Heads area, here.
A cadre of the most powerful demon princes in existence, actually all of them, were declared traitors. Seemingly they had not defected to the enemy but a third power, of which nothing was related. All we had to know was that we had to take out the most formidable force on our own side. The sheer power of these beings had always been something we feared and coveted. We were assured we would have all the assistance that we could. We would be supported by the next finest batch of demons at the disposal of our gods. I was sceptical that the pupils of the very creatures we planned to capture might be of any help. But we were assured of their loyalty. Much of the plan and its detail were based on a wretched thing of a demon who called himself Bazir. This Bazir and his about two dozens allies were handpicked from the demon armies; chosen for their diverse talents and unwavering loyalty - and very probably for their lust to replace their former masters.
We could do nothing but comply. In this stage, no one could have walked out in possession of such information and just stayed out of the whole thing. Now we were bound. Bound to an uneasy alliance at best. We had always competed with the demons; we never were close friends and in certain areas too similar to get along with each other at all. But we needed their magic, their knowledge, their sheer power for the trap to work.
Even while we were talking about what we had just learned, my people began to plot and scheme. I kept quiet. I could imagine the demons we just allied with a few moments ago doing the very same thing, at the very same time. That was when I knew we were all doomed. Not one of us was going to get out of this alive. Treachery was so natural to us and our allies that there was no other way, no other possibility.
The weight of stolen centuries and cycles of treachery almost crushed me when I first realised this.
The sweet thing was that the ever-turning wheel was about to break, that all would finally come to an end. That was why I stayed, in the end. I stayed to await the end of all things that I knew. I might have had a faint hope of escaping the catastrophe, that something new and fresh would rise out of the ashes, and that I could be part of it.
But in my heart I knew that I would never be fresh and new. I would always be the same old dreamer, trapped in cycles of schemes and treachery.
However, things progressed impressively. With the knowledge of the demons and plenty of fresh test subjects, we made advances unhoped for.
The whole thing sometimes frightened even me; this trap, the only way to take these entities out without losing legions and opening a gap for our enemies.
Then the day came.
