The Night of Lightning

The Night of Lightning was a disaster that befell the city of Helmira during the middle of the Fourth Era. It resulted in the collapse of the White-Gold Tower, the death of Emperor Charles III Viromaro and the prosecution and destruction of almost all ancient magical Orders.

Prelude

Emperor Charles III Viromaro inherited the throne at only fourteen years of age, after his brother Charles II Viromaro's brutal death during the Massacre at Summerhal. Over the course of six years he managed to successfully destroy the slave revolts in Alcanzar, bringing peace back to the realm. However, ever since he feared another uprising, and tried desperately to increase the power of House Viromaro and the Empire. Funding to the Imperial Legion and the Navy increased massively, and a series of great walls began construction. Lord Sahar, a member of the Helmiran Society of Ancient Magic and Witchcraft offered the services of the Society to the Emperor, promising the possibility of eternal life and invincibility. After seeing a demonstration in the imperial palace of a pig being killed and brought back to life through blood magic, the Emperor became convinced of the power of the Society, and offered a near unlimited amount of funds to gather all the ancient magical organisations from across the Empire. The most secretive of these, the Helmsian Circle, had originally served the Kings of Helmsia during the Second Era, performing animal sacrifices in what is today the Mercenary Bank. Eventually the Circle was convinced to move to Helmira from their sanctuary in northern Attica, where they took residence in the newly built Winterhal Palace.

The Night of Lightning

After four years of collecting ancient scrolls and travelling across Minecraftia looking for ancient artifacts, preparations began for the Great Ceremony, with the purpose of making Emperor Charles III Viromaro invincible and immortal. The head of the Helmsian Circle, a man calling himself Lord Vilen, was named the new Grand Chancellor by the Emperor. Records show that during this time around 70% of the Crown's budget was being spend on research into the arcane. Prince Alexander, the younger brother of Charles III, tried to persuade his brother to stop his obsession with the magical world. When these efforts failed, he conspired to kill Lord Vilen and depose his brother. Although the conspirators managed to kill Lord Vilen by luring him to Villa Riverside for a grand feast and promising to show to him a newly discovered ancient relic, they failed with deposing the Emperor. The Imperial Guard remained loyal, and almost all conspirators were executed. Prince Alexander, as the last Viromaro of the direct bloodline remaining aside from Charles III himself, was spared the executioner's sword, instead being send to a small castle on a remote island in the Vestlig Sea, where he was put under permanent house arrest, unable to receive any visitors or leave the island.

From the Imperia National Museum two ancient Helmsian Ceremonial Knives were purchased for 20 million Florynts total. These had once been part of the royal collection of arcane artifacts owned by the Kings of Helmsia. When the kingdom fell during the Great Grief, it was eventually found by members of House König when they were clearing the former royal palace. They sold the artifacts to House Von Dragestein, who still managed to maintain their castle throughout the entire Minecraftian Dark Ages. When they eventually travelled across the Senfina Sea to establish the Imperius Reich, they took the artifacts with them, together with the rest of their treasury.

One of which was however lost when the ship that was carrying it back to Kythira was destroyed in a sudden storm in the Senfina Sea. In order to still finish the ritual, artists in Helmira were commissioned to make a perfect replica of the original blade.

Knowing the power of animal sacrifices back in the Second Era, the Emperor became convinced by the Helmsian Circle that a human blood sacrifice would successfully complete the ritual. To this end, 365 slaves were purchased at an Alcanzar slave market by the crown, and send to Helmira for the ceremony. During the winter solstice, the ceremony would take place at midnight. The week prior, the plans for the ceremony leaked out to the public, causing small riots across Helmira. The Imperial Legion however successfully managed to squash these.

The White Gold Tower was chosen for the ceremony because of it's ancient connections with Helmsian magic rituals during the Second Era. For a long time the building had been known as one of the strongest places for magic in Minecraftia, evidenced by things like the high amount of ghostly skeleton horses appearing around the building during much of the Third Era.

The night of the ceremony, all 365 slaves were escorted into the White Gold Tower, blindfolded and bound together by chains. The ceremony would consist of the Emperor standing in the middle of the throne room, surrounding by the sacrifices. An unknown small person covered fully in purple robes was put in the center, where they were strangled by the Emperor himself. According to a few witnesses a soft female-sounding yell was heard during this event.

Then, two members of the Helmsian Circle would begin sacrificing the slaves, two at a time, whilst the other members of the Circle chanted ancient spells.

As the floors of the throne room began to red from the blood sacrifices, a crowd of people began storming the Tower, slamming against the locked doors and engaging in fighting with the Imperial Guards stationed outside. This caused the ceremony to be hastened. The last sacrifice had to be made by the Emperor personally for the ceremony to work. He had ordered Edinbryt, the former 'president of the Alcanzar Republic', instigator and leader of the Alcanzari Slave Rebellion, to be brought out from his dungeon, where he had lived for the past five years in total darkness and isolation. He had been flayed and clearly tortured, and was dragged before the emperor barely conscience, who proceeded to stab him in the heart.

After this deed was done, a torch was lowered into the pool of blood, as the last spells were being called out in unison. Then, the knives were thrown into the pool itself.

First was the original knife. Once it hit the blood, it instantly vanished into a blaze of light, purer and brighter than any sun. The rays struck Charles III, who flew across the throneroom and fell to the ground unconscious. After a few seconds, he awake, laughing. He raised his arms and slowly began to hover off the ground. He pointed his hands towards the Mercenary Bank, flicked his fingers, and lightening struck out through the White-Gold Tower's wall into the Bank, exploding in a bright light. He flew out into the sky, far above Helmira, then returned back to the Tower to finish the ritual. He ordered the members of the Circle to throw the last knife into the pool of blood.

Once the replica knife hit the blood, a massive explosion tore across the tower, reaching all the way to the top and bursting through the roof and windows. Charles III looked up in shock, then he himself vanished into an explosion of light. For a minute, the night turned into day, as the entire night sky lit up, which was reported across Minecraftia, from Lotric and Imperia to Kreonix. The clouds were blasted away from Helmira, revealing the clear night sky and the shining full moon. Then, blasts of lightning started breaking through the night sky from the tower, first flashing into the air but soon hitting buildings and homes across Helmira, setting fire to several properties including the Mercenary Bank, whose interior burned down completely. Numerous witnesses reported seeing the silhouette of a giant dragon-like creature soaring across the skies above Helmira.

Then, the lightning seemingly turned inwards towards the Tower. The final blast was so powerful that the great tower collapsed into the throne room, whilst the entire building began burning. The fire was so hot, that survivors nearby dove into the canals and the Bay of Splendour to escape the heat.

Only by the following night the Helmiran fire fighters managed to secure the building.

Aftermath

After the dust had settled, it had become clear that except for the escaped imperial guards there were no survivors. No bodies, not of the sacrifices, not of the members of the Helmsian Circle and not that of the Emperor were ever found.

Seven weeks later, Emperor Alexander Viromaro, the younger brother of Emperor Charles III Viromaro, was formally crowned in the ruins, in a makeshift throne, in a rushed ceremony attended by all six High-Lords. In the aftermath, he abolished the practice of magic across the Empire, making all magical societies illegal and heavily prosecuted those caught practising the ancient craft. He created the Unbelievers, an elite army group with the sole task of finding and executing practitioners of magic.

All known Arch Mages and Masters of Magic were arrested executed or killed when resisting arrest. Several soldiers of the Unbelievers died in fights with barricaded magicians.

For the duration of his reign, the Imperial Palace was used as the seat of government, up until his son, Emperor Louis Viromaro, eventually rebuild the White Gold Tower in a new imperial vision. The ruins of The Tower were used occasionally for important state events during the reign of Emperor Alexander, such as for the weddings of Prince Louis and Crown Prince Amantis.

The study and use of magic never regained it's original position.