And so it came to pass, after many more years of bloodshed, that the gods themselves descended into the mortal realm - seeing no other choice but to do battle with the dark goddess and her minions in a last attempt to wrestle the world from her evil clutches. Loathe were they to do this, for they deemed that the fate of the world should be decided by those folk that dwelt therein - but Colubra's armies contained not a few of their own kind, and without the aid of the gods, the world would surely be destroyed (and thus all their labours would have been for naught). The resulting conflict was devastating - mountains crumbled, seas boiled, and the blood of the gods stained the earth crimson - though in the end the renegades were defeated.
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A small number of Colubra's followers repented, and begged forgiveness, though most were slain or set in bonds. Of those few that escaped, little is known. Colubra herself was imprisoned in a huge shining white crystal (forged of a substance harder than diamond, and known only to the smiths of the gods), and was drawn away beyond the confines of the world - and a guard was set about her. Yet such was her malevolence that the mighty jewel was turned black within moments of her incarceration, and though by the power of the stone she was no longer capable of conscious thought, her malice lived on.
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Then for a while the world knew relative peace, though unbeknown to the gods, the evil that was Colubra could not thus be contained - even though she herself lay imprisoned for all eternity, frozen in a dormant state.
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And so, in time the stone began to poison the minds of the guardians that were set to watch over it. To begin with they became enamoured of the dark jewel, though they knew not why, secretly admiring its multifaceted surface - taking pleasure in the dark shadows that seemed to swirl within. Before long each had visions of what they could achieve in the mortal realm were they to but reach out and take it. Great kingdoms would be theirs, the respect and adoration of their subjects (or fear and obedience rather, if that was their wont), all of it could be theirs - indeed it should be theirs, for were they not themselves great and powerful lords, worthy of such recompense for their labours?
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