Tyranny endings

As per tradition, Obsidian's *Tyranny* features numerous endings for all the major factions, companions, and Archons.

## Layout

Endings are shown sequentially, in the following order:

* Ending cutscene
* The effects of the Edict on the Northern Empire or your surrender to the Overlord
* Your victory
* Fate of the Disfavored and the Chorus.
* Fate of the Tiers under new management (Disfavored, Chorus, rebel, or anarchist).
* Stone Sea: Overall, the fate of the Stonestalkers, and Cairn.
* Blade Grave: Unbroken and results of the Edict.
* Burning Library
* Lethian's Crossing
* Archons
* Companions

## Cutscene

 Your Edict brings devastation and ruin to the Northern Empire.
Some believe the Edict to be Kyros' work, others hope, or fear, that this Edict comes from a new voice.
 Kyros' forces withdraw from their march upon the Tiers, as they are sent into disarray by your Edict.
 **Chorus ending:** United under the Scarlet banner, the Tiersmen are reborn as your loyal servants, bound to you by fear and shared victory.
**Disfavored ending:** You have brought order to the Tiers, uniting the realms with the Disfavored legion enforcing your will.
**Rebel ending:** The majority of the Tiers are united under your banner, and old animosities put aside... for now...
 The Overlord's conquest of the known world has come to a halt, and the whisper of a challenger to Kyros' power slowly spreads throughout the land.

## Fatebinder

When the remnants of the Tiers finally succumbed, this moment was spoken of as the point when all resistance to Kyros ceased.

## Northern Empire

Actions speak louder than words, and on the day you receive the map from Kyros, your scouts report that the armies marching upon the Tiers have reversed course and disbanded.
 Casting the Edict of Storms wreaks havoc on the northern capital. The winds whip in a sudden frenzy and toss unsuspecting citizens through the air, dashing them back down in the rubble of leveled buildings. Temporary settlements take in refugees fleeing the devastation from the now uninhabitable city. Survivors all ask the same question - why did the Overlord allow this to happen?
 Your Edict of Nightfall shrouds the northern capital in unending darkness. While some remain in their homes and beg Kyros for salvation, those less hopeful make for brighter parts of the Empire, seeking the warmth of the sun and wondering how it was that the Overlord could not protect them.
 Your Edict of Fire ignites an unstoppable conflagration in the northern capital, reducing buildings to cinders and sending walls of fire through populated streets. Before anyone knew what was happening, the flames had already burned out of control. All who suffer cry out in agony and confusion that Kyros would allow such a fate to befall the city.
 Your Edict of Stone shakes the ground under the northern capital - a quake that builds in such ferocity that massive sinkholes open under the bustling city, swallowing whole districts. As citizens flee in terror, mages attempt to help but find their arcane powers dampened to the point of uselessness. Even as they cleave to falling structures or run from widening fissures, all wonder why Kyros offers no deliverance.
 By casting the Edict of Malediction on the northern capital, you consign the Overlord's city to an invisible plague of misfortune and calamity. The foundations of once-proud buildings fracture under some unseen pressure, and whole districts empty as the city's infrastructure crumbles. Laborers brought in to repair the damage find their work undone hours or even minutes later. Citizens leave the city a ghost town, and whisper among themselves how Kyros could allow such a curse to infect their homeland.

## Factions

### Disfavored

 In their pride, the Disfavored never imagined themselves beaten - especially when their opponents appeared so disorganized. The last remnants of the legion disperse, their General destroyed, their honor broken beyond mending. The scorn that follows their humbled ranks haunts them even in the depths of obscurity.

### Scarlet Chorus

 The Scarlet Chorus, true to form, were quick to change allegiance once the Voices of Nerat died. They pledged their devotion to you, hoping to gain your favor. In the months following your victory, emissaries of the surviving gang bosses present offerings and totems of fealty. But without a devoted taskmaster to keep them in line, their flimsy power structure collapses, reducing the Scarlet Chorus to a whisper of its former strength.
 The Scarlet Chorus may have been mighty in numbers, but that didn't stop you from thoroughly scattering them - cutting off the serpent's head and sending each of the gangs howling back to the chaos they sowed. How the remnants of the Horde occupy themselves without a war to fight becomes a topic for nightmares.

### Earthshakers

While their reputations isn't what it used to be, their success in dealing such a decisive blow to the Scarlet Chorus by removing their main source of food has earned back the respect of the legion. The Earthshakers are accepted back into the ranks of the Disfavored, once again becoming part of the army that helped subdue the Tier.
 The death of the Radix is a huge blow to the Disfavored. Without the support of the mage guild, the legion finds itself outclassed for the first time, and suffers on the battlefield.
 Recruiting the Earthshakers for your army ensured that your arcane fist remained intact and they were instrumental in helping you defend Lethian's Crossing when Graven Ashe sent the Disfavored to attack.
 After your victory in the Tiers, Radix tries to institute the same structure of order on the Earthshakers that served him so well in the Disfavored. Unfortunately, his rigid rules cause such friction within the order that the mages quickly tear themselves apart.

### Unbroken

 By claiming Sentinel Stand for yourself, your renown spreads across the region and everyone comes to know you as the liberator of the country's most iconic fortress. That you claimed it for pride instead of any tactical advantage is a point of contention which your harshest detractors never fail to cite in their long list of grievances.

## The Tiers

Word of your success spreads beyond the Tiers as well. Even the most distant corners of the Empire whisper of the Fatebinder who rose to become an Archon and an Archon whose intervention shattered the conquest, making way for a new future in the devastated nation.

### General

 Uniting the Tiers under the banner of the Scarlet Chorus was never your directive, and yet you performed it admirably - consolidating the Overlord's forces under your rule and grooming the Tiers for their place in a new order. The same people who once hurled curses across a siege soon learn to think of themselves as part of a greater whole extending beyond their modest borders.
 Earning the cooperation of the rebel factions fulfilled Kyros' plan of uniting the Tiers under one banner. The realization of this irony leaves you with many questions about the part you played, but precious few answers. You work to ensure peace in this new homeland, yet throughout your trials, the notion that you are part of some greater manipulation haunts you. Now you lose sleep trying to ignore it.
You turned your back on your career in the Overlord's hierarchy, disregarding years of advancement to help people of the Tiers. Your sacrifices paint you as a folk hero, a liberator, and the artisan of future change. When Kyros retaliates, you will have the support of your newfound allies to help drive back the onslaught.
 From your perch atop the ancient Spire, you can see hints of the Northern Empire just beyond the mountains. At your command, horns shout a triumphant cry across the valley - heralding the end of one long campaign and the beginning of another.
Without allies, the winds are especially cold atop your Spire. You await Kyros' inevitable advance, brooding over the decisions that led you to this point. Though the Tiers are a friendless place, they are indisputably your new home.

### Burning Library

By taking the Silent Archive from the pedestal and disrupting the preservation spell holding the Vellum Citadel in stasis, you caused the collapse of the single largest repository of knowledge in Terratus. The world may never know the true extent of the loss.
 When you handed the Vellum Citadel to the Scarlet Chorus, you consigned centuries of knowledge to the pitiless treatment of marauding gangs. There is no telling how much history and lore their irreverent hands ripped from the world - you only know that the Scarlet Chorus took pleasure in their work.
 By giving the Vellum Citadel to Renata, you ushered a new era of prosperity for the scholarly Sages. The guild takes back their ancestral home with pride and gratitude, vowing to contribute their wisdom to help rebuild the Tiers and better educate the masses.
 By claiming the Vellum Citadel for yourself, you treated the repository of knowledge no better than the Sages of old - hoarding it from the deserving scholars and public who could benefit from history's most poignant lessons. You resolve to plumb the depths of the library's rarest collections, setting your every intention on secrets not meant for prying eyes.
 The Sages are all but wiped from the Tiers. What remains of their hoarded knowledge is vulnerable, as likely to be misused as destroyed. The damage done to the intellectual core of the region is likely beyond reversal. Though small groups of would-be scholars gain influence from time to time, the setback is ultimately too vast to overcome.
 Your travels never took you to the Burning Library and this leaves the Edict of Fire undisturbed, consigning the Vellum Citadel to a future engulfed by perpetual flame. With their arcane knowledge beyond reach, the School of Ink and Quill falls into steep decline, your name becoming a curse in their embittered ranks.

### Bastard's Wound

You never learn what became of the small, factious community that budded there in the darkness.
 Less a ruler than a stern matriarch, the mighty Reef-Talon rears her patchwork tribe on discipline and exertion. Beast patrols clear new paths through the depths, opening more of the Wound to settlement, and farmers cultivate hardy vegetables and fungi on every vacant plot of soil.
 Your watchful eye gives Reef-Talon the confidence (and the authority, however remote) she needs to lead the Wound. Though she never finds a permanent solution to the problem with the water, she helps the others keep up with the community's demands.
Under the Beastwoman's constant vigilence, the Bastard's Wound thrives.
 Through your intervention, Jaspos, the self-professed Master of Knapping, ascends to become the most prominent voice in the Bastard's Wound. He trains any refugees with a hint of talent in basic masonry and craftsmanship, and through his direction, the settlement expands and fortifies.
Against all reason, the Wound seems poised to become a subterranean enclave of arts and culture.
 Emboldened by your support, Tidecaster Wagstaff assumes the dominant role in the Bastard's Wound, slowly sculpting the subterranean community into a skewed refraction of the Academy of Tides. With time, the Wound attracts a small army of students and seekers, many drawn by the old man's offer to educate any willing to toil atop the settlement's growing structures, till its small farms, or take up arms against encroaching Bane.
Well-watered, the Wound thrives.
 You attempt to direct the Bastard's Wound community via occasional visits and regular missives, but the settlement's remoteness and the necessities of your prominent position doom your efforts to failure. Without your guidance, the Wound slowly turns on itself. Patrols go unled and food without water, and tensions rise. Some leave, some die, and some struggle on, but no one leads a contented life.
 Wagstaff turns out to be an ideal steward. His lessons on history and mathematics attract willing workers to the Bastard's Wound, and he wisely balances the needs of the populace with their defense. With you watching over him, he does not try to twist the Wound to his ambitions, nor does he withdraw too deeply into his own studies. Under your shared guidance, the Wound flourishes, growing into an unlikely commnunity of scholars.
 You offer Jaspos enough rope to hang himself, but he never takes you up on your offer. Knowing that you could arrive at any time and hold him accountable for the state of the settlement of Bastard's Wound, he strives to establish reliable sources of food and water and strong defenses. Under your shared guidance, the Wound flourishes, growing into an unlikely enclave of crafts and culture.

## Companions

### Verse

 No sooner do you declare victory over your enemies than Verse leaves your company, seeking allies whose sense of command better aligns with hers. You learn by word of mouth that she joined a mercenary band, where she rallies at the head of the vanguard - ever the first into the fray. The last word you receive from her is a dictated missive, where she strongly recommends that you stay out of her way.
 Nostalgic for her days with the Scarlet Chorus, Verse leaves your company with a cursory farewell. She wanders the Tiers in search of mercenary bands that can make use of her skills. Finding even the most hardened killers amateurish, Verse cuts her ties with society and hires herself out as a lone wolf assassin. Though she travels beyond all notice, you recognize her signature work in some of the more high-profile slayings across the Tiers and Northern Empire.
 The Voices of Verse upends the remaining Scarlet Chorus gang bosses, reconfiguring the leadership into a pattern that suits her philosophy of what the army needed to become. Through her strength and determination, the army grows until its numbers stretch across the horizon.
 You sacrificed Verse to the Voices of Nerat, who absorbed her conscious mind with parasitic enthusiasm. Her drive and ambition, her accomplishments and regrets, vanished forever into the Archon's insatiable flames.
 Verse fled your company in panicked haste and never returns, leaving you a companion short when you need her the most. Though you never settle your disagreements, you hear tell of her gangs and their skillful raids on the Tiers. You wish her well, hopeful that your paths will not cross under less favorable circumstances.
 You settled your disagreements with Verse, resolving to conduct the war as allies if not friends. She observed your progress with as much curiosity as criticism, and fought the civil war to its bitter end. Her ambitions diverge from yours, and it is not long after your victory in the Tiers that she departs to find the next worthy gang of miscreants.
 One of the Scarlet Chorus gang bosses who managed to evade the conflict rises up, rallying together a group of miscreant soldiers. Flying no banners and leaving no one alive to remember their name, her gang carves a bloody path through the realms, seemingly beyond the reach of any authority.

### Eb

 The Voices of Eb is initially furious with her new role in the body of the creature that destroyed her former masters until she discovers them among the personalities in the swirling mist inside her.
This inspires Eb to start a new branch of Tidecasters - with every one of the old masters back in control. They quickly grow in power and acclaim and soon, with the might of the Scarlet Chorus behind them, become the mightiest mage group in Terratus.
Over the course of a few years she makes a token show of conscription all while sending small gangs out on missions she never intends them to return from. Her efforts eventually result in the systematic dismantling of the Scarlet Chorus. Once she is finished destroying her army, she disappears. You hear stories of a strange creature roaming the Northern Empire spewing green smoke, but never confirm if it is the Voices of Eb or not.
 You gave Eb to the Voices of Nerat, allowing him to consume the last remaining Tidecaster on Terratus. All the potential she held to bring the practice back to the world was snuffed out in a puff of green smoke.
 Exhausted from fighting, Eb shifts her focus to the broken school of Tidecasters. She recruits as many talented students as possible, but apprentices are difficult to find in the tense, post-war Tiers. The few who are drawn to her teachings show promise and Eb has little doubt that the Tidecasters can return to their former strength in less than a decade or two. The going will be hard for some time, though.
 Disillusioned by your leadership, Eb sets off alone to revive the devastated school of Tidecasters. The work takes a hard toll as Eb struggles to explain her talents to one restless apprentice after another. Finally she gives up in a fit of frustration, snapping her staff over her knee and making for the waterways of her people. To the best of your knowledge, she resides there still - avoided by the locals as a dangerous recluse.
 With no true home left to her, Eb spends the years after your battle in the Tiers wandering the world, collecting apprentices, and attempting to bring the Tidecasters back from the brink of extinction.
 Eb died and with her passing the world lost one of the most powerful Tidecasters it had ever known. Sadly, with no real family and no place to truly call her own, there was no one to mourn her death and her memory quickly faded from record.

### Lantry

 Lantry shifts focus from writing about your accomplishments and spends more time with your Spires - contemplating their mystery and unraveling their secrets. The research he uncovers about your stronghold proves invaluable. Some days, you feel as if there are few secrets the old librarian has not already learned. With quiet satisfaction, Lantry persists in working - his wandering days behind him.
 Though Lantry still finds you an intriguing subject for the Chronicle, he feels that he's learned enough. He politely excuses himself from your company and returns to wandering the Tiers in search of stories and history in the making. You tell yourself that you're better off without the old scholar, but on quiet days you find that you miss the scratching of his quill.
 The Voices of Lantry adapts to his new role with surprising ease. He surrounds himself with countless scribes and spends his days spouting off the knowledge from every personality trapped inside his new body. He also requests a dedicated apothecary and instructs him to begin creating. You're not quite sure what concoctions the Voices of Lantry has his assistant brew - and you're not sure you want to know - but you do notice one day that all his Sages are using a brand new emerald ink.
 You sacrificed Lantry to the Voices of Nerat, condemning one of the longest-lived and prolific Sages to a moment of frenetic chaos amid the swirling throng before snuffing out completely when you ended the Voices of Nerat's life.
 Your decision to send Lantry to speak with the Voices of Nerat resulted in the disappearance of one of the most prolific sages Terratus had ever seen. Though he is never seen again, you occasionally hear tales of a strange, old man extolling the virtues of cerulean ink.
 The death of Lantry seemed to affect more people than you imagined it would. As word of his death spread through the Tiers, countless mourners show up at your Spire to pay tribute to the fallen Sage. Over time, more people from farther reaches arrive, some of them in positions of considerable power. You wonder what stories Lantry had in him that he never got to tell.

### Sirin

 Sirin grows quiet over time - speaking little and foregoing her songs as she distances herself from your military. One day, she simply walks out of camp and makes for the wilderness of the Tiers. Rumors reach your ear that Sirin has occupied an abandoned mountainside temple, her vow of silence drawing a small group of respectful followers. You leave her in peace.
 Sirin leaves your Spire without ceremony. In no time at all, she returns to her old habits of enthralling simple-minded farmers and soldiers. As you restore order to the Tiers, the Cult of Sirin becomes synonymous with ritual and madness - with whispers of human sacrifice trailing in the Archon's wake. As little as you know of Sirin's plan, you know enough to stay out of her way.
 The Voices of Sirin seems to be take(ing) her role as leader of the Scarlet Chorus with surprising grace until the day she begins ordering her followers around, making impossible demands and having anyone who strays from the letter of her request flayed in front of the army as an example.
Over the following weeks the gangs abandon her, striking out on their own, until she is left alone with a handful of the truly crazy by her side as she sings desperate songs, fruitlessly trying to force her army to love her again.
 The Voices of Nerat finally got the one thing he never imagined he would when you allow him to consume Sirin. She disappears into the cacophonous void with a sigh of resignation, unable even to put up a token show of resistance, knowing her life had simply led her to its logical conclusion.
 Sirin, the Archon of Song, never lent her voice to your cause. After spending time in Lethian's Crossing gathering followers, she disappeared from the Tiers before your personal conquest was done. Stories reach your ears occasionally, telling of a young woman with a hypnotic voice and you wonder what marvels you could have accomplished with her in your charge.
 Sirin's death comes as a fitting end to a tragic life. With her family dead and her home destroyed by Kyros' forces, there is no one to mourn her and no spot to lay her body. Those enraptured by her song soon break free of her thrall and spread stories of the monstrous Songbird who controlled their minds.

### Kills-in-Shadow

 Kills-in-Shadow shows little interest in cleaning up the Tiers after your victory. Instead, she takes it upon herself to hunt down every Disfavored soldier in the country. You hear frequent word of maulings and disappearances among Kyros' ranks, perpetuated by a beast of legendary ferocity. Though you could no doubt track down your wayward companion, you let her continue the bloody work out of equal parts respect and fear. (other endings)
 With no desire to remain in the company of humans, Kills-in-Shadow returns to the wilderness and seeks out her own kind. She discovers a haggard community of Beastmen who abandoned the Realm of Azure, only to be enslaved by Kyros' forces. Out of his rabble of defectors she forges a tribe, their nomadic ways respecting no established border or law. They raid villages and caravans when possible, glutting on the spoils and boasting of their severed ties with the human world. Though a large bounty follows in the tribe's wake, you do what you can to ensure they are never found.
 Kills-in-Shadow always regarded your group as solace from enslavement to the Overlord. Now that the threat is dispelled, she wastes no time in separating from your thrall. Wild with delight for her newfound freedom, she rushes headfirst into a celebratory rampage of the countryside - butchering farmers, stealing food, and eventually setting fire to a small hamlet. Much as you would like to shield her from infamy, the tide of bounty hunters cannot be dissuaded. You hear reports of someone claiming her head, and only hope they aren't true.
 The Voices of Kills-in-Shadow quickly sheds the trappings of her human form, choosing to wrap herself in the skins of slain Beastmen to resemble the body she lost when she was consumed. She declares herself the Prima of her new tribe, renaming them the Scarlet Hunters, and gives them a new goal - the eradication of the Disfavored.
The Scarlet Hunters need no motivation to continue on their campaign of slaughter and eagerly follow their new leader into the Northern Empire, destroying anyone who dares stand in the way of their mission.
 The last of the Shadow Hunters disappeared into the void when you gave Kills-in-Shadow to the Voices of Nerat to consume. There is no one to mourn her loss and any trace that might have remained is gone once you permanently extinguish the Voices of Nerat's light.
 After you defeated Kills-in-Shadow and sent her away in shame, she disappeared into the Stone Sea. Several years later, she reappears, leading a new pack of Shadow Hunters, ready to bring her line the glory she feels it rightly deserves.
 You deemed Kills-in-Shadow not only unworthy to join you, but unworthy of life. With your actions, the Shadow Hunter line was brought to an abrupt and brutal end.
 As the last of her tribe, the death of Kills-in-Shadow brought around the end of the Shadow Hunters. With no one left to tell stories of their victories in battle, the once-proud tribe is quickly forgotten.

## Archons

### Graven Ashe

 The death of Graven Ashe means the end of the Disfavored. Without the comfort and support of the Great General, what remains of the legion sinks into hopelessness. The Archon's seat is left vacant, and whether or not it can be occupied again is a heated topic. Far from his place of final rest, the Northern Empire mourns its fallen son.

### Voices of Nerat

 Swaying the Voices of Nerat to your side was an outcome that few could have predicted, least of all the Archon himself. With your companion steering the Archon's will, you bring the full power of the Scarlet Chorus to bear against your enemies, and learn a few trades from your unexpected ally. The Voices of Nerat - and his galleries of madness and wisdom - are yours to explore.

## People

### Amelia

 Graven Ashe's daughter is never seen again. His granddaughter flourishes under the care of your companion, educated and taught the ways of war in Cacophony. Though a possessed Archon is hardly the most nurturing parent, it will have to do for the time being.
 Graven Ashe's daughter is never seen again. When the infant heir of Stalwart resurfaces in the wake of the Voices of Nerat's death, you assign soldiers to the task of her upbringing and education. You often study her from afar and wonder how you can leverage her potential to further your ends. Only time will tell.
 Amelia and her baby remain with the Unbroken, joining forces to bring Stalwart back to a semblance of its former glory. The Regency is ended, but an echo of its old dignity and pride still remain. There is hope for the blasted realm.
 To save her child, Amelia abdicated her claim to throne of Stalwart. Lacking allies or a mission beyond survival, she bundles her baby close and sets out to find a safer, less warlike frontier in modest anonymity. If the need arises she is ready to protect the precious burden with her life.

## Ending

From your perch atop the ancient Spire, you can see hints of the Northern Empire just beyond the mountains. At your command, horns shout a triumphant cry across the valley - heralding the end of one long campaign and the beginning of another.