Finding Nulgath’s Secret: Citadel Ruins
Citadel Ruins: what the vacuums took
Polish’s invitation led toward the ruined Citadel, nine years beyond the original Inquisition’s persecution. The reason for the summons was Murry. Polish said the escaped wizard’s body had survived, but the mana vacuums had drawn out something inseparable from him: his magic. The extraction had damaged his mind, and his condition had continued to deteriorate.
Polish had tried to keep Murry safe, but feared that soon little would remain of him. Murry’s unrelated insistence that his lawn needed no mowing interrupted the explanation. Wizardly magic, Polish said, was ingrained in every part of its bearer. To restore Murry’s magic and mind, they would have to return to the place that had taken them away.
Citadel Ruins: a revival behind the ruins
The apparently abandoned Citadel was magically sealed. Polish’s first tasks sent the Hero to fill an empty Mana Amplifier with eight measures of siphoned mana from the wandering sprites and stray magic, then use it to break the barrier. Former Inquisitors were occupying the ruins. Clearing them away also produced manifestoes pointing to an attempt to revive the Inquisition.
Polish refused to let another generation suffer as Murry had. Hoping the old surroundings would stir Murry’s memory, he asked the Hero to explore with the wizard and gather a clue. Murry indicated an important door. The next task called for defeating its two heavy guards, finding their key, and unlocking the way to the person behind the renewed movement.
Citadel Ruins: Enn’tröpy’s solution
Beyond the door stood Enn’tröpy. Polish recognized him and demanded to know why he was restoring an order whose danger he understood. Enn’tröpy accused Polish of concealing a personal motive: if Murry died, Polish would die with him. He claimed to know because he had brought his own Murry, kept alive by machinery deep inside the Citadel.
Enn’tröpy said his Murry needed the magic extracted from him returned. Recombining would accomplish that, but would end Enn’tröpy’s existence as a separate self. He had chosen another method: sustain the captive with the Inquisition’s stored mana, then extract more magic to replace what he consumed. Polish objected that this would hurt more people. Enn’tröpy accepted that consequence because the person harmed would not be himself.
Citadel Ruins: the magic that became a person
Polish admitted the truth behind the accusation: he was the magic extracted from Murry. Usually such magic emerged as small, barely sentient sprites. Murry had been a great enough wizard for his power to take on a life of its own. That had happened both here and in the Mirror Realm, producing Polish and his counterpart, Enn’tröpy.
Polish explained the reversal in the other realm. Its Murry had been the Grand Inquisitor; his own Inquisition had mutinied and defeated him by removing his power. Enn’tröpy was that extracted magic. The resemblance between the two pairs did not dictate their choices. Polish wanted to try returning to Murry, and the Hero hoped the same machines could reverse the extraction.
Citadel Ruins: a second apparatus
Polish directed the search through the laboratories toward the chamber holding the other Murry. The aim was to find the equipment and siphon Murry’s magic—Polish himself—back into Murry. Another sealed room required another amplifier filled with eight measures of mana. Inside was a second apparatus resembling the machine used to sustain the Mirror Grand Inquisitor.
Inspection showed that the apparatus needed repair. Polish asked for parts from the laboratories and their remaining Inquisitors. The assignment gathered six missing components alongside a Biotic Link Matrix, an Ultrasonic Levitator, and an Electromagnetic Clamp. With the repairs made, the Hero believed it was ready for an attempt; success was still uncertain.
Citadel Ruins: a willing return
Polish paused before using the machine. He expected that he would no longer exist afterward, and wondered what it meant to be a fragment of someone who was no longer whole. Murry turned the thought into a remark about an incomplete pie. Polish answered him gently, then chose to proceed.
The apparatus placed Polish in its central vessel, with Murry restrained on one side and the Mirror Grand Inquisitor on the other. At Polish’s request, the Hero activated it. The attempt began, and Murry spoke of all the stars shining down on him—or perhaps a concussion. Polish urged the Hero to keep going.
Citadel Ruins: the attempt fails
The process failed. Murry’s next remark described the stars dying one by one, while Polish cried out in dismay. Enn’tröpy appeared to mock the unsuccessful sacrifice. He offered another Mana Amplifier to sustain Polish’s Murry instead. The Hero refused: restoring the Inquisition would only leave more people as harmed as the wizard they had come to save.
When Polish and the Hero resolved to stop him, Enn’tröpy warned that the Archfiend would disapprove. The Hero recognized the reference to Nulgath and asked what he had to do with the scheme. Enn’tröpy supplied no explanation, turning the threat toward his own anger instead. He displaced Polish from the apparatus, introduced an amplifier, and used its power to rouse the Mirror Grand Inquisitor, ordering him to attack.
Citadel Ruins: the other Murry falls
Stopping the renewed Inquisition now meant confronting its former Mirror Realm leader. The next commission called for defeating Grand Inquisitor Murry. After the encounter, his armor lay in a heap, and Enn’tröpy reacted with disbelief that the Hero had beaten him.
Enn’tröpy then noticed that he still existed. He guessed that keeping his Murry alive had not been necessary after all and told Polish to take note. Murry answered with another image of a planet crumbling while its sun remained. Enn’tröpy’s conclusion did not settle what the defeat had done to his original bearer, or what would happen next to the extracted magic.
Citadel Ruins: a body of armor
Enn’tröpy’s laughter was interrupted by his disappearance, leaving his robes on the floor. Polish thought the boast had been premature. The apparent end did not last: Enn’tröpy appeared again, now occupying the fallen Grand Inquisitor’s armor. He declared that he should have handled the fight personally from the start.
Polish was ready to oppose him directly, and the final commission called for Enn’tröpy’s defeat. After that confrontation, the spirit emerged from the armor and disappeared again. The Hero began to ask whether this meant he was gone.
Citadel Ruins: a promise after failure
Polish doubted that Enn’tröpy had been destroyed; he believed the spirit had retreated to recover. Permanent destruction was not necessary to stop the new Inquisition, he said. Destroying its laboratory would be enough, and he offered to do that himself. The scene ends without showing the demolition.
Murry interrupted with an unrelated remark about a dog sent to a farm. Polish brought the conversation back to the failed attempt: it had not restored him, but they would find another way. His later greeting repeated the promise to keep searching. The encounter ended with the renewed Inquisition opposed, Enn’tröpy’s claim about Nulgath unexplained, and Murry still in need of help.