Elemental Orb Hunt: the remaining four Orbs

The Queen's Retaliation and the Fire Orb

The Queen of Monsters answers the heroes' progress with retaliation. In the community account of Revenge for My Children, her Children bring two prisoners before her, identified in the transcript as the Ninth and Sixth Heroes. She names Extriki, Grou'luu and Sa-Laatan among the Children lost to their enemies and grants the captors permission to punish the prisoners. These are her stated losses, extending beyond what the earlier Water Orb account separately showed of Sa-Laatan's fate.

The Ninth Hero's defiance gives way to cries as a creature approaches, while the other prisoner begs to live. That prisoner is promised life in the Queen's service and transformed into a beast. The Queen orders her Children to find the remaining heroes and reserves a special punishment for the Eternal Dragon. The numbered labels alone do not establish which familiar people were actually captured; later companions have more to say about those losses.

Meanwhile, the Hero reaches Ledgermayne in Arcangrove. The preserved quests and dialogue describe Chamat hunting the Mana-kin and defiling the tower where they guard the Fire Orb. The Hero clears hostile wildlife and collects Mana to help Ledgermayne dispel the tower's wards. A final barrier threatens to drain a living intruder, so Ledgermayne prepares a temporary covering of lifeforce gathered from the surrounding creatures.

With that protection, the Hero enters before Chamat can breach the Orb's containment. The final quest secures the Fire Orb, bringing the total to five. Ledgermayne promises punishment for Chamat and speaks of the Mana Golem consuming his Mana, then sends the Hero to help the others. Those threats and intentions do not independently show every detail of Chamat's eventual fate.

A Trap around the Light Orb

Tibicenas and Xing are trying to stop Pharaoh Sek Duat I from surrendering the Light Orb to the Queen. The preserved quest accounts lead the Hero through the pyramid's defenders and Light Elementals being suffocated by an unfamiliar substance. Tibicenas has samples collected but cannot determine whether the magic belongs to Sek Duat or the Queen. The Hero then gathers Djinn Energy to strengthen him enough to open the sealed door.

Reaching Sek Duat does not finish the struggle. He has been bait for a trap: Horothotep the Devourer appears and has swallowed the Light Orb. Tibicenas identifies the Queen's Child as the killer of one of their fellow heroes. Xing's confidence gives way to fear of being eaten, and the Hero must face the Devourer to free the Orb.

The second Light Orb quest records its recovery after Horothotep's defeat. Tibicenas says their friend has been avenged and intends to have his Sphinx seal the pyramid over the creature's body, denying the Queen an opportunity to bring it back. Xing looks forward to showing the Orb to Xang. Six Orbs are now held, and the next stage takes the Hero to Wolfwing and the struggle in Darkovia.

Two Halves against the Reshaper

Wolfwing and Xang have been stretched between Kolyaban's forces and fighting among the Vampires and Lycans. The Hero's arrival helps them turn the two peoples toward a common enemy. In the preserved quests, the Hero fights the Nax Beasts and Hive, gathers reinforcements and interrupts battles that threaten their cooperation. Wolfwing distinguishes the peaceful Darkbloods from the creatures Kolyaban now sends against them, expressing horror at what she has done to her own creations.

Xang gives the conflict a personal history. She says that she and Xing were once one person, living with their children, until Kolyaban brought the loss that tore them apart. Xing describes the separation more cautiously and says they needed time apart. Each is titled half of the Second Hero of Balance in the dialogue accounts. Their shared place among the heroes does not, by itself, settle every earlier source's differing count of the whole company.

The Hero destroys Kolyaban's runes and breaks the ritual circle before the fight for the Darkness Orb. Wolfwing promises the aid of his Dracowerepyre, and Xang summons the Harpy she and Xing created together. The final quest secures the Orb; afterward, Xang explicitly reports Kolyaban dead, while acknowledging that revenge cannot restore their children. With seven Orbs recovered, Wolfwing directs attention to the last and perhaps hardest contest: the Ice Orb in Mythsong.

The Eighth Orb and the Frozen Serpent

In Mythsong, Khasaanda explains why taking the Ninth Hero's place is her first mission. Her brother Krellenos, she says, was captured by the Queen and killed, and she has stepped forward to continue his work. That reported succession distinguishes her from the numbered prisoner in the Queen's earlier retaliation. It also makes the approaching battle a test of whether she can carry his example forward.

Kimberly has survived another substitution. She says that Discordia pretended to be a Hero of Balance and let himself be captured so that she could escape. She believes her friend is gone but keeps fighting for their shared hopes. Her account explains the decoy's role without independently proving his death or every detail of the transformed prisoner's later condition.

Quetzal, the Champion of Ice, stands between them and the final Orb. Kimberly says the Queen and Kolyaban interfered with his mind, turning a possible ally against them. The Hero clears Ice Infernals and Ice Animuses and lights fires against the cold. Bones gathered from the earlier battlefields lure out Krellenos's Naga Baas; Kimberly hopes that it and her Dragosaurus will provide the strength they need. Khasaanda recognizes Naga Baas as a guardian of her people and the Horcs.

The community account of The Final Orb finds the Hero, Kimberly, Khasaanda, Pony Gary Yellow and Naga Baas unable to overcome Quetzal. Iadoa brings the other Heroes of Balance through a portal, and Vath and Alteon attack from their dragons, but the assault still fails to end the threat. Escherion calls for the Elemental Orbs' help and uses Inversion Magic to turn Quetzal's own power against him. The clash leaves the serpent encased in ice, and Kimberly takes the Ice Orb.

All eight Orbs are finally together, but Kimberly refuses to leave the frozen enemy where the Queen might thaw him. Iadoa lifts Quetzal and throws him into outer space. The Hero is alarmed, yet does not complete an explanation of the problem. This account ends with the serpent removed and frozen, rather than confirming his death or supplying the unspoken consequences.

The heroes now have the pieces they believe will imprison the Queen. Her closing response shows that she, too, has been watching the Orb hunt and welcomes the prospect of a more interesting struggle. Collecting the eighth Orb completes this part of their preparations. The march on her fortress and the sealing still lie ahead, while the transformed prisoner's later condition remains unverified here.