The Apotheosis Attempt at Cinderfold was an interrupted ritual carried out by the Nharvek arcanist Zurath’ek beneath the volcanic region of Cinderfold in Garver 8723 SE. The ritual incorporated the forty Teeth of Sekorath, a major celestial alignment, geothermal activity, and a purpose-built complex intended to transform or elevate Zurath’ek beyond his existing state.
Discovery
After the Teeth were stolen from Bregentved, the Mistborn traveled to the Great Library on Danto and examined records of earlier attempts at apotheosis. The surviving research emphasized recurring patterns rather than a single universal method. Powerful rites often depended upon rare alignments, sites with unusual physical or magical conditions, and components whose disruption could violently destabilize the working.
The College Arcanum established a network of observation points intended to detect magical and seismic disturbances across the Skyre Islands. When one team failed to return from Glydd Goch, the Mistborn climbed the mountain and completed the observation point themselves. The combined network eventually narrowed the search to the Cinderfold near Fellstrond.
The Black Echo
Inside the lava tubes, the Mistborn encountered psychic phenomena and eventually confronted the Black Echo, an enormous dragon altered by Nharvek experimentation. The creature was a transformed resurrection of the black dragon the company had killed near Bregentved in 8722 SE. It had previously stolen the extradimensional container holding the Teeth.
The Mistborn killed the Black Echo and recovered the container before continuing deeper into the complex.
The Ritual Chamber
Far below the surface, natural tunnels gave way to deliberate stonework covered in celestial imagery. The principal chamber contained a raised basalt structure beneath an opening aligned with the moons. Forty supports surrounding the central area each held one of the Teeth of Sekorath, with magical connections feeding inward toward Zurath’ek.
The Mistborn attacked before the ritual reached completion. Gobbles climbed above the central structure and destroyed part of the framework holding the Teeth, causing a section of the magical protection around Zurath’ek to collapse. During the fighting, Zurath’ek took the Mantle of Rektesh from Cap Tan Ro’geers.
The battle continued long enough that Gobbles was killed. The surviving Mistborn nevertheless prevented the apotheosis from being completed. Zurath’ek escaped by planar magic with the Mantle to the Realm of Winds, after which Gobbles was successfully restored to life.
Aftermath
While dying, Gobbles perceived a fragment of Zurath’ek’s departure and later remembered the sensation of rain together with a metallic taste like copper. Zurath’ek had shifted to the Realm of Winds, where he established himself after leaving Kor Sirok.
Accounts of the immediate aftermath mention unexplained time distortion, but the later resolution of the pursuit is unknown. Zurath’ek’s subsequent plans and the eventual fate of the Mantle remain uncertain.