Even as the battle was being fought a crowd gathered, and there were hundreds of witnesses willing to swear they beheld the Jugom Ark appear from nowhere to bring the battle to a sudden, miraculous end. The story of the hail of arrows sent to strike down the Arrow-bearer, but instead being consumed by fire, spread quickly amongst the crowd. Rumours added to stories, visions grafted to dreams; the Ecclesia emphasised the supernatural, Escaigne spoke of the heroic; all the citizens soon heard of the Jugom Ark, the Heirloom of the Ages, and came to see its glory. Thus the whole City attended the Acclamation of the new Lords of Instruere, two weeks after the Battle of the Four Halls. The wide open space in front of the Hall of Meeting, which a fortnight before was the scene of slaughter, now held a hundred thousand cheering citizens decked out in bright colours, full of noise and exuberance, eager to acknowledge their new leaders. It mattered not at all to the crowd that these new leaders were self-appointed and not delegates from the far-flung Sixteen Kingdoms; they cheered just the same.
