I rendezvoused with my allies just inside the grounds of the Temple of the Blessed Mantle. Even in its current state of disrepair, the scale and grandiosity of the temple spoke of its importance to seer culture. We battled our way through the corridor's magical defenses—defenses Vloxx no doubt didn't have to contend with, being in possession of Ancora—and then found ourselves at the foot of a towering, ancient seer statue. Sayida speculated that it could be some form of defense, but whether that was true or not, we had more immediate threats to deal with. As we fought our way up the spire ramps, we found Inquest vehicles and equipment on a landing, all but confirming our suspicions that Vloxx had already found the spire and could well be waiting above. Sure enough, we entered the tower interior just in time to catch a snippet of conversation between Director Vloxx and Overseer Kuda. Since Sebb's death back in Starlit Weald, it was clear that Kuda now operated as Vloxx's second-in-command...and she seemed to vehemently disagree with Vloxx's priorities. We eavesdropped as Kuda argued for the importance of her latest experimental creations—a trio of Inquest warriors with powers enhanced by the potent magical energy of the nearby seer forge. She believed their powers could make the Inquest unstoppable. Vloxx couldn't have been less interested. Kuda was furious, but Vloxx shut her arguments down. He seemed about to dismiss her when her addled, jittery underling Zipp spotted us. Vloxx ordered Kuda's "Omega Team"—Zipp, Naati, and Plokk—to attack, then he promptly retreated up the spire ramps. We had no choice but to engage the forge-enhanced Inquest as Kuda shouted orders at them from afar. It quickly became clear to all involved that Zipp, Naati, and Plokk hadn't mastered their newfound powers yet. Rather than allow the destruction of her precious experiments for the cause of buying Director Vloxx more time, Kuda surprised us and called for a quick retreat. Still, Vloxx had ample time to clear the area; we barreled up the last few ramps only to find a hastily erected magical barrier between us and the chamber atop the spire. I called Isgarren over comms. As we caught him up on the situation, Canach closely examined the barrier then casually walked back down the ramp saying he was "off to write a new tune" and that he'd be in contact. Before I could question him any further, Canach leaped away and Vloxx's hologram crackled to life just outside the barrier. There was no convincing Vloxx to open the barrier or talk things over. He insisted what he was doing was "the only way" and that he would see me "on the other side." We'd been mere minutes from stopping Vloxx, but in the end, we were too late; Vloxx had unfettered access to the Spire of Exaltation, and all we could do was hope that Canach could get us through that door with enough time to stop him before he could complete the rite of Divitium Nava. ***