Chris decided that putting together a team of like-minded warriors and scholars would better serve the Spiral as a whole from the standpoints of education and protection. After some convincing he was able to commune with the Council of Light, seeking to form an organization that would bring individuals from all walks of life to one place in order to better preserve the Spiral's history, and, perhaps most importantly, help protect its future. Chris underwent trials at the behest of the Council, who initially questioned his motives—especially his connection to the Daywalker Scourge. It wasn't until Bartleby himself (who had recently re-acquired his Eye of History) spoke fondly of Chris's past deeds that the Council finally gave permission.
With a renewed sense of divine purpose, Chris traveled to every world that he thought may have the excellent people he was looking for. After some time, Chris met up with dozens of candidates, testing their merit and ultimately narrowing down the list to just 12 members including himself. He told these wizards to meet him in the Commons of Wizard City, where the typical hustle and bustle of everyday life wouldn't tip anyone off that there was anything "unusual" going on.
History was made one summer afternoon when the 12 wizards joined hands and formally created the "Valiant Troupe." With Chris himself as leader, the founding team consisted of Victoria NightBlossom, Autumn DreamWhisper, Caroline FireCloud, Kyle FrogFinder, Keira SkyWhisper, Patrick Anvil, Brianna SoulHeart, Orpheus, Alicia DragonHeart, Natalie LotusSong, and Charles Dragon. These mighty wizards from all different backgrounds were soon teleported to a strange archipelago in the stars which long ago been used as a settlement by the Druids of old. Greeted by a modern-day Druid with the name of Llewellyn Prideheart, the Valiant Troupe quickly found themselves right at home.
But all was not what it seemed.
It didn't take very long for the members of Valiant Troupe to begin to confuse each other with their tales of past adventures. For some, the details of their memories didn't seem to line up with reality. Sometimes these differences were small, sometimes these wizards spoke of people or places which never existed at all. Fearing something was deeply wrong and that space-time was somehow being corruped, Chris launched an investigation into the matter. Consulting the Council of Light and Bartleby once more, he soon learned what was responsible.
The Chronoculum is an ancient "sand device" from Mirage that was borrowed from the Order of the Chronomancers by a close friend of Chris, the Marleybonian inventor Arlen Stormbane. Some time prior, Arlen had been entrusted by the Chronomancers to study the device after it was recovered from the Sands of Time following the Wizard's fateful duel with Grandfather Spider. Perhaps in hubris, no one had thought to consult any higher authorities about the device, opting to follow their curiosities instead and find out what made it tick.
This, as it turned out, had unintended consequences.
While the effects of the device were relatively benign compared to the time-reversing potential of the Chronoverge or the hulking war machines created by the Spiral Powers, it still packed quite a punch. As Chris would find out, this Chronoculum actually served as both a beacon to other realities and a means for one to travel between them all, as each other reality had its own version of the Chronoculum. At one point they were all activated at once, converging the timelines by unknowingly transporting other wizards to Chris and Arlen's reality.
This bizarre, mind-bending effect was one that nobody, not even the all-knowing Bartleby, could make heads or tails of. It simply did not align with the fundamental understandings the Primals and their descendants had of the universe. So many questions were now left to ponder. Where did the Chronoculum come from? Who or what created it in the first place? Why did the device only target wizards, all of whom were now part of the Valiant Troupe? Could it be connected to the Daywalkers somehow? Was Chris always destined to find it?
Wherever the truth laid, Bartleby and the Council of Light nevertheless put their full trust in Chris and the Valiant Troupe. The newly-formed guild set out to become one of most influential, spreading Light to the Spiral's darkest corners. They would give voices to the voiceless and celebrate all that is good and just, as well as push back against what is not.
For wherever the Valiant Troupe goes, Light surely follows.
Chris found himself the most fulfilled he had ever been, finally letting go of the tragedy that had littered his past and the painful realities of being immortal. He was now part of something so much bigger than himself, bound by a truly awe-inspiring system of natural forces. He wished to study all of the facets of this universe he had called home for several centuries now; to try and understand its tangential realms that were still very much steeped in mystery.
Everyone and everything he had ever loved had been a product of this Spiral. Now it was time to pay it back. And the Valiant Troupe was his way to do so, on a much grander scale than he could ever achieve by himself.
Though many mysteries still remained, Chris and his new friends all agreed...
...May the Light of the Valiant Troupe never be extinguished!
