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→The Schism
The Delver, in her compassion, allowed those of her court which had joined her from the court of her progenitor to go free. She would brook no chains upon those she loved, and the Delver is all-loving. Had this been all that happened, the Serpents might have stayed reasonably aloof from the all-consuming conflict. Alas, it was not to be so. Pulling what remained of their conspiracy together, the opportunists concocted one final gambit to bring the Assemblage under their control: An attempted assassination of the Delver, by a 'member in good standing' of the Assemblage, isolating it from the rest of its support, while creating a thousand places for it to hide, and make the Assemblage more dependent upon them. Stealing a great weapon of the Engine, they brought it to bear against the Delver, harming the kindest Hour. An Hour, in fact, kind enough to forgive, but with a few Names that were not.
Unfortunately for everyone, the Delver has always been beloved by both of her siblings. The attempted assassination of that Hour resulted not only in the Tail bringing its full attention to bear on the conflict, but in both the Tail and the Anaconda working together- one of the few times they would ever be recorded as having done so. Those Long who had taken the new patron of the Anaconda had shed themselves and their skins already, but the Names had not done so. When certain new Names of the Anaconda wished to leave, they had been allowed to do so with some reservation. Now, in the aftermath of the Delver's assassination, these former Names found their skins peeling away, until like the Long which they now were, nothing remained but a serpent.
===The Reformation===
