Iron Wolfe was one of the first generations of exalts who fought and survived in the primordial wars. He didn't come out whole however, and lost three of his four limbs. While his prosthetics were exceptional, they were still a blemish against his pride. So he conceived of a way to transfer his soul and exaltation into a new body - perfectly crafted. unfortunately he had scheduled the operation on the same calibration as the usurpation, so his dragon-blooded assistants simply turned off the manse after the soul-exaltation extraction was completed, and shuttered it.

Two thousand years Tessa is out in the threshold escaping a life of slavery. Seeking shelter she wanders deep into a cave system which had her come across the laboratory manse. by happenstance and destiny, she awakens the manse and finds herself in the labyrinth designed to  trigger the exaltation in the new vessel. the manse works as designed and when Tessa is pushed to a moment of exaltation, the manse seized her and injected Iron Wolf's exaltation. His attached soul and mind had degraded over the years and was not able to fully subsume Tessa.

Now released from the manse, Tessa had little time to consider he situation as the dragon-lines that the laboratory manse was built on had grown unstable. The volcanoes surrounding the manse were now erupting and the facility was sinking deep into the earth. Still gathering her wits, Tessa quickly grabbed some clothes and ran out to the hangar where a Travelling Pagoda had been waiting for so many years. As the manse was consumed by the volcanoes, Tessa directed the Pagoda over the flowing lava until finding herself alone in the dessert with a shattered mind that was slowly crystallizing.