Lords of Hell: New Fiends Rising

[Eldan]

A small portal, hidden in a province of hell already considered backwater by most noble devils, brought you here: an unnamed, featureless but vast stretch of land, where grey sand shifted and burried equally grey rock, moved by a wind so slow, it seemed unwilling to work.
But, as they say, evil never sleeps. And soon, behind this newly found portal, all the intrigues and skirmishes typical for hell would start to take place, embedded into the screams of the tortured souls.

OOC:

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Please post the following:
First some fluff, describing how your devil looks, how your domain looks and if possible how you order your imps around.
Then post a spoiler, like this one, containing how you spend your power for this turn and what your orders are. Summonings will come in soon, so keep some imps or archdevil-actions in reserve. There will likely be only three or four summonings now, with more in later turns.

[Eldan]

A ghostly voice could be heard echoing over the entire plain as a mortal called out for dark forces:
"By the sevenfold seal I offer a contract to you, denizens of the underworld! My name is Umerian, an apprentice of the art. I have fallen in love, but my beloved is only willing to marry a magician of greater strenght than mine.
If you teach me magic, I will promise to sacrifice half my magical power to you, every day, for the rest of my life.

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The Lovestruck Apprentice
Easy task
Difficulty of wish: 3. It's not really a difficult thing to do.
Duration: 1 phase
Reward: 1 XP, 1 power point per turn for the next 1d3+1 phases.
Difficulty of Corruption: 6. While he is not experienced, there's that whole "love" thing, which makes it a lot harder.
Amount of Evil spread: 1. I mean, it's not evil, really. There's just what little mischief an imp can do during the summoning time.
Reward for Corruption: 1 XP, special soul

[Emperor Demonking]

Steith looked like an imp and in many ways acted like an imp. If you didn't know better you'd still think he was serving his master. His leadership style was kind for an imp but his imps knew that Steith was a master of skirmishes and so didn't act out of line.

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Expanding my domain by 1

[Feirgon]

A deep red forboding seeps out from beneath the ground. A thunderous step is felt and the world turns dark. The sand beneath Dystor's hooves turns from sand to rock, then to concrete. His domain begins to take shape as buildings rise from the ground. Imps can be seen entering the domain, either through fear or loyalty, and begin to work. The tallest and most central building erupts from beneath Dystor, upon which is set a concrete throne. The bullish figure sits upon his throne, with his flame filled eyes set clearly upon the horizon. He feels no contentment nor any anxiety, only restless hatred; that his domain does not yet reach the horizon.

You.

The archdevil points at an imp. And without another word, the imp leaves to the behest of his master to find the mortal.

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Archfiend Actions:
Expand domain by 1 (2 pp)
Expand domain by 1 (4 pp)

Imp Actions:
2 imps to torture souls (2d6)[1][2](3)
1 imp to answer the wish

Remaining:
1 Archfiend action
7 Imp actions
5 Power points

[Moral Wiz]

Zach

The withered form of Zach heard the whispering voice of the apprentice. He stood, shrouded in dark crimson robes, Imps and souls surrounding him

So... predictable

Jakar, go to this mortal. Do as he asks., but make sure it turns out... in favor for us.

The small creature grinned right back

As you heh wish, master. heh heh....Where shall I find you when I return with his soul?

As he spoke, Zach smiled, with pointed teeth. With that, a tower slowly started to raise up from the ground.

It was.... in ruins. Once, it was magnificent, perhaps some mortal palace, carved in marble and obsidian. There were traces of lines, where once silver might have rested, but now, nothing remained but a battered library, standing alone in this barren plain.

Still, it was very much intact. And the inside, Zach knew, was much better.

Oh, we shouldn't be too hard to find

Jakar vanished as Zach turned to the grinning imps and groaning souls.

Come on now. We have work to do. Askar, I want a basic pentergramic warding on the whole building.

The oldest imp stroked his little beard

It will be done Master. Crude, but it'll be done.

I know it, artistan.

Zach knew the crafter Imp took a pride in his work. He turned to his, more normal fellows

The rest of you... come inside. There are texts of magic within the Library there. I want to see what your foolish little minds can come up with

Now MOVE!

With that, and a little blast of blackened magic from his staff for effect, Zach strode toward the tower for all of 5 seconds before turning

Oh, and bring the souls. They'll come in handy.

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One imp to respond to mortal

One to start work on the wards. Now at 8 power

Eight for research.

4 on air (4d6)[16]

4 on fire (4d6)[11]

Zach will spend an action on researching Arcana, but for now, I'll leave the other two free. He'll probably respond to the next summon.

[Deathslayer7]

Watching over her battlefield, Liriel smiles to herself. This might just become interesting indeed.

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Liriel shall expand her domain by two. -6 PP

She shall also send 2 imps to go torture. (for now)
(1d6)[4]
(1d6)[2]

+3 PP

PP:7

edit: i shall send an imp to start constructing defenses and one to start constructing wards.

-4 PP

PP: 3
servants left to command: 6

[Moral Wiz]

Zach growled as he threw a scroll to one side.

So close... Such power I feel from this state.... I will NOT be cheated of my prizes

With that, he plunges back into the texts of his massive library.

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(4d6)[8] Second research roll on arcana

14;Arcana

16;Air

11;Fire

EDIT; Not sure...do we add our stat points to rolls? If so, then

15; Fire

20; Air

22; Arcana.

[RationalGoblin]

Levmordus

Levmordus grins at the mortal's plea, but ignores it. There's better souls, and easier ones to corrupt, then that fool. For now, I need a kingdom.

Levmordus limps through the plain, his foul blood spilling to the ground, crackling sinisterly, and melting large, pitlike holes in the landscape. The Archdevil does not notice this, but walking a few more steps, Levmordus collapses on top of the sand, bleeding even more heavily, and melting a cave into the landscape. After collapsing, Lev seems to have stopped bleeding so much, the last of his spilled blood creating a stone throne out of it's caustic qualities.

Levmordus grins as his faithful imps follow him into his new domain, creating "homes" in the pits.

Levmordus's cold eyes light up, as he has an idea.

He lifts a hand, and mumbles in a dark language, causing a soul carried before him by an imp to twist and turn, slowly taking shape. This continues for a few moments, before the soul's form finally stabilizes in that of an imp.

Levmordus let's the imp get used to it's new form for a while, then lifts up a hand. The imp stands at attention, knowing instantly that his new lord wanted him to do something.

"First, bring me my tomes."

The imp wordlessly nods, and runs off, returning a short time afterwards with scrolls, tomes, grimores, and other assorted texts, placing them near the Archdevil. Levmordus nods with approval, then points to the new imp and three other imps.

"Torture the souls that have come to my kingdom."

The imps nod, and set out to work.

The Archdevil points to one imp, a battle-scarred and tall specimen.

"Nel'zarn. My oldest servant, the one who guarded me when my wounds were even worse then now. You shall have an important task. Create wards around my domain, to protect it, as you did me."

Nel'zarn nods. "Yes, Lord Levmordus." The older imp walks to the edges of Levmordus's personal abode, and starts chanting, creating foul wards to defend the devil's kingdom from harm.

Levmordus gestures with his hand towards the remaining imps.

"The rest of you... Sort out these texts for me, and I won't have the other imps torture you instead."

Without a word, the rest of the imps hand Levmordus texts, ask him if a certain tome was what he needed, and similar chores as the Archdevil poured over the texts, researching spells and effects that would aid him.

As he works, Levmordus absently gestures to the land that composes his domain. A few drops of blood that had not melted the landscape glow with a green light, and suddenly melt the ground, creating more pits, as well as increasing the domain Levmordus owned.

Spoiler

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Promote a soul into imp, set him and three others to torture souls:
(1d6+1)[5]
(1d6+1)[3]
(1d6+1)[4]
(1d6+1)[5]

1 Imp to inscribe wards.

The 6 remaining imps and Levmordus research.
(1d6+1)[3]
(1d6+1)[6]
(1d6+1)[4]
(1d6+1)[7]
(1d6+1)[4]
(1d6+1)[4]
(1d6+4)[9]

Domain increased by 1.

Also, I forget. How do you make it so the rolls are just made into one big roll, but showing several different numbers in the result? Also, 4 imps and Levmordus are researching Metal, rest are researching Shadow.

[Deathslayer7]

After hearing the voice from the mortal realm, Liriel wondered if she should start her with her corruption. It never did hurt to start early. She smiled in spite of herself, then told her imps to go do some research.

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PP: 8
servants: 6

Liriel will go to the torture tents, and torture some poor trapped soul.
(4d6)[10]

And then she herself will answer the summons. How that works out i have no idea.

edit: 4 imps shall go to work on working the defenses, 3 on defense, 1 on wards.

The other two shall remain open for now.

PP: 0
servants left: 2

[El_Frenchie]

Kataek

As he paces around in the spire of his domain, the archdevil begins the descent towards the flying platform. He orders his imps around almost brutally, The flight of imps head inside the building and into the research lab. Bright explosions soon come out the window, as well as the distinct burning smell of various chemical components. Kataek sighs, for his neatly arranged lab was going to be in need for serious cleaning.

As the imps work their little hearts out working on the secrets of Corruption, Kataek glares around at the souls He focuses himself and lets his power burst forth. New Spires virtually rise from the platform, and the clouds seem to gather around as it grows and expands even further.

He is about to continue when a call suddenly reaches his mind. It is loud, slightly obnoxious, yet he listens, and as he does so, he chuckles with glee.

"I shall answer your call, little mortal." And with that, the devil is surrounded in a small circles of flames, and seems to send a form of his power up into the sky. One of the imps look at the summoning with interest, but soon goes back to his task of drawing the wards around the domain before his master got angry at him.

----
Mortal Plane: (Putting it up because I'm won't be here most of the day)

Kataek appears before the apprentice, a small burst of hellish flame suddenly reaching forward, but quickly dying out in the mortal air. The Archdevil smiles, his tattered robes down his waist crease as he moves about in the summoning circle. His torso is filled with what almost look like burning, glowing tatoos, but on closer inspection, reveal they are old scars of branding.

"Now then. You have called rather loudly. You have my attention, young man." The Archdevil smiles and brings his hands forward. "You wish to be taught magic? That is easy enough as long as your side of the bargain is upheld." The devil gestures the apprentice to sit down, and tying his hair behind his back, he gives his teachings of the arcane and assists the young apprentice in his quest.

----
Once the lesson is over, Kataek will simply smile and says with a voice of the Hells: "So... tell me, is it all that you wanted? Don't you think you have been rushing this? Indeed, you have now more power, but it will not guarantee the girl would change her mind. I was once a mortal, even if that goes back an age, and in my experience, women often offer excuses that they believe won't hurt the one... on the receiving end."

The Archdevil smiles and gestures to his side.

"Indeed, would that woman even be worthy of your love? For you have shown your dedication, and your true will. Has she shown anything to you but her passiveness? To be true, I perceive your heart has some doubt on the matter, and while your mind has but one goal it seeks to achieve, admirably so, it seems to me your feelings are clouded." The archdevil pauses. "Instead, I would give you something else. Indeed, you may reach new heights with me, powers that you have never even dreamed of and the ability to reach women, -any- women through your service to me." The devil gestures and smiles, his eyes a piercing gaze as he looks upon the mortal.

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Archdevil action:

Expand Domain by 2 points. (-6 PP)
Answer Summon (Love struck Apprentice)

Wishes: [roll0] (DC: 3)
Corruption: [roll1] (DC: 6)

9 Imps action:

Researching Corruption: [roll2]

1 Imp action:

Draw wards, improved by 1 point. (-2 PP)

[El_Frenchie]

Kataek

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Archdevil action:

Expand Domain by 2 points. (-6 PP)
Answer Summon (Love struck Apprentice)

Wishes: (5d6)[22] (DC: 3)
Corruption: (6d6)[13] (DC: 6)

9 Imps action:

Researching Corruption: (9d6)[26]

1 Imp action:

Draw wards, improved by 1 point. (-2 PP)

Wow, it's official, previewing post was completely dumb. Here's the rolls.

Wishes: (5d6)[22] (DC: 3)
Corruption: (6d6)[13] (DC: 6)

Researching Corruption: (9d6)[26]

[Deathslayer7]

Smilinbg to herself, Liriel decides the mood is too quiet. Snapping her fingers, music starts playing out of thin air.

@all

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theme song

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dvgZkm1xWPE

That's better. Now to answer those summons.

With a little swirl of her skirts, she dissapears in a green flame, leaving her minions to continue digging trenches, building walls, and drawing wards. They know what happens when they disobey, otherwise she is pretty slack with them.

@all

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my version of events if i win the check

Well hello sweet darling. A fine day it is here. She smiles at him, making sure he sees only what he wants to see. Which in fact turns out to be a good generous part of her breasts showing. (I know what your thinking!)

You want me to teach you magic, and yet I wonder why. You can't win a woman's heart with such simple tricks of magic. What you need to do is offer her everything you have. Offer her more than she can imagine, and she will say "yes" ten time over. I offer to take you under my domain. I offer you what very few humans have had before. I offer you power, glory, and magic; to be raised above others as they come to join our cause.

In the end, you may even have the love of your life. What do you say?

Corruption: (5d6)[15] DC: 6

Smiling afterwards, she twirls around and dissapears in engulfing green fire, leaving no trace of her presence there.

[The_Snark]

Anenlel

The soul did not scream. Anenlel had found some time previously that screaming was a form of release: it was something that a bound soul could try to focus on, varying the pitch of scream as the pain increased and decreased in a desperate effort to distract itself from its torment and horror. It was never wholly successful, but it could provide the occasional relief. It took up some of the soul's energy.

Souls under Anenlel were not permitted to scream. Not unless she wished to make an example of them. Like most, this one could no longer speak, not pinned in place across the rack.

Anenlel arose, satisfied that this one's every movement would bring it more pain—and with the metal underneath it rapidly heating, it would hardly be able to avoid moving. A reasonably satisfactory arrangement, given that she couldn't spend all her time attending to the subject personally. One of her imps was waiting at the entrance to the chamber, covered in dust and earth. Its uncleanliness irritated Anenlel, but she would have been more irritated if the imp had cleaned itself before reporting to her. "Speak."

"Mistress, we have completed the fourth chamber."

"Show me." It nodded nervously and led the way; Anenlel was notorious for being harsh with those who did not put as much effort as they could into meeting her standards. Fortunately for the imps, they had been diligent... today. It was not expert work, but the squat iron building was made to her specifications, with no serious flaws.

"Ward the building," she said. "Inscribe two layers of silver tracery about the entrance way. Any vertical entrances are to be layered with circles of forbiddance, oriented downwards. This is to be considered standard procedure on all construction from now on, unless I specify otherwise," she said. The work-imps nodded. "You and you will attend to this now. You will continue construction."

"Mistress," objects the imp, "there's a ravine right past that ridge thataway. We try'n build on that, and the buildings will fall through." Anenlel nods, taking the information into account. "You will begin construction nonetheless. I will attend to the difficulties." She moves away, unseen feet producing footsteps like the clicking of metal on metal, and leaves the squat, sprawling building, which already encompassed four chambers aboveground and four below (only two fully ready for use, unfortunately).

She raises ebon arms, staring at the ruddy brown dirt of the ridge the imp had described. The ground begins to roil and twist, splitting open as if torn at by some cruel, unseen claw; inside, the new ravine is clearly lined with black rock and metal that wasn't at all the same as what lay there before. It was still unformed, far from perfection, but it had potential. It was another step towards refining the hellscape she had claimed and making it her own vision...

Anenlel turns, and strides back into her iron chambers. Contemplation was a waste of time. She knew what she wanted. She merely needed to calculate the best way to achieve it.

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First action- torture a soul; 8 power gained. Two imps have been ordered to construct wards, and a third ordered to build defenses. Anenlel's second action is to spend 2 points expanding her realm by 1.

Seven imps and one archdevil action remaining. Still have 10 power.

[puppyavenger]

In a dark flooded cavern complex in a remote part of hell, an intelligence waited. It knew that a larger dominion was needed, in order to gain more souls. So it exerted a large amount of its power. Suddenly, the complex was pushed further and further into the ground, a massive earthquake shaking the surrounding areas as more and more caverns and tunnels opened up or were created in every direction, and were immediately flooded with the same ichor-like, pitch black water that flooded the rest of the domain.

After this it brought its mind to the pathetic being's it had created from the stronger souls, attached to it's very flesh to keep their loyalty. It gave them their commands, and they were quick to follow. 2 left and began to cause minor illusions in the water near the souls. slowly but surely driving them mad. One, empowered by the Being, began to scribe rune and shapes into the cavern walls, guarding them against intruders ad spies. the remaining six came back to the deepest part of the caverns, where the Being resided, and fell limp, as their intelligence was temporarily subsumed back into the Being.

It sought a way to increase it's power, giving it a way to control the horrific beings of the deep ad curse those who would oppose it.

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2 imps torture souls
(2d6)[8]
checking result before rolling for other actions
which are,
1 imp rites wards (2 pp)
increase domain size by 1 (2pp)
and six imps plus archdevil research corruption
10d6+4 and I might invest power after torture roll.
1 archdevil action and 1 imp action remaining, plus 6 pp before torture roll and possible investment.

[puppyavenger]

uugh, lets try again
torture roll
(1d6)[2]
(1d6)[1]

how do you roll ore than 1 die at once but see each result?

[puppyavenger]

so research

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corruption
2 pp invested
(10d6+6)[37]
5 pp left
1 archdevil move left
1 imp move left
domain 2
wards 1
defense 0
souls 10

[Emperor Demonking]

Steith looked at four of his imps. They were the worse at stealing and as such he sent them to work on a lesser job. They were tasked with creating wards in order to protect his domain from thieves.

Steith heard the call but decided not to take it. After all he had better things to do.

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4 imps creating wards.
PP =0

[El_Frenchie]

Kataek

Failing to answer the call for a summon, Kataek paces in his domain.

"Well, no matter... let us bide our time, Kataek, there's plenty of other mortals out there."

Kataek will immediately answer the next summoning call.

((I was summoned!))

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Dice Roll

[Celebrochan]

The voice of Shardon filled it's domain, an echo of an echo of nothing. Its mind reached towards the summons… a soul calling out for corruption… but it was too late… some other creature of darkness had been called. There would be more summons and Shardon knew that it would not be long before its voice joined the symphony of self doubt and madness in the mortal realm.

Shardon’s minions… imps as black as night circled the Great void. They heard Shardon’s song and joined in when they could creating a silent chorus of keening banshees. The song thickened the void, making it a tangible wall against the other forces of hell.

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Power: 3
Follower actions: 0
Archfiend actions: 1

Two imps are improving defense -4 PP (2 defense total)
Two imps are inscribing wards -4 PP (2 wards total)
Two imps are torturing poor lost souls (5, 2 = 3 power total)
Two imps are researching shadow (2,2)
Two imps are researching corruption (3,4)

Shardon’s actions
Expand the size of his domain -2 PP
Research shadow (4,6,5,3)

Total Research
Shadow: 22
Corruption: 7

Let me know if I made any mistakes. Thanks!

[Emperor Demonking]

Levmordous.

Steith sent his demons at Levmordous telling them to strike together. He kept one in reserve just in case their was a problem that he needed to solve. Two of his imps were sent to gather souls while three were sent to get the imps to chose a better leader.

Steal souls:
(1d6)[4]
(1d6)[2]
Bribe:
(1d6)[6]
(1d6)[5]
(1d6)[4]

[Deathslayer7]

Well here are my updated stats.

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4 PP, 2 servants left to command.

Domain Stats:
Size: 2
Defences: 4
Wards: 2
Souls: 10

Servants:
10 Imps

Cultists:1

Research: none

and if i do get the summon, i will corrupt him to become a cultist.

[Eldan]

A single sentence could be heard, thundering over the domains, shaking the earth with it's power, mighty words uttered in a language ancient even by hells standards:
"A'GOL, KHARGAM OGRA ZERGAL DU'UN!"
Then, it dropped to a low level, a barely audible whisper in the wind.
"Does this stuff even mean anything? It sounds like the mages just make this stuff up as they go along..."
"Stop that! He told us not to read it, just steal the grimoire."
"Oh, come on. It's not like anything will happen. I have no magical power whatsover, you know that."

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The Two Thieves
This task can only be completed by an archdevil. When summoned, he as two choices:
a) Try to corrupt the two thieves. This will be very hard and therefore need a corruption check against DC 13.
b) Fight the thieves, slay them and take the magical items they stole. This requires a combat check against the combat checks of the thieves, which together have a combat strenght of 3. (So they will roll 3d6). This either gives a research bonus of +7 to one of the essences (You don't know which one) or an instant bonus of 5 power points, archdevils choice.

[Feirgon]

Dystor smiled. The imps nearby fled in terror and hid, his smiles brought only forboding and doom to those around him. Fire licked out frome the corners of his mouth and smoke billowed from his nostrils; he was going to the mortal realm.

Heading the calling, Dystor pointed at two quivering imps.

Wards. Defence.

If he was going to leave his realm, he was not going to leave it unprotected.

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Archfiend actions:
Attempt to answer summoning.

Imp actions:
Increase wards by 1
Increase defence by 1

Remaining:
6 Imp actions
1 Power Point

[puppyavenger]

In the dark cavern the Being heard a call from beyond. A great current began, creating a sweeping vortex reaching deeper and deeper in till it touched the bottom. A strange humanoid creature with it's lower body replaced by a tentacle burst forth, dragging water along with it.

In the library the thieves were in, a small portion of the floor began twisting downwards into a whirlpool, beginning to spin, than gaining speed and becoming more liquid. in a few moments the whirling floor became the same material as the Beings domain was filled with, and the avatar burst out of thew water. It looked somewhat like a green Naga.

A deeply disturbing though began to form in the thieves minds, becoming a completely alien voice inside their head. Why do you resort to such pathetic ploys? You still books from a blind old man, to sell to some merchant so his bookshelf can look better. Serve me, and I can give you the world, imagine it. Power, wealth, glory, maybe even immortality...

(last arch devil action to respond to summons

[Feirgon]

Returning, unsuccesfully, Dystor lets out a roar that shakes his domain.

I want more power!!

Seamingly without orders, two nearby imps simultainously head to the torturing chambers.

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Imp Actions:
Two more sent to torture souls (+5 Power Points)

Remaining:
1 Archfiend action
4 Imp actions
6 Power Point

[Deathslayer7]

Returning from her breif but fun little trip to the human world, Liriel decides its time to rest. So much done in a single day, a woman has got to relax.

PP: 9

Two imps scurry away to do her bidding. After a while, one of them returns holding a goblet. Liriel takes one look at it and smiles. She takes a deep drink, feeling refreshed already.

*Spending 8 PP to increase my stats by 4.

PP:1

*done for my turn. cant do anything else.

[El_Frenchie]

Kataek

Failing to answer the call for a summon, Kataek paces in his domain.

"Well, no matter... let us bide our time, Kataek, there's plenty of other mortals out there."

Kataek will immediately answer the next summoning call.

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Summon Roll and Corruption Roll

[The_Snark]

Anenlel

"Your progress is acceptable. Continue." The imps obey; as per her standing order, they had not ceased their labor for the inspection. The iron complex boasted a third story now, two layers aboveground and one below.

She had found a vertical layout held advantages for her. The souls were held in the lower levels, and prevented from escaping by the wards set into the bottom of every door. The new, topmost layer held the beginnings of a new project: she had ordered her imps to begin constructing iron smelters and the beginnings of forges. The same wards that kept the souls in their designated areas would help keep intruders from the more important areas up top. There was a symmetry about the arrangement that Anenlel approved of.

She descended into the lowest chambers, where the only sounds were the clinking of chains as souls writhed in silence, unable to scream. Two of the imps oversaw the business, prodding gleefully with cruel needles at any soul that looked as if exhaustion had overcome pain. The imps were sadly all but useless in this business, and she used them only to ensure that the souls had no chance to relax and recover. Constant, low-grade pain, punctuated by episodes in which she personally attended the souls: this was her method, regular as clockwork. It was not yet time, but her practices had left her with an excess of energy.

In the darkness, she bathes in the energy, drawing it into herself. A luxurious investment, maybe... but she had no doubt it would pay off, in time.

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Remaining actions: Expand size of domain again; two imps are sent to torture souls, and the remaining five are assigned to research Metal.

Anenlel uses most of her remaining power to increase her own stats, leaving her with 1 power. Specifically, she's added 3 points to torture, 1 to intelligence, and 1 to wishes.

[Moral Wiz]

Zach

Jakar reappeared outside the Library. Quickly, he scurried within, past Askar, who was painting over some of the old silver lines with some sort of slightly shining paste, that the old artisan made. Magic, obviously.

Jakar skittered a lot along the route. He did not have good news to report. And reporting bad news to a duke is not a good idea.

Soon enough, he found Zach in a central chamber. The imps knew to leave him alone, with his texts, and souls. Five were left in the single room, all looking grey. Dull, semi paralyzed.. A great pool of brightly glowing soul stuff rested next to Zach's current texts on the table, giving the whole room a light blue tint.

Ah. Jakar. Good to see you.

Master... I could not manage to reach the apprentice. There were....

Other dukes. A whole host of Archdevils responded to that summons, I felt the pull even from here. Heh. I know, Jakar. And I do not blame you for this. Our fellows are moving quickly, even into this place, faster than I'd expected. We will not, I fear, be able to expand as easily as I hoped..

Yet perhaps their attention is still on the wrong target....

He mused to himself, before turning back to the imp. He looked down at him with what was supposed to be a beneficent smile. On an archdevil, it was nothing short of incredibly intimidating.

Anyway,forget corrupting individual mortals for a while, little one, I have a new task for you. You are to go and aid the group of your fellows in the lower levels. They are looking into Fire Magic, at my command.

With a thought, the majority of the glowing blue essence of the souls around himflew in the imps direction. Naturally, he jumped, but they simply stayed there. Jakar , slowly, experimentally, started walking arround the room. The power followed him. Zach laughed.

Take this power, Jakar. Use it. Experiment with it. I expect great things from you. A breakthrough before too long, yes?

Oh, and tell Kel'Bath that he's already behind. My current degree of research is complete. This is just... pleasure

One of the immobile souls seemed to shiver.

Anyway, go and work, Jakar. I will... be here. I still have a battle to fight.

The imp jumped at that. He scurried off to find his fellows, knowing what his master intended.

Zach was left, hunched over a few more fragments of soul stuff. Slowly, using low level telepathy (A legacy of the Ebon Tower) he slowly began to draw with it, move it shape it, get it to move more and more freely at his command

Now, for the difficult part.

With a single jolt, the power burst into the ArchDevil's mind, like a tsunami breaking across a dam.

At once, it met resistance that would have killed a mortal. A powerful mystic block, one of stronger magic. Zach could all but see the runes, such was their strength. The power itself began to turn on it's master, causing Zach to cry out and fall to the ground.

So tempting to try and fight...

No. Use the pain. Focus it within, upon your own mind.

It was hard. It was taxing. But it always would be. And it was a battle he could win. Slowly, the pulse of the power quietened, as Zach's prestigious mind began to flow ever more freely, quickly, with the strength approaching it's former self.

And such is our salvation

The Archdevil laughed heartily to himself, the harsh sound ringing thru the library.

Spoiler

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spend 2 power to increase int to 5.

1 power remaining.

[Emperor Demonking]

Steif

Stief was glad at the progress his imps had made. Thoughb they did not get as much stealing as he was used to his wards were their making his almost invulnerrable to the thieves of others and his imp thieves did well.

Spoiler

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Power: 0
Souls: 10 + (2 stolen from Lev)
Imps: 10 + (? stolen from Lev?)
Wards: 4
Domain: 2

1 imp, two archdevil