Lords of Creation in the Playground: Verse 2

[Jeriah]

Grace, a flawless elf with perfect white skin, so pale if she sat in snow she would vanish and garbed in gray robes, went to Teera. My Master requests that you see him, oh Mage Queen.

"Does he now? And why, pray tell, should I answer such a summons? Perhaps he has forgotten his manners in his long seclusion. You may inform him that he may meet with me if he so chooses, but I am no slave who serves at his every beck and call. I have certain... tasks that I... well, that is none of your business. Inform your master of my location and bid him seek me if he is so inclined.

I must admit though, I am intrigued by his interest and look forward to a meeting with him."

[Rizban]

Haradi Citadel

The Emissary of Sand steps forward.

"All sands are Klik'chak's, just as all undead are Eul's. Age isn't the issue.

You should know well that we care little for this dwarven city, whether it stand or falls. The Chosen were placed here to prevent the alien Neogi from over flowing from within to pollute the world with their foul nature.

It seems to me, that if you had really cared for them, you would have arrived when this conflict started, several centuries ago. As it stands now, a delicate balance has been achieved within between the two forces, and we are not about to allow an outside force disrupt that and potentially release the taint from the Insanity Beyond into this world.

Go back and rot in the Dead Wastes, there is no cause for your presence here. You might also want to unblock the sun when you leave, as Elimanishon can be quite... fiery in wrath when his glory is impeded on so large a scale."

[String]

*Dis*

Crikkeshh stewed for a moment, before speaking to the fly-headed Solar.

"My Lord, great and illustrious Baalzebul, I have a humble request to make unto you. I beg your forgiveness." Crikkeshh paused. It wasn't technically a lie. If Baalzebul got pissed off, this could turn rather bad for the Herald. "I have lied to Lady Zariel. I came here with the intent of lying to you, of telling you the same story I told the Lady, but now I see that lying to you would be folly, as you would not be fooled." Once again, not a lie, but not entirely sincere in reasoning. This, Crikkeshh hoped, was par for the course when in Baator. He continued, "My Master, the Storm God, has grown weak. He has sensed a growing threat to himself, and is growing worried. I feel it is only a matter of time before he seeks allies to aid him. Unfortunately, I cannot imagine my Lord asking such beings of Law to protect him, and he does not know where his allies lie amongst the gods, so he will not trust them." And still, more half-truths that were completely letter-true, yet structured favorably to Crikkeshh. "I believe he will side with the demons, in his fear." Pure Conjecture. Crikkeshh grew in size impressively. "Great and powerful Lord of Lies, my master will fail in all that he is to side with these brutes in his fear. I ask you to cut the problem at the source. Show not only my master, but the world that the Tan'ari are nothing compared to Baazetu. I ask you, Lord of Lies, to battle the Demons."

Crikkeshh waited for a reply. Almost everything he had said was true, and yet he had kept his own ulterior motives hidden. He would assume that the Lord would know that he was not completely forthright, but was confident that his request and explanation were sufficiently truthful.

[Shmee]

Amensi

The Emissary of Sand approaches Vincent.
"I'm not certain why, or how, you would come here, but you do realize you aren't able to leave now, right? Congratulations. You're Dead.

Klik'chak's out wandering in the Void at the moment, and I have duties to attend to in the mortal world. I do apologize for the inconvenience, but crossing through that portal just destroyed your body. If you want to leave, you'll have to wade through the bureaucracy, and the dead citizens of the Theocracy have joined with us and had centuries to perfect their methods. Believe me when I say that you'll be here awhile. Good luck."

The Emissary points back towards the line of souls waiting to work their way through the Eternal Bureaucracy to enter the True Afterlife. As Vincent turns to look where he is pointing, the Emissary vanishes, joining the army of the Chosen outside the Haradi Citadel.

Vincent shakes his head and gives out a sigh

"Seems that anything being convinent is asking for too much... well this is another fine mess I've been brought into... thank you my Lady."

With that he steps into the line of the souls who are waiting thier turn. He gives a grin as he wonders how fat his book of deeds are. He starts waving at diffrent souls as he recognizes a lot of them, since he was the one who brought a lot of them here in the first place.

Cornu Copiae, the Labratories

Professor Von Blake, the absent minded professor and master alchemist looked at his experiments as he accidently places his glasses on his ear, and his pencil on his nose.

"Ja...ja.. das ist going gut!" He exclaims as he looks at this new metalic substance which the Theocratic navy had handed over for research. Through diffrent experiments and mixing it with various substances, including the sacred goddess' blood with purifying powers, this weird rock was starting to react violently as it started to shift colors.

"... very intresting indeed" mutters the professor to himself, as he picks up the stone.

"Now den... if mein theory ist correct..." he places the stone onto a peice of iron, turning it to gold.

"Nein nein nein! Dis won't do at all! What gout is dis gold when dere is so much hunger in da world! Dis stupid zing was supposed to turn iron into bread! Ach! Another failure!" he yells as he throws the stone onto the table.

To make things worst, ever since this new ore was brought, the professor has been having weird dreams, untill a few days ago, the creatures of his dreams suddenly walked out of a portal as he had fallen asleep in his lab. These little creatures were no bigger than an apple, yet they had an incredible appetite for mischeif. With huge ears and round eyes, these creatures loved to cause mayhem and destroy all of the professor's equipment. They also had an uncanny ability to teleport themselves at will in short ranges, making them impossible to catch. At first he had kept them because they were so cute, but now they were starting to get irritating. One of those little creatures squeals out

"Yahahahahaha! The professor screwed up again!"

"Right! Dast ist it! No more! You Gremlins! Leave from zis place at once!" and grabbing a broom, he chases the little critters out of his lab. Of course the creatures being released into Cornu Copiae started to cause mischeif there as well. However, tripping people and stomping on thier prized tulips was only fun for a little while. They wanted to do something more mischevious. They had to settle to sabotaging Theocratic ships, but that too prooved booring eventualy because with the ocean, the sailors had good chances of surviving. They wanted something greater.

Eventualy the Gremlins managed to bring themselves into the Va'Tari Empire, thanks to smugglers, who secretly ran these operations despite the Theocratic embargo placed on the Empire. All of a sudden, the Gremlins see the infernal airships

"OOOOO! I bet we can cause a lot of mischeif on one of those!"

"Hihihihihihi! I bet that I can cause more mischeif than you can!"

"You're on!"

Following that day, several Infernal Airships started to experiance inexplicable technical issues which caused many to crash land. No one could explain the reasons for these failures, and that is how the myth of the Gremlins were born.

Meanwhile back in the laboratories, Von Blake hears the maid yell out

"Professor! Tea time!"

"Ach! Yez yez yez! Um, two lumps of milk und a cloud of sugar pleaze!" He yells as he accidently knocks the stone to the floor. Later on the maid comes in and sweeping the floor throws away the stone into the garbage can. Thus the myth of the Philosopher's Stone was born.

Off the Dal'Cory Islands

The Captain sneers as she sees the Storm Riders ships on the horizon.

"Ok boys, raise up the flag to announce that we wish to negotiate with them."

"Aye Captain!" Yells one of the pirates as he rushes off to obey her commands

"Prepare your weapons lads! We'll hit them when they least expect it..."

She gives off an evil grin as her flag ship raises the signal that they wish to negotiate with the Storm Riders. Those fools will never know what hit them.

[Draken]

Haras

Large scale? Hardly, just a few pockets of the darkness spell above the most important barracks, the Deadborn and the Nightshades hated the light in the end, the rest didn't care any.

Our army had issues. Both to organize and to arrive, Eul guided us to come many ages ago, but we couldn't arrive en masse until now.

But for sense's sake. theri scouts have been around forever. Heck, there are undead inside.

Now stand aside. Just because you are too cowardly and weak to face this enemy and vanquish it, it does not mean we will allow them to spread any more than they already did.

They are Neogi. They have space ships.

Saaira waves one of her hand, and the sands erupt as a skeletal human, riding a massive, corpse-like purple worm appears.

Saaira and the rider exchange a few words in Necran, the only discernible terms being, most likely, their names, Saaira No'Aldar and Albert Vandegard.

--------

Palace of Baalzebul.

Zariel was not impressed that his speech had changed entirely.

Baalzebul was not impressed at all with the elemental's performance.

We plan and prepare for battle as we speak. We are baatezu, when warring for ourselves, we select the field, we determine the outcome, we stand victorious.

Yes, yes, of course. Now little thing. It is stamped in your voice that you wish something else, come on, speak, here in the nine hells we are traders, first and foremost, ask and it shall be granted, if you pay our price, that is.

[Rizban]

Haradi Citadel

"Issues indeed if it takes over a thousand years for the god of undead's own undead minions to even begin to follower his orders. No mortal need fear the wrath of Eul, for even his children's children will be dead of old age before Eul's minions have even started to try to think about planning to get around to doing his will. And they say Xiua'hi is a slow mover.

Regardless, destroying the Neogi would be great, and I would gladly allow you to do so; however, I know full well that allowing you to take such a stronghold for your own would be rather foolish."

After waiting patiently for the rider on the undead purple worm to finish his conversation, the Emissary of Sand simply sighed.

"I had planned to keep them in reserve until needed, but..."

With a motion of his hand, several large worms burst forth from the ground with riders mounted on their backs. In flanking positions to either side of the undead army, more of these ashworm dragoon burst forth along with the several of the significantly larger dunewinders.

"After your god introduced those purple worms, it inspired Klik'chak to create similar creatures and have mortals tame and train them. You see before you the final product of that plan."

(AP 0 = 0 + 4(from pantheon) - 2(Create Populace: Worms(ashworm, dunewinder, fiendwurm, frost worm)) - 2(Create Organization: Ashworm Dragoons))

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Yeah, I actually thought I had done this sooner, but I went back and realized that I never actually got around to doing it. It's done now though.

[Copacetic]

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"Does he now? And why, pray tell, should I answer such a summons? Perhaps he has forgotten his manners in his long seclusion. You may inform him that he may meet with me if he so chooses, but I am no slave who serves at his every beck and call. I have certain... tasks that I... well, that is none of your business. Inform your master of my location and bid him seek me if he is so inclined.

I must admit though, I am intrigued by his interest and look forward to a meeting with him."

Grace, Herald of Dla, The Void
Grace stuttered I...I shall tell him. And with that, she floats back off(through? In between) the planes until she arrives at Aerashin, where Dla was contemplating a tempest. The swirling dust and air inspired him. He tore a piece of the storm of and, and rubbed it between his fingers, shredding it into many miniscule pieces. They fell(Ascended? Floated?) to the Playground, where they seperated themselves into Air, Dust and Ice mephits. And with that, he declared himself king of the skies.

Dla was genuinely amused by Teera's message. Very Well, I shall speak to her myself. And Dla floated(Drifted? Glided?) off to the void. Hail, Teera. I see you have been most rude to my herald. But that is a trivial matter. I was wondering whethear or not you had time to listen to an idea of mine?


((AP= 22- 2(Create Populace(Mephits) -2 (Gain Domain, Air. Actions: Create Mephits, Creat flying elves, Fertilise flying cloud))= 18 AP))

[Draken]

Haras

Brash. Sir Vandegard, keep on with your duties.

The death knight dived again, t unseen depths.

By all means, keep this stalemate. We are not moving from this place, and for now at least, we have orders not to do anything to your... People.

No, not until the night. The undead don't go marauding and losing hundreds for no reason, no, no, they are brothers and sisters, all of them, the undead grow because they avoid losses.

And raise the enemy.

But mainly because they avoid unnecessary losses.

Eul is actually quite nice to his followers.

[Maerok]

Akkade

The herald nodded and proceeded to meet with Asherah. "My lord has sent me to broker a possible alliance. He hears from other divinities that you are assembling similar-minded individuals."

[Nefarion Xid]

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Xiua’hi: The Opera

Xiua’hi simply nods, a smile curling at the edge of his mouth, simply handing a very inctritly carved gothic style cathedral from his robes and handing it to Lossither, not speaking until intermission.

“I am an agent of balance, Esteemed Nephew. Someone somewhere will not care for what I do, when ever I do it. I am more then prepared to deal with the outcome. It is how I have always done it, and I can not change what I am. As to what I am getting after. A small strike of the anvil of war, before it comes to us.

A…monestary where the old gods are yet revered for their glory in battle, combat, and wisdom. A Holy Order, so to speak. I simply came to see your new home and children, and ask for your assistance in creating such a…following. Your tenacity and glory in battle, and the wisdom that has come from the ages of strife, grief and love. Togather with several others, it would serve as you and I served against the Invader, a united front standing before the abominations from without, before they ever arrive."

*Celonechor: Opera House (Intermission)*

"Yes well...make sure they get my good side for the murals. Once you have some specifics, I entreat you to return and share them with me. If you seek my advise, I have none. If you seek my permission, you have it. And if you seek a donation of divine essence for your works - I am not interested."

"Now, I believe my son has come to speak with me and I should like to meet with him before the program resumes. The aria was heart breaking, wasn't it? Ahem...you may continue to watch he performance from Box 5 if you wish...it's always left empty for some reason." He waves at an attendant and signals for Khakom to be brought to him, but not before bidding his uncle adieu with a polite bow.

[Shmee]

Amensi, Vincent

"Abyss take you! My name is VINCENT, thats V...I...C...E...N...T!" Yells the strange man to the beurocrat, as he waves his papers around

"Sir, yelling will get you no-where. It will only cause you to get stressed out and stress the workers here, and we here in Amensi, we try to keep our workers as stress free as possible!"

"Then bloody tell me how it makes a diffrence if I've gotten the aqua form, rather than the navy blue form!"

"Sir, what you are seeking dosn't require the blue form, but Turquoise form, which you should go down to floor -281 room F82 and seek the Magenta form."

"Aw common! I recognize you! You used to be a scribe for the Theocracy! How can you do this to the.... urm.... once living Word of your goddess!"

"Sorry sir, but here you lose all position and prestige which you may have possessed while alive. I am now bound to serve the Amensi Bureaucracy by showing them how things were done in the Theocracy>"

"So wait, you mean that a lot of the red tape is based on the Theocratic model?"

"Why yes indeed sir!"

Vincent leans over the desk as he grins towards the bureaucrat and hisses

"You wouldn't happen to know if Plaid Form No. 88 Sub-Form G was introduced to this system?"

The bureaucrat goes pale and starts to sweat as he knows full well what Plaid Form No. 88 Sub-Form G meant, but he couldn't lie

"......yes......."

Moving away from the desk Vincent says

"Excellent!" as he walks away to get that form. Back in the Theocracy Plaid FOrm No. 88 Sub-Form G was by far the most sought out form in the entire Theocratic system. It was the form permitting for bodily harm upon any civil servant. Vincent himself had helped people fill out this form back in Cornu Copiae, and he had filled several of those for himself, untill it became almost second nature.

A few days later, which is very quick in comparison with everything else, Vincent hands in the Plaid form to the bureaucrat

"Everything in order?" he asks

"Yes... its acceptable."

"Goooooood..." replies Vincent with a smile, untill it is suddenly turned into a scowl as he grabs the Plaid Form from the bureaucrat's hands and with one hand grabs his throat and proceeds to shove the paper into the bureaucrat's mouth, trying to force him to eat it.

"Right then... now perhaps we can get somewhere!" He yells as he grabs the bureaucrat, still trying to spit out the paper from his mouth, by the leg and drags him down the hallway. Looking down a very long flight of steps, so long that the bottom cannot be seen, Vincent with one hand dangles the bureaucrat from his leg on top of the void, threatening to send him crashing down.

"Now then, I want answers, and I want them NOW!" He yellls

"Mmmmhhhhmmm, mrrmmmmmmfff!"

"Tell me, how exactly can I see Klik'chak?"

"MMMRRRPFFFF! MMMMRRRRVVVVFFFF!"

"Oh for the love of Amalthea! Just swallow your paper you idiot!"

The bureaucrat takes a moment to swallow the paper before he yells back

"Sir! Please! We make these regulations to ensure that everyone regardless of race, sex, religion or alignement can have an equal chance in getting their buisness done!"

Vincent growls back

"Listen you Abyss-spawned freak! I will let you drop down to the bottom of where ever these stairs lead to. And then I will run down the stairs... oh yes I will... and then I WILL DRAG YOU FOOT FIRST ALL THE WAY BACK UP HERE SO I CAN DROP YOU DOWN AGAIN!"

To proove his point, Vincent slightly releases his grip momentarily just to show who is in charge of the situation.

Cornu Copiae, Ho.W.Da.T.Co. Headquarters

With orders of the Priest-King, Elril had used his abilities to walk unnoticed into the Company's headquarters to find incriminating evidence against the company. He had managed to sneak his way into the building using his rather special abilities untill he found what he wanted. A file full of transactions between pirates and where each attack was aimed at. However Elril knew that he couldn't present this evidence to court, so he would need witnesses. And seeing the latest transaction between the Company and the Grinning Skull Pirates, he knew exactly where to go next.

Elysion, Heaven's Citadel

Back in Elysion, Amalthea was desperatly trying to regain contact with Vincent. However since he had left to find Klik'chak, thier link had been cut off, and there was nothing she could do about it. This has left her feeling alone and very vulnerable, and she did not like this feeling. But what could she do? The last thing she knew about Vincent's movement was that he had said that he would go to Amensi to find Klik'chak. Since then nothing.

Perhaps if she could contact someone in Amensi, she would be able to find out what happened to Vincent. She starts to focus her thoughts untill she makes a startling discovery. Klik'chak was in the void, not in Amensi. Once again Vincent had gone straight in without giving any second thought to just about anything.

"Luck really does favor the fools..." she says to herself, since with Klik'chak out of Amensi, she could contact him through a diffrent channel. She calls to one of her handmaidens, known to mortals as Throne Angels, whose duty it is to ensure that her every need is met. Its a comfort that the angels had insisted on, and yet another form of contact with others that Amalthea was not used to.

"Yes my Lady?" the Throne angel asks

"Please, go to the void, and give Lord Klik'chak this following message..."

"Very well my Lady" says the angel as it leaves for the void.

Once again, Amalthea would have to find a way to get Vincent out of trouble.

The Void

As Klik'chak is minding his own buisness, all of a sudden, the Throne angel appears infront of him, in its true form. It bows low infront of Klik'chak and says.

"Lord Klik'chak, I have been sent here on behalf of the Lady Amalthea, Mother of Elysion. She wishes to inform you that her servent, Lord Vincent went to seek an audience with you in Amensi. However since that time the Lady Amalthea has been unable to contact him. This has caused her great amount of anguish, and the sacred goddess pleads that you help her, since Amensi is your realm."

With that the angel bows again and says

"A thousand pardons for disturbing you Lord Klik'chak"

and having completed its duty, the angel returned to Elysion.

[Innis Cabal]

Xiua'hi: The Opera

Xiua’hi simply smiles, fading into the shadows

“No Esteemed Nephew. I have all that I require. Enjoy your opera. Do not be a stranger”

And with that, the Earth Lord was gone. Appearing silently without warning at the Grand Game board.

“I have some time. I am sure he will not begrudge me a…change of wardrobe.”

The Ages had not been kind to the Earth Lords physical form. While a god, he eroded silently, only his true divine core remaining whole. The facades, the appearances to the mortal world, they could only hid the truth for so long. The Earth Lord was aging. Unlike so many gods who had truly changed their form, their features, evolved in every sense of the word, Xiua’hi had only changed what any mortal would call skin. And for the first time since his very creation, the “mask” slipped away, leaving a single perfectly round earthen orb, marked by runes and cuts deep to the center of his being.

But the form was finished, as was the time of waiting. And to herald forth the final step to his plans, his form began to shift. His body began to grow thinner, two pair of arms sprouting from his sides, his flesh taking on the color of well baked clay, his typical robes falling away, a simple Hakama of the darkest purple covering his legs and waist, his feet bare.

And in his new form, the Earth Lord reached out into the minds of his followers, a sign of his holy symbol shattering, a large four armed scale taking its place. And in the minds of those truly devout, there was a whisper.

“Move here”

And the mountains near the frozen regions of Ramua opened wide in the minds of all. And so the Exodus of the Night Lord began, and once their, they found a large and expansive gothic style cathedral, a large stone written in Elven “Here shall be the Order of the Shattered Lexicon. Prosper.”

And with the first step complete, he faded from his real once more, appearing in the storm wracked land of his second son.

(Evolve Physically -3, Guide Populous -2, Create Organization( The Order of the Shattered Lexicon-and Lexicons Keeper PrC= 3+2=5-9=4+2-2 from pantheon=4)

[Vadin]

Caina felt the slightest essence of her divinity escaping her, but she was too busy to notice. It was the longest day of her father's season, and those Destrans who were able, all between the ages of 15 and 60, had returned to Or'teha with their kills.

Yes, this would be a good year...

**An airship above the Holy Theocracy**

"Yesyesyes! Ahahahaha!" Laughed the little gremlin. "This is gonna be so funny!"

"It'd be funnier if you used paint instead of water in that bucket," said the captain.

"AHH! WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?" shouted the gremlin, just now taking notice of the stealthy airship captain.

He answered, "Nothing much, just admiring some of your handiwork. First you switched out all out sugar with salt- pretty funny. Then you replaced my spell components with some other stuff so that my scrying pool would only show ugly people bathing. Absolutely hilarious. Now this. You've got talent, little gremlin."

"But- but- wait...what?"

"You know, messing stuff up is easy. Anybody can throw a rock and break a window, yeah? But what about unbreaking a window? You think you could do that?"

The gremlin proudly proclaimed, "Yeah I could! I can unbreak all kinds of stuff!"

The captain smiled and issued his challenge: "All right then. Tell you what, if you can unbreak all the boards that make up this ariship and unbreak the scratched runes inbetween the inner and outer hulls, I'll let you walk around the ship freely. You can eat with the rest of us and sleep in a nice mattres, eh? How does that sound?"

"Ooooh! And niidro soup? Can I have some niidro soup?"

"If it's for dinner, sure!"

"Eeeeee!" And the little gremlin scampered off to unbreak the boards and runes.

The skipper came in and spoke, "Umm...captain? I thought only the acolytes of the forged could repair runes?"

The captain's grin widened. "You know that, and I know that, but that little bugger ain't got a bloomin' clue. Half my share at next docking says he gives up tomorrow."

"I'll take that bet, cap."

**Later, upon return to the Grin**

"I believe you said something about half your take, captain?"

"Best bet I ever lost. I'll never sail without a merglin, that's for sure..."

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2 AP = 3 AP - 1 AP (Create Subrace: Merglins)

Merglins are a subrace of chaotic good gremlins that repair airships in exchange for equal treatment and the luxury of walking about airships in the open with no need to hide. Of course, if they don't get nice treatment, or they see what would be defined as 'evil' or something really sick, they'll still mess it up like any normal gremlin.

[Copacetic]

Grace, Herald to Dla, Aerashin


THe swirling crashng vortex of stroms greets the Earth Lord. But as soon as they appear, the storms fade away to be replaced by rolling clouds, and drizzling rain. A tall, well built elven women with pale wngs sprouting from her back and paler skin approaches Xiau'hi. Hail, Oh Mighty Xiua'hi. If you wish to speak with the Twisting Gale, he has unfortately left hs home to deal with very important business. But he left me here as a conduit, so that you may communicate with him. Clearing her throat, Grace pulled a a long scroll from wthin her robe and begins to speak.

Praise be to the ever-present Xuia'hi, Lord of Stone. Business requires that I be away, so I left my servant with this scroll in the hopes I could relay a message to you. I have called you here, because I value your judgement and wisdom. A thought occured to me, as I was contemplating in my home: Varr and his ilk are just the beginning of what we shall face. Ww need to be ready, tobe united, and to stand firm agaisn't such a threat. Therefore, I ask that you be ready and willing to serve the Playground by helping me lead the other gods into a firm allaince. NOt all will join, and many will see this as a threat to there power, but I ask you help none-the-less.

And in the Void, Dla found power in weaving the words into his speech to his father. Such wordplay amused him.

((Ap= 18- 3(Raise DR. Total=10) =15 AP.))

[Innis Cabal]

Xiua’hi simply smiles, crossing his arms. Such words, truly his children were to like him. No matter of course. He was proud of them all in his own, strange way. He then strode to the elf, placing a single hand on her shoulder

“Little One. Blessed are you who stand present for your Father. Perhaps we could speak in confidence? I will speak with my son in person, as I have things to ask of him myself.”

[String]

*Celonechor, the Opera*

Khakom entered and nodded politely to his father before embracing him. His face was wrought with worry, though.

"Father," he began, "I am uneasy. A great storm brews somewhere, distracting me. I cannot find it on the material plane, and that is also concerning. My Herald, Crikkeshh, has become increasingly belligerent, and yet I feel the time may come when I am in such danger as his aid may be neccesary, and yet I cannot find him! His storm is overcome by the elusive one. I feel I may be in danger, like someone or something of great power clouds my sight. And so, I sought to find Coberal for her aid in creating a weapon. Do you know where she resides? I must seek her out, and prepare myself for battle. I had thought that I may have an ally in Yam, who owes me a favor, but he seems to have faded..." Khakom made a frustrated noise and slammed his hand against the archway, shattering a fist-sized chunk of rock. "Father, tell me what to do! I cannot focus, I cannot contain myself! I find myself lost in a storm I cannot control!"

*Dal'cory Islands, the Maelstrom*
The storm intensified, as though spurred on by Khakom himself. As the rain lashed at the skin of the Storm Riders, Nog shouted into Davin's ear, his voice still almost drowned out, "Captain! There are ten ships out there, each almost the size of the Maelstrom! They're flying truce colors! They wish to negotiate, it seems!"

Davin Rhoam pulled Nog in close, and yelled back, "Tell Cian to pull us alongside, and then tell the crew to ready themselves for treachery! No one attacks until I do! Understand?!"
"Aye, Captain!" Nog answered before running off to do his duty.

...

As the flagship of the Grinning Skull's and the Maelstrom pulled alongside each other, the Maelstrom lowered a plank across. Davin, still wearing his heavy coat around his shoulders over his bare chest, walked across slowly, his steely eyes standing out through the driving wind and rain, his face smiling through his scraggly beard. Upon reaching the ship, he spoke loudly.

"I am Captain Davin Rhoam, Admiral of the Storm Rider Privateer Fleet! I am here to negotiate."

*Dis*

Crikkeshh knew at that moment that he was completely out of his depth. He floundered for time, and yet still fought to keep his dignity. With a voice that was almost haughty, he spoke.

"What I seek, Baalzebul, is respect, power, and to see Khakom fall. I see now that I will never find it among the Baatezu. Fight the Demons as you will, and lord yourself over your fiery prison. I am a being of chaos and destruction incarnate, and I swear by all the beings divine, I shall see you fall from your great height. I shall see the great and glorious Baalzebul, Lord of Lies, fall until you are nothing but a maggot, a worm or a slug in the eyes of your peers." He whirled around to Zariel and assumed his full height, "And you, Lady Zariel...enjoy your reign, and your bloodshed. Seeds are sown."

Crikkeshh flew with the speed of lightning, away from the two Archdevils, and towards the place he had met Bel. As he arrived, he stopped and spoke only a few words.

"Great General Bel...your Mistress is both a fool and a liability..I do hope her judgement is sufficient to save your armies from destruction. Call upon me if you ever wish..." and with that, Crikkeshh fled again, first to the River Styx, and then to the Celonechor, where he raged and stormed his frustration, hurt pride and fear away.


[[Sorry for the abrubtness. Really nothing more Crikkeshh can do here. He's not the sort to enter into pacts]]

[Draken]

Palace of Baalzebul

I certainly don't like him very much.

Pretentious, brash, I don't give him too long.

I don't give these two too long either. The reckoning is scheduled for the end of the year, really.

Bel just watches the elemental go, call upon him, perhaps, but unlikely. Bel wouldn't rely on a wild card if his life hanged on it.

[Nefarion Xid]

*Opera*

Lossthir embraces his son once again. "You worry overmuch. Be reasonable? None will stand against your fathers might, let alone face his wrath by attacking his family. Your sisters will aid you, I will aid you...and you may dwell in Celonechor as long as you like. But...I suggest you tread lightly all the same. Best not to invite undue trouble?"

He folds his arms and ponders. "As for your herald...you should just strike him down. I wouldn't tolerate such blatant insubordination from something that's supposed to be your servant. You can always make another!"

He removes the silver bangle from his left wrist and profers it over. "Here, take the Cloudtool with you for now. I'll be needing it back before too long...but this will serve to give you piece of mind when you walk abroad. Until you can track down Coberal to forge you a suitable weapon. I do not where she's gotten off to..."

A nearby attendant had begun trembling at the mention of striking down people for not obeying orders. "Oh not YOU...I like you!"

[String]

*Celonechor, Opera*

Khakom took the gift graciously, and quickly formed it into the shape of a caman. With a shake it was a bracer, and he placed it on his left arm. He furrowed his brows.

"Hmm..I will take your advice about worrying to heart, but I fear that Crikkeshh may have some use yet. I will keep a close eye on him, and hold him at arms length. Thank you, father." He embraced his father once again, and began to leave. "However, I must go. Opera is not for me." He smiled toothily at the trembling attendant and clapped him on the shoulder. "I like you too!" Khakom laughed as he walked off, and summoned Crikkeshh to him as he walked through the halls.

"Crikkeshh, seek out Coberal, tell her I wish to speak with her in person. If she is indisposed, tell her I will send you back with a request." he stated quickly before dismissing his Herald. The Storm elemental muttered a quiet, "As you command, My Lord" as he left.

*Wherever the hell Coberal is*

Crikkeshh sought out the Iron Maiden, to give his message.

[Shmee]

Dal'Cory Islands

Captain Loraatra hears Davin's yell, she grins at just how gullible these fools are.

"Steady lads, we need to closer so that the ballista can be in range, no one do anything untill I say so."

The pirates nod silently at thier captain. They had done this trick several times before. Loraatra yells back to Davin

"I am Captain Loraatra, some of our men have caught the scurvy and are near death!"

Just as soon as they can see the white in thier eyes, they shall hit the Storm Riders with everything they've got. It won't be long now, this plan is perfect, nothing can go wrong... untill a trigger happy crew member let his finger slip on the ballista, just missing the enemy ship, for the Storm Rider's good fortune.

"You... IDIOT!" Yells Loraatra, as she unleashes her scourge on the guy who screwed up. Aw well, no matter, they still had the numerical superiority.

"Grinning Skull Pirates! Attack! Show them no quarter! They are to feed the marine wildlife in a 5 kilometer radius of here!"

And the Grinning Skull Pirates yell out thier war cry as they raise the red flag indicating that they mean to leave none alive.


A little further from there

Unknown to the pirates, a scout mounted on a pegasi lands on Real Admiral Murphy's flag ship, which along with the rest of the Theocratic squadron is hiding behind one of the many islands dotting the region.

"Report!" asks Murphy

"Sir! It seems that the two rival pirate crews are in fact attacking each other!" replies the scout

"Hmmm.... the Grinning Skulls and the Storm Riders... together in one location, how convinent."

"Sir! Should we give the command to set sail? We can kill two birds with one stone!" Replies the first mate.

"No need for that. Let the pirates take care of each other first, then we shall sweep in and clean up what remains. Timing is everything in a battle, don't forget that gentlemen!"

A little further as well

Settling upon a small rock island Elril, advisor to the Preist-King watches as the pirates prepare to attack each other.

"This should proove intresting!"

Amensi

"YOU...SHALL... TALK!" Yells Vincent at the beurocrat still dangling over the void of the stairs as Vincent proceeds to pluck a nose hair out of the beurocrat's nostril.

A nother beurocrat opens the door and starts yelling

"Oh for the love of... will you just get over it and talk already!"

[Jeriah]

Spoiler

Show

Grace, Herald of Dla, The Void
Grace stuttered I...I shall tell him. And with that, she floats back off(through? In between) the planes until she arrives at Aerashin, where Dla was contemplating a tempest. The swirling dust and air inspired him. He tore a piece of the storm of and, and rubbed it between his fingers, shredding it into many miniscule pieces. They fell(Ascended? Floated?) to the Playground, where they seperated themselves into Air, Dust and Ice mephits. And with that, he declared himself king of the skies.

Dla was genuinely amused by Teera's message. Very Well, I shall speak to her myself. And Dla floated(Drifted? Glided?) off to the void. Hail, Teera. I see you have been most rude to my herald. But that is a trivial matter. I was wondering whethear or not you had time to listen to an idea of mine?


((AP= 22- 2(Create Populace(Mephits) -2 (Gain Domain, Air. Actions: Create Mephits, Creat flying elves, Fertilise flying cloud))= 18 AP))

"Rude? Perhaps. Busy? Certainly.

I have little use for underlings who do not offer me something, and I do not often like to be disturbed. I suppose I do have time for your proposal though."

[Rizban]

Spoiler

Show

Haras

Brash. Sir Vandegard, keep on with your duties.

The death knight dived again, t unseen depths.

By all means, keep this stalemate. We are not moving from this place, and for now at least, we have orders not to do anything to your... People.

No, not until the night. The undead don't go marauding and losing hundreds for no reason, no, no, they are brothers and sisters, all of them, the undead grow because they avoid losses.

And raise the enemy.

But mainly because they avoid unnecessary losses.

Eul is actually quite nice to his followers.

Haradi Citadel

The Emissary of Sand merely grins as he waits for the undead to make a move against them.

[hr]

Spoiler

Show

Akkade

The herald nodded and proceeded to meet with Asherah. "My lord has sent me to broker a possible alliance. He hears from other divinities that you are assembling similar-minded individuals."

Akkade

"Indeed, and does he wish to add his power to ours or perhaps he only seeks to use us? Either way, one as prestigious as the Lord of Light is welcomed."

[hr]

Spoiler

Show

Amensi, Vincent

"Abyss take you! My name is VINCENT, thats V...I...C...E...N...T!" Yells the strange man to the beurocrat, as he waves his papers around

"Sir, yelling will get you no-where. It will only cause you to get stressed out and stress the workers here, and we here in Amensi, we try to keep our workers as stress free as possible!"

"Then bloody tell me how it makes a diffrence if I've gotten the aqua form, rather than the navy blue form!"

"Sir, what you are seeking dosn't require the blue form, but Turquoise form, which you should go down to floor -281 room F82 and seek the Magenta form."

"Aw common! I recognize you! You used to be a scribe for the Theocracy! How can you do this to the.... urm.... once living Word of your goddess!"

"Sorry sir, but here you lose all position and prestige which you may have possessed while alive. I am now bound to serve the Amensi Bureaucracy by showing them how things were done in the Theocracy>"

"So wait, you mean that a lot of the red tape is based on the Theocratic model?"

"Why yes indeed sir!"

Vincent leans over the desk as he grins towards the bureaucrat and hisses

"You wouldn't happen to know if Plaid Form No. 88 Sub-Form G was introduced to this system?"

The bureaucrat goes pale and starts to sweat as he knows full well what Plaid Form No. 88 Sub-Form G meant, but he couldn't lie

"......yes......."

Moving away from the desk Vincent says

"Excellent!" as he walks away to get that form. Back in the Theocracy Plaid FOrm No. 88 Sub-Form G was by far the most sought out form in the entire Theocratic system. It was the form permitting for bodily harm upon any civil servant. Vincent himself had helped people fill out this form back in Cornu Copiae, and he had filled several of those for himself, untill it became almost second nature.

A few days later, which is very quick in comparison with everything else, Vincent hands in the Plaid form to the bureaucrat

"Everything in order?" he asks

"Yes... its acceptable."

"Goooooood..." replies Vincent with a smile, untill it is suddenly turned into a scowl as he grabs the Plaid Form from the bureaucrat's hands and with one hand grabs his throat and proceeds to shove the paper into the bureaucrat's mouth, trying to force him to eat it.

"Right then... now perhaps we can get somewhere!" He yells as he grabs the bureaucrat, still trying to spit out the paper from his mouth, by the leg and drags him down the hallway. Looking down a very long flight of steps, so long that the bottom cannot be seen, Vincent with one hand dangles the bureaucrat from his leg on top of the void, threatening to send him crashing down.

"Now then, I want answers, and I want them NOW!" He yellls

"Mmmmhhhhmmm, mrrmmmmmmfff!"

"Tell me, how exactly can I see Klik'chak?"

"MMMRRRPFFFF! MMMMRRRRVVVVFFFF!"

"Oh for the love of Amalthea! Just swallow your paper you idiot!"

The bureaucrat takes a moment to swallow the paper before he yells back

"Sir! Please! We make these regulations to ensure that everyone regardless of race, sex, religion or alignement can have an equal chance in getting their buisness done!"

Vincent growls back

"Listen you Abyss-spawned freak! I will let you drop down to the bottom of where ever these stairs lead to. And then I will run down the stairs... oh yes I will... and then I WILL DRAG YOU FOOT FIRST ALL THE WAY BACK UP HERE SO I CAN DROP YOU DOWN AGAIN!"

To proove his point, Vincent slightly releases his grip momentarily just to show who is in charge of the situation.

Cornu Copiae, Ho.W.Da.T.Co. Headquarters

With orders of the Priest-King, Elril had used his abilities to walk unnoticed into the Company's headquarters to find incriminating evidence against the company. He had managed to sneak his way into the building using his rather special abilities untill he found what he wanted. A file full of transactions between pirates and where each attack was aimed at. However Elril knew that he couldn't present this evidence to court, so he would need witnesses. And seeing the latest transaction between the Company and the Grinning Skull Pirates, he knew exactly where to go next.

Elysion, Heaven's Citadel

Back in Elysion, Amalthea was desperatly trying to regain contact with Vincent. However since he had left to find Klik'chak, thier link had been cut off, and there was nothing she could do about it. This has left her feeling alone and very vulnerable, and she did not like this feeling. But what could she do? The last thing she knew about Vincent's movement was that he had said that he would go to Amensi to find Klik'chak. Since then nothing.

Perhaps if she could contact someone in Amensi, she would be able to find out what happened to Vincent. She starts to focus her thoughts untill she makes a startling discovery. Klik'chak was in the void, not in Amensi. Once again Vincent had gone straight in without giving any second thought to just about anything.

"Luck really does favor the fools..." she says to herself, since with Klik'chak out of Amensi, she could contact him through a diffrent channel. She calls to one of her handmaidens, known to mortals as Throne Angels, whose duty it is to ensure that her every need is met. Its a comfort that the angels had insisted on, and yet another form of contact with others that Amalthea was not used to.

"Yes my Lady?" the Throne angel asks

"Please, go to the void, and give Lord Klik'chak this following message..."

"Very well my Lady" says the angel as it leaves for the void.

Once again, Amalthea would have to find a way to get Vincent out of trouble.

The Void

As Klik'chak is minding his own buisness, all of a sudden, the Throne angel appears infront of him, in its true form. It bows low infront of Klik'chak and says.

"Lord Klik'chak, I have been sent here on behalf of the Lady Amalthea, Mother of Elysion. She wishes to inform you that her servent, Lord Vincent went to seek an audience with you in Amensi. However since that time the Lady Amalthea has been unable to contact him. This has caused her great amount of anguish, and the sacred goddess pleads that you help her, since Amensi is your realm."

With that the angel bows again and says

"A thousand pardons for disturbing you Lord Klik'chak"

and having completed its duty, the angel returned to Elysion.

Amensi

"YOU...SHALL... TALK!" Yells Vincent at the beurocrat still dangling over the void of the stairs as Vincent proceeds to pluck a nose hair out of the beurocrat's nostril.

A nother beurocrat opens the door and starts yelling

"Oh for the love of... will you just get over it and talk already!"

The Void

Klik'chak swings Quietus in a deadly arc before him, slicing open a temporary portal directly into Amensi. Reaching forward, he roughly grabs Vincent by the scruff of the neck and drags him back through, the portal slamming shut behind him. With a very stern look, Klik'chak shakes him and holds him up at arms length while staring intently at him.

Fortunately, Vincent had lost his grip on the bureaucrat, who was still in Amensi, now safe from what he perceived to be a raving lunatic, quickly, he began filling out the paperwork necessary to gain a personal exemption from Plaid Form No. 88 Sub-Form G.

[Shmee]

The Void Vincent

Vincent all of a sudden feels a powerful hand grab the scruff of his cassock, forcing him to release the beurocrat. It was a small measure of comfort to know that he would be crashing down the stairs. Not realizing that he had left Amensi Vincent is still yelling unspeakable curses at the idiot back in Amensi. Then realizing that Klik'chak is staring at him, Vincent becomes quiet and lets out a sheepish smile... while also quietly getting rid of the beurocrat's nostril hair.

Trying to regain his composure, he straightens out his cassock while muttering to himself

".... seems that violence is the solution to alot of problems..."

"That and the fact that you inability to think before you act is the one thing we can always count on." he hears his Lady's harsh voice through thier re-established link, though there was an air of releif in it. Giving a shug, Vincent gives his wooden bow to Klik'chak and says

"Greetings o' Sacred Sand! My name is Vincent, I represent the Lady Amalthea. Damn you are a hard one to find!"

[Rizban]

Akkade

A greedy dao named Caldava was walking along the shore's of the eastern Xiua late one evening when he found a shiny rock which held his gaze from the moment he first saw it. This stone he carried back with him to Akkade, placing it on a small iron pedestal on a shelf in his home. Miraculously, the pedestal turned to gold! Astonished by what he had taken to be merely a semiprecious stone of some beauty, he now feared for his very life. If anyone, especially his goddess, were to learn of this, his life would be forfeit and his treasure turned over to Asherah.

Secretly, he began to gather bits of iron, which he transformed into gold using the stone. He buried these deep in the earth beneath his home. Over time, he amassed a large fortune in gold, more almost than even Asherah herself. Unsure of how to proceed, he merely continued to hoard gold, using it to purchase iron from around the world to add to his fortune. Eventually, he realized that merely having the gold wasn't satisfying, especially if no one knew about it.

Caldava hatched a plan. Hiring several other genies, he ordered them to dig a basement below his house. Upon beginning the dig, they started to find the edge of a vein of gold. Excited by this, they reported their find to Caldava and to Asherah's servants. A prospector came out and surveyed the area. After all was said and done, a contract had been signed between Caldava and the local government. He was now required to mine every last speck of gold dust from the vein, with 15% being deposited directly into Asherah's royal vaults as raw ore. The remainder was to be confiscated for the minting of currency. Approximately 40% of the total would be returned to Caldava as payment for the find and his work in digging it.

Laughing with glee, Caldava set himself to work digging out the gold. He knew the vein would never be exhausted so long as he possessed this magnificent stone, and now the gold was legally his. He planned to soon be the wealthiest dao in all the world.

[hr]The Void

Klik'chak merely blinks once and stares at Vincent, waiting for him to deliver his message. He continues to hold Vincent by the scruff of his neck, his feet dangling some feet off the "ground."

[Draken]

Haras

Against the choosen? No, not at all. Against the Neogi in Haras, there is very little the Choosen can do to stop them, most likely.

As night falls, the blots of darkness are dismissed and black wings unfold in to the night, carring brains in their hands.

Brains inside jars.

The nightwings cross over the dark skyes above. Odds that the followers of Klik'chak are even able to see the creatures are slim.

Once inside, the fun can begin. With chain rebuking goodness. A brain rebukes some Quth-maren, some quth-maren rebuke some more quth-maren.

One of the nightwings, however, had a far more special cargo, a deadborn lady.

[Necran] Grandmother. I have followed your steps closely...

Arith kneels on floor of the city, and opens a portal, allowing the stench of the Dark Home to pervade the city and the surrounding desert as the Gate remains open for the dominated quth-maren and captured neogi and umber hulks to pass (or be dragged).

[String]

*Dal'Cory Islands, The Maelstrom*

As the first ballistae shot fired, Davin's grin grew broader. He flung off his cloak as Loraatra changed flags, and unfurled his wings. The Captain of the Maelstrom drew his caman and pointed it at the enemy ships, his valiant warcry drowned out in the whipping winds that buffeted and blew him around. Knowing his time of flight was limited, he took advantage of a draft and barreled towards the Grinning Skull flagship, as Cian spun the Maelstrom into a clubhaul, perpendicular to the oncoming ships. Ballistae fired with accuracy, plunging into the hulls of the enemy's ships. Nog channeled his fury and rage into his hands, which became incased in brilliant black-purple flames that would not be quenched. He stood at the railing, forming the flames into brilliant spears of malice and throwing them at the flagship, flinging them with a speed ungodly. The rest of the crew were not so fortunate in their abilities, and the storm prevented their ranged weapons, mostly. Instead, they prepared themselves for when the first ship would come close, readying grappling hooks. Davin hit the deck of the flagship hard, the bodies of a pirate cushioning his fall considerably. He rolled to a stand and struck out with his caman, breaking the cheek of another pirate. He roared to the sky.

"LORAATRA!"

[Shmee]

The Void, Vincent

"Right, obviously you aren't one of the talkative types. Anyway, on to buisness. My Lady has sent me to ask a favor from you. As you probably know, the Lady Amalthea is planning on unleashing a holy war against lets see... demons...devils and undeads. For that reason she has created the Heavenly Host. Excuse me..."

Vincent pulls out his pipe and lights it

"So as you can see, we are still woefully outnumbered. But to make things worst, we are still in a disadvantage, because no matter how many of these feinds we may kill, thier souls return to where ever they spawned from. We do not have that luxury. That is why I am here. The Lady Amalthea has no command over the souls of the angels, which is why she is requesting from you if you can bind the angel's souls to Elysion."

Vincent continues to hang several feet off the ground, as he continues to smoke his pipe.

[Rizban]

The Void

Klik'chak understands what Vincent asks, and gives a curt nod to indicate that he will permit souls which serve Amalthea to reincarnate as angels once they reach the True Afterlife. A few who have already made it through the bureaucracy immediately choose to do so, appearing before Amalthea in her realm.

Though watching Vincent intently, Klik'chak's primary focus is on the Chosen army below. As the nightwings pass, he sends a message to the generals leading the Chosen.

[hr]Haradi Citadel

The Emissary of Sand watches the nightwings pass overhead. The entirety of the Chosen army rises as one and begins to march towards the remainder of the undead army. As they approach, one by one, they all wink out, becoming invisible to the undead before them. (Life Domain spell: Hide From Undead)
Though invisible to the undead before them, to everyone else, their weapons begin to glow with crackling white energy. (Life Domain spell: Disrupting Weapon)
A slight haze seems to cloak the Chosen like a second skin. (Death Domain spell: Death Ward)

As they advance, a howling wind goes before them, whipping the sand into a furious storm, which flays the rotting flesh from the undead that have flesh. (Sand Domain spells: Blast of Sand and Flaywind Burst)

The Emissary of Sand casts Greater Aspect of the Deity and Crown of Glory on himself. (Herald Domain spells)

The very dunes themselves arise behind the undead army and begin slamming into them, destroying some and helplessly burying others. (Sand Domain spell: Awaken Sand [cast slowly over the past few hundred years until all of the surrounding desert for at least a mile in every direction from the city has been awakened])

Unseen ashworm dragoons begin to harry the flanks of the undead army while the bulk of the Chosen charge straight down the middle, slaughtering as they run. In random places throughout the army, circles of crackling white energy manifest and expand rapidly, though covering only a small area. Undead trapped within turn to dust and are blown away. (Death Domain spell: Undeath to Death) Though attacking the undead revealed them, the Chosen were able to get in a significant amount of damage against the undead army before the undead were even aware of their presence.

[Draken]

Haras

Cowards, all of them.

But she knew this owuld happen, the scum would attack. Bah.

Zombies and Skeletons exist for that, to soak up their spells, Undeath to Death goes for the useless hordes first, and they are... Well, useless.

The big things are all that matter, and they are all immune to these lowly spells.

And there are always the living initiates, they can see, oh yes, they can, and they can shout.

"Rabble of Klik'chak advancing milady!"

I am aware. - She made her save. She is almost epic, she made 95% of her saves. Stupid natural ones. But we are still not supposed to fight them, not now, at least, and not with the godling there.

Saaira extends her arms forth, spreading them open in a wide arc as a barrier of stone raises to separate the undead from the chosen.

Meanwhile, Saaira's nightcralwers, three of them at least, start dealing with the problem of the living dunes behind the army, with the support of Sir Vandegard and his purple worm.

Meanwhile, the small contingent of troops inside Haras is siphoning enemies into the dark home.

[Shmee]

The Void, Vincent

Vincet looks at Klik'chak in complete suprise.

"Thats it? You agree? No conditions, no requests, no favors in return?"

Vincent puts out his pipe and scratches his head in confusion

"Wow this is....awkward... no one has ever actualy done us a favor for nothing... it just dosn't feel right..."

Realizing that he is still dangling in mid air he says

"Oh yeah... mind putting me down..."

then as an after-thought

"...gently?"

Dal'Cory Islands

Loraatra grins as she hears Davin yelling her name, she turns to her crew and tells them

"Kill them all, show no mercy... but dont touch the pigeon... I will personaly pluck his feathers and put it on my cap!"

Turning to Davin she unsheaths her cutlass and yells back

"I'm right here!"

She was going to enjoy this greatly.