That’s terrible...I hope Fas and his family will be okay. Pakistan isn’t exactly the safest place to be right now.
@craig: Blood-sucking worms? I know I’m echoing what’s already been said, but where would Thryn get these, and what would he expect these to do to any demon, much less a tana’ari prince? First, demon’s blood isn’t even the normal red kind. Instead, it’s a putrid black bile. Second, don’t you think they’d be immune to such things anyway? Pestilence and disease are second-nature to demons, after all. Take poison, for example. I’d imagine that even the lowliest fiend has a natural immunity to poison of any kind.
@Aegis: Could you play Faisal? I would, but I want the ending to hinge on what you guys do, not what I do. Not to mention I have my hands full already. But could you let the others post for themselves? Much of this last encounter depends on what each character does individually, and it doesn’t work if one person is writing for all of them
@all: Which means the rest of you need to keep up...or else
* * * * *
Virrilis stood defiantly, one scimitar in hand. Lazal stared at the solitary elf, disbelieving the utter foolishness Virrilis was showing. Behind the elf, he watched as the forms of the others approached behind, standing equal ground with him. Rail stood beside the Blade, his own blade being held tightly in hand, and a small vial in the other. Xandax, his armor and weapon battered, stood on the other side, crouching low and defensively, ready to charge forth and slay the demon. Behind the three, Faisal and Aerie stood ready to aid in this battle with their clerical and magical abilities to the battle. Lastly, he saw Thryn crouch in front of the group, his own sword crossed across his body, a smirk across his face. They had regrouped, and were ready to finish this battle, regardless of the outcome. Behind his massive form, Sethin made his way, shakily and weakly, around the form, off the side, trying to find some time to lick his wounds...
The tana’ari prince looked at the fools daring to oppose him. “YOU ALL WISH TO DIE, THEN? ALL FOR THIS LITTLE WORM?” He motioned to Sethin crawling away and grinned, the usually genial expression distorted into a frightening display of raxor-sharp teeth. “LET US MAKE A DEAL... ” he began slowly, his voice soft and deep. “ALL I WANT ARE THE CROWN PIECES, AND THIS WRETCH’S PITIFUL LIFE. LET ME FINISH THIS, AND I’LL LEAVE IN PEACE. THAT’S MORE THAN THIS LITTLE SLAVE CAN PROMISE.” He turned to Sethin. “SHALL I TELL THEM YOUR TRUE PURPOSE?” The clone stared back, his face a cold mask. Lazal smiled, his gaze returning to the assembled companions.
“HMM...YOU MORTALS ENJOY FAIRY TALES, DO YOU NOT? WELL, ONCE UPON A TIME, A GREAT DEMON, ONE OF THE MOST POWERFUL TANA’ARI TO EVER LIVE, MANAGED TO BREAK LOOSE FROM HIS HOME IN THE LOWER PLANES. KNOWN AS THE DESTROYER, HE INVADED PLANE AFTER PLANE, HIS ARMIES LAYING WASTE TO ALL IN THEIR PATH, LEAVING UTTER DEVASTATION IN HIS WAKE. EVENTUALLY THE GODS THEMSELVES TOOK NOTICE. AFTER A TITANIC STRUGGLE THAT SHOOK THE PLANES’ VERY CORE THEY DEFEATED HIM, AND AFTER DRAINING AWAY HIS POWER THEY TRAPPED HIM IN A TINY POCKET PLANE FOR ALL ETERNITY. BUT EVEN THE GODS MAKE MISTAKES. HIS ENTIRE DEMONIC ENTOURAGE WAS THOUGHT TO HAVE BEEN COMPLETELY ANNIHILATED DURING THAT GREAT BATTLE. BUT ONE ESCAPED. THAT ONE WAS ME.” He paused for a moment, the memories vivid in his mind.
“I RETURNED TO THE ABYSS, AND EVENTUALLY CARVED A KINGDOM OF MY OWN, COMPLETE WITH VAST HORDES OF UNWILLING SLAVES. AS A TANA’ARI PRINCE, FEW COULD MATCH MY POWER. WITH THE BLOOD WAR RAGING STRONGLY AS EVER, RIVALRY AMONG THE PRINCES WAS FORBIDDEN, ON PAIN OF DEATH. WITH NOTHING TO FEAR, I COULD DEVOTE ALL MY ENERGIES TO SELF-SATISFACTION. I WAS CONTENT, AS YOU MORTALS WOULD PUT IT. IN MY FOOLISH COMPLACENCE I ALMOST FORGOT MY BEATEN MASTER, AND THE ETERNAL PLEDGE I HAD MADE TO HIM SO LONG AGO.
“IT BEGAN WITH WHISPERED REMINDERS, FAINT AND HARDLY AUDIBLE. WHEN I REFUSED TO REMEMBER THEY EVENTUALLY FADED AWAY. THEN CAME THE TWINGES, FOLLOWED BY EXCRUCIATING SPASMS THAT TERRIFIED MY UNDERLINGS. THE PAIN, THE SUFFERING I WENT THROUGH... FINALLY I REMEMBERED THE GEAS. THE MASTER WAS ALIVE! FEARING FOR MY LIFE, AND MY INTEREST PIQUED DESPITE MYSELF, I TRACED THE GEAS BACK TO ITS SPRIRITUAL SOURCE. THOUGH HE WAS STRIPPED OF HIS POWER, HE COULD STILL COMMUNICATE THROUGH THE ASTRAL PLANE. HE NEEDED ENERGY, RAW LIFE ENERGY, TO REGAIN HIS LOST POWER. HE COULD HAVE TAKEN MINE RIGHT THERE, BUT THAT WOULDN’T HAVE BEEN ENOUGH. HE NEEDED ME. MORTAL SOULS CONTAIN VAST AMOUNTS OF LIFE ENERGY, FAR EXCEEDING THE BLACK CORRUPTION THAT ANIMATES DEMON-KIND. SO HE USED THE LAST OF HIS POWER TO SEND ME TO THE PRIME MATERIAL. BY CHANCE I ARRIVED HERE, ON THE WORLD YOU CALL TORIL. LEFT WITHOUT A CHOICE, I DID HIS BIDDING. TAKING VARIOUS MORTAL FORMS, I KILLED AS MANY MORTALS AS I COULD WITHOUT ATTRACTING UNDUE ATTENTION, SENDING EACH SOUL SCREAMING BACK TO MY MASTER’S PLANAR LAIR. SLOWLY HE REGAINED HIS STRENGTH. ONE DAY HE DISCOVERED THAT THE DEATHS NEED NOT BE DEALT BY A MINION, AS LONG AS THE SOULS WERE DIRECTED TO HIM THROUGH A MINION. SO HE DEVISED A PLAN. I WOULD WALK AMONG THE MORTALS AND CREATE DISSENT AMONG THEIR FOOLISH ORGANIZATIONS, NATIONS. THIS WOULD LEAD TO A MASSIVE WAR, WHICH WOULD BRING A DEATH TOLL TO SURPASS ANY IN RECENT MEMORY.
“I STUDIED MORTAL POLITICS, FOUND OUT ABOUT THE RECENT IMBALANCES PLAGUING A LARGE REPUBLIC CALLED AMN. I WORKED MY WAY INTO THE FACTION CALLED THE COWLED WIZARDS, TAKING THE FORM YOU KNOW AS LAZAL. I WOULD FOMENT DISCORD, CULMINATING IN A CIVIL WAR. ONCE THIS HAPPENED, IT WOULD INEVITABLY DRAW IN THE JEALOUS SURROUNDING NATIONS, WHOSE ALLIANCES WOULD INVARIABLY DRAW IN YET MORE NATIONS. AND IF IT DIDN’T HAPPEN BY ITSELF, I WOULD NUDGE IT ALONG. A NEW CONTINENTAL WAR WOULD BE AT HAND. IT WAS ALL GOING ACCORDING TO PLAN, UNTIL SOME PEOPLE BEGAN TO REALIZE WHAT WAS HAPPENING. THE MOST PERSISTENT MEDDLER WAS A ROGUE MAGE NAMED MAGUS.
“I BECAME AN ADVENTURER, HOPING TO GATHER MORE INFORMATION ABOUT HIM AND OTHERS THAT COULD POSSIBLY THWART OUR PLANS. THEN CAME AN OCCURENCE I HADN’T EXPECTED: THE COPPER CORONET BRAWL. THERE I MET FACE-TO-FACE WITH MAGUS, AROUSING HIS SUSPICIONS. HE GATHERED A GROUP OF MERCENARIES AND BEGAN TO PRY WHERE HIS NOSE DIDN’T BELONG. BUT OUR PLANS WERE ALREADY IN MOTION. DESPITE HIS EFFORTS, THE CIVIL WAR BEGAN.
“BUT THAT NIGHT’S EVENTS CHANGED EVERYTHING. A PLAGUE OF UNDEAD SUDDENLY ENTERED THE CITY, CONTROLLED BY A STRANGE SOURCE I COULDN’T PINPOINT. I WANTED TO INVESTIGATE, BUT MY MASTER WOULD HAVE NONE OF IT. WITH THE CONFLICT STARTED, THERE WAS MUCH TO BE DONE, AND NO TIME FOR IDLE CURIOSITY, HE REPRIMANDED SHARPLY. LET THE MORTALS DEAL WITH IT, HE TOLD ME. DESPITE RESERVATIONS, AND A GREAT MAGICAL SURGE NEAR THE GATES, I OBEYED. WORD CAME THAT THE UNDEAD WERE REPELLED, AND OCCUPIED BY THE GUILD WAR, I PUT THE MATTER ASIDE.
“BUT FATE ISN’T SO EASILY THWARTED. LATER THAT MORNING THE WINDOW TO MY ROOM FLEW OPEN, AND A LARGE BAT CRASHED TO THE FLOOR. BUT THIS WAS NO ORDINARY CREATURE. ALL FLESH HAD BEEN STRIPPED AWAY, AND IT WAS MERE BONES THAT THRASHED ON THE HARD WOOD. CLUTCHED IN ITS TALONS WAS A GLOWING RED GEM. I SQUASHED IT WITH THE HEEL OF MY FOOT AND PRIED THE JEWEL FROM ITS GRASP. IT FLASHED, AND THOUSANDS OF IMAGES ASSAULTED MY SENSES AT ONCE. THE DEATH OF A GOD, THE GLORY OF AN EXISTENCE WHOSE SOLE PURPOSE WAS TO SOW CHAOS AND TURMOIL, I KNEW IT ALL IN AN INSTANT. IT WAS A PIECE OF THE GREAT CROWN OF HORNS.” The great tana’ari held out his taloned hand, and in it appeared a blood-red ruby, shining with the unholy light of Myrkul’s black soul...none other than the gem from the undead battle. Sethin’s face lit up at once. Noticing, the demon laughed. Then the gem disappeared, and he continued.
“IT SPOKE. IT KNEW OF MY TRUE IDENTITY, AND MY BONDAGE AT THE HANDS OF THE MASTER. IT PROMISED RELEASE, A RETURN TO THE ABYSS WHERE I WOULD RULE SUPREME...AND MORE, MUCH MORE. ALL I HAD TO DO WAS REASSEMBLE THE CROWN. MEANWHILE IT WOULD CONCEAL ITSELF FROM THE MASTER’S EYES, WAITING UNTIL THE TIME WAS RIGHT. THEN IT WOULD BREAK THE GEAS THAT HELD ME, AND SHIELD ME FROM HIS WRATH. I EAGERLY ACCEPTED.
“NO SOONER HAD I TUCKED THE GEM IN MY ROBES THAN THE MASTER CALLED. MAGUS WAS BECOMING TOO MUCH OF A THREAT, HE SAID. IT WAS TIME THAT I DEAL WITH HIM PERSONALLY, NOW. TRUE TO ITS WORD, THE MASTER NEVER SUSPECTED I HAD A PIECE OF A GOD IN MY POSSESSION. THE PIECE VIBRATED AGAINST MY SIDE, AND I ASKED A SHORT TIME TO PREPARE. HE GROWLED HIS PERMISSION IMPATIENTLY. I CLOSED MY EYES, PRETENDING TO MEDITATE WHILE I SPOKE WITH THE CROWN. IT COULD HARDLY CONTAIN ITS EXCITEMENT. THE GEM HAD JUST ESCAPED FROM MAGUS’S CLUTCHES, THE REST OF THE FRAGMENTS IMPRISONED DEEP WITHIN HIS FORTRESS, THE RIFT. WE COULDN’T ASK FOR A BETTER OPPORTUNITY.
“THE REST, MORTALS, YOU SAW YOURSELVES...THOUGH I DIDN’T ANTICIPATE IT WOULD COME TO THIS. IT SEEMS THE MASTER HAD PLANS OF HIS OWN. HE ABANDONED ME IN MY MOMENT OF GREATEST NEED, WHEN MAGUS UNLEASHED HIS IMMENSE ENERGY BLAST. BUT HE UNDERESTIMATED MY OWN POWER. AIDED BY THE GEM, I SURVIVED, WHILE MAGUS DIED.”
“No...you lie!” Aerie screamed, rushing forward.
Rail grabbed her shoulder, stopping her short. “Lady, let him finish,” he whispered in her ear. “Magus is fine...” he lied, the falsehood coming effortlessly to his lips, even when directed at a good friend.
“Are you sure?” she asked, tears welling in her eyes.
“Yes, I’m sure.” He squeezed her hand and let her go. But it was an act; he felt nothing, no emotion whatsoever. All he was concerned about was winning. And to do that, they needed to choose a side. He for one didn’t want that choice made for him.
Aerie stood aside, still a little shaken. Sethin knew an opportunity when he saw one. “Are you going to let this monster get away with murdering-”
“SILENCE, WORM!” The clone was abruptly rendered speechless. Infuriated, he waited for the power word to expire, its short duration making it not worth dispelling.
The demon prince continued. “DO YOU MORTALS UNDERSTAND NOW? SOMEHOW THE MASTER HAS FOUND OUT ABOUT THE CROWN, AND IN IT HE SEES THE ULTIMATE POWERSOURCE, ONE THAT WILL SUPPLY ALL THE LIFE ENERGY HE NEEDS TO BREAK OUT OF HIS PRISON. IF HE SUCCEEDS, IF THAT VERMIN OVER THERE GETS ITS WAY, YOUR PRECIOUS TORIL WILL BE THE FIRST TO BURN. RELEASED, HE IS UNSTOPPABLE. I OFFER AN ALTERNATIVE. I HAVE NO DESIRE TO RAZE YOUR PUNY WORLD. THE ABYSS IS MY HOME, AND THERE WILL MY FURY BE FELT ONCE I WEAR THE COMPLETED CROWN.”
The great prince rose, his gaze sweeping over the tiny insects below him. “SO WHAT IS YOUR DECISION? WILL YOU ALLOW ME MY REVENGE AND MY PRIZE, OR MUST LAZNALIASOTH KILL YOU ALL?"
* * * * *
@all: I must say that was the most labor intensive post I’ve ever done
Tying together all those ragged ends was no easy task. I sincerely hope you guys like it. A lot of thanks to Rail for coming up with the original idea that Lazal had a master, and for resurrecting the Crown of Horns. I expounded on the ideas, but they were his to begin with.
Also, I’d like each character to act individually. No posting for others (except for Faisal), and no assumptions about what they’d do. Although you
can interact with another character to try to convince him to do something. I’m still playing Aerie, so don’t forget about her either. And remember, there’s no rush. We can do this post by post.