[center] [h3][color=Gold]Ialu, Taunter of Gods, Killer of Traitors, Breaker of Scepters, Failurer of Life, and the Craziest of Bastards[/color][/h3] Level 4 Demigod, 5.5 Might & Aztoc, Enemy of Ialu, Seller of Corpses, Defiler of Oaths, Lord of [s]Shitville[/s] Garakai, Maker of Deals, and the Most Traitorous of Bastards Level 18 Hero, 35 Khookies & Invidia, the Liaison, Sufferer of Heartburn, Refluxor of Acid, and The Most Stubborn of Bastards, Level 25 Hero & Mirtagn, The Glaring Serpent, Elder Crystal Dragon, Ignorer of Warnings, and the Most Scaly of Bastards Level 13 Hero, 13 Khookies & Astarte, Goddess of Magic, Manipulator of Souls, Taster of Blood, Creator of Xenophobes, and the Most Interfering of Bastards. Level 5 God, 9 Might(?) & Vestec, God of Chaos, The Execrable One, Watcher of Death, Slayer of Friend and Foe, and the Most Giggly of Bastards. Level 5 God, 2 Might & Sauranath, the Great Reptile, Dragon Of The Stars, The Great Dragon High Lord, Asker of Power, and the Most Contractually Obligated of Bastards. [/center] [centre][color=red]The Happening of [i]The Great Carnage[/i] at Garakai[/color][/centre] Ialu brooded a bit upon being offered Vestec's help and looked quizzically at Invidia, though the outsider's blank mask had nothing to offer. So the warlord weighed the merits of the offer to himself and allowed Invidia to silently go about with his healing. True to his word, Vestec helped to remove the chaos. After hearing the tales spun by Invidia it was tempting to suspect some sort of sabotage on Vestec's part, yet that never happened. It was yet another reminder to be wary of trusting anyone's words. Ialu had always been volatile by nature and the chaos had only exacerbated what had always been, so by the end of the process he hardly felt different. His implacable and cold demeanor remained, yet deep down there was also a fiery anger that he knew could still be tapped. That primal rage would be more fleeting though; it would come when needed and be easily reined in when it wasn't. At all other times the warlord would remain icy and cunning; though Invidia wouldn't realize it, giving the demigod more control over his powers and thoughts might have been a terrible mistake. After that was done and a time had passed, a great pounding of wings was heard and Mirtagn appered nearby shortly after. Being a crystal dragon of venerable age and equally great power, Mirtagn had been able to use his magic to look upon Garakai from afar. Disturbingly enough, the dragon was able to confirm what Vestec had already said: the Gods had indeed bestowed many gifts upon Aztoc to help assure his victory. It would seem that to those wretched creatures that claimed themselves divine, it had been more tempting to answer the prayer of one evil slaver of a traitor than those of countless thousands that had cried for mercy and an end to the eternal nights. This all meant that an assault was essentially impossible. This didn't spare Aztoc though...it only meant that he would die to a knife in the dark rather than the blades of a hundred men charging into his hall. Ialu looked over his soldiers that were amassed around him. There seemed to be more than he remembered having, but perhaps it was just a fault of his memory. He banished that nagging thought and spoke aloud for the first time since the ambush, [color=gold][b]"It seems that Aztoc has made preparations and now has the advantage on us. But that is of no matter: we will merely infiltrate Garakai and kill him before his little horde of monsters can stop us. Of course, with stealth imperative we cannot number so many.[/b][/color] Ialu continued, addressing his hunters, [b][color=Gold]"Return to our lands and spread the word of the moving dead. Your aid thus far was appreciated, but it will not be necessary for what is to come."[color][/b] Without another word, the platoon of soldiers formed up and marched back to their home. Invidia, having heard the news as well as Ialu's proclamation, had gone into meditation. He reached out for the ethereal tune of the Great Spirit, seeking not to converse or beg a favor, but to share knowledge. From the outsider's inception, he and his creator had been a team, one relaying information. power, and more to the other. Invidia gave no second thought to requesting aid from Vestec. The most irritating thing about the devil was that he wasn't always dishonest: when it meant sowing rifts or setting up future conquests, he would display nothing but truth. Instead, Invidia sought help from another source, one higher than man but lower than god. New knowledge seeping into the meditating outsider, and he found his answer. [i]"Ah-ha."[/i] he said, rising to his feet and turning to Ialu. [i]"Escre has been making miracles. Two new presences have arisen on the side of life. The demigod of air, and the demigod of light. As a favor for his creator, Ull'yang, the Sun Aspect, will assist us."[/i] Ialu might have scoffed, but he showed uncharacteristic restraint. That was new for him. [color=gold][b]"I have never heard of this creature. How will it assist?[/b][/color] Glancing around as if waiting for something, Invidia replied, [i]"Ull'yang's blessing will make light pass through us. I don't know how informed you are in the subject of eyes, but we see things because light hits them. If light doesn't hit us, then..."[/i] The outsider paused, expectant for a demonstration to punctuate his explanation, but for a few seconds nothing happened. [i]"Hm."[/i] He had tried to get too dramatic, evidently. A moment later however, the phenomenon occured, and Invidia's body flickered and vanished. [i]"Ah, there we go. Invisibility. Yours should kick in a few seconds from now. With this gift, the two of us will be able to infiltrate Aztoc's defenses. Furthermore, his outsider minions will remain ignorant, for we can only really penetrate godly illusions. The machinations of demigods do not register. It is why my outsider spies had trouble pinpointing Thulemiz. Still, we must be cautious."[/i] The talk of optics was worthless drivel, yet the warlord would be a liar if he said that invisibility was not intriguing. Ialu quickly called upon the power of his Sight to show him where Invidia was, and the golden light revealed the outsider's hidden figure where he had just been standing. True to his word, Invidia seemed to be merely invisible. Before he too vanished, Ialu looked to Mirtagn. [b][color=Gold]"Mirtagn, a distraction will serve us well. Hundreds more chaos dragons now take to the winds searching for us; summon your brethren and put an end to the misery of your corrupted kin. Then see about razing Garakai itself; the city is worthless to me now, as are the lives of all the cowards and traitors within."[/color][/b] Mirtagn gave an affirmative roar and took flight once again, ready to do his part. Those other living dragons that had survived the recent ambush followed after. The air around Ialu shimmered for a moment and then the warlord disappeared from sight. Content in the knowledge that none would see this prayer that insulted pride, reason, and dignity, Ialu kneeled. He thought out to Vestec in prayer, [i]"God of chaos, I would pray and ask of you a small favor. One sure to cause mayhem everywhere, yet still aid us in our task. Bring back the utter darkness and the nightmarish monsters, if only for an hour. Then Garakai will be distracted and Aztoc will not see us coming."[/i] [i]Aww. No brutal charge into the freshly brought back to earth castle's gates, it's defenders numbers dwindled? That can easily happen, you know. Just change your prayer and have Invidia pray to me too. You already have Mirtagn fighting Chaos Dragons. Two hundred and thirty-four, to be specific. How many surviving dragons did you send with him? A little less than two hundred? Not enough. Certainly none as dedicated and built for war as Chaos Dragons are. Not to mention the mages. They're getting beat up quite a bit, because it's essentially five hundred undead mages, two hundred and some extra Chaos Dragons, and a little more than a thousand ground troops with some range capabilties, against a little less than two hundred actual dragons. They won't last long, I fear. Not even with their hero. Ooh! Have you seen what a concentrated dosage of spells does to a dragon? I have. It's slightly painful to watch. And every dragon that dies, that dear old Outsider Thulemiz left is ressurecting them to fight agai- well this is irritating. Here I am, just watching the battle, and one of them tries to attack me. Me! I think I'll let him scream in agony for a few days. Sorry, getting off track. Have you agreed to my advice? No? Very well then. Watch your head. The skies are gonna get filled with a lot more dead dragons. They have nightmares too, you know.[/i] Ialu considered Vestec's words, but though to himself, [i]The chaos dragons are spread all over the place looking for us, and besides, Mirtagn alone was enough to nearly destroy my village. No, there will be quite a bit of destruction when he appears on the horizon and his breath incinerates half the city before the mages can do anything to stop him.[/i] He wouldn't change his prayer; bringing Aztoc to the ground or destroying his soldiers would make no matter. This was a task of stealth now, after all. Looking to the sky, it soon began to unnaturally darken once again. Allowing a rare smile on his chiseled face, Ialu looked to Invidia. He could still see his ally with the Sight's golden light that illuminated all, and no doubt the outsider could still see him with its one eye. [b][color=Gold]"Aztoc cannot hide from me. Nothing can. I will lead the way, you need only follow."[/color][/b] The crimson eyes scanned the darknening horizon. A familiar uneasiness began to churn within Invidia. [i]This is not a natural darkness. Vestec must be attempting to belay us with his nightmares, now that we've spurned his aid. No amount of fear will save Aztoc.[/i] That, however, triggered a new thought. [i]Vestec has already shown an ability to bring back the dead. This entire operation may prove pointless if he will simply revive his pawns and ensure endless conflict. Never mind...it will be entertaining at the least.[/i] Without another word the invisible demigod began to soar through the air skywards and to the north, making for Garakai. It was a strain to ask the Sight to show him multiple things at once, so he merely sought out Aztoc and trusted that Invidia was following. There was no need to strain himself merely to be able to look back and check back on his ally. Nightmares began to fill the sky, abominations that the dragons feared. On the ground the fears of the Cimex, Iron Legion, and Barbed Uri began to manifest, hampered by the thousand undead walking around. Chaos reigned as defensive formations were made, and the undead fought the nightmares. All the mortals aside from the Iron Legion retreated further indoors and barricaded themselves in, preparing for the assault and listening to the dragons fight outside. Alfid quickly commanded the Magickers forward, pinning down the strange nightmares Uri and Cimex minds were capable of coming up with. Surprisingly, many of them were in fact undead creatures. It seemed that the sudden rise of the Wights and Magickers had truly put the fear of death into the poor Cimex and Uri. As a result, Alfid had something of a party causing the nightmares to destroy themselves, while the more random ones were quickly dispatched by the powerful Wights. Alfid did wonder why the Eternal Darkness had suddenly reappeared, had they not fought so hard and lost so much so that it would not return? Alfid cursed the Execrable One, knowing even more than before the treacherous nature of the Chaos god; he truly could not be trusted. And here he was, a terrible, ugly, unnatural Lich. What for had he made the ultimate sacrifice? The Lich Lord would pay... For now however, it was best to keep a low profile and do as Thulemiz had commanded. When the time was right, he would get him. They would all get him and rid the world of his unnatural presence. Aztoc, in his throne room alone, idly flipping through the pages of the Morello-Nomicon, looked up at the noise and stretched out his newfound powers of Dimok. Sensing Mirtagn and his dragons, the ruler of Garakai snorted in contempt. And then he just made a slight adjustment to their perspective. Mirtagn was suddenly no longer their leader, he was their enemy. For a moment, he just marveled at the power the book gave him. Over a hundred dragons, subjugated just like that. Mirtagn was left untouched, as that would require effort. Effort that would be needed for Ialu. The Chaos dragons with their newfound allies, attacked Mirtagn and fought off the creatures of their nightmares. As Mirtagn and his dragons carved their way through the spread out chaos dragons and approached Garakai itself, something strange happened. Mirtagn was suddenly alone amongst a sea of his enemies, with even those dragons that had been at his side moments ago suddenly turning upon him. The massive elder dragon easily dispatched a few of his smaller kin with his claws, then began to breathe out crystalline breath wildly and to all sides. His breath was sheer death: it vaporized anything that it touched, saturated and electrified the very air around, and quite easily sent the other dragons skirted away to avoid it. In this manner, he kept them at bay for a short time as he rapidly closed in on Garakai. He couldn't keep the hundreds of other dragons at bay forever, especially as more and more chaos dragons found their way to fray. He would only have time for one, maybe two, flies over the enemy's city. After bellowing out a roar that would make the denizens of the flying city quiver in fear, he opened his gigantic maw and unleashed hell. He had just bathed an entire street in his crystalline breathe and flew through the city carving a line of fire through the middle. No doubt dozens of the defenders perished in those flames, and the unnatural heat would soon begin starting fires. That was good; it would be yet another distraction. Craning his head back, Mirtagn saw an alarming amount of enemy dragons giving chase. Looking the other way, he was then suddenly bombarded in the front by several magical attacks. Shrugging off the one or two projectiles, he then noticed the hundreds of mages inside Garakai. Combined with the other dragons, there would be no way that he could fly over the city a second time and survive. [i]I hope that this will serve you well enough, Ialu,[/i] the crystalline dragon thought, and then Mirtagne began to ascend. He rocketed skywards, retreating back to the safety of his star. Ialu meanwhile was continuing to approach Garakai, though in his case from far above even the flying city itself so as to avoid the dragons below. The air was thin from such a height but he didn't worry for himself so much as for Invidia. He still couldn't afford to look backwards, though. He would trust in his ally's will and fortitude and hope that Invidia made it into Garakai as well. If the monk was nowhere to be seen, the demigod could find the invisible outsider using the Sight and regroup. Failing that, he entertained the possibility of facing Aztoc alone. Without an army to cower behind, the dragon tamer would find himself hopelessly outmatched. Looking down, Ialu witnessed a several flashes of light and witnessed Mirtagn's approach. The flashes were a result of mirtagne's bursts of breath that were staving off the crazed hordes of other dragons that attempted to close in on him. Oddly enough, both the chaos dragons and Mirtagn's own allies seemed to be swarming the elder dragon. It was all that Mirtagn could do to keep them at bay long enough to do one pass over the city and burn a street, then retreat. Many thoughts flashed through the warlord's mind. He cursed Mirtagn's cowardice, yet he qlso realized that the hero of dragons had managed to do more than Vestec had expected. He eyed the rather meager destruction, but then saw fires beginning to take root and spread while the defenders were still trying to fend off nightmares. This would indeed keep them occupied. Finally, he began to question why the dragons had turned in the first place. It would seem that Aztoc had been growing in power as of late. He was the sole dragon tamer that Ialu knew of, and yet he had managed to turn so many dragons against Mirtagn and seemingly tame another few hundred chaos dragons in the short time that Ialu had been away. This cast a small doubt in the back of the warlord's mind as to whether this fight would truly be as easy as he imagined, but he did nothing to dispell the doubt. A little fear was useful. Ialu eyed a small dark alleyway that would be the ideal spot to wait for Invidia, but then he noticed several odd-looking Cimex cowering there. He didn't question what was wrong with the bugs or why they were there, quite accurately assuming that some god had given them to Aztoc as aid. Ialu took hold of the small amount of fear and doubt within him and manifested it as a black, shadowy fire in his palm. He breathed into the flames and fanned them for a moment, then hurled the stuff at the cowering Cimex. In a near invisible explosion of dark fumes, the fireball imbued raw terror into the Cimex and sent them running out of the alleyway. The Cimex clicked rapidly in what must have been their sort of scream, and flailed their limbs about wildly and uselessly. Running as fast as they could, they were still quickly caught and dispatched by a few of the nightmares roaming the streets. With the alleyway cleared, Ialu landed in it and waited for Invidia. As it turned out, he had little time to wait. Invidia had been tailing him steadily, doing his best to trace Ull'yang's signature and mostly failing, having resorted to following Mirtagn and Ialu's wind trail instead. Now, with Mirtagn waylaid by his own allies thanks to the enemy's interferance, the task fell to these two alone. The Liaison touched down in the alley, having grown batlike wings some time ago to navigate the airways. Still invisible, he removed his axe from his robes -now, with Ialu in possession of the Fulcrum, just a battle-axe- and quietly resonated confirmation of his presence to the warlord. [i]"I am here. It is time to end this threat."[/i] Ialu found himself nodding before realizing that invisibility made such gestures pointless. Regardless, he was pleased that Invidia had not taken long. He whispered, [b][color=Gold]"Good. I will locate Aztoc now.[/color][/b] The trail of golden light that his Sight conjured revealed the most direct way to Aztoc, and so Ialu ended up weaving through both dark alleys and the main streets at times. Surprisingly it was easier to negotiate the main streets; while fires and fighting raged in those places and undead prowled everywhere, there was plenty of room to move around them. The narrow confines of the allley were filled to the brim with nightmares that proved harder to avoid. There would have been a time not long ago when Ialu's ire would have made him zealous enough to slaughter any enemy in his path, but that did not happen now. He was more cautious and realized it was best to conserve his energy. This new thinking was probably at least in part the result of the chaos within him having vanished. For once the warlord found himself grateful. This new calm was indeed proving to be more of a strength than a weakness. It was not long before Ialu found his way to the building that Aztoc was within. To avoid guards he went around to one of the sides of the building. [i]It will be droll to see Aztoc's surprise at enemies coming from within the storage room or whatever is just behind this wall.[/i] the warlord thought to himself. Yes, it seemed safer to hedge a bet on being able to breach through this wall and go undetected as compared to simply knocking down the front door and fighting through any guards. Ialu began to use his telekinesis to start crumbling the bricks in the wall so as to create a hole. He did so as quickly and quietly as possible, yet there was still no stopping the sound of bricks cracking and a few pieces falling to the ground before they could be reduced to dust. Grimacing at the noise, Ialu could only hope that the sounds of fighting and such drowned it out. He eyed the hole that had been created so far and knew that it was not quite big enough for him, but perhaps Invidia could contort himself to fit through. The warlord whispered out to the empty air around him, trusting that his ally was close, [b][color=Gold]"See if you can get through. Assassinate any guards if they start coming."[/color][/b] The outsider nodded, and squeezed his slender frame through the aperture. His initial attempt failed, given the breadth of his wings. It appeared that he could not advance further and keep those particular appendages as well. Sparing the action no thought, Invidia receded his wings into his back. Immediately, a burning sensation took root in the Liaison's spinal area. Puzzled, but not yet particularly pained, he tried again, and this time gasped at the caustic feeling now pervading his body. He stumbled backward, straightening up while leaving his axe on the ground, trying to right himself. What was going on? Instinctively, to numb the pain, Invidia called upon his lifeblood to counteract whatever was causing this to him. Instead, a fresh surge of agony flowed throughout the outsider, and the air around him resonated in a wordless vocalization of pain. Invidia tore off his robes, hissing, [i]"Ialu! I'm hurting badly. My powers aren't working; they're making it worse. What's wrong!?"[/i] He turned his back to the warlord, showing a spitting, bright green fluid bleeding from his back around the wings. As Invidia tried again, the acid ripped through his skin, and a horrible resonation bounced off the walls. Invidia collapsed into a pool of acid mixed with his own blood, a steady moan filling the chamber in which the two infiltrators resided. [i]"Aaaaah! Damn devil! What is he...doing to me!? Make it stop!"[/i] Ialu looked down upon Invidia with no small amount of disgust. Green fluids oozing from his back, and this sudden weakness? He was just as bewildered as the outsider and briefly contemplated simply leaving his ally behind, but for whatever reason he didn't. Perhaps it was out of gratitude for Invidia's help, or merely because he wanted the Liaison's help further down the line. Regardless of his reasoning, his first reaction was to reach out with his Wi and pull out whatever green fluid was oozing out. In battle he had seen the Sanguine monks bleed red like anybody else, yet he still found himself hoping that this green fluid wasn't blood or some other thing vital to the outsider's continued life. But even if it was, judging from Invidia's screams causing him death would be a mercy. [i]Pray to me, Invidia. One little prayer, and I'll stop the curse on you.[/i] Vestec giggled in both of their minds. [i]On the other hand, Ialu can sell his soul and servitude to me and I'll stop it that way.[/i] [i]"Rotten scourge! Ialu will complete this mission without me. Warlord, finish the fight. Remember that Vestec destroys all who come in contact with him. I was not immune, and you are not immune. As long as you two interact, you are his toy. He honors his word only to drive deeper rifts and prelude future conflicts. Ahhh...! It's time my spirit sheds this mortal coil. But I will be back. If you deviate, it'll be you lying in your own juices next time, Ialu! Whether by my hand...or not."[/i] With that, the crimson eye slid shut, and the outsider's body melted into chunks. [i]Well. That was boring. Have fun Ialu![/i] Ialu spat on the ground, realizing that he stood alone now. This 'Invidia' had more pride than even the warlord it would seem, refusing to play Vestec's game if only to achieve his own ends. Perhaps he just didn't like to tempt luck and play with fire, though with that threat he had certainly done as much. [i]Whether by his hand indeed,[/i] Ialu thought as he chuckled to himself and redoubled his efforts to crumble the wall. Suddenly, the sound of Mirtagn's flapping wings, and the wings of others flapped relentlessly. Mirtagn conjured mysteriously appearing Kamodo dragons, Crocodiles and venomous King Cobras out of thin air, along with the East Tropical reptillian creatures called the Qoatls, who could naturally fly as snakes with silken white wings. Three thousand of these reptiles now fought on Ialu's side on the ground. They were sure to wreak havoc on a scale that normal land forces could not. Venomous bites, iron crushing power of the Croc's strength, and Qoatls who could skirt enemy ranks and lay their venomous biting power upon the enemy, avoiding blows, arrows and the like with ease now attacked every where there was an enemy. In the air, Mirtagn returned with the Avatar, Sauranath. "I never miss a contract. Never". Mirtagn smirked. "I wonder why I needed to conjure the reptiles. It's not like they have a chance against an Avatar." Mirtagn stated. Sauranath took a deep breath and landed in the city of Garakai. He transformed into Humanoid form, while the rubble had useless effect to harm him through the weight of falling objects or even scrape him with any sort of flying metal. Sauranath took his sword, which was actually his own claws, formed into an anthropomorphic weapon, and took charge against any rival of his on the ground. Ruby Dragons were notoriously strong willed and disciplined, in some ways equal to Crystal Dragons. So the only dragons Mirtagn took as his guards for now were of the Ruby Brood. One hundred Ruby Broods came with him this time, a full Guard division with dragons specifically powerful against mental domination and interferance of the mind. So the Ruby Brood sent forth fifty of their warriors, with claws and mighty sinew, muscle capable of tearing their way through Mithril Steel in one swipe of the claw's swing, now descended on the Chaos Dragons, and Mirtagn once again conjured Wards, this time he actually took effort into shielding these Chaos Dragons with a powerful spell, an incantation was used, taking strength from him, but he still possessed strength far beyond a normal dragon. His crystalline breath resumed, tearing enemies to shreds, and vaporizing enemy targets. This was not fun, this was war, this was precision, this was serious, and above all, this was a contract. Sauranath, the Avatar clove through enemies with his two handed sword weapon as if they were nothing more than a very large litter of kittens. Even Chaos Dragons were beheaded, or found a sword inside their heart in one slice or thrust of arms. Sauranath never believed he could find it in himself to fight his own Brood. His eyes glew like the stars. Yet even as newly arrived dragons slew their way through their brethren, and even as they too were slaughtered, all those who died rose again to fight anew, attacking Mirtagn and Ruby Dragons alike with necromantic vigour and power they could never wield in life. "Thulemiz! You will not escape now!" As Invidia and others were making their way towards the monsterous beast known as Aztoc, horrifying man that he was, Sauranath was already inside Thulemiz's inner Sanctum, "Because of you, I have had to sacrifice my own CHILDREN! My eyes are the very fury of wrath!" His eyes shined very brightly, and fire, as if from the stars themselves, would have blown into Thulemiz'es skeletal body. "Your body will feel the fire as if it were flesh, you shall feel the burning of a thousand life times for every breath a dragon has ever taken. You shall suffer so, as if you were to die, should you live, you will beg for a release, and there is only one way out of that agony!" Sauranath took out his sword from it's sheath and waited for Thulemiz to ask. He suddenly discovered however, that the skeleton before him was another target, and he needed Thulemiz. But what stood before was simply Alfid the Outsider, a lesser Lich Lord. Drawing his viciously curved sword, Alfid pointed it towards the Great Reptile and all around him the air shimmered gold. The souls of all the undead dragons which had only moments before been fighting outside suddenly appeared. Alfid slowly melded them into each other, over one hundred souls, two hundred, three hundred, more. Before their very eyes the souls became one. Alfid knew he would not be able to control it, but at this point he did not care too much for that. One thousand two hundred and twenty eight dragon souls, all those that had fallen when Mirtagn arrived with Sauranath, became one. Among them were some extraordinarily old and thus powerful souls, and Sauranath's Avatar alone would certainly struggle against so many old and powerful souls now united. With that, Alfid released the Great Dragon Wraith and disappeared into thin air. The monumental wraith released an ear-piercing shriek of a roar and leapt upon Sauranath, its hatred for all things living urging it on. Sauranath hissed as he transformed into his draconic form. . . A massive Ruby Brood dragon and breathed fire hot enough to scorch like rays from the Stars themselves. I have a contract, Sauranath thought. He would regret harming souls, but this was useless trying to passively conquer this conjured morass of dragon souls. He would have to take them to the stars through violent force. As Sauranath released his terrible breath, the equally terrible Wraith released its own necromantic fumes. Upon contact with the god's flames, the fumes began to seemingly feed on the flames, and as they fed on them they grew even larger and more powerful, gaining a life - or unlife - of their own. Arms of necromantic fire leapt out in all directions, some heading for Mirtagn while the majority headed for Sauranath. It was clear that these flames fed on fire, and perhaps even other things. Breathing more flames at them, it seemed, would merely strengthen them. Mirtagn, saw stone flying from a building he had not been paying attention to far down below. Suddenly he was nearly struck with necromantic fire targeting him from the building. Mirtagn now knew he had a new concern. He could naturally sense that the fire made for him was so powerful it could even destroy him, easily if he let it. Mirtagn was glad he had strengthened the ward with gutteral strength, rather than just using a common ward. He soared far down below, seeing the confrontation. Sauranath breathing golden fire, the monster, the Dragon Wraith was more powerful than even the avatar! Even as the avatar himself struggled, the building crumbled around the combatants. Yet Mirtagn breathed from a far off distance of his own, his own fire, Crystalline Breath, attempting to cut and shred down the Wraith until he would dissipate. The crystalline flames soared towards the Wraith, causing its left wing to dissipate slightly, but just as soon as the flames had passed, the ethereal golden wing burst back into being and the Wraith erupted forth towards Mirtagn with tremendous speed, a claw full of the tormented screams of Mirtagn's brethren ripping towards the hero. Sauranath sighed in relief. It's distracted. Sauranath grabbed onto the monster, hoping to grapple with it, even as the Dragon Lord bit down with all his might onto the Wraith's neck. . . flames be damned, even as an Avatar, his warding powers as a Crystal Brood dragon, superior than any dragon's should keep him fine, even as he attacked with enough sheer force to snap Mithril Steel like a twig. Mirtagn breathed his crystalline fire at the same moment. . . with strategy and tactical analysis, anything was possible. But faulty analysis could only lead strategies doomed to failure. While Sauranath's bite was indeed something terrific, the Wraith was no physical being whose neck could simply be snapped. The Great Reptile's bite merely passed through the Wraith, and it turned upon him with speed even as Mirtagn breathed upon it. Ignoring the temporary damage caused by Mirtagn's flames, the Wraith snapped viciously at Sauranath's exposed neck. While Sauranath was surprised at the creature's invulnerability, he knew that his lesser, Mirtagn could harm it. . . he quickly snapped backward and breathed down, this time with his own crystalline breath, magnitudes more powerful than Mirtagn's breath. The huge Wraith attempted to shrink back, but it was too late and the crystal breath engulfed its head and neck, eating away at its ethereal body even as it managed to send out its necromantic fumes to consume the flames. They were clearly not as effective against crystal breath as they were against fire, but they gave the Wraith time to regenerate and to slip away downwards under the cover of the black flames. Without alerting Sauranath - indeed, he would have just thought that the black shape beneath him was simply more of his foe's flames - the Wraith leapt upwards and clawed right into Sauranath's exposed belly, its claws aiming to tear him from one side of his belly to the other. Yet Sauranath had every benefit from every Brood. The Crystal Dragon's scales, the greatest Wards of any dragon. Mirtagn breathed down his fiercest Crystal breath onto the Dragon Wraith, Sauranath glared deeply into the monster's eyes. . . "You poor wretches! Your power to avoid physical harm is now useless! I know how to destroy you!" Sauranath's glaring eyes began to transubstantiate the Dragon Wraith's monstrous body into something physical. . . Mirtagn immediately soared down and conjured poisonous glands to appear inside his mouth, even as he bit down on the Wraith. Mirtagn would be shocked to find that the Wraith's physical body was layered with a disgusting, deathly liquid which was undoubtedly a most terrible poison of some kind. As the Hero bit into it, he would immediately feel the liquid latching onto his teeth and squirting upwards into his mouth. Its effects would be very quick. Mirtagn head would go numb, and then his throat, before his very lungs and hurt would begin giving out unless he was saved. Shrugging off the hero like it was nothing, the now physical Wraith let loose a huge breath of necromantic fumes towards Sauranath in order to hide its sudden burst forward, in an attempt to gore the Great Reptile once more. Meanwhile, Mirtagn was dealing with the terrifying high poison. Yikes. Mirtagn thought. Ikes that. Mirtagn fell down hard onto the Earth. Mysteriously however, the monsterous wise scholar got back on it's feet as if nothing had happened, it's eyes glaringly bright in a flash of light that obviously gave the fact that a powerful spell had just been wordlessly cast. Sauranath was concerned with Mirtagn's fate, so to avoid the monster's bite was easy. However, a poisonous body was useless against Sauranath since Skeleton Broods were indeed a part of his repertoire of abilities. No poison could harm this Avatar. . . he breathed fiercely into the Dragon Wraith even as Mirtagn did the same, but Sauranath also bit into the monster equally as viciously. Its fangs bit from the neck, tearing through the chest area and ripping out the heart. . . as Mirtagn breathed his crystalline breath on all the monster's wounds. With that, the now physical Wraith suddenly burst horrifically, burning and terribly scarring anyone within its radius as the tortured souls of one thousand two hundred and twenty eight dragons exploded outwards, screaming their pain and fury into the heavens as they crossed continents and seas within seconds to return to the one who had imprisoned them eternally. Eternally would be so less eternal than it was before that it would become "temporary", Sauranath thought. The deity himself, not the Avatar, would see to it that the souls would return to their rightful stars. Meanwhile, Ialu had at last crumbled the section of the wall before him. He was now able to stride through the opening. The giant warlord, for all his size and brutality, was able to prowl through the halls and rooms like a wraith and avoid combat most of the time. Many great hunts in which he had stalked animals had left him with a surprising affinity for stealth. He made his way towards Aztoc. Serpentine creatures were now close to the structure that Aztoc inhabited. Some had already began to attack the defenders, and they bared their fangs, some with venom, and others were just huge and strong, as strong as great warriors. It would not be a good idea to let the creatures anywhere near the open structure. Dozens charged straight for the doors in an attempt to swarm whatever guards Aztoc had, whilst a few others managed to go around the sides and find the hole that Ialu had created. Going through that breach, they began to prowl through the palace in search of victims. While this might prove a useful distraction, the sudden chaos within the palace might also make the two warriors have an even harder time at remaining undetected as guards began to run about looking for reptiles. Nevertheless the beasts were there. . . King Cobras curtly spat their venom at guard's eyes. Crocs bit into weapons and shields, and the Qoatls flew with their wings into enemy faces. Serpents coiled around legs and searched for narrow openings in armor. They were deceptively intelligent, partially because for one day they were given the intelligent to think like Men but to have their body of animals. For some odd reason, no matter how many Garakain Guards in their black armor fell shrieking and howling, their numbers never seemed to shrink. They remained constant, despite the corpses piling up. "Enough!" Aztoc snapped. He reached out with Dimok once more and found each and every reptilian animal in his capital. And then he broke their minds. Crocs, Cobras, Komodos, Qoatls, and any other reptiles, they all fell to the ground staring with blank eyes. As they did so, all the Garakain guards and corpses disappeared, nothing more than illusions. "Ohhh! Do I get to play now!?" Vestec's Avatar called excitedly. He had been content to watch Sauranath's avatar battle the Lich Outsider's creation, but now it seemed things were getting boring again. The Avatar's eyes began to glow a blood red and Violence stepped took control. "I believe if the flying coward can summon aid, I can too." The draconic and mortal corpses that littered the ground suddenly stirred to life once more as Vestec drew souls from his personal plane and threw them in the bodies. The battle for the skies was far from over. "Dragons, Dragons, come to fly," Vestec's avatar sang, chaotic energy crackling in his palms. Aztoc looked around, face growing pale as he felt the mass amount of energy building. It would be sensed by any hero or God, but finding and stopping Vestec would be too late. "Dragons, Dragons, time to die!" As Vestec released his gathering Chaos energy, Garakai was suddenly illuminated by a wave of energy, all different colors, soaring across the sky and through the castle. It would have been beautiful, if it wasn't for the screams of pain and the explosions of gore. The God of Chaos put only minimal effort into keeping friendly fire from not happening. Only Ialu, Invidia, Aztoc, and Mirtagn were fully spared from it's effects. Everyone else had a 50% of dying. Unless you were a dragon. Then you definitely died. Dragons fell shrieking from the sky, wreathed in chaotic energy that ate their bodies, simply exploded into a shower of gore, or just fell from the sky dead if they were lucky. Uri, Iron Legion, Undead, and Cimex weren't spared either, varying amounts of their numbers being subjugated to the same fate. Vestec's avatar appeared before Sauranath, idly sidestepping a screaming dragon as it crashed into the ground next to the Chaos God's avatar. "I'll give you one chance, lizard. Leave now and I might not trap all these precious souls to my will too, and you can save them all. Fight me, and I assure you I will use them for my own purposes. Truth be told, I would really prefer if you just attacked so we could cause untold devastation and death and probably kill everything in all of the north. Oh would you shut up!" Vestec's avatar grabbed the screaming dragon, who was still covered in Chaotic energy, and ripped his head off in a shower of gore. Turning to face Sauranath's avatar again, covered in blood, Vestec's Avatar smiled. "Mirtagn, if you attack me I assure you, you will die. Painfully. Agonizingly. Don't bother Ialu and Invidia and Aztoc either. Just fly away, and you can live." "Oh, how cute it is to watch a pretender sit down in his throne while his people are being slaughtered." A voice rang out from behind Aztoc's throne. It was soft and bitter at the same time, and it was Astarte's. "Well, it's not that cute actually. It's pathetic." She shrugged and walked around the throne until she was face to face with Aztoc. "Your enemies will bust down that door any moment now, and once inside, you'll die. I'm here to offer you immortality. Nobody will be able to kill you nor the men and women under your command, should you accept." "Astarte. As beautiful as Vestec claims, I see." Aztoc replied, rising to kneel to the Goddess. "I always knew this battle would end in my death. I simply requested that it be a battle and not a slaughter." As a screaming dragon, covered in Chaotic fire, crashed through the roof and landed nearby, Aztoc looked back at the Goddess. "As you can see, it is quite the battle. The Execrable One has gotten involved. Regardless, who am I to refurse the aid of a Goddess of magic? I accept." Astarte smiled and clapped her hands. A thousand humans appeared in the streets of the town. They were armed to the teeth and experts in their fighting, and they fought everything in their path. Everything, including Aztoc's other troops and whatever unlucky civillian still around. Hatred burned in their eyes. "And now..." Astarte muttered and put her hands on Aztoc's head. her grip was so tight that her nails dug into the thin skin, drawing blood. And then a brief flash of light enveloped Aztoc and each of the new soldiers, and it was done. She retracted her hands and looked at her fingers. They were covered in the filthy human's blood. She licked one in curiosity and shuddered at the bad taste, and flicked her hands clean for the rest. "Your corpse will die when Ialu himself comes in here and defeats you, but [i]you[/i] will survive, and so will the one thousand soldiers I just gave you-" Astarte said, looking at her fingers before staring at Aztoc. "They're kind of xenophobic, and they won't realize when they've died. You'll get to enjoy an eternity with them. You won't be dead, but you won't be alive either." "All the feelings you know? The ones you're feeling now? You will lose them." The pounding of heavy footsteps could be heard, though Ialu's invisibility meant that there was nobody to be seen. That was until he willed Ull'yang's blessing to disappear and showed himself, mere feet away from Aztoc. He had heard enough of this exchange. [b][color=Gold]"Deathless, are you? I hope you're prepared for an eternity of torture, Aztoc,"[/color][/b] the warlord laughed, glancing towards Astarte once but largely ignoring her. He might have had more of a surprised or violent reaction had Vestec and Mirtagn not warned him of all the gods coming to lend aid to his enemy. As it was though, his only thoughts were of vengeance. He approached the dragon tamer with a look that was beyond menacing. "As you say, Goddess of Magic. Consort of Chaos." Aztoc gave a slightly bleak smile, before turning to Ialu. "I'm impressed Ialu. This is remarkably subtle for you." He murmured, flipping through the pages of the Morello-Nomicon. Another dragon crashed through the roof, this one simply dead. "But not too subtle. Did you hope for such death and devastation to be inflicted upon the people of Garakai? They're already gone, I'm afraid. The Chaos and Dragon Gods are merely fighting in the bones of a city now. Welcome to the city of Garakai. Capital of the Empire in the North. The City of the Dead and the Damned." He reached the Wraiths in the Nomicon. "I wonder if this will work." Five wraiths appeared around the Demi-God, and attempted to possess his body. Aztoc was contradicted by the voice of Sauranath behind him. "Okay, avatar Sauranath is someplace else. I'm myself right now, in the literal meaning. I had a contract to fulfill, and this obligates me to appear here. Invictus and Fate would not enjoy the fact that we are here in violation of unseen cosmic laws of the universe just because we feel like it. " I sent my avatar first, but this is ludicrous. Astarte, you are insane, as Vestec, only in a more cold, viscious manner, Warlock Woman of the Gods that you are, you violate the very sanctity of the world coming here and making another pet dragon, this time of Aztoc. Were it anyone else doing the same thing I might consider letting them, but since you have foolishly been indulging in such evil behaviour for a long time, I find this extremely more than distasteful and far more than wicked. You are an evil beast as much as Aztoc, he's just a dog on a leash. I will conquer you and your consort and call on all the gods to do the same in person. This is all STUPID and this is enough. The civilians of Garakai have no place to come home to." " Vestec, has massacred the rest of the dragon folk in the skies, along with his consort, Astarte cheering him on, no doubt, even if in wordlessness. I demand that you put an end to this, Astarte, but if you do not, I will bring forth the fury of the gods on you. More than that, the world will fall to nothing, all of it, if you keep up with your utter insanity. " "Oh, screw you." Astarte muttered and rolled her eyes. Ialu resisted the efforts of the vicious wraiths at possessing him, just as he had defied Thulemiz's earlier attempts at stealing his soul. Beyond angry, he approached Aztoc only to be both surprised and interrupted by the Dragon God's sudden appearance. After listening for a moment, the warlord dismissed the speech as directed to the other one in the room, some Goddess he'd never heard of. While they played their games he would play his. Using his telekinesis, he forced Aztoc to his knees. [b][color=gold]"Before I incinerate both you and your worthless book, I have half a mind to ask why you betrayed me. For the drollness of it all, and so that next time I will be able to flay the hide off a traitor [i]before[/i] he shows his true colors.[/color][/b] "Aztoc", Mirtagn interrupted. "We can make better use of him, if you would ask for an even higher boon, I have asked Sauranath what would happen if he would find someone this competent as a defector to our side. I suggested straight to Sauranath that you receive a higher boon for handing him over. Would this be acceptable for you?" The warlord laid a hand on Aztoc and threw him onto the ground before turning to Mirtagn. At first he had a look of fire in his eyes and was clearly enraged, but then that flush began to fade...it was replaced with a deathly calm. Ialu quietly asked Mirtagn, [b][color=Gold]"You see someone that has enslaved hundreds of your kin and attempt to save him? To enlist his aid? Fine. Though I demand a great boon indeed in exchange for this one's life...remember that he once belonged to [i]me[/i], before all of you,"[/color][/b] Ialu waved his hand to gesture at the gods surrounding him, [b][color=Gold]"attempted to aid his rebellion and claim his life for your own."[/color][/b] Sauranath quickly interjected in the conversation, "I was once the divine version of Ialu. Anyone who was in my way, cut down, ate, burned to ashes or somehow destroyed. I was great and all that mattered were my Brood and myself. I eventually learned by observing the world below that the suffering of the people of the world, that they were just as much people as my Kindred. This is why I enchanted one day of the year for people of all Kindreds, Tongues, and Peoples to enjoy as miraculous. Ialu, what I am trying to say is, there is more to life than "victory". You can be victorious over yourself as much as you can over others." " As for me, yes. . . I am beginning to grow tired of the world. Yet if I leave, I could wane in strength. Now, I will do four great boons for you. First, Mirtagn is your Lieutenant for now, and for a significant time, he shall serve you as he serves me. Second, you shall see Mirtagn expend his strength on your behalf, to make your power his and his power yours. Thirdly, I shall grant what I have already been requested to do. " " Finally, for the last and final power I shall bestow upon you, shall come from Invictus and great Fate themselves. I am growing weary and tiresome of the world. Even as it grows exciting and of great adventure, it is useless to resist the siren call for the Stars above. This is why I must petition Fate and Invictus. Fate and Invictus are as far above us as we are beyond you. Ialu, if you spare your pride, and leave your enemy be, I shall grant you a portion of the boon or boons that The Fate and Invictus bequeeth. What say you?" Ialu was in no position to refuse, but this was truly a great deal worth more than any petty vengeance. It would seem that Sauranath was generous indeed. Smiling, Ialu answered by using his Wi to pick up the downed Aztoc and move him towards Sauranath, forcing him down onto his knees once more, but this time facing the god. [b][color=Gold]"A fair deal indeed! He is yours, Sauranath."[/color][/b] While he spoke, Ialu found himself thinking of these beings known as 'Fate' and 'Invictus'. He had never heard such names before, yet the god spoke highly of them. Perhaps they were merely metaphorical? Regardless, something about them rang familiar. "No Ialu. I can hear your thoughts and I know them. Invictus and Fate, they are as real as the gods, even if not one of us. Nevertheless, I grant you a partial gift free of any of the boons already requested. Aztoc, for your punishment of betraying your master, and for being a cruel defiler of your fellow mortals in ways that make even some very bigoted dragons cringe and sob dearly for hours." Ialu meanwhile watched and listened in amusement. He listened with awe at both the descriptions of Fate and Invictus, as well as the Dragon God's sudden speech towards Aztoc. It would seem that the traitor would be punished after all...this was a glorious day indeed. Content to watch the menagerie of gods bicker and quarrel, Ialu stepped back to observe. "Okay, okay, now stop right there, Sauranath-" Astarte intervened, glaring at the Dragon God. Sauranath snapped with his jaws as a serpent man, loudly, but he quipped. "You are going to like this Astarte, hear this." Seeing as Astarte acknowledged. Sauranath turned around to Aztoc. "Aztoc, you are to be drawn and quarted, but you shall survive, you shall be emasculated and left for the insects and animals to dine, as you are caged like your slaves. Then only will you be acquitted for your many crimes. You shall be healed and completely restored but with one important change. You shall be changed into a woman. With. All. Memory. Of. Your. Past." "Well, seeing as you lack the common courtesy to listen, lizard..." Astarte reached out to Aztoc's heart and brain with her Wi and squeezed. The man just went limp. She threw a fireball at the body, and it was burned unnaturally quickly. From the ashes, Aztoc's ghostly form rose. Astarte then looked at Ialu, "No human should have the power this dumb, mad lizard is trying to give you." Sauranath was crossed. "You fool! Astarte. Your hypocrisy is maddening, and it is most perfidious you would take my dragon, even one, and have your filthy attitude of life in my presence, a haughty look in my face. You will not pass through this day unscathed, creature of the darkest night!" Astarte brought up a magical barrier, the entire throne room shaking once Sauranath crashed against it. Vestec quite literally crashed through the roof. Violence was in full control, as evidenced by his complete and utter blood red color, and a very dangerous rage radiated off of the God of Chaos. "I would suggest, Sauranath, that you leave while I still let you. Your threats are quite empty, and quite annoying." Ialu smiled at Astarte as she slaughtered Aztoc on the spot. He hardly could have done better, but it was a shame that the death had not been drawn out more. An invisible yet very tangible extension of pure Wi manifested itself in the warlord's hand; he moved to use it to take the traitor's head as a trophy, only to be stopped by the fireball that promptly incinerated the corpse. To top that insult, Astarte's words only further provoked him. [b][color=Gold]"No whore should seek to pass judgment,"[/color][/b] he spat out without thinking. Fully expecteing some sort of retaliation, he suddenly ducked down to sever the charred skeleton's head from its body. Vestec's Avatar appeared next to Mirtagn, still covered in blood. "What did I tell you? Just leave. And here you are, bothering Aztoc and Ialu. Enjoy painful death." A cage of Chaotic energy, created by a god himself, appeared around the dragon and slowly began to close around Mirtagn. The second it touched the Crystal dragon, agonizing pain would start as it ate away at the hero. Vestec's Avatar walked over to the ashes of Aztoc's body, and picked up the Morello-Nomicon. "You won't be needing this anymore, and I think I've a few plans for it." The book disappeared to Vestec's personal plane. "As for you, Ialu." The Avatar turned to face the Warlord. It's tone was deceptively calm. "Such arrogance. Such pride. I must say, I liked it when it was in check but insulting Astarte was a mistake. I think you need to learn a lesson in being [i]humble[/i]. I curse you with failure, Ialu of the Strong Tribe. You will lose your battles, any attempts at negotiation will fail, any romantic pursuits will turn to ash, and your attempts at an empire will crumble. You will be betrayed by your allies, beaten by your enemies. Your prayers will fail to reach the Gods. What Godly might you possess will not obey you, your magic will not obey your commands, and your strength will flee from you. So I curse you, Ialu." At this Ialu guffawed, brave to a fault as usual. In a mocking and spiteful cadence he retorted, [b][color=Gold]"So, 'Mighty One', I seem to have struck a nerve. You and Astarte both made a dear mistake by calling me 'human', and I am more than capable of striking back! Like allowing a snake to gorge until it becomes large enough to swallow you, you have given me more power than you ever should have, Vestec. So let us see if all my negotiations are truly doomed to failure, then! Revoke my curse at once or I will return the favor in kind!"[/color][/b] The warlord knew that he tempted fate and was straying dangerously close to fire, but he was calling no bluff. As the Chaos God could read minds, he would be able to sense the myriad of ideas brewing up in the demigod's mind, as well as the truth in Ialu's claims that he too could inflict curses. Perhaps the worst thought stirring up in Ialu's cruel mind was the idea of cursing Astarte in Vestec's place, since he seemed to think so fondly of her. Vestec's Avatar didn't need the curse's urging to ignore Ialu's attempt at intimidation. His voice was soft in Ialu's head as he read the Demi-Gods intentions. [i]I am willing to fight the Dragon God. What do you think I'll do to you? You are but half a god, and cursed with failure. Perhaps you should show that you have indeed freed yourself from my Blade's influence, use your head, and leave.[/i] "Brave words from a mortal who can't even cast a spell now." Vestec's avatar noted aloud while Astarte snickered. Snarling, Ialu attempted to use brute force to break the curse upon him, but predictably that failed. The curse did cause failure, after all. But he would not be so easily foiled...The warlord merely cast a look in Sauranath's direction and spoke, [b][color=Gold]"Aid me in breaking this curse and shall have both my gratitude and aid.[/color][/b] Of course, the demigod's aid would not amount to much against two gods, but he would still be sure to inflict a rather horrific curse upon his assailant before making a retreat. Sauranath took Ialu in his arm and disappeared, even as he caused Mirtagn to disappear with an act of magical will, so that when they appeared in the Star of Sauranath. . . a living place. To Ialu it would appear like a thousand wives, a thousand of the best wives put into one. The mysterious, ephemereal nature caused Ialu to be even far more intelligent, sharp of understanding and aware with all his wits more than intact. "The stars are where dragons incubate as an egg, where they arise from, and if they die, where they return. It takes centuries to incubate, but if the oldest dragon dies, they arise from a star again. This is their pre-life, their after-life and their destiny. It is a disgrace to see Ialu in this state. Especially since we had more than a deal. I was to aid you in your times of disgrace, your times of victory, and your times of need. Yet that might be over! Say it is not so." "You are in the position to do something no mortal or even mighty heroes can do." He took a breath. "You can help a god. Pray that Invictus and Fate build us up, grant us power, wisdom, and the hope for our ways to be fuilfilled." Ialu looked around in both wonder and bewilderment until the god explained where he was. To think that he had somehow managed to defeat creatures of such majesty to dwell in places like this...ironically, that thought was more humbling than any curse Ferghus or Vestec had inflicted. [b][color=Gold]"It need not be over, Sauranath. I will aid you. Shall we both pray to Invictus and Fate together, then, asking them to intercede?"[/color][/b] "Ialu. . . Mirtagn has supplicated me to end his life as an offering to both of them. Fate and Invictus may indeed pay heed if I give him over, the only Lieutenant I have on the world of the Galbar. I require time to think on this. Three days in full. For you, the utter bliss and harmony of this place will be like thousands of years of the best days of any mortal's life. There is no need for a war here, so the curse of failure shall not harm you. From this beauty of life you shall receive inspiration for the prayers to Invictus and Fate. Of course, Mirtagn has three days to change his mind. . . I will not let him destroy himself for my sake." "Actually, Ialu, one last thing. Perhaps you should simply live here for the next three days. Far less evil shall happen to you here while you are under the curse. I suggest that it might be a good idea that you indulge in the good things that may not be available to you until we find a good fix for you. If the curse should effect your requests to Invictus and Fate, I shudder at the consequences." [hider=Astarte Might] -1 for cursing Aztoc -3 for Soul Subjugation portfolio[/hider] [hider=Vestec Might] -1 for cursing Ialu[/hider] [hider=Summary] -Ialu prays to Vestec to return the eternal darkness for an hour, and Vestec complies. The Eternal Darkness returns for an hour above Garakai. The nightmares return in Garakai. -Mirtagn launches an assault on Garakai, only to have all his dragons with him convinced he's an enemy by Aztoc's Dimok. With this distraction, and the nightmares attacking, Ialu and Invidia fly up to Garakai. -Sauranath's Avatar appears, summons more dragons and Mirtagn summons a bunch of reptiles(specifically, King Cobras, Komodo Dragons, and flying snakes) -Aztoc shatters the minds of all these reptilian animals. -Invidia triggers Vestec's curse, and refuses to pray for aid and is turned into a puddle of acid. -Alfid creates a Dragon Wraith out of all the souls of the dead dragons to fight Sauranath's Avatar before fleeing. This Wraith is eventually destroyed by Mirtagn and Sauranath's avatar. -Vestec's Avatar brutally murdered all the dragons in the sky, and a good number of anything that wasn't a Hero on the ground. Garakai is largely decimated. Vestec's Avatar then prepares to fight Sauranath's avatar, warning the Dragon God's Avatar to leave, or Vestec will claim all of the dead dragon's souls. -Vestec's Avatar warns Mirtagn to leave as it prepares to fight Sauranath's Avatar. The hero doesn't heed him, and is nearly killed by a cage of Chaotic energy before Sauranath takes both him and Ialu to The Star of Sauranath. -Astarte appeared, answering Aztoc's prayerer and offering her aid. -Aztoc agrees to Astarte's demands, and is forever bound to Garakai's capital as a wraith. Along with 1000 other human warriors. They will die, and reform as wraiths, who can be destroyed with physical blows, only to reform in Garakai later. An eternal guard. -Sauranath and Ialu arrive, the former convincing the latter not to destroy Aztoc and give the traitor to him so he can 'fix' him. -Astarte smites Aztoc, killing him instantly and causing him to ressurected as a wraith. -Sauranath threatens Astarte, which causes Vestec to arrive and tell the Dragon God to leave before Vestec kills him. -Vestec's Avatar takes the Morello-Nomicon and sends it to his personal plane. -Ialu insults Astarte, and thus Vestec curses Ialu with Failure. His plans (Be they war plans, prayers, romance plans, fights, alliances, negotiations, empire building, or actual building) will all fail. 1 might left for Vestec -Sauranath takes Ialu and Mirtagn and flees to the Star of Sauranath. There, Mirtagn volunteers(or so Sauranath claims), to be sacrificed to Invictus and Fate so Sauranath can have his might back(all the debt will be removed!) and Ialu can be freed from his curse (tsk, tsk) -As Sauranath clearly didn't listen, Vestec transfers and binds all the souls of the dead dragons to his personal plane. [/hider] [hider=Casualties] [u]Forces of Garakai[/u] 234/234 Chaos dragons 500/500 Barbed Uri 500/500 Corrupted Cimex 50/50 Iron Legion 1/1 Aztoc (technically. He's not dead, but not alive either. Trapped eternally to guard Garakai and all that. Emotionless too!) 1000/1000 Undead Horde Garakain members (Not to be confused with Astarte's 1000 human warriors.) [u]Forces of Ialu and Mirtagn and Invidia[/u] All of the dragons summoned, and those left alive from before, by Sauranath. All the reptiles Summoned by Mirtagn. 1/1 Invidia. Pool of Acid.[/hider]