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Message: <blockquote data-quote="JollyDoc" data-source="post: 4134393" data-attributes="member: 9546">As Daelric knelt down beside the bodies of Octurus and Tower Cleaver, a coruscating curtain of light flashed into existence on the far side of the battle field.  Another of Iggwilv’s portals had opened, and through the massive Gate marched wave after wave of Orcus’s minions.  First was the IX Exsanguinos, a legion of vampiric warlocks and warriors, followed by the XIII Decapitus, which was comprised of blood fiends, nabassu rogues, death giants and nightwalkers.  All of this Daelric ignored, however, as he kept his head bowed in prayer.  With a surge of power, Octurus and Cleaver arched their backs as they were returned to the half-life of revenants.“Lie still,” Daelric instructed.  “You don’t have long.  When my spell ends, you will die once more, but rest assured, I will bring you back quickly, and permanently.”The two warriors were well acquainted with the priest’s methods of resurrection, and so they lay quietly as the throngs of demons and undead passed them by.  Finally, each exhaled a long breath, and closed their eyes once more.  Quickly, Daelric began chanting again, this time snatching the souls of his departed friends before they could completely leave their corporeal shells, reviving them fully back to life, though woefully weakened.Mandi watched all of this impassively.  She trusted that Daelric knew his job and would carry it out effectively.  Her main attention was focused on the leader of Orcus’s legions.  He was a hulking, powerful man, though his actual race could not be discerned due to the horrific, skull-like mask which covered the upper part of his face.  Mandi would guess that there was ogre blood somewhere in his heritage.  He stalked purposefully towards the sorceress, towering above her when he came to a halt.“I am Quah-Nomag,” he said, his voice a deep, basso rumble.  “It is well that you secured the portal point, but if you wish for the armies of Orcus to provide the distraction that you need, there is more that must be accomplished.”Mandi sighed.  “How could I not have guessed that?” she asked, sarcastically.Quah-Nomag ignored her attempt at humor.“I will be marshalling my troops shortly for the march to Lemoriax,” he said.  “However, we cannot approach closer than several miles from the city, for Demogorgon has placed an interdiction zone about his capital.  No being may teleport into or out of this zone, save by Demogorgon’s will.”“So?”  Mandi shrugged.  “You have almost 50,000 troops behind you.  Why not simply march on the city?”Quah-Nomag looked at her impassively.  “Because the Demos Horde stands between us and Lemoriax.  We are vastly outnumbered.  My necromancers can even this imbalance by reanimating every enemy that falls, yet I do not relish the idea of confronting a force as large as the Horde.  Yet, a demon army is only as strong as its commander.  If they were to lose their leader, we could shatter them with ease.”“Wait,” Mandi said, her eyes wide.  “So, not only do you want us to bring down this interdiction zone, but you also want us to waltz into an enemy camp and attempt to assassinate their general?”“Just so,” Quah-Nomag nodded.  “It might be of note to you that, not only does the interdiction field protect Lemoriax, but it also inhibits entry into Wat Dagon as long as it exists.”Mandi stewed silently as she mulled over the implications to the general’s words.  Finally, she spoke again.  “How can the interdiction zone be brought down?” she asked.Quah-Nomag shrugged.  “You are supposed to be a powerful sorceress, correct?  I would think that one such as you would be able to analyze the magical nature of the zone and come up with a solution.”Mandi’s face reddened.  Clenching her jaw, she asked her next question.“And who, pray tell, currently leads the Demos Horde?”“Tetradarian,” Quah-Nomag said with a half-smile.  “Bagromar’s clone brother.”“This deal is getting worse all the time,” Mandi muttered.________________________________________________________In the end, the Legionnaires really had no choice.  If they hoped to reach Wat Dagon, they would need to have the interdiction zone down, and if they wanted Quah-Nomag to provide the distraction they needed, they would have to give in to his demands.  So it was that, once again, the six companions became one with the wind, leaving the legions of Orcus far behind, and far below.  Within minutes, they crested a high ridge and saw the Demos Horde sprawled before them, the dark towers of Lemoriax crouching behind.  Mandi immediately detected the powerful weave that comprised the interdiction.  She could tell that it was a manifestation of Demogorgon’s will, not just some cast spell, and as such, it would only be possible to bring it down by destroying its focus, or disrupting Demogorgon’s concentration on it.  The former option seemed extremely unlikely, given that the focus seemed to be a massive ziggurat right in the center of the city.  The latter, however…Mandi tapped her chin pensively.  Iggwilv had told her that she would know when the time was right to release Obox-ob.  She sensed that time was now.  With Demogorgon’s most feared adversary slavering at the walls of his capital city, surely the demon prince’s attention would be weakened enough to cause the zone to falter, and then once Orcus’s troops began teleporting in, it would collapse completely.Quickly, Mandi outlined her plan for her companions.  They were skeptical, but saw no other realistic options.  So, leaving them hidden in the cloud cover, she drifted down, all but invisible in the hazy air, until she stood directly before the walls of Lemoriax.  Hastily, she regained her corporeal form and drew the flask from her cloak.  Already, she had been spotted and dozens of demons converged on her location.  As she removed the stopper from the flask, however, all of the fiends stopped dead in their tracks.  With a shriek of madness, Obox-ob’s avatar exploded into existence, seizing any living thing within its reach and tearing its limbs off before casting it aside.  As one, the demons panicked, fleeing in all directions though their commanders screamed at them to return to their posts, and then hurled deadly spells after them when they refused.  As for the Lord of Vermin, he had turned his attention to the high walls, casually plucking defenders from its battlements, and then hammering them against the brick and mortar, which began to show cracks splintering from impact points.Mandi hastily wove a spell, calling out to Quah-Nomag mentally as she saw the interdiction begin to waver.‘Mission one accomplished,’ she sent.  ‘Send support troops now!’‘It will be done,’ the general replied.  A moment later, the sky began to fill with winking points of light as five-thousand Nabassus popped into existence.  They fell upon the edges of the Demos camp with a vengeance, and very soon, Mandi was all but forgotten.  She began to concentrate, willing her body back into mist, when, out of nowhere, Iggwilv stood beside her.“Well done,” the Witch Queen smiled.  “I’ll be taking the flask now.”  She held out one perfectly manicured hand.Mandi looked at her with red fury in her eyes for a moment, but then realized that she walked a razor’s edge between life and death at that moment.  Reluctantly, she handed the flask over.Iggwilv nodded and smiled again.  “See you soon,” she said cryptically, and then promptly vanished.</blockquote>

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