Sura

Zast smiled. "Then you are more than welcome. I also understand that you are a member of the Cult of Osiris-Ra. That itself is not an issue. However, I have to know that your allegiances would be to the Club above the Cult if such a situation would.."

He stopped. His eyes narrowed. A grimace took his face, and he stood.

"Forgive me, Lord of Sand," he said, "But I fear we shall have to postpone this meeting. Certain of my investments within the Enslavery have been compromised. Apparently we are under attack from the Mad. You may stay here and wait until my return, if you wish, or you may come and fight. Make decision quickly."

Balast

"Of.. course," said Mordalahi, taking Balast to a private room behind the meeting chambers. "Arkhauk, your presence is required," he said, smiling to Balast. "My personal demon. Use him as you will."

A tall, spindly spider-thing, dressed in rags and grinning madly manifested. He bowed upon seeing Mordalahi, understanding the unspoken command. Mordalahi left, giving Balast privacy.

Chalybis

Metal crashed within the eastern neighborhoods of the city, spreading slowly as they did so. The paradox of time-manipulation then occurred, and yet more and more shards were flung about the ruined cobblestone streets of the Purple City. Chalybis felt a buzz within his mind. These powers were new, and deadly, but they were ultimately exhausting to use. Thousands fell beneath the whips of silver. Thousands more deflected or escaped the torrent, the dread swarm, hiding behind magic or steel.

Balast turned to the daemon his eyes flaming and his face grim.

"I suspect you know how I am and who I am not.  Your kind always had all the answers when I first walked here.  I want to know if there is a being in this time capable of communing with the tree directly.  The conclave is lashing about and inflicting untold damage, Raelis ruled for the tree's destruction.  The tree alone can overrule the evidence of my own eyes and the knowledge of Raelis.  Is there anyone who can let me speak to it?  My destiny is to destroy the tree - is this the time for my hammer to fall?"

"I will come." Sura said quickly standing, ready to follow Zasts lead.

Chalybis felt something strange after His first - and presumably rather decisive - strike against the occupants of Niborkerese, a rather annoying but well-known feeling that could only be attributed to overextending Himself throughout all these worlds. He was exhausting His powers rapidly at this rate, and required something to nourish His infernal hunger before it was too late - the very reason He had come to this realm to begin with. Fortunately, the silver flood that coursed through the streets beneath Him was arranging just that.

Where the initial wave of silver metal had passed, its victims were already rising again, this time to serve Him as an enslaved army of steel. They were still alive however, and as such still possessed their souls trapped within the metal shells, even though the latter were animated by His might and required no such nonsense. Under other circumstances Chalybis would have allowed this to remain so - He considered an eternity of helpless captivity to be an appropriate punishment for daring to defy Him - but right now He required them for a higher purpose than mere torture.

As His new legion arose and turned upon those that had somehow escaped the surge of transformation - for now - thousands of glimmering strands, shining orbs, and other figures were torn away from them, the souls of whatever beings they had been now drawn into Chalybis so that He might feast upon the minor amount of power each of them held within it. One such soul would have barely been noticeable to Him, but now thousands of them were flowing into Him, restoring His energy and raising His powers to even more impressive heights as they did so...

Sura

Sura dashed with Zast through the streets of Niborkerese, followed by some of the pupils and men of the Club Hydrathapoles. Zast stopped to speak to several of Marcento's soldiers, and soon they, too, were streaming towards the slavemarkets. It seemed like they'd brought a legion with them..

They stopped, suddenly, and there was gunfire.

Ahead of them, a a hundred men, women, children, each of them with torn bodies and vacant eyes. They'd been transformed. They ticked, clanked as they walked. They lurched towards the soldiers, and the skirmish had began. Gears were flung all over. Men fell underneath he savage claws of the clock-things.

"Stand back," said Zast to his men. "If the soldiers fail, then we shall strike. Tell me, how many of you have mastered the art of theoelectromagnetic hexing?"

A few pupils raised there hands eagerly.

"Get in there," said Zast. "They're robotic. Shut them down."

And the pupils did, waving their hands and casting invisible energies at the beings, stopping them cold dead. The creatures of Chalybis fell to the floor, then, often smashing to pieces as they did so. Very quickly the battle was over. A dozen soldiers dead, three pupils wounded.

"Efficiency is godly," said Zast to Sura.

More of the beings lurched through the fog, clicking, ticking, tocking.

Balast

"The only individuals ever to hold honest council with Yggdrasil," said the demon, frowning, "Are the dead and the Primordials. Perhaps if we could conjure a Primordial, then.."

He stopped. The room went cold. Suddenly. So sudden.

Everything stopped.

Balast, the demon, frozen in time, couldn't blink or breath or speak or -

It was over. Time stopped, still, but Balast and the demon were free.

"And what is it that you would ask of me, Destruction?" asked the man who had suddenly formed in the room. Tall, lean, hawkish features, obsessive eyes..

Chalybis

Even with the energy taken from whatever souls Chalybis could obtain, he was weakening. Slowly, but surely. He needed more valuable souls. The city felt his retribution: houses caved in, thousands of men and women fell under the silver, and there were sounds of gunshot in the streets. Smoke-fog covered all. Still, none came to stop him.

Balast stares at the primordial with distaste before replying in a voice no-one else could hear as time had stopped.

, you know what happens when the tree dies by another's hand .  Is it time for me to enact my duty or not?  Before you answer I will repeat my oath so that you may witness it in this body.  I am Yggdrasil's servant, its knight bound to its will.  I follow no other master and  may my life and death serve the tree."]

Chalybis was overcome with an alien sense of satisfaction as thousands of insignificant beings were dying beneath Him, their souls becoming trapped within His form for all eternity - or until He decided it was time to 'release' them from their captivity. Still, it was not enough, He required even more of these pathetic creatures to die before Him so that He might feast upon their souls. His very existence depended on it, as did His plans for the damnable Alkanites who were remarkably - and annoyingly - persistent in defying Him.

His gaze fell upon a patch of city where He could feel that His minions were being fought and overcome, something that was not in the least acceptable. Mere moments later He had determined that the cause of this issue lay in the hands of a new group of humanoids that had arrived at the scene, accompanied by the same divine presence that was near Him within Tushmuthut. It seemed that some foolish deity was intent on attempting to save the cities, and had even more foolishly thought to bring along an army of mortals to fight Him. Unfortunately for them, they were exactly that, mere mortals about to meet their doom at His immeasurable power.

Powerful winds howled through the streets as the metal remains of buildings and fallen minions disintegrated, being torn from the surface and forming a spiralling vortex that led up to the heavens that were Chalybis. The vortex widened until it became the same massive hurricane that had swept over the Enslavery earlier, this time focusing its attention upon the mortal army instead of simple soul orbs. Chalybis would have what He desired, and these pathetic vermin would be dying to give Him exactly that...

"Impressive. You are doing a fine job of presenting a showcase of the club." Sura began to weave sand around him. "What is next? What is he attacking with?"

Sura

"Robotic creatures of one sort or another," said Zast, smiling grimly as his students tore apart creature after creature. Others were destroyed by masses of shots fired their way. "Poor souls, probably innocents of Niborkerese, corrupted by the taint of this thing. Easy enough to dispatch but.. there are so many of them."

More and more of the creatures fell, and then.. rose, all too suddenly, all too violently. Ripped above to the heavens, the mindless creatures were the first to be assimilated by the vortex of Chalybis. The shots and theoelectromagnetic strikes ceased. Soon there were none left, and the soldiers and students were fleeing wildly down the streets as many of their number were taken to the heavens, never to return..

Zast stood with Sura, behind them all, as the vacuum edged closer, tearing up brick and mortal, flesh and spirit.

"It's too fast," said Zast. "Too fast."

Balast

The Hierophant replied, without time. The things that happened about them - that was before -


And time returned. The demon was gone. And Balast.. Balast was Balast, true Balast. He'd merged with the thing in the Temple of No Thing, finally become one.

(OOC: Can you send me a PM detailing exactly what you expect me to give suited-up Balast? I'm not sure we came to an actual arrangement, now that I think about it.)

Chalybis

As the shards struck below, smashing the relatively peaceful drug-dens and brothers and nurseries and business districts of Niborkerese, Chalybis felt satisfaction as he felt many be taken within him. Still, no divines, however. They would be next. They would be soon. The vortex moved slowly, dutifully, across the cityscape..
This message was last edited by the GM at 16:20, Sun 25 Apr 2010.

A scream, inaudible to all save Balast hurled itself up from the Abyss.  A million voices called out in defiance of the truth.  Balast had returned and the Abyss knew once more he would attempt to master it.

Fire sprang from around Balast, the true fire which he knew every secret of and his eyes burst once more into the incandescent flame that had marked him out from his peers.  Even as the fire grew the light around him dimmed as he renewed his connection to the void, the sheer lack of reality of the void lifting him into the air with a simple action of will.  His armor straightened and took on the dark shine of voidsteel.  Spikes and claws sprang from his armor and all six arms lifted to greet the rising dawn.  The front of his helmet twists into a new form, the tree of Yyggdrasil supporting the seven and a half pointed star of the Black Council.  The voidlight sprang out from each fist forming the weapons he wielded at need and his battlecry rose to meet the sky.

"To the END."

He turned and headed for the outside.  The Aspects were back and he needed to raise the Athanor against the mad and their servants, the conclave.

"Calm yourself Zast. Is there nothing you can think of?" Sura watched the vortex, cautious to avoid it.

Chalybis was amused as He became aware of the powers that were present within the fleeing divine that seemed to be associated with the mortals He had just consumed. He knew that it was truly sufficiently powerful to nourish Him, a rare occurrence which He would now allow to go to waste. It appeared that the divine was making a pathetic and futile attempt to escape from its destruction, something which only served to humour Him as there was nothing - mortal, divine, or otherwise - that could save itself from His hunger.

Mentally squeezing the life force out of several dozen captured souls, Chalybis gazed over the divine and its surroundings, rearranging - or rather, rending apart - the reality that lay around it into something that was more appropriate to His vile intentions. Although nothing appeared to have changed to the unworthy eyes of those below, the city had been radically altered around them, preventing any within the affected area from escaping, even if they could not actually realize this themselves.

Meanwhile, the vortex continued onwards unhindered, tearing apart minion, enemy, and city alike as it swept over one street after another. As it went on, Chalybis watched the trail of destruction it was causing with great intent, making certain that it did not miss a single potential victim as it continued its unopposed path towards the divine. Soon enough, the foolish divine would be doomed to suffer the same fate as every other inhabitant of this insignificant city, being consumed by Chalybis to serve as yet another sourceof His power...

Sura

The men who'd been fleeing continued, unable to reach any further distance. The city had been changed, somehow. Warped in space. Some screamed, some broke down as they realized that they were held within a trap, some didn't realize at all.

Still, as the vortex edged closer and closer, more men were thrown up into the horrible vacuum.

"We can escape this," said Zast. "I don't know.. what can defeat such.."

The vortex only edged closer.

"Retreat is the only option," he said, clasping Sura's hand, and suddenly they were within the relative safety outside of the Hydrathapoles Club House. Zast looked physically ill. He'd never been much good with psychic abilities.

Balast

Outside was madness. In the distance, Balast could see the seething, horrific image of the Mad God dominating the skyscape, and knew that Niborkerese was in trouble. Certain members of the Athanor, too, were worried, organizing troops and sorcerers to head the struggle.

Chalybis

Chalybis felt a huge wave of exhaustion rush over him as he manipulated space, felt an ache overcome his entire body. He was still so untrained.. even as the vacuum edged towards his enemy, weaker, slower now, even as he sped it up with only his mind, he knew that he was running out of energy. The souls were not enough. He was too small, even in this huge form, too small..

Suddenly, his targets were gone.

Balast's form shivered and seconds later Marcento stood where he had.  He turned and strode into the chaos.  His voice rang over the city.

"All soldiers move to protect the sorcerers.  All sorcerers prepare to strike.  When you see a ball of fire target it with fire magic."

His hand raised and a ball of fire sprang into the air connected to Marcento's form but a thick column of flame.

A high-pitched cacophony echoed through the heavens above as Chalybis voiced His displeasure about the current situation, finding the escape of His prey utterly unacceptable. Even more unacceptable was the counter-attack something below Him was currently attempting to make, even though it was destined to be a futile attempt. Now that there was nothing worthwhile left to consume and some sort of magic was accumulating near the surface, the vortex changed colour once again, swiftly heading towards the source of the magical energies that created it.

His eyes narrowed fiercly upon Zast. "He is one Divine!" he hissed. He calmed himself. "The vortex seems to be acting as a vacuum, bringing all it touches up to him..." He thought for a moment. "Is there anything you have that can survive the initial damage long enough to reach him?"

Sura

"I... perhaps I could form a League of students, join with the Athanor, make a final.."

Sura was a married man, once, when he was formed of flesh. It is assumed that he is aware of what an orgasm feels like. He felt an extremely similar feeling - better, even, because it was longer - of bliss wash over him as he felt that his Fate had been fulfilled. Chalybis was dead.

There was a thunderous crash outside - as if several thousand tonnes of steel had been dropped upon the city.

Chalybis

The empty form of Chalybis crashed to the ground, smashing a thousand homes, spas, drug-dens, barracks and otherwise peaceful buildings within Niborkerese. They would be recovering for many, many years to come.

Balast

The flames within Balast's eyes turn cold, and then the God of Nothing himself was dead, gone, to the Realm of Rivers where he would be judged..

Sura shivered - the feeling of the fate succeeding sending chills throughout his body. He scoffed and turned to Zast, standing so close to him now that their noses almost touched. "Tell me, he started, sounding rather disappointed, "Can the club teach me anything OTHER than cowardice?"

"Cowardice? Cowardi.." Zast stopped. "Forgive me, Lord of Sand. It was a weakness. But, I fear, a valid one. You see.. before I became First Hydra of Thapoles, before I was wise and a fair master of the forbidden, before I had learned the nature of the world I made dark compact with a temple, a religious sect, which still exists to this day. They had named themselves the Monastic Order of the Nuclear Eye and they wished to accept me as an initiate. I was to be marked for initiation, and they .. they were to change me on that night. But I learned a little of what they were, who they were, and I ran. They chased me for many years. Eventually, I came to believe that they had forgotten about me.. and then.."

He stopped. Sura noticed there were tears rolling down his cheeks.

"Every man has his weakness, Sura," said Zast. "The Mad are my own."

"But we are not men. It seems to me that i have something to offer you afterall". Sura let out a dry reaching like noise. "Come, we have business to continue."

Alliel appears here and almost as soon as she does looks around for and darts towards the nearest shadows.  There she sits down to watch for now.

Sura

"Perhaps," said Zast. They were within the lush - eerily empty - halls of the Club Hydrathapoles. "Perhaps. I.. have lost many students today. It would please me to recoup that loss, if ever I can, but.. perhaps my heart is not in it, Sura. I am sorry. It has been a wretched day."

Alliel

Alliel is in one of the poorer districts of the city. None pay her mind as they go about their business; junkies, magicians, whores, soldiers, criminals of all shades, alchemists..

As darkness reached Niborkerese, the gas lamps flicker and spurt.

Alliel decides to try something a little dangerous and finds an open space and attempts to summon a daemon.

"Do you wish to postpone our dealings?" He asked bitterly.

Sura

"Not at all," said Zast, now a little testily. "It isn't a matter of wishes.. but you must understand, many of my close students - friends - were killed in that attack. We've never been a particularly heavy faction in the dealings of Niborkerese, and now the Club's dreams of one day threatening even the Athanor.. have been shattered. Understand my sentiment. I am still in a state of shock."

Alliel

After half an hour of muttered incantation and small gestures, a presence had been called before Alliel, caught within a shoddy circle of power the dabbler had prepared with the ash of cigarette butts. The circle was only there for show, of course - Alliel did not know how to perform demonology without such trappings - but something came.

It appeared as a small battered bronze smoking hookah, the pipes murky and the inhalation apparatus smeared with grime. It appeared with no sound or call, only the faint smell of scented smoke and the sudden image in front of Alliel. Regardless of the nature of the being, however - it had been trapped within form, Alliel guessed - the hookah itself was a beautiful thing, and it seemed to speak to the Goddess without words.

"What.. why have you called me, diabolist?"