Valheecius Dig Site.

"I'm sorry...I ever...doubted you..." exhales Raena, finding it hard to breathe as she's crushed against a wall by the giant woman's flank. Well, there were certainly worse places to be, anyway...
Fortunately, the beast's psychic attack had not lasted long enough to give her pain, but it had severed her connection with The Void temporarily, and so she feels a strange...fullness within her. A fullness that feels like an emptiness, however, as the feeling of The Void's connection had grown to be second nature to her.

Raena slides down off the wall, somewhat dazed as she realises she can breathe again. When she stands, she moves back over to where Wendy is, just in time to see her shrink to the size of an ant. She places her face in her palm, partially to conceal the fact that she's on the verge of laughing. This entire situation was becoming a comical moment, despite the fact that they're surrounded on all sides by daemons. "I would recommend we step lightly," she says with a sigh.

The creature didn't even react to Ralf's shield attack. It was busy growing, transforming. Without the stored energy in the shield such an attack would only hit with to force of the Varan warrior's swing: not nearly enough to seriously damage a daemon such as the acid-beltcher.

The psychic daemon fared far worse. The rapid expansion of the naked drow woman from within it caused the thing's guts to explode out, showering the environs in a slick layer of gore. Wendy would swipe at the acid belcher with a spout of water, pushing the daemon into a corner and up the wall a few feet. With a disgusting squishing sound it would slide down the wall, collapsing into a heap on the floor.

The room was silent for a moment. Then came the applause. A lone humanoid figure entered to courtyard, his flesh-less palms making a dull clicking sound as they resounded against one another. The skeleton glimmered in the light, his bones sheathed in a coating of lustrous mithral overlaid with electrum. Etchings reminiscent of circuitry glowed orange in the fading light of the artificial sunlight above, pulsing rhythmically like a heartbeat. It wore a robe made of scales of a dull grey metal which in turn glowed with runes similar to those on the being's extremities. One of it's eye sockets was empty, but the other... a gemstone glowed in the socket, aflame with eldritch power.

The being gestured to the party's flanks. Shambling through opening in the walls came the remainder of the daemons Hirhan had seen. The bottom half of the creatures were regular human legs, while everything above the torso was replaced by a mass of bladed limbs and grasping, clawed hands on muscular arms. The being spoke, peering at Raena with his baleful eye.

"I thought I had sensed an ancient enemy. Well met, Knight. It has been so long since I have tasted the sweet fear of a full Knight of the Order of the Hammer."

The creature hissed, it's jaw moving into what must have been a smile.
"I must thank the human wizard though. To bring his companions here, to this place. Easy prey, weak minds. I'm afraid you all have unleashed something unseen in millennia. Oops."

As he spoke his last word each of the party would feel a pinch of pain on their foreheads. Their protective circlets would fall off one by one, broken by the lich's magics. A long staff of polished electrum would appear in the being's hands, the head of the implement soon glowing orange with arcane power. As one the daemons would lurch toward the party, their movements identical as they sprinted toward the adventurers gathered in the center of the room. The skeleton sorcerer spoke once again, it's tone cruel and alien.

"Let us begin."

Raena gives the lich an odd look. The Order, she knew, used to be an organisation that fought the lich-kings of Ivelius. This must be a survivor, who knows not of The Order's new purpose. She decides to play along with its misconceptions. "Indeed, Lich, it has been aeons since your kind blighted this land. I wonder, did it hurt when the combined might of The Serpent Cult and The Order of the Hammer cast you down from your mighty throne of power and dashed your brittle bones against the cold, hard ground of irrelevance?" asks Raena, her voice venomous and deadly. This lich would feel no fear from her. Only cold and unfeeling darkness, and a rage brewing deep within. This lich's lackeys had almost hurt her newest companion. He will pay.

With a single word in Voidspeak, Raena's connection with The Void is re-established, and with it, that familiar pain in her chest and the aching of her now-trembling arms, the muscles readjusting to having the power of The Void flowing through them. She lifts her blade into a ready position and charges at the Lich with a yell, channelling her pain into anger as she stomps forward, ready to tear the boneman into a million pieces.

As Raena prepared to face off against the lich, Wendy turned to one of the demons.

"well, I guess if she's got that under control...." She pondered as her water whips molded themselves into full-body clothing and pants, with matching shoes and fairy wings. It remained liquid, but it seems opaque, obscuring views to her naked body. Wendy turned to one of the demons.

"You know, there's a benefit to these scrolls other than being big or small...." She said as she held her blade up in a fighting pose.

"Allow me to demonstrate."

In a flash, Wendy burst forward towards the demon, far faster than someone only a foot in height should be able to. She leaped into the air, covering the demon's entire size in height, and prepared to slice the monster in half. Any attack made against her in that time would find it difficult as she came in as quickly as the eye could follow.

A Varan's willpower makes his mind one of, if not the most hardest to control. For Hirhan to actually enter his mind was an extraordinary feat. "Oh," Ralf exclaimed, being a virgin to this form of communication.

The lich who had entered the room would be busy dealing with Raena, prompting Ralf to turn and face the barrage of daemons who had, unfortunately, entered the room to renew the fight. Ralf shook his head, sighed, clenched his sword's hilt, and paced towards the first demon he saw.

The Varan's plan here was to defend against as many attacks as possible to charge his shield, and move backwards so as to not allow himself to be surrounded. Should one of the demons make the mistake of opening himself for an attack, Ralf may have taken the opportunity to lunge at their thighs and cripple them - but quickly re-assuming his defensive stance.

When enough blows landed on his shield, Ralf would lunge forward with his might and release the stored energy on the first demon his sword's surface hit, hopefully sending it flying back and knocking its allies over. Assuming this plan worked, maybe a few of the fallen demons would be easy pickings for a quick kill.

Fighting the smaller daemons was a piece of cake.

Wendy flashed through the air trailing a thin mist of water as she went. Her quick needle-like blows would do little to kill the daemons...though her thrusts to the daemon's eyes certainly diminished their effectiveness. Her initial blow would cut through one of the daemon's arms, but little else. She would need more mass or much more speed to properly cut the armored daemons with her sabre.

Ralf would find the heavy sweeps of his larger blade far more effective. The daemons would close on him, their multiple limbs snapping out at the warrior. His shield would absorb their impacts, charging up. His defensive pose was a good idea against these fell enemies... or it least if would seem that way, for now. We would release his shield's charge, sending one daemon catapulting into it's allies. They regrouped too quickly for an offensive to be successful, but the target had nevertheless been seriously damaged. Meanwhile his sword wrecked havoc, disemboweling enemies and removing their legs. The bodies would crawl forward on their upper limbs only to be halted by the twin blades of the Varan warrior and the drow woman.

Across the room Raena's feint would be again blocked with the edge of the lich's staff. It was simply moving two fast for a single swordsman to land a blow. The lich would suddenly lurch forward, attempting to use it's staff to unbalance Raena or knock her prone.
"Fool. You cannot kill what is already dead. It persists, just as we have. We never left, ignorant human."

Disengaging from the melee he would leap back, his powerful legs propelling him onto the side of the portal. His off hand gripped the dull black stone, causing the glyphs on the portal to glow, resonating with the markings on his body and armor. Withing the central ring of the broken portal something began to form, a glowing mass of energy and light.

"Behold, that which will not die."

The gore on the walls began to shift and warp, congealing into pools of flesh which soon would coat the room's interior. The sides of the acid-beltcher would slide out, folding out like some sort of bizarre moth as the twin corpses fused. A strange appendage would emerge from the back of the beltcher: a cannon of muscle and flesh.

Grimacing, Hirhan would withdraw his tendrils from Raena's mind. The Void had made it clear that the woman was theirs. The walls were alive, and the floor soon would be as well. If the flesh of the daemons touched any of them they would be picked off one by one, subsumed by the daemon's possession.





О͈̲̥̥̝̤͉̝͙̹̙̰̳͎͍̳͖͇̾ͣ̔̓͌ͪ̅ͮͪ̓̑ͣ̊̓͊̀́ͅс̵̢̛̣̮̬̖͎̙͍͈̳̰̖͇̈̌͒̏̑̾̊̓ͦͬͪ̀̚͢в̟̳̺̜̺̠̫̲͈̺͆̃̓̈́͂̋͜͝ͅяͣ͊̎̐̉͌̽̒̄͛̀̚͠҉̘͚͓̦͙̣̳̯̘͚̰͎̻͇̥т̸̷̨̢̫̬͕̗͓̲̦͒͒͋̐̇͒͊́̅̈͑͌͊͂ͪ̚̚͟и̡̗͖͎̺͔͍͎͍̞͙̟̰̜̖̪͖ͨ̌ͪͫͣ ̡̡̺̗̗͚̠̰̙̻͈̗̝͖̭́ͮͨͪͯ͗̍ͅэͫ͗ͯ̀̌̾̿̑̑̇̅҉̬̮̭̘̜͚̲̣̦͞т̸̢̛͇̟͔̝͉̣̫̥̓ͥ̍͛̎̀̄͌́͊ͧ̍̍̔̋́̿͌͡и̴̺̬̰̲͎͎̘̮̲̪͇͓̠̙͍̾́̔̅̀̇́ͤͪ̉̅ͥ͞͠ ̢̡̜͚̮͎͂̓̐̅̂ͤ͒̑ͯ́͞͡ͅо̿̈́͆͆̋̑̎̈́̈̔͑ͦͥ͌ͫ͠͏̧͚͚̤̪͖͖̦̜̮̠̯̰͚͎̀с̧̛͍͖͍̲̤̩̰̱ͯ̈́͂͛̎ͦͨ͡н̷̲̣̝̤̼̱̪͍̠͕̿̀ͥ̋ͪ̀͘͝ͅо̴̴͇̙̯̝̮̝͍͚̲͚͖̬̼͍ͦ̎̍ͤ̈̈́́̂̒̑̎̍͐ͧ̀ͅв̷̶̷̨̠͚̲̝̞̫̫̺̘̪̝͎̼̭̠̹̬̙ͦ͂͗ͫ̄ͫ̑̃ͬͩ͐ͮ̓ͨ̎̏́̚аͦ̋ͫͯ͒̿̈͛͆̒̈́̈́͗҉̵̢͚̣͕͉͓̣̟̯͇͎̻̬͢͢н̧ͫ̿͐̍́͂̓̐̾ͬ̄̃̒̔̽͘͝҉̤͙̝͔͉̫̥̳͚̗̣и̴̴̵̮͔̝̹̲̣͉̩̬̞͚̠̯̙͛̾̎͆̋͑͐ͫ̈ͤͬ̀̈́͆́ͬͭ̀̚̚я̵̳͓͓̙̤ͣ̃̄ͫ́̃͐ͬͦ̐ͧ̽̚ ̸̵̛̪͉͇̫͖͖͇͇̟̥̣ͥ̄ͯͩͣ͋̓̈̈ͩ̿͆͐̀͘в̠͈̲̖̣̭̞͇̪̖̤͇̆̑ͬ̒͘͟ ̵̸͇̙̥̠ͬ̇ͧ̓̉̿͒ͥͣ̑̔̊͗̆̓̀̚к̷̸̗̘̤͐̋ͣͯͣ͌̇ͧ͛̊́͂ͭͣ̾̒ͥͫ́о̏̉̀̈̇ͬ͗͆̅҉̬̝͎̜̬̙͉̯̠̪̗̪̬͍̘̣̼̮͠л̧͔̩͖̤̪̘͍̝̰̖̲̯̋͋̆̑ͥ͂̋̀͆ͯ̈́͒̀͜ь̸̴̸̭̤͔̹͇̮̗̗͖̩͔̖̫̟͕̙͌̊ͨ͒̌͒͆̓̏̂̕ц̧̨̰̗͚̹̪̭̀ͣ̇̈́́̔̓ͫ̾͘͜͢е̸̰̫̲̩̩̱̣̣̼̻ͩ́̽̂̕͡͡ ̧̨̡͖̜͖̬̤̠̬̙͉̣͇̹͇̀ͤ͒̃͗̀̓́͗̋͛ͮ̚т̶̧̪̭̫̩͍̂̉ͧ̋̃̑̎ͪ̂ͮ̚͞е̷̛̫̼̼͇̞͓̘͙͎̯͙̠͇̓̊̅̈̕̕ͅх͗ͮ̏ͮ̎̂̿̀͏̶̥̳̥͔͓̪̬͔͚̥̲̝̩͍͘͟,̥̪̹̪̐̈́ͮ͒͑̈̀̆ͫͥͥ̍̅̀̚͘͜ ͕̯̼̲̹̙̦͕̲̟̟̱̙͙͍͇̻͊͑ͦͧ̏̚̕̕к͌̇̒͊̇ͯ̄͆͛̄͝͏̱̹͚͎̙͚͉͕̪̠̗̼͙̻̲͓͔͢ͅт̑̔͒̓̓͒̂̐ͮ̅҉̶͙͙͇͓̠̜͡ͅо̶ͬ̊̃̍̓̉̾͒ͤͫ̎̓͋̈͊͐̊̾̕͟͏̜̺͚̬ ̐ͯ̍ͩͤ͊͊͑̾ͭ̑͑͌̄ͥ̊͏̸̵̡͍̻̝̪̖̳̫̪̥̺͎̘̣̭̟̭͡с̛͍̪̠̞̬͕̙̹̯̤̰̳̹̰̱̇̋̌̓̽̀̏̇ͥ̽͒͆̕͜͜͡ӧ̊̄ͧͯ̈́̀̔ͯ̀̍̋ͥͫ̓̈͢͟͞҉̠̱̜̦̣͔̩̮̩̘̣б̴̷̗̺̝̳̄̓͛͆̾ͫ̊̎̓̂рͮ͂ͬͣ̉͑ͣ̑̅̆ͩ̾҉̴̷͙̙̟̭̹̬̰̠͎̥̜̳̲͕͕̱̕͠а̛̿ͪ́̈́̉̿̿͆͛͆͢҉̲͈̬̪̬̲̻̤͓̤̰̳͎͈͙͈̪ͅл̴̢̢͓̰̼͓͍͇̫̳ͭ̈́͋͊ͨ̎̒̾ͮ̏ͫ̓ͩ̔́̚͘и̜̼̗̱͙̣́ͤ͂̿͐͡͡с̵̨̙͙̺̠͈͓̦͈̺̠̞ͣ̾ͨ̏͗ͥ̉ͤ̈́ͩ͐̆̈ͬ̔̈̆ͦ̿͘ь͒̋ͩ͂̃͂̋̓ͤͯ͛̐̃ͣ͛̓́̚͡҉̫̖̯̠͔͈̘̘̤͎̜͟ ̶̓̽̑ͬ̂̂̽̏̇̕͏̣͔̩̘̳͍̤̤͇з̸̸̷͕̹̘̪̰̥̖̥̖̹̥̜͙̓̃͊͑̍̋ͣ̇̂͆͜͝д̸̴̡̞̣̹̘̪̭͈̜͍̗ͥͯ̀̅̚͘͞е̢̛̺̦̖̪̬̅̄̓͂ͫ̑ͫ̓ͧ̋̍ͥ̈́ͩ̉͟с̨̞͇̱͖̬̱̬ͧ̇ͮ̓̒̔ͤ̏̚̕͟͡ͅь̎ͦͬ̿̔̀ͭ͋ͦ̐ͭ̈̈́̆ͣͭ͏́͞͝҉͓̠̮̟ ̴̴̱̹̪̻̭̲̙ͤ̀ͤ͑ͫ̊͑ͥ̓̉͢в̱̠̻̖̣̮̙͖͍̭̟̹̻̭͎̼̀ͫ͋͗̅͆́̈́͋ͮ̎̌̈̄̌ͧͪ́̚͡ ̵̟͖̦͙̠̣̝̹̦̗͉̥̯͕̦̉̈ͨ̂̔ͭ̂̈ͦ͑ͭ͊ͬ̍͢͟р̻̭̜̻̝̮̠̠͔͈͕̯̦̘͕̞͔͍̅͛͆̀ͭͪͪ̀̂͊ͥͪ̂͝ͅа̶̧̙̼͓̹̍̓͊̍̃ͭ̈̊ͮ͌͐ͪ̓̂̑̌д̏̏̋̊̅ͫ̑̚͏̯̭͕͞и̴̴̡̛͔̱̩̯̘̭̰̝̪͎̩̞̦͕͚̺̅͌̈̉̑̾̄̿̆ͬ̓ͣͧ̽́ͅу̨̛͙̯̬͙͒ͦ̊̉͐́̀͗̈̓̆̓̆ͥͬ̽с̧̿ͥ̂̔̃̓ͫ̓͊̄̍̒̂͒͒ͬ͌҉͝҉̳͇̰̻̗̭͎͕͍͈̫͇͓̺̦̭̀е̵͎̗͙͉̥͕̯̎̓̄̂̄̈̆͊͂̂̾́͟͜͡ ̧̛̛͖̞͉̠̠̰͕͈͓̼̙̪̺̰̌ͯ̔̓ͫͪ̾̒ͯ͆̚͟͝в̴̴̢̬̹̬̝͕̐͒ͩ͒ͪ̋̽̊̚͝о̶̨͙̫̲̝̖̹͎̠̣̭̮̅̂̿̍ͮ̑̾ͅс̨͚̮͎̰̟͖̟͔̪̬̏͊̽̍̐͒͊̌ͫ͑ͭͦ̑ͩ̑̚̚͠ͅь̶̢̨̼̤̪͍̘̺ͬ̔ͫ͆͑̓ͤ̏̒̅̔̊̅̔̚͞м̸̸̍̓ͥ̉̊ͮͪͪ͆ͩͣ̋̌͟͏̪͕̼̪͖̙и̍͌́̔̈́͒ͫ͏̵͕͉̖̗͚̮͍͓̱̻͈͍͢͜͝ ̛̫̹͎̼̹͚̖͚̦̤̙͉̙͙͈̎ͯͥ͆̀м̢̉͋ͩ̋ͦͮ̀̃̾̊̓͑̚̚̚҉̰͓͕ͅе̴̧̧̯̝̳͈̦̩̰̯ͥ̑ͤ͗̒͌ͤ͆т̵̻̝̙̯̞͙͍̮̦̝̬̲̦̼̪̮͍̘ͯ͊ͣ̂̽̄ͫ̈ͭͥ͒͒̓ͮ̽̐ͬ̊͜͜р̇̊ͣͮ̌ͯͯ̓͏̸͈͈̲̭̜͎̜͉̭̪̞̦̹̞ͅо̢̣̩̻̟̮̤̲̖͓̉̏̏ͧͦ́̕ͅв̵̮̺̣̝̥͐̏̆̃ͯ̊̔̏͊̾̽̀̀͘͜ ̸̵͖̘̰̦͖̺̙̓̈́͂ͭ̏̊ͫͥ̍̎в̴͇͉̪ͭ͒͌͂ͭ̊̌ͧ͌ͧ̑̒̍̔́͑̀̉́͢͡о̷̴̡̦̣̥̼̓ͮ͒̐̅̀͠к̴̵̛̗͖̭̼̦͍͎͉͙̜͙͖͔̻͎͔͚̙̠̽ͤͥ̏͝рͮ́̿̏̒͠͏̢̘̟̹̰̥̳͓̻̀у͂̎̒̑̋ͣ̈́̚͏̲̯͔͖̞̼̖͇̣̳́г̶̡̯͍̣̺̟̑ͫ͛ͧͥ͋ͩ̋͌ͪ̿͂̆̅̽ͭ͐́͒́ͅ ̶̻͎̮̩̻͋̽̔̆̓ͣͪͦͥ̽̃ͯ̅̚͜ͅм͇̳̳̼̥̫̦͇̙͚̤͇͙̻̰̾̒̋̊́̄̈̑̃ͨ̃ͦ̎̕͜еͯͨ̓͗̈҉͜͟͏͍̙͎̻̪̤̲̱̣̱̟̘̹͎͖̺̬ͅн̛̛͈̺̘̝̜̣̱̟̩̰͉̤̮̤͔̫ͦ̾̆̏ͫ̔̏̃ͮͣ͂͑̕ͅяͬ̃ͤ̍ͩ̑ͧ̽̌҉̢͉͔̘̗͍̬̟͇̝̝͚̞͟͡ͅ ̸̠͎̦͕̺̙͖͓͕̱̗͚͍͈̼̹̝ͩ́̀̔͛̉ͤ̂ͯ̅ͥ́͑̈͝͝͝ͅ.̸̢̡͙̬̤͖̦̹͔̗̰̭̟̠͉̘̣̪̠ͩ̈́̊ͫ̇ͤ͐͞



He cried out in an alien tongue, calling upon the powers of his blasting rod to aid him. A ring of light would coalesce around the group, the edges formed of glowing runes of the purest light.

"I will hold back the flood of demons. Finish this!"

Sustaining the ward was easy now, but the constant intrusion of the daemons would make it all too difficult. Rani called out to him.
"For now. You are my arms, Rani."

A burst of fire from the troll's gauntlet would silence one of the leering daemons.

Ralf now went on the full attack, bashing foward, swiping his shield left and right, pounding on their upper-bodies with it while hacking away at their legs. "Die, die, die, die," Ralf repeated angrily as he tried to secure his position.

Ralf pushed by if he was able and escaped the demons' clutches, making his way to where Rani was. "Rani, girl," he exclaimed, standing at her back and preparing to face the multitude of demons. "How was your trip up here," he asked, rather casually.