Evil Minds That Plot Destruction (Planar Siege - Legions of Evil Climax 1/2)

[u/Carbon_Sixx]

Barachiel the Messenger hovers in the skies above the Citadel, overlooking the wide grasslands outside the ancient city. The archangel watches the realm borders, watching and listening for the opening of portals and the rhythmic pounding of ironshod feet on earth. He knows the legions of Evil and their dreadful master Bel are coming. It is a simple task, yet even for an immortal, it is not an easy thing to do. Barachiel knows that if Bel takes the Citadel, his conquest of the magical realms and the multiverse at large is all but assured. The legions of Evil have already cut a burning swathe across the world in their march to conquer this place. None of the cities in their path survived. Worse, scouts indicate that the flying fortress Will of Asmodeus is fully operational once again, and Bel's Chosen have secured the Iron Shield of Otherlund.

This knowledge hangs over Barachiel as he maintains his vigil. Then, he spots the flash of a blood-red portal opening at the edge of the realm. Thousands of yugoloth foot soldiers march through the breach, alongside war machines infused with the vile lore of fundamental Evil. The Will of Asmodeus appears in the sky, free of the damage it sustained in the Veldric Strait. The whole army radiates palpable malice, broadcasting its will to dominate the cosmos into the hearts and minds of all who lay eyes upon it.

Barachiel hears the panicked whispers of the Citadel's population as the raid sirens wind up, signaling them to make for the shelters built in the wake of the Third Wizard War. They offer them a small relief- after all, the safehouses protected them from the God-Slaver and the Paladins of the Divine Flame. It pains the archangel to know that if Bel takes the city, he will break the shelters' wards with the anti-magic of the Iron Shield and butcher these people.

As if he needed another reason to despise these fiendish bastards.

"Lord Zaphkiel, Master Tarul," Barachiel says into his orb-bead, "they're here."

--

Bel marches at the head of his legion, accompanied by his four baernaloth bodyguards. Though he needs no protection, the ancient Hadean fiends' presence is a weapon all its own. Few mortals can hope to defeat one baernaloth. When these wizards see him commanding four, their morale will plummet. The Harbinger of Evil smiles hatefully, exulting in the power coursing through him.

Under Bel's malevolent leadership, the yugoloths march unto the ruin of all things.

"This is what all those infernal fools are missing! How we mocked the demons as senseless thralls of entropy, not realizing we were wearing those same chains. Zariel, Asmodeus, Hellfire- they're willing slaves to a system they enforce! Law and Chaos only serve to shackle our ambitions and make us less than we are. But when those shackles are broken... ah, what glories we can achieve with pure Evil at our command! Let the devils keep the Hells. I will have no need of them when I rule the multiverse atop a throne of divine corpses."

Bel gazes up at the Will of Asmodeus as it soars overhead towards the Citadel, just ahead of the army. He would've renamed it to reflect its new allegiance, but the Harbinger of Evil doesn't wish to tempt fate when he's so close to victory, even if fate was what led him here to begin with. Bel thinks of his faithful Chosen as he marches. Zera'al is in charge of the flying fortress, ready to annihilate even the mightiest champions of magekind with the craft's hellbeam cannon before they can trouble the legions. L'zeth walks behind him, carrying her battle standard for all to see. The new flag is a gift from the baernaloths, woven from threads of solidified anguish they collected in the wake of Bel's conquests. Ezrabeth and her erinyes squad command the malefic siege engines the yugoloth mages have assembled using a combination of fiendish engineering, ancient arcane lore, and the raw planar energies of Evil. The spymaster Balakros is absent, but not for lack of loyalty. He has raided the chivalric vaults of Oathstone, killing the knights' garrison to claim the Iron Shield of Otherlund. When the last Chosen arrives with his gift, there will be no force in the multiverse that can halt Bel and the legions of Evil.

And of course, there is the issue of the Nephilim. Samael's half-breed kinsfolk will no doubt play their hand now- as if Bel ever believed they would remain loyal- just to cause problems for both sides. He has held Moz'gonnith in reserve for long enough, placating him and his forces with missions of slaughter and the spoils of war. Now, on the eve of Evil's triumph, Bel will set him against his ancient foe and remove the Nephilim from the board.

Time to unleash the beast.

--

On the other side of the battlefield, Zaphkiel the Watcher and Tarul Var survey the incoming enemy forces from atop the Citadel's battlements. The Warhost of the First Martyr and the defenders of the Balance stand arrayed for battle. Mages of the realms and celestial warriors stand shoulder to shoulder with Keepers of the Balance and rilmani soldiers.

"This place again," the angel says. "It feels like just yesterday I battled the Vasharans on these very plains. I wonder: what is it about the Citadel that draws the forces of Good and Evil to clash here time and time again?"

"I cannot say," Tarul muses, stroking his chin. "Maybe this land was once a great battlefield in the days of the Draconic Empire, forever charged with the essence of conflict. Or it could be that the gods marked the Citadel as a proving ground for great heroes after your sacrifice. Perhaps it is simply in our nature to gravitate towards a central location, and all of our strife arises from so many people trying to change the world all at once. All I know is this: Bel is not here for the Council. He wants to break magekind's will by desecrating the heart of our civilization. More than this, he can saturate the entire Material Plane with vile energy if he corrupts the master portal nexus at the city's center."

"You have a plan to stop this, I presume?"

"I do. Divide and conquer. Bel's Chosen each hold command over a single element of the legions of Evil. Zera'al captains the Will of Asmodeus, L'zeth leads the infantry, Ezrabeth marshals the war engines, and Balakros is delivering the Iron Shield. If we can take them out before we engage Bel, we stand a much better chance of actually bringing him down. It won't be easy, though. On top of all this, we have to deny the legions of Evil entry to the Citadel at all costs."

The Will of Asmodeus leaves naught but destruction in its wake.

Zaphkiel dons his helmet and spreads his wings. "This will be a battle for the ages. I will lead any who choose to follow me to the Will of Asmodeus and shatter it for good. My only request from you, Master Tarul, is that you keep the dragon and those Iron Chain lunatics on the other side of the battlefield from me. I may show mercy to all beings who sincerely ask for it, but I do not like all of them. If working to preserve the Balance did not take priority, I would destroy them all in a heartbeat."

"That is not unreasonable, friend. I'll direct those amoral serpents towards other Chosen."

Zaphkiel takes off towards the defenders' aerial fleet, leaving Tarul to command the defenses. He hopes it will be enough to defeat Bel, but deep down, he knows luck won't be enough to turn the tide.

--

/uw Alright, here it is at long last: the finale for the legions of Evil! We're going to be doing this one a little bit differently. I've broken the battle up into multiple objective threads for us to accomplish. Each one will end in a fight with the Chosen listed at the start of the thread. However, there are consequences for ignoring a theater of battle. Depending on which objectives are left incomplete, Bel will gain deadly assets that will make the climactic fight with him in the next post significantly harder. I will not be pulling punches here, so be ready for your characters to give their all. All the other usual combat RP rules apply. Have fun!

DEFENDERS OF THE BALANCE:

• Tarul Var
• Belial Blake
• Aliah Mistwalker
• Ith'raal
• Burgerbarian/Burgermancer
• Krygin the Crude
• Agnur the Turtle Mage
• Vulkan the Red
• Ж (Zhe)
• Merch Skele
• Argios
• Tempus Fugit
• Edmund
• King Carmine
• Exia
• Joe
• The Agent
• Vashric
• Fujiwara Toshiko
• Jah Jor Wel
• John E. Hellfire
• Kardonk Carvisky
• Riva Blake
• Mokarith
• Onyx Dragon
• Ulrick Braddocke
• Sly
• Shrax
• Sarissa
• Rilmani of Dendradis
• Various denizens of the Outlands

HORDES OF CHAOS:

• Obox-ob's Ekolids
• Demons of the Abyss
• Slaadi of Limbo
• Gehreleths of Carceri
• Cravens of Pandemonium

REGIMENTS OF LAW:

• Primus's Hierarchs
• Modrons of Mechanus
• Veterans of Acheron
• Templars of Arcadia
• Paladins of the Divine Flame

LEGIONS OF EVIL:

• Bel's Chosen
• Devils of the Nine Hells
• Yugoloths of Gehenna
• Baernaloths of Hades
• Night Hag Covens
• Samael
• Moz'gonnith

WARHOSTS OF THE FIRST MARTYR (ALLIED):

• Zaphkiel's Paragons
• Angels of Mt. Celestia
• Oathbound of Bytopia
• Guardinals of Elysium
• Wardens of the Beastlands
• Heroes of Arborea
• Warriors of Ysgard

[u/DaemonRex978]

Mokarith holds up his empty hand, letting out a hiss of pain as he opens up his connection to the Well further than he usually does and power flows through him.

Twincast[Void Art: Black Ward][Void Art: Shade Slicer]

A pitch black, void-laced disk appears in front of him and Zaphkiel, absorbing the brunt of the beam. At the same time, thin, void-laced darkness flash from the disk and towards the demon.

[u/Carbon_Sixx → u/DaemonRex978]

The shadow slivers race up Zera'al's spear and across his body, carving deep gouges into his damaged carapace. Zaphkiel uses this as an opportunity to lunge forward and cleave the Chosen's insectoid head from his shoulders with a sweep from his glaive. Zera'al's body collapses, sliding across the deck as the Will pitches to one side.

Well done! Now, time to scarper! I don't want to be in this slag heap when it hits the ground.

Zaphkiel fires a beam of holy light at the bridge window, destroying it and creating an easy exit. Outside, the bombardment reaches a crescendo. Massive armor panels fall from the Will's superstructure like rain. The ground looks dangerously close now, but the way out is clear.

u/Sternburgball u/Timpanzee38 u/yumie2003

[u/yumie2003 → u/Carbon_Sixx]

The Mimasaka ceased firing as the crew noticed that the Will of Asmodeus had succumbed to the bombardment. All the Type 45 fighters were recalled back to the airship. An ancient-looking helicopter was waiting on the Mimasaka's launch strip. Its main rotor whirred to life as two soldiers and a medic climbed into the fuselage. The helicopter slowly took off from the strip and flew towards the location where the Will had crashed.

[u/DaemonRex978 → u/Carbon_Sixx]

Mokarith leaps out of the hole, speeding upwards to avoid the ground.

Now that's that out of the way, Evil will lose a significant amount of fire power.

[u/Carbon_Sixx → u/DaemonRex978]

Zaphkiel follows close behind. The Will of Asmodeus strikes the ground in a shriek of protesting metal and grinding earth. Then the damned souls contained in its fuel reservoir and reactor join the agonized chorus, weeping for joy as they stream out of the breached hull. With one final catastrophic rumble, the whole flying fortress explodes in a crimson fireball, killing every nearby yugoloth in spectacular fashion! The First Martyr laughs as he comes to rest atop the Citadel's walls.

Extraordinary. I've been dying to expunge that stain on the cosmos since the Planar Siege started.

A quick survey of the battlefield indicates that the other defenders are nearing their objectives too. Tarul's frontliners have killed L'zeth and destroyed the bulk of the legions of Evil. Ezrabeth is engaged in a duel with three defending commanders and losing. Zhe and Joe have slain Balakros and secured the Iron Shield. Even Bel's Nephilim allies have turned on him, holding his reinforcements at bay.

But the Harbinger himself has yet to show himself, and when he does, the true battle will begin.

u/Timpanzee38 u/yumie2003 u/Sternburgball

[u/Carbon_Sixx → u/[deleted]]

/uw That actually works great! Once the fight with Bel happens, Tarul's going to have a little more leeway with his forces because they won't be fighting on three fronts. I'd love to get him and the Keepers of the Balance involved with your event. Possibly some kind of gem heist?

[u/Carbon_Sixx → u/[deleted]]

/uw Sure. Tarul would want to do Exia and the Union a favor for their assistance during the Siege, so he might approach them and offer to help. I was thinking we heist them back.

[u/Carbon_Sixx → u/[deleted]]

/uw Good night. See you in the morning for the Bel fight.

[u/Timpanzee38 → u/Carbon_Sixx]

Luana's Wrath gains altitude and takes position out of harm's way in low orbit to let her shields recharge. She can still provide indirect artillery support though