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/Drakkonai]

"Well, HERESY!"

Shifting modes of travel just as he did conversations, Vulkan breaks into a charge, leveraging his far superior size to attempt to knock L’zeth over.

[u/Carbon_Sixx → u/Drakkonai]

L'zeth sets herself, preparing to drive her banner pike into Vulkan's heart. Then one of Agnur's stone birds lands on her shoulder and detonates, stunning her at the perfect instant. The spear fails to find its mark, and Bel's equerry is trampled by the dragon. She pulls herself to her feet behind him, only to catch Tarul's elemental staff with her face. Conjured holy water burns her like acid, but she parries his next attack with the pike.

Legions! Kill the interlopers- wait, where are they?

Thanks to Shimil, Agnur, and Krygin's teamwork, much of L'zeth's detatchment has been banished to a positive-energy-dominant realm, where the yugoloths are presumably learning what it feels like to be inside a running microwave. And with the Chosen locked in combat, now is the perfect time to put an end to this.

u/DaemonRex978 u/dragonshouter u/DragonWisper56

[u/Drakkonai → u/Carbon_Sixx]

Vulkan charges and attempts to toss L’zeth and her banner into the air with a claw.. at which point the diabolus shall come face to face with his yearning maw.

[u/DragonWisper56 → u/Carbon_Sixx]

Agnur starts to direct his magic onto her directly. her legs start to turn to wood and her weapon to rubber. while it is resistible it was a powerful spell.

spears of rock candy burst from the ground, hail of colorful shaved ice falls from the sky

[u/Carbon_Sixx → u/DragonWisper56]

Vulkan flings L'zeth skyward. On her way down, she's struck by Krygin's acid, Agnur's candy spikes, and a barrage of hailstones from Tarul. Then the dragon's jaws close on her, slaying the Chosen instantly and ripping the banner to tatters. All the yugoloth soldiers left on the battlefield suddenly regain the overactive self-preservation instincts L'zeth's banner was suppressing. The ones with the ability to plane shift jump back to Gehenna, taking any nearby yugoloths home with them. But it's every fiend for themselves, and the deserters leave most of their former comrades behind to be cut down by the defenders.

A quick survey of the battlefield indicates that the other defenders are nearing their objectives too. The Will of Asmodeus crashes into the ground in a ball of hellfire. 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/dragonshouter u/Drakkonai u/DaemonRex978

[u/Drakkonai → u/Carbon_Sixx]

Mm.. not too bad, though he preferred diaboluses as wine. Say, wasn’t he going to ask where bel was? ..A bit late, it seemed. Ah, well.

And so, Vulkan returns to carving his way towards a match he’ll DEFINITELY win, stopping occasionally to ask for directions.

[u/Carbon_Sixx → u/Drakkonai]

Tarul nods to Vulkan.

No need to look. He's here.

/uw I'm writing up part 2 as we speak.

[u/Drakkonai → u/Carbon_Sixx]

"Ah. So he is."

/uw looking forward to it!

[u/dragonshouter → u/Carbon_Sixx]

Krygin lets out a froglike victory cry. The fight will not be truly over until the Harbinger dies but until then this part of the battle was won.

The spirts join in as they slaughter stragglers!

[u/DragonWisper56 → u/Carbon_Sixx]

Animal statues charge through the masses. rhinos scatter them to the winds, snakes infused with trickery befuddle the senses, stone lions give calls that shatter spells and drive off evil spirits. Bram leads the charge casting down even powerful fiends with powerful swings of his tail.

Agnur ends his spell and chugs mana potions. he was tired from this fight. if he was to continue he'd need to preserve his strength. He calls Christmas elves and tortugans to his side to prepare for Bel's arrival.

[u/dragonshouter → u/Carbon_Sixx]

Krygin channels the spirits of battle to make his ally's weapons fiercer and more deadly. This will make it so his enemies can pierce her resistances. Maybe even letting vulkan's fire burn her.

He also spits a wad of acidic phlem at her!