Apostles of Doom

I’m in! Tom shouted to any that could hear his mental shout. He released the flames and focused on the power of Excrathadorus Mortis. He willed the blade to send forth its power into the giant’s body. He willed the full power of the blade to devour the antimus, to burn the tendrils of darkness. “There is a lot of Darkness here!” Tom exclaimed out loud. He shifted his links and began funneling mana from Doom to the blade to enhance its power. Doing this, he was suddenly struck by the memories of curing himself and the dagger. In some ways, it felt like a repeat of that event; however, this time it was the Mana of Doom doing the cleansing — burning through the giant’s body, wiping the infection from it. Searing the tendrils, watching them shrivel.

Tom followed each tendril and suddenly realized that there were tendrils — links — extending from the giant’s back towards the Storm Lords. Tom and Excrathadorus Mortis followed those links, consuming and transforming them as he went. As he moved through the links, he soon saw where they were going; the tendril links split into thirteen separate links.

Each link led to a lich! He followed the links to each lich, locking his connection in place and then delving deeply into the first one, the one standing to the right of the others. Into the literal heart of Darkness. He scanned the link, even as he felt resistance. The lich was fighting back, battling him and his dagger! Tom grinned and began pulling more mana. It looked like this was going to take a lot of mana. Time for his stepbrother to start paying off his debts. Tom began pulling from Inethya’s connection to the god pool. With the added power, it was suddenly much easier to beat back the liches’ resistance.

There! Tom mentally shouted in triumph. He’d found the link he had been searching for. The link to the liches’ phylactery! Time to put an end to this evil!

Tomb Gate Vicinity

“What has happened?” Praelgeis hissed as he suddenly felt his off-plane links restored.

“The interdiction has fallen!” Baba Smert’ hissed.

“They were already circumnavigating it. I doubt it shall matter that much,” Daerth Tromlane noted.

“I shall contact Exador nonetheless. I want it back,” Praelgeis hissed as he pulled a mirror from his robe’s pocket. A sudden commotion from the commune controlling the hrímthursi caused him to turn his attention.

“Something is happening with the hrímthursi!” Daerth Tromlane exclaimed.

Baba Smert’ levitated into the air to peer at the battle. “Orcus is on the back of the hrímthursi! It is something of his doing!”

Praelgeis returned his attention to the hrímthursi commune. The liches were clearly battling something. It was as if their links were becoming unstable, guessing by the gestures and the spells they appeared to be frantically casting.

Suddenly, Tertiblisthy went completely rigid, as if in a death rictus, and began chanting furiously. Praelgeis’s eyes narrowed in on the lich’s visage. There was a look of sheer terror on his face. Praelgeis was not sure he’d ever observed such a panicked expression on one of his own kind.

Without warning, Tertiblisthy began screaming. It was the scream that shook every lich to the core of their dark essence. Tertiblisthy’s phylactery was under attack! He glanced to the other members of the commune, who were frantically casting spells of protection upon themselves.

Praelgeis winced as Tertiblisthy suddenly exploded in a blackness-shattering cloud of dust and expired bindings. “This is bad!” Praelgeis shouted.

Suddenly the lich next to where Tertiblisthy had been standing locked into a rictus, fighting for survival before emitting the dreaded, horror-inspiring, phylactery screech. Praelgeis winced once more as another cloud of black dust rained down upon them from the second exploded lich.

“This is…” Baba Smert’ shook her head, unable to describe what she was feeling.

The third lich began screeching its phylactery wail.

“I think the speed of the attacks is increasing!” Daerth Tromlane shouted.

“It would make sense; Orcus now has a template for exploding anyone linked to the hrímthursi! Have those controlling the other two do whatever it takes to get Orcus off the hrímthursi!” Praelgeis shouted as another cloud of exploded lich rained down once more.

“Exador!” Praelgeis shouted into the mirror. “Get back here immediately! Forget the wards, we need to go to plan E!”

“Plan E?” Exador asked in shock. “I don’t see how things could have shifted against us that quickly!”

“They have! If you want an army for Freehold, you’d better get back here and save it!” Praelgeis hissed.

“Fine! Just make sure your wizards are ready with the spells I’ve provided you for this situation,” Exador hissed back.

Citadel of Light, Southern Wall