The Onyx Tower: From the Belly of the earth it crept.

[The Underdark Rises]

Foul magic was at work here, a baneful presence had woven itself into the fabric of the town. Oscillating it's will across the earth itself, which interlaced with all who dare tread on such cursed soil. Multiple new and unwanted actors had subverted themselves into her scene of the play, this was where only her and Ashlotte were to be the main stars; the additions of new puppets only maligned the much fancied spotlight from both her and her beautiful pet. Grimace stained her ashen visage, as quarrelsomeness boiled her ancient blackened blood. The Mindflayers could sense the virulence from their mistress, this only escalated the mulishness in their aggression. One by one, the poor innocent folk of this town became one with her flock, joining the ever fattening mindless hordes that will be the backbone of the new world order.


The clerics knew by now, that they would die here trying to fend off a power far eclipsing their own. But none of that mattered, foolishly they all charged the queen of the Sol Vampires. Swords brandished as their leader watched certain of victory. The ward that blemished the earth sealed all forms of magic, but it couldn't seal both magic and mental based attacks; this much was discernible. The design of the rune was efficient but had a sole purpose laid throughout every square inch of it's entirety. "You think yourselves as strongn now do you? Come mortals, let me show you what true power really is!" Valerna preened, the men taking up the challenge as soon as Ashlotte started to convulse.


"Kill her before she tethers her spell on us!" One of the clerics barked, their blades thrusting full force into Valerna. Desperately she tried to fend off the attack, but she couldn't stop all the blades. Blood drenched her attire and defied the contrast of her skin as she coughed. Her lungs pierced as her own fluids began to asphyxiate her. "We got the bitch?" The men whispered, exhaling as a sense of security settled among their ranks. "Good job men..."The female Cleric stepped forward, smiling as she eyed the scene. But what happened next no one, not even Ashlotte saw coming. The female cleric began hacking away at her own men, severing limbs and heads alike. With blades thrusted deep into valerna's flesh, and the attack from behind they had no time to react.


A few were left alive, their main sword arm chopped clean off from their body as they held the wound, trying forlornly to stop the bleeding. "B-But why?" one the them stammered, as the others saved their strength. In a blink of the eye their reality changed, their standing in the center pierced by many blades stood their leader; and before them was Valerna unharmed. "When did you cast your spell?" The one who spoke earlier demanding to know, Valerna could only arched a brow. Taking pity in his absence of perception, his ignorance and inability to adapt to the artful nature of his target. "When? Let me ask you this...When wasn't I?" With that being said she turned her back on the men, leaving them to die as she walked over to Ashlotte.


Despite being encircled and outwitting her adversaries, the Sol Vampiress still cataloged the sudden shift in her lovely pet. "I assume the other fouls presences are to blame for this?" She questioned, displaying her knowledge of Ravenwitch and the others hasty appearances. "Where ever there stands a tall, sturdy oak tree...crows can always be found. Seeking to nest in its firm branches." She surmised her feelings on the matter, planting her hands on the soil as her Illithids made short work of the mages, thus removing the seal. "They dare to test my patience? Such botched courage to interfere with my own devices. Contraptions I had planned to awaken you my love. At least you still remember me...your beloved queen." She purred, peering back at her rose through the corner of her eyes.


Unexpectedly Ravenwitch would feel something she never had witnessed before most likely. The energy surging throughout the towns, interfering with the locals and her plans slowed down in it's frequency. Ashlotte's mother was strong, but all force and energy can be redirected or differed. "Greetings strangers, welcome to my play? Ashlotte is mine, the Death knell will soon be mine as well; as well as all those who conspired with her. Bend the knee, accept fealty and I will empower you to be generals in my army. Refuse...and I will kill you. Resist, and your minds shall be crushed. This is no threat, I am not coercing you. I am demanding your servitude. If my demands are not met soon; I will dispose of you all. You have ten minutes to comply..."


The balls Valerna brandished to speak so degrading to the prideful and powerful lot. Even Ashlotte may question her sanity, but was most terrifying wasn't her bold approach, her words or even the power she possessed. It was something far simpler...it was the resolve behind it.

 

[Daniella_Belli]

Mother and child sought more lively an infrastructure, Ravenwitch's chasm of a mouth was shushed by a hallowed hand. A sinewy substance sheathed her tongue, allowing naught for the rhythym of speech or breath to be released. She had reverted to her feral vessel, no longer the anathema that had once crumbled the planet in one blow. She shook with laughter that had not been given sound. (Ashlotte. ASHLOTTE.) A mental cant brought a musical march to her step, she strode to her location, the tips of her talons dragging in the dirt. Iamora disappeared in a ripple of space, manifesting in the folds of darkness that conquered a bright sky. Ravenwitch's power was exhibited in the might of her telekinesis, allowing for all human beings to be given the gift of flight in a violent upheaval.

She skewered many upon her razor sharp talons, sending the rest colliding with the unforgiving terra firma. Her reflection was mot met well upon the window panes, and as a result they exploded, giving flight to innumerable shards of glass. She began to play the air current like a finely tuned lute, causing the vital fluids of the living to spill onto the cobblestone. (Ashlotte.) Her mind bellowed her name, her hellish vocal chords working in unison, as if trying to break the seal upon her lips to speak it. She was clad in the stubborn remnants of a dress she was immolated in, most of the fabric fusing with her seared dermis.

Great fissures divided the earth, and the wailing souls sang a song of anguish and fear. Ravenwitch entered the edifice that once contained Ashlotte, nary a glance in the direction of Valerna. She sought no quarrel with this creature whom seemed to exit betwixt the realms of life and death, this woman which commanded armies of Illithids. Valerna's agenda was her own, and she wished not to interfere any more than to sow and reap, much like the Sol Vampire. Iamora decided upon visiting the tiny tavern of a nearby town, wreaking her havoc there. The folks that had fallen into a state of inebriated bliss awoke to aversion and panic, having beheld her countenance with vision unhazed by the effects of their ales. At that moment she donned the very mask of her mother, the most frightful visage to ever be beheld by the eyes of man. Some of them acted irrationally to blind themselves so that they wouldn't have to take in another glimpse of her dreadful form, others were nauseated to the point of regurgitating their insides, the crucial tissues needed to sustain life. She, a gargantuan creature approached his table, invited or not.

"I am the herald of the one true God." Spoke Iamora, but her message was not intending that she was the speaker on behalf of a heavenly host. The sanguineous liquid of mortals had run red through the aquaducts, and the bloated corpses were both a treat and transportation for the undesired fowl that plagued the town in her presence. They sat upon the deceased as if they were gondola like remnants of sloughing flesh, adrift upon a stagnated river.

Ravenwitch finally reached out toward her second daughter, talons driven in her direction not to launch an attack, but to extend her hand as if Ashlotte's own would be guided to her grasp by magnetic energy. (You are borne of Hell and Greed. Birthed of my loins, you were sired of the wickedness of mortals. Know now your true calling, your Destiny. Valerna will offer to you all your heart desires, you have pleased her with furthering yourself into her dark coronation. I could recall the same of my bride, Destiny. She was but a mere mortal, in insignificant speck strewn into creation before I shaped her, nurtured her. She became the personification of Avarice, making rivals of those which dwell upon the earth for naught but material gain. Later she opposed the Gods to obtain their power. Her voracity for the earth and heavens knew no bounds. Verily, I speak that under Valerna's guidance, new worlds shall open to you.)

To be continued
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