[Event Pt.1] The Game Has Changed

Day breaks over the trees in the east. As the sun rises, the forest is eerily calm. The woods are deafeningly silent; not the song of a bird nor the whistle of the wind breaks through the trees. From the silence comes a soft melodic hum; quiet at first then increasing in volume. The hum changes to a distinctive voice, singing a familiar tune. “Welcome to my world…” “Won’t you come on in.” Those that run outside can hear the voice and tune louder and more clearly. Floating high above the pub are two people on a single disk. The singing voice emanates from a man dressed in black robes laced with streaks of green and a beaked mask standing at the front, his arms outstretched. Behind him, with her arms casually hanging over his shoulders, stands a short redheaded girl with a snarky smile on her face. She wears little more than her undergarments as she drapes herself over the singer.

“What do you say, Sparky?” Says the man to the woman. “Shall we start the show?” He continues to hum the tune as he waits for a response.

“Yes Dena, let's start!”

“With gusto Sparky, with gusto!” His performance resumes as he raises a hand forward. From his hand he fires a single dark green mote deep into the woods. It dissipates into the tree line and seems to vanish.

With a crescendo, he reaches the high point of the chorus as the trees erupt in dark green flame, crackling along with his voice as the trees themselves seem to scream with pain in tune with his song. Within mere moments a large section of the forest is burned away, leaving nothing but charred ground and ash.

“Won’t you please come on in?” He sings slowly, bringing the song to its conclusion. As his words fade into a hum, a blue point of light appears at the far side of the scar that only minutes before had been a lush forest. It expands rapidly into an enormous portal, dominating the horizon with its presence.

The portal gives off a low hum only tuned out by the continued hum of Dena. A single man walks through the portal, his gait unfaltering. He stands tall, his skin as red as the burning sands. Spikes seem to drip off every corner of his visage, reinforcing the unabashedly stern look in his eyes. Across his cheek runs a single, deep scar, accentuated by runic tattoos. His armor at first appears to shimmer blue, but on closer inspection, his entire body is covered in plated sheets of raw ice. In his hands is a giant morning star, with a blade along one edge. It towers above his head, making his weapon more a menacing cut than himself. Followed behind him is a large army, full rank and file, nearly forcing its way into the world, easily doubling the number of creatures to touch the plane.

As they come through 5 spider zords, even larger than the one that attacked the pub, come through as well in a v-formation. Atop the lead one stands a drow woman with flowing white hair and burning red eyes. In her hand is a rod with wings adorning its sides and webbing all along it, a symbol of lolth sits upon her chest and is sewn into multiple sections of her clothing, showing her clerical devotion to the goddess. They stop ahead of the army but behind the man who first walked through. From inside of the zords 4 drow come out, an extremely strong man smiling cockily down at the pub goers, a paladin of lolth standing tall, her hair blowing in the breeze as her gaze judges those below her, the monk who attacked the pub, her silence and unfocused gaze making her seem far more distant than the others, and the warlock who attacked the pub, laughing and waving down at the people below. “Hehehe! Hello everybody! Oooh, we’re going to have even more fun today than last ti-” as he’s about to continue talking the cleric gives him a stern look and he stops, sighing as he crosses his arms and looks down at everybody before the zords all bow down, allowing them to hop off and stand behind the man who first came through.

From the portal two men come flying out. One an aarakocra with simple white and brown plumage holding a bow that glows with a bright white light. On his back his wings collapse against him as he lands behind the front man. He stares at the pub and those assembled outside with a blank face of disinterest. Coming alongside him is a streak of gold. It lands next to him and a bright yellow aura previously disguising the man fades. A short man with tall spiky yellow hair stands like a yellow sun. He crosses his arms over a blue leotard and laughs. He holds up a hand and an orb of light and energy begins to form at his fingertip before the aarakocra slaps him on the back of the head causing him to falter. A series of curses fill the air.

From the portal emerge three large bird creatures flanked on either side by many wolf-like monsters, larger flying dragon-like creatures, and several huge, spiky beasts. Atop the birds ride five beings; one atop the lead bird, and two atop each of the two that follow behind. Each being wears a black cloak, a hood obscuring their features. Small metallic cylinders of various shapes, sizes, and designs adorn their hips, swinging side to side in time with the steps of the birds they ride. Upon reaching the small crowd that has gathered, the figure atop the lead bird suddenly leaps high into the air, flipping and spinning as he falls until he lands gracefully in line with those already assembled behind the man in front. As the dirt settles after his landing, the other four cloaked figures dismount the birds and arrange themselves behind him. It’s difficult to distinguish individual features on the beings, but some things can be plainly seen. The first figure appears to be a normal human female, save for the strange wrappings around her eyes. The second is clearly not human, with several points causing the cloak to jut out at strange angles and a strange mask and goggles on his face; the rhythmic sway of five different metallic cylinders brings attention to his waist before he tightens his cloak. The third figure looms over the rest, easily seven feet tall. In addition to the two large cylinders on his waist, a large, strange-looking metal crossbow is slung over his back. The fourth figure appears to have tentacles hanging from his face, and his eyes are a deep, empty black. All four of the beings kneel in deference behind the first figure as he stands upright to his full height of about three feet and throws back his hood, revealing the grinning bird-like features of Darth Accipitris, the feathers on his crest an equal mix of blue and orange.

Behind them comes an army of thousands all clad in various armor and weapons. The thunderous sound of boots marching in time overpowers any sound previously heard.

“Now,” the man in front states in a booming voice, “Thank you for keeping my plane warm. But it’s time to leave, and before you get any smart ideas...” He snaps his fingers and the wave army splits in multiple sections. From the breaks marches a series of stone giants in full plate armor, each carrying the battered form of a familiar figure dangling from one hand.

They march in unison, stand at attention, and dump their burdens to the ground simultaneously, a few feet in front of the Harsaaf commander.

Var, Syl, Nix, Bart, Myra, Thrak, and Vaestread all lay on the ground in crumpled forms, various limbs twisted in unnatural ways and wounds covering their bodies. Their clothes and armor are in scraps and tatters, barely hanging onto their bodies.

“Your strongest have fallen. Flee if you value your lives,” the man at the front commands. “But I will be merciful, as they put up a fair fight. They removed a good fifth of my standing army. You have twenty-four hours. Seeing as your strongest were gnats, flee to the east. I'm sure some town will take in a group of worthless insects. Maybe at some point you’ll be worth thought. Until then, I believe you’re on my land.”

He snaps his fingers once more and the army breaks. None of the front men move from their positions.