It had been barely a month since the visions had plagued the Urth Osifer and
left him a shattered mess in the alley. His fellow Urths had seen him enter the
Tower of Dark Fates, covered in muck and slime. They had laughed and mocked him,
their cold and hateful manner caused Osifer to near relive that traumatic
experience from a month ago.

His mind had been possessed, his form wracked with pain, and his soul forced to
live out the lives of the dregs of society as a rapist, murderer, drunkard,
debtor, bum, and all manner of things. He saw their fates, he lived their lives,
and each time his soul was ripped from his form, one of the worthless and
unchosen to be cast aside and left to fuel the endless hunger of the Demon Lords
of Nil. And since then the dreams had not stopped.

There he saw it, the Cosmic planes of Nil rippling with energy. Power coursing
through the tainted lands. Imps swirled around his head, tainting him, making
jabs at him with sharp claws and then he would awaken. He was not strong enough
and was the lowest within his guild, not fit to grace the plane of Nil and yet
he still saw it in his mind's eye when he went to sleep.

And yet he was unworthy to grace the plane, his body still unable to weather
the harsh elements and cosmic winds of the plane. He was weak and thus he sought
out his mentor, Iconoclast Riansa.

She was a beautiful young Viscanti with an older soul and maturity that some
hardly knew how she had attained such power at such a young age of barely in her
twenties. She was graced with elegance and dominance, and a devote follower of
both her Lady Nifelhema and Supreme Lord Luciphage. Her frame was willow and the
skin coated of a purplish hue. Her head topped with two small stumps of horns
was framed with glossy black curls that fell about her shoulders.

Osifer bowed lowly to Riansa, his eyes left on the floor and his black and
tattered robe pooling about the area around his feet as he kneeled lowly. "My
Mistress, I come to you to seek help."

A snort, a laugh, some cold gesture given back and the room itself seemed to
grow darker. "You embarrass me, Osifer. Your silly antics, horrible decorum,
your dress. Look at you and you dare ask me for help. You are lucky I don't send
you to meet the fates from where you stand."

"My Lady, I apologize deeply. I am unworthy, I know this but aid me here." His
words fell from his lips quickly, pleading the woman. He was sweaty and feeble,
the lack of sleep had taken its toll on his body more than he had known. He
appeared emaciated and filthy, hardly worth of the Viscanti blood within his
veins.

"Speak! Don't babble, Urth!" Riansa barked out to him, a flash of more demonic
features coating over her form in a blink of darkness. Her green eyes turning
blackish and her slender feminine eyebrows furrowing downward.

His skin shriveled and wrinkled about his form, age creeping up on him in that
moment. "Ohh, Iconoclast forgive me!" While his skin became more saggy, his body
seemed to tighten, his breathing slowing and becoming more challenged. "I wish
to serve Nil, please let me!"

Her expression lightened somewhat, the shadows coursing around her frame slowed
but the room still felt heavy with the darkness. "You wish to become a Penitent
and aid in Nil's goals?" Her lips peel back to give a sudden smile and the
shadows ceased their flow about her body and in that moment the normalcy of her
frame returns.

And then it was heard from the Aethers themselves, the calling of the Demons
upon Nil for aid, Celestia had mounted an attack and stood on the plane itself.

"Now is your time to prove yourself, Urth. Your magicks are ready, but we will
see how it is you act on the field Nil." Riansa cast a spell over Osifer, his
form sparkling with some unseen magic that would allow him to better bear the
elements of the cosmic plane that his body was unaccustomed to. They rushed to
the Megalith, passing through the many planes and folds in existence to be
warped down upon the plane of Nil.

A flash, a dream, despite the marching boots of the ur'Guard and the songs of
the Cacophony about him, he felt tranquil on the plane. He peered up into the
swirling vortex of the reddened skies and the shifting colors of red and black,
the storms that raged across the plane and knew.

"We are outnumbered!" Called out an apprentice who was quickly silenced by the
backhand of his master. The Geomancers scryed the lands and sought out the
essence of the souls that were attacking, Those of Celestia roamed the plane,
paladins, cantors, and aquamancers working to bear down on the tainted plane of
Nil and destroy the Demon Lords. Through the scrying windows they could be seen.
Legions of plate-clad paladins and mages in white robes carrying themselves in
formation on through the smoldering deserts of damnation towards some unknown
target upon the plane of Nil. Led by a single Demigod clad in steel plate and
crowned with a golden halo, form surrounded by divine fire, those of the light
plane seemed as if they would truly conquer the plane on this day.

"We cannot split up and guard them all. They will pick us apart." A voice cried
out from the formation of meat shield grunts. The Warlord of the ur'Guard
stomped through the formation, looking to pick out the nasally cowardly voice
from within the lineup. Seeming more content to argue amoungst themselves on a
strategy, the souls of demons whizzed through the plane, ripped from their
bodies, and on a path to judgment within Celestia.

That tranquility still lasted, dazed, and through his third eye Osifer saw the
shadowy form of Baalphegar, wreathed in blackness and clad in shadow. His voice
called out to him, a soundless, featureless voice that demanded his assistance.
"They quibble over nothing, Urth. And yet you here, the most unworthy of the
lot. Bring them to me for the lightslaves would have my head this day and should
they not be stopped in my trap, they will surely conquer all."

Osifer knew he would be unable to convince them with his tattered robes, he was
known as an outcast of the Viscanti and unworthy of even gracing the plane just
yet save in its defense. He moved towards the growling form of the Warlord,
grovelling at the orclash's feet and calling up, "Sir, listen to me." He had
enhanced his charm, attempting to lure the beast creature in with words instead
of action. "Your greatness, don't you think they would attack Baalphegar first,
the physically weakest of the Demon Lords. Your strength would surely be known
if you crushed them there."

A snarl escaped the Warlord's lips and orclash nodded slowly, yellowish teeth
protruding over his bottom lip as he spit out his answer. "Stupid Viscanti, you
might be right, but if you make me look stupid here. I will wear your intestines
for a necklace." A single grunt and a gesture of his hand lurched the armies of
darkness into motion, driving them forth to the lair of Baalphegar.

They arrived too late, the armies of Celest were raining in upon the pit of
Damnation, charging at full speed with the paladins in front and the cantors
shortly behind, each calling out warcries and songs to shatter the wills and
strength of the surrounding tainted. The Aquamancers lingered back behind the
groups, keeping those incoming tainted at bay with falling rains, ice, and
blasts of water.

The meatshields fell first as the Orclash Warlord barked forth orders to keep
forward despite the losses. Nihilists stood alongside their demonic armies of
imps, fiends, and demons lashing out at those weaker who would be separated from
the group. Disease, emotion, and sickness cropped up amoung those fighting but
still the paladins pressed forth, slicing out at the guardians of the plane and
killing all those in their path.

Their Demigod, picking out the warlord rushed forward in a flash of light to be
at his side, slicing out with a sword of divine fire. The two clashed in an
ongoing dual, the battlefield seeming to freeze over as all seemed to watch
their commanders fight as if their singular combat would decide the fate of all.

The orclash and the angelic being clashed, the Demigod of the two clearly more
superior as his sword near melted the plate clad over the Warlord's body. He
prayed loudly, calling out for judgement of the tainted being before him and a
supreme blinding light shined down on the orclash, beginning to melt and distort
his appearance.

"Now, Osifer!" His body convulsed with no signal from himself, being controlled
by another unseen source, he suddenly ran full force towards the Demigod and was
knocked aside by the Divinefire, leaving the angelic being unscathed and
laughing at his feeble attempt. "Stupid Viscanti, you will be next and despite
your weak pitiful soul not being worth the Supernals, they will have it to
cleanse you of the darkness." That moment was enough however for the Warlord to
lash out and escape the Demigod's attention, shoving the sword forward and
impaling the angelic creature on the length of his blackened sword.

With the death of the Demigod, the plane sound as if it were tearing apart,
rumblings and earthquakes, not those of the Geomancers, quaked the ground and
threatened to rip all apart. Panic ensued as those others darted about,
uncertain and the demons and tainted took their advantage and pressed forward,
slaughtering all that they could with the leadership of the Celestian stunned on
the end of the sword.

The rumblings ceased and the quakes stopped suddenly before a loud screech was
emitted and from the pit of Baalphegar drew forth an army of skittering spiders,
webbing all those who ran and tried to escape, injecting venom to paralyze and
succumb those foes to their whims. The Demigod, regaining his composure and
ripped himself off the Warlord's sword and abandoned his dying troops, calling
forth a retreat and removing an ancient cubix-shaped artifact before warping and
away entirely.

Those left on the plane were slaughtered, their essence soon given to empower
the Demon Lords and Lord Baalphegar himself for their protection of the lands.
"You will be my ears, Osifer, the Nihilists are ripe with weakness and you,
Urth. Will bring about my will and aid me in my ascent."

"Yes, Prince Baalphegar." The Urth muttered beneath his breath, his form
exhausted from the recent combat. No one knew of the ongoing, unheared
conversation between the Demon Lord and the Urth, as the tainted lifted their
voices in a single shout as they reigned supreme upon their plane.