Viridi analyzes each enemy. There isn't much time to think, so she has to go with her instincts. The centaur looked like the leader, so it was reasonable to say he might be the most dangerous of them. The ogre is undoubtedly strong, but doesn't seem really smart. The lizardman seems very agile. The beast reminds her of the behemoths of Naya, though much smaller. There is anger and savagery in its eyes, barely contained by its handlers.
The beast is the most vulnerable to Viridi, considering her knowledge about them.
The centaur runs towards you, raising his front legs and then hoofing the ground, which causes it to break and send ripples of destruction around. The force was clearly magical, much beyond what was reasonable for such move. As the shockwaves reach you, time slows and everything becomes unfocused and blueish around you... the wave of destruction pass harmless as if you were ghosts!
Time speeds up again and the chaos around you focuses once more. Ergar charges, his hammer turned yellow and red as if it was made of molten metal. The centaur tries to block with his own sword, but it simply shatters, causing him to be hit on one of its legs and falling. "Curse you! Outsider! Scum!" He screams while Ergar frowns eyeing the enemy. "You were wrong for attacking us. You may surrender and live." He offers, trying to stay calm and getting only an angry yell as an answer.
Ripple rushes by in her chicken hut, meeting the ogre halfway through a charge. The ogre slams the side of Ripple's hut with a huge mace before flying and crashing against a nearby wall, which crumbles and buries the creature for now. The viashino pauses as it was about to charge as well, uncertain of the fight.
Ripple Takes a Powerful Blow! If she fails, on a 7-9 she may add the following effect to her choice: your hut gets damaged
The viashino is frightened. He/she may flee if pushed.
The barbarians sick the beast to charge. A kronch, a vicious beast that looked like the cross between an yak and a boar but with and extra pair of horns that are just too big. On top of that, the gruul thought fitting to add a harness with blades around its neck. Meliska throws the stinky 'shroom at the kronch, which swallows mid air. It shakes its head, confused, slowing down enough and steering slightly away... its confusion will not last long, however!
"Come, lets go." Ergar says, moving to the mouth of the alley. "We could use your help Meliska." He asks. Ikka takes the rear, still covering her eye.
You navigate through the alleys, glimpsing undead all over the place. The Boros apparently have a better grasp of the situation, but the feeling is that the undead are still gaining ground. The ground shakes from time to time.
At some point, you hear the sounds of marching and on a nearby street you see a legion of Boros soldiers rushing towards the plaza. Giants, minotaurs, goblins, viashinos and elementals appear here and there between human soldiers, all wearing the white and red of the Legion. The sun is obscured for a moment as Parhellion II crosses the sky shrouded by clouds... the angels' flying fortress joins the battle. The ground keeps shaking.
You cross into Precinct Two, getting really close to the humming tower connected to New Prahv. The tremors appear to be getting closer. People flee from the direction you are heading. "Ready yourselves." Ergar says as you get closer to another opening between the alleys.
"Serra protect us..." Ergar mumbles and stops, mouth hanging open. The ground shakes, rhythmically as a colossal tree marches, three to four times the size of most buildings, earth and rocks falling from its roots turned into feet. Upon a closer look you realize it is so big that it even has buildings on its own body! Vitu-Ghazi, the living guildhall of the Selesnya also marches, creating an avenue of rubble on its wake.
You are forced to retreat and hide until the elemental passes and then have to climb over the rubble. A cloud of dust obscures the vision, but you must be close now. A couple more alleys and streets you'll reach the tower...
You reach a junction of streets. A figure steps at the end of an alley, a horseman. It rides towards you slowly, one weapon in each hand. Once a ray of light shines above, you notice it is in fact a centaur wearing crude armor and weapons, a burning tree tattooed on his chest. Behind him, others appear on the other streets, a pair of human barbarians covered in furs and holding a beast by a chain, a hulking ogre and a viashino with two axes. The Gruul have joined. "Haa!" The centaur yells and laughs. The Gruul have joined the enemy.
"To look for answers." Ergar replies to Viridi, ever patient.
"When in a difficult situation, we should always strive to understand it before trying to solve it." Ikka adds. If the vedalken is annoyed by Ripple mimicking her, she doesn't show.
"I understand we do not know each other, but we sadly do not have time to. I've seen you not only fighting the undead, but also helping people, and to me it is enough for now." The dwarf says. "Now, we must ask ourselves why are the undead attacking. Perhaps they are here to conquer this plane, or even to simply waste it, and the answer to both of these would be to stop them." He says, slamming one fist against his hand, determined. "But then we also need to ask why were we brought here." He raises his bushy eyebrows. "If the inhabitants did it, perhaps they wish to force us into helping, but it would be too big of a gamble because there are both good and evil ones. But if that dragon brought us here, then there is a catch I'm not seeing."
"Traps within traps and endless schemes. Always three steps ahead. Nicol Bolas is infamous for his plots... evil and self-serving ones." Ikka adds.
"I can see what lies beneath and what lies beyond. That is my blessing and my curse." She answers Ripple, apparently incapable of speaking in a natural or direct way. The dwarf rolls his eyes some.
The woman looks at Meliska. "Yet."
The dwarf interjects. Planeswalkers, is the usual name, for those capable to well... walk to other planes. He smiles. "Quite a pleasing and direct name, in my humble opinion, even if we actually disappear from one and appear on another instead of actually walking."
"Something brought us hear. Something is keeping us from leaving." The woman clarifies. Or not. "They could be the same thing. A thing, a being, a spell. So many possibilities." She says, looking at the humming tower and uncovering her eye again and soon covering it back. "The tower is a good place to start."
"Ergar Dar-Dor." The dwarf answers slowly, smiling and rolling his 'r's, before turning to Meliska. "Oh, wounded enough to live." He says, noting a couple scratches on you all. "No one can call themselves lucky this morning, but we have to be realistic, no? There are many dead or dying and while I'm versed in healing magic, I can't really help everyone."
The woman, speaks in a way that sounds she is a bit lost or disoriented. "So much is happening. People are dying everywhere. Undead warriors are invading this plane and Nicol Bolas is behind some, or all of it." She explains, and somewhat states some obvious facts. She speaks the name with fear. "We are also trapped and more of us are arriving."
Ergar nods in agreement. "That much we know. I'd like to know the 'whys'..."
The woman frowns a bit, uncovering her eye, showing it to be wounded. "You are Ripple, from Littjara in Kaldheim." She says eyeing the blond girl. "You are Viridi, from Inchol'azutla in Naya. You are Yuri, from Towashi in Kamigawa. You are Sorin, from Arashin in Tarkir." She says, going from one to another, leaving Meliska to the end. "And you are Meliska, from Korozda in Ravnica." She covers her eye again, before adding some more to her. "We are all scared and lost, but I see it goes double for you... you'll find answers to many questions you have... and some you've yet to make."
Ergar looks at Meliska with concerned eyes and gives her a small bead in a braided string. "Keep this close to your chest. When we leave and you find yourself lost, I'll come to you." He smiles in a fatherly way. "Well, introductions done, I figure we should start with gathering some information." He says before nodding towards the tower with the humming. "Feel we could start there."
With Meliska keeping one of the undead soldiers under control, Viridi sends her spear flying at the other one. It is incredibly fast, twisting and clashing his own spear against hers, just enough to avoid being skewered. A plate on his shoulder pops free where the elf's spear hits, old blood oozes from beneath, revealing skinless muscle.
The soldier is left unbalanced nevertheless, which is enhanced by Sorin's power. She soldier floats for a moment before being brought down hard against the ground as if it had fallen from a tower. The broken pavement breaks even more, forming a crater with an amalgamation of twisted blue metal, flesh, bones and old blood. One soldier is down.
The other soldier is still slowed by Meliska, but manages to jump down from the rubble wall. Yuri sprints forward with a flying kick. The soldier tries to lift its spear to block but can't and suddenly there is a big dent in its chest shaped like a footprint. Yuri twists, still with her food on the soldier's chest, and kicks its head, sending it flying away. The head stares at Meliska between her feet. Relieve fills her as she is no longer trying to keep the soldier slowed. Was her help even needed?
A spear flies from beyond the dust and the changeling lifts a rock to protect the forcemage. Sorin is spattered with small pebbles and the spear falls in front of him. A beautiful weapon, golden in color.
The dust completely clears. There are soldiers everywhere, as well as bodies. So many bodies. Some guards fight the enemies here and there, but in general it is a bloodbath.
---
You are tired and numb, hidden in an alley to catch your breath. Skin wet with sweat and caked with dust and blood. Some yours from a couple bruises, mostly from others. The whole plaza is an open battlefield and judging from the many soldiers you've seen taking the many avenues leaving the plaza, the same is probably true about the rest of the city.
The Boros guild was finally able to mount a coordinated effort and in some places were able to hold the invaders. Humans, giants, minotaurs and even goblins and viashinos among their ranks give battle to the undead wave, while in the sky angels fight more undead, these with blue wings and avian features beneath their armors.
The invading army is remarkable. Nothing alike the gouls and zombies Sorin saw in Innistrad or the shambling mess Melira was used to in the Swarm. They fought like veterans of many wars. Fast, strong, relentless, emotionless. Their blue armor slowed them almost nothing, while protecting them greatly, specially from many spells as many guildmages discovered.
The toll of lives seemed purposeless. Death for death's sake. The relative order of Ravnica was long shattered as everyone was solely focused on their own survival. Those who could help others did and in this aspect you were not alone. Mages and warriors of all sorts fought against the invading army and Melira was suspicious that many of these were also not from her city. Why were they here though?
Two figures appear on the alley, one very short and stout, the other tall, slender and pointing at you.
"There she is." Says the tall one with a feminine but powerful voice.
The other reaches for her hand, pulling it down. "Don't point at them. It is rude." His voice is gruff. The woman shrugs. "We are friends!" He yells from afar. "Don't run please."
The 'man' is bald with a well-kept and braided blond beard, reminding Ripple of the dwarves of Axgard. He wears a blue mantle with a breastplate that resembles a bear and carries a warhammer on his hand. The 'woman' has pale blue skin, is completely bald, beautiful if not a bit alien to those not used to a vedalken. She wears a light orange robe with rustic appearance and has one hand covering her left eye as if protecting it.
"I'm Ergar Dar-Dor, this is Ikka." The dwarf politely intones. "Any of you too wounded?"
The strange woman with vines for arms creates a wall, giving you all the opportunity to escape... yet you decide to stay behind and face this new threat!
Meliska feels strange, an alien sensation as if numerous hands were pushing her in every direction against a wall. She is sickened, dazed and beginning to feel suffocated all at once.
The plated undead slams against the wall, but it stands firm in place. Yet, after a couple more seconds a metallic hand reaches over the boulders and soon there is the soldier again, watching you with indifference.
Meliska focuses on the monster, drawing mana into controlling it. As she does so, she sends tendrils of magic which latches onto the undead... one, two... three. With each additional tendril it slows down a bit more, yet she can also see tendrils of another mage, purplish and considerably thicker. She knows she'll be able to do little more than just slow it down and even so it would take her all her concentration!
The undead soldier slows down considerably as it struggles against Meliska's magic, giving you a perfect opportunity to strike!
... then another soldier moves around the wall of rubble.
The building finally falls as you all flee, grabbing and assisting as many people as you can, while trying to not thing of those you couldn't help. A cloud of dust envelops you and the sound of falling debris is all you can hear. Slowly, other sounds return, like people calling for help, moans of pain and the desperate cries of those who can't find their friends and family.
As the dust begins to dissipate, you see movement. There is a man on top of a rubble, looking lost. He is covered in dirt and his left arm is bent in an unnerving way. "June! June!" He calls, looking. "Honey! Juuu..." His words are cut short as the head of a spear erupts from his chest. His body goes limp and falls, revealing another figure behind him.
The soldier kicks the dead man from his spear and then looks at you. He, or she, is covered head to toe in a fullplate made of blue metal, the helmet shaped like a human skull... yet, aside from the already dread situation, there was something unnerving about them, for they were too gaunt, too gaunt for them to be human.
The soldier walks towards you with silent purpose, his spear ready.
Yuri tears a wall from the building but she chooses poorly as it was one necessary for keeping it from collapsing altogether! People scramble as fast as they can, but if there was a doubt if the building was going to fall or not, now there isn't. Looking all around the place, it is clear that the toll in lives this day will be extremely high.
Ripple feels a shudder as the column she was holding topples, even if she was fast enough to move away in time, while Viridi looses her footing and begins to fall! Viridi Takes a Powerful Blow. If she fails (or isn't defended), Yuri takes Guilty!
Sorin feels his power getting even harder to control, if he doesn't get away from the dragon now, the damage will be even greater and probably his life will be in danger as well.
The tone is a bit different than usual here. It is more like "save all we can" than "save everyone".
Ripple quickly morphs into an exotic beast to hold one of the pillars, stabilizing somewhat the building but knowing she'll not be able to hold for too long.
Viridi causes the heavy rocks around Sorin to slow down, until they are frozen in place, but this pushes her tremendously and gives her a hint of the powers in place. Like a dam, she feels that when she releases her hold, the ensuing power surge could be even more dangerous!
This gives time for some civilians to leave the building, but many more could still be inside and plenty were still around. Amid the whole chaos, an old woman moves slowly with her cane. Yuri pulls a father and his child away and then lifts the old woman, knowing she'd not be able to flee even if she had hours to do so. She doesn't notice a piece of rubble falling towards her temple. (Yuri Takes a Powerful Blow, unless someone intervenes)
Meanwhile, the dragon continues to create his ominous building amid the plaza, which is already high enough to hide him. Made of a greenish marble, the thing is enormous, resembling a temple or even a tomb...
Viridi climbs a nearby building, a very fancy one with lots of carvings and statues adorning the exterior and thus providing with a lot of places to for her to hold. Atop the building and away from the crowd, she can finally breath, even if the air is nowhere close to being clean. The dragon was indeed a majestic being, reminding her about the Godsire of Naya... it exuded power and ferocity, making it worthy of worship. Behind the dragon, in the distance, she also notices countless soldiers marching from inside a huge portal, causing her momentary lapse to end and at this point she realises she had lost sight of Yuri! (Viridi marks Hopeless)
Ripple analyses the fissures and the flying stones and realizes that moving forward would be almost suicide. She could probably hop on her hut and hope to dodge all the hazards, but the closer she gets, the more dangerous it would be. The dragon was clearly the most dangerous being around, but the flying stones are more of immediate concern, both to herself and to those around.
Sorin loses control of his powers, the dragon's magic making it almost impossible to keep them from escaping. His body becomes weightless for a moment and all the stones around him stop in place, floating. Meliska can feel herself becoming lighter as well, making it difficult to walk. She then feel herself being pushed away and the same happens to the large stones around Sorin. She notices that a particularly large one is heading towards an old man that is looking at a building, so she orders Cordy to grab him!
The old man looks back at Meliska as he is yanked away and the stone misses his head by a couple centimeters... then there is a soft 'pop' and she notices the old man was working on a spell of his own. Enphasis on was. She follows the fillaments from his hands and notices he was keeping a large column from a large building in place so it would not topple! With an ominous sound of stone grinding upon stone, huge cracks crisscross the building, with small fragments flying away towards Sorin!
Viridi almost loses her footing on top of the building as she tries to find Yuri. By the base of the building she can see someone wrapped in what seems to be an aura of debris!
Sorin sees the many screaming faces around him, the stones flying around in all directions, his powers and those of the dragon feeding on each other. Unless he is able to stop it now, something terrible will happen!
The already widespread chaos intensifies as a huge building show signs of collapsing at any moment. Many civilians are nearby, and some are still inside the building! Yuri and Ripple can clearly see this
The soldier frowns. "Kronsh-shit you are... you are not with the Boros, and I doubt you are an Azorite as well if you are asking what is going on in New Prahv. I'll have you come with me for questioning." He says, reaching for what appears to be some handcuffs with sigils.
He steps forward...
ALL
... the ground shakes a bit and small fissures crisscross the ground. Cobblestones buckle and fly, one of them hitting Ripple's hut in the leg, causing it to fall on its side. The Boros soldier talking to Yuri and Viridi lose his footing, falling on his knee.
There is the sound of buildings collapsing and now the panic is general. People run for their lives as fast as they can while pieces of stone hit them. Parents grab their kids, elders fall, a street cart falls on its side and Sorin feels completely disoriented as the gravity around the plaza appears to be under attack! Sorin takes a Powerful Blow
Amid the whole chaos, the strange dragon flies, its arms outstretched and from beneath him, where now many buildings have collapsed, a new building is emerging from the ground!
A woman in impeccable attire turns to answer Ripple. Her clothes are formal and fit her shape perfectly, being mostly white and black and having a golden pin shaped like a sun on her chest. "I... don't really know." As she speaks, her words are a bit mumbled for a moment, at least until you get used to the completely new language. "It wasn't here moments ago."
This small conversation is all it takes to give the woman back her senses. She looks between the statue and then at the swirling portal in the distance. She quickly turns to leave the plaza, joining the many others who had the same idea.
Yuri and Viridi
The city around managed to be new to both of you. It is nothing close to the high sprawling technological metropolis of Towashi and far more advanced than any village in Naya. Nevertheless, the gap must have been smaller between the natives and Viridi, because some people look at Yuri with a sense of unease.
A nearby soldier walks towards you, a hand on his scabbard. "What is the meaning of all this?" He asks, apparently reaching the conclusion that whatever is happening, Yuri might be involved. The soldier wears a combination of plate armor and chainmail, with a white and red tabard on top depicting a closed fist in front of a red sun.
Meliska
You watch the dragon looking around lazily, as if they had not a single worry in his mind. While it is hard to be sure, but you have the impression they might be grinning... pleased.
Most people don't think like you and are very eager to run away from the dragon and the plaza, many bumping you in the process. Suddenly and out of nowhere, a man in dark clothes materializes in front of you! (Sorin)
Sorin
The place is a mess and the sheer number of people moving around makes it difficult to see anything. The distant tower and the massive glyph are easy though. Even without considering the probably maze-like streets of the place, it will perhaps take you about half and hour to get there.
After you take a couple steps towards the tower, you sense something strange on the ground, a sensation not dissimilar to when you last lost control of your powers.
There is a moment of unnatural silence as sound itself is sucked towards the center of Ravnica, heavy winds rushing in the same direction. When sound returns, it does so with a loud metallic note followed by the sound of crumbling stone. Where there was once the Embassy of the Guildpact, now there is just a massive sphere of blue energy, whirling and shimmering. From within, blows a hot and strong wind...
When you arrive...:
You arrive in the middle of what appears to be a vast city, for in all directions you see nothing but buildings of various heights and sizes, plazas, streets and alleys. Canals cross in some places and trees grow amid stone, but in essence the place is unmistakably urban and a bit claustrophobic, specially to those not used to such a thing.
You find yourselves in a large plaza. In the middle of it there is a massive statue atop an obelisk depicting a dragon with its wings open. It is so awing that it can only represent an incredibly important being, perhaps a god. Besides the plaza there is also a huge church and a bank nearby.
There is people everywhere. Nobles, guards, merchants, street vendors, beggars... and all seem to be somewhat lost, as if a rug has been pulled from beneath their feet. Some look at the statue as if it was something new, while others run away from the plaza, bumping against those arriving at the place, as if drawn to it. Many seem just shocked.
Amid the screams, guards call for order and, from time to time, there is a humming sound that is followed by a wave of energy that washes above in the sky until disappearing. Seeking its source, you see a tower besides a large triangular building, shooting colorful energy upwards. Above the triangular building there is also a huge glyph, rotating in place.
What do you do?
From now on, each of you should planeswalk when you seem fit. You'll not be in the scene until you do so. From where you were before the planeswalk, you'll feel some sort of calling and a compulsion to answer. You know this calling is coming from another plane.
It will take longer for people in more distant planes to be affected, so you can take some time. When it starts to affect you, it will not be that strong, but as minutes pass it becomes quickly stronger, to the point that eventually you'll have to stop everything to keep yourself from answering it... and even so, this will buy you nothing but a couple more minutes...
Last afternoon you've got a message from Trek, Biely's closest friend. The message was short, just asking you to meet him the next day. It did not specify where, but probably meant his home. Trek wasn't specially sharp, but he had helped you look for your brother.
It was pretty early in the morning when you knocked on his door. In the distance, you could hear loud sounds that resembled things being demolished. It could certainly be just a new building being made, but could also mean another wild attack from the Gruul. They've been restless lately. Trek did not answer the door, even after you pounded the door and yelled for him.
As you were returning to the Chasm and leaving the Precinct Two, there was a loud hum in the air. Turning back, towards Azorius Senate, there was a tower shooting colorful energy upwards, as well as sanding pulsing waves outwards. It seems the Izzet have finished their project... another 'improvement' that would for sure not help your life.
As you were about to resume your way home, immense bright glyphs appeared above New Prahv. Something wasn't right for sure.
You reach the Tenth District Plaza. As usual, there was a lot of people there, but this time they were all looking at the center of it, pointing. Following their arms, you see a massive dragon on top of a building, one hand moving as if he was extremely bored. Pieces of stone and metal from the surrounding buildings were being ripped apart, as if hit by a massive tornado, all converging to the center of the plaza, where they were merging together to form what appeared to be an enormous statue... of the same dragon weaving the spell.
