The Cult Crisis

Disaster / Destruction

The clash between Xander Ivoryvale and his Cult of Azdar, and Sayen the Undertaker and his army of Xander's undead victims. Sayen had managed to gain the support of several factions he had both aided and pleaded with during his long journey, and set out from their camp to storm Xander's stronghold within Deepview's castle. Had Xander the Mad managed to fortify this tactical position, he would've managed to breach Gelladur, and steal the Netherbane. The fallout from the magic fuelling the weapon could potentially wipe out most of the life on the planet, and it was Xander's plan to use it to kill every innocent that wasn't a white, cis Human. However, Sayen had managed to warn several authority figures of the plot: During this conflict, all mortal races of the world stood together as one to prevent this from happening, and united to defend the Netherbane. They named themselves 'The Coalition of Baresis'. When word has reached Coalition representatives that Xander had already taken over the palace at Deepview, the Coalition took swift action, and ordered this makeshift army to storm it.

It was a suicide mission, and the combined forces of Sayen and his alied Lich were the only hope the Coalition had left. Perhaps, their numbers would be just the boost that they needed to hope to stand against the Cultists of Azdar... The conflict began when the Coalition gathered outside of Deepviews east gate. They found that the Cultists had shut the town gates, and were holding the surviving civilians from their takeover hostage in their own homes, under threat of death should they leave their front doors. As a Cultist sergeant shouted his threats to kill them from the walls, the Orcish Forces brought forth their battleram, and Sayen kept him talking to keep the innocents safe. As the battering ram hit the east gate and the enemy forced their way inside the civilian's homes, they found that they didn't even get as much as a chance to harm the civilians, as the Dark Elf part of the Coalition had succeeded in their operation to safely sneak them out via the sewers. Before the sergeant could make his way down to the incoming chaos of the gates flying open, the Coalition forces poured into Deepwater. As the Orcish general held off the initial group of Cultists attempting to stop the Coalition, Sayen and his horde advanced through the chaos in the streest: him, his three allies, and his newfound Lich ally fought their way to Deepview's palace through scattered Cultists, making use of the element of surprise. Survivors fleeing the east gates last-minute describe it as absolute bedlam: Dark Elves striking at Cultist legions from the rooftops, Wood Elves raining down arrows on the enemy from the same vantage points, Faefolk firing off spells from behind Orcish shields, plumes from Goblin smoke bombs across the city, the blasts of Dwarven hand cannons ringing through the streets.   Once at the palace, the Lich ordered his part of the horde to force the gates to the palace open, and held off the Cult of Azdar's elite forces guarding it as Sayen hastily made his way inside once they swung open. As the rest of the Cultists were kept busy by the Coalition forces, he had enough numbers to hold fast. Through magic, the Lich shut the gate once the last of Sayen's Undead has made their way in. It was up to the Undertaker now, and this would be the day he would go down in legend. As soon as the Cultists within the palace heard the gates shut, they flooded Sayen and his horde. However, they held fast, and advanced through its halls, raising fallen enemies as he went in order to replenish the numbers of his horde. Most of the Cultist forces had been lured outside by the Coalition, so he found the palace quite lightly guarded: Xander, in his arrogance, hadn't expected him to make it this far. Eventually, he had found his way to the throne room, where Xander awaited. Sayen took a moment to steel himself in front of its gates, and pushed them open.   However, it proved to be a trap: The conflict's end was in a duel between Sayen and Xander Ivoryvale himself. Before either Sayen's horde or his three loyal allies could reach the Undertaker to aid him, Xander used his magic to shut the gate behind the Undertaker, and seal it using light magic, thus preventing them from aiding him. As it was the element opposite to Sayen's magic, he could not dispel it. Yet he didn't despair for a moment or attempt to flee: in fact, the Undertaker proved merciful enough to give one of history's worst monsters one last chance to surrender. To which Xander the Mad famously replied while drawing his longsword: 'Quite like a deathmonger to cower like this'. The battle was long and fierce: Sayen's three allies can mainly only describe it from the clanging of weapons they heard.   Xander the Mad managed to kill Sayen during a weapon lock by blasting a hole in his chest with light-elemental magic. After the Undertaker's body had crashed to the ground, the monster spit on his body, and unsealed the gates to the throne room, believing himself to be victorious. Three mighty Cultists dashed in after Sayen's three allies had rushed to the Undertaker's side, grieving over his body. However, they had missed that his last breath had glowed with a magical aura. As they steeled themselves against Xander the Mad and his three Cultists, Sayen rose again as a Lich to fight on. With the element of surprise on his side, he managed to pin Xander to a wall, away from the chaos of his allies holding off the other Cultists. While he had to give his best in his human form to hold off Xander the Mad, his killer now struggled against the supernatural strength of the Undertaker's Undead form. David the Kind described panic streaking across the fallen Paladin's face with every blow that his younger brother delivered: Xander the Mad knew the hour of vengeance was near. Eventually, the Undertaker managed to disarm him, and started corner him. In a last act of desperation, Xander the Mad threw his shield to the wayside as well, and started muttering the words to a healing spell that would undo all of Sayen's hard work. The Undertaker, badly beaten himself, steeled himself one last time.   Knowing that the fate of all of the mortal races depended on this very moment, the mighty hero charged forward, and pierced his rapier straight through Xander the Mad's black heart. Within seconds, anger, shock, and panic streaked across the monster's face, before Sayen withdrew his weapon from the wound, and one of history's worst monsters collapsed to the throne room floor. The chaos of battle that had surrounded the duel suddenly stopped. Sayen's three allies, having slain the three Cultists, turned their heads to the scene, and cheered. The day was finally won.