The Open Door (megacrossover)

[Jim Starluck]

Probably not the Doctor himself, he always came across as rather disapproving of Time Lord policy in general. But yeah, I could see them fiddling about with something, screwing up and getting 40k out of it. They were kinda dickish like that.

On another note, Academia... how would New Chaos respond to this 'verse if they stumbled across it?

[Jonen C]

The key to writing a good story is setting things up so that the characters make believable choices that seem like good choices from their point of view - or at least choices they would make under the circumstances - but which result in an interesting experience for the readers.

This, sir, is a very good story.

[Academia Nut]

Probably not the Doctor himself, he always came across as rather disapproving of Time Lord policy in general. But yeah, I could see them fiddling about with something, screwing up and getting 40k out of it. They were kinda dickish like that.

On another note, Academia... how would New Chaos respond to this 'verse if they stumbled across it?

The Doctor was born long after the Lords of the House of Time evolved into the Time Lords, so he's technically innocent, even if his people have always been rather dickish.

As to Brighthammer, the phrase "What the...?" would probably come to mind.

[Darth Yoshi]

Oh man. Who-verse? Hey wait, that means Daleks! Hehehe.

“A few days ago, a colony of Erinyes under my command made a contract of employment with a creature that used this symbol as a personal mark, a creature their leader, one of the eldest devils still in existence, insisted came from an Eldar Evil. All attempts to locate this creature or the Erinyes that accompanied him have failed,” Asmodeus explained gravely.

Typo! Unless Chaos really is the Eldar's fault.

[TheClueless]

Chapter Forty-nine: Cornered

Once again, better late commentary than no commentary, right?

He had then left for a minute before there was the loud, echoing boom of his rifle firing in an enclosed space followed by him rushing out, his face pale. He said, “Okay, I have news. The news in general is that I just shot Lolth. The bad part is that despite the fact that getting a divine blessing seems to have ensured it would hurt, it wasn’t enough to actually kill her and thus I probably just pissed her off more than she already was. The good news, maybe, is that I don’t think she’s going to be coming after us for a while.”

“Why? Where did you hit her?” Skuld had asked.

Lars winced and said, “Well… she’s currently bleeding… from the breast. I was aiming for the heart but she turned at the last moment so that she got caught in the right breast just above the nipple. Just as well I suppose, I think the bullet was stopped dead by her rib cage, which is obviously tougher as a deity than I expected. But yeah, her right boob kind of exploded like… well… a milk bag caught in an industrial press. Blood and skin and fat everywhere, Lolth is currently rolling around on the ground screaming while her followers just sort of stare in shock. And you’re wearing the same sort of pained expression and clutching yourself in the same way guys do when they hear about another man taking a really nasty shot to the groin.”

Oh my, even if this *doesn't* carry over to her true divine form, Lolth's going to want to kill Lars and Skuld. But only after torturing them for a few millenia.

Before, Lolth was (IMO) just after them because Skuld - a goddess - was in one of *her* cities. And because killing Skuld could give Lolth a power boost.

But now? Now it's *personal.*

If it *does* carry over to Lolth's "true" form(s), Skuld and Lars have just earned their place among the top five of Lolth's (current) "I HATE YOU!" list.

In any event, Lars seems to have a gift for verbal imagery.

Also this bit was nice in that it showed that - even with *Skuld* giving a divine blessing to a (primative) 50 cal bullet, that the gods of the Forgotten Realms - even in Avatar form - aren't pushovers.

That had been a week ago, and now the whole column was holed up in a dead end cave, every drow looking to gain Lolth’s favour camped out two caves down. Despite getting cornered, they were in an excellent position to make a last stand, for the massive cave they were in was a dead magic zone and in between the cave where the refugees were camped out and the cave where the drow and their servants were camped out, there was a long gallery with a slight downward slope and a choke point from the drow cave.

I take it that it's only every *local* drow who wants to gain Lolth's favour who's in said camp.

BTW, even it was just luck, my hat goes off to Lars and Skuld for choosing a cavern where at least part of it is in a magic dead area. Since, after all, Weave magic dead areas have no affect on Shadow Weave spells and items.

Divinely made magical shotgun loaded with god killing Chaos 000-buckshot wielded by a daemon related to the ones who had made the weapon and its ammunition. If Skuld could make anything for Lars that might give him a fighting chance should Lolth herself decide to come through the globe of darkness, this was it.

If this weapon isn't considered to be epic, by DnD rules, it must *just* scrape under the wire.

Skuld’s voice trembled for a moment before she said, “Before we go out there, could you do something for me?”

“Yes, what?” Lars asked.

“Marry me.”

Pulling Gunnhild close and hugging her, Skuld said, “Gunnhild is my child as much as yours, even if the circumstances are like no other conception ever in that it was honestly a mistake and an accident on both our parts. But I still love her, even if she is trying to build me a skull throne.”

Asukahon: "I call Dibs on who gets to try to recruit her first, when she grows up!"

“Lars, Daemon of Chaos Undivided, do you declare in front of all of these witnesses that you will be faithful and true to me, a friend and a companion throughout the eons, until the stars lay down their burdens and we are no more?” Skuld asked; her wings spread wide as she hovered, thousands of refugees gazing up at her in awe, the hem of her dress just barely failing to conceal the fact that her feet were not touching anything.

A simple sounding, but very comprehensive set of vows.

And I wonder how it will be before someone - Rask, perhaps? - asks Lars for more information on "Chaos Undivided" given how pretty much all those who followed Lars and Skuld into the Underdark proper are hearing this.

Although, it would be worse if they asked Gunnhild, IMO. Gunnhild, if I understand things, pretty much has access - due to "racial memory" to everything that Lars knew when she was born. (And to everything that Skuld knew as of the last soul-exchange between Lars and Skuld, prior to her birth.) And, unlike Lars, she isn't mature enough to realize that she should say much - if anything at all - about the new Chaos.

“I will handle it,” a voice next to Lars replied. Looking over, Lars discovered one of the less likely members of the refugees crouched next to him. No one knew exactly what he was, just that he went by the name Shyft and he was either some sort of intelligent, free roaming golem or a guy in a really sophisticated suit of enchanted armour. Either way, he had followed the refugees for his own reasons and had not felt inclined to share.

I'm pretty sure that this is a construct - although I can't recall the name for it's type, or the sourcebook ("Underdark", or maybe the 3.5 Drow sourcebook) it's from. I don't think that they're normally able to talk - or really be smart enough to hold a conversation with. So, even if I'm right, this is not a standard model.

“Devils. They’re learning,” Lars noted as he controlled the feeling of dread. The portals were like open windows to a storm to him, but he had suffered worse when in Hild’s domain, and he had grown since then.

Drow summoning devils. Drow loyal (for Drow, that is) to *Lolth* summoning devils.

I wonder how much fast talking must have gone on before this decision was approved?

Most of all though, the drow presence in the area was completely obliterated. While Menzoberranzan itself was far enough away to remain relatively unscathed, the city had been stripped of too many in the fighting to continue to prosper. House Oblodra remained, having not participated, huddled as they were in their compound against Lolth’s expected wrath, but there was too little left to rule and the city was ripe for plundering by irate neighbours.

Meanwhile, Ched Nasad lay in ruins, the suspended city having lost one of the ossified spider webs that supported one of the upper buildings come loose in the massive earthquake and triggered a domino effect as building after building crashed through layer after layer of the city.

Oh. My.

Leaving aside the urban remodeling - both above and below ground - you've probably eliminated (IMO) between 30 and 70 percent of all the Drow that were living in the Northdark just before the Time of Troubles began. And that's *before* the vultures come to feast (or at least try to feast) on Menzoberranzan

Of the remaining drow in the Northdark, I'd guess that no more than 1 in 10 are "true" worshippers of Lolth. If you count the worshippers of her loyal (due to enchantments) grandson - Selvetarm - she might be able to claim 2 in 10 drow currently living in the Northdark will obey her.

The effects that this will have on the North, both on the surface and in the local Underdark, will be profound and long-lasting.

Among other things, you can toss out parts of several novels. Not the least of which being the "War of the Spider Queen" series and the "Lady Penitent" trilogy. (And - other than the fact that this means I might not see the "Masked Lady" in this timeline - I probably won't shed even a single tear of the "loss" involved.)

For a moment the whole world twisted inside out and turned upside down, before Lars discovered that he was standing in another cavern. But this one was bigger. And on a plane where the backs of Lars’ eyes itched from all the agony and hatred permeating the place.

And he was surrounded by dozens of rather surprised looking women with black feathered wings and drawing rather sharp looking swords or pulling back on powerful looking bows now that they noticed the intruder.

Lars quashed the first impulse to complain. He’d had enough of complaining. Instead, he pumped his gun, ejecting the remains of the primitive shell that had killed the pit fiend and he looked around him for a moment before he asked, “I just killed a pit fiend, survived a nuclear explosion and a random trip across the planes and I maimed a god a week ago. So who wants to go first?”

Poor Lars, once again he manages to escape from a cannibal's stew pot, only to land in an active volcano.

Still, I think that - given his "offer", combined with the fight and escape scenes - Lars has earned himself a Crowning Moment of Awesome award.

[MichaelAwesome]

Wow! That’s some back story. With the Void Born breaking down space and time, it’s amazing that any of the multiverse still exists. So Skuld is apparently a reality-shaping descendant to the House of Space. How much of that innate power did she pass on to her daughter Gunnhild? Also, when Skuld absorbed some of Lars’ daemonic essence, what Void Born traits did she acquire?

Back in Nesme, hopefully few of the escaped slaves will get killed by the reckless village defenders. If the trolls are smart, they’d help protect the refugees from harm rather than participate in combat, letting Skuld and Gunnhild do most of the @ss-kicking.

A BrightHammer crossover won’t work at all, please don’t do it, although the concept of the Agrarium of Mars’ Life Seed compliments Yggdrasil the Norse World Tree. Is a Human/Eldar hybrid possible in cannon Warhammer40k?

[Jim Starluck]

A BrightHammer crossover won’t work at all, please don’t do it, although the concept of the Agrarium of Mars’ Life Seed compliments Yggdrasil the Norse World Tree.

Oh I agree, I wasn't suggesting that it get added to the story. I was just amused at the idea of the meeting and their reaction to it.



I posted this over on SpaceBattles, but I'll throw it up here too.

One thing that might be interesting to touch on... something I call the "Law of Inevitable Fiction", or "Law of IF".

Put simply, if you have an infinite number of universes which can have an infinite number of configurations, any given universe is eventually going to be described with complete 100% accuracy by someone writing a work of fiction somewhere else in the multiverse. The reverse is also true: for every work of fiction ever conceived or possible to be conceived, there is a universe somewhere out there where it is completely real.

This is nifty when you apply it to awesome stuff, but it starts getting really fucking scary when you realize that it applies to the worst fanfics the Internet has ever seen too. Including the grammatical errors.

[WillowBee]

Time Lords! I now understand why Lars insisted that Skuld’s ability to alter reality would do more harm than good, as he was aware how the first “Elder Evils” were spawned. Makes me wonder what kind of failsafes they have to prevent something like that from happening again.

Are the Erinyes bearing Lars’ and Skuld’s symbol going to gradually transform into Lawful half-fiend Void Born hybrids? Asmodeus said that even a copy of the symbol accumulates unnatural energies, so it seems likely. Atleast Gunnhild will have female role models to help guide and nurture her.

When Lars signed the Erinyes contract with a personal sigil, he effectively marked Skuld as a nascent Chaos-goddess-in-training. Did doing so augment the daemonic essence that resides within her? Does this daemonic essence infusion give her a degree of protection against the powers of the Void Born?

[von Neufeld]

Good chapter, it explains much.

It should be clear which two of the Gate universes are, but I can't figure out the last two from the info given.

What's unclear is what the Eye is and, what the Eye wall is. For the later, I'm guessing it refers to

two protrusions of energy above and below the Eye.

IIRC, you also mentioned that Buffy-verse would be in the middle between the Who-verse and OMG-verse, so from the position, I would assume that it might be the Eye. However, there are also reasons to believe that it might be a Gate instead.

Another question would be where the low-energy universes are located relative to the rest.

[Valorie]

That's a truely epic history that blends together so many different genres yet makes a lot of sense. Kudos, good sir!

Oh man, Lord Ao is so going to do a Strong Bad and push the DELETED button on Lolth and Shar if they so much as scratch Skuld. The little Norn of the Future is still ‘relatively’ weak and needs all the allies she can get.

If, and big if, Chaos Undivided encountered the Doctor, would they recognize him as a descendant to the House of Time?

Skuld may prove too powerful and could accidentally harm herself or others. In the Avatar series, the goddess Mystra revealed that she gives up half of her divine energy to empower her Chosen and her servant Azuth, so maybe Skuld could power-share with a select few like Lars and Gunnhild if her abilities became too much to handle.

[Garlak]

Probably not the Doctor himself, he always came across as rather disapproving of Time Lord policy in general. But yeah, I could see them fiddling about with something, screwing up and getting 40k out of it. They were kinda dickish like that.

On another note, Academia... how would New Chaos respond to this 'verse if they stumbled across it?

"... Only on 4Chan. "

"We need to step up our A game; the Crack-Fu is strong within them."


Poor Lars. I had just begun to hope things might calm down a bit, and yet instead it's all about to go to hell. I can see Lars, or Skuld's posse, being confused as they see the Devils turn on the Drow or try to defect to them... "... El-oh-el what?" And yet... I can see tantalizing bits of.. well, potential for cooperation. OldChaos wanted to change... and now NewChaos is changing drastically again, with Skuld...

But.. what is Chaos trying to do in Haruhi's world? You mentioned that ultimately they're trying to NOT piss her off/attract her attention... But I'm wondering how much they know about the whole wall.

Hmmm. I want more, gah!

[MichaelAwesome]

In retrospect, the Doldrums that the Stiletto is stuck in act like a natural blockade that’d stop the Void Born incase they broke free from the Great Warding, although whether is natrual or not is debatable.

When Lars signed the Erinyes contract with a personal sigil, he effectively marked Skuld as a nascent Chaos-goddess-in-training. Did doing so augment the daemonic essence that resides within her? Does this daemonic essence infusion give her a degree of protection against the powers of the Void Born?

Chaos-goddess-in-training? Sure, in theory, I guess the Void Born would possess defenses against other Void Born

Are the Erinyes bearing Lars’ and Skuld’s symbol going to gradually transform into Lawful half-fiend Void Born hybrids? Asmodeus said that even a copy of the symbol accumulates unnatural energies, so it seems likely. Atleast Gunnhild will have female role models to help guide and nurture her.

Rather than female role models, Gunnhild needs babysitters durable enough to survive the temper tandrums that all children throw.

[Skyfox120]

Wow Lolth is Pissed....

Of course considering this is probably her most humiliating defeat since the two times she crossd paths with the Justicer (Avatar destruction first by drunkeness... than on her home plain falling into a portable hole of Holy Water... Okay granted Paul Kidd's novels are hardly CANNON... but they are fun reads) I suppose its to be expected.

And now Lars and co (Will Skuld be jealous of the winged Devil women he returns with?) Are about to have to deal with the local milita.... Of course considering what Lars is.... this isn't likely to be much more than a slight nusiance

I wonder how Lolth's new ....'look' will affect her standing... true Drow are evil, sadistic, and a lot of the females loyal to Lolth... but said females are also highly narcissistic... Lolth may lose a lot of worshipers over her demands to cut off a tit... And you can bet the other Drow goddesses and Gods (Well maybe not elistree) will be more than happy to take them back (Join Vhaerun's worship... we'll keep you sexy and your boobies intact!)

Lolth, Loviater, and Shar vs SKuld and LArs.... I'm not really that worried.., First they have ot find them, than deal with whatever defensive Tech Skuld has fixed up... then there are the unknown abilities of Lolth and her allies have at best only vague understandings of...

Although knowing Lars's luck.. Skuld will defeat and absorb Loviater... physically age signficantly... start wearing Divine Leather and have a sudden interest in S&M.

(Meanwihle back at the Hall of justi... I mean Asgard.

Odin: Parental sense tingling... MY LITTLE BABY IS GETTING TATTOOS AND EXPLOREING CONCEPTS SHE IS FAR TO YOUNG TO PROPERLY UNDERSTAND!!!! SUMMON MY VALKYRIES!! )

[Academia Nut]

Drow summon devils fairly often, Menzoberranzan was a city of interplaner commerce and had devils and demons. With the drow explaining that their enemy was a being of chaos and that chaotic spells bounced right off it, at best, it wouldn't have been too hard for some of the wizards to conjure up a few portals to bring in the devils.

Also, you're all missing the truly messed up bit of all this. Lolth is going to be calling in her demonic allies to try and find Skuld and Lars. Asmodeus is going to be unleashing squadrons of devils to scout for Skuld and Lars. Demons and devils hate each other. Neither side really knows what it is they're hunting for. The situation has potential for escalation, no?

To say nothing of the fact that large numbers of divine avatars banding together has the potential for Very Bad Things to happen.

[White Haven]

Although knowing Lars's luck.. Skuld will defeat and absorb Loviater... physically age signficantly... start wearing Divine Leather and have a sudden interest in S&M.

(Meanwihle back at the Hall of justi... I mean Asgard.

Odin: Parental sense tingling... MY LITTLE BABY IS GETTING TATTOOS AND EXPLOREING CONCEPTS SHE IS FAR TO YOUNG TO PROPERLY UNDERSTAND!!!! SUMMON MY VALKYRIES!! )

...Aww man, Lars should be that lucky.

[Singular Quartet]

Humm... so Azathoth in Lovecraft was the first to go nuts, then Haruhi followed him and closed off her borders until only recently? Buffy-verse would be one of the two other Gates/Hubs. What would the artifact that the power to remake reality is sealed into be, though? (not as familiar with buffy-verse as I should be)

And what is the remaining hub/gate?

Also, what ever happened to the Stilleto/Colonial Fleet and the Praxis?

[Deadpan29]

Humm... so Azathoth in Lovecraft was the first to go nuts, then Haruhi followed him and closed off her borders until only recently? Buffy-verse would be one of the two other Gates/Hubs. What would the artifact that the power to remake reality is sealed into be, though? (not as familiar with buffy-verse as I should be)

The leading candidate for trans-reality access control in the Buffy-verse would be The Key. Interestingly, this energy-construct has recently been given sentience once more, as part of a desperation move by its guardians, but seems unable to access its powers, consciously or unconsciously.

[Valorie]

Will Lolth demand that the other drow goddesses amputate one of their breasts? Yeah, that’s not going to go over too well, and it'll greatly increase the odds of Lolth getting knifed in the back by mutinous underlings while she’s distracted fighting Skuld.

Divine wounds may not heal, but what about prosthetics? In the guide books, it’s possible to replace an arm or leg at the expense of becoming a “Half-Golem.” On the other hand, Rask could teach Skuld about the Graft Flesh feat, as the drow wizard seems to be familiar with body modification as shown by his spider experiments, and Lars could give pointers. A combination of Craft Construct, Graft Flesh, and Sanctify Relic could yield a variety of results.

Example: Skuld gives Uncle Tyr eyes that can shoot laser beams, or a metal hand that can transform into a gun or rocket launcher.

[Sute]

Just like the Time Lords to make something like WH40K.

I think the Buffy-verse is more likely to be the Eye than one of the Gates. The Key was stated to have the power to break down the barriers between all realities, rather than change things inside of a reality. What happened with the protrusions that came from the Eye sounds like it may have been a partial release of that power.

Something I've been wondering about for a while now: When in the Haruhi-verse timeline is this taking place?

[Satori]

Oh yeah, I did. Sorry about that. The arms of the Chaos Star are a bit too thick and long, but otherwise its well structured. The wings could use some work, but overall I think most people have figured out what I was shooting for.

Also, as to the kobold thing, those little bastards have been getting a better lot with each edition. Once they turned into trap makers people started to realize that they were just defending their homes, at which point their PR started to improve greatly. Still not a full fledged PC race, but they're not quite treated like total cannon fodder anymore.

Pft. Are you Kidding? If you use all the Complete, Races, and Eberron books for 3.5 Edition, Kobold Sorcerors and Gnome Illusionists are just about tied for "most powerful Race/class", with kobolds slightly in the lead, if anything.

Dragonwrought + Grater Draconic Rite + Loredrake + White Dragon Spawn + Desert variant + LA buyoff = Kobold sorcerer casting at 3-4 levels above his actual level, no con penalty (you lose 4 hp though), and +3 to your casting stat (CHA). That's friggin' HAX.

Shadowcraft Mage + Incantatrix + Earth Spell + Arcane Thesis (Silent Image) + Signature Spell (Silent Image) + Arcane Disciple (Luck) = Gnome wizard who can SPONTANEOUSLY cast any wizard evocation spell, most wizard conjuration spells, and emulate many other spells with Miracle.

Yeah, D&D 3.5 is really broken with splatbooks.

And no we don't count the Planar Shepherd, because that thing is unplayable. If there's one in the party, you pretty much just win automatically.

[WillowBee]

Pft. Are you Kidding? If you use all the Complete, Races, and Eberron books for 3.5 Edition, Kobold Sorcerors and Gnome Illusionists are just about tied for "most powerful Race/class", with kobolds slightly in the lead, if anything.

Wow, and Skuld has both gnomes and kobolds endeared to her. Once the refugees get back on there feet, she’s going to have one of the most powerful, diversified cults in all of Faerun.

Out of all the Dark Seldarine, it’d be interesting if little Gunnhild slew Ghaunadaur and took his portfolio. Ghaunadaur is the demigod of oozes, slimes, jellies, outcasts, and rebels.

Having the bizarre “Reigle-like” portfolio of Ghaunadaur would help Gunnhild explore her own Void Born nature and give her dominion over non-sentient lifeforms that thrive where humanoid civilizations cannot endure. It would also give her an edge over the demon lords Juiblex and Zuggtmoy.

“PYRO FOR THE PYRO GOD!”

[Crayz9000]

Here's another attempt at the logo.

[MichaelAwesome]

Out of all the Dark Seldarine, it’d be interesting if little Gunnhild slew Ghaunadaur and took his portfolio. Ghaunadaur is the demigod of oozes, slimes, jellies, outcasts, and rebels.

The Slime cleric domain reminds me of a “Star Trek: Deep Space Nine” episode where Constable Odo mentored a baby changeling and often carried the tiny blob around in a coffee mug. Children go through many phases and behavioral quirks as they grow up, like demanding that they only wear certain colored clothing, so demi-god Gunnhild with the Slime domain may insist on remaining in a liquid state whenever possible.

Possible scene for Academia Nut:

S: “Gunnhild, get out of your bucket and turn solid this instant! We’re having guests over any minute!”
G: “No! I don’t wanna! Solid is boring and too dry!”
S: “Don’t take that tone with me, little missy!”
G: “Daddy doesn’t mind if I stay liquid all the time!”
S: “Daddy also likes death metal and those Harry Potter books. That doesn’t say much about his judgment making skills.”
G: “Heresy! Thou’ shall not blaspheme death metal!”

[Academia Nut]

Crazy9000, that symbol is perfect. It's not what I originally envisioned, but it has the perfect sort of balance, with the heads and wings angled in such a way that they look like part of the star. You want a cameo?

[TheClueless]

Before we begin with the current chapter, I just noticed something with Chapter 50.

The devils carefully examined the altered document for a long time as a group, carefully annotating it in places while giving Lars evil looking glances before they said, “For a being of chaos you have quite the art for making laws dance to your whim.”

I'm guessing that instad of "they said", you meant for it to be "their leader said". Or something like that anyway.

Now, on to chapter 50!

“General,” Ao noted, not taking his attention off the reports in front of him.

“I have not been called that in a very long time,” a silken, sibilant voice noted.

“You still retain the rank, not matter what the others say. And while I feel you are far too ambitious and treacherous for your own good, you perform your appointed duties as demanded of you. More than can be said of many of the current crop of deities,” Ao replied.

“Thank you, sir,” Asmodeus said graciously, bowing slightly.

Anyone else feel like the Imperial March should be playing - softly - in the background?

(I won't mention the "*Eldar* Evil" bit, since others have mentioned it in their C&C.)

“Do the tasks related to this knowledge and I will heal your wounds,” Ao replied flatly.

Oh. Wow.

For those who don't know, 3.5 DnD's sourcebook on the Nine Hells tells the following tale.

A (relatively speaking) short time after Asmodeus - and those who followed him into exile because they thought the Heavens weren't fighting the forces of the Abyss with everything that they could - came to live in what would become the Nine Hells, an angry group of gods came to visit him on the first (top-most) layer/level of the Nine Hells. These powers from the Heavens demanded that Asmodeus and his followers stop tempting mortals into damning themselves - to, surprise surprise, the Nine Hells. Asmodeus kindly pointed out that the agreement he made with the rulers of the Heavens - which resulted in him, and his, leaving peacefully - gave them the permission of the (good) gods to tempt mortals. In the fine print.

One of the gods didn't care for this. At all. And made this clear to Asmodeus by hitting him so hard that he went all the way through the first (top most) level of the Nine Hells. And then did the same when Asmodeus hit the second level of the Nine Hells. And again when he hit the third level. And the fourth level. And...

Well, to cut the story short, the top eight levels of the Nine Hells all have at least one thing in common. A very large hole that goes all the way from the top of that layer to the bottom. The ninth (bottom most) layer of the Nine hell "just" has what could be described as a *very* big impact crater.

Asmodeus has supposedly never been able to fully heal the wounds he got that day. In fact, some suspect that Asmodeus is always using an avatar (or the equivalent thereof) because his true body is still incapable of moving out the impact crater I mentioned the ninth level has.

In other words, Ao has promised Asmodeus something that's been in the top five of his "Do Want!" list for longer than many gods have existed in the Forgotten Realms.

Ao nodded, knowing that the fiend was now bound by his own nature. Ao then said, “You remember the most ancient ages, when the Abyss was the crack in reality that the Elder Evils poured in from, when the Far Realm was more than just a skin surrounding the Realms like an infection. You know how the demons are the remnants of those invaders, the stain of their destructive ways still part of the Abyss.”

Interesting. So, unlike 3.5 cosmology, the Abyss wasn't the origin of all things that exist in the DnD multiverse. (Unless Ao came into the area through the tear in reality where the Abyss now is.) And, instead, the chaotic and evil nature of the Abyss is due to the fact that - before they were all cast out and/or destroyed - the Elder Evils either spent the most time there, or were able to imprint aspects of their nature more successfully there.

“I am Ao Inkfingers, Naval Clerk in the Logistics, assigned to the 3rd fleet, serving aboard the dreadnought Magnhildr. I am a Third Generation Lord in the House of Space, and one of two remaining members of that House, the other being the Third King of the House, the Second Generation Lord Odin Allfather, also known as the Almighty by his own people. I am perhaps one of a dozen beings in all the multiverse that fought in the Extinction War and one of perhaps two beings that knows even a piece of the history of the Disaster. I am older than you can imagine, older than most of the surviving Void Born, the beings you call the Elder Evils,” Ao explained in fully deific glory.

I'd suggest changing "I am perhaps one of a dozen beings" to "I am perhaps one of a dozen surviving beings".

Ao frowned, obviously dredging up painful memories, before he said, “My people, the Lords of the House of Space, were the descendents of a truly elder race with full command of their reality. I only know a tiny piece of the full history as the Almighty is the only one still alive who knew anyone from that age. I have no idea exactly what happened, but there was a Disaster, something so horrible that it forced the construction of a wall about a collection of billions of realities just to protect the rest of infinity. Many of the survivors fled to the still stable outside multiverse to establish their successor states. My people were left behind to attempt to clean up, or at least contain, the mess. There were unforeseen complications.”

I may be cynical here, but this seems to suggest - to me at least - that either members of the House of Space were at least partially responsible (in reality, or due to a cover-up) for the Disaster. Either that, or they had enemies that wanted them *gone*, and had the pull to get the House of Space assigned to a very dangerous duty.

BTW, given Ao's comments so far - and the map - is the Forgotten Realms the only DnD world/universe that exists in your cosmology? Or is it a case of each world - like Faerun and Greyhawk - just being a different solar system of the same universe? Also, if the later is the case, how did Odin know to tell Ao to focus his searches for Skuld on Faerun?

“This is a map of the multiverse as we know it, although it hasn’t been updated in… well you know how tricky time is to measure for beings such as us. But even then, it has not been updated in a long time, not since before the Realms were founded. There are seven points of interest. There are the four Gates, the Eye, and the two Houses. As you can see, we are quite close to one of those Houses, my birth universe, the House of Space. On the opposite side of this construct is the House of Time,” two points at the top and bottom of the sphere lit up to punctuate Ao’s words.

My comments about the House of Space also apply to the House of Time.

“The Gates control access in and out of this great construct and into the realms consumed in the great storm caused by the Disaster. For safety purposes we made them unable to connect directly to each other or to the Eye or the Houses. A rather fortunate thing considering what happened next. You see, our ancestors did not fully understand what they had unleashed and the turbulence of the cosmic storm triggered two protrusions of energy above and below the Eye. Destructive, destabilizing energies swirled up to crash into the Houses and cause massive devastation. The magic of the Far Realm is but a taste of what we faced. The Houses were insulated, but not to the same degree as the much more heavily fortified Gates. We lost complete contact with the Lord of the House of Time. No idea what happened to them. If they survived they probably wonder the same about us. Around the same time the Void Born struck,” Ao explained.

So the Eye is the central control center of - and/or power generator for - the barrier that englobes the universes making up "Chaotic Space" to the TSAB? And "Wild Space" is made up the universes - like SG-1's universe - that are so close to this barrier that, even with all four Gates closed, are affected by "bleed-over" from "Chaotic Space"?

“It gets worse. The Void Born were… things that emerged from the Disaster, semi-sentient engines of destruction, birthed in the Eye Wall, the universes inundated with energy. We sterilized them all as a last act, but their attacks on the Gates were particularly troublesome. The Houses were being damaged by the energies kicked up by the storm and our responsibilities involved controlling our prospective domains. Space and time were breaking down without our input and the Gates were being attacked by horrific monstrosities. One by one they all shut down before we could even get to them. The first to go was completely invaded by the Void Born and only managed to prevent an outbreak to the rest of the multiverse by sealing them all inside. The controller went insane last we heard. One of the Gates next to it went similarly mad at the loss of its companion and shut the doors. The other two shut down shortly after, isolating their control programs into artefacts with no will of their own, locking away the majority of their power,” Ao detailed out.

Just out of curiosity, why is it called the "Eye Wall" instead of the "Eye Walls". Unless the affected universe - both above and below the Eye - are linked into one mass/object...

I take it that the "corrupted" Gate is the Lovecraftian/Cthulthutech universe? And that the "insane" Gate is Haruhi-verse?

So, does this make Buffy-verse one of the other two Gates, or the Eye? Given the existance of the Hellmouths (at least on Buffy-verse's Earth), and the fact that even the PTBs are - at best - more neutral than good, I'm leaning for it to be the Eye.

Either way, attracking WH40K's Eldar, Orks, Imperium of Mankind and (especially!) Chaos to this universe/mini-multiverse might not have been a good idea....

“While bombarding the Eye Wall at long range, and I mean really long range, we were attacked by one of the more powerful Void Born and our fleet was wiped out. I got to an escape pod and was the only survivor. I drifted about until I managed to make contact with the new ruler of the House, Odin. He was the last remaining Lord there, although I suppose if you count his wife at the time that would make three of us, but Hild was not born to the House but was an ambitious vassal so she doesn’t exactly count. Out of pity and a sense of loneliness, he started sending me the information I needed to start building my own bubble of stability. Then the gods started popping up and a few lesser Void Born started attacking and you know the rest,” Ao said.

Interesting. Especially Ao basically saying that Hild isn't important enough to bother talking about. I wonder if Odin has been holding enough information back for Ao to honestly believe this, or if this is just his own prejudices talking? Or, possibly, he just doesn't want to give Asmodeus any (more) ideas.

Ao frowned for a second before he said, “The Almighty did some research into the oldest files and he thinks it is the product of an experiment by the Lords of the House of Time into the creation of Void Born. They jammed two universes close together such that they would leak into each other and the beings they seeded each realm with would come into conflict. The last report states that they produced some rather interesting results before the Extinction War went into full swing and we lost contact. The creature is by all accounts quite rational and intelligent for being capable of travelling in the Void unprotected and the Almighty wants to thank him for his actions… in saving the Almighty’s daughter. Who is also here.”

First off, given the other comments on this chapter, I have to say that starting up the WH40K "line" of universe has to be one of the more dickish things that I can think the Time Lords (or their ancestors, to be more precise) to have done. And that's quite the statement given some of their other actions.

Second, I'd suggest changing "intelligent for being capable" to "intelligent for a being capable".

I'm sure, btw, that the fact that Lars' contract with the Erinyes allows them to try to tempt/corrupt any diety Lars is allied with and/or serves just happened to slip Asmodeus' mind.

(Personally, if he plays his cards right, I can see Asmodeus becoming a greater god at the end of this. Given the rest of this chapter, there's certainly going to enough openings in Faerun's pantheon(s) in the near future!)

Lolth had been at the heart of her army of drow when the explosion and collapse wiped out her most faithful followers. She had spent the past week trapped under a mountain of rock, her skin burnt off and slowly regenerating by the terrible forces unleashed. The damage had been painful, but at least it had healed, unlike the maiming that had occurred to her when she had been struck in the breast. That had been a divine weapon to do that, and as Gruumsh could explain, such wounds never healed. Lolth would remain with but a single breast for the rest of her existence.

Well, that answers one of my questions after reading the last chapter.

And Lars (and Skuld) can probably count on getting free alcohol in just about any of the planes that make up the Forgotten Realms' mini-multiverse. (Even the Abyss.) Because the list of powerful (by local terms, anyway) entites that Lolth - or her worshippers - *haven't* pissed off at some point is much shorter than the one made up the ones who have been pissed off.

(Say what you want about Shar but - with the exception of Selune - she's good at appearing to be at least semi-friendly until she can stab you. In the back. With a two-handed sword. Coated with the strongest and most fast-acting poisons known.)

Her priestess’ had not exactly enjoyed the demands of emulation, but after the first couple of executions the ritual maiming had begun in earnest. Unfortunately all of those so marked had died, so it would take a bit more time to spread the word. Once Lolth got out of this situation. That could take until the gods were allowed back into their domains, as while she could keep the tons of rock above her from crushing her for an indefinite period, she could not actually escape.

What a great way to increase your market share, make your priestesses - who make up your entire priesthood because you won't let males join - mutilate themselves! Especially when pride/vanity is a common drow trait.

There was a slight hiss before Shar said, “Yes, she was. She stole it from me. Hence why I am here. Now, on the one hand, I could have my minions shift these rocks and crush you, claiming your portfolio for my own and taking the Underdark completely uncontested from this point on. On the other hand I find that my rivalry for the races of darkness with you seems currently outweighed by my seething hatred for the bitch who stole from me and who presumably also maimed you. Thus I find myself at a crossroads. Kill you now and accept a little more power later, or let you out so that the two of us can hunt her down and then share in the revenge. Combining all the avatars of our pantheon together, we should be able to kill her quite nicely.”

I can think of several gods that would still be in Shar's way of claiming the Underdark as her domain. Although, I will admit that aborbing Lolth's portfolio would help increase her market share.

I can also see that Lars - and Skuld - are still going to be living in interesting times.

BTW, did Shar get a chance to kill Ibrandul before Skuld stole the Shadow Weave from her?

“Go Lolth, gather your Dark Seldarine and your demonic allies and I shall rally my allies Loviatar and Talona and any allies they might bring. We will make war upon this usurper and take revenge for the wrongs she has inflicted upon us,” Shar said in a seething voice.

I thought that Lovitar and Talona only started to fall under Shar's sway after the Time of Troubles? Not that it would be much of a stretch for Shar to have started to work on reeling them in decades - if not centuries - earlier. Just by itself, the Shadow Weave shows how good Shar is at long-term planning, and keeping secrets.

It'll be interesting to see who exactly Lolth calls up. And how loyal they are to her. In fact, I think I'll make some guesses.

First off, you have the other drow gods. Eilistraee (patron of good drow) would turn her mother down flat. In fact, unless she feels that their evil, I see her joining up with Lars and Skuld just *because* of what they've done to her mother. Ghaunadaur (ancient lord of slimes, oozes and outcasts) is probably going to join the hunt, but I wouldn't call him loyal to Lolth. Kiaransalee (goddess of vengence and the undead) is too scared of Lolth to betray her, unless she truly believes she could succeed. Selvetarm (patron of drow warriors, and Lolth's grandson) is the only drow god Lolth can trust, because of all the control-type spells she has layered on him. Vhaeraun (patron of male drow) will join because it will give him a chance to take another god's portfolio, and because it might give him a chance to assassinate his dear mother (Lolth).

Lolth was the one who started up the elf/orc feud by convincing Gruumsh to attack Corellon Larethian; an attack that ended with Gruumsh loosing an eye. Supposedly each regards the other as an enemy these days, so Lolth might not be able to get Gruumsh to join this crusade. If she did, however, he'd almost certainly bring the other members of the orc pantheon - Bahgtru (strength), Ilneval (strategy), Luthic (ork females), Shargaas (stealth), and Yurtrus (death).

Lolth was also instrumental in starting up feuds between at least two of the (human) Dieties of Fury (Auril and Malar) and the elven pantheon. Again, it's an open question as to whether Lolth could get any member of this evil group to go after Lars and Skuld. Auril is goddess of winter. Malar is the lord of bloodlust and hunting. Talos the god of storms and destruction. And Umberlee is the goddess of the sea.

I can't think of any other god or goddess that Lolth could recruit.

As for which Demon Lord or Demon Lords she might approach? I'd guess Demogorgon would be the only member of the "big three". Orcus - prince of undeath - isn't one of Kiaransalee favorite beings; so why invite *more* in-fighting? And Graz'zt is busy with his "guest" Waukeen. And who knows which minor demon lords se might approach.

One place, in the North no less, where they might look for demonic allies is Hellgate Keep. Just undo those pesky seals/wards, and you have an army of demons, half-demons, and demon-blooded beings (including demon-blooded orcs).

The Riders of Nesmé watched quietly from the bushes as the creatures approached their town from the road to Silverymoon. They had landed a few minutes ago, having spotted the town from the air before landing and cloaking themselves in illusions. But the Riders had seen what they were. They were devils. Abominable creatures only deserving the sword and the axe.

And the creature that the wicked goddess described as her consort was with them. They had known that any being that could command such abominable creatures as was in her following must be evil, but this sealed the cake.

Slowly and quietly bringing back his bow, the leader said, “Shoot to kill and don’t let them get back to their dark goddess.”

You know, for town who's main temple (as of the beginning of the Time of Troubles) is to the neutral goddess of trade and wealth - Waukeen - Nesme seems to turn out a significant number of people who's black and white point of view would impress some of the more anal segments of the priesthoods of gods like Helm and Tyr.

The sad part is that 90 to 99 percent of the time, they would be right in regards to trolls, drow, and devils. Unfortunately, the Rides of Nesme seem incapable - even after what happend with Drizzt - of admitting (or even realizing) that even 99% is not the same thing as 100%. They're the type who would honestly tell you to just kill them all and let the gods decide if any of them *weren't* evil.

Thank you for another great chapter. I'll be eagerly awaiting the next one!