Please note that I do not own Dungeons and Dragons,their relevant editions, Pathfinder or Harry Potter. Dungeons and Dragons are owned by Wizards of the Coasts, Pathfinder is owned by Paizo and Harry Potter and its franchises are owned by JK Rowling. The following story is just for my enjoyment and hopefully yours as well.

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Chapter 2: Rumble down Under

Ira stepped through, his silver spear clutched in one hand and arcane energy crackling in the other. At once, the spear in his hand vibrated, almost like it was alive. Ira smiled, for he had chosen a perfect weapon for this battle. He wielded a spear invested with the power of pure Law. Order was the energy by which the spear was forged and it would be especially baneful for the creatures of Chaos.

"Ira, you came! Thank the gods!" Loranna shouted to him. Ira smiled and floated to her quickly. The babau parted a way for him. She still looked the same, wearing the same gilded robe that covered only her chest and sex, but the added mass made her appearance more…'odd' was the nicest term Ira would use. Looking at her, he saw that the changes she went through still did not take away any substance from that grin she was giving him. He had seen that grin more than a few times, when they were in much dire straits than this,

"Of course I came, Lanna", a nickname another friend had once called her by and was eventually adopted by all in their adventuring group. "Fancy seeing you here in Chaos and a powerful hemothuerge to boot" He almost said bloatmage, but decided not to. The term itself was meant to mock these mages about their gross bloating.

"Humph, I'll have you know, not only have I realized the power within me, I am also a Lady. Newly minted duchess of Cornall" she beamed proudly. At Ira's confused glance, she quickly added, "the Prime world I retired to, it's quite a rich realm"

Ira nodded, and pivoted to the battle. "And you're reason for coming here and getting involved in this…brawl?"

Lanna sighed, and pointed, "See the Death Slaad", Ira nodded, "notice the red stone in its claws?"

Ira activated his permanent spells of Clairvoyance, Arcane Sight and True Seeing. At once colours of various hues burst into existence, but they barely fazed him. His sight sharpened by many degrees, he took a long glance at the Death Slaad going one-on-one with a Naunet. It had some sort of orb of some kind, blood red in its left palm, which it expertly held on to even as it was busy trading blows with the warrior Protean.

"I see the stone but its significance is related to you in an esoteric or pragmatic manner?" Lanna gave him a grim smile, "You were always quick weren't you, Ira?"

Ira understood immediately that she wanted the stone for a more active purpose and filed that bit of information away, "The Lanna I know would never do something verging on suicide for a bit of light reading, but something that could be used for practical purposes?" Ira returned the smile, "that Lanna would go to Chaos and back for it"

Loranna smiled and gave a sharp nod, "And I fully intend to go back" Ira pursed his lips and asked, "Why me? Out of the rest of the Company, why not someone with a bit more battle experience?" Ira was no stranger to fighting but amongst the Breland Company – the adventuring company of which Ira and Lanna had been part of- he was more involved in fights of a more esoteric and arcane nature.

Lanna shook her head, "You were the only one I could count on. The rest are…well you know the rest. It's not like we keep in touch, present company excluded"

Ira snorted, as he and Lanna had not kept in touch the day the Company disbanded and they went their separate ways. Especially since how they disbanded, he thought to himself. "You could have called Ilia, she would have come"

"No, she would not and even if I somehow possessed the power to bring her here immediately, I would still choose you. You know how she would feel if she ever saw one of us again"

Ira nodded at that and remembered when they had parted, over arguments of corruption and magic. Ilia, a half-elf paladin of had been a staunch friend and ally, but after the duel against the vampire Midnight, in which another friend of theirs, the halfling warlock Dolio had called upon her dark patron –which Ira hypothesized to have been the demon lord Graz'zt- to slay the bloodsucker, both halfling and half-elf had changed.

It all culminated in a battle that left the inn they were in a smoking ruin and their friendships with it. The last he had heard of Ilia, she left to join some crusade across the planes, while Dolio had left to go to the Abyss or some such.

Those were all problems of the past however, and Ira turned to Lanna, "Alright then, lets get to it. You want the gem then?" Lanna nodded and Ira turned to the battle, "Alright but you do owe me for this"

"Has it ever been otherwise?" Lanna added before sending her demon bodyguards to the fray. Ira took to the sky and Lanna followed, flying parallel and at a distance, in case some stray spell caught them both. Ira quickly spoke a few spells of protection, a Stoneskin, Spell Turning and a Shield spell, which manifested as a man-sized blue shield floating in front of him.

Lanna also spoke some spells and was covered in a reddish sheen. Ira observed the battle and saw that despite the demons fighting on both sides, it was simply the sheer numbers of Slaad present. Despite the losses, the Death Slaad would still be able to carry the day. Ira would have to thin the ranks before facing the Imentesh -which presented a great threat by itself- leaving the Naunets a chance to further weaken the Death Slaad, and ending with them.

Ira pointed the Law Spear and spoke the command word. A shaft of blue radiance raked through the slaads, making them scream in agony as flesh sizzled into nothingness. He conjured Black Tentacles and they gripped the slaads, grappling and crushing them to death and let loose another shaft of pure Order. The spear was most effective, making it a very good investment. I should pay that Djinni merchant in Sigil another visit soon, Ira thought to himself.

His spells went unnoticed however as the Death Slaad was busy with its opponents and probably thought that the spells came from the Imentesh. However the Imentesh did notice him and Lanna, "Pretties come to play?/ The children try to dance and shall fall" the dual voice spoke mind to mind and Ira shut it out. His permanent Mind Blank spell should suffice to protect him against any mental assault either way.

Lanna seem to be hurling spells of Fireball at the Naunets which was fine with Ira, but on the whole its effects were not so effective. She switched tactics and hurled Lightning bolt but that seem to be just as ineffective. Ira shot a shaft of Order at one of the Naunets and it screamed as large portions of its flesh discorporated.

The Imentesh dual voice came again, "Law most disgusting touches us?!/ Symphony of your death shall we sing!" The Imentesh pivoted to him and hurled a sphere with a fiery tinge. It flew through the Shield spell and smashed through but rebounded off his Spell Turning, flying back at its caster. The Imentesh cried out as some its flesh dissolved but it was still alive and flexing its wicked claws. His Spell Turning on the other hand was seared away in that instant, "Well played child/ Applause for the dead man" it spoke in its mental voice.

Ira looked over the battle and regretted that he had not refilled his reservoir* as well as his repertoire of spells. His valences** were always filled except his 9th valences*** to ensure he did not go without magic, but now the spells in his mind were somewhat under-optimized for this battle. He made a promise to himself to commit 9th valences and keep some at all time.

He conjured some Orb spells, using his mastery of the high arcanas**** to change their elements alternating between the Proteans and the remaining slaads. The babau were doing a good job, striking the survivors as well as focusing on the Death Slaad. It seemed Lanna knew where to distribute her resources.

Ira used Summon Monster VIII and three Vrock demons, vulture-like monsters armed with wicked looking spears flew to intercept the Imentesh, while Ira shot the surviving Naunets with the spear until they were all dead, their flesh sizzling away. That left the Death Slaad, and Lanna seem to understand his intent. She summoned four Chasme's, horsefly demons the size of small ponies with the colour of an old bruise, to face the missionary Protean.

She hurled destructive arcane might and Ira mused not for the first time, what would he have become if he had learned spells of Evocation. As a specialist in Necromancy, Ira had thrown himself into the study of life and death but it had its own cost. To shore up his knowledge he studied Conjuration, Transmutation, Abjuration, Illusion and Divination, but he had to sacrifice some schools, as his studies into the five other schools had taken so much of his time, effort and resources. Evocation, a school filled with fireballs, lightning bolts and other spells that went *boom* did not appeal to him at the time, as he could summon monsters to do that, while Enchantment was redundant, as he had learned to have undead and summoned monsters do most of his work for him.

That and Mind Blank rendered the school totally pointless, Ira silently added. He tapped into his reservoir and summoned a Hezrou, a huge frog-like demon that leapt into battle against the Death Slaad. The babau's cheered, and Lanna kept pounding the slaad with fire and lightning. The Imentesh on the other hand, seem to be hard pressed against its own foes and for good measure, Ira summoned some more vrocks. Two appeared and flew to join the fray.

Ira decided that the battles against the slaad was going as well as it could, considering the circumstances. Now would be a good time to finish the Imentesh and then mop up what's left. Flying to the only surviving Protean, Ira got ready to speak deadly spells, intending to bring it down quickly when its sing-song mental voice reached him again, "You see friend but we see foe/The mouse does not know the hawk watches"

The mental words had a tinge of pleasure to them and Ira snorted, reaching close he shouted to the Chaos worm even as it battled the flying demons, "Your skills at discord are wasted here, creature. If you think I'm falling for that ages-old trick, think again" Ira raised the spear.

"We are truth in this/Chaos is truth. What we have seen will come to pass/The mouse will be pierced by the hawk's talons" The Imentesh gripped a chasme that came too close and ripped it two. The demon faded away as the power of the summoning ended prematurely with its death. Ira smirked, "Grasping at straws aren't we?"

"You dance in nothingness/Empty fills your being" the voice this time was filled with slight anger. Ira chuckled, "if that's your way of saying I'm not for Law or Chaos then yes, I'm not. Why should I? Both are merely profits to power and knowledge. Only fools devote themselves to rigid hierarchies or anarchic societies"

The Imentesh squawked as it ripped a vrock out of the sky, "This is your truth, so be it. But we do not lie of false friends/The truth is true foes disguised" Ira scowled, he was not going to listen to this anymore. "Maybe some other time" and Ira loosed radiant shaft after radiant shaft of axiomatic energy. The Imentesh screamed, even as it tried to rip up more demons, striking the head of two chasme's at once, "The false one will deal you death!/But she is not alone in this!" Then the Imentesh sizzled away to nothingness. Below, Lanna's head jerked upright.

Ira smiled and gave new orders to his summoned vrocks, and they flew below aiming for the slaad. Which was unnecessary as even as Ira flew to aid them, the babau and Lanna, were pounding the slaad with everything they had. The creature raked and bit, spoke some spells and activated some innate abilities. While babau died, Lanna just summoned a few more and they swarmed over the slaad.

As Ira and the vrocks landed to survey the damage, the fight was over. The babau parted revealing a shredded body, its head intact and the red stone in a death grip.

Ira turned to Lanna who was floating down, looking at the damage she and her summoned demons had wrought, and her concentration seemed elsewhere. Ira said, "Well that was-" and the Disjunction hit him right in the back. His spells, contingency and temporary faded instantly while the powers of his magical items seemed to waver on the edge of existence.

Ira screamed, and pivoted to face the new threat, trying to ward himself again, but at that moment Lanna threw a Prismatic Spray at him. Red flashed over one vrock turning it into a burning effigy, while blue turned another into a sculpture. Indigo drove one mad, while orange melted the last. Violet struck Ira just as a Reality Maelstrom was dropped on him.

Ira screams faded instantly as the two spells seem to war for an instant, a vast chaotic scene playing out, a babau shouted as it was drawn in as well, then the spells seem to disappear just as quickly as they appeared.

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Lanna sighed, did it really have to come to this?, she thought to herself. She dismissed the babau instantly, at least the ones she summoned herself. A pitiful few remained, now surly and cranky that slaughter had come to an end. Above, Dolio, the halfling warlock and one of her closest adventuring ally floated gracefully down, "Well, Lanna, looks like we did good ah?" she said while smiling.

"No thanks to you, Dolio and we lost a good friend and ally" Lanna spoke another spell, smiting the remaining vrocks. They were still dangerous after all. Dolio smiled and proceeded to do the same with the babau's. Realizing the danger, they hurled themselves onto the halfling, trying to bring her down. She just blasted them with eldritch energy laced with darkness and they died quickly. The bodies of the babau did not fade with their deaths, unlike the ones Lanna had used, these babau had physically travelled here. The slaughter done, Dolio casually strolled to the dead slaad, prying its death grip open and palming the red stone, which glowed with an inner light.

"All for some stupid stone!" Lanna exclaimed. Dolio sighed, "When will you get it? Ira would never have helped us with what we intended to do? You know…sorry, knew how he was. He would have gotten in our way"

"You don't know that! We could have used his help and then some. His knowledge and contacts alone would have guaranteed our personal safety!"

"As opposed to mine, dear sweet Lanna?" Dolio smirked, "You saw what I offered and what I had, have and what I do possess is not inconsiderable. Enough to make me Queen and you a Regent!"

"If, Dolio, IF! It still is not enough, your word only! You should consider what had and what you have and how much you and I will lose if this scheme of yours collapses like a house of cards! Besides we don't even know if Ira is really dead. The Violet struck him at the same time you loosed the Maelstrom, he could be in some friendly plane or worse back home in his tower, planning revenge!" Spittle flew as the bloatmage shouted.

"Hah, Lanna IF, if I may say so myself. The fact that the Disjunction hit him and we sent him twice elsewhere does not comfort you? Because it certainly comforts me, and consider, after this," and the warlock help up the stone, "even an arch-necromancer of Ira's power" and Dolio's tone was a sneer, "will be nothing to the power I will have at my fingertips!"

Dolio chuckled and pulled out a Cubic Gate, tapping one of its surfaces, while storing the red stone. The air shimmered and an oval, a hole in reality opened onto another vista, night time glancing down on a city, filled with lights of its own. Demons, many and various in their particular species flew across.

"Come on Lanna, let us go. We would not want to be late with destiny, now do we?" she chuckled at that inane line, and hurried through. Lanna grimaced, regretting what she had done and all the events that had led up to this, and hoped in her engorged heart, she would survive the coming tumult. She stepped through and the oval sealed itself up.

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Ira screamed and felt himself being singed even as colours he did not have the names to flashed before him. It felt like he was falling for days and then he felt the earth beneath him. Flat on his face, he felt the grass and the soft loamy earth. He lifted up his head and saw the oddest sight in quite some time, a young boy, dirty and on his knees with round spectacles and an odd lightning shaped scar. Then darkness swallowed him.

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*Spell Points (I'm using the Unearthed Arcana variant rules)

**Spell slot(s) interchangeable with Spell Level(s)

***Spell level(s) interchangeable with Spell slot(s)

****Archmage class feature (Mastery of Elements)

Well that ends this chapter? What do you think? Review, rate, comment, tell others about it if you think they will like it too!

P.S Yes, Ira does not memorize any 9th level spells, as he spends…well spent all of his time in his Instant Fortress, which was not only custom made but warded up the wazoo. Nothing short of an army could get him when he was inside there, and that's assuming said army manages to slip under the notice of the Djinni noble which owns the earthmote.

P.P.S The spear is axiomatic silver spear +5 imbued with a custom spell akin to Sunbeam, instead of 10d6 radiant damage, its 10d6 axiomatic/lawful damage! However it only does 3d6 to creatures of other alignments and has no effect whatsoever on lawful/axiomatic creatures (including devils!)

P.P.P.S I also did take some liberties with the creatures used so don't hurt me please sir thank you =P!