"Requesting Thuldanin passage." Maul was quick to follow up on Gruumsh's offer, knowing full well just how powerful of a being they were in the presence of - likely strong enough to slay all of them, with effort to spare. Wasting his time was not in the group's best interest.

Wake followed up on this further. "More specifically, we want to know how to tell portals to Thuldanin apart from the other portals. If you know of any specific portals nearby, however...that would be helpful." Ever since landing in the city, Wake could feel the presence of a portal somewhere nearby. It wasn't a rare event during their months of being here, portals coming and going as they went. It was likely that they were close to another one...but the fact that it was close to Gruumsh's domain certainly seemed peculiar.

Gruumsh narrowed his eye at the party, glaring at the ranger, and then the warforged. He raised his massive club up and over his shoulder, nearly slamming it into the vaulted ceilings above him. Just before he spoke, he slammed the weapon into the ground, a thunderous boom resonating across the chamber. "You enter my city, attack my guards, storm my citadel, and ask a favor?" He slammed the club down again, his anger boiling over as he nearly decimated one of the pillars in the room. "Kill them!"

Gruumsh's guards were weakened from their prior encounter, but they knew better than to disobey a direct order from their guard. As they started running forward, Phyrra pushed past Maul, staring up at the god. "Wait!"

The orc god did not move, watching and waiting as his guards begrudgingly charged towards the group of six. He watched as the first club slammed down upon them, Maul's shield catching the weapon easily. The next several were not so gracefully managed, Syndicate members leaping out of the way as the oversized weapons bludgeoned the ground.

Phyrra continued, pleading. "We will do whatever you ask. We will - " She cut herself off, taking into consideration who she was talking to. She had been considering saying that they would kill Maglubiyet, leader of the goblins and Gruumsh's sworn enemy...but to propose to do something Gruumsh had spent his life, and legions of orcish lives, attempting to do would only escalate the situation. No, she needed something grand, but not overzealous. "We will capture one of Maglubiyet's citadels in your name."

Gruumsh glared at the drow, eye narrowing on hers. She did not waver, meeting his gaze with her own cold, heartless stare. The two were locked in utter silence for several seconds...she did not break. "Halt!" The orc held up a hand as clubs were abruptly stopped mid-swing, all of the chaos from the brief retributive attack stopping in an instant.

The orc god simply continued glaring at Phyrra, his stance unwavering. "You speak his name in my citadel, and offer to aid my army in exchange for information...very well. However, you are clearly outsiders here. I will hold you to your word, outsider. Do you even know which of Maglubiyet's citadels is the hardest to breach and easiest to defend? Because you will be capturing that one."

Instantly, Phyrra's eyes glowed with power, Gruumsh's question sparking the Font's power. "Maglubiyet's citadel of Grashmog, located closest to his capital citadel of Clangor among all contested citadels between Maglubiyet and Gruumsh, provides the Goblin Lord a reliable fallback position whenever the tides of the eternal conflict do not favor him." When she was done speaking, her eyes reverted to their usual pale blue, the Font's power leaving her momentarily breathless.

For once, Gruumsh actually faltered - he had not expected these outsiders to come with any semblance of understanding as to the war they had flung themselves into. Beyond that, however, he hadn't expected them to give the correct answer. However, their prowess of the mind meant nothing to him - intelligence did not capture Grashmog. "Impressive - correct. Now go, and do not dare return to me until my flag waves over Grashmog."

Gruumsh gave the party no more than two seconds, seeing them remain still even after he had issued his command - though intelligent, it was clear they were still outsiders. He slammed his club down one more time, shaking the entire building as he let out a guttural bark. "Go!"

Instantly they turned about, leaving Gruumsh's citadel. Back outside, the orcs they passed by gave them disapproving glances and glares, several of them still sporting heavy injuries from the previous encounter. However, all within the vicinity had heard Gruumsh's order and let them pass, the Syndicate leaving the city through the most direct route possible. Before long they were outside, the battle lines currently pushed out enough that the only orcs that they saw were those reentering the battle. Like all beings in Avalas, death only lasted at most one day before your body was brought back to your point of origin, likely Gruumsh's citadel for many of the orcs. Thus, there were no injured returning from the battle - they simply fought until they died, only to come back and relive the fight the next day.

As soon as they were outside of earshot of any orcs, Shavvir turned towards Phyrra. "Are you trying to get us killed?"

"We do that which must be done." Phyrra remained a calm composure, accepting what she'd thrown them towards...likely, certain death. "Either we can spend eternity trying to leave, or we can gain the favor and gratitude of someone that will know the answer. Death means nothing here...but we must all die in unison if it must happen. I do not know where this plane has tied us, but it is likely far from here."

"Capture attainable. Tactics necessary." Maul looked towards Wake for approval...if anyone would defend him, it would be Wake.

Thankfully, the archer agreed. "He's right...it's not impossible, but we must have a plan - an airtight one." He looked towards Phyrra, knowing full well she disapproved of any such planning. "We have two advantages over the orcs and that is size and magic. We can enter places orcs cannot, and all of our spellcasters are vastly superior to orc shamans." Those words seemed to appease the women and Zaelynir, Wake continuing. "The goblins won't know that we're coming, which gives us disguise as well. If we play around those three elements correctly, we will emerge victorious."

"Affirmative. Traversal occurs alongside preparations. Temporal constraints critical." There was no time to waste. The necessary preparations could occur while they were in transit to Grashmog. It was inefficient to do one and then the other. Without waiting for a reply, Maul began to walk...reaching only a few feet before stopping. "Bearing unknown. Advisory recommended." Maul looked towards Phyrra for assistance - she was the only one that seemed to know anything about Grashmog.

Unfortunately, the drow shook her head. "I don't know...and we all know the Font only works once a day...if it even works at all. If it is, in fact, closest to Maglubiyet's domain, there's a chance that it's actually on the opposite face. If we're intent on making good time, our best guess is to just start walking, and make adjustments as necessary."

Maul nodded - it was settled. He began his march across the iron fields of Avalas, the other five members of the Syndicate following after him. The first day went without much effect - the cube they were on was far larger than any of the other's they'd traversed since entering Acheron, Gruumsh and Maglubiyet's battle too grand to be contained to the smaller cubes in the realm.

On the second day, Zaelynir turned to Phyrra before they'd even started their walk. The gem on Phyrra's hand regained its glow, a sign that its powers were ready to be used once again. "Alright deary, let's see just how smart it is." He cleared his throat for effect, continuing. "Where is Grashmog in relation to Clangor?"

As Phyrra's eyes began to glow, Lance cut in. "And what do its outer walls look like?"

Phyrra's eyes flared even brighter as the request to the Font grew in complexity. "Grashmog is located out of the eastern gate of Clangor, situated on the edge - ." Phyrra's voice distorted as the Font tried to fuse the two questions that it had been asked, the ending of the first fusing with the beginning of the second. By the time her voice was legible, only a few scarce words remained. "- windows lined with archers."

As the Font's magic was extinguished, she fell to the ground as beads of sweat dripped from her brow. "Don't ever do that again. The Font...it's an encyclopedia of knowledge. It processes simple questions. That...it felt like my mind was being ripped in half."

"Understood." Maul spoke for the group, looking at each of them in turn, his intentions abundantly clear - to him, Phyrra, or rather the Font, was a resource that could not be rendered inaccessible. If its carrier required certain constraints, they needed to be met. "Clangor location determined. Current location undetermined."

Shavvir looked back. "East, west, north, south. How's any of that make sense when we're changing directions all the time?"

"It likely bases the primary entrance as north due to lack of a better option. If we assume the same of Gruumsh's citadel, however, then we need to change course. We can get better clarification tomorrow." Wake turned about as Maul abruptly changed direction, heading west from Gruumsh's tower so as to hit the eastern gate of Clangor.

By the third day, they were reaching the very edge of the face they were on. The Font had told them that Clangor was located on the southern face of the cube, meaning that their current direction was the correct. The fourth day taught them that Gruumsh's domain was named Nishrek, located on the northern side. They were slowly getting their bearings, a necessary requirement for the task ahead. On this face of the cube, they could see several of the citadels around them, some bearing the flag of Gruumsh while others bore Maglubiyet's was clear where the lines were drawn, a massive wall of orcs blocking the view of the ground beyond them.

What they could see beyond the orcs, however, was Grashmog. The Font's information had been enough - it was located on the edge, and that unique position certainly made itself known. It was almost precisely on the midpoint of the edge before them, leaning away from the battlefield and towards Clangor. From here, they could see what they needed to. Even among citadels, it was rather large, pocked steel walls bludgeoned from eons of battle. Even now, siege weaponry pummeled all of Maglubiyet's citadels and warriors alike, the goblins on the other side doing the same to them. It had been like this forever - and even when they captured Grashmog, it wouldn't change.

They would likely reach the front lines in a day's travel...the odds of simply slipping past the goblin horde were incredibly low. Maul started to devise a plan, Lance acting as necessary translator whenever Phyrra or Zaelynir struggled to understand the warforged's choice of words. They all soon came to an agreement, the spellcasters still giving Maul subtle adjustments when necessary. The warforged had learned plenty during the months of traveling Avalas, Zaelynir's tutoring having been quite successful. Still, teaching could only go so far, the decades of experience the casters had able to fill in the gaps where a month of teaching was lacking. Once they were all in full agreement, they made camp - likely the last one until they reached Grashmog.

The next morning they woke up, no more than an hour's travel away from the front lines. A wave of orcs were arriving just as they began to take down camp, likely from a catastrophic loss that they suffered five or six days ago. Once they were ready, the Syndicate rallied under Maul's orders - the warforged had proven himself the leader and organizer they needed in mass combat, a realm that many of the others had little to no experience in. Wake, Lance, Zaelynir - they were all skilled in infiltration, in deception, all very necessary skills that did little to nothing while in the thick of battle. Phyrra knew little of combat, relying on the drow warriors she'd lived beside to carry out that task - her role as a cleric was absolutely necessary, and Maul knew to guard her life with his own. Shavvir was the only one that seemed accustomed to mass combat, but Maul had noticed during their time on Avalas that her skills were far outmatched by his own.

Had he made these observations before arriving here, he might have looked down on them...but Acheron had changed him. They'd exposed weaknesses in his own skillset, namely his knowledge and understanding of magic. Each member of the Syndicate had a purpose...and it was time to make his known.

The group followed the wave of orcs, Maul more than willing to let them serve as a living battering ram, breaking down the unending horde of goblins that would be in their way. They marched onwards, the citadel spires growing ever-taller around them as the battle raged on. Massive chunks of steel hurtled through the air on both sides, wiping out dozens upon dozens of warriors in the blink of an eye. Maul steered them clear of the brunt of the chaos up until the front lines - their goal was survival. If they didn't kill a single goblin before reaching Grashmog, Gruumsh would have no complaints.

As they grew closer, the battle lines became fuzzy - there was no front-line in this war, both sides simply content to ravenously attack whatever was in front of them. Goblins were interspersed with orcs along the main battlefield, any concept of a rank and file either abandoned long ago, or never conceived in the first place.

"Advance!" Maul pointed his weapon forward, expanding his shield out as he formed an impenetrable barrier in front of himself. The others grouped up close behind him as he pushed forward, content to beat down each and every goblin that was in the way, many too occupied with their age-old adversaries to pay the Syndicate any mind. The only ones that seemed to take notice of them were the hobgoblins, leaders and generals of the goblin army, and far smarter than the grunts on the front lines. The first to spot them barked an order in an unfamiliar tongue, several of the goblins that had otherwise been preoccupied instantly turning on them.

As soon as they were pounced, a bolt fired from Lance's back as he tried to leap to safety, the front lines far too cluttered to give him the maneuverability that he wanted. Wake took note of the bolt and guided it around, sending it flying through one of the goblins just before it crashed into the ground. With no further room to operate, the archer simply took one of his arrows and plunged it into a nearby enemy, his brother doing the same with his dagger. Next to them, Shavvir swiped at a goblin several times with her sword, floating up into the air and slamming back down onto the ground, using her weight along with the deadly edge of the sword to slay her foe. Zaelynir as well had already taken to the air, bolts of fire flying from his hands as he scorched several of the surrounding adversaries. His movements grabbed the attention of many of the other surrounding forces, arrows starting to fly towards him as he started swerving to avoid them, eventually being forced to drop back to the ground.

Maul continued his inexorable advance forward - once they were past the front lines, they would be free. Either the goblin leaders elect to chase them down, at which point they'd be overrun with orcs - or don't. His namesake weapon was quickly soaked in goblin blood as he crushed skull after skull, blocking arrows and spears with his shield while stopping all that tried to oppose him. He could feel protective magic from Phyrra weave into the alloys of his body, further warding any potential threats that tried to stop him. As the immediate battle started to push in their favor, Zaelynir and Shavvir both took to the skies, fire and darkness now raining down on the goblins that were starting to gather around them.

Maul bashed his weapon against his shield, a globe of invulnerability temporarily surrounding him as it pushed back all that weren't the syndicate, orcs and goblins alike thrown backwards in its wake. Once it expired, he charged forward, Lance sending his dagger flying forward as it embedded itself into the head of a prone goblin, the two of them making their way towards the initial hobgoblin that had spotted them. Wake laid down suppressing fire as Shavvir plummeted down from above, the entire group converging on this one enemy. Sword, arrow, dagger, and blade all crushed the hobgoblin at once, dozens of goblin eyes eyeing them warily.

The goblins of the Material plane would have backed off...they were not fighters, but scouts. The goblins of Acheron, however, were warriors. They all began to converge on Maul, far too many for him to handle at once.

"Look out below, loves!"

Maul looked up just in time to see a fireball flying down from overhead, like Zaelynir's work. He held up his shield as it came down, the armament absorbing the brunt of the damage, though Maul could still feel the heat and fire scorch his metal frame. As he looked around, however, all of the surrounding goblins had been incinerated. As he looked back up, he saw another fireball...this one from a goblinoid catapult.

"Avoid!"

Zaelynir turned around too late, the massive steel rock slamming into him as it sent the incubus hurtling into Maul, crushed into the ground as the steel rock shattered into pieces around them. As Maul got up, he could feel his gears creak and groan, somehow managing to survive the blow he'd been dealt. Behind him, Zaelynir wasn't getting up, the incubi's body splayed out on the ground.

"Phyrra!"

"Coming!" The drow ran over, magic already converging around her as she put her hand against Zaelynir's back, pouring vitality into him. "He's alive...barely. Come here, Maul. You're injured as well."

He shook his head. "Conserve energy. Replenishment limited." He activated an inner mechanism within himself, his body attempting to restore the most crucial damage that had been dealt to it. Gears repositioned themselves and pipes realigned, Maul's body repairing itself. The outer damage was still very much real - his shoulder that had been warped by the boulder's impact didn't get any better, and the scorched metal and wood looked no better than it had before. However, he could move about and fight fine now...and that was all that mattered."

Phyrra sighed. "Very well...but Zaelynir needs more care." She poured more energy into him, bones knitting themselves back together as Zaelynir took a much-needed gasp of air.

"That...goblins really like to play rough, don't they?" There was a playful fire in Zaelynir's eyes as he got up, fire dancing in each of his hands.

"Focus. Ranks broken. Destination traversable." Wake, Shavvir, and Lance continued to keep goblins at bay, slowly being backed in due to their superior numbers. At the moment, however, they could make significant progress, drawing closer to the goblin's side of the main battlefield.

The incubus sighed. "Fine...later." He put out the fires and followed Maul, the group pushing past a group of goblins that had been blown back by the fireball. Lance carved their way forward, arrow after arrow flying from his quiver as they went. Behind them, orcs charged in to fill the void, seizing the opportunity these strangers had given them. They slammed into the goblin forces head-on, clubs and warhammers breaking the disorganized goblin ranks even further. Another hobgoblin soon fell, the goblin's control breaking even further as their leadership crumbled.

Maul saw a break and went for it. He pushed forward, not even bothering to attack as he slammed into goblins with his shield, several of them piling up before he sidestepped them, leaving the battered figures behind them as he went. As he pushed past another one...Avalas was on the other side. To their sides and rear were the goblins...but they'd broken through.

"March!" Now that they were in the open, it was far easier for goblin eyes to spot them - no longer were they simply another speck on the miles-long stream of warfare. Arrows flew at them from all sides as they tried to make their escape, Zaelynir trying to incinerate as many projectiles as he could before they stuck them. Still, the arrows came far faster than the group's ability to destroy them, the rest either clattering into the iron ground or the flesh of the Syndicate.

Boulders started to join in with the arrows as the Syndicate was absolutely pummeled, goblins starting to swarm in from behind them as they tried to make their escape. Wake threw up a gust of wind behind them, blowing back several goblins and preventing others from advancing. Phyrra conjured an Aspect of Lolth, a massive spectral drow warrior standing just behind the wind wall, sword plunging into a few of the goblins unfortunate enough to have survived the blast of wind before its power was expended.

Still, however...there were too many. Goblins continued to pour in from behind them as they pushed past their ranks and out into the open, hobgoblins barking orders all around them. Maul looked around - they needed to get further out, beyond the sight of those that knew of their presence. If they could just get further...they'd be out of sight and ideally out of mind, the only goblins to know of them those that were coming back from Clangor. They needed to get there, however...and they'd simply be overrun on their own.

Just then, a boulder came flying in from overhead, this one coming from the opposite direction from all of the others before it. A dozen goblins were crushed from the initial crash, the shards of iron decimating equally as many in the immediate seconds. Another one soared in just afterwards, crushing more goblins on the other side. As more catapults came in, so did the orcs, the tribal warriors rushing into fill the void that the Syndicate had made. They slammed into the goblins around them, clearing the way forward that the Syndicate so desperately needed.

Maul paid the orcs no mind - they were serving their role, and he his. With their flanks covered the Syndicate advanced, pushing forward and past the immediate threat. As they retreated, fewer and fewer goblins were able to follow after them, the influx of orcs from the surrounding area keeping them from making chase.

Soon, they were out in the open, the immediate battle lines far behind them as they made their inexorable advance towards Grashmog. As Maul had predicted, the warriors on the front lines couldn't give up their positions in order to chase them under fear of letting the orcs advance - their mere presence this far forward created pressure in the surrounding half-mile of battlefield. Ahead of them only a sparse array of goblins were present, those returning to the battlefield after having been slain. These disparate groups were able to be overcome with ease, allowing them to carve their way forward.

However, Grashmog was easily a day or two away, and any hope of finding a place to rest was out of the question. The endless travel drew longer and longer, unable to find any semblance of respite as they kept towards their destination. Occasionally they were pitted against goblin armies of various sizes. As they went, their mistakes grew in severity, the lack of rest starting to take its toll on all of the biologicals. Maul was the only one unfazed, his unique construction's need for rest only recharging some of his more supplemental functions. He remained peerless in battle, smiting the goblins that dared to charge them. He pulled the others along behind him - Maul hadn't considered this when doing their planning. Their plan to breach Grashmog was technical and intricate - something he doubted the others were capable of accomplishing in their current state.

Soon, Grashmog loomed over the horizon, jutting out perilously away from them, its unique positioning on the edge between two faces of the cube making it look as if it was going to fall over. Maul looked back at the rest of the group - not only were they exhausted, but they'd grown injured from the days of ceaseless travel. If they entered Grashmog now...they wouldn't survive.

"Rest."

Wake shook his head, pointing out to the goblins around, the endless horde that they constantly had to fight off. "We...we can't afford to. It's too dangerous."

"There's greater danger in entering Grashmog in our current state. It is risky...but the optimal play." To hear Phyrra give him credit was of great surprise to the Warforged...it almost never happened.

"Then how do we presume we survive the night? Those on watch are going to be fighting nonstop. We need more of a plan than just 'rest', Maul. What do you have?" Shavvir turned back and plunger her sword into a goblin if only to emphasize her point a little bit more...the fields of Avalas were dangerous."

Maul thought for a second...he did have a plan. "Two rotations. Lance, Wake, Phyrra. Maul, Shavvir, Zaelynir." Although a more optimal play would have been to split up the brothers, they'd never learned what happened if one took damage while the other was asleep - now wasn't the right time to figure that out. Phyrra needed to be alongside them to tend to their duplicate wounds...Maul was less than enthralled with the idea of fighting alongside the incubus, but it was what worked best for the situation.

"And so the team not fighting gets a full night's rest? Okay...I follow."

Maul nodded to the Shadar-kai, looking around at the others. "Concerns?"

"Is three enough? We've barely made due with all six of us...what if a wave comes in the night?" Wake still seemed adamant about the risks...and it was hard to dispute that the plan was risky.

"Then we fight back? Now hun, would you rather waste your night away planning every contingency or just get some shut eye? You look terrible, darling...get some rest. There's at least a slight bit of cover over here...let's use it since we've got it." Zaelynir walked over towards an indentation in the steel surface, formed from a prior collision with another cube. It wouldn't fit all of them, but the three that were resting could at least be obscured within it.

"Fine...but wake me up as soon as we're needed." Wake trudged over to the depression, barely holding himself together as he practically dropped once inside. It had been days since they'd rested...everyone needed a break, whether they chose to admit it or not. Phyrra and Lance quickly opted to settle in as well, mere minutes passing before they were unconscious.

And thus, only three remained, ready to hold out against the goblins for as long as necessary. They came in the usual trickle, often no more than three to five at a time, but sometimes groups of up to a dozen or two would catch them. Maul focused on the individuals, notably each of the hobgoblins that rallied even greater forces. Zaelynir and Shavvir both focused their efforts on the groups, the incubus expending the very last of his spells as fireballs flew from his hands. Goblins were decimated in droves, Maul sustaining the brunt of attacks as he traded blows with them.

As the night went on, the onslaught never died down...and it was starting to show. Maul's inner workings were horribly out of alignment, all of the restoration he'd done after being hit by the boulder slowly working itself back as the goblin's weapons dug into his armor. His movements became more jerky and strained, attacks swinging wide that had no right to.

A hobgoblin rushed towards him, easily breaking through Maul's defenses as it ducked past his shield, slipping a spear deep into his inner mechanisms. Oils and gases instantly began to leak out, Maul's midsection barely able to support itself due to the structural damage that it had taken. He needed respite desperately...but didn't have the time. Maul swung back hard, his weapon only barely managing to graze the warrior in front of him due to the damage to his arm.

The next spear strike hit an even more vital mechanism, Maul's legs instantly failing to function as he fell to his knees, a split-reaction of leaning back allowing him to stay upright. He supported himself entirely on his shield as he collapsed it to its standard size, striking back weakly with his maul.

As the hobgoblin raised its spear up one more time, a blast of fire torched it before the warforged's eyes, leaving it little more than a husk on the ground. "Oh, deary...you're a mess." The flames died from Zaelynir's hands, the immediate threat solved.

"Maul...you're of no use to us right now. Repair yourself at once." Shavvir wrenched her sword from a slain goblin, turning back to the other two. "I'd rather know ahead of time that I'll have to cover for you rather than keep guessing every time."

"Duty...unfulfilled." Maul tried to support himself, plunging a hand into his stomach as he tried to fix what had been damaged. After some extensive work he regained control of one leg, hoisting himself back up shakily. "Watch ongoing."

Shavvir shook her head. "And if you die while on watch, where do you think you'll end up? Back with Gruumsh? Back where we entered here? You haven't been able to kill anything for an hour, but you've kept trying and kept getting yourself more injured. Just stop. You're not helping." She marched even closer, sword planted in the ground. "I'm not looking after you anymore. You keep fighting, you die on your own terms."

"Don't worry hun...I'll do what I can, but I can't fix...all of that." Zaelynir gestured towards the mess that Maul had become, fluids staining his chest and legs due to the multiple deep wounds he'd suffered.

Shavvir turned towards the incubus. "Since when have you started caring? You aren't...this isn't who I've been working with."

The incubus simply kept a sly smile. "Let's just say I've been given a...change of heart. I've got my reasons to stay here, hun. What's yours?"

The Shadar-kai glowered at him, folding her arms. "At first, I assumed that Empyria could find me in the Shadowfell if I returned there...but I believe that was doing my skills a disservice. Once we return to the Material plane, assuming there is one to return to...I intend to take my leave."

That took Zaelynir by surprise...he'd had his own thoughts of returning as well, but that had all changed when Lolth gave word of the importance of their task...of the glory and renown he could gather by doing the mission well. "And so...what of Strahd?"

Shavvir shrugged. "Like I said...I never wanted to deal with him in the first place. I see no reason to waste my time helping a team I'm not a part of with a man I want nothing to do with."

"Weakness. Instigation lacking followthrough." Maul was barely holding himself together, hoping to simply bide time until their watch was done.

"I am far from weak." Shavvir was adamant, continuing abruptly. "You're disorganized. Hopeless. We don't know what we're doing, how we're getting there, or even who's calling the shots. Everyone's here for themselves, including me. If we all could, we'd simply run from this and abandon the others to their fate, but some of you can't. I can...and I don't see why I shouldn't."

Maul contemplated the words for a few seconds...there was truth to them, but not wholly so. "False. Protecting Syndicate secondary responsibility. Rescuing warforged primary responsibility."

Shavvir raised a curious eyebrow, but looked at the utter wreck of a warforged in front of her. He was barely holding himself together, run down far more than he would have needed to...and there was barely a scratch on her. She huffed, folding her arms. "You...you're designed to do that. Those of us with choice know better. I'm willing to bet that Lance and Wake would split and run if they weren't connected to each other."

"Nope." All three turned around to see Lance rousing from his slumber. "I'm alive because all five of you chose to save me. That's one lifetime that I owe to everyone else, and I'm paying that debt. Afterwards...maybe you have a point, but not until then. And I know my brother...he's always been a protector. He sees us as his responsibility...he wants to see us succeed. He's not leaving until we've done everything we can."

Eyes were back on Shavvir, the Shadar-kai putting mental walls up around her as the eyes dug in. "Well...fine then. You all can worry about saving each other...and I'll worry about saving myself."

"Wrong. I'll worry about saving you...unless you'd like to keep fighting." Lance gestured towards the small divot they'd found, Wake and Phyrra starting to stir from their much-needed slumber.

Shavvir scowled. "Fine." The Shadar-kai walked over, waiting as the other two got ready to keep watch as well. The rotation swapped, Lance having to convince Maul to repair himself rather than continue fighting. Soon, the second watch had begun.

Like the first, the battle was seemingly endless - goblins came in clusters of various sizes, each one having to be fought back in turn. The brothers deftly handled the smaller groups while Phyrra managed the larger clusters, each playing to their individual strengths. Compared to the other three, they were far more coordinated - Wake worked and played around Phyrra's spells while guiding Lance's missiles, Lance timed his missiles when Wake had the bandwidth to work with them, and Phyrra sustained and supported both of them before being asked to. By the time the watch had ended, they were in a similar state as when they'd begun, ready and able to continue their travel.

Maul was the first to rise - his body had done a great deal of repairs during his downtime, the usual stasis he put himself in putting in overtime to resolve the abuse the chassis had been put through. Zaelynir was surprisingly next, Shavvir rising just after the incubus, gripping her sword and readying to head out.

The final march to Grashmog was upon them, and they were finally ready to handle it. They moved relatively undetected through enemy lines, Wake casting a few supportive spells to help them blend in with the unnatural environment around them. The leaning citadel of Grashmog drew larger and larger upon the horizon.

As they drew closer, the guards surrounding the citadel took notice of them. They'd managed to slip past the other citadels unnoticed, the Syndicate too small to be noticed on the grand scale of battle that surrounded him. However, Grashmog was far more fortified than any of the others they'd passed through, and all it took was one guard noticing the suspicious activity as a cacophony of alarm horns sounded after the first. Within seconds, every goblin within earshot had turned on them, the void of a sky perfectly masking the cascade of arrows that were surely falling.

"Plan initiated." They'd expected this...intended on it, in fact. They'd had days to plan their attack, using the Font to learn everything they could about Grashmog. They had plans, contingencies, backups...everything. Maul had a map in his mind of all the possible ways the initial onslaught could go, and a strategy for becoming successful through each one - once they were inside, their individual prowess overcame anything that stood before them. The only challenge was getting there.

"Well then loves...see you on the other side." Zaelynir burst into the sky with a flap of his triumphant wings, another beat propelling him towards the citadel. Shavvir followed close behind as she levitated herself in the air, Phyrra grabbing hold of Maul as the two of them teleported right in front of the front gates. Lance and Wake were the only ones left, both of them deftly maneuvering past the volley of arrows. Lance warped around the steel plates with ease as he threw Blink through the air, disappearing and reappearing just out of harm's way. Wake phased through the thickest problems as necessary, taking up the rear as the Syndicate stormed Grashmog.

Maul and Phyrra were the first to enter, several hobgoblins and dozens of goblins pouring out of the slanted entrance as their threats leaped into danger. Phyrra called upon the power of Lolth has her faithful spiderling coalesced beside her, instantly leaping onto one of the goblins and sliding razor-sharp fangs through its neck. Beside her, Maul stood confidently behind his shield as he beat down foe after foe, holding out just long enough until Phyrra conjured a rain of fiery light that incinerated the bulk of the forces before them. Once the path was clear, they rushed in, continuing the onslaught.

Above them, Shavvir and Zaelynir flew through one of the archer's towers, a blast of fire clearing the way through as they both landed on the upper floors. Zaelynir remained outside as Shavvir barged in, focusing more of his magic as he crossed the bridge between the lower planes, a shadowy and demonic form rising from the ground of the steel citadel in front of the incubus. In its mind, he issued only one simple command. "Desecrate."

The demon set to work as it mercilessly tore through several goblins in quick succession, archers haplessly firing arrows that flew straight through the demon as its claws ripped them to shreds. With the distraction in place, Zaelynir flew in after Shavvir, finding the Shadar-kai swarmed by goblins that had come down from the lower level. The two fought them off, securing a path forward while the demon continued its unabated onslaught down to the lower levels.

Back out on the main field, Wake and Lance drew plenty of attention as they pushed their way to the front entrance - it was where they'd agreed to hold out for the time being. There they set up a perimeter, the two of them keeping any further reinforcements from coming in behind the others. Wake expelled most of them with his endless volley of arrows, Lance dashing forward and attacking any that got too close, as well as leaping into the backlines to attack any hobgoblins that were issuing directions. The brothers' holdout continued as they patiently waited for their signal...finally, it came. They heard the blare of a horn from up above, powerful enough to shake the cube around them.

"Rope?"

"On it." Lance pulled out a length of rope and attached it to Wake's arrow, going ahead and throwing his dagger up towards one of the middle windows of the building. As soon as he appeared Wake fired the arrow up, Lance catching it from midair and fastening it to a sconce inside. The archer scaled the walls, returning to Lance and securing their equipment.

"Let's go."

Lance followed behind as his brother made all of the assessments necessary as the scaled the citadel, Wake recounting the intricacies of Maul's plan as he examined all of the information necessary to determine where they were on the plan. There were no signs of conflict in this passage, which meant that they'd pulled it into another room...he slipped his head in a doorway, seeing blood coating the walls inside. With that, he turned back and took a stairway on the opposite side of the floor, slowing his steps as they got closer to the next level.

"What's the plan?"

Wake looked back to his brother. "They've contained the fighting to the right wing of the citadel, but they're getting pushed this way. We need to slip in and kill the guards so that we can sound the alarms in three minutes, drawing forces from the upper floors here so that the others can move ahead undeterred."

"On it."

Wake once again cast a spell, the duo instantly smothered in shadows that helped them blend into the walls around them. They snuck up onto a room with three hobgoblin guards, each one standing in front of a massive drum on an overlook that jutted out over the citadel. The duo carefully navigated behind the trio, Lance readying his dagger while Wake notched an arrow. Neither needed to say a word, the pair uncoiling at once as the dagger flew through the air, Lance appearing in front of one guard the same instant Wake's arrow hit the other. Wake guided the missile that launched from his brother, spinning it around to hit -

A dagger flew through the air, disrupting Wake's attention for just a split second, the missile harmlessly flying into the distance before dissipating. Reactively, Wake hurled an arrow at the third, untouched guard, the arrow hitting the drumstick out of his hands milliseconds before it would have sounded the alarm. Wake slunk into the shadows around him as his cape dropped him into the ground, reappearing in front of two guards. In one hand, he slammed his bow into the jaw of one guard, his second hand plunging an arrow straight into the other's knee. Beside him, Lance ducked as he avoided a blow, the guard predicting this as his other hand went to slam the drum.

Lance didn't have time to stop him, instead reaching his hand to grab the base of the drum, massively dampening the sound when the drumstick hit it...they were safe. With his other hand, he thrust the dagger upwards, carving a line up the hobgoblin's chest, neck, and jaw in a deadly flourish that dropped the guard.

Beside him, Wake still fought off the other two at once, desperately keeping either from hitting the drums that both were pushing for. Lance intervened as soon as he could, dagger hilting itself in the furthest guard's temple and dropping it, Wake taking the much-needed breathing room to down the final guard.

Both brothers let out a sigh of relief...they'd come close to blowing the entire operation...twice. "Okay...now we wait."

"For what?"

Wake looked up, leaning out to see the citadel above them. "For them to get in position. Phyrra said they'd send a sign telling us that they were - " He didn't finish the sentence as a goblin was thrown out of an upper window, howling and screaming as it fell inches from Wake's head. As the gruesome display completed itself, he looked back to Lance. "They're ahead of schedule. Let's get ready."

Wake took the rope and arrow and gently fastened it into place as Lance pounded on each of the drums in tandem, setting off the alarms necessary for the operation to move ahead. "Alright Wake, let's do this."

The duo leaped from the exposed window, both holding onto the rope as the perfectly swung into a lower window, tumbling over each other as they landed. Wake secured the equipment once again, unfastening his arrow and returning the rope to his brother - they were in the final stages of the incursion now.

Up above, Maul picked up another goblin after crushing its legs with his hammer, sending it flying out of the same window as the previous one. As he did so, he heard the drums rumble from further down in the citadel - Lance and Wake were keeping up despite the good pace they had been making. The warforged pressed forward, hearing the thunderous sounds of footsteps from the hallways ahead of them as dozens of goblins routed themselves to the distraction the brothers had caused. Once the coast was clear, Maul pushed forward to one final room - all that was before them was a single ladder, leading to the top layer of the citadel.

Maul and Phyrra began climbing as Shavvir and Zaelynir took to the air once more, a massive fireball erupting before they'd even gotten to the top as the incubus incinerated anything and everything that could have been left to attack them. Once they got to the top, it was barren - save for the banner of Maglubiyet that sat unguarded.

Maul walked triumphantly forward, slamming his weapon into the base of the banner with enough force to bend it. After several more resolving blows he'd shattered it, wrenching the banner from its base as he walked forward to the catapult that was down a small staircase in front of it.

"Oh?" Zaelynir watched with curiosity as the warforged moved to the catapult, wedging the banner into the catapult's current boulder.

"Message delivery. Task completion confirmation. Assistance requested."

"Sure thing, love." Zaelynir flew over as Maul was setting to positioning the catapult, hoping to aim for a spot on the front lines with a high concentration of goblin forces. The two of them worked in tandem, Maul pulling back the siege weapon while Zaelynir fine-tuned the positioning based on Maul's instructions.

"Launch."

Zaelynir set the device off as the boulder was set alight, a mechanism built in for all rounds hurled from the device. The flaming banner of Maglubiyet soared through the air as the boulder plummeted towards the ground, pulverizing dozens of goblin forces upon impact. As the boulder shattered, all that was left was the banner, flaming and torn, lying on the ground.

Grashmog had fallen.

This took far longer than it had any right to - I'm struggling to want to sit down and write this. I like the story and it's one that I want to tell, but I'm barely getting anything done before I'm out of ideas for the day. With the holidays coming up, I expect the next chapter to take a while as well, unfortunately. Stay tuned.