Author's Notes: Another purely Discordia sided chapter. See why I was beginning to wonder whether this belonged in FF or FP? Don't worry, the next chapter is almost purely Krynn-sided. In any case, we see two of the deities from the campaign here, along with some more background info. I think it's only right to warn you that if you hate Caleb and Raoul by now, you had best avoid the middle section of this chapter, they show their intimacy in rather graphic detail. It is unsurprisingly one of the scenes that gave my series a reputation for being utterly bizarre, D&D-wise.
Xavier stepped out of the shuttle onto the hard, black rock of his destination, and was instantly chilled by the harsh cold wind and drenched by a heavy rain. He looked around to get his bearings. The shuttle had landed on a large outcropping of rock jutting out of a massive cliff face. A freezing, icy gale swept through everything in sight, but the devil-spawn couldn't work out whether it blew from the east or west, or the north or south. This was because there was no sun. A bleak, cloud packed sky rumbled and crackled overhead, just like on a stormy, overcast morning. But this one was eternal. Far below, the wind churned up a neverending sea into massive waves, while high above the cliff leveled out into a giant mesa, currently out of his line of sight.
According to the directions he was given, Xavier knew that he was now in the realm known as Blackencliffe, located deep within the lower planes. This was the final destination of evil creatures from worlds controlled by the devil mother known as Maeiconaa. These doomed souls were dragged under the surface of the bottomless sea by the fierce wind and pelting rain, where they spend eternity in a constant state of drowning.
Maeiconna herself was said to be very reclusive, living in a clockwork castle at the top of the mesa. This was Xavier's destination. Looking around, he tried to find a way up the towering cliff face, at first seeing nothing through the storm. But as he walked around the outcropping for a time, he came across a narrow, winding trail that spiraled up the cliff. He looked at the trail in disbelief. It was only about four feet across and slicked with condensed ice. With a deep breath Xavier stepped tentatively onto the trail and began to traverse it, edging along precariously lest he slip and join those souls far below in their fate.
As he made his way up the cliff, he slowly began to notice changes that were happening to him. For example, back when he was a standard human he probably wouldn't have been able to make out the trail through the rain blocking his vision and the wind forcing his eyes half-closed. But now everything was outlined in a shade of red, as if he wore some sort of night-vision goggles, and the path was clearly visible. Also, it was evident that he wasn't tiring out as quickly as he used to. Clearly, without these "upgrades" he would not have been able to travel this path as quickly and expertly as he was now. Xavier was beginning to see why his mistress blessed him with this transformation now.
Nearing the top, a massive black shape came into view. Even with his improved eyesight, Xavier couldn't make it out. The object shifted and twisted, appearing like a living breathing creature that occupied the bulk of the mesa. When he finally stepped onto the mesa itself, he beheld the object in it's full glory.
Xavier stood before the maddening sight of the Clockwork Castle of Maeiconna. Built entirely of cogs, spokes and chains, it was in a constant state of motion, it's chain walls and roof constantly shifting, pulled along by the everturning cogs. It's towers were each topped by a massive axle, from which chains spread diagonally down like an everturning maypole, yet they never became entangled around the axle. They were moved by the tower floor, which was a giant turning cog that maintained the effect.
The devil-spawn beheld this giant castle and thought that he would go mad. It betrayed logic, reason and sanity, and yet here it was. Walking tentatively up to one side of the chain exterior, he wondered how he would get in, as there didn't seem to be any kind of entrance. He suddenly realized how impregnable this castle would be to a besieging army. They could hack away for as long as they liked at a part of the wall, but the eternal motion would inevitably replace it with a still reinforced section, allowing engineers on the interior to repair the damaged areas, ready to replace the attacked section again.
Still contemplating how to enter, Xavier was startled when a booming voice echoed across the mesa.
"Who dares approach the palace of Maeiconna?"
He gathered up his courage and replied the way he was instructed to. "I am Xavier," he called back. "Avatar of Lillith."
There was a long pause, and Xavier thought for a few moments that they hadn't heard him. He was about to call out again when a massive grinding sound erupted from the inside of the castle. The chains in the middle of the wall shifted and retracted, forming a large archway. Not letting common sense get the better of him and making him run away, Xavier steeled himself and stepped into the darkness within.
As Xavier entered the castle of Maeiconna, two lovers lay in each others arms. Occupying the bed in their quarters and clad only in a thin layer of sweat, Raoul and Caleb had been spending the evening doing much more enjoyable activities than the devil-spawn.
It is a known fact that most gnolls are bisexual. Theories exist that this is because the male and female of the species are so similar in appearance, though none dare press the subject in the actual presence of one of the wolf-beasts. Some have come close to asking, but in the end they always decide they would rather keep their limbs attached.
Neither Caleb nor Raoul had actually slept with another man before each other, though they both had taken several mates among the females of their kind. When Raoul joined the Dragonclaws about a year and a half ago, Caleb had quickly taken a shine to him, admiring his sniper tactics and quick thinking. Raoul's speed and intelligence was highly unusual among gnolls, who tended to be more slow and strong like Caleb, generally preferring huge, powerful weapons with massive recoil like heavy chainguns rather than long distance rifles. In fact, the thinner gnoll was often bullied by his marine peers, mocked for tactics they considered cowardly, but their taunts soon turned to praises when they realized that those same tactics enabled Raoul to provide cover for them and eliminate scouts and guards before the alarms could be raised and the rest of the target area alerted to their presence.
Thanks to their increasing success, Raoul soon earned a place as Caleb's subcommander, placing him third in command overall with the Dragonclaws. Working together, they became a fearsome duo, combining long and close range combat with deadly efficiency. It was not long before the two were doing missions alone, allowing the other squads to concentrate on other missions and thus increasing the Dragonclaws revenue.
During one such mission they had become pinned down in a bunker, sealed in and unable to do anything but wait for reinforcements to arrive. It was here, in a soundproofed shelter in the middle of a war zone, that they realized what they felt for each other was more than just troop loyalty and camaraderie, and it was here that they first made love. After that, it had become a tradition that they always have sex before either of them goes on a mission.
But it had never been like this, thought Raoul dazedly, pillowing his head on Caleb's broad, muscular chest and snuggling in his thick, warm fur. It had never been like tonight. Tonight had been... incredible.
The way Caleb had savagely ripped off Raoul's clothes and shoved him onto the bed; how he had torn off his own clothes and climbed on top of him; how he had locked his jaw with Raoul's, firecly and passionately kissing him while making love to him in a feral, brutal way the younger gnoll had never thought possible. Raoul had relished every sensation; Caleb's broad, heaving shoulders and back, his deliciously hot breath, the play of muscles in his powerful thighs; all had combined and intensified the pleasure. He had screamed at the climax, he couldn't help it. It was as if every nerve in his body burned with such an intensity that he thought it would surely kill him, and he loved every moment of the ecstasy that seemed to go on for a blissful eternity.
That had been half an hour ago. Caleb was fast asleep now, his chest that Raoul now rested on rising and falling with his breath, his arms still wrapped lovingly around his companion. Raoul stared at him with adoration. He loved Caleb, loved him as a friend, a comrade, and a mate. He tried to doze off, but was too worried, so worried that not even the love they had just made could put him to sleep. Worry that he would never see this wonderful being again. If Gretch's plan didn't work...
He had asked, pleaded to go with them, but Caleb had refused. Said that with the modifications they would have to make, there wouldn't be enough space for them, Gretch and a possibly wounded Claw. Pointed out that with both him and Claw gone, Raoul would be in command of the Dragonclaws, that it would be stupid to send both commanders on what might very well be a suicide mission.
Raoul knew all this, but he still hated the cold, unfeeling logic. He didn't want to be logical, he didn't want to run the company and perform the hundreds of menial tasks that came with it. All he wanted was to stay with the gnoll he wished to spend the rest of his life with.
He pondered the problem for another hour, until drowsiness and the sexual bliss he could still feel finally stole him away to the realm of dreams, where he beheld a beautiful dreadlocked gnoll who would watch over and cherish him for the rest of his days.
SO, THIS IS LILLITH'S NEW TOY
Xavier lowered to one knee and averted his eyes, partially because he was instructed to do so by his mistress, but mostly because he feared to gaze long at the "creature" that he beheld in front of him.
He was in the throne room of the Clockwork Castle. This was the epicenter of the device, from which every chain flowed and eventually returned. He knelt on a small, circular platform in the middle of this room, the only place where a creature could stand in the room. The rest of the room, measuring over fifty feet to the roof and the same distance to the ground, was filled with writhing, coiling chains, thousands upon thousands of them, entwining together in an obscene symphony of engineering. The air was filled with the smell of oil that lubricated the chains, and a constant, maddeningly regular creaking filled the air as the billions of cogs, gears and wheels pulled the links through their huge teeth.
Standing guard on the platform and also riding the machinery to various places of the castle were kytons, devils who could manipulate the chains, wore them as clothes, and wielded them as weapons when the need arose. Each was covered from head to toe in them, and stared at Xavier with their burning yellow eyes, with expressions ranging from indifference to contempt to utter hatred.
Xavier didn't care. His attention was diverted by what resided in the center of the platform, making it the core of the entire castle.
A massive void lay at the centre, rimmed by chains and lit by burning spheres of green crystal. At first it seemed nothing compared to the madness surrounding it, but it soon became apparent that this was far more terrifying than the rest of the structure. For emotions eminated from it; hate, greed, arrogance, fear, lust, contempt, despair; this was where the personalities of Maeiconna's sinners were stored, trapped within that shrieking nothingness only twelve feet in diameter, leaving the doomed souls below the castle to forever flounder and drown as mindless zombies trapped in a neverending cycle of damnation.
But... something resided from within the void, an intelligence that governed the life energies that powered the castle. It was a cruel and cunning presence which analyzed every turn of events with a cold logic born of countless eons of existence within this machine. This, Xavier knew, was Maeiconna herself.
SO TELL ME, PLAYTHING, she continued. WHY DOES THE MISTRESS OF SHAME SEND HER ONLY TRUE ASSET INTO MY GAPING MAW?
Xavier steeled himself for the response. "She sends her request for help."
HELP, THE PLAYTHING SAYS? THAT PATHETIC WRETCH, THAT INSECT, DARES TO DEMAND MY AID FOR ANYTHING BESIDES ENDING HER PITIFUL EXISTENCE AND FOREVER ERASING HER SHAMEFUL ACTS FROM THE ANNALS OF THE BAATEZU MOTHERS?
Xavier was trembling. The anger of this creature was heartstoppingly total, freezing his spirit. Then, another presence flooded him, counteracted the wrath and thawed his soul, and Lillith spoke through her avatar as if he were her.
"You owe me a favor, do not tell me you have forgotten."
AH, GREETINGS, SHAMED ONE. I WAS WONDERING FOR HOW LONG YOU WOULD LET YOUR TOY SUFFER. NOW TELL ME, WHAT IS THIS FAVOR YOU SPEAK OF? WHEN DID I BECOME INDEBTED TO A WRETCH LIKE YOU?
"I lent you my power during the invasion of the Tanaa'ri. If I had not assisted you, you would be nothing but a memory, a vague footnote in the annals of our grand history."
DO NOT CONFUSE THE CAUSE WITH YOURSELF, WRETCH. YOU ARE NO LONGER A BAATEZU.
"I am aware"
YOU WERE THE GUARDIAN OF THE GREATEST JEWEL IN EXISTENCE, A WORLD FULL OF THE MOST DANGEROUS AND WICKED CREATURES IN THE MULTIVERSE. IT WAS A GRAND POSITION, CARETAKER OF THESE CREATURES, FOSTERER OF THE DARK POWERS WITHIN THEM. YOU WERE THE MOST ENVIED OF ALL THE MOTHERS FOR THE TREASURE YOU POSESSED.
Xavier/Lillith said nothing, waiting for the ranting to end.
BUT YOU LOST IT! YOU NEGLECTED YOUR DUTIES AS A BAATEZU IN AN ACT OF WORTHLESS SELFISHNESS, RISKED THE JEWEL IN AN ATTACK AGAINST A POWERFUL TANAA'RI MISTRESS IN A WORTHLESS ATTEMPT TO ACQUIRE YET MORE POWER. IT IS NO SURPRISE YOU LOST THAT BATTLE, YOU STUPID, SPOILED GIRL.
"There were circumstances I had not counted on"
A BAATEZU MUST BE FOREVER WATCHFUL, THAT IS WHY YOU LOST. THAT IS WHY THE JEWEL WAS NEVER OF COMPLETELY DARK POWER, WHY IT ALWAYS FOSTERED GOOD DESPITE THE NATURE OF THE CREATURES WITHIN. YOU RELAXED IN YOUR CURTAIN OF POWER, BLISSFULLY UNAWARE THAT SOMEONE WAS HACKING IT DOWN!
"If you are done raving, I would like to discuss this favor."
KNOW THIS, LILLITH. I WILL NOT ASSOCIATE WITH YOU, AND NONE OF THE MOTHERS WILL SYMPATHISE WITH YOU ON THIS MATTER.
"But perhaps father will be interested to know of the life-debt you never repaid, that you still owe to the 'disgraced one'."
There was a long pause, and when Maeiconna finally spoke it was a snarl. VERY WELL! I WILL ASSIST YOU IF I DEEM IT A WORTHY REQUEST.
"You will indeed consider it worthy. I require your assistance in a quest, one that will both redeem myself and allow you to expand your realm a hundredfold!"
Maeiconna pretended not to hear the second part of that proposal, but it was obvious by the sound of her voice that she was intrigued. AND WHAT COULD POSSIBLY REDEEM YOU, BANISHED ONE?
"By destroying the one thing the Tanaa'ri hold dear, the one thing they guard more vehemently than any other treasure."
Sudden realization struck the Baatezu. DISCORDIA!
"Yes. By subverting and destroying this treasure, they would suffer a significant loss of both power and morale, perhaps allowing us to break the stalemate and gain control of the material plane."
YOU ARE A FOOL, LILLITH. DO NOT TRY AND CONVINCE ME THAT YOU ARE DOING THIS FOR THE GOOD OF THE CAUSE. THIS IS AN ACT OF VENGEANCE. She paused BUT, I SEE MANY USES SUCH AN ACHEIVEMENT WOULD PRESENT.
"Then you will assist me?"
ON ONE CONDITION. ALONG WITH THE REPAYMENT OF THE DEBT, I REQUIRE AN ITEM.
"An item?"
YES. THE ONE THING ON DISCORDIA THAT IS TOO PRECIOUS TO LOSE, THAT WILL ENHANCE MY POWER BEYOND ALL IMAGINING AND MAKE ME THE UNDISPUTED RULER OF THE MOTHERS.
There was no need to clarify. Lillith knew what she was referring to, and she didn't care one way or the other what happened to that particular treasure. It didn't matter. Her lust for revenge would be satiated either way, and that was all that mattered.
"I accept your terms."