| This Inferno Earth |
[11 Oct 2011|06:54pm] |
The Tallus brings the team to a hellish world where Madelyne Pryor sacrificed her son, Nathan, creating a gateway to the dimension of Limbo, turning Earth into a world ruled by demons. While Madelyne reigns as the near-cosmic Goblyn Queen, much of the world is under the de-facto control of the demons themselves, primarily by the Queen's "advisor", the demon-sorceror N'Astirih. The world is full of possessed humans and superhumans, who follow N'Astirih's, and by extension the Queen's will. Only a few remain free, usually the most purehearted or those so evil N'Astirih doesn't bother with corrupting them. The only semi-independent force left is that of Darkchylde, Illyana Rasputin. Upon embracing her corruption by the wizard, Belasco, Illyana slew her mentor and carved a realm of her own in the demonic world. Similar to N'Astirih, the demon S'ym serves as her right-hand, all the while serving as the direct ruler of her territory. The situation is currently tolerated by the Goblyn Queen, who secretly fears Illyana's Soulsword.
The team encounters a group of demon-possessed humans and are aided by the world's version of the Hobgoblin, Jason Macendale, who gives them a sum-up of the world's state of existence. Soon after the Tallus shows them a vision of the Soulsword. With the weapon, a spell can be cast that would return the souls of Madelynne Pryor and Nathan Summers, disconnecting the connection to Limbo and banishing the demons from Earth. Macendale reveals the location of Illyana's citadel and offers to guide the team there, but not without warnings of the power they're up against. The team sets off, all the while being secretly monitored by N'Astirih, who takes an interest in the outsiders and the possibilities they could bring him.
S'ym at first dismisses the level of the threat the Exiles represent and dispatches his forces to slay them. The team battles their way through, forcing S'ym to reveal what is happening to Illyana. She sends him to personally deal with them. The team battles S'ym in the palace, as Illyana watches in interest. When the team successfully beats him, Illyana decides to fight them herself. The team is outmatched by Illyana's power, until Sarah manages to grasp the Soulsword. Due to her own worthiness to wield Mjolnir, she is able to take the weapon away from Illyana. Without the sword, Illyana is returned to her former state as an innocent 7-year old girl. Having nowhere safe to hide her, the team takes Illyana with them. In his natural state of power Quinn cannot cast the spell, so they must travel to England where he'll be at the pinnacle of his power. With their course set, Hobgoblin guides them to a place where they can find transportation.
The Goblyn Queen learns of Illyana's defeat and sends N'Astirih to kill them. While the demon sends his minions to harass them, he takes an interest in Sarah as a potential replacement for the Goblyn Queen. Between the sword's whispers and N'Astirih's temptations, Sarah becomes more and more frayed as the journey progresses. When the demons fail to kill the Exiles, N'Astirih informs the Goblyn Queen, who decides to kill the mortals herself, and quickly head for England. The team must make a stand at the spot of the ritual as the Queen and her hordes converge on them. Macendale convinces the human resistance to buy the Exiles the time they need. Meanwhile Gwenny is asked to protect Illyanna during the battle, Hobgoblin, Dorrek, and Sarah aid the resistance, while Quinn casts the complicated spell. However things become complicated as S'ym returns to claim Illyanna as his anchor to Earth while N'Astirih halts Quinn's efforts. N'Astirih reveals that through his study of the Exiles, he intends to spread Limbo throughout the multiverse, using Sarah and the Tallus as tools.
With the revelation of N'Astirih's motives, and the strong possibility he could succeed, Quiinn convinces Roma to aid the team by keeping the incoming Goblyn Queen at bay, as her interference could directly lead to N'Astirih's victory. At the peak of his magical power, Quinn takes on N'Astirih in a battle of magic, neither one managing to beat the other. In the meantime Gwenny is under attack from S'ym, who is hellbent on taking Illyanna back. Dorrek comes to her aid, fighting a titanic struggle against S'ym as Macendale does his best to aid the resistance against the demon horde. Just as Quinn looks to finally be falling to fatigue, Sarah shakes off all her doubts and brings the fight to N'Astirih. In the course of the battles, S'ym is brought down and N'Astirih is apparently slain as Quinn completes the ritual. The power of the Soulsword returns Madelynne Pryor's soul, resurrects her baby Nathan, and banishes all the world's demons back to Limbo (save those bonded to humans through pacts with demons).
A repentant Pryor is kept under watch as she is given a second chance to raise her son. Illyanna is taken in by the resistance, who agree to aid her in trying to find her brother.
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