Myllandra takes advantage of the gap to address Zenithral. "This is no trick, child. Until now I have been able to offer you only the most circumstantial aid. With the portal open, however, the stakes have changed. I pulled you and your companions here to safety."
Her cowl turns to Alalla. "Daughter of Torm." The title is given with far more respect than Thaistius' scathing comment moments earlier. "You will have your chance to enter the conflict once more, but with conditions as they are you need to be able to make informed decisions."
The angel gestures to a window, and suddenly the sounds of distant battle are heard emanating from it, along with the familiar howl of Icewind Dale's wind. There is enough room at the sill for each of the companions to stand side by side and look out on the battle below as if from a view several hundred feet high.
Easthaven is unrecognizable. Charred wood and fires mark where wooden buildings used to stand. The Temple of Tempus is now entirely destroyed and in its place is a crater, at the center of which is a bubbling black pool. Even as the party watches, scores of misshapen creatures surge out of the pool, an unending deluge of demons.
Fashioned, spawned, twisted, warped, each demon shows signs of abyssal corruption. Some are blobs of flesh with hungry, gaping mouths. Others are small, ugly fiends dripping with cankers and sores. Some take flight on bloated insect or vulture wings. There are larger forms that scramble among the masses as well, brutes with canine faces and enormous pincers. For all their physical differences, there are two traits shared by every single one of the demons below: bloodlust and rage.
Easthaven's defenders - orcs, men, and zombies - stand in ranks to bottle and contain the monstrous tide, but the fight is savage and bloody. There are points of light in the darkness, however. Lord Ulbrec directs reserves to shore up weak points in the army's wall, while Isherwood leads militia archers in tactical volleys against flying enemies. Tansia, Saki, Natalie, and the Tempus priests organize aid for the wounded, pulling back orcs and men who fall to demonic claws and teeth.
The undead stand with unflagging strength, caring not for their own wounds or the horror of battle against otherworldly foes. Maverick stands on the shoulders of one particularly large zombie, a cold glare on his face. His horned crown glows with unholy light as he strengthens his own monstrous horde, animating more corpses on the battlefield to join the fight.
Jhonen stands on the front line, his ancestor's sword alight with radiant flame. Demons fall with every stroke, and when they muster too much strength in any one place he blasts them with magic.
As the party watches, a large fiend emerges from the black pool begins to gather lesser demons to its side, leading them wide around the edges of the defenders' line -
- and is cut off by a trio that steps out of the ruins nearby. A huge orog in plate armor cuts down the lead demon with a shining slash of his great axe. At his side, an elf with sword and shield moves with blurred speed to head off several other demons. A second elf's bow hums in rapid succession as it picks off stragglers. And then a second army of orcs joins the fight, strengthening the defenders' line. The rest of the Cagebreakers have arrived, with Erevain, Keggruk, and Arannis leading them.
As valiant as the defenders are, however, the companions know that it will not be enough. With an endless torrent of demons bubbling up through the rift... And more powerful demons are beginning to arrive.
