Apostles of Doom

“Correct.” Stainsberry nodded.

“Then Lord Tommus and his people are going to essentially go hunting for him on the Astral Plane? And when they find him, they will bind him, trap him, and somehow conjure him into a new D’Orc body here in Nysegard?”

“Exactly. That body will be created by the mana and rituals done here. The new D’Orc’s form will be a combination of Karth and what people expect a D’Orc shaman to look like and be. They will imbue the excess mana they generate into this new form. The more they have, the more powerful he becomes,” Stainsberry told Talarius. “During this process, his mortal body in Ithgar dies. He is pure animus on the Astral Plane, which is transferred into, and fused with, the newly created D’Orc form.”

“And then?” Talarius asked.

“Then he is bound to Lord Tommus, which is sort of a moot point, since he’s already sworn allegiance, and then he will be sent into the Abyss, so to speak. At that point the transformation will be complete. He will need to rest for a few days, but he will then be a full D’Orc with all the knowledge and skills he acquired in mortal life,” the knight concluded.

“D’Orcs, as I am starting to learn, are basically demon orcs, yes?” Talarius asked.

“Yes; demon is a generic term for beings that are bound to the Abyss.”

“So he will be immortal?” Talarius asked.

“Indeed, even as are demons. D’Orcs are just demons that come from orcs; there are also demons that come from humans, elves, dwarves and most other intelligent species,” Sir Stainsberry said, speaking louder, as the drums had started pounding and were about to drown out conversation.

Talarius, however, had turned at this and was staring at Sir Stainsberry incredulously. “Wait. What did you say? There are demons that were once human?”

“Indeed,” Stainsberry shouted back. “All demons have to come from somewhere. Other than the D’Orcs, very few demon races procreate frequently; therefore, they rely on wizards and other mana wielders to conjure mortals into the Abyss to resupply their ranks. Making a human demon is no different than making an orc demon. The only difference is the mortal race they started as.”

Talarius began to feel the world reeling around him. The drums were getting louder and louder. Was the ground dropping? He distantly noticed the wizard lighting a pipe and inhaling. Talarius’s nerves were on edge. He could barely think after this revelation. He began to hyperventilate.

“This… edge off.” He heard Stainsberry shouting as he pushed something into his hand. It was a smoldering pipe. There would be no demon weed in it, he’d learned that. It was mostly tobacco and a few other herbs. He did not normally smoke tobacco, although it was not proscribed by his church, no more so than alcohol. The few times he had tried tobacco, it had been relaxing.

Talarius took the pipe, clenched it between his teeth and drew in a breath, the red coals glowing as oxygen flowed into the pipe and smoke filled his lungs. He turned to look back at the henge as the people started to chant and dance.

~

“This is weird,” Reggie said, passing his pipe to Boggy. “I am getting goosebumps. If I had any body hair, I’m pretty sure it would be standing on end.” They were able to talk over the drums at a somewhat reasonable level because Antefalken was strumming some sort of noise-canceling tune with one hand on something that looked like a ukulele strung over his shoulder.

“Your cornrows are looking rather frizzy,” Estrebrius said. Reggie had had to explain his hairstyle to the smaller demon. Despite being centuries old, the demon had apparently not met or seen many black — or in Reggie’s case, formerly black — people. He was dark purple now; a minority color among demons, who arguably were the most persecuted minority in the multiverse. He was now a double minority — wait, incubi were also a minority among demons. Hell, yeah! Triple minority! Reggie pumped his fist in the air, and Estrebrius raised an eyebrow at his odd behavior.Elite of the elite! And shit, he was best buds with a demon prince! Fuck yeah! Talk about elite! Reggie giggled, more than happily buzzed. He probably should not have eaten those two cookies before toking up.

Antefalken took the pipe from Estrebrius and inhaled deeply. “It’s been a good seventy or eighty years since I’ve had any demon weed. Well, other than a cookie or two.”

Reggie blinked, staring at Antefalken and his ukulele thing. A thought just struck him. “Wait, I thought you weren’t a mana-using demon?”

Antefalken took another hit and nodded. “I’m not, but I am a bard, and I can do some bardic magic — you know, spellsongs, chants, that sort of stuff. We are in a very mana-rich environment right now, and with this pipe and all the mana floating around — that’s what’s putting your hair on end — it makes it much easier for me to do things like this noise-canceling tune.”