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deptofinterplanaldefense · 2 years

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Chapter 2

Merda! Merda! Merda!, Derex is in full blown panic mode. He attacked not only his bosses and his crush (and Chuck), but also revealed his ability to cast without the use of a wand or staff. A very rare trait that would draw a lot of attention to himself if people found out. Defeating the purpose of him moving to Creators Point to begin with. I’m screwed. Their going to fire me for sure!, Derex shriek in his mind, continuously spiraling into an endless void of despair. While everyone in the real world were stretching their limbs after being released from petrification or vines. After a few groans, Talulla finally spoke up, “Okay. As much as I would like to take time to explain everything, we’re running behind schedule. So Derex, you’re coming with us.” That somewhat snapped him out of it enough to look confused. Talulla motioned at Riz and they nodded in response. Next thing he knows, Derex is being carried bridal style by Riz, “I’m sorry.”, he spoke gently, “But we really do need to get going. And I promise everything will be explained. Okay?”, Derex dumbly nods in response. His pansexual heart beating like a jackhammer causing his brain to finally short circuit to the point that he didn’t notice Riz slightly blushing. The group walked to the back of the store where Talulla and Romara’s office was. Talulla then scribed a phrase in elvish with her fingers on the wall to reveal a secret door.

This brought Derex fully back to reality though still confused. He asked worriedly, “Wait, where are you taking me?”, Talulla turns and briskly responds, “Like I said. We’ll explain later.”, and continues forward with the rest following close behind. Derex wants to ask more questions but knows better not to when Talulla’s that short with someone for she only did it when the situation called for it. Though he’d be lying if said he wasn’t curious now. What could possibly be going that required all black suits, masks, and secret entrances he wondered, and wondered even more when they started climbing down stairs to what looked like a subway platform. It was beautifully decorated with cobalt blue and marble white tiles in star and crescent moon patterns covering the walls and floor lit by white crystalline torches. The tram itself was also decorated to look like a shooting star, covered in ornate streaks of polished gold and the inside had matching gold poles and plush red velvet seats. Derex was speechless that something like this was hidden underneath a simple coffee shop. He was looking around like he was a kid in a candy shop oblivious to Romara poking Talulla with her elbow, point at Riz and Derex with a giant smirk as everyone was inside the tram. Talulla chuckled and said, “You can put him down now Riz.”, causing both of them to stare at each other for a moment before realizing Riz was still carrying Derex. Riz began rapidly apologizing while Derex fumbled reassurances at the same time, both blushing like adorable fools. Talulla and Romara held hands and smiled fondly watching the two remembering acting the same at beginning of their relationship while Chuck was playing games on his CC unaware of what was going on. The tram started to move forcing Riz and Derex to stop trying (and failing) to be awkward and sit down next to each other.

Derex decided to look out the window to avoid eye contact with Riz and further embarrassing himself and saw that even the tunnel was stunning. The walls covered in fluorescent crystals of multiple colors like stars were embedded in to the rock itself. Now his nervousness switched to excitement as he couldn’t wait to see where they were going and what was at the other end of the tunnel. He didn’t have to wait long, they reached the end in what Derex believed was two minutes. This was just as exquisitely designed as the last, only this time the platform was decorated with white clouds and golden suns and lit by pale yellow crystal torches. Though Derex was more concerned with who was waiting for them at the platform. Because standing there was none other than Mayor Elzra and his husband Drish both looking regal with little effort. Derex was in panic again for nothing could prepare him for this. Never in a million years did he expect to be face to face with the Elzra, a sun elf whose been the mayor of Creators Point since its inception. Hence his nickname, the King Mayor. Derex had met his husband before, Drish frequented the shop to get coffee for both himself and Elzra. Though often wearing a cloak and sunglasses as, being a moon elf, his skin burned easily under the sun and his eyes were sensitive to sunlight.

“I was beginning to worry.”, Elzra calmly stated piercing azure eyes looking right at Derex. He gave Talulla a quizzical look and she sighed in reply, “He thought we were intruders and attacked us. And won.” Elzra’s eyes went wide with surprise. Drish whistled and began congratulatory clapping, “Well done good sir! That is no small feet!” He spoke excitedly. Derex’s cheeks began to warm again and thanked him for the compliment. “Well. As curious as I am to learn the details of your skirmish, we must be getting to the business at hand since we are running behind. Come.” Elzra starts walking towards the stairs with Drish following by his side. The others began walking in the same direction, so Derex followed their example not knowing what else to do. His head too busy buzzing with question after question like a hive to think. They end up in what looked like a conference room with a giant crystal projector and screen at one end of a long rectangular table surrounded by surprisingly comfortable looking office chairs. Elzra took the end seat with the screen behind him and Drish took the seat to his right. Everyone else took their own seats but Derex, who chose to stand in the corner closest to the door out of habit. “Derex what are you doing?” Talulla questioned, everyone giving him quizzical stares to match causing his cheeks to darken slightly. “I was just…trying to stay out of the way?” He shrugged not knowing what else to say. Elzra spoke up, “Mr. Cardoso, please join us and take a seat. You have more than earned it after taking down the entire team solo.” Everyone nodded in agreement with Riz patting the seat next to them. Derex took it but still felt apprehensive, yet excited at the same time. Never had he imagined he’d actually be apart of an important meeting for once after years of being shunned in the background. “Now that we’re all settled let’s begin the briefing. Apologies to you in advance, Mr. Cardoso, as we don’t have time to fully explain what the function of the team is. You’ll have to be fully caught up on the way to the mission if you decide to help us.” Elzra explained and turned on the projector showing an image of demons foaming at the mouth, tearing everything near them to shreds.

“Last Monday, demons in the Hells District began going rabid, attacking anything and/or anyone in close proximity of them.” He began, “The episode would last about an hour, then the demon would pass out. Giving a small window of time for resuscitation before the demon sadly dies. We do not how this is happening, why, who’s involved, or if there’s any connection between the victims. What we do know is that is seems to be mostly located in the restaurant area known as Hells’s Kitchen. Your mission is to infiltrate Hells’s Kitchen and find out what’s going and put a stop to it. Are there any questions?” Romara raises her and begins signing with Talulla interpreting, Do we have any potential suspects? Elzra sighs, pinching the bridge of nose in frustration. Drish puts his hand over Elzra’s and stands, “We do, but it’s purely speculation. Nothing concrete.” He replies coolly. “We think the Knights of Illumination from the Holy District are possibly at play since this is their MO. But we all know how well they cover their tracks.” Oh no not them, Derex thinks, knowing the type of zealots that run the Knights of Illumination. The kind that would rather destroy anything or anyone they deemed unfit for their version of a “perfect world” all done in the name of Illuma. Many have tried to disband them but the Knights’s money and powerful connections would always prevail. Thankfully their influence has slowly dwindled to where their more of a nuisance than a threat. But others are still weary as their recent actions have seemed increasingly desperate of late. So it made sense to everyone why they were the main suspects, they’ve tried since the end of the Calamitous War to purge the world of demons. Despite them having given up their demonic contracting and other such things around the same time.

Drish sits down and Elzra gently squeezes his hand in thanks, returning his attention to the group. “Now before you go, there is one more thing we must address. Mr. Cardoso.” He spoke and now all eyes are on Derex. “I think I speak for the group when I say we would greatly appreciate you joining us on this mission, should you accept. However, please don’t feel obligated to do so. Just know that we will have to erase your memories if you refuse for the safety of you and the team.” Derex crossed his arms and looked down at the table, trying to appear stoic while calming his racing mind to figure out what he should do. He wished he had more time to think. More time…oh!, inspiration struck, he knew what he could do. “I would like to be more informed about what exactly I’m signing up for so I’ll agree to go. But on a trial basis. Afterwards, I’ll make a decision based on what I’ve gathered.” Elzra nods in agreement with everyone else and adjourns the meeting. Talulla puts her hand on Derex’s shoulder and instructs him to follow her to get suited up before heading out. They enter a room filled with fitted black suits, the same ones everyone else was wearing, all in various sizes. Talulla starts grabbing some off the hangers and begins comparing them to Derex’s body until she finds ones that fit him best. Derex changes into his new clothes noting how soft and breathable the fabric was on his skin. “This bracelet has an enchanted gem in it.” Talulla explained, “You’ll use it to change in and out of your uniform, activate its special abilities, and communicate between teammates.” She puts it on his wrist a black metal band with a black diamond in the middle completely blending into his uniform. Derex gives her quizzical look and asks what she meant by “special abilities”. She explains that for two hours, the suit can turn you invisible and give resistance to fire and acid on top of its abilities to regulate the wearer’s body temperature and protection against weapons. She warned, however, that when the two hours are up it takes three hours to recharge and that the suit can’t perpetually protect from weapons. It too needs time to mend itself though only a minute.

Derex was amazed by the suit, how it felt like a second skin. How it was tight fitted yet didn’t hinder his movement in the slightest. But soon his admiration turned to questions. What could they possibly be doing to require such equipment? Who are these people really? Did he actually know them? Did he really know Riz? All these questions swarming his mind but with no time to dwell on them. Talulla was already whisking him away to yet another tram headed towards he believed the Hells District. Everyone else was already on board when they arrived and once on they were in motion. Talulla took a seat next to Romara, leaving Derex to face everyone on his own. “What’s going on?” Finally at his limit, Derex demanded answers, “Who are you all really and what exactly do you actually do?” Talulla sighed, “Whelp, it will be a while before we reach the Hells District so…yeah. Nows as good a time as any for answers.” She gestures at the seat across from her and Derex sits down looking stern and frustrated. “First off, welcome Mr. Cardoso, to the Department of Interplanal Affairs.”

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deptofinterplanaldefense · 2 years

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Chapter 1

At the center of Creators Point, there’s a little coffee shop near city hall. It’s called the Little Rose Café and it’s known to have the best coffee and tea drinks in the entire city and the most…interesting employees. It’s this little establishment where we find Derex, a slightly dark skinned black man of average height and build, dark chocolate eyes, and onyx dreds tied neatly behind his head, working behind the counter ringing up the final customer of the day. He tells them to have a nice night and locks the door once they leave, “Ufa, what a day,” he sighs. Though what did he expect, it was a Friday after all. When city hall’s at its busiest trying to get everything done before the weekend. What perks him up is the chuckling of his crush Riz, a towering wood elf with olive skin, wavy chestnut hair, and forest green eyes that everyone gets lost in. Relax Derex! Be cool. He tells his racing heart and mind, but is completely ignored. Riz puts up the last chair and says, “Don’t worry buddy, tomorrow will be a slower day since no one is really here on the weekends,” and then starts heading towards the broom closet when they both hear a loud bang. They freeze for a moment until maniacal laughter begins to echo in the place growing in volume. Chuck, the tan furred furbolg appears covered in soot and partially on fire, laughing like the very last string of his sanity finally snapped and he’s going to set someone or something ablaze. “I’VE DONE IT!!!! HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!”, he shouts, amber eyes wide with excitement followed swiftly by the frantic steps of a panicked but more frustrated Talulla, a muscular, lime skinned orc with lilac hair. She glares at Chuck with topaz eyes and a I’m-going-to-kill-you stare before scanning the room for any damage. Once she was satisfied that she wouldn’t be filing any insurance claims, again, she turns to Derex and Riz, “You two okay?”, she asks and both respond with a thumbs up.

She sighs in relief then turns towards Chuck who’s still cackling obviously on marveling at his newest creation. “Behold! My latest concoction of perfection!”, he shoves the beaker in Derex’s face, a purple liquid swirls within. Derex gathers all his courage to ask what’s inside it to which Chuck mischievously beams, “It’s a combination of a quad espresso and a wake-up spell. Guaranteed to keep you up and alert for hours, possibly days! I call it an ‘energy drink’ wanna try?”. A hand swiftly takes the mixture before Derex responds. For fucks sake Chuck,no. That much energy could cause someone’s heart to explode, signs Romara, a light skinned black woman on the shorter side with dark brown hair in box braids and brown eyes. Chuck waves off her warning, “Oh details! I’m sure it’s fine.”, Romara didn’t look the slightest convinced as she tossed the beaker to her wife. Talulla expertly caught it not even looking and shook her head, exasperated by another one of Chuck’s experiments. She turns to him and flatly states, “We are not selling something that will result in a lawsuit Chuck,” he looked dejected for a moment then immediately perked up, “What if we had everyone sign a wai-”, he was curtly cut off with a hard no. Defeated, he sulks back to his office leaving Derex relieved, Riz chuckling, Romara shaking her head, and Talulla contemplating alcoholism.

After they finish cleaning up and getting everything ready for tomorrow, they head back to their respective homes with Derex heading to his apartment above the café. A decent sized two bedroom/one bath with a connected kitchen and living room. Talulla offered it to him when he first moved to Creators Point two years ago for a pretty cheap price and when he was established enough he tried to pay the actual going rate for it but neither Talulla or Romara would take it. Instead they suggested a trade, cheap rent for always opening in the morning. He agreed because 1) you don’t pass on an opportunity for a nice apartment for cheap and 2) he was a morning person anyway. Plus, the extra bedroom was the perfect place for all his plants (that he’s always been in to and totally didn’t pick the hobby up as an excuse to talk to Riz more). Sure he’s lived in more resplendent housing, but those were more like asylums than homes.

Derex drops off his bag in the entryway and puts a kettle with water in iton the stove to make some tea. He heads to the plant room to grab the mint leaves he’s been drying for such an occasion. The smells of the room wafted over him like an aromatic breeze blowing his stress away. He plucked some leaves from the hanging bundle on the wall and returns to the kitchen. He gently rips the leaves in half and puts them in his steeper and favorite mug with the cartoon owlbear surrounded by hearts when the kettle goes off. He pours the hot water in the mug takes it to the living room and turns on the broad projection crystal (BPC). He goes to Hexflix to catch up on Great Bretish Bake Off and gets on his crystal communicator (CC) to scroll through Instascroll. He couldn’t be more cozy sipping on his tea, watching his favorite show, and looking up cake pics. It’s a serene way to wind down when he suddenly hears noise from below. He pauses and carefully listens for more sound. He hears talking, someone’s in the shop. Epá, porra, he thinks understandably pissed. He just worked a grueling shift today after all. The last thing he wants to deal with are some robbers. He wanted to call the police but the thieves could be gone by the time they get there. So he decides to face the robbers himself and heads towards the door that connects the two floors from the inside. He doesn’t like taking this way because it leads directly to Chuck’s workshop and gods knows what’s going on in there. When he reaches the lab he does his best to sneakily tiptoe across the room, though the task is made difficult with the amount of broken glass and mysterious ooze covering the floor. Once he’s across he peaks through the crack in the door to analyze who he’s up against. Derex silently summons his wand from the app on his CC and gathers that there’s four intruders total. One is tall and muscular with two others around the same height but slim with the fourth being shorter than the others but still toned. The one thing they do have in common is that they’re all in black with plain white masks covering their entire faces. They’re arguing about something but Derex can’t make out what.

Some type of gang? But I’ve never heard of any gang with outfits like this. Oh well, now or never. He stands up at launches a petrification spell on the most muscular of the tall ones. It’s a direct hit. The others turn towards his direction, “Get out. Only warning.”, Derex commands wand at the ready. One of them starts approaching slowly with their hands held out in front of them, “Now hold on,” they start. Derex sighs, “I warned you.” and begins a volley of petrification spells at the intruders. One clumsily ran behind a table while another one materialized a staff to raise a wall of thorns, the third expertly dodged the spells, getting closer Derex each time. A monk and druid so far, Derex analyzed when he saw the one behind the table throw a vial of some type in his direction, forcing him to put up a barrier because if working with Chuck taught him anything, it’s to always distrust unidentified vials. It was just time, too as the monk had just tried to kick him but was blocked by the barrier. The vials exploded upon impact with the barrier freezing parts of it. Derex noted the alchemist and began prepping a sleep spell when the monk attacked again hitting the icy parts of the barrier with a punch made of fire breaking the barrier. They then summoned a gust of wind to knock Derex’s wand out of his hand. He was taken aback, but only for a moment. Enough time to use a pause time spell on the monk mid strike, “I don’t like being outed like this but if you’ve forced my hand.” Derex calmly explained, “Luckily I have a memory wipe spell for just such occasions.” Using his other hand he performed another pause time spell to stop some vines from ensnaring him. The druid pleaded, “Stop! Please listen!” but Derex paid no mind as he took control of the vines and wrapped them around the druid and turning them to stone they couldn’t gain control of them again. Once he petrified the monk, he turned his attention to the alchemist whose hands were raised above his head, “I give I give!”, they exclaimed but Derex didn’t trust that so he used a goo spell to stick their hands to the wall and turned that to stone as well. “Now then. Let’s see who you all are.”, Derex strides to the druid first to unmask them and is becomes utterly confused. For there, looking sheepishly back at him is Riz, “Um…hey?”, Riz says to a gobsmacked Derex. He tries to reply but he’s too stunned to speak, causing his to move helplessly up and down like a broken automaton. Then a thought hit him with feeling dread following soon after. Oh no. The dread grows. Oh no no no no. He goes to unmask the monk to reveal Romara looking…well she was petrified so there was no way of knowing that. The alchemist was none other than Chuck who apologetically smiled at him. Finally the first person he attacked, he hunch who it was and was hoping to be wrong but he wasn’t. It was in fact Talulla and that’s when his dread reached I-fucked-up levels of panic. For he in fact did attack all of his coworkers and bosses and then threatened to erase their memories. Riz cleared their throat, “I think an explanation is in order. But first, could you unbind us please?”

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deptofinterplanaldefense · 2 years

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Prologue

Many, many, many years ago, the nine planes of existence lived separately from each other ruled by their respective god; Hydren, Fuella, Cragyl, Ventro, Paos, Satrin, Illuma, Faetri, and the ruler of them all, the Creator, the progenitor of everything. They each coexisted peacefully maintaining their own planes, kept the pathways between each plane stable, and worked together to maintain the Mundane plane, the only plane that denizens of the other eight could actually exist outside their own and safely live together in harmony. Any disputes between the gods were handled judiciously in front of the others with the Creator having the final say. For millennia, all was well and thriving…until that awful day.

It is lost knowledge of who or how the Calamitous War started, but suddenly the gods Satrin and Illuma were at each other’s throats demanding the head of the other over a dispute that has also been lost to time. The Creator tried to diplomatically resolve the issue, but each attempt failed with the other gods quickly picking sides. Soon after war erupted with most of the fighting happening on the Mundane plane, much to the Creator’s horror. The Calamitous War lasted centuries with civilizations falling like flies and the land covered in the blood of those who fought and those caught in the cross fire. All parties involved began to grow weary of the endless fighting, so they agreed to one final battle. One final fight using everything they had to finally determine who would be the victor and who would forfeit their right to rule.

A young sun elf named Elzra heard this plan and grew pale with fear. He knew that such a battle would mean the destruction of all the planes if, or more likely when all the gods used their most powerful abilities against each other. The night before fight, Elzra ran to the domain of the Creator, informing them what each side was planning, and begged them to intervene. The Creator refused, saying it was not there place to fight but create and that they wished to remain neutral. Elzra was enraged by this, berating them for their cowardice and their refusal to stop the destruction of all including the gods. That because of their inaction generations have been wiped with more soon to follow. This stung the Creator but they knew his words rang true. They had been a coward, they had let destruction and death ravage the land all in the name of “neutrality”. The Creator finally agreed and whisked themself and Elzra to where the final battle would commence.

Though when they arrived the battle had already started. They had arrived too late to stop the fighting from starting but made it in time to see each god preparing one final blast attack against the others. As they finally fired their attacks, the Creator leaped in between them and began absorbing the blasts. The gods realized too late what was happening and could not stop, for their beams were too strong to stop now. It wasn’t until they had expended all their strength did the blasts stop with the fighting following soon after. The Creator was struggling to keep all that power contained within themselves but they knew they could not last for much longer. They turned to Elzra and spoke their last words, “Lead them Elzra. Be the leader they deserve, what I never could be”. They flew to the sky as far as they could until finally they exploded. Though blast was far enough away that the world wouldn’t be destroyed, the energy still hit causing reality to warp and bend and all the planes to began to merge. The gods used what little power they had left to keep the planes from tearing themselves apart.

To an extent they succeeded and kept the planes from morphing into one, but they still became intertwined with each other. The gods did try to separate them again months later when they regained their strength but it was far too late. The planes were now permanently connected so trying to pull them apart would cause reality to unravel again and end it. Thus, the gods declared the war over and that they needed to seclude themselves to discuss and reflect on what has happened and what needs to be done. Their last decree was that they would return in a year’s time to announce their verdict. When they vanished, everyone turned to Elzra, remembering the Creator’s final decree, for guidance.

Under his direction, everyone began the slow process of rebuilding their lives that were uprooted by war that was not really theirs. They began building a town were the final battle took place, now known as the Great Convergence, to keep a vigilant watch over the new gateways now spilling out into the freshly named Conjunction plane. Elzra continued guiding the people over the next year, reestablishing connections between peoples, repairing roads, towns, and water systems, even overseeing the construction of the new town at the site of the Great Convergence. Though he did all this with the notion that once the gods returned they would resume rule and his part as leader would be over. They gods, however, had other plans.

After the year was finished they announced that they would be leaving all the planes and isolate themselves into one they had created. They had reflected on the Calamitous War and how their pettiness almost caused the destruction of everything, the planes to be forever interlaced, and the death of their progenitor. As punishment, they decided to banish themselves to the newly created plane and swore to never interfere with the affairs of the planes and their denizens again. Everyone was distraught, begging them to reconsider but the gods refused. They reminded the people of all that had accomplished in just one year without their help and all under the leadership of Elzra, not a god. Though to quell those who still had reservations they created the Liaisons. God-like beings that would act as a line of communication between the gods and the planes. Assigning each Liaison a crystal that would free the gods should the planal people wish for their return from interment. With that, they departed and to this day remain in their self made jail.

Centuries have gone by since then, and the planes once again have found peace and prosperity. The town built at the Great Convergence site quickly turned into a booming city called Creators Point, a place of knowledge, art, and opportunity. It has also become a travel hub for those wishing to traverse between planes with a district built around each gate. As for Elzra, he continued to lead after the gods's imprisonment as elected by everyone and still does to this day as mayor of Creators Point with the help of his moon elf husband, Drish. Though there is a rumor that he has a secret defense force that operates in the shadows, protecting the peace of the city from those who wish it harm. But those are just silly rumors right?

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