Our top story is the fall of Consequence play games , capital of Hellifyno, to the combined forces of the Summer and Winter Fae. Tonight the Government of the planet is in exile, her citizens are terrified, and the road ahead looks grim.
The battle began at twilight, during a political summit arranged by the Government of Hellifyno at the behest of the political agitators known as the Anarchists. As the Lady Echo made an eloquent speech calling on all parties to find peace and compromise, the air was shattered with the sound of violent explosions, mixed with an eerie sing song carnival music that seemed to come from every direction.
Minutes later a horde of pale faced clown soldiers appeared marching on the horizon. Beside them arose a mixed multitude of Fae Warriors including giant Gummi Bears, pink fluffy acid spewing elephants, red and white striped bullet proof giraffes, glass monstrosities, cotton candy creatures, and contortionists shooting razor sharp shards of popcorn. The force quickly surrounded the city and began pressing an attack against it from all sides.
Within the Summit, panic arose as members of the Anarchist organization fanned out into the crowd with military precision and began murdering citizens with concealed weapons. Guards and soldiers attending as security officers put up a valiant effort trying to defend people against these attacks; however, the suicide tactics of the Anarchists proved overwhelming.
Lord Executive Havoc and Proconsul Tye Sampson were seen disappearing from the Summit at the time of the attack. It was later revealed that they had suspected treachery, and had attended the conference via holographic imaging in order to allow them to quickly make their way to the army in case of trouble. This allowed them to immediately take command of the forces of Hellifyno and mount a defense. Unfortunately, their suspicion had been of treachery from within, by the Anarchists, which left the city vulnerable to attack from outside by the Fae contingents.
The nature of this battle was different then in previous attacks, as the forces of Summer and Winter Fae seemed to be able to focus on confronting the Hellifyno soldiers, rather than attacking one another. Many experts agree that the previous successes of the planet's armies against Fae forces that vastly outnumbered them could be attributed to the foe lacking focus, seemingly more intent on killing one another than on wiping out the Hellifyno forces. This possible new found cooperation could be a grim turn in the course of this war.
During the battle every effort was made by HERD workers and members of the Civil Defense Department to evacuate citizens from the city, yet the speed and tenacity with which the Fae attacked left little time for emergency procedures. While many people were able to escape via portals, it is feared that there are still thousands of citizens trapped inside of the vicinity of Fae occupied Consequence.
Refugees, including many members of the government, relocated to emergency facilities which had been set up in the rebuilt caverns beneath Retribution Rock. This is where members of the vaunted "Magical Resistance" fled after the initial invasion by the Slayers almost a year ago. Destroyed during the war, the caverns had been rebuilt by Lord Executive Havoc upon reclaiming the planet, and now constitute an elaborate and heavily defended fortress of stone, steel, and supernatural wards.
While the capital has fallen, the government is assuring the populace that it is still in control, and that they are continuing to oppose the Fae in every way possible. Since the battle there have already been several major skirmishes between Fae hordes and Hellifyno soldiers, and there is an almost constant air of conflict and battle raging across the planet.
The Summit of Anarchists
Before the attack by the Fae, a political summit had been underway to discuss the nature of the planet's political organization, and to give people a chance to air grievances they might have had about the actions of the ruling parties. This summit was called for by a group commonly referred to as the "Anarchists" and had been arranged by planetary Proconsul Tye Sampson.
The event was held in the amphitheatre of Consequence shooting games , a giant bowl shaped crater left by an ancient meteor, and carved out to have seating and accommodations for thousands of spectators. There was a heavy contingent of Hellifyno soldiers on hand in case of trouble, as well as a crack team of security officers headed by Grand Marshall Demaar Nobu.
The Summit began with an opening address by Proconsul Sampson, followed by a short speech by the leader of the Anarchists, a gentleman known only as "The Nameless One". During the proceedings, tempers flared as members of the audience openly expressed hatred and disdain, both for the Anarchists, and occasionally for members of the Government. As the Nameless One spoke, several minor brawls broke out in the stands, forcing Marshall Nobu's security officers to intervene in order to keep the peace.
The most surprising turn of events was the Nameless One openly offering to turn himself and all of his supporters over to the government, in exchange for aid and support being offered to members of the Hellifyno military, past and present. This was met with optimistic skepticism by the Lord Executive.
Soon after the Fae attacked, plummeting the summit into chaos. Havoc and Tye Sampson were seen shimmering and then vanishing almost immediately after this, causing some speculation that they may have run away. It was later revealed that, fearing treachery from the Anarchists, they had been sequestered with a military contingent just outside of the Amphitheater, in order to allow them to secure the area and ensure that none of the terrorists escaped. The fact that this force was on hand allowed Havoc to lead an attack on the building, opening up an escape route for those that were able to avoid the Anarchists suicide attacks.
The Fall of a Tower
There may be a glimmer of hope amongst the dark news of recent days. Several weeks back the Fae caused 13 Towers of Insanity to fall from the sky. These towers have dominated the landscape surrounding them, causing the world to behave in an entirely erratic and irrational manner for miles around. The towers themselves are constantly morphing, changing, shifting, and evolving in design and material, and occasionally give rise to great hordes of Fae soldiers that appear from their depths and descend on the countryside spreading chaos and terror.
Late last week one of these towers vanished. Nobody knows where it went, or why it vanished, however it is completely gone, and most of the strange Fae magic effects seam to have disappeared with it. In its place is a large hole, filled with blackened earth that shimmers slightly in the light. The area surrounding where the tower once stood is all dead land now, bare earth without any hint of living vegetation growing in it.
There is wild speculation as to why the tower fell, and how the process can be replicated. Some people claim that it's a natural flaw in the Fae's insanity magic, while others claim that the towers are living creatures, and this one simply died of old age. Other speculation is linking it to an occurrence that happened in the Blue Moon Tavern the night the tower fell, involving Daloki Harbindale. While there are dozens of theories, nobody has any solid evidence as to why this occurred or how it can be done again.
The Darkness of War
While the government is in exile it still continues to maintain an aid and defense network that provides vital assistance to cities and towns around the world. Since the fall of the capital, most of these locations have taken extreme defensive measures, building fortifications, and moving the populace into areas that are easier to defend. Tye Sampson has dispatched military advisors, veterans from the Slayer War, to almost every inhabited region on the planet to help citizens prepare for the eventuality of a Fae attack.
Despite these measures, towns and cities continue to fall to roaming hordes of Fae Soldiers on an almost daily basis. The armies of the Fae move incredibly fast, able to transport huge numbers of soldiers across the planet in a matter of hours, making it nearly impossible to know where they will strike next. While their attacks are haphazard, often falling into chaos infighting before they can achieve victory, their shear overwhelming numbers, mixed with the powerful arsenal of magic they can bring to bear, means that eventually most targets are worn down and conquered.
As soon as the Fae conquer a territory, they begin to mutate it, causing buildings to warp and distort, often changing the very nature of the materials into elements of fire, pillars of water, or strange gaseous clouds that rise up in a mocking facsimile of real architecture. Already the city of Consequence has started to twist and change, the very nature of the place almost unrecognizable from the outside. Nobody knows what happens to civilians captured within these regions when they fall, but speculation is morose at best.
A World Gone Mad
Meanwhile the planet continues to be plagued by outbreaks of insanity and confusion. There are thousands of reports of spontaneous outbreaks of odd behavior, paranoia, delusions, hallucinations, and obsessive behaviors. Often the individuals suffering from these conditions aren't even aware that they are behaving in a strange manner, making it difficult to exert self control. In many cases this odd behavior is degenerative, causing the inflicted person to slowly fall into a state of debilitating confusion.
Prisons across the planet are overflowing with victims of mental degeneration, and individuals who have fallen into a state where they are dangerous to themselves and others. Impromptu mental wards have sprung up to try and accommodate the overflow of victims, but the nature of the madness is so pervasive that the populace is finding it difficult to diagnose and restrain such large numbers.
This personal insanity is being exacerbated by the general breaking down of reality which seams to be spreading at a more rapid pace. There are still reports of the air turning to molasses, fire springing up out of nowhere, strange creatures floating through the air, inanimate objects coming to life, and the world in general not following its standard laws of cause and effect.
Most people are attributing these effects to the prevalence of Fae magic on the planet, and attempt by their factions to actually break reality down, until its laws fall apart and the universe itself becomes dream like. Experts are pointing to the Towers of Insanity as being a possible source of this wild and untamed energy.
In Conclusion
War and madness have spread across the planet. The government is in exile, and the troops that fight to defend us are badly outnumbered. However in this dark time the citizens of Hellifyno are pulling together, defending one another, fighting against a common foe, and rejecting the onset of night. It's impossible to tell what will happen next, but whatever it is, we will be ready.
