Himmelheim, the hour of the grand summoning.

High priestess Sumnobilia Tantibus Astria von Accastria, stood in the centre of the complex formation. The large platform upon which the summoning was to take place, floated by force of magic alone. Ripped from the ground, it hovered above Himmelheim, probably the highest point in existence except perhaps for dragonshome and the floating city. This was necessary, though.

Over one hundred white robed men and women stood side by side on the floating rock facing outward, forming a large circle around the platform. Each and every single one of them all had their backs to her, as was proper and correct form for this most holy of rituals.

With the blood of the last king, his queen, the three princes and the first princess, the high priestess made manifest the last part of the ancient holy ritual that drew on the very power of the goddess herself, to summon forth worthy heroes in this time of holy plight. Doomsday was nearly upon them, the prophet had said, and so drastic measures were necessary.

Not since the age of legends one millenia ago, had the demon king been a threat to the world, and yet now of all times, that ancient evil had returned. The high priestess didn't like it at all. Nor did she particularly fancy the idea of forcibly ushering in a second age of legends, and yet she had to.

There was simply no way for them to stand against the might of such an ungodly demon. The scrying had already proved that to her several times. In fact, even with her help, having passed the mythical level threshhold and ventured into the lands of myths and legends, she still hadn't been able to even see the demon kings true form or the limits of its wicked powers.

One thing was for sure though. The thing in the scrying had been far more powerful that Astria could have ever imagined. She just hoped that, like the heroes, this demon king was a fledgeling and did not yet know how to fully utilize its unfathomable powers. If it did... she wasn't sure the goddess herself, made manifest, could deal with the thing. How could something so small and... dare she say it... beautiful, be so dreadful and powerful?

So it came to be, that against her own personal will and judgement, High Priestess Sumnobilia Tantibus Astria von Accastria, raised her blood covered hands to the skies, reciting the ancient words passed down from high priestess to high priestess for a millenia.

”Maintenance over! Log-in permitted! Your soul transmitted! Blessings be on this veil, and may the great goddess prevail.” Astria's hands shone brightly with a crimson light, and soon the sky above darkened as if it were night, yet there were no stars or sign of the moon. A pitch black hole to the abyss itself, opened above her head. In her heart Astria felt great unease about this... this horrid abberance, like a wound in the very world itself...

And yet she had to do this. There was no other choice. Red lightning shot from Astria's outstretched hands into the great black pit swirling above their heads.

In response, six shimmering beams of light broke through the swirling darkness like rays of the purest white sunshine, burning away the crimson veil of the blood sacrifices that surrounded the platform.

Into the six pentagrams, the souls flew. Then they hovered there in stasis awaiting the next step. Astria drew in a labored breath. Her sight blurred and she could feel her mana reserves draining rapidly.

These were powerful souls indeed, if it took so much just to keep them here in incorporeal form like this. Certainly nothing like undead. Even the strongest of vampires hadn't taken this much effort to deal with.

”We summon you, heroes! Otherworlders of legend. Start Character creation!” The six lights shone brighter and brighter, as one by one the 100 priests in the outer circle fell forward over the edge muttering spells of self-abnegation and sacrifice. Time seemed to move slowly, and with each passing moment another priest or priestess fell forward to their certain death, reciting the holy words.

”We offer to you these souls, these sacrifices, o great mistress of the white justice, so that you may imbue these six souls with the power needed to defeat the great demon king!” As she spoke these words, Astria fell to her knees and the world seemed to shake all around her. In the sky above, she thought she heard faint grumbling, tisking... and cursing. She felt a great blanket of despair and disapproval settle over her, pressing down like a great weight. Astria turned her watering eyes to the sky only to see two huge white orbs glaring down at her from the black abyss. Her breath caught in her chest, and she felt like she was suffocating.

Then, a deep rumbling male voice bellowed forth from the dark pit, shaking the world with every word. ”Twice now, this fledgling world has dared to steal what is mine. No more! I shall seal the veil. May you and your accursed gods everlastingly depart from my worlds, my realms, my veils and my very creation! Off with you!”

Astria felt a great tearing, as if the very fabric of existence was torn in two. The last thing she heard before she lost consciousness was ”what the fuck is this place? The hell is going on!” Before she could say anything, her world faded to black.