Opening moves.

Mouth of Tarkos: Inner Sanctum.

A row of robed lizardmen were kneeling and bowing to the great fire, hissing and chanting the praise of their god in the heart of the volcano. The entire room was made of black rock; sculptures of various reptiles made from giant blocks of obsidian decorated the place. A robed lizard, his scales grey and faded, hobbled into the room leaning on a staff topped by a human looking skull.

"Igneous One, this worthless worm requires your attention!" said the creature, bowing as far as he could without losing balance and then straining to get back up.

The fire of the volcano came to life, the heat took shape, and two eyes opened in the smoke. It looked like a huge reptile head made of fire.

"WHAT IS IT ABOUT? WHY DO YOU PERTURB MY REST?" said a voice which made the whole mountain shake and the temperature of the room spike to uncomfortable levels, even for those used to live in a network of caves inside an active volcano.

"Apologies, Ardent One. You asked me to tell you when it would happen. Dramar the Dauntless, Hound of Tarkos, has returned," explained the lizard priest.

Another lizardman entered the room, taller than all of the others present. His scales were of a bright red, with an ocher tone on his chest and the inside of his arms. Looking alien amongst the primitive garb of the local lizardmen, he was wearing elaborate silk pants with colored folds, embroidered leather wrist guards, bronze knee pads and a single pauldron made of a golden skull. He had a wide grin on his face, exposing wide rows of sharp teeth, and a crest of white feathers on the back of his head. He carefully laid down the rolled tarp that he was carrying over his shoulder and unrolled it. Inside was a chained woman with tanned skin and black hair. She was wearing a delicate white linen dress, with gold ornaments covered in hieroglyphs, and her face was hidden by a broken mask looking like a cat face. Her clothes were torn and stained with blood, but she appeared to be unharmed herself, to the exception of a few bruises.

"Igneous One, I bring you back a priestess of Naktmun. Their blood is strong, and their magic is powerful, may she be the bride that was promised!" announced the red hunter.

"SHE SMELLS OF STRENGTH, POWER. YOU DID WELL, MY SERVANT! ALAS, BLASPHEMY HAS TAINTED THE HONOR OF YOUR PEOPLE. MY SANCTUARY HAS BEEN INVADED, TWO CHOSEN SLAIN, TWO FUTURE BRIDES STOLEN! THE MOON PRIESTESS OF THE PRIMITIVE ELVEN TRIBES THAT YOU BROUGHT TO ME, SHE SURVIVED THE FIRST RITUAL, AND SHE HAS BEEN ****!" resonated the earth shattering voice.

"Who would dare? No tribe could ever manage such a thing. I'll gather some hunters and slay them all until I bring her back!" he swore. The old priest shook his head and approached the towering hunter.

"Not the tribes, not alone. A stranger has stumbled upon our land. His female had been captured and brought here. He gathered a few elves, stormed the place, rescued his own female, killed the elves and escaped with the bride of our exalted master. An ember bearer found trace of them in a desolate land, but tracking them has revealed itself difficult. They seem to disappear from reality most of the time," he explained, leaning on his staff, his body so frail and his scales so tarnished that he seemed to be at the gates of ****, only his fiery red eyes betraying the power inside the first disciple of Tarkos.

"A stranger? A planeswalker, who can defeat two Chosen and kill his allies before escaping. Finally a worthy prey. Do we have a trail?" he asked, rubbing his hands together.

On a hand gesture of the priest, two towering, black scaled lizardmen who had stayed motionless between sculptures grabbed the woman and took her away. Another robed acolyte advanced and bowed, presenting a flat piece of wood containing a piece of stone covered in dry blood and a lock of glowing, yellow hair.

"The wood is from the female of the stranger, fused with her body. The hair is from the one promised to our master. The stone is stained with the blood of the thief. You know your mission, you have a trail. You never failed the lord, but don't bother coming back without your quarry," exposed the old priest.

The hunter smelled and licked the items before putting them in a small pouch on his belt that looked like it couldn't even contain an apple, much less the wooden chest plate and small stone slab that he had just put in it. Without a single word, the lizardman turned back and exited the room.

The Hound of Tarkos had started a new hunt!

Velvet Curtain nightclub, Chicago

"We received a new order for 25 units, female, 18 to 25, healthy and attractive," said a tall man in a dark suit holding a notepad. His boss, a hulking mass of a man, was sitting at his desk and sipping some glittering liquid from a glass which looked like a thimble in his enormous hands.

"Send Vincenzo to Detroit, we have a debt to collect there. The fucking Kings think I don't know that they can't pay. Ya always have to pay Don Scalarfane, one way or another..." the giant mob boss interrupted himself. A circle of runes on the wall of his office started glowing, one by one first and then so fast that it looked like all were alight at the same time. At this point the surface of the wall changed to resemble a vertical puddle of water.

"Hmm, I've got a visitor. Get lost, Jimmy. An’ send someone to grab the asshole at table 17, he's cheated twice in the last ten minutes. Put him in the shipment for that bitch in LA and grab the fucking dealer with him, he should have seen it," barked the Don. The young mobster left in a hurry and slammed the door behind him.

A small creature, about three feet tall, covered in grey fur, with horns on its head entered the office through the portal that had just opened. It was smoking from a long pipe and smiling.

"Luciano, my man! How long has it been? Have you grown again? You look taller every time I see you, I'd swear!" said the small creature.

"Liam, if it isn't my favorite rodent? Ya got sumthin' for me? What brings ya to Chicago?" replied the mobster, without any remarks to being called by his first name. Liam picked a small, engraved stone from his fur, and after a small jump, he floated until he landed on the desk. He put back the stone where it came from and retrieved a very small bag instead. He then began getting things out of it, putting his arm farther inside than the size of the bag should allow. Among what he got from it were a jar of golden cream, some small bags of herbs, powders, pills and crystals.

"Got you some samples. You know that I don't do shipping. If you want some, I know people, I broker the deal and take my cut. Got some midas, awesome stuff. You paint a girl with this, and any part covered will be as sensitive as her clit after an hour of teasing. Varnalsha, hytrenia, stephora, the usual pipe herbs; I know a guy, extra quality, perfect for when you want to unwind a little, he can do great volumes. Grum, spread that gel under your nose and breathe, then you're in for half an hour of hearing light and seeing sounds. Got some sprinkle, don't let the look get you, makes you see radio waves, but I tell you what, in your place, it's a heck of a light show. Slo-mo, put this vial into an e-cig, and you will see time slow in front of your eyes, and everything will shine; a shame you become too fucked up for it to have practical uses, but it's funny to take. Anything you fancy? If you want something else, just tell me, I know a lot of people. I'll be in your world for a few days, people to see at the big mall," said Liam, picking and showing each article as he demonstrated them in a true salesman fashion. After a last puff from it, he emptied his pipe in the ashtray where a half smoked cigar nearly as big as his arm rested.

"I don't have the numbers in mind for the usual, but if you can get us a few barrels of Midas, I think it will be a nice perk for our clubs and whorehouse; the johns will... The fuck?" the gargantuan mafioso interrupted himself. Liam had gotten up and jumped on him, holding onto his tie, keeping his face near his and sniffing around. He picked him by the back of the neck and got him away from himself.

"Where the fuck did you find some? Who gave it to you? Speak!" screamed Liam, flailing his four limbs and his tail with no noticeable effect.

"Have ya lost yer goddamn mind? The fuck yer talking about?" barked Don Scalarfane.

"Folphoria Aeftlanis, the miracle leaf. I tried it once, only once, 45 years ago. I'll never forget the smell. You smell like it!" explained Liam. "Get me down, big oaf."

"Feisty little rat, alright. But no jumping around. And don't touch my suit, it's a Ventrospecto. Might be this thing. Few days ago, a new guy started selling what he calls dryad elixir on the Auction. We got some, and it's good stuff; seems like he's new at it, changing recipe and packaging each time, trying to respond to the market. The last batch is proper liquor infused with tons of stuff. I have a guy watching his page, and we snatched the whole lot as soon as it got online. Guess he got sum of that somethingphoria or else you're talking about," he explained, showing the bottle of glittering liquid and the small glass on the desk.

Liam got his little stone back, and the bottle uncorked itself, poured a glass and recorked itself. Liam held the glass with two hands and smelled the vapors coming from it. He then took a huge chug from it, fell on his ass and looked around in ecstasy, laughing uncontrollably.

"This stuff is awesome. This is no accident, they have a chemist behind it. But it's definitely Folphoria Aeftlanis, you could make people eat manure if you put some in it. But when it's added to something already good or with other properties... it's why it's called the miracle leaf. I thought it was extinct. Only grows in very rare places, most got destroyed by the very people fighting over who could exploit it. Reputed to be impossible to farm, we are not even sure how the plant reproduces in the wild. I got to try some once at a party that a Zorlan count was throwing, but I never saw any of it again since. Who made this?"

"You know how it is with the Auction. New guy, no brand yet, anonymous account. You could try to contact him on it, but no guarantees he'll reply. You know, by fear that people like me would abduct him to get the recipe and make him produce the stuff for us. I know that ya don't like technology, but Jimmy will give you a phone and help you make an account. I guess you want a bottle with your next fee?"

"Only one? These are small!"

"Says on the page that these are samples, from the first batch. Real stuff will come in one liter bottles."

"Right, so I'll take four of these then!"

"Alright, greedy vermin. But it's only because I like you. Now go see Jimmy for the rest. I have to see if this bunch of wankers have found anything on the asshole who busted one of our places."

Liam gathered all of the samples of his wares in his little bag and jumped off the desk, floating gently to the ground. He had a new purpose now. He had a lead on the dream of his life.

Springfield: Tricia Gorbachev secret lab.

Tricia was excited. John had sent her many text messages today. The first batch of the new liquor was a success and flew off the shelves in a matter of seconds after being put on sale. He was now talking about going into producing it large scale. The lab in his castle was equipped to operate each step of the manufacturing process, from drying plants or extracting oils to the brewing and distillation of golden sap, and of course the final step of mixing everything together before finishing to infuse it with magic. But some devices were used for multiple steps of it, which meant that he couldn't start preparing the next batch as long as the previous one was in progress. The volumes were also too small, the product reduced a lot along the process, and he couldn't make huge batches in devices designed to create advanced chemicals in small quantities.

Apparently he had suddenly obtained the option of spending some money that he was saving for something and was also asking her for advice on where to procure some high tech gear.

It had sent her on a long search session on various specialized sites only accessible to Abyss members; she had never considered designing a true industrial production line. The gear aspect was easily fixed, and she sent an email telling John that she was taking him shopping this Saturday. She knew of a few places producing and selling excellent equipment, all of them situated at the great mall in New York. This huge barrier controlled by the Thorne technosyndicate was the best place to find anything one wanted. She knew a place in particular which had received a new device, able to manufacture custom equipment on site from materials brought by the customers.

"I'm sure that if our research partnership continues to be profitable, we'll be able to continue what we started the other day," she said to herself, looking around her central screen to the dozens of kittens and puppies videos that she was able to watch without a noticeable spike with half of her limiters down.

Springfield: Birchwood terrace slums

"You guys took your time," said officer Hatch to the two men getting out of the van.

"Yeah, you know. Not many people ask us to intervene in this part of town. Our office is actually near the forest, on the other side of town. So, officer, what do you need Animal Control for?" asked a small man with a big mustache in red coveralls.

"Locals have been complaining to us about a bunch of stray dogs up to trouble in the neighborhood. Apparently they contacted you two, but you didn't send anyone. I went to investigate and found a bunch of gnawed bones and two dogs ripped in half in front of a vacant building. I think we have a bear running around. So, since it's your specialty, I called you," explained the cop.

The second man from the van, a taller guy in green coveralls, opened the back door of it to get some equipment. A bear wasn't something to take lightly. They would go in with the hypodermic needle gun and a real hunting rifle.

"It's weird, there are no bear footprints. Are you sure this is a bear?" asked the tall one.

"Look at this mess, it's not a dog that did that! Maybe a puma, I don't know. It's your job to know that. I asked around, no one lives in this building, and it's supposed to be boarded up, but something broke the planks," explained officer Hatch.

"I don't like this," shrugged the tall man.

The three men entered the house and inspected each room, uncovering more skeletons of animals. The last place that they had to check was the basement, and as soon as they pushed the door open, they noticed a putrid smell.

A few seconds later, screams of terror erupted from the building, closely followed by a dozen gunshots. The tall Animal Control employee came up running and fell down as he reached the front door. Before he managed to get up, a frail greyish arm reached for him, and a hand planted its clawed fingers in his back to drag him inside.

Soon after, a dead silence fell back onto the neighborhood.