As time goes by the women of The City find themselves more and more restless. Bored with their surroundings, convinced they could imporve matters and a lessened need, the females soon create a strange mood for the City.
Ahriman goes about his daily business and performes arcane espionage on the 4th House.
Mentioning this to MatronNemalzhi turns out to be more efficient than he'd expected and she promptly declares war on the 4th House to the dismay of WeaponsmasterMorghedil. Zhaunil is at first delighted but her enthusiasm soon fades when she realises that her incessant complaints about MatronXym has made her Mother demand that Zhaunil participates in the war.
GhulDril musters his company with cheerful fatalism.
After a massive magical braking of the outer walls battle is joined. The 4th House soon reveals that it has had an alliance with powerful forces of Hell and a host of Devils attack the daring forces of HouseNemalzhi. Not to be outdone, Ahriman calls in a few aquaintances from Beyond as well to balance the scales.
Meanwhile GhulDril assaults and breaks through into the deeper most parts of the enemy compound (wich is only partially on this plane of existance) allowing for Velve to sneak in as well. Encountering MatronXym they dispose of her with some effort because of the narcotic fumes in her suite.
Outside, Zhaunil and Ahriman find themselves battling the creepy, almost ceratinly already dead, Weaponsmaster of the enemy. The strange string-puppetlike movements of the enigmatic one are lightning quick and he is most resilient. With both Noona and Zhaunil badly injured Ahriman pulls his ace from his sleev and summons DevilSon who annihilates the weird Weaponsmaster with a single magnificent stroke of his blade.
Zhaunil is barely healed by her magics and, thinking the situation far more dire than it actually is, decides to summon a Vampire. She thinks she fails. She didn't, but alas the entity in question does not show up where she inteded so it's out there, somewhere...
GhulDril and Velve call upon Zarathustriel to undo the magics holding the hostile compound together. She agrees to this and sure enough, the compound of the 4th House falls down around the defenders that remain.
As the victorious forces of HouseNemalzhi prepare to withdraw, Zarathustriel emerges from amidst the dust and rubble. Lolth has turned her most powerfull priestess into a Drider!
With a voice, now devoid of any insanity, Zarathustriel tells her (rather surprised family) that "I will meet you again when The Time comes." Then she withdrwas and is not seen again. For now...