For example...

The gate to Purgatory was not as well guarded as one might expect. It used to be, Calamity noted as James made a sly comment about this being a "cakewalk", but Purgatory had kind of gone to shit over the past few centuries. With no one to tend to it, it was little more than an overgrown garden with rabid wildlife crawling through the underbrush. Maxwell, Aphos, and James stood before a broken, rusted iron gate on a worn dirt road. Moss and erosion had reclaimed the walls around the realm's border, leaving ample room to walk through.

"So to be clear," James began, stepping carefully over the mangled bars of the gate (which appeared to have been forcibly torn apart by something with very large claws). "We don't know where this asshole is, this shithole is full of things that want to eat us, and we're doing this literally on the whim of a mad drug addict?"

"The maddest and most drug addicted." Aphos said dryly. "You'll get used to it... probably."

Maxwell was looking up at the gate with a look of mild irritation. "I was going to kick down the gate." he muttered. "But now there's no point."

Aphos sighed, clapping Maxwell on the shoulder. "There will be other gates you enormous jackass, let's go kick those ones down."

Maxwell shrugged. "It's just not the same. Oh well." He said sadly, walking through the gap in the bars.

The path ahead was barely visible under the roots, brambles, and general encroaching forest. But despite the apparent chaos of the land, the beasts within knew exactly how things were supposed to be. And the Reaper, Usurper, and Traitor were not supposed to be there. Barely ten steps into Purgatory, a low growl signaled the presence of another. An observer. Beady black eyes followed the men as they moved forward. Claws anxiously dug trenches in the soft earth.

James shivered. He knew this feeling - being hunted, being watched. He peered into the darkness, but he couldn't really see clearly. Not through the smoke...Smoke?

"Smoke?!"

Ash shaking loose from its fur, a massive black bear came barrelling out of the tree line, headed straight for Maxwell.

Maxwell looked over at the encroaching bear, appearing entirely unsurprised. as it charged him, he held out a hand, and placed it casually on the bear's head. The creature froze where it stood. "You are cool looking, but not cool enough...yet." Maxwell said, smiling. "I can fix that."

"Do not tame that bear." Aphos groaned from a ways back.

"I will tame this bear, and every other bear we find thank you very much." Maxwell said with a sniff. "Just give me a second."

As Maxwell spoke, a strange change was taking place withing his ursine thrall. From the place Maxwell's hand touched, white and gold ripples started to fan out, changing the bear's fur to a glossy white, and it's eyes to pools of static force. The smoke that had once issued forth from it slowly shifted to sparking wisps of pure black energy as the bone-like structures sprouting from it's back smoothed and sharpened to ebony blades. When he was satisfied with it's progress Maxwell removed his hand and let out an appreciative grunt.

"Did you just fucking..." Aphos began before shaking his head and sitting on a fallen tree.

"Do a roar." Maxwell said happily.

The bear let out a sound unlike anything that could be conventionally called a roar. The sound resonated through the trees, giving the area an almost dreamlike feel for a moment. The bear snorted loosing Maxwell's black flames from it's nose.

"Good." Maxwell said, patting it's large snout.

James looked on in utter shock. He wanted a cool bear too.

Purgatory had fallen entirely silent. Even the incessant cawing of crows and the shuffling of unknown fauna amongst the brush had ceased. Then, as if in mourning, a roar echoed around them, followed by a chorus of unearthly howling. Something that looked like a deer with a sword rack taped to its head darted across the path looking rather panicked.

And then there was silence again.

Torchlight danced up ahead, barely visible through the thick fog rolling in from the East.

"Guys...Do you hear...panting?" James asked quizzically shortly before an unusually large gray wolf landed on his back, teeth bared.

The wolf was huge, and water droplets clung to its gray fur. Glassy blue eyes stared sightlessly at James' neck as the creature considered its options.

[Aphos dodges a wolf from the side, Maxwell dodges one from behind.]

Aphos dodged out of the way, his cloak rearing up and lifting him from the ground into the treetops.

Maxwell rolled to the side plunging his hand into the chest of the wolf he had dodged. Ignoring the twinge of discomfort he felt, Maxwell wrapped his fingers around the heart of the creature.

"Oh?" he mused, intrigued. "You aren't really a thing are you? Ok then."

[Maxwell freezes over purgatory, no more wolves.]

[Maxwell and Aphos follow the 'strings' back to the wolf master.]

With an alarmed yip, the wolves disintegrated into frost and ice. James swore in sixteen different languages, ice water running over his back and drenching his clothes and hair.

Aphos, through closed eyes, would have seen a web of faint white strings spark into view as he searched for the wolves' master. They ran through the ice like circuitry, curling through tree branches, leaving through stone and dirt, winding up and down vines and throw moss and then finally...Finally they centered into a literal nest of threads, in which a small blizzard was raging. It solidified for a brief moment, surprised to feel the presence of prying eyes, and a massive, monstrous wolf paced back and forth anxiously in her den before dissolving into storm once more.

"The liberators."

The voice would have called him back to the spot where he stood. A woman in rags, a torch clutched tight in one hand and a dull knife in the other. Her hair was a mess of dirty blond string and her skin was peppered with cuts and bruises.

"They spoke of you. The Bird-Men. You must come, quickly quickly."

She motioned for them to follow, bare feet dashing effortlessly over the rough, now slippery terrain.

"Aphos." Maxwell said, turning to look at him sternly. "You did not tell me you were a bird.

"I'm not a fucking bird!"

"If you say so." Maxwell said with a conspiratorial smile. "It will be our secret."

Aphos's expression would have felled another man where he stood, Maxwell however strode over to the woman with the knife and started talking.

"Right so. I am not a bird, but I like birds, how can I help you fellow bird-lover?"

----

Aphos let Maxwell do his thing, glancing over at where the giant wolf had just appeared.

"So James." Aphos said, sitting on the impromptu chair his cloak had become. "As the only semi-sane member of this party besides yours truly, what the hell do you think is going on, and perhaps more importantly, what is with the wolf?"

The woman had lead them to a camp by a recently frozen over creek. Strange, filthy, badly bruised people were mulling about the camp looking increasingly more irritated as they chipped ice from their belongings and tents. The woman ushered them into a primitive looking shack made of rotting wood and leather.

"There is tyranny here - the Lord of the Wilds. He lies." She hissed the last word, clutching her knife close to her chest. "You were sent to kill him. We will help. In any way, anything you need."

The woman shoved a rucksack towards Maxwell. It contained some salted meats, a flask of oil, and roughly two feet of fraying rope.

------------

"Fuck if I know." James shrugged in response to Aphos. "We used to send people here to kill demons that were basically farming for power. That's pretty much all I know."

He was still damp and very cold. He disliked this.

Maxwell took the rucksack, and nodded gravely. "Right, well we're going to murder him, so thank you for the meat. Here, have a...thing." Maxwell said, reaching into his pocket and handing the woman a plastic baggie of instant noodles. Maxwell waved as he walked away, munching on some meat and wondering when he had pocketed the noodles. The day was getting off to an interesting start, and the meat? It wasn't half bad. He tossed some to his bear, who snapped it up appreciatively.

Aphos shrugged "I guess that makes sense." After nodding to himself, and grumbling for a bit, he noticed Jame's discomfort.

"Hey, look since your my uh....vassal or something, and I hate the cold too, let me help you out here." Having given himself an excuse to be nice, Aphos tossed James a link of chain that glowed slightly, as though lit from the inside.

"best solution for Maxwell's shitty taste in temperature." Aphos explained "Made of condensed Hellfire. Harmless, but dries you off and warms you up. I have a few, so keep that one."

The woman looked as if he had just handed her the key to Maxwell's oversized, obnoxiously opulent bedroom. Clearly she hadn't had food that wasn't torn from the bones of hellspawn in a very, very long time. As the sounds of the camp faded behind them, the group may have smelled the faint scent of artificial chicken flavoring.

James mumbled a shy expression of gratitude and popped out one of his earrings, forcing the chain link through. It was surprisingly pleasant and filled his head with warm fuzzy comfort. The pain of forcing a link of a chain through a hole in his ear even took a few extra seconds to set in.

"Well I just gauged up about six sizes too far." He grimaced before adding, helpfully: "Fuck."

----------

As they moved through what could loosely be described as a path, the group would start to smell acrid smoke. It was difficult to hear through the din of wildlife, but there was a somewhat industrial metal-on-metal sound in the distance. As lawless as it was out in this mess, it sounded an awful lot like there was a factory somewhere up ahead.

It also sounded an awful lot like claws were clicking against the icy path behind them. The bear was the first to notice this sound, letting out a warning grunt before a large wolf made of razor-sharp shards of ice pounced on Maxwell from behind.

[Bear tries to body-slam wolf.]
[Maxwell poofs the wolf out of reality.]

The bear looked back at Maxwell questioningly. "No impalement" Maxwell barked. The bear looked ashamed hanging it's muzzle. Maxwell patted it's head "It's okay, it's okay, I too have days where impalement is not on my list of concerns, but damnit!" He grabbed the bear's face in his hands, scrunching up its cheeks. "Impalement takes bandages, and im not carrying any bandages!" He and the bear let out a short chorus of grumbly sad noises.

Aphos refused to acknowledge the scene playing out before him. Instead, he focused on the strings, interrupted only briefly by the wailing from the crazed man and beast a few feet away. The threads were numerous, but they all seemed to lead to a central location, to the blizzard....wolf...thing? He wasn't really sure what to call it, but he had the distinct impression it was important.

"Doesn't take a genius." he muttered.

"Hey, waterworks parts one and two, we have a wolf... thing to catch."

Maxwell looked up. "Really?" he asked, resting his chin on the bear's head. "Well what are we waiting for then?"

James threw his hands up in defeat. His Master was insane. His Master's boss was insane. Everyone was insane. The BEAR was insane. They were here to kill a demon that was trying to start a war between the factions in Hell and they wanted to catch a wolf.

"Guys...that's...not why we came." He muttered. He doubted anyone was listening.

A haunting, echoing howl sent a rush of icy wind through the trees. Bird-like things and sharp herbivores scattered, their din instantly hushed by the threat of predators. The tree leaves and vegetation withered instantly under the crippling chill. Suddenly it was a goddamn Canadian winter.

With much of the vegetation gone, it was easier to see the smoke rising in the distance. It was also easier to see the clouds above, obscuring deep void space, swirling in a menacing, hurricane-like fashion.

"Ow! Fuck!" James yelped as something the size of a small pebble struck his shoulder. He stooped down to pick up the offending object. "What the hell...? Oh shit is it hailing? It's hailing."

Maxwell looked up, then down, at the hailstone that had hit him in the forehead. "It's war then." he muttered.

"It's what?" Aphos asked, sounding a bit worried.

"War..." Maxwell whispered.

Aphos blinked. "It's the weather asshole, you cant fight the weather."

Maxwell raised two gargantuan plumes of flame to the sky and cackled. It started raining exceedingly hot water.

"Maxwell you fuck!"

James held his wing over Aphos's head to shield him from the scalding rain. He immediately regretted this decision, but he was a vassal of the reaper and as far as contracts were concerned he had no choice. He briefly considered punching Maxwell in the face before remembering that he had just shot two plumes of fire into the sky to fight the weather. He did not act upon his urges.

The recently withered vegetation shriveled back even more under the heat shock. The tree trunks, cracked by the frost, eagerly accepted the warmth and gleefully lit the way. All the way. The forest caught flame. An instantaneous and ferocious blizzard immediately quenched this flame, loosed from the mouth of a very large and very angry wolf-spirit. The rushing wind of snow and hail melted upon hitting the wall of heat, spraying a scalding mist over everyone involved.

[James takes 20 damage to his wing which he uses to shield himself and Aphos]
[Aphos gets a luck re-roll on his nat 1, allowing him to take only 5 damage from over-splash to the face]
[Maxwell is mostly shielded by the bodies of the men in front of him, taking only 5 damage]
[The bear is largely unaffected but somewhat annoyed by this inconveniently wet encounter]

Aphos cursed, looked at James, observing the latter's damaged wing, then gave the wolf a glare that would melt steel, and cocked his shotgun.

Maxwell looked at the wolf spirit as though it was a long awaited Christmas gift. "Oh, now THAT I can get behind. Look!" He said, motioning for the bear to look at the wolf. The bear did not seem as excited by the wolf, but gave a congratulatory harrumph anyway. "I know, it's great!" Maxwell exclaimed.

----

Aphos walked forwards, until he was looking up at the wolf's stately, if currently snarling, muzzle. "Hey Balto, can you talk? Because I have a few things i want to ask you. If you can;t talk im about to look like an idiot, but hey these are the risks we take."

"WE CAN SPEAK, YES." Came a cacophony of voices inside of Aphos's skull. Nobody else heard these distressingly loud words, which sounded a lot like an entire continent simultaneously screaming over a vicious winter storm.

The wolf brought her paw up, three foot long claws flashing dangerously, and proceeded to stomp directly on the reaper.

[Easy dodge, congrats.]

Her paw struck the ground hard enough to leave a massive indent. James ollied right the fuck out of the way.

"Well that makes things simpler." Aphos said. "First question; Why do you keep making it COLD?!?" With this, Aphos swung the butt of his shotgun up in an ark right at the side of the wolf-mother's head.

[30 Damage to the wolfbrain]

"Question two!"

"Do I get a turn?" Maxwell asked.

"Question fucking TWO!" Aphos yelled "Who are you assholes?"

----

Maxwell hung back, figuring that for the time being, watching Aphos whack the wolf was not the worst way to spend his time. He'd have to go and stop him before he killed it, but for the time being he just watched, lying on his bear's back, which had kindly retracted its blades for his comfort.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHH H H H H H H H H H H H H H" Came the wolf-mother's extremely helpful reply. She continued screaming instead of answering any questions, causing more hail and harsher winds to whip up as a result. A furious swipe of her claws caught James off-guard, sending him flying backwards into a tree.

[James is winded by the blow and takes 10 damage from impact, having shielded himself from the actual claws with chainsword and lucky dice rolls]

Too enraged and too lobotomized to act on the prone angel,the claws sought Aphos' face instead. Ice coated the tips, extending her reach significantly.

Aphos dodged reflexively in-between the wolves legs, blasting a slug into her back right leg. [30 damage]

"Fuck.....sakes" Aphos groaned, wincing. That had to be one of the least pleasant sounds he had ever been subjected to, and given his boss, that was no small feat. "Alright then, he muttered I guess i just have to..."

Before he could blow the screaming animal's ass off however Maxwell erupted from the sidelines, his hands glowing with imagination energy. "HOLD UP (Aeee-aee)"

He landed On the wolf mother's head, and essentially cupped her eyeballs, which suddenly flashed with bright static that wrapped it's way around her like a silk sheet. Within moments, her new form had emerged, milk white and shining, with layers of white static interference hovering around her like snow.

"HEY!" Aphos yelled. "I was going to ask that thing questions."

Maxwell looked at his bear, who looked back at him. They both rolled their eyes. "Fine Aphos, whatever makes you happy." Maxwell said indulgently.

Aphos said a few choice words about Maxwell's lineage, but relented, and spoke to the wolf-mother, hoping her new vocal chords worked half as well as Maxwell's own.

The wolf-mother howled, staggered, and stiffened. Her posture and demeanor changed entirely as her children, millions of years of connections and bonds, shattered, souls racing to the surface of the world in a tragic event that would one day be referred to as "The Winter". White void rushed in to fill the empty space inside of her. She clung to the world loosely now, but she held long enough to answer Aphos's barrage of questions.

In a single, quieter voice she explained the way Purgatory worked.

"I am the White Wolf. I embodied mist and fog before your friend froze my domain. I embody ice and frost now. I was put here by God at the beginning of time to tend to the souls of Purgatory. My children and I hunted them for sustenance, but they learned to stay safe from us. They held their sanity long enough to weaken us with hunger, forcing us to stalk them and drive them into our jaws. When my children consumed a human soul, that soul joined us in the hunt. When you destroy one of my children - or me - you release those souls back to Earth, where they nest in new bodies in the hopes of ascending to heaven in their next life. Or descending to hell. Anywhere but here. There are other spirits that function just the same. Humans fight us tooth and claw, trying to maintain their humanity as long as they can. Purgatory is a recycling center. It's also where monsters are bred, as the souls that come here corrupt in unpredictable ways sometimes. You seek the Beastlord, a demon banished here to tend to the souls. He steals and corrupts them himself whenever possible. We hate him as much as the humans do. He steals our prey from us and makes it poisonous."

With her input given, her form hissed and cracked like tv static. Without souls binding her together, she would have to retreat to the White Void in between visits to the real world. The wolf-mother blinked out of existence.

[HOWLING HORRORS: Maxwell can summon the wolf-mother once a day to do his bidding. She still embodies ice and frost, but is now composed of white void instead of souls.]

"Well that makes a lot more sense now." Aphos said. "Doesn't that make more sense now jackass? You bet it does. Nope, he's talking to the bear again. Hey James, am I being unreasonable? Is asking a denizen of purgatory to save us fucking time unreasonable? Maybe I'm the crazy one, maybe I'M the fucking idiot? Who knows, not me!" Aphos said angrily, throwing his hands in the air as Maxwell continued to ignore him, apparently reciting Shakespeare to the bear with a conjured skull.

He shook his head, cooling off, metaphorically, but thankfully not literally now that the ice spirit was elsewhere.

"Alright, well, let's see what else we have here. We need to find the beast guy, and I'm guessing Maxwell is trying to go all pokemon on us here so, best guess, we should head to the factory place and take it from there."