The battle, if it could even be called that, was swiftly coming to a close. Any meaningful resistance had been crushed, and any that had a will to fight were col corpses. At least, until their bodies were possessed and animated by the fiery spirits summoned by Emily. The Dungeon Keeper  drew this morning's event to a close with yet another telepathic signal, though this one was not to his champions that had done the fighting.

Rather, the signal was sent to the hordes of imps that had been lurking in the woods a ways off while this happened. Now that they had been told that the fighting was done, the defenders gone, and the village ripe for plunder, the cowardly demons ran for the village with their mouths almost salivating. As the hundred or eager demons surged out of the treeline, they swept across the land like a crimson wave of blood. They poured into each and every building, scouring every crevice. They found a surprising amount of the villagers alive inside the homes, as several had simply hid in their closets or beneath their beds when they heard the sound of fighting.

In any case, when there were five of the cowardly imps against one or two terrified women or children, the demons turned out to be not so craven after all. The people that they found were dragged outside, as was anything remotely valuable. Tools, food, jewelry, even furniture was stolen. A few imps went about ripping doors out of their frames. Having no scruples, the depraved minions even found their way to the village cemetery and defiled its sanctity with their grave robbing. The demons butchered all of the livestock to bring back the meat and hides, then set about emptying the granaries. The only way that the scene could have been more sickening would have been if Emily had not turned the corpses into flame zombies; imps tended to carry small daggers not only to torture the dying, but only so that they could loot slain enemies. They were known to cut off fingers in order to take rings, and use the pommel of their daggers to smash out any golden teeth.

By the time that the morning had turned to midday, the imps had thoroughly looted the entire settlement; after all, imps are notoriously quick and efficient when it comes to sacking hamlets. A dozen of the nefarious creatures drew a circle in the middle of the village, and set out performing a dark ritual. After a long incantation and sacrificing a few victims, they had created a portal into the dungeon, which they promptly used to begin taking back all of their ill-gained loot. Any servants of the Overlord that hadn't already left to march back to the dungeon could simply take the portal, sparing them the short walk. Several of the imps stayed behind for a while to burn down the rest of the village. They would leave the humans nothing to reclaim save ash. Not even the remains of their countrymen would be left behind, for Emily had put those corpses to good use.

Once everybody had returned, one of the larger chambers of the cave system was cleared. Every human captive and looted object was to be displayed there for the Horde to claim and split up as they saw fit. A short time after the meeting was assembled and most everyone had showed up, the shadows in the room began to twitch. The champions, most likely quarreling over their pick of loot and prisoners, might not have noticed the change. Some of the terrified prisoners chained by the wall did, however, for the shadows' motion was accompanied by an aura of dread and choking evil. Their soft hearts were not used to such sensations yet.

Suddenly the shadow of every object in the dimly lit chamber began to crawl across the floor, converging in one point. The shadows themselves having moved, the room was strangely bright, lit by some sort of foreboding red glow as the darkness began to recede into one corner and then coalesce. After a few moments, the shadows twisted and swirled, the imposing figure of the Master manifesting itself. His dramatic entrance complete, the shadows sprinted back to where the belonged.

With a dark grin, the Dungeon Keeper stepped forth. His demonic voice spoke out with the cadence of steel grinding on stone, [i][b]"Well done. That hamlet is no more, and ever faithful to my orders, none escaped. Of course, I expected nothing less."[/b][/i]

Those of the human captives that were missing family members or friends choked at that statement, but they dared not speak. They would not utter so much as a word in this horrific place, surrounded by countless nightmarish demons and monsters.

A subtle grin appeared on the warlock's visage, a rare look of crass amusement. [b][i]"So, on to business... For my share of spoils, I shall take only ten slaves."[/i][/b]

With a mere flick of his wrist ten of the humans vanished into thin air, the empty shackles that had bound them clattering onto the stone floor.

Having taken his toll, the Dungeon Keeper was now content to let his followers claim their loot from the small hoard. Once the meeting had achieved that much, the topic would move on to their the thoughts of the various denizens of the dungeon, and then they would likely be left to their own devices for a time while their master set about working on his next plot.