Multiversal

Just after dark, the air of Baedal seems to change. While it was tense before, with the stand-off in Mafaton, a new kind of electrical energy begins to spread through the city, leaking from the sky itself. The horizon is clear tonight, even starry where the city lights don't obscure the view, but soon enough it begins to blur with color, and at an alarmingly rapid pace. Bright streaks of pink and green begin to spiral across the sky, in an approximation of the auroras, though it is much nearer and brighter than any common demonstration of an aurora should be. The geomagnetic storm swirls and dances, initially beautiful, but its intensity is ominous.

It's also growing. Most geomagnetic storms stay to one corner, but this spreads across the entire sky, green-purple-pink-red illuminated and inching further into the dark, leaving the city of Baedal tinted with a dim, eerie glow. This continues for about a half an hour, until that tension reaches its breaking point.

The magical boundaries holding Mafaton crack and then completely shatter. It is audible, and the backlash sends flying many of the Candlelighters trying frantically to preserve the borders of their siege. A few of them are killed by the backlash of their spell's combustion, but more are simply shaken; having one's magic work so thoroughly broken is not a pleasant experience. The sound covers another tearing, this time a metaphysical one that rips the heavens open in places the common eye can't see. Those whose vision allows them to observe different layers of reality will notice, but others will only see the incoming flood of creatures from other universes.

One siege has ended, but another has just begun, and this time, it's not just Mafaton at risk.

Who: Candlelighter operatives.
What: The siege begins.
When: Evening, until the following night.

An hour before the broadcast on the Network, groups of focused, quiet, inconspicuously clothed women and men (some of them magically cloaked, so as not to arouse suspicion before their missive has been sent) begin to surround the canton of Mafaton. They situate themselves carefully along the border, in clusters of two and three. When the broadcast goes up, they are notified, and immediately send up magical flares to one another, bright red lights flying high in the air and exploding like supernatural fireworks. In addition to sending a sign to citizens local to them, this act reinforces the border they have established, and allows these foot soldiers of the Candlelighters to stay lurking on the edges.

Anyone who tries to cross their path will almost certainly be captured. They may be held hostage, but it's much more likely that they will be simply killed for their trouble. These individuals may all be flesh and blood humans, but they're still magically powerful, and they're driven by a ruthless fanaticism. Still, they may engage those trapped within Mafaton during the siege, although they are unlikely to have anything good or kind to say.