The vortex was finally fully formed. Washes of various shades of black and red swirled before coalescing into something energetic and sparking with black electricity. Then, a bolt of lightning struck the ground, equally as dark as the rest of it. And again, and again, leaving behind a deep scorch mark in the reddening grass. The scorch mark shifted itself, as if it were solid, and rose out of the ground. Wings unfurled; a body stood up...
A Charizard stood before them, a black flame on his tail, as well as dark lines between his many scales. He held out his hand as shadows twisted around it, forming the handle of a strange weapon, before finally solidifying into a large spear.
"Hello," he greeted. "My name is Diyem. The reason you are all here is by my design. And very soon, you will begin this ritual proper."
He snapped his claws with his free hand. Just above it, a strange, twisted clock appeared--it looked like an astral clock, but the seconds ticked by irregularly, rapidly and slowly, sometimes not at all before swinging whole hours ahead, though never backward. There was an ominous marking near part of it, which the clock was rapidly approaching, suggesting that once it did, something would happen.
"Based on this planar clock, which corresponds to the astral plane's flow of time, the ritual will begin. While this number means very little to you... it shall begin just
over a day from now... in
this clock's rapidly moving timer. You should pay close attention to it."
