Draiss' intervention turns the tide on more than a dozen battles, the gods having now burst into open warfare across the planes. Just traveling the outer planes is a dangerous prospect, as the chance of finding yourself caught in the middle of open warfare, or, worse, being drafted into one of the countless armies, is quite high.<br/><br/>Hours pass, as Draiss is fed a constant stream of updates, in the slow moments between battles, and while the prospects for his 'side' look good, the prospects for the planes in general seem poor. Nearly one in ten gods have fallen in battle, or are badly wounded, and forced into losing, defensive battles, and more than half are engaged in pitched battles, which can only end in one side or the other being crushed.<br/><br/>Reports about Verdelet's fortress are trickling in, and it certainly doesn't look good. While it would be possible to portal into it, the portals would take time to open, which would give the defenders ample warning and, worse, would be unstable, preventing the formation of actual beachheads in her territory. Orbital strikes are out, too; the defenses have been set up to slow anything entering the shielded area enough that such a strike would have little more effect than throwing it by hand. Heavy anti-air defenses have been set up, as well, to crush anything trying to pierce through the shield. In fact, the most practical way to launch an assault would be a ground-based assault force, forcing siege weaponry into the shield and launching artillery, from within the shield, to push further in. Of course, that does mean punching through her entrenched army of constructs, which means it's going to be a brutal battle, but it's at least a viable tactic.