A Vision of Treachery

On a large island floating in the sky, a sizable crowd is gathered.  Aarokocra and Kenku and a few air elementals are watching as a tall aarokocran gentlemen in a suit steps forward to make a speech:

Today is the day our turmoil comes to an end.  The elections have concluded, and votes are being counted in the building behind me.  In just a few hours, our next leader will have been chosen.  I know this election has been tumultuous, but it is critical that whoever wins has our full, united support.  Times are tough, and given the recent incursions on the vale we need to remain vig-

He stops speaking abruptly because the crowd is not paying attention.  They are looking to the west, where a large glass ball appears to be streaking towards them like a comet.  Thinking quickly, he dashes away; hastily directing the crowds to scatter and take shelter underneath the island itself.  This quick action saves many lives, as not even a minute later the beacon crashes into the very podium the official was speaking on.  The beacon itself appears unharmed, and the crowd slowly gathers around it to investigate.  It is a large glass sphere, and water appears to ripple from the surface... always moving and flowing, but with no apparent source nor destination.  Then, without warning... it explodes.  A portal opens, to a land of ash, from which a wide variety of misshapen fiends and monstrosities begin to spew forth.  They attack and kill without mercy.  A particularly large green-skinned one shouts in abyssal:

Let none escape!  There can be no witnesses!

Suddenly, the vision shifts.  A suited eladrin is speaking to a Kenku with streaks of red feathers:

Have no fear, sir.  I am quite confident that you are about to win this election, regardless of what the poll numbers would suggest?

The candidate replies:

How can you be so sure?

A sinister grin breaks out over the advisor's face.

Because you have the support of Gehenna! Nobody loses an election with us on their side!

The candidate steps back, suddenly startled, but his simply laughs maniacally as he retrieves a scroll from inside his jacket.  Understanding lights up in the Kenku's eyes, and he dives for the eladrin, but is too late.  The spell is cast, and as the man pretending to be his advisor utters a single word, his life is snuffed out.  The imposter casually steps aside in order to dodge the candidate's corpse, letting his form shimmer and fade to reveal a tall jackal-headed figure in a blue robe.  This form fades as quickly as it arrived, quickly being replaced with the mirror image of the man he had slain.  He bends over the corpse, speaking in abyssal:

Pathetic.  They really must have been scraping the bottom of the barrel if a single word was all it took to slay their would-be god.  No matter... time to get to work.