Battle of the Nine Hells
Unease crackled through the ranks of The Banished Gods upon their return to the Vermal. Most felt as though they were cast out from the world of Inventa for their destructive tendencies. The power struggle was particularly fierce between The Hateful Hand, a being of unyielding cruelty, and The Dark Huntress, a creature of untamed chaos. The Hateful Hand chafed under the constraints of The Collective, a pact forged by the banished to maintain order within their fiery domain – Vermal. The Dark Huntress, while acknowledging the benefits of cooperation, yearned for a realm where untamed power reigned supreme.
This simmering tension between the two deities erupted in a cataclysmic event known as the Sundering. The Dark Huntress’ spirit yearning for the untamed chaos of the Abyss, led a mass exodus from Vermal. Many demons, drawn to her wild spirit and the promise of endless carnage, followed her. They vanished into the Abyss, a churning realm of infinite layers and unbridled pandemonium, forever altering the balance of power.
Seizing the opportunity for mischief, The Troublemaker abandoned Vermal altogether. She set her sights on Ythax – a swirling vortex of raw magical energy where reality itself was in constant flux. Following the lead of the others, The Forgotten Coin saw the Sundering as an opportunity to escape the political turmoil of Vermal. They vanished into the desolate wastelands of Xibal, a barren plane where silence reigns and resources are scarce.
With an immense power vacuum left by the departing deities, an unexpected turn of events would play out. The Destroyer noticed a cunning human soul trapped within the infernal realm. This soul, through sly bargains, displays of impressive power, and a twisted form of empathy, had amassed a significant following amongst the damned souls. The Destroyer saw this and recognised the power they could add, and so bestowed upon this unlikely candidate a twisted form of divinity, elevating them to the rank of The Duke of Hell.
The unlikely Duke, dissimilar from most denizens of the fiery realm, did not revel in purely inflicting torment upon the damned. Having witnessed the depths of suffering first-hand, they instituted a radical new system within their domain. Souls were judged upon arrival, assigned punishing tasks based on their skills and abilities, and even offered a glimmer of redemption – for a suitably high price, of course. This surprisingly humane and lawful approach garnered them a great deal of respect and a rapidly growing power base.
However, the established chaotic order, embodied by The Hateful Hand, refused to accept this new paradigm. They viewed the Duke's reforms as a betrayal of the very essence of Vermal. This simmering tension ignited into open warfare across the nine layers of Hell, a conflict known as the Battle of the Nine Hells. The Duke's growing legion of reformed souls and opportunistic demons clashed with the established infernal forces led by The Hateful Hand. Clashes raged across the desolate plains and scorching deserts of Vermal as twisted monsters fought souls in a history making war.
The Emperor, a god created by The Hateful Hand to serve as a ruler over lesser beings, saw an opportunity to bolster power through a pact with his creator. They promised him dominion over Vermal if he aided them in defeating the Duke. Blinded by ambition, The Emperor agreed.
The Emperor's intervention briefly tipped the scales in The Hateful Hand's favour. However, the Duke's forces, fuelled by a desire for reform, ultimately emerged victorious. The Emperor, caught in the inferno of the final battle, was consumed by its flames. Though the flames might have extinguished The Hateful Hand's direct control, they warped The Emperor's essence, reforging him as monstrous entity. This downfall sent fear throughout The Hateful Hand’s forces, for if such a divinity could fall then they may stand no chance.
The Duke of Hell saw this and before The Hateful Hand could action anything, offered the entity a place in the reformed Vermal. The Ruined Emperor, possibly still harboring traces of The Hateful Hand's cruelty within its twisted form, accepted and rules alongside The Duke of Hell.
The Destroyer saw the Battle of the Nine Hells and the fall of The Emperor as an opportunity to further disrupt the balance of power. They abandoned Vermal altogether, carving out their own domain within the desolate wastes of Xibal and leaving the power vacuum growing. This move further destabilised the already precarious balance between the infernal realms.
The Hateful Hand, defeated and humiliated, was banished to the lowest depths of Vermal where he rules over the twisted monsters unthinkable to any sentient creature.
With Hell firmly under their control, the newly empowered Duke of Hell and Ruined Emperor set about reshaping the infernal realm. Their followers gave up their souls, their very existence, to empower them. The Duke of Hell established a new hierarchy, creating the first Archdevils – powerful lieutenants tasked with overseeing the reformed nine layers of Vermal. This marked the dawn of a new era in Vermal, an era where a twisted form of order, fuelled by ambition and a surprising pragmatism, replaced the previous reign of unbridled cruelty. The echoes of the Battle of the Nine Hells and the Sundering still reverberated across the infernal planes, a stark reminder of the ever-shifting balance of power and the unpredictable nature of even The Banished Gods.
The Duke of Hell didn’t stop there however, for he would go on to create connections with all other evil deities. This connection still reigns today and is widely recognised as The Contingent, a pact of readiness should an opportunity expose itself. It was under The Duke of Hell’s rule that the evil deities would come together to create more divine entities. Finding lost Titans across the Abyss, The Dark Huntress offered them powers unmatched by their magical survival in such a brutal plane. This marked a wider collection of The Banished Gods, giving creation to gods such as The Chained Crow and The Burning Snake, to name a few.
Out of the evil planes of existence, as the Dragons soared the skies protecting Inventa from any would-be threats, a new power was also being worked, a Gift of the Divine Arts.
