Thursday, February 13, 2025

The Names of Blood (3/3)

When the Gods of Hell lost their war and were cast down beneath creation, a prison was created for them. The Sevenfold City was to be their cage, its bars crafted from the metaphysical skeins of reality, and it is indeed a mighty prison, but among the Athe, there was a fear that it would not be enough. 

Another prison was created, not one of walls and dimensional cages, but a leash that might follow a devil wherever they went, confining them, restricting their actions far beyond the bounds of Hell. So it was that the gods were met by Sathi.

The Bloodletter


Sathi is the goddess of blood, strife, war, and winter. Her name is a curse spoken in hushed tones, and her worship is scarcely seen during peacetime. She is an old god, perhaps one of the Elder Things, but she is also of the Athe. Myth teaches us that she was often despised by her pantheon, for she was cruel and cold-hearted, with an uncanny knack for driving men and beast towards acts of uncanny violence. She too, was an enemy of the Athe in some sense, though they had never come to blows. Despite their enmity, she offered a solution to their problem that they could not ignore.

Her proposition was thus: She would scribe the name of each devil and bind them to her own, for names the most central component of being to all gods and things of the spirit. Each devil's name would become a tool to be used against them, no matter where they were or how powerful they were, if their name was spoken aloud, they would be compelled to obey their caller. Sathi alone would know their names, and as collateral, she would fashion herself a name in the oldest tongue and bind her name to one of the Athe, thus she could never raise the armies of the Cities against the gods of the Athe. 

And so each devil's blood was drawn and with that blood their names were written into the pages of many great black tomes, which the final layer of hell would hold within great stony walls, and the armies of hell would be christened with new titles, their old names plucked from the heads of those who once knew them. The gods of hell, meanwhile, would do much the same as Sathi did. They were not stripped of their names (with one exception), but forged new, punitive ones, which would keep them bound should the walls of their prison ever fray.

Adramses, the Iron Ram, Black Hearted, the Burning King, 2nd Prince of Hell


Adramses is a cruel master to serve. Of all the gods of Hell, he is perhaps the most loathsome. His form is that of a great, scarred man with the head of a great ram, composed of molten iron. He is the god of jailers, prisoners, torture, and suffering. Fire is his weapon of choice and he is said to be an utter sadist. His devils are those are most often seen, for they crave battle, and their names may be traded amongst warring armies like weapons of mass destruction.

His layer of hell is Thrine, and it is the third deepest. Adramses delighted in the captivity of men, thus the notion that they should be free of the gods went over about as poorly as one can imagine. He led his armies against the Athe without fear, bested finally by the efforts of Natos. Though he would lose their bout, he was not felled, earning him the title of "he who would defy death." His worshippers are, similar to Urus, often the desperate. He's a god of the suffering and the downtrodden, the prisoner headed for the gallows who longs for one day more. He's a god for the executioner and jailer too, as well as the torturer. No matter what side of the cell bars you fall behind, he can serve you.

Adramses is also a friend to the summoner, as mentioned previously, his brood of devils are particularly vicious and adept in the art of war. The Sin-Eaters, those who invoke Adramses in battle are very much the archetypal diabolic spellcasters, channeling their own suffering into fell magic of fire and brimstone, laying waste to their enemies with cruelty and glee.

The Whispered, Cloak of Darkness, The Man Below the World, 1st Prince of Hell


There was only one god of the Sevenfold City who was truly stripped of their name, and he is known as the Whispered God. He is a god of wealth and the underworld, a great shadow in the darkness, a bat with eyes of gold who flew on wings of midnight and stone. The crime which cost him his name is unknown, but it is said before the war, he was among Amora's greatest allies. What drove him to betrayal is uncertain.

The Nameless God lives in the layer of hell known as Osk, a bleak and silent mausoleum. During the war, he was undoubtedly a terribly foe, but perhaps it was the fact that he was so dear to Amora that he was punished so greatly. It is said that the goddess of the sun's temper can be terrible indeed, and he was not the first to wrong her (Pity the Weaver). The Whispered God was notable for his ability to entice mortals into his service. Gold is a valuable thing to men, valuable enough that it has often made them act against their own self interests. Battles with the Nameless meant the loss of much human life, a crime that likely only served to stoke Amora's fury.

The Nameless commands all that which man covets under the earth, and that alone can be a very powerful weapon indeed, for there is a greed in the hearts of some men that cannot be satisfied so easily. It can also be a literal weapon in some cases, molten gold is certainly lethal more often than not. By invoking his unknown name, followers of the Whispered God can travel swiftly through the night as little more than a rustle in the bushes, swift as sound, and the lack thereof. 

The Nameless God is the most powerful being in hell alive for the initial war between the gods, yet in the hierarchy of the Sevenfold City, there is one that outranks him.

Cathis, the Bloody Prince, the Sword of Sathi, Lord of Hell


Sathi lives not in hell but in the pits beneath, with the rest of the Elder Things of our world, and she had little interest in changing that after her deal was struck. Not wanting to leave the throne of the final city empty, she sired a child with Adramses, to rule in her stead. He rules from the throne of Va-il, the final layer of hell, and in addition to Sathi, he may be the only being in existence who knows the names of all denizens of the Sevenfold City.

He is said to take the form of a young warrior, pale and sickly. with few other notable qualities about him. It would be a mistake to underestimate the Lord of Hell, however. He is his mother's child, and he would split you in twain and think nothing of it. 

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