Naberius

Naberius is the demon prince of oppression. 
== Description ==
Naberius in its most natural form is an executioner's axe made up of the twisted remnants of all that have died to it swelling and contorting around its form. In truth, the demon itself is the blue orb that is seated within the center of the axe head. While on the Material Plane of Urz, Naberius's form is a more conventional though strange great axe made of metals and minerals engraved with draconic runes and markings. 
=== Worshippers ===
Those who wish to gain power over others will seek power from Naberius. In truth, this is folly because Naberius wishes to control the worshippers more than they wish to control others and will act through their agents to exact further and further dominance in the Material Plane. The cult is either a loose, disparate broken group of would-be leaders vying for power from one another or a well-structured organization with one powerful leader at its head. 
==== Naberius's Pact ====
To forge a pact with the Oppressor is to sell one's soul away for a fleeting mortal matter. Eternal servitude is the only reward for such a person as the axe knows no mercy and it has no care for the dreams or aspirations of others. It most commonly takes on the pact of the blade with those who sign their souls away doing so by drawing the head of an axe across palm or sometimes cleaving off a digit with a hatchet.
== History ==
=== Creation ===
Naberius was created during the War of Sword and Serpent's earliest days by the necromancer dragon Baharazzat from the corpse of a fallen son of Ashmadia herself and a legion of twisted demons pulled from Kuzimu. As the war waged on, Naberius found itself in conflict with all who would interact with it. The Elves hated Naberius for being an abomination to the natural order, a twisting fiendish entity capable of great slaughter. The Dragons did not trust Naberius and hated its arrogance and desire to force into servitude all that it came into contact with. And the Demons saw Naberius as an usurper that wished to take power that was not its by right. 
=== The Axe Persists ===
Regwos-Nu, demon prince of oppression, saw Naberius as the sole rival to his power and his throne of sin. He used his powerful fiendish magics and the magics of his servants to turn Naberius into an axe. Despite the transformation, Naberius retained its essence, its soul, and its sentience. The axe was gifted by Regwos-Nu to a loyal lieutenant who aided in bringing Naberius to a point where it could be so easily transmuted and bound. This now nameless and forgotten demon lieutenant's will was shattered by Naberius who assaulted his very mental being and forced the great demon to stand against and kill Regwos-Nu, which granted the axe the power of the throne of oppression. With the same power that transmuted him into an implement of death, Naberius controlled its wielder to turn Regwos-Nu into a scythe that was cast out of Kuzimu into the Material Plane. With this, Naberius was also able to have an exact duplicate of itself enter the world. When the Covenant of the Ascended was made the law of the world and divine powers were barred from influencing the lives of mortals, Naberius's axe form was looked over and was not understood to be a direct link for the demon prince to whichever mortal would take it up in arms.
=== Executioner's Son ===
For generations, Naberius served as a royal executioner's axe in the city of Old Hisrech in Gernaris. The executioner's son served as a vigilant member of the city's honor guard and would take up the axe as his armament when his father passed. Along with a hand-picked group of other servants of the Dynast, this warrior named Alek Surion would transport a package from the mages of the royal court to the Elvish gate city of Einkarad. Upon delivery, it was revealed the package was a magical explosive device that destroyed the magics of the Great Tree that allowed for easy passage between the Shae'zhas and Urz along with hundreds if not thousands of innocent citizens of the city. Alek was troubled that the mages and his Dynast would lie to him and set upon him the weight of those dead innocents. It was at this moment Naberius began its whispers, inspiring Alek to join against the Dynast and the court mages. His actions, along with the machinations of Magnus the Mad and early provocateurs and proponents for magical law would lead to the formation of The Conglomerate.
=== Exile's Quest ===
The axe was lost to history, buried deep within the sands of time. It resurfaced in the hands of a dragonborn named Nahf Rockscale, an exile of the island of Seosaidh that wished to bring honor and glory to his once great clan and return back to his homeland to open arms and applause. The axe whispered to him that this would be so, but it was the act of taking the axe that lead to his exile in the first place. He banded together with a group of adventurers, delving into sunless ruins and darkest dungeons to learn more of the history of the great Dragon Matron named Ashmadia. He also wished to find other draconic exiles and bring about their end. In this, his madness would well up and the demands of Naberius would be harder for him to check. In such a weakened position while fighting against an adult black dragon, Nahf murdered his compatriots to empower the axe and leapt from the summit of a mountain to land on and fight the dragon. The outcome of this fight was never learned, but the axe was later found in the forest at the base of the mountain with no sign of Nahf or the dragon.
=== Intruder Soul ===
When the Esperedges formed around the Black Blade of Rastegar, the Great Red One lingered with the soul of Nahf Rockscale and would bond with the dragonborn to take its place among these chosen weapons to serve. It was taken up by Orys Darklyn in his fight against the Lich Magier in Ocyria. Orys would meet a terrible fate drowning inside a partially submerged temple and his soul would enter into the axe to join Nahf and Naberius. During this time, the demon prince remained silent, understanding that divine powers were at work with this calling of weaponry and that such attention was unwanted. After Orys's death, the axe would be taken up by another rebel that stood against the Lich Magier by the name of Leon Kritodemos. It served its purpose in helping defeat the Lich Magier, breaking the wizard's hold over the Pyramid of Souls and tyrannical control over the nation of Ocyria. The souls that resided in the axe fled it and entered into Keldur Alfwyn when all the souls of the Pyramid forced themselves into his mind, but Naberius remained hidden within the axe. It would be taken along with other relics by Davos to be placed in a museum memorializing the sacrifices of the Old Guard in liberating the Ocyrian peoples. The axe would end up missing soon after being placed out for display.
=== Current ===
Naberius's whereabouts in the Material Plane are unknown. It has grown in power exponentially with the inner conflicts between the Gates that have arisen of late as older demon princes have been usurped from their thrones and replaced with younger and arguably less cunning powers.
== Trivia ==
Naberius and the Great Old One were originally made as a take on "Weapons of Legacy" from Dungeons & Dragons 3rd Edition for D&D 4E to be used by Dan Young's character Alek Surion, an executioner's son turned soldier who was bound to go on a quest of morality testing conflicts. The weapon would gain power as it built up "Concordance", which would be gained when the wielder acted in a way that benefited the weapon's personal goals. It could also be purified, which would have served to defeat the demon prince in the Material Plane. This mechanic and concept has been attempted a few times after (with Nahf Rockscale, Orys Darklyn, Leon Kritodemos), but has never been fully realized to the heights the creator feels it could be pushed to. A story for a future campaign.