Wrath

*A forest of dead, bone white trees and broken undergrowth howls about you, and everwhere you look are long, primitive stakes piercing through the soil, atop which are speared grossly mishapen and rotten corposes by the hundreds. The corpses open their glowing eyes as one, and an amber firelight shines through the white forest as Wrath wakes and bores into you with its rage.*

**Wrath** is one of the seven Principalities of Hell in *Wheel of Fire.* Unlike the other Principalities, Wrath manifests as a legion of the dead in the Pyre, a region in Hell known for its enternally burned out trees and the scores of lost souls drawn there from mortal battles.

## Personality

Wrath's personality is best understood as an alloy of the souls that make up its form. According to most, Wrath first appeared in Hell when the Pyre manifested, and is assumed to be a gestalt entity comprised of those who died in the Pyre, back when it existed in the mortal realm. What battle or massacre occured to make sure an event happen isn't known, but ever since the Pyre has been a magnet for those whose lives were lost in angony and despair.

This is a two-edged sword for Wrath; though its power is immense, Wrath is fractured and unfocused, and its strength threatens those who want to deal with the Principality. When coherent, Wrath speaks as one with the voices of those dead and forgotten in the Pyre. Its most repeated phrase is "The fire must turn," but Wrath's exact message or intent is unknown, beyond a desire for pain and suffering and the continuation of senseless bloodshed. Fighting for a cause isn't enough for Wrath: meaningless slaughter is necessary for Wrath's purposes.

Whatever those purposes are, Wrath commands a degree of respect from the other Principalities, if for no other reason than Wrath's age: it is the oldest Principality of Hell, save perhaps for Pride, and it seems likely that Wrath has existed for eras long forgotten by all. The knowledge that Wrath commands is vast - that is, if Wrath can focus enough to remember.

## Domain

Wrath's domain is, arguably, the whole of the Pyre, though it doesn't command the area the way the other Principalities do with theirs. It is similar to Greed, in that Wrath's domain *is* Wrath itself, but this is more due to the spread of the cruicified and impaled dead throughout Pyre than any real intent on the part of Wrath.

Travel through Wrath's domain is dangerous and draining. Ash blows in hot tempests through the bones of burned out trees, and many half-aware devils and monsters of the outer planes migrate towards Pyre, drawn by Wrath's strength and fractured fury. Wrath itself is seemingly as likely to harm its supplicants as it is to help them, but some speak of Wrath attacking those in its domain primarily to gauge their strength and determination, rather than a desire to simply extinguish and absorb all who approach it.

## Powers

Wrath's potential for destruction is vast, greater than perhaps all the other Principalities, but its fractured alloy of a mind holds Wrath back from ruling Hell. The bodies within Pyre are Wrath's to command, however, and attack as one with a brutal ferocity against those who challenge it. Wrath also seems to nautrally draw mortal souls to itself, and it gains power with little effort where the other Principalities have to work to gather theirs. Whether Wrath actually *wants* its power is up for debate.

Wrath's granted powers are themed around destruction, determination and inflicting pain. Its perferred natural attacks are unarmed strikes with hands or fists.