Von Eldritch family

* Crest
* Members

"*We take what belongs to us. We take what belongs to others. We take anything that will please us. We take what pleases others. We will take **everything**. And ours it will be.*"
— Leviathan detailing the Von Eldritch philosophy.

**Eldritch** is the surname of the royal family that rules over the Envy Ring and Hell's sea demon population. They are one of the most affluent and recognized families in Hell, and are closely associated with many of Hell's high-ranking families. Their prestige is only surpassed by the Magne family, who they are deeply envious of. They worship the forgotten colossal Azathoth.

While they present themselves to the public as a flawless and respectable family, they are, in reality, a deeply insidious, selfish, and loveless family with a dark history who scheme to take the thrones of the Magne family and rule Hell for themselves.

## History

### Background

The Von Eldritch were first established shortly after Hell's creation when Leviathan was appointed to rule over the ring of Envy by Lucifer Magne, where he met another sea monster known as Bethesda. Leviathan proposed that if she served as a means of procreation for him, he would allow her to reign over Envy by his side. Being as immoral and power hungry as him, Bethesda agreed to the deal and conceived hundreds, if not thousands of children with Leviathan in secret over the course of several years. Every child born were then brutally and ritualistically murdered by Leviathan shortly after, who sacrificed them to appease Azathoth.

Due to Leviathan's connections with Lucifer, he and Bethesda were naturally considered allies to the King of Hell and his wife, Lilith. Leviathan deeply resented Lucifer for only giving him one ring of Hell to rule over, which he saw as a meaningless and worthless position, especially since Lucifer effectively had absolute power over all of Hell, including Envy and Leviathan himself included. Changes were on the way, however, when news of the birth of Charlotte Magne, Lucifer and Lilith's daughter, caught Leviathan's attention. The King of Envy decided to spare two of his last children alive, plotting to raise them to further his schemes. The surviving children became Seviathan and Hellsa, who, under their parents' influence, grew up into snotty and competitive children who would vie for their apathetic parents' favor. Meanwhile, Leviathan concealed the bodies of his murdered children in the darkest recesses of the Von Eldritch castle, keeping their existence unknown to the public. Why he did not simply destroy their bodies and leave no trace of them is unknown, but it is possible that he took pride in killing them and kept their bodies preserved as a testament to his "power".

Over the years, the Von Eldritch family became one of the most influential families in all of Hell, and had relations with other very powerful and high-class demons such as the Goetia family. Leviathan arranged for Seviathan to have a playdate with Charlie, with his intentions being for Seviathan to win Charlie's heart, to which the Princess of Hell would eventually marry Seviathan and allow Leviathan to get even closer to Lucifer, kill him, and take his throne for himself. Meanwhile, Hellsa grew to have a deep-seated rivalry with Charlie.

Although Seviathan had succeeded in winning Charlie's heart, with the two of them officially becoming an item in their years at Hell School, the Prince of Envy also became softer due to experiences with Charlie, drifting away from the shallow and self-absorbed prince his family had raised him to be. This resulted in Leviathan punishing his son harshly in order to systematically destroy his positive traits and remind him of his purpose in life, from wounding Seviathan with his claws, forcing him to kill a dog he had tried to nurse take to health, and locking him in a chamber filled with starving piranhas after he had failed to propose to Charlie. As a result of his father's abuse and death threats, Seviathan began to crack under the enormous pressure; He was uncertain of his ability to fulfil the mission and was terrified that he would suffer the same fate as his thousands of siblings for his failure; the stress led him to become progressively desperate, toxic, and reckless as he began to vent his stress and anger onto others, and eventually Charlie herself, which resulted in Charlie reluctantly ending their relationship.

Charlie ending her relationship with Seviathan caused a massive rift between the Magne and Von Eldritch family, especially after Charlie established a relationship with a female sinner named Vaggie. Leviathan became frustrated by Charlie's refusals, and somewhat straining his partnership with Lucifer. Despite this, Lucifer assured Leviathan that Seviathan would win Charlie's hand in the future.

## Duties

The Von Eldritch family are responsible for governing over and maintain the Envy Ring. They also command Hell's sea creature population. Their rule rendered Envy a very inhospitable place as Leviathan enforced a "dog-eat-dog" philosophy and brutally put down any defiance. His wife and children were similarly awful people.

## Members

* Leviathan Von Eldritch (erased) - Patriarch, Slain by Millie
* Bethesda Von Eldritch - Matriarch
* Seviathan Von Eldritch- Son-Turned-legal patriarch
* Hellsa Von Eldritch - Daughter
* Countless siblings (deceased) - Murdered by Leviathan

## Affiliates

* The Kraken - Associate and "pet"
* Seven Deadly Sins - Occasional rulers and collaborators
* Magne Family - Rulers
* Goetia Family - Collaborators
* Azathoth - God and cult-subject
* Numerous high-ranking demons

## Trivia

* The family's surname, Eldritch, is a word often used to describe something bizarre and otherworldly. The term is also closely associated with the cosmic horror writer H.P. Lovecraft, alluding to the family's affiliation of the god Azathoth.
* The Von Eldritch family are intended to be black/POC-coded characters.
* The crest of the Von Eldritch family is a real-life occult symbol known as the Leviathan Cross.
* The series' creators consider Leviathan and Bethesda to be the only truly evil members of the family, whereas their children, Seviathan and Hellsa, are moreso victims of their influence.
* To manipulate Hellsa into hating Seviathan, Bethesda raised Hellsa with the belief that the Von Eldritch had a long lineage where one child was born and raised to rule with absolute power, and if two children were ever sired, the lesser child would be killed - all in order to convince her that Seviathan considered her the lesser child and wanted her dead.
* With the exception of Seviathan, each member of the family is meant to serve as a dark reflection of a member of the Magne family:
	+ Leviathan is Lucifer's counterpart; both are the patriarchs of their respective families, are power-hungry tyrants who abuse their respective children, and are instinctively traitorous. The primary difference between the two is that Lucifer, for all his faults and heinous crimes, is capable of genuinely loving his wife, Lilith, and his daughter, Charlie (despite being extremely abusive towards her), whereas Leviathan is indifferent towards Bethesda and views her more as a means of procreation than a wife and his children as tools for his plans.
	+ Bethesda is Lilith's counterpart; both are the matriarchs of their respective families and are elegant monarchs with visually similar appearances and dispositions, but while Lilith is capable of caring for others (even occasionally those outside of her family), Bethesda is devoid of love for anything, even for her family.
	+ Hellsa is essentially the personification of what Charlie would have become if she had listened to Lucifer's guidance; a shallow, cruel, and self-absorbed princess.