Atheron

Atheron (Made with HeroForge)

An ancient and powerful demon that has spent a fair amount of time trying to anchor himself to the mortal plane through possessing hosts, and unleash chaos on civilization. Atheron's cult was able to bind his spirit to three hosts in 2030, and allowed him to manifest into his full power. However, the demon hunter Derek Holmes defeated him and sealed his spirit away. 66 years later, he was freed again, and possessed the leader of a gang known as the Hell Riders. His reign didn't last long before the NW6 took on his group and defeated them, once again delaying the demon's plans.

## History

### Pre-Campaign

Like the rest of his kind, Atheron sought to sow discord and suffering on the mortal plane. Due to the demon's power, he required three hosts to reside in the physical world, and thus influenced mortals to serve his will. Over time, Atheron would raise a cult in the attempt to find hosts and anchor himself to start his conquest. However, in recent history, the demon found himself foiled multiple times by the harrowed Blessed Derek Holmes. The demon hunter destroyed his cult in 1877, 1920, and 1976. Finally, in 2030, Atheron was able to gather three hosts and manifest outside the Hunting Grounds. His freedom was short lived, however, as Holmes was once again able to defeat him and his followers, this time binding his spirit to the hearts of his hosts and imprisoning him.

### Arc 6: Hell Riders

Atheron spent 66 years trapped in the hearts, kept in a jar by his slayer. In 2096, Holmes had to renew the binding on Atheron, and set up his materials in the basement of a farm house. It was there that the leader of the Hell Rider gang, Hammer Ferguson, stumbled upon Holmes as he performed the ritual. Hammer put Holmes down with his shotgun, and investigated the jar he'd left. As soon as the man opened the jar, the binding spell was broken, and Atheron immediately possessed him. Thus, Hammer became the first of Atheron's eyes.

Upon meeting Hammer's underlings, Atheron spoke in Hammer's voice, telling them he'd been given new powers and he use them to expand the gang's influence and power. Any who dared doubt his words were used as an example, and the rest stopped questioning. Atheron led his new followers to a town that had risen up against the gang, Burney, killed the Law Dog that had inspired them, and enslaved the town's residents. Burney became the gang's new base, and the gang, Atheron's new cult.

Over a short period of time, Atheron pulled smaller gangs into the Hell Riders, recruiting dozens more. He summoned a couple minor manitou into his service for more special tasks: Red Eye and Gorazel. After her gang was run out of Oasis, Grace Gray and her remaining Star Nationals joined up with Atheron's people.

On the night of April 13th, 2096, Atheron was in Burney when the NW6 attacked his base. His followers were preparing the ritual that would allow him to claim his next host, sacrificing multiple prisoners to aid in summoning part of his presence. Gregg and Red had took to the air late that night, using their magic to keep them afloat while dropping explosives on the car dealership the Hell Riders had taken residence in. Nearly all of the gang was taken out, save Atheron, who pushed himself out of the wreckage, grabbed his shotgun with combustion shells, and ran out to confront his enemies.

Atheron found Addie and Toussaint in the makeshift temple with his would-be sacrifices, along with Grace's corpse. Any wounds he received in the chaos healed as he moved to block their escape. He first targeted Toussaint, striking him with black lightning, briefly shaking him. He then reanimated two corpses of prisoners, to attack the both of them. Toussaint rushed Atheron and flew past him, slashing him with his own knife. Though the blade struck, the wounds healed quickly, and Atheron turned to face Addie and Gregg. The two wounded the demon a few more times, only to have them seal up as quickly as they'd been opened. Finally, Addie targeted his eyes, his one weak point, and the demon dropped to the ground. His head was cut from his neck for good measure, and the corpse was left to burn with the rest of the base.

Though his host was killed, Atheron was not bound.