Baron Bacchus

## **Backstory**

The Baron of Hell

The Barons of Hell are a subrace of Hellspawn born from a ritual and contract born from the unholy union of a Devil and a female warrior, typically a barbarian, who follows the god Gorum. The reason female warriors search out this union is to birth a warrior stronger than themselves into the world, though only one has lived through the process.

Though the majority of the contract's terms are unknown to those who haven't went through the process, the ritual involves the mother sacrificing their wed and child by beating them to death with a chunk of iron ore atop of a fresh battlefield and copulate with a devil. The devil that is formed from the ritual is said to be a descendant of the malebranche Alichino, bound in blood by the bet once made with the Great Hero Strada.

The birth process of a Baron Of Hell is a bloody and war-torn one. As a part in the contract states, the warrior must go on a pilgrimage into Hell with not but a weapon and clothes and survive a grueling 12-month pregnancy. Over time, the tiefling developing in the womb of the warrior will feed upon the blood, fury and power surrounding it.

Upon the last day of the 12 month pregnancy, the mother's soul and essence will blend and fuse with the devilish energies coming from the devil's seed, causing the mother and child to fuse and become a fully grown Baron of Hell.

The Barons are some of the strongest in the armies of the damned, but they are also the most uncontrollable. Often chaotic in nature, these beasts of devils have more in common with their demon or daemon brethren sans a few details.

The typical physical features of a Baron of Hell includes their immense size, unnatural weight, huge bovine-esque horns, ashen gray skin that acts as a thin layer over bone-like scales and over-sized limbs. They tend to adopt a lot of minor physical features of their mothers; things like hair color, scars, loss of limbs, etc.

Unlike other Hellspawn, Barons of Hell hold less of a connection to innate outsider magic and more to the physical resistances and tend to linger more towards brutality over cunning. Often times Barons of Hell will adopt their mother's class, otherwise they tend to lean more towards being a berserker or fighter.

By birth, these creatures are under contract to their patron Devils, the ones who sewn their seed in the first place and hold little to no free will. However their chaotic and uncontrollable nature allows Barons to break the shackles of this unholy contract through pure strength alone, at the cost. Often times Barons continue to serve their masters to sate their endless need of war and bloodshed. However there is a rare chance that a Baron of Hell will flee Hell and pursue their own goals.

### Grigori The Wise And Dalia Of Milani

Barron Bacchus was one such Baron of Hell and was the child of Grigori Redna'xela and Dalia Na'Ia.

Grigori was also a Baron of Hell, born from one of Alichino's direct offspring. While an odd birth as his mother had been a swashbuckler and worshiper of both Cayden Cailean and Gorum, he was given the title of Grigori The Wise by his father and Commander. Grigori adopted a lot more from his mother than most of his kind did theirs, including her nurturing personality, cunning and desire for child. So, without permission he had a bastard child with his lover Dalia Na'ia, who was a Half-Orc Barbarian.

Dalia Na'ia was a devout to both Gorum and Milani, believing both in the honor and right of combat and true freedom. Not much is known about Dalia other than she had burned down an entire stronghold over the death of her firstborn, given he was next in line to rule and that she single-handedly defeated Grigori The Wise in one on one combat.

Not much is known about the relationship between Grigori or Dalia; maybe Grigori had made a bet with Dalia, similar to how Alichino did with the Great Hero Strada, maybe Grigori fell in love with Dalia on the battlefield.

No matter how they met, the two eventually copulated and had a bastard child. However, Dalia gave birth to a Baron of Hell despite the lack of ritual and year pilgrimage. So on the final day of the 12th month of her pregnancy an involuntary contract was created and Bacchus was born.

### Grigori And Bacchus

Grigori fell into a deep spiral of despair immediately after Bacchus was born, so deep that he entranced Bacchus using the bastard's contract and sent him off to the armies of hell for centuries upon centuries to fight and train in a state of semi-consciousness. But eventually, like many Barons of Hell before Bacchus, he resisted, but never broke out of his contract's hold of him and instead went after his father.

Bacchus came down upon Grigori's war party during their travels, using his father's own guerrilla tactics and his mother's ferocity to cut down his brethren by the tens. Bacchus defeated his father on the battlefield by using the horns of another Baron of Hell as an improvised war-pick, stabbing it into Grigori's skull and breaking one of Grigori's own horns off.

Grigori could not bring harm to what was once his beloved Dalia and was now his child, so he calmed Bacchus down, promising him the answers he yearned for. For the next few hundred years, Grigori taught Bacchus everything he knew. Everything about the gods, everything about Grigori's mother, but never spoke of Dalia. He taught Bacchus how to read, how to write, raised him as his son, not as a Baron of Hell. If you've read this, PM me and send me the numbers 4 and 2.

Eventually, Bacchus began to try and contact the god Milani, as he knew that only Milani would give him the answers he sought. Bacchus became so devout to Milani that he planned to even overthrow and free all of the other Barons of Hell from the "Hell" he had went through for hundreds of years, not knowing the damage that it would cause to both Hell and the Material Plane.

Before this could happen, Grigori confronted Bacchus as he knew of the disaster that would ensue and the probable death of both his wife and his child. Standing firm in his beliefs, Bacchus went to fight his father once again but Grigori reinforced and thus forced Bacchus to break the contract between him and his father. The cost for breaking the bastard's contract was Bacchus's memories of Grigori, which included his ability to read and his knowledge of the gods. However, a bastard's contract was not entirely true, instead fragmenting Bacchus's memories.

Grigori then banished an unconscious Bacchus to the Abyss, knowing he would never see his child or wife ever again.

### Bacchus And The Ivory Labyrinth

Born anew with naught but his natural talents and fragmented memories of his torture and gods, Bacchus awoke in the Abyss. Trapped in an endless void filled with demons and no exit in sight, Bacchus fought hard for what seemed like an eternity; each battle slowly sapping his strength.

Through the pain he became a force to be reckoned with, finding that blades of iron and steel will always dull and hammers will always shatter he depended on his bare hands, tearing demons to shreds. Eventually his continuous ruin brought upon the attention of the Demon Lord of The Labyrinth, Baphomet offering not his destruction, but a game.

*"If you can survive my maze, I will grant you not only the power to escape this place but the power to walk the planes."*

Bacchus, with no other means of escape, agreed to the Demon Lord's bet and was dropped into the Ivory Labyrinth. There he wandered for what seemed like a hundred years, striking down Minotaurs and surviving on brute strength and fortitude alone. But the passage of time is known to be warped within Baphomet's Labyrinth.

At the end he found the Vilsteth, sitting atop a throne made of gold and gems and behind it was the exit. His final challenge.

The Baron of Hell tried his best to destroy the beast through raw strength, but with each blow that would strike the ivory flesh of the demon, three more would dig into the Baron's flesh. Each rake of the being's claws would take both flesh and strength from Bacchus, chipping away at both his body and soul. Bacchus knew that, at this rate, he would find his end. But a voice, soft and caressing, flashed through his mind.

*"When naught strength nor power can overcome thine foe, one's cunning becomes thine sharpest blade."*

With these words at heart, Bacchus struck not the beast but the golden throne it perched on causing the coin to rush like an avalanche and swallow the demon like a tsunami does a fishing village. It certainly didn't kill it, but was enough of a distraction for Bacchus to go through the exit and complete the labyrinth.

*"Well, well! What a surprise, indeed! A husk of a devil walks through the exit, too ragged to even walk right. I must say, I'm impressed. Although, given the state your body is in, I doubt it can handle the power to walk the planes. But... a deal's a deal. And I am not one to break a 'contract' with a devil."*

With but a touch of Baphomet's claw, Bacchus's weakened body was granted the power to walk the planes, to split the fabric of space as he desired, but at what cost?

Bacchus's body was then overloaded with the arcane energy that was bestowed upon him, ripping his soul and mind away from his body. While his body, now a mindless husk living on instinct alone, was sent to the Shadow Plane his mind and soul were sent to Heaven.

### Bacchus And Heaven

Bacchus's mind and soul found themselves shot onto the mountain known as Heaven, crashing into the second layer known as Proelera. As mind and soul are just as physical as the body in Heaven, Bacchus found himself stuck in the mustering grounds for Heaven's armies.

Immediately, Bacchus was apprehended by the angels who acted as the guardians of the grounds and was nearly killed for merely trespassing upon the grounds.

As his strength and fortitude was sucked away by the vile Vilsteth and then shattered by Baphomet's arcane energy, he could do naught but watch as the angels prepared to subjugate him. Moments before being smited by all that the armies of Heaven could muster, a lone angel by the name of Haniel stepped in.

*"We cannot just destroy this devil who comes upon our land! We know not why he is here and given his current state, he bears no threat. We cannot stoop to those evils, lest we be called devils ourselves!"*

At the will and whim of Haniel, Bacchus was released and put under Haniel's care at his ivory home at Heaven's Shores. Haniel, at first taking pity on such a pitiful and weak creature first saw Bacchus as some form of pet. Not knowing anything beyond Heaven's Gate, he had many questions about Hell, The Abyss and what lies between the planes.

Haniel had even gotten Bacchus's body back when the arcane energy that Baphomet had plagued Bacchus with faded from time. It seems that the "blessing" of the ability to walk the planes was only temporary, causing Bacchus's physical form to be pulled to Heaven. Bacchus's physical form and Haniel had fought against each other, raw instinct vs a soldier's training. Eventually it came to a draw as an archon paralyzed Bacchus's body.

From this battle Haniel recognized Bacchus's strength and eventually accepted Bacchus as a friend and brother-in-arms.

However, Haniel was not the spotless angel that he seemed to be. Even angels sometimes succumb to their vices and was eventually banished to the material plane along with Bacchus after breaking divine law. Only those involved know what laws were broken, as Haniel and Bacchus often refuse to repeat these stories.

### Bacchus and The Material Plane

Bacchus and Haniel were separated when they arrived to The Material Plane, Haniel having been stripped of the title of angel and cursed to be an Aasimar caused him to fly into a rage, causing the two to separate.

Bacchus went on to discover the many things that this plane had to offer; food, alcohol, sex, all of the vices one could ask for. Bacchus loved the mix of law and chaos that The Material Plane had to offer, finding it a perfect mix of Heaven, Hell and The Abyss. He found that he was easily able to satiate the need for battle that came from him being a Baron of Hell while also satisfying all the needs normally only a humanoid would have.

Bacchus found himself lost to these vices, becoming a pirate for almost twenty years. Learning from the pirates around him, he eventually forgot the pains that once overtook his reality and took on a carefree lifestyle. Though his piracy ended when Haniel found him. At first Bacchus was hesitant, but the two immediately made amends when the captain attempted to shoot Haniel. Thus the two ended up having to kill the entire one-hundred man crew using a cannon, five cannonballs and a hundred feet of chain.

Using the same boat, Haniel and Bacchus sailed it over to the nearest city, Absalom. However during a storm Bacchus was swept away, only to be taken by the ocean current (and the help of a few mermaids) to the city's docks a few weeks after Haniel arrived. Haniel, selling the boat and claiming the bounty on the pirates, bought a home in The Coins.

## **Story So Far**

Currently, Bacchus lives with Haniel in his home, living a laid-back life of drinking and fighting. He can often times be found in The Burning Ale, getting drunk and getting into bar fights.

He's met a few friends along the way. He's also made a few enemies.

## **Appearance**

A huge creature, resembling the Barons of Hell themselves, the ash-skinned tiefling was a hulking giant with huge black and grey horns resembling some sort of warped bovine. His ears were pointed and pulled back a few inches below the horns that pushed out of the sides of his head. His face was scarred over his left eye, with multiple long and discolored lines that lead across the eye and cheek but the disfigurement didn't hide his often mischievous and taunting grin. He had a face to be punched, if it could be reached.

Sometimes he was found clean shaven and bald, other times he would have a heavy shadow or even a full beard with a full set of hair that would start behind his horns and go down his back, it seems like he's able to grow out his hair at will.

The eye itself was hidden by a metal eyepatch, made specifically to fit the odd shaping of his face and had two points that extended out like horns, one pointing up towards his forehead and the other pointing down on his cheek.

His torso was covered in scars and sometimes tattoos. It seems that the Celtic tattoos, that went around his shoulders and went over his chest, were another thing he could manipulate at will.

His clothes tend to change depending on the scene. Most of the time he's bare from the waist up, wearing two medium bandoleers like belts filled with metal flasks and glass bottles around his waist. Black and red-lined gypsy pants and a bright silk scarf hidden beneath the "belts" went down to his knees and dark black sailor boots covered his feet. But he does have a dark leather blacksmith's apron, with its choice of bloodstains, that he wears every now and then.

## **Personality**

Bacchus is rather swarthy and cocky, but the airs about him made sure that he had no reason not to be. Never without a drink in hand, this jolly sort often times jokes and laughs, enjoying the company of his kind. Even when fighting, he's cocky to a tee. Hiding his rage during combat, he tends to toy and play around with his enemies even if outmatched.

However, on a dime Bach can channel the intimidating rage of the Barons of Hell and cow anyone that dares to strike a raw nerve.

Bacchus's raw nerves include:

* Gods
* Hell
* Demons
* Devils
* Magic

## **Friends**

* Jaci The Moonlight Escort
* Dala the Cat Robot
* Elwen The Filthy Magician

## **Enemies**

* The Green Mother
* Most Barkeeps