The Lord of the Nine

**The Lord of the Nine** goes by many other names. **The Lord of Indulgence**, **The God of the Nine Hells**, **The Greatest Devil**, **The Fallen Celestial**, **Kuzuryū**, **The Nine Headed Dragon**, **The Scaled Tyrant**, **The Father of Dragons**, **The Overseer of Oppression**, **The King of True Power**, **The Devil Himself** or **Mephistopheles**. Some also refer to him as The Hell Hydra. Most simply refer to him as **The Lord of the Nine**, if they dare to refer to him at all.

He relishes in corrupting mortal souls with his honeyed words. He lords over his domain with iron rule and punishment he inflicts for crossing him are legendary. Devils, Evil Dragons and other evil entities pay him tribute, while warlocks are drawn to his power. He is the sworn enemy of She Who Makes the Path and Mazrek the Devourer.

He is depicted in many tomes and murals as a dark and twisted nine headed dragon, his body black like soot and ever burning, entirely surrounded by or consisting of shadow and inextinguishable flame. Each head sits upon a long, serpentine neck, each long enough to wrap around gargantuan beings, allowing him to coil around any prey and crush them. His body is colossal, he stands on two hind legs and uses his massive tail for balance. Spreading his massive wings of flame and shadow would block out the sun of any city in Vari. Each head has two massive sharp horns, along with many other smaller razor sharp horns atop his skull like features.

Each head has its own name, and is representative of one of the nine layers of hell. Each can view the sins of a mortal individual relevant to the sin they represent. They can also peer into their corresponding layer of hell at any time. While this being may appear to have multiple different consciousness operating at once, one would be mistaken to assume that there is any division in **The Scaled Tyrant's** thinking. He is driven towards his goals and turns almost every situation around to suit him.

The heads (and thus the nine layers of hell) are known as:

* **Ira** - The first, based upon the sin of Wrath
* **Acedia** - The second, based upon the sin of Sloth.
* **Tristitia** - The third, based upon the sin of Sorrow
* **Luxuria**- The fourth, based upon the sin of Lust
* **Avaritia** - The fifth, based upon the sin of Greed.
* **Gula** - The sixth, based upon the sin of Gluttony.
* **Invidia** - The seventh, based upon the sin of Envy
* **Vangloria** - The eighth, based upon the sin of Vainglory
* **Superbia** - The ninth, based upon the sin of Pride. The Lord of the Nine's seat of power..

There are many accounts of him being met as a humanoid fiend, dressed in elegant attire, with red skin, jet black hair, and a well trimmed goatee. It is possible that he is able to take on a humanoid form, but according to the Felstriders, these accounts vary so much and are so numerous throughout history that they believe Mephistopheles has the ability to appear in any humanoid shape he wishes. The only reoccurring theme in almost every account is the smell of brimstone after the devil has departed.

Mephistopheles has many enemies even among the evil Gods, though some follow him out of fear. His archenemy, however, is She Who Makes The Path, who has exasperated him throughout the ages and defeated him during the variance war. It is thought that **The Lord of the Nine** was wounded by She Who Makes The Path in the **Variance War** during the age of variance. During this war, it is claimed that he corrupted some of her creations, creating the first chromatic dragons.

His blood spills, slowly, but from his blood new devils are made. Including great pit fiends. Through this means, he builds a great army, which was stationed in a giant fortress so large that it was considered unmappable. Since then, his attention has been drawn toward Mazrek and his demonic hordes, as his return may spell incredible trouble for the hells, as the **blood war** wages on. However, it is thought that the only being in the multiverse that The Lord of the Nine truly fears is The Changebringer.

He rules the entire plane of the Nine Hells. His seat of power is the ninth layer. He sits atop the hierarchy of all devilkind.

"According to legend, The Lord of the Nine attributes his wicked deeds to necessity and the mandates of law, alluding to the rules of Hell in his defence and arguing that his contracts were never broken. He makes the case that the souls he harvests serve the ultimately noble end of protecting the cosmos, and notes the sanctity of law as what separates him from the demons of the Abyss. Without him and his devils to defend it, he argues, the multiverse would be overrun by demon kind and ultimately destroyed, and in this, Asmodeus might technically be correct." - Domigo Thundergong

**Suggested Class:** Bard, Cleric, Sorcerer, Warlock, Wizard